The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Re-writing the rulebook of its already wildly creative, ultra-successful predecessor Breath of the Wild was no easy task for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom but this sequel is proof that lightning can strike twice. A vertically expanded Hyrule, deeper combat, and bold additions in the shape of the new Zonai devices gave fresh power to twist and mould practically any object which takes Link’s fancy. A towering achievement on Nintendo’s aging console.

Inside

Combining atmospheric story-telling with clever puzzles, a stark aesthetic, and impeccable pacing, Playdead’s Inside presented one of the best side-scrolling adventure titles of all time. It’s saying something when a title of this caliber launched more than eight years ago, and nothing else in the genre has come close to matching up.

The Stanley Parable

The broad appeal of The Stanley Parable is easy to understand; it lacks a complex control scheme and doesn’t ask for long gaming sessions, and the experimental narrative sandbox is instantly gripping. You can casually sit down for 10 minutes at a time going through different routes as you come up with different ways to annoy the narrator. This narrative choose-your-own-adventure experience breaks the fourth wall many times, constantly poking fun at the illusion of choice in narrative-driven video games. Like others on this list, The Stanley Parable can be categorized as a visual novel just as much as it can a video game, though it smartly pokes at what it means to be a video game through its unique first-person interactivity.

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice

The first Hellblade was pretty groundbreaking when it came out in 2017. Sure, the combat wasn’t amazing, and the level design left something to be desired, but the immersive quality of the main character’s audio-visual hallucinations was new and interesting. Hellblade helped push the interactive medium by putting players into the mind of someone suffering from Psychosis. The team wanted a game that let players experience the mental illness itself, and not just the reactions of characters experiencing it. This was expressed by voices in Senua’s head rather than just text on a screen. Hellblade was played by many outside the gaming space who wanted to experience something new and different, and that included nurses and doctors wanting to understand Psychosis as well as casual players looking for a different kind of narrative experience.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Any Animal Crossing game could earn a spot on this list, but New Horizons gets an edge up due to being on the Switch and selling a whopping 45 million. Animal Crossing is pretty much the ultimate cozy lifestyle sim, one that doesn’t demand too much time to thoroughly enjoy. The gameplay philosophy of taking on little bite-sized tasks every day can apply to real life, and it’s one of the reasons people from all walks of life love it. The portable on-the-go functionality of the Nintendo Switch adds to the mass appeal of Animal Crossing: New Horizons further, giving otherwise-dull vacations and business trips added fun as players meet new villagers and find ways to pay off Tom Nook’s loan.

The Witness

Braid was one of the first indie games to really go viral back in the late 2000s, and we had to wait quite a long while for Jonathan Blow’s next game. 8 years later, The Witness arrived and challenged what a puzzle video game could be. The Witness is about as pure a puzzle game as you can get. There’s no music, no plot, and no gameplay to speak of other than walking and solving the creative grid-based line-connecting puzzles. Puzzle aficionados can feel right at home with The Witness’s escalating complexity without worrying about control scheme worries or typical multimedia layers like sound and cinematics getting in the way. The only knock against it is that it’s still not available on Android, and that someone hasn’t converted its puzzles into book form yet.

Detroit: Become Human

With 85 possible endings and a myriad of different paths, Detroit: Become Human is the ultimate choose-your-own-adventure game. The plot revolves around a dystopian sci-fi Detroit being overrun by android sentience, but the developer’s style is what really makes the game unique. Also, it’s got the best branching choice flow chart in a game to date. Detroit: Become Human is a real delight to watch and play, making it an ideal streamer game for gamers and non-gamers alike.

Undertale

It’s difficult to pin down how or what exactly got this RPG indie sensation so popular. Undertale employs a 2D aesthetic and despite its niche and retro inspirations, Undertale attracted many new gamers into the fold, resulting in a surge of people going back to play the older classics out of curiosity and passion for the style. The story isn’t your typical grandiose journey, and the gameplay merges genres like bullet hells into its battle system, making for a unique and fresh experience that has sparked an interest in such genres to newcomers.

Super Mario Odyssey

Being one of the most popular and highly rated Mario games to date with 27 million in sales is no small feat. It’s true that pretty much every mainline Mario game has wide appeal and moves consoles, but Super Mario Odyssey had a trick up its sleeve, or should I say, a hat? The transforming Cappy hat, swimsuit Mario, and Jump Up Superstar big band song instantly entered meme status, capturing a wide audience as a result. And we’re thankful the marketing caught on because Super Mario Odyssey is one of the most fun and well-designed 3D platformers of all time.

Celeste

Despite being a punishing platformer, Celeste has some of the most user-friendly difficulty options in the genre. The options allow you to play how you want with the amount of air dashes, stamina, and invincibility available as a toggle. Also, the game is just so quick to jump in and out of thanks to the snappy respawn and checkpoints for every room. Beyond the flexible gameplay, the story is broadly appealing with the main character’s down-to-earth battles with anxiety, all told through a supernatural mountain climb.

Stardew Valley

Stardew Valley ticks all the casual boxes and does it with a surprising amount of depth. You can farm crops and stake your place in the valley at a leisurely pace, or you can work toward seeing the post-game content with a successful farm and wife. Stardew Valley has a lot of management sim meat on its bones despite its casual appearance, leading players to try out more involved games lacking the kind of convenience features this game has.

Firewatch

Firewatch is another one on this list that’s perhaps just as enjoyable to watch as it is to play. The dialogue between the two fire dispatchers, Henry and Delilah, really carries this game with the charm and witty banter. It’s also got a mystery element woven through the narrative as you’re left questioning if Delilah is well-intentioned, working as a spy, going nuts, or all of the above. The down-to-earth nature of its premise and laid-back gameplay help give Firewatch a broad appeal.

Journey

Everyone reading this already knows about Journey, so I’ll spare the summary. Journey is one of those games that gets instantly recommended to non-players, and for good reason. It’s impossible to fail at, has an attractive audio-visual core, and provides an interactive experience you can’t get elsewhere. The lack of UI cluttering the screen eases new players to dive in without hesitation. And who doesn’t like sand surfing? It’s just so easy to pop into a session without needing to use your brain and tense up your gaming reflexes. Journey would go on to be a true journey into the wide world of video games for many newcomers to the hobby.

Portal

Originally developed as a school project titled Narbacular Drop, Portal went on to inspire independent games as a concept. The inventive portal tool gets our brains to think outside the box as we solve Glados’ test chambers. The narrative brims with inventiveness as the test subject, Chell, seeks to break free of the testing and find a new path forward. Portal remains one of the most creative and unique games ever created. It’s one of those games that breaks the boundary of the entertainment box it’s in, compelling gamers and non-gamers alike to experience its quirky and unpredictable narrative. Even with first-person 3D controls, non-gamers couldn’t help but experience such a novel, mind-bending game.

Inside

It’s astonishing how simple and understated the gameplay and aesthetic of Inside is, yet it’s still hailed as one of the most unique gaming experiences. Like Limbo before it, the intro of Inside has you simply walking forward without any exposition or explanation. You’re left to wander and figure things out through exploration and carefully constructed environments. If the dark atmosphere wasn’t enough, there’s also some horror sprinkled in with little jump scares and tense moments that help push Inside further into the annals of casual game stardom.

The Last of Us: Part 1

The Last of Us manages to hit that sweet spot appealing to those outside the gaming sphere while still being challenging and ‘video-gamey’ in its own right. Now that The Last of Us TV show is out, non-gamers are flocking to the remake of the first game more than ever. The game’s setting ticks all the boxes of a modern series-seller: zombies, post-apocalypse, survival, father-daughter bonding, drama. The Last of Us: Part 1 also happens to punch us right in the gut with one of the most impactful openers in any form of media, let alone video game. It’s easy to see why The Last of Us got its own TV series and a remakes after the original’s release in 2013.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

We all knew The Legend of Zelda could sell systems and rise to the top of Metacritic ratings, but who could’ve predicted Breath of the Wild’s tremendous success? When Breath of the Wild first came out, it was often called the best game of all time. Taking Zelda fully open world revitalized the genre and helped draw in new players who wanted to explore at their own pace. The open exploration is accompanied by flexible abilities like Magnet and Stasis, which allow for a wide range of creative solutions to puzzles and ways to play with items, enemies, and the environment around you. Sure, the weapons break way too fast in Breath of the Wild, but many players could overlook that due to the vast world and limitless ways to play the game. Many fans of Breath of the Wild would go on to try out other games afterward, revitalizing the genre with a new set of admirers.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

PORTAL 2

With a main story about 8-9 hours long, Portal 2 is nearly thrice as long as its predecessor, but just like its predecessor, feels like the perfect length. Valve’s ingenious puzzler sequel throws in plenty of new mechanics and design ideas on top of the first game’s foundations, and over the course of its meticulously chiseled runtime, gets absolutely everything out of all of its best ideas.

There are, of course, major spoilers ahead for each of the games featured in this rundown, so skip a section if you want to discover the game’s conclusion for yourself.

Red Dead Redemption 2

Rockstar’s wild west opus has four endings (three as Arthur Morgan, one as John Marston) but owing to your inevitable attachment to Morgan during the 50-hour-or-so campaign none are especially uplifting. The ‘good’ – in inverted commas – ending sees Morgan assisting Marston in a shootout against Dutch’s gang and the Pinkertons. High honour: Arthur succumbs to tuberculosis watching the sunrise; low: he takes a bullet to the head. Abandoning Marston for the bad ending sees Morgan lose a knife fight to Micah Bell. Each ending elevates an already engrossing story, but it sure does suck for Arthur to lose his life no matter what you choose.

Ghost of Tsushima  

Jin’s defence of Tsushima from Mongol invaders culminates in the ultimate moral quandary, and players are divided on which direction is most canonical. On the one hand, killing Lord Shimura – his surrogate father – is most honourable for Shimura but distressing for Jin. Sparing his uncle dishonours the family, spitting in the face of samurai code. Opt for the former to poetically symbolise Jin’s full transition to ghost, severing any remaining connection to the samurai code he once adhered, no matter how much Shimura demanded it. Either way, Jin is left a lone wolf, his heroism reduced to villainy in the eyes of the Shogun.

Shadow of the Colossus

Yeah, you’ve slain sixteen colossi to revitalise your lady love Mono, but at what cost? The scheming Dormin doesn’t reveal their identity as annexed demon until the game’s very end, but by that time it’s too late, the damage is done. Shadow of the Colossus has a way of making you feel sorry for the fierce-now-slain colossi, even though your actions as Wander were in good faith; to be fair to Dormin too, they do uphold their end of the bargain in reviving Mono. Agro the horse survives too, at least.

Limbo

Enigmatic Limbo, the odyssey of a boy in search of his sister. This silent, dark ambient masterwork is open to interpretation, but the presiding theory is that the boy is dead and that the game is an allegorical retelling of his life right up until the moment he checks out. With all the gravitational flailing during the game’s final moments it seems the boy died in a car crash, but the gut punch here is that he clearly doesn’t know he’s already dead. Maybe his sister was never in Limbo? Or maybe she died in the crash too? The two never clap eyes on each other at the end, despite the sister sensing the boy’s presence. Tragic.

Braid

An ending which re-contextualises the narrative, during Braid we play as Tim during his attempts to rescue a princess from an evil monster, although maybe Tim is the monster all along? This blatant switcheroo is not as trivial as it first appears. Tim, as revealed via in-game texts, was instrumental in The Manhattan Project, with the princess being a manifestation of his guilt surrounding his part in the atom bomb’s development. The flip-reverse finale whereby we believe we’re rescuing the princess only for time to switch backwards to reveal she’s running away cements Tim’s legacy as wrongdoer. It’s a beautiful, bittersweet full circle.

SOMA  

Say what you will about SOMA, but it’s got one of the heaviest existential crises in all video games. Uploading consciousness to digital formats is conceptually and morally nebulous; SOMA asks just what it is to be human. Is it someone’s thoughts, personality, memories? If so, is it the same person if you extract these thoughts and implant them in a carbon-copied body? Experiencing this first-hand through the eyes of Simon, we feel a sense of triumph as his fourth iteration is deposited into the ARK before its voyage to interstellar sanctuary, but our eyes stay with Simon3 as he’s left behind in dark, subaquatic abyss, abandoned and alone.

The Last of Us

The pinnacle of moral middle ground, you play the majority of The Last of Us as grief-stricken smuggler Joel, and you’ll endear yourself to him principally due to the tragic loss of his daughter some two decades prior; a heinous tragedy, with unshakeable grief hanging over him like a dark cloud. Ellie is his chance at finally conquering his sorrow, of blowing this dark cloud away, so his actions – as abominable as they are for the rest of humanity – are explainable. There’s no denying his selfishness though; The Last of Us has us believe we play the good guy, but our nobility is shattered at the very end.

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

A game about working together to overcome insurmountable challenges, little brother Naiee heavily relies on older sibling Naia, until he can’t. Ingeniously exemplified via in-game controls, the loss of thumb-stick functionality for the older brother symbolising the very real loss Naiee experiences when Naia is no longer his guiding light. Together with Naiee, we’re forced to adapt, to learn strength, and live without help. It’s a bittersweet ending to an emotionally charged story.

A Way Out

Two endings are possible in dual-protagonist prison break drama A Way Out, yet the deaths of seasoned criminal Leo or undercover agent Vincent don’t bring any significant gratification to the player. Canonically, Leo killing Vincent makes more sense. After all, he’s the real criminal here despite his final actions motivated by betrayal than bloodlust. Vincent killing Leo is the easier pill to swallow but implies a failure to morally resolve his sting operation. Both share kinship, both have families outside of the drama, there’re no winners at the end of A Way Out.

L.A. Noire

Despite L.A. Noire adhering to the tragic finale trope of film noir, numerous players find the game’s ending dissatisfactory. Centring on Cole Phelps’ humdrum death at game’s end, Phelps’ quest for redemption ending on a damp squib, with little recognition for the man he is, for his uneventful funeral, it’s easy to see this resolution as a rushed job by the developers. Thing is, Phelps spent his life seeking redemption for his failures as a soldier, police officer, and husband. The fact he was on the cusp of reclamation before his untimely death is plain tragic.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

Sure, there are endless clues throughout MGSV: The Phantom Pain that Venom Snake isn’t in fact the real Big Boss, but The Medic whom Zero imparts skills, wisdom, and memories of Big Boss to act as decoy. By the end of the game, it feels like we’ve been playing as a lie. We eliminate the bad guys, but do we feel fulfilled? Aren’t we left with a feeling of emptiness – a Phantom Pain?

Inside

Monochromatic side-scroller Inside plunges a boy into a dangerous world, intriguing, otherworldly, hostile, and mysterious. He’s forging towards something, but that something is totally unexpected. Is the globule mass calling him? That point is up for interpretation, but once he’s enveloped, and the hulking mass escapes from the tight-knit facility all hell breaks loose. We escape, but to where? Was this whole thing orchestrated? One thing worth mentioning: when we reach the grey shoreline come the game’s very end, there’s a sense of tranquility. Of peace. Inside’s a strange one.

It Takes Two

Struggling couple Cody and May are forced to cooperate in It Takes Two, overcoming obstacles together in miniature toy-like form initially as a means to reach their daughter back in their human form, but then growing as a way to save their marriage. However, together they must torture and kill a stuffed elephant toy; a toy that, yes, whilst stuffed and not real is begging for mercy. It’s challenging, disturbing, quease-inducing, but come games end the trio of husband, wife, and daughter have a new perspective on their life and relationship. It’s just that getting there takes monumental challenge – kind of like true life.

Telltale’s The Walking Dead

Yes, an obvious pick for this feature. There’re question marks over saviour Lee’s fate – does he die in both the game’s possible endings? Sure, he’s bitten, so in one ending you shoot him out of sympathy, but in the other you can spare him. The tragedy here is that in saving your bullet you condemn him to becoming a walker. You’re left broken either way, a true example of survival but at what cost.

Gears of War 3

The ending of Gears of War 3 centers on sacrifice. It’s revealed player-character Marcus Fenix’s father Adam infects himself with Lambent cells in order to test his Locust eradicating machine. The machine works, sweeping a shockwave across Sera and completing the mission for Marcus and his team. They’ve won, but of course Marcus has lost his father, and perhaps greater, he mournfully ponders the remnants of humanity – was it all worth saving?

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons comes from Josef Fares, the mastermind behind popular co-op games like A Way Out and It Takes Two. The game tells a heartwarming story about two brothers working together through a vast world, and the mechanics do a good job of encouraging synergies between the player in new and interesting ways. Between this and the charming art style on offer, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons becomes a great game to play with a loved one.

Red Dead Redemption 2

Is Red Dead Redemption 2, one of the greatest games of all time, really the best Xbox One and PS4 title? Yes, it is, because even with the hardware limitations, Rockstar Games delivered an excellent open-world action-adventure. The story is fantastic; the characters, especially protagonist Arthur Morgan, are fantastic; and the gameplay, while not for everyone, is realistic and incredibly detailed with a wide range of activities.

A note before we begin: for the purposes of this list, we’re looking exclusively at strictly linear games. If a game is open world, semi-open world, wide linear, Metroidvania, places emphasis on exploration designed around backtracking, or anything of the sort, you won’t see it on this list. We know that’s a pretty strict way of defining linear design in games, but the very purpose of this feature is to celebrate that, after all, so do keep something in mind as we move ahead.

#15. WOLFENSTEIN 2: THE NEW COLOSSUS

MachineGames did an excellent job of redefining the Wolfenstein franchise with 2014’s The New Order, and then took the series’ new formula to even greater heights with its sequel. The biggest strengths of Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus obviously lie in its story and storytelling, and getting to witness its gleefully over-the-top cutscenes and wonderfully bizarre personalities in a story that remains captivating until the last second is an unforgettable experience. It helps, of course, that the action itself can also be a lot of fun.

The following titles will be available at launch:

• Among Us
• Descenders
• Dishonored 2
• Doom Eternal
• Fable Anniversary
• Fallout 4
• Fallout 76
• Forza Horizon 4
• Gears 5
• Grounded
• Halo 5: Guardians
• Halo Wars 2
• Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
• Human Fall Flat
• Inside
• Ori and The Will of the Wisps
• Psychonauts 2
• State of Decay 2
• The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited

Note that the game library may vary by country. More titles will be announced before the service’s launch in September. New games will be added two to three times yearly, though how many at any given time is unknown. Those currently subscribed to Xbox Live Gold will automatically switch to the new plan with no change in pricing.

Games with Gold officially ends on September 1st. Any Xbox One games redeemed through it are still accessible if you subscribe to Game Pass Core or Game Pass Ultimate. Xbox 360 titles obtained through the same will remain in your library, even without a subscription.  Stay tuned for more details in the coming months.

However, there are games which turn out even better than expected. Even if they looked good, the final result is something truly special. Here are 15 games that are way better than they initially had any right to be.

Inside

Coming off the success of Limbo, Playdead Games began work on Inside, a spiritual successor of sorts. Many praised the former for its presentation and gameplay in 2010. However, despite starting development on Inside two months later, it was a long journey for the studio. Revealed in 2014, it faced some delays, which wasn’t enough to create overwhelming concern. At the time, many expected Inside to be good, but not that good.

And it was more than good on release in 2016. Earning near-universal praise from critics, its dark mood and storytelling were arguably superior to Limbo. The short length also exemplified how a video game could deliver pitch-perfect pacing with compelling puzzles and mechanics, on top of an incredible plot that didn’t hold the player’s hand.

Several years later, Inside is remembered even more fondly than Limbo, transcending its indie identity to become one of the best games ever made.