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250+ game developers, journalists, and media personalities make a list of the top 100 games of all time

Of course some Zelda and The Last of Us is at the top. How predictable.
Made by people that dont really know shit about games, and just following recent trends.

Straight disrespectful list lol

A lot of recency bias on that list.

Yep, when I see that...I dont think the love for the medium is really there. They just throw up tge older titles because they kinda have to.

Those recent titles that are on there are the ones they have a connection to lol

I get its a subjective list...but you had 100 chances to put some obvious titles on there, at that point its disrespect lmao
 
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This list is suspect, who exactly did they get to take include in the poll? What staff from which publications? How many are from sites that lean toward a preference or are named after the preference? Who are the Streamers? Who are the developers or ex-developers? Where do they work?

I think this idea could work but thee would need to be a balance of who gets involved and transparency into what the questions were, the locations, who people were, what publications, and other things that were skipped over in this article. The article doesn't mean much as it is because they tell us nothing about it and just give us a list. How many aged developers or open publications with wide coverage are going to put recent games in the top two?

Also GQ?
 
Guess game developers know nothing about games. Unlike Gaf of course.🫢
Well gaming is kinda lukewarm these days, so im not surprised developers made this list actually.

They had little respect for actual groundbreaking games that were techbilogical feats and pedestalized formulaic sequels that didnt move the needle much.

Kind of a reflection of design preferences today tbh. Open world, melo dramatic naughty dog, and souls.
 
Before even looking at the list I knew that Zelda would be on the top and that most games listed will be beyond the time where they are not included because they are "Too old" or in reality everybody asked is too young to have ever played them. These lists might as well be called "Top of your head, name the best selling games of all time" because "Best" means it sells the most. Right?

So for example that's why this list has Half-Life and Half-Life 2 that franchise doesn't need two slots taken up out of 100. Almost every mainline Mario game listed, ditto. Absolutely no 2D shumps, Radiant Silvergun deserves a slot, break down through the age cut off and you'd have to include Asteroids or R-Type.

This list just shows the reality that a lot of people working in it don't know about games and to be honest for some of their jobs they don't really need to.
Yeah like was sonic even on the list? Lmao

sadly, this list's lack of historic perspective/appreciation explains a number of things about gaming nowadays...

EXACTLY.

This seems like no big deal to the naked eye, but this shit is very eye opening when you wonder why gaming is in a weird place today.

They actually chose all the formulaic pretentious modern trends on top of the list save a few.
 
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sadly, this list's lack of historic perspective/appreciation explains a number of things about gaming nowadays...
Maybe I'm just a hater, but I really think The Last of Us being as highly regarded as it is is kind of devastating for gaming. Like I'd rather have Uncharted 2 in its place. The fact that not a single Halo or GTA game isn't in the top 20 is super lame and makes me question the credibility of the people who took this poll.

Also both Dark Souls AND Bloodborne are in the top 10? Wth... and how is World of Warcraft not on this list? What about COD4 Modern Warfare? Bioshock?
I love you for that u charted 2 over tlou take.

Uncharted 2 was legitamtely their best game. The fact that they leap frog'd that for a game that makes them feel like they are "high brow" is devastating.

Tlou's success utterly ruined god of war too
 

Drizzlehell

Banned
Uncharted 2 was legitamtely their best game. The fact that they leap frog'd that for a game that makes them feel like they are "high brow" is devastating.
I agree. That was peak Naughty Dog. They were in their top form and showed complete mastery of this style of gameplay. It was also just a damn fun game/story that elevated the original's concept to stratospheric levels.
 
I don't think there is enough strength in the 'game' elements in TLoU to get it to no.2 in an all time list.I don't like it being so far above something like Dark Souls when that game has so much great gaming in it.I know narrative is a huge part of modern gaming but it still feels off to me.
Dark souls shouldnt be above half life 2. Which has both in spades, and was an ambitious technological LEAP. You appreciate narrative and ambition alittle too lightly if you put dark souls above that.

Fuxking souls games didnt make gamers GASP when revealed. Souls didnt make you questiin what was fucking possible in the medium like some of these more ambitious titles did. Some of you have short memories, how old were you during E3 2003?

Its also a modern, trendy choice. Dark souls wouldnt have even been considered the best game of 2007....but now its trendy, and makes gamers feel hardcore or something so here we are.
 
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I think uncharted 2 changed the industry but uc4 is such a better game if you replayed it all now. Uc2 is just a cover shooter essentially. Uc4 at least allows some mobility and story is incredible.

But tlou is there for a reason. If you were on gaf in 2013, it was crazy. About as crazy as when gta4 released. Incredible universal praise from everyone. Rare sight on gaf. Shame world forgot about gta4 and replaced it with shit5, we can’t do story or physics no more.

Were you around when uncharted 2 came out? Did you not see the awards that revieved?

And no, uncharted 4 wasnt paced nearly as well, and the game suffered for trying to be TOO open, iuncharted 2 didnt have random enemy arena set ups ubisoft style like uc4 did. Every enemy encounter was deliberate in uc2.

Uc2 didnt have a superior successor. It was their opus and tlou was the next best game.
 
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LakeOf9

Member
I can think of at least 50 other games that I'd rank higher than those. To each their own.
Absolutely, and I think the great thing about games is that there are so many different kinds of amazing ones to appeal to all types of people

But I think you will agree that it's not controversial to say that in general terms, BOTW and TLOU are among the most acclaimed and beloved games ever
 
Portal 2 above Half life 2? Ok. Lol.
Lol right, listen theres opinions...and then there's respect.

People say "oh its just their opinions" nah dude, this is simialr to ranking the best basketball players of all time or something, and putting kevin Durant as number 1.

Gaming has a pedigree and history just like sports does, so if you love this shit, theres even games I probably didnt play that i respect being on the list due to ambition, reception, and impact. Like a great player I know is great but didnt watch

Think of it like a best athlete list.

Thats why portal 2 above half life 2 is not just an opinion thing, its disrespectful lol
 
I do need to play through Uncharted 4, Uncharted 3 kind of tired me out from the series but it's been a while since I've played Uncharted so may give it a try soon. Agree on GTA 4, for me it's the best GTA for reasons you mentioned

The Last of Us, probably just my personal taste, but at the time I was getting over the zombie fad like there were so many zombie games/movies/tv shows all coming out at once so to me the story was just generic but with a lot of Naughty Dog game polish


Uncharted 4 has similar issues thst uncharted 3 has lol

Its alittle better than uc3, but still is...not uc2
 

Drizzlehell

Banned
Absolutely, and I think the great thing about games is that there are so many different kinds of amazing ones to appeal to all types of people

But I think you will agree that it's not controversial to say that in general terms, BOTW and TLOU are among the most acclaimed and beloved games ever
I haven't played BOTW because I don't own a Nintendo console but from what I saw of it did't really make me want to seek it out.

As for The Last of Us, well, it's a good story, and it's a technical marvel. But as far as gameplay goes I don't really see it as this great achievement for gaming. It services the story well enough but it's not really why everyone loves that game so much. It's the reason why I'd prefer to rewatch the show now instead of replaying the game, and also why the second game was so polarizing. Gameplay isn't really as important as the story in those games and what I value in video games more than anything else is the gameplay side of them.
 
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Abriael_GN

RSI Employee of the Year
Well it helps they're the best games ever made

But I think you will agree that it's not controversial to say that in general terms, BOTW and TLOU are among the most acclaimed and beloved games ever

You said two very different things in the span of 16 minutes.

Exactly like this listicle wouldn't have been so trash if the writer didn't try to oversell its relevance and authority and instead of saying that it features "the world's greatest game developers, streamers, directors, writers" he'd have just added a "some of." Two words make all the difference.
 
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Madflavor

Member
Breath of the Wild has got to be the most overrated game of all time. Right? There’s other overrated games, but devs, critics, and journalists will never not seize the opportunity to give that game the most sumptuous review blowjob they can muster.

It’s a really fun sandbox game, but was much weaker in other departments. It shines when you explore the world, but when you do anything regarding the main quest, it’s one of the weakest entries in the series.
 

Abriael_GN

RSI Employee of the Year
Breath of the Wild has got to be the most overrated game of all time. Right? There’s other overrated games, but devs, critics, and journalists will never not seize the opportunity to give that game the most sumptuous review blowjob they can muster.

It’s a really fun sandbox game, but was much weaker in other departments. It shines when you explore the world, but when you do anything regarding the main quest, it’s one of the weakest entries in the series.

From what I can see, that title has now been inherited by Tears of the Kingdom.
 
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nush

Member
Breath of the Wild has got to be the most overrated game of all time. Right?

Yes. I brought it on Wii U and it didn't click with me. Then Sony gave away Horizon Zero Dawn for free and I sunk many hours into that to completion.

Same genre....
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
Were you around when uncharted 2 came out? Did you not see the awards that revieved?

And no, uncharted 4 wasnt paced nearly as well, and the game suffered for trying to be TOO open, iuncharted 2 didnt have random enemy arena set ups ubisoft style like uc4 did. Every enemy encounter was deliberate in uc2.

Uc2 didnt have a superior successor. It was their opus and tlou was the next best game.
Not sure what you are talking about. Uncharted4 don’t have a single random encounter. Is a linear game.
And I think the pacing is perfect.
Yes I was there when uc2 released. It deserved those scores. Uc4 is jest better
 

Chastten

Banned
Solid list. Unexciting and predictable, but solid.

But yeah, I personally prefer lists of a single person or small group of people with similar tastes like mine, cause that's where the more interesting choices will pop up. Panzer Dragoon Orta and Skies of Arcadia Legends are two games that would make my personal top 100 with ease, but neither of them have a chance in hell of making it on a list like this cause they just came out at the wrong time.
 

acm2000

Member
A best if all time is nothing more than fluff, as hardware advances as does expectations and experiences.

Only way to do this in a more reliable fashion is by "generations" or decades
 

MacReady13

Member
Bullshit list. Definitely recency bias. No way known Breath of the Wild is better than Ocarina Of Time. Symphony of the Night should be top 3. As should Resident Evil 4. And Silent Hill 2? Super Mario World possibly number 2 after Resident Evil 4. And where is Mega Man 3? The greatest Mega Man game ever made. Crazy stuff.
 

kuncol02

Banned
Maybe I'm just a hater, but I really think The Last of Us being as highly regarded as it is is kind of devastating for gaming. Like I'd rather have Uncharted 2 in its place. The fact that not a single Halo or GTA game isn't in the top 20 is super lame and makes me question the credibility of the people who took this poll.

Also both Dark Souls AND Bloodborne are in the top 10? Wth... and how is World of Warcraft not on this list? What about COD4 Modern Warfare? Bioshock?
Bioshock is actually kinda really bad. It aged like milk. It's not that great shooter with pretentious story dressed as immersive sim, but have less from immersive sims than many games that are not called that.
 
Out of all the games ever, BOTW is best? Lol what a BS list, theres 20 better RPGs and open worlds out there especially in the last 30 years combined.
 

Wildebeest

Member
Bioshock is actually kinda really bad. It aged like milk. It's not that great shooter with pretentious story dressed as immersive sim, but have less from immersive sims than many games that are not called that.
It hasn't aged that badly in terms of design, but maybe some xbox kids finished going through puberty and realized how embarrassing Ayn Rand type fiction is. I agree that if I wanted a champion of that sort of game on a list, I'd prefer to see the full strength brew of something like Deus Ex, Ultima Underworld, or Thief before going to the small beer of Bioshock.
 
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kuncol02

Banned
It hasn't aged that badly in terms of design, but maybe some xbox kids finished going through puberty and realized how embarrassing Ayn Rand type fiction is. I agree that if I wanted a champion of that sort of game on a list, I'd prefer to see the full strength brew of something like Deus Ex, Ultima Underworld, or Thief before going to the small beer of Bioshock.
It aged THAT badly. I played it this year. It plays like really bad shooter. It almost make Redfall into competent game in comparison.
 

the_master

Member
Halo: Combat Evolved is number 21. A bit low for my taste. Also a bit low is Mario 64, number 18. They are in the top imho


1 Halo: CE
2 Mario 64
3 Final Fantasy 7
4 Shenmue 2
 
LMAO that recency bias. Even game "journalists" suffer from this, I guess. BOTW #1 and TLOU #2 is lunacy.

In terms of Zelda games, OOT is better than BOTW and you can fight me all you want, you know I'm right.

In terms of zombie games which are also walking simulators, well, I guess TLOU is the best of those. But #2 game of all time? Don't make me laugh so hard I die.
 
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BlackTron

Member
that’s a horrible list. It’s a good list of games in the last 10 years but not all time.
The absence of your avatar game jumped out at me immediately. Top 20 list without Mario 3 or Starcraft, but make sure Disco Elysium is in.

Not that any titles in that list (including Disco Elysium) are garbage but it reads like a list made by young people who only sample old games from reputation. Because a lot of it sounds like a popularity list instead of a best game list. BOTW and TLOU taking the top 2...I guess they just took the 2 recent most popular/best selling games and slapped that with best of all time label.
 

SeraphJan

Member
Didn't know this post is still going.

TBH, its really hard to give "THE BEST" to any games when you consider how many great game had released so far. Especially when different franchise had different design philosophy that appeal to different type of audience.
 
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Mozzarella

Member
I will say this list probably aged like milk because Tears of the Kingdom just made Breath of the Wild obsolete, there is no need to play BOTW now imo, everything is improved in TOTK, unless you want to see how it began, lol.
Edit: I still think its a good list, treat it as recommendation list and you have some pretty good list of games, most likely you end up have 2 or 3 games entering your favorite list of all time, most of them are worth playing, you will not like all of them, some people like X some others like Y but its a solid list overall, just dont focus too much on the rankings.
 
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No Divinity: OS 2? No Baldur's Gate II or Planescape Torment, yet they put Dragon Age and The Witcher 3?

Bioshock but no System Shock 2?

Final Fantasy 6 below not just 7 but also 9 and 10?

Two Pokemon games and no Dragon Quest?

Also Super Metroid and Mario 3 were underranked big time.

This is like one of those casual core best of music lists that ranks Jagged Little Pill by Alanis Morrissette higher than practically every other alterna-female musician.
 
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LMAO that recency bias. Even game "journalists" suffer from this, I guess. BOTW #1 and TLOU #2 is lunacy.

In terms of Zelda games, OOT is better than BOTW and you can fight me all you want, you know I'm right.

In terms of zombie games which are also walking simulators, well, I guess TLOU is the best of those. But #2 game of all time? Don't make me laugh so hard I die.

OoT was the poster child for recency bias too in its day.
 
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