Video games have had milestones and turning points just like every other thing in history. They have times when they re-invent themselves and come out with something new and exciting. Sometimes the things that come out from the industry make a statement and becomes inspiration from where future games and developers draw passion from. They define and mold the path into the future for new titles. Here is a list of games that contributed to shaping the gaming world into what it is today.
4. First Person Shooters
Arguably the most popular genre of video games is fps. However, where they originate from and how they became what they are today is a debatable topic. Some people suggest that Rare's GoldenEye 007 for the Nintendo 64 was the starting point for this type of gaming. It was a different game from everything else at the time, with fast paced action and multiplayer gun battles. They allowed you to pick an Agent and gave you huge maps (at the time) that you could battle on. GoldenEye 007 brought on the age of multiplayer shooters. It's a fair argument and I would agree with them, but I don't think this by itself led to the shooters that we enjoy today.
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Id Software's Doom is where I truly believe the fps genre defined itself. It took you through the depths of hell with over the top weapons and enemies. You played as a super soldier who's sole purpose was to kick demon's in the arse. If you look at the game play then and compare it to now, you will see many fps games took inspiration from it. You can mainly see the similarities in games such as Halo, Destiny, and Gears of War. All of these games built off of the original Doom's ground plan. They have the same style of enemies, super soldiers, and ridiculous weapons. I will admit though there is a certain charm to Doom that keeps you coming back for more.
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3. Role-Playing Games
This genre of games didn't become popular until Square Enix's game series Final Fantasy came out. Here they would really blossom and take shape, leading into the games we see today. With all of this said the most well known and beloved of the series is most likely Final Fantasy VII (FFVII). FFVII is now one of the most anticipated remakes to be released in the next few years. The original game had a cast of lovable characters, as well as a compelling and thought provoking story. It touched on many different themes including sadness and grief. The game gave you a deep sense of connection with characters through it's in depth backstories. It is a title widely considered a masterpiece and rightfully so.
Everything about that game's formula can now be seen repeated in recent games, including the newer titles in the Final Fantasy series. They build off of the game's bases and try to replicate it. Sadly most games fail to reach the level of depth that FFVII attained, but many of them come close and are well worth the time. Games that you can clearly tell take inspiration from FFVII include the Kingdom Hearts series, Shadow Hearts, and Bravely Default.
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2. Adventure-Action
This genre was dominated by the hit game from Nintendo, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. It was the first title to ever receive the amazing score of 40/40 from Famitsu. Ever since this game debuted it has set the path for countless games to follow. All of the series game's after it also followed the same setup until the recent release of Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. They all had the same basic set up of gathering weapons, getting help from npc's, doing side missions to progress, and saving the princess at the end. The basics of this game are in so many different games you don't even need to compare them.
The game Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild only breaks this tradition and brings it back to the original formula. It lets you go anywhere and do anything in any order you wish. It has actual side missions and isn't just a linear path from start to finish. It has become an open world game and is another genre completely. (Here's a quick fun fact, 4 Legend of Zelda titles have won the 40/40 Famitsu score!) Games such as Fable 2, Dark Siders, and even theTomb Raider series take formats form LoZ: OoT.
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1. Open World
This genre is becoming more and more popular as time goes on and systems become more powerful. With vast open lands to explore, multiple side quests, ever more realistic graphics and npc's it continues to attract newcomers. This is evident by the amount of times they re-release and milk The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim (Seriously. How many times is it now?). More and more games seem to be heading in this general direction of huge open landscapes. This is evident from Breath of the Wild and the up-coming game Kingdom Hearts 3.
I believe the start of this trend began from the addicting game created by Blizzard Entertainment, World of Warcraft. To be clear games like the original Legend of Zelda don't count, seeing as there are transitions and and tons of loading screens, not to mention a lack of content. World of Warcraft was the first game to attract millions of players to itself and keep them hooked for years to come. It offered seemingly never-ending content in ways of quests, weapons, exclusive content, and numerous amounts of players to converse with. The game is still going strong to this day and continues to attract newcomers. Games like the before mentioned Skyrim and others like it take inspiration and make what we have today.
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Well there you have it, a list on which games changed and molded the gaming world to what it is today. Many of the games I mentioned on this list were groundbreaking at their time. We take games for granted today however, we seem to forget the foundations of these new titles. I thought it would be nice to remember the ground breaking games that got us here. It has been a long journey, but it isn't over yet and I can not wait to see what the future holds.
Thanks to the wonderful companies and workers who put countless hours into these games! The effort you put into them to entertain us is astounding and really touching. Thank you for reading this post of mine! If you liked my post please up-vote, resteem, and follow me for future content! I really appreciate the support.
