So an article on Game Informer had me thinking about this - https://www.gameinformer.com/feature/2020/10/02/game-informers-best-games-of-the-generation
I’ll start off by just thinking back to the games I really enjoyed or feel are influential this generation without nailing it down to areas, but I’ll expand out to other areas in a later post. So off the top of my head the games that defined the generation for me… (in no particular order).
The Last of Us 2 - see the thread - https://clodofwar.net/forum/d/680-the-last-of-us-2 - for my full thoughts with spoiler tags. Beautiful, challenging and really pushes the boundaries of the medium. Something you see so little of in the bigger AAA titles.
Bloodborne - Souls game taken to a different place with a change in focus for the combat and setting. I’m hoping this gets ported for PC (just so they also update for PS5) and that in turn means a sequel next generation.
The Witness - Singular puzzle format used in lots of inventive ways and structured so cleverly to teach and build knowledge in the player.
Uncharted 4 / Lost Legacy - Bundled these two a bit cheekily. UC4 was the perfect fan send off for Nate and LL was a great spin off distillation of what made the series so good.
DriveClub - despite it’s troubles, despite what happened to Evolution Studios, this was my racer of the generation for what it did and how it did it. An engine that produced jaw dropping visuals and a driving model and structure that is what racing games are all about.
Horizon Zero Dawn - Guerrilla games taking their technical prowess and producing a compelling open world with a great combat engine.
Titanfall 2 - Best SP campaign in a FPS for many, many years.
Dreams - Just bonkers, what they achieve and the fact that Sony fund it.
Steam World Dig 1 & 2 - Great example of Indie games done with great design, structure and playability.
Caveats: Yet to play/complete - God Of War / Ghost of Tsushima / Death Stranding / FFVII / Jedi Fallen Order