#6. DARK SOULS
It’s very rare in today’s day and age for a game to literally create an all new genre, but that’s exactly what Dark Souls did – with the help of its spiritual predecessor Demon’s Souls, of course. However, even back in 2011, at a time when we did not the long-lasting impact and legacy Dark Souls would leave behind, it was still a revelation that took the entire industry by storm- wing simply to just how excellent of a game it was. Defined by stellar level design exhibiting the best qualities of metroidvanias, relentless difficulty that would go on to shape so much of the industry, great lore that you could pour hours and hours of your life into, and a tendency to actually let the player try things out and fail at a time when most games practically played themselves, Dark Souls managed to stand out from the very first day it came out. Of course, its enduring legacy and the monumental impact it would go on to have would only cement its place as one of the greatest games of all time.
