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Tutorial: A Solid 24 HOURS Of Video Game Top 10 Lists

In this tutorial, you will discover how to experience a full 24 hours of video game Top 10 lists. This comprehensive, step-by-step article will guide you through the single, continuous process required to complete this task. No prior experience is necessary to follow along and achieve the goal of continuous Top 10 list immersion for the designated duration.

Step 1: Complete Tutorial

Gaming Achievements and Challenges

Gaming achievements, as we know them today, were first introduced with the Xbox 360 in 2005. They provide players with a permanent record of their gaming accomplishments and a numerical value to track their progress and perceived worth as a gamer. However, in-game challenges have existed since the 1980s, with early Activision titles like Enduro Racing for the Atari 2600 even offering physical patches for photographic proof of high scores. Over time, these challenges have escalated, pushing players to the limits of patience, skill, and endurance in pursuit of digital validation.

Here are 10 impossible achievements and trophies you may never unlock:

1. World Champion (Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter - 2006)

  • The Challenge: To achieve "World Champion" in Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (often referred to as GRO), you must be the best in the world, topping the leaderboards and becoming the undisputed champion.
  • Why it's Impossible: GRO was released in 2006, when achievements were still a mysterious concept. The developers made the critical mistake of including multiplayer-based achievements. Today, this achievement is literally unattainable because the game's servers no longer exist. Even when the servers were active, this feat was nearly impossible for anyone not already a highly skilled, dedicated player.
  • Context: This video avoids games where servers are defunct, rendering achievements literally unattainable. However, "World Champion" is highlighted due to its extreme requirement of being "the very best in the world," adding an extra layer of difficulty even when the multiplayer was functional.

2. The Three Mountains (Europa Universalis 4)

  • The Challenge: In Europa Universalis 4 (EU4), a grand strategy title from Paradox known for its deep systems, steep learning curve, and over 300 achievements, "The Three Mountains" requires you to own or vassalize the entire world. You must start as the one-province state of Ryukyu, a tiny island in the Pacific.
  • Why it's Impossible: EU4 offers no assistance for power imbalances. You have to climb the global hierarchy through cunning strategies like converting to a Japanese shogunate for a vassal swarm, colonizing new islands, or even relocating to rural Siberia. Many have attempted, but few have succeeded. Another challenging achievement, "One Faith," requires converting the entire world to your religion. "The Three Mountains" is particularly absurd due to starting as such a small island nation with "small country syndrome."
  • Important Note: You can only earn achievements in EU4 by playing in Iron Man mode, which prevents reloading earlier saves, even if you’ve invested weeks into a game.

3. Hail to the King (Final Fantasy 9)

  • The Challenge: Among Final Fantasy's history of grind-heavy tasks and optional bosses, one of the most maddening achievements involves a simple skipping rope mini-game. You must jump 1,000 times without failing.
  • Why it's Impossible: The mini-game, played by Black Mage Vivi, first appears early in Final Fantasy 9. While it offers some early rewards, completing 1,000 jumps is extremely difficult. The tempo changes throughout, and there are reports of input lag on remasters. It requires near-perfect, robotic rhythm, leading some players to resort to PC scripts to emulate clicks through custom controller software and PS4 Remote Play. This is arguably worse than hundreds of hours of grinding because it demands flawless execution of a simple, repetitive action.

4. Quiz (World of Guns: Gun Disassembly)

  • The Challenge: In "World of Guns: Gun Disassembly," a free-to-play app focused on maintaining and disassembling over 200 firearms, the "Quiz" achievement requires you to correctly name 10 guns from their silhouettes within 45 seconds.
  • Why it's Impossible: While it sounds easy, the game features over 200 similar-looking weapons. Additionally, you can only retake the test twice per hour, adding pressure and limiting attempts. A top Steam Achievement Hunter, "zzzzok," formerly ranked first in the US, identified this as one of his hardest challenges, underscoring its surprising difficulty for what is essentially an interactive firearms encyclopedia.

5. The Bladder of Steel Award (Rock Band 2)

  • The Challenge: This aptly named Rock Band 2 achievement requires you to complete the endless setlist 2 without pausing or failing.
  • Why it's Impossible: The endless setlist is approximately 6 and a half hours long, effectively preventing any bathroom breaks for a quarter of a day. This is an absurdly long session, exceeding most actual musicians' concert durations (e.g., Bruce Springsteen's 4-hour set, Live Aid's 16 hours with multiple bands). The only saving grace is that you can complete it with any instrument on medium difficulty, making it theoretically possible to "whine at vaguely the correct pitch through the microphone while continuing to live your life."

6. 7-Day Survivor (Dead Rising)

  • The Challenge: In Dead Rising, a 2006 Xbox 360 title, the "7-Day Survivor" achievement tasks you with surviving for 7 straight in-game days in Overtime Mode, which translates to 14 hours of real-time gameplay.
  • Why it's Impossible: The game's constantly ticking clock becomes a nightmare because you cannot save your progress. You're also constantly losing health, so you can't simply camp in a hiding spot. Food, essential for healing, does not respawn, forcing you to constantly search for supplies. This means spending longer than you'd likely survive in a real zombie apocalypse. After 14 grueling hours, you receive a mere 20G, a meager reward for such an immense test of endurance.

7. Stampers Forever (Rare Replay)

  • The Challenge: "Stampers Forever" in Rare Replay requires collecting all 330 stamps spread across 30 separate games within the collection.
  • Why it's Impossible: While playing iconic titles like Banjo-Kazooie and Perfect Dark is enjoyable, many require 75% completion for maximum stamp acquisition, even if they have standalone achievement lists. Jet Force Gemini alone can take around 25 hours. The most punishing stamps, surprisingly, come from Grabbed by the Ghoulies, Rare's mediocre Xbox debut. This game is considered a torment for completionists, and the challenge feels entirely at odds with the celebratory nature of Rare Replay, potentially jeopardizing any warm nostalgia for these classic hits.

8. Emperor (Elder Scrolls Online)

  • The Challenge: In Elder Scrolls Online (ESO), a massively multiplayer online game with a robust PvP system, becoming "Emperor" requires you to capture and hold six keeps surrounding the Imperial City while also being the highest-ranking player in your alliance for that week-long campaign.
  • Why it's Impossible: With over 1.2 million players (as of 2020), even with different servers for consoles, PC, and major regions, and various campaign options, the competition is immense. You're up against very experienced players. Tactics range from selecting less populated campaigns to making shady deals with opposing alliances, or simply playing for "28 hours a day." Beyond the prestige of the trophy, you also get a unique in-game chair, which is part of the allure for dedicated players.

9. Impossible Right? and Lowest of the Low (Crypt of the NecroDancer)

  • The Challenge: This rhythm-based roguelike is known for its difficulty. "Impossible Right?" is achieved by completing the game with Coda, a character who dies if you miss a beat, touch gold, or upgrade weapons, all while the game runs at double speed (up to 350 beats per minute on the hardest boss). "Lowest of the Low" requires completing an all-characters run without picking up items or using shrines, which means nine characters back-to-back without dying.
  • Why it's Impossible: The game's programmer, Ryan Clark, doubted anyone would beat Coda, but a few "crazy people" did, most famously speedrunner Spooty Biscuit in 2016. "Lowest of the Low" has only been unlocked by 0.2% of Steam players and less than 0.1% of PlayStation players, making these some of the rarest platinums.

10. Various Achievements (Dragon Fin Soup)

  • The Challenge: Several achievements in this indie RPG, released in 2015, are literally impossible to unlock due to game-breaking bugs. Titles like "Fishing Master," "Jack of All Trades," and "Beast Master" have zero registered unlocks on leaderboards.
  • Why it's Impossible: Dragon Fin Soup suffered from severe stat tracking issues, resetting counters for bosses, kills, and XP. Numerous glitches also halted overall game progress, including frequent crashes when trying to save. The developer, Grim Bros, stated in 2016 that they couldn't fix the PlayStation port, blaming external partners, and a promised "fixed Extra Chunky Edition" never materialized. Further updates were indefinitely postponed, leaving this platinum forever out of reach.

Most Disgusting Video Game Characters

Video games often use their graphical capabilities to create visually breathtaking landscapes and beautiful characters. However, some developers choose to craft grotesque and unsettling designs, frequently paired with disturbing backstories. These are the creatures that tend to linger in our minds, especially when alone in the dark.

Here are the 10 most disgusting video game characters:

1. Gerty (The Binding of Isaac)

  • Description: Gerty, also known as "The Pile," is an immobile boss, presumably due to her amorphous mass of flesh and organs. She has two small arms that signal her attacks and a partially deformed face.
  • Context: The Binding of Isaac, an indie roguelike inspired by the biblical tale, features many grotesque enemies. Gerty's design was reportedly intended to look like a pile of dead children, but this was deemed too visually confusing, so she became a "huge heap of guts instead."

2. The Master (Fallout)

  • Description: Born Richard Moreau (or Richard Gray), The Master is a hideous biomechanical entity controlling the mutant army in Fallout 1. He was transformed into a formless blob after falling into a vat of Forced Evolutionary Virus (FEV) during an investigation. He later expanded, absorbing other creatures and humans, and merging with the military HQ's computer system.
  • Context: The Master's fusion of flesh and mechanics is unsettling, reminiscent of H.R. Giger's work. He also possesses a creepy array of voices—two male, one female, and one robotic—which cycle during conversation, making interactions even more disturbing. Players can avoid a direct confrontation by sniping him or using pulse grenades from a distance.

3. The Bloater (The Last of Us)

  • Description: The fourth stage of the Cordyceps brain infection, Bloaters are both revolting and dangerous. Their skulls blossom into fungal explosions, and their misshapen, lumpy bodies are covered in thick Cordyceps coating that acts as protective armor.
  • Context: Bloaters are particularly tough and aggressive, often insta-killing players upon being grabbed. They also hurl sacks of mycotoxin that explode, damaging the player over time. Their appearance, sounds, and mannerisms make them truly horrible enemies, described as "angry, tough, and exceptionally ugly."

4. Marguerite Baker (Resident Evil 7: Biohazard)

  • Description: Before succumbing to the influence of Evelyn's "gift," Marguerite was a caring housewife. The Mold infection warped her into a psychotic fanatic who can birth and control hideous molded insects. Her limbs elongate, and her stomach swells with swarming bugs.
  • Context: Marguerite's transformation makes her superhumanly strong and fast, allowing her to scuttle along walls and ceilings during her final encounter in the greenhouse. The hive in her abdomen discharges creepy crawlies and can be targeted for extra damage. Her bizarre body movements, revealing infected swarms between her insectile legs, are incredibly sickening.

5. Cerberus (Dante's Inferno)

  • Description: This repulsive beast, guarding the third circle of hell, has a trio of mouths, human hands, and worm-like heads. Its flesh transitions from pale to raw and bloody, and its teeth are decayed. Its eyes are replaced with more snapping chops.
  • Context: This Cerberus deviates significantly from traditional portrayals of the mythical three-headed dog, combining strange elements of human and mollusk physiology. Dante is forced to brutally slay the creature, lopping off two heads before finishing the last one.

6. Abstract Daddy (Silent Hill 2)

  • Description: Also known as "Ideal Father," this creature is a manifestation of Angela's childhood trauma, referencing the abuse she suffered. It appears as two bodies intertwined beneath a sheet of fetid flesh, with dangling limbs and two distorted mouths among the putrid tissue. The lower form wails and screams in anguish.
  • Context: The design mirrors surrealist art. The perverse nature of its form reflects Angela's traumatic experiences. The room where it's encountered, with aggressive pistons, is reminiscent of a defiled uterus, continuing the horrific metaphor. While other Silent Hill creatures are overtly monstrous, the symbolic meaning behind Abstract Daddy contributes to an inescapable sense of terror.

7. Dr. William Birkin (Resident Evil 2)

  • Description: William Birkin, the virologist and father, transforms into a grotesque creature of several forms after injecting himself with the G-virus. In Stage 1, his body ruptures to reveal a huge, twitching, bloodshot eye. Subsequent phases involve developing claws and additional limbs, progressively losing human resemblance. His final form is a shapeless mass of fangs and tentacles.
  • Context: Birkin's noises in his final form are "abominable," described as stomach-turning. The progression of his mutation from human to monster is a core element of the game's horror.

8. Dead Hand (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time)

  • Description: This hunched beast is covered in dark splotches, resembling seeping blood beneath pale, corpse-like skin or bandages. Its lifeless eyes contribute to its terror, but its "horrible neck wobbling walk" truly evokes dread. It hides in the earth, waiting to snatch passersby with its numerous monstrous hands.
  • Context: Dead Hand's unexpected inclusion in the otherwise lighter Ocarina of Time makes it even more unnerving. Its German name, "Brain Feeder," evokes a zombie-like vibe. Encountered at the bottom of a well, it preys on childhood fears of monsters grabbing exposed feet, especially unsettling when considering Link is a child.

9. The One Reborn (Bloodborne)

  • Description: This "glorious one reborn" is a massive, dead mass of limbs and tissue, described as "less a human centipede and more of a human amalgamate." It has a large humanoid torso attached to an undulating mass of rotting corpses, with limbs seemingly moving independently.
  • Context: Born from a Pthumerian ritual, The One Reborn appears through a portal, evoking imagery of birth. It has simple mechanics but hits hard with AOE attacks and "putrid vomit." Decaying corpses rain down during the battle.

10. The Brood Mother (Dragon Age: Origins)

  • Description: Brood Mothers are heavily mutated, hulking, and immobile, bearing little resemblance to human women. They are characterized by many disgusting, ringed tentacles.
  • Context: The dreadfulness of the Brood Mother is amplified by disturbing lore: Darkspawn abduct human women, torture them, force them to consume ghoul flesh, and mutate into these creatures. It's heavily implied they endure horrific violations, becoming victims twisted by unspeakable abuse. They are then forced to "birth the next generation of demonic creatures," losing all humanity and gaining an "unrelenting need to devour and reproduce." Their offspring, like shriffreeaks, hurlocks, and ogres, are equally horrific.

Strange Video Game Character Cameos

Video game cameos, or surprise appearances, can add a fresh and unique element to a game, especially when the visiting character fits their new surroundings perfectly. Genres from sports and racing to RPGs and fighting games have featured prominent gaming stars trying out new skills, with varying degrees of effectiveness.

Here are 10 weird character cameos in video games:

1. Kratos (Everybody's Golf World Tour)

  • The Cameo: Kratos, the protagonist of the brutal action series God of War, appears as a DLC character in Everybody's Golf World Tour (also known as Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds in North America), released in 2008 for the PlayStation 3.
  • Why it's Weird: It's bizarre to see the "Ghost of Sparta" playing golf. Despite the initial oddity, Kratos has surprisingly fitted positives and flaws to his golf game. His main strength is power in his drives, which makes sense given his godly activities. He's also good in rough areas, great at spinning (both on the ball and with his Blades of Chaos), and his control is described as "average."

2. Scorpion (Injustice: Gods Among Us)

  • The Cameo: Scorpion, a character from the Mortal Kombat series, is a DLC character in Injustice: Gods Among Us, a DC Universe fighting game developed by NetherRealm Studios (who also develop Mortal Kombat).
  • Why it's Weird: While both games are fighting games from the same developer, the idea of Scorpion being sucked through a portal into the DC Comics world is intriguing. He retains a near-identical move set to his home-turf self. His story mode ending sees him defeating all heroes and villains, then raising an army from hell to invade Earth.

3. Pac-Man (Anna Kournikova's Smash Court Tennis)

  • The Cameo: Pac-Man appears as a secret character in this 1998 PS1 tennis game.
  • Why it's Weird: This seemingly normal sports game, named after a famous tennis star, hides a myriad of Capcom gaming guest stars. The inclusion of Pac-Man, a "whacka whacka man" and "yellow-tinted eldritch nightmare," in a tennis tournament is highly unusual. The game features other odd cameos like fighters from Tekken and officers from Time Crisis.

4. Shrek (Tony Hawk's Underground 2)

  • The Cameo: Shrek, the "meme king," leaves his swamp to promote his new movie, Shrek 2, on halfpipes in Tony Hawk's Underground 2.
  • Why it's Weird: With Activision owning rights to both Tony Hawk and Shrek 2 the video game, Shrek's inclusion as a playable character seemed inevitable for promotional purposes. Unlocked by beating the game on easy, Shrek has unique signature moves, including using earwax as lubricant for grinding and belching on walls to form an "S" instead of graffiti.

5. Geralt (Monster Hunter: World)

  • The Cameo: Geralt of Rivia from The Witcher series appears in Monster Hunter: World through a story campaign featuring a fully realized, voiced, and playable version of the character.
  • Why it's Weird: The Monster Hunter series, focused on capturing, studying, and slaying fantasy creatures, is a perfect fit for a collaboration with The Witcher universe (minus the adult themes). Geralt tracks a creature from his world causing havoc. He boasts more health than average hunters, can use his Ignis magic spell, and employs his Witcher senses for solo monster tracking. The quest allows players to craft Witcher weapons and gear for their regular Monster Hunter: World character.

6. Donkey Kong (Punch-Out!! Wii)

  • The Cameo: Donkey Kong appears as a secret boss in Punch-Out!! on the Wii, complete with original voice actor Takashi Nagasako.
  • Why it's Weird: Despite issues like kidnapping Pauline, Donkey Kong, with zero boxing experience, is a giant gorilla boxing a human man, Little Mac. This would be immediately dismissed by any legitimate sports body. Donkey Kong is prone to taunting and counterattacking, and is very hard to knock out. If Mac fails, DK picks him up and exits, just as he did with Pauline.

7. Link (Soulcalibur II)

  • The Cameo: Link from The Legend of Zelda joins the roster as a crossover character in the GameCube version of Soulcalibur II, released in 2002.
  • Why it's Weird: Guest characters in fighting games are common. Link's inclusion was ingenious as it required almost no voice lines. He has access to all his iconic gear: Master Sword, bow, bombs, and boomerang, plus a wide selection of costumes and other weapons spanning Zelda's history. After finding the evil weapon Soul Edge, he vanquishes the threat and quietly disappears, making it just another day at the office for him.

8. Spider-Man (The Revenge of Shinobi)

  • The Cameo: Spider-Man appears as a boss in the 1989 game The Revenge of Shinobi.
  • Why it's Weird: The game initially featured numerous familiar-looking pop culture characters as bosses, including knock-off versions of the Terminator, Batman, and Godzilla. While these were removed due to copyright, Sega obtained a product license for Spider-Man, officially including him in the third revision. Upon defeat, Spider-Man no longer morphs back into a shapeshifter, confirming he's the "real friendly neighborhood Spider-Man," whom you've "gravely wounded."

9. Creepers (Borderlands 2)

  • The Cameo: Creepers from Minecraft make a surprising cameo in Gearbox Software's co-op looter-shooter Borderlands 2.
  • Why it's Weird: Found in the Caustic Caverns, a suspicious wall resembling a Minecraft block can be attacked, revealing several combustible green Creepers, including a Badass-ranked Creeper boss. This collaboration between an exploding enemy and a series known for explosions is a "match made in heaven." Creepers have a high chance of dropping a unique skin for each Borderlands 2 class, a helmet that transforms the player into "Minecraft protagonist Steve," and a shotgun called "Blockhead."

10. Raiden (Unreal Championship 2)

  • The Cameo: Raiden, the Elder God of Thunder and Watcher over Earthrealm from Mortal Kombat, appears in the first and third-person shooter Unreal Championship 2.
  • Why it's Weird: Raiden, typically focused on violent tournaments, finds his way into a multiplayer deathmatch shooter. His mission, according to his in-game bio, is to recruit champions for his cause of protection. He uses his electrically charged staff and lightning bolts to cause havoc, often talking smack ("Flawless Victory! I am a god!"). The oddity intensifies when considering his stated goal of recruitment versus his tendency to kill everyone. The humor of asking "where do you want to gather people from next, Splatoon?" highlights the absurdity.

Things Gamers Don't Do Anymore

The video game world has evolved dramatically since the 80s and 90s, making certain practices obsolete. While some of these might still be done by a small minority, they are no longer the norm for video game fans.

1. Using Cheat Codes

  • Past Practice: In the past, developers included cheat codes that players could enter with their controllers to make games easier or more interesting, offering effects like extra lives or transforming characters into household objects.
  • Modern Reality: Modern games rarely feature cheat codes, or they are hidden in endgame bonus menus. This shift is partly due to the rise of online gaming, where in-game cheats would be unfair. While some players still cheat through hacking, developers now issue lifetime bans for such actions.

2. Buying Physical Game Guides or Calling Tip Hotlines

  • Past Practice: If stuck in a game, players would buy physical guidebooks, often expensive and covering the entire game even for a single needed stage. Alternatively, with parental permission, they could call game company hotlines (e.g., Nintendo Power hotline, set up in 1987) for help.
  • Modern Reality: The internet and online guides have made hotlines and physical guidebooks largely unnecessary.

3. Blowing into Cartridges

  • Past Practice: Old games came on hefty plastic cartridges that slotted into consoles. If a game didn't boot, the universal solution was to remove the cartridge, flip it upside down, take a deep breath, and blow into it to dislodge dust or fluff, which often worked despite manufacturer warnings.
  • Modern Reality: With digital downloads and shiny discs, this practice is extinct. You don't need to blow into the face of your PS5 for God of War Ragnarok to boot.

4. Tripping Over Controller Cords

  • Past Practice: Before wireless technology, controllers were wired to consoles, limiting player mobility and leading to instances of tripping over cables.
  • Modern Reality: Wireless controllers allow players to sit far from screens. While charging still involves cables, instances of "dad going head over heels into the coffee table" are far less common.

5. Pirating Games

  • Past Practice: Piracy methods were more accessible, with friends finding copies for small fees or R4 cards loaded with games.
  • Modern Reality: Anti-piracy measures have advanced, making piracy more difficult and risking lifetime bans from developers. Games like Grand Theft Auto IV used in-game punishments (disabling car brakes, permanent drunken camera effect) for illegitimate copies.

6. Constantly Switching Input Cables and Finding the Right Channel

  • Past Practice: Setting up a console involved non-standardized input cables (e.g., three different colored plugs for different ports) and manually flipping through TV channels to find the correct input (e.g., RCA, SCART).
  • Modern Reality: HDMI cables and "source" buttons have simplified console setup significantly.

7. Using Memory Cards

  • Past Practice: Early consoles (PlayStation, PlayStation 2) lacked built-in storage, requiring physical memory cards to save game progress. These cards had limited space, forcing avid players to own many and remember which contained specific saves (e.g., Final Fantasy VII, Harry Potter).
  • Modern Reality: Games now save directly to consoles, rendering physical memory cards obsolete.

8. Queuing for Midnight Launches

  • Past Practice: For many years, it was common for video game and console launches to occur at midnight at stores, with excited gamers queuing for hours to secure a copy.
  • Modern Reality: Digital downloads and pre-installation mean players no longer need to brave cold nights in queues. Games can be accessed immediately at launch.

9. Having to Wait for a Game to Release in Your Territory

  • Past Practice: Global releases were uncommon, leading to significant delays (months or even years) for games released in one region to reach another.
  • Modern Reality: The internet has fostered a better-connected world, allowing games to generally get global releases, meaning players worldwide can enjoy games simultaneously.

10. Renting Games

  • Past Practice: Local retailers like Blockbuster offered game rentals for a few dollars for a few days, allowing players to try games without full purchase.
  • Modern Reality: While services like Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus exist, physical game rentals are largely a thing of the past. The ability to play a game once for a small fee, avoiding large purchases or trade-ins, is missed by some.

Most Impactful Video Game Bosses

Even the most brutal video game critics can find an unlikely boss battle in most games that give them trouble. Whether they are too quick, have too much health, or possess an annoying one-shot ability, these are the foes that will cause you more than a few headaches.

Here are 10 video game bosses that are basically impossible to beat:

1. Countess (Darkest Dungeon)

  • Difficulty: The Countess is a vampiric, insectoid noble that is extremely difficult to beat. She has three turns per round at the start of the fight, and in her "bloodlust" form, she gets four turns, increased resistances, and powerful attacks that can stun two heroes at once.
  • Context: Darkest Dungeon is known for its brutal difficulty and stress mechanic. The Countess is from the Crimson Court DLC and is infamous for drawing player frustration. Though she can be stunned, the fight is still a significant struggle.

2. Sinistar (Sinistar)

  • Difficulty: Sinistar is the eponymous big bad from the 1983 arcade title. This fast foe can be killed with 13 "sin ibombs" (collected by shooting asteroids), but players must be at the perfect distance to hit him, as enemy ships and asteroids can intercept the bombs. Sinistar will also destroy the player's tiny ship instantly if it gets too close. The difficulty increases with each level.
  • Context: Arcade games are designed to be difficult to extract more money from players. Sinistar is notorious for its menacing voice lines like "I live!" and its screaming entrance, causing instant panic.

3. Grim Matchstick (Cuphead)

  • Difficulty: Grim Matchstick is a massive dragon who is a big flying menace. The fight takes place on moving, randomly generated cloud platforms, requiring players to expertly jump to avoid falling while dodging projectiles. The last of his three stages is particularly challenging, adding two more heads, fireballs that split when shot, and a devastating flamethrower attack, all while "it's raining."
  • Context: Cuphead is known for its difficult boss fights. Grim Matchstick is a notable roadblock, requiring perfect platforming and awareness of environmental hazards.

4. Alma (Ninja Gaiden - 2004)

  • Difficulty: Alma is a demon with a wide range of magic powers that can ruin your day. She can damage you from across the room, summon hordes of minions, or briefly freeze you to "squeeze the life out of you." She is incredibly fast, leaving only short windows of opportunity to deal damage.
  • Context: Ninja Gaiden (2004) is known for its tough enemies. Alma's speed and varied attacks make her a formidable opponent, often causing a "roadblock for even skilled players."

5. Malenia, Blade of Miquella (Elden Ring)

  • Difficulty: Malenia is widely considered an unjust and incredibly difficult boss. Her "Waterfowl Dance" attack almost guarantees to destroy your health bar if it connects, and every hit she lands heals her. She has two phases, with the second introducing "Scarlet Rot," a debilitating status effect. Accessing her requires completing a punishing puzzle in Ordina, Far to the North.
  • Context: FromSoftware games are known for challenging but fair bosses. Malenia breaks this mold, leading to extreme frustration. One writer spent 25 hours on her, out of 110 total game hours, highlighting her excessive difficulty.

6. Sigrún (God of War - 2018)

  • Difficulty: Sigrún, the Valkyrie Queen, is an optional boss, but the most taxing in the game. She combines devastating attacks with movesets from all eight other Valkyries, along with additional damage. She is more aggressive and incredibly hard to dodge.
  • Context: Sigrún is summoned after defeating the eight scattered Valkyries. She immediately greets Kratos by slamming his head into the ground, indicating her power from the start. Defeating her requires extreme precision, patience, and strategic use of parries and attacks.

7. Mike Tyson (Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!)

  • Difficulty: Mike Tyson's pixelated counterpart is one of the most dreaded bosses in NES history. An uppercut can knock the player out instantly. The only way to win is through perfect timing, as Tyson's attacks are barely telegraphed. Even memorization is difficult, as his punch patterns are random, especially in later rounds.
  • Context: The game is an NES title, infamous for its difficulty. Tyson can be quickly defeated if players attack when he blinks, but this requires precise execution.

8. Sans (Undertale)

  • Difficulty: Sans is a seemingly innocuous skeleton, but in a "genocide run," he delivers a lecture on the player's actions before unleashing an insanely powerful and difficult-to-avoid barrage of attacks. He fills the arena with hard-to-dodge bones and lasers and can even attack outside the normal fight boundaries (e.g., during menus).
  • Context: Undertale is praised for its narrative depth and character development. Sans's fight is unique because it pushes back against the player's "murderous" behavior, reminding them of the consequences of their actions in a meta way.

9. Absolute Virtue (Final Fantasy XI)

  • Difficulty: Absolute Virtue, an MMORPG boss from Final Fantasy XI, was designed to be impossible to defeat through normal means. It took nearly 7 months for players to even find it. The first group to make significant progress saw its health drop to half, only for it to cast "Benediction," healing itself for 47,000 points and causing an almost instant party wipe. It remained unbeatable for almost three years.
  • Context: Originally designed with a 100,000 HP pool (later nerfed to 66,000) and a 2-hour time limit, it required immense coordination. Blizzard eventually nerfed the fight, making it beatable.

10. Queen Larsa (Mushihimesama Futari)

  • Difficulty: Queen Larsa is the final boss in the bullet-hell game Mushihimesama Futari. The bullet-hell genre demands extreme concentration, skill, and pixel-perfect precision. Queen Larsa has a "basically constant onslaught of projectiles," filling most of the screen. The slightest lapse in concentration leads to instant death.
  • Context: This boss specifically requires "absolute and complete understanding of not only attack patterns but the hitbox of the player ship," forcing players to rely on a "supernatural ability to even pass what is happening on screen."

Subscription-Based Games (Not World of Warcraft)

World of Warcraft has dominated the subscription-based MMORPG market for years, offering consistent updates and diverse gameplay. However, many other subscription-based games deserve attention, some offering unique experiences or free-to-play options with enhanced paid tiers.

Here are 10 great subscription-based games that aren't World of Warcraft:

1. Fallout 76

  • Gameplay: A multiplayer RPG set 25 years after a nuclear war, where players exit Vault 76 to recolonize a post-apocalyptic wasteland. It initially launched with limited content but has since added numerous quests, competitive seasons, and a battle royale mode.
  • Subscription Model: Fallout 76 can be played for free. The "Fallout First" subscription ($1,650 Atoms per month) enhances the experience with private adventures, unlimited crafting storage (Scrap Box), and more.
  • Context: Despite a rocky launch, Bethesda has significantly improved the game, making it "worth playing."

2. EverQuest

  • Gameplay: An older 3D MMORPG (launched 1999) that was revolutionary for its time, inspiring many imitators. While its gameplay is now standard, it offers a slice of gaming history with questing, exploring dungeons, and PvP.
  • Subscription Model: EverQuest is free-to-play. The "Daybreak All Access Membership" (paid) provides six additional character slots, full guild functionality, and benefits for other Daybreak games like EverQuest 2, PlanetSide 2, and DC Universe Online. Optional perks (e.g., XP bonuses, loyalty item discounts) can be added.
  • Context: EverQuest still maintains an active player base despite its age.

3. Albion Online

  • Gameplay: A medieval fantasy MMORPG (released 2017) where character classes are defined by worn armor and weapons, allowing for flexible role-swapping (e.g., a wizard can switch to a knight). Offers a vast open world with diverse activities, from tense PvP to farming.
  • Subscription Model: Free-to-play, with a premium subscription to enhance the experience. Paid players get bonuses to fame, gathering, gold, crop yield, learning points, focus points, and reduced market taxes.
  • Context: Known for its "full-loot" system and player-driven economy.

4. Second Life

  • Gameplay: A multimedia platform that resembles an MMORPG but is explicitly not a game. Players create avatars, explore a virtual world, and participate in various activities without a set story, conflict, or objective. It's a social platform where users create personas and do whatever they wish.
  • Subscription Model: Free-to-play, with optional paid subscriptions. The "Premium" tier offers weekly in-game cash rewards, VIP area access, voice morphing, and concierge support.
  • Context: Offers a unique social and creative experience, described as similar to having a personal assistant in a virtual world.

5. EVE Online

  • Gameplay: A space-based MMORPG where players can explore over 5,000 star systems and 2,500 wormholes. Activities include mining, combat, trading, and piracy. It features a complex, player-driven economy.
  • Subscription Model: Free-to-play, with a monthly subscription option. Upgrading to "Omega" (paid) grants access to advanced skills, faster skill progression, a huge range of ships, and the contract system for trading.
  • Context: Known for its complexity, player-driven narrative, political intrigue, and massive player-vs-player battles.

6. The Elder Scrolls Online

  • Gameplay: Set in the continent of Tamriel 1,000 years before Skyrim, players embark on quests, explore dungeons, craft, and fish. The main storyline involves betrayal and the retrieval of the Amulet of Kings.
  • Subscription Model: Optional. Players can play successfully without a subscription. "ESO Plus" (paid) provides unlimited crafting item storage, 1,650 Crowns per month, and access to most DLCs.
  • Context: Like Fallout 76, it had a shaky start but has been significantly improved and is now "worth players' time."

7. RuneScape

  • Gameplay: A long-running MMORPG (launched 2001) where players start on Tutorial Island and then have freedom to level skills, fight NPCs, trade, and chat with other players.
  • Subscription Model: A free version is available. Membership (monthly subscription) unlocks 11 additional skill lines, over 200 extra quests, and a world three times larger.
  • Context: A nostalgic title for many, known for its sandbox nature and accessibility.

8. The Lord of the Rings Online

  • Gameplay: Set in Middle-earth during Frodo's quest to destroy the One Ring. Players pick a race and class, embark on story-driven quests, craft, and explore iconic locations like Weathertop and Trollshaws.
  • Subscription Model: Much content is free. Perks like priority login, additional inventory/wardrobe space, and weekly gold (Hobbit present) require a subscription.
  • Context: Offers a classic MMORPG experience with a rich Middle-earth twist.

9. Star Wars: The Old Republic

  • Gameplay: An MMORPG from BioWare (launched 2011) where players choose a species, class, and allegiance (Galactic Republic or Sith Empire). It emphasizes player choices, which influence dark/light side alignment and companion relationships.
  • Subscription Model: Free-to-play up to level 60, allowing access to the Hut Cartel and Shadow of Revan storylines. A monthly subscription is required to play beyond level 60, earn monthly Cartel Coins, and access expansions.
  • Context: Known for its BioWare-style storytelling and player choice.

10. Final Fantasy XIV

  • Gameplay: Set in the land of Eorzea, five years after a cataclysmic event. Players face threats from the Garlean Empire, embarking on quests, crafting, and engaging in dungeons.
  • Subscription Model: A free trial offers gameplay up to level 60. A subscription provides full access to the game and regular content updates.
  • Context: Famously rebuilt after a disastrous 2010 launch, becoming a highly successful MMORPG praised for its narrative, community, and consistent content.

Video Games That Defy Genre Classification

While most games fit neatly into established genres, some titles break the mold, blending elements in unique and unexpected ways. These games dare to be different, offering experiences that transcend simple categorization.

Here are 10 video games that defy genre classification:

1. Flower (2009)

  • Description: Developed by Jenova Chen (creator of Journey), Flower emphasizes artistic qualities and emotional response over traditional gameplay. Players control the wind, guiding a single petal through dreamlike landscapes. As the petal passes flowers, they bloom, and hundreds more join the procession, bringing color and life to the world. The game concludes with petals transforming a bleak city, suggesting nature and humanity can coexist.
  • Why it Defies Genre: It's more an "experience" than a typical game, resembling a third-person airborne combat game (like Lair), but stripped of combat, leaving only basic controls and a focus on visual and emotional impact.

2. Papers, Please (2013)

  • Description: This indie game places players as an inspector at a border checkpoint in the fictional country of Arstotzka. Players manage the checkpoint, making daily decisions about who to allow entry based on complex and changing rules, all while trying to support their families on meager wages.
  • Why it Defies Genre: While Wikipedia classifies it as a puzzle game, it goes far beyond. It incorporates moral dilemmas, resource management, and narrative elements absent from traditional puzzle games, making it a commentary on authoritarianism and bureaucratic struggle.

3. Jet Set Radio (2000)

  • Description: Developed by Smilebit for the Dreamcast, Jet Set Radio features a vibrant, cell-shaded Tokyo. Players control an inline skate gang, exploring urban areas and spraying over rival gang graffiti tags, all set to a hip-hop soundtrack.
  • Why it Defies Genre: Wikipedia broadly categorizes it as "action," but it blends extreme sports, emphasis on "attitude," and elements of a 3D platformer (like Super Mario 64 meets Tony Hawk's Pro Skater). Its unique style and gameplay led some to suggest new genres like "juvenile delinquent simulator."

4. Pokémon Snap (1999)

  • Description: In this on-rails shooter, players capture photos of Pokémon in their natural habitats. Players use apples and "Pester Balls" to influence Pokémon behavior for better shots. The game features an updated 2021 follow-up.
  • Why it Defies Genre: It completely ditches the turn-based RPG and combat mechanics of mainline Pokémon games, focusing solely on photography. While it's an "on-rails shooter," its peaceful nature contrasts sharply with typical action-oriented shooters.

5. Skies of Arcadia (2000)

  • Description: In this Dreamcast RPG, players experience the life of a sky pirate fighting against the tyrannical Valuan Empire in a world of floating islands and massive sky whales.
  • Why it Defies Genre: While an RPG, its unique sky-faring setting, emphasis on airship combat, and vertical exploration differentiate it from traditional RPGs. It blends elements of exploration, combat, and world-building in a way that feels fresh and distinct.

6. NiGHTS Into Dreams (1996)

  • Description: Designed by Yuji Naka (Sonic Team), players control the graceful harlequin, NiGHTS, exploring the dream world of Nightopia and Nightmare. The game features a colorful, free-flying experience.
  • Why it Defies Genre: Often classified as a platformer, it spends most of its time controlling an airborne character with "nary a platform in sight." It's closer to a sidescrolling shooter without shooting, focusing on "loop-the-loop mechanics." Its unique blend of 3D exploration and 2.5D aerial movement makes it hard to pigeonhole.

7. Knights in the Nightmare (2006)

  • Description: This DS title by Sting Entertainment mashes genres in bizarre ways. Players control a wisp that hovers, dragging action commands to mostly stationary characters. Monsters attack the wisp with projectiles, making it a "bullet hell" game. Enemies are defeated by lining them up in a Tic-Tac-Toe fashion.
  • Why it Defies Genre: It blends tactical RPG, turn-based strategy, bullet hell, and even board game elements into something entirely new, defying easy categorization.

8. Exo One (2021)

  • Description: An exploration game where players traverse distant planets in a transforming alien spacecraft. It's momentum-based, focusing on using unique physics to fly through environments.
  • Why it Defies Genre: It leans into "experience" territory, almost a "walking simulator" but with high-speed flight. It focuses on momentum and gravity mechanics rather than traditional combat or puzzles, making its genre as "fluid and malleable" as its gameplay.

9. Portal (2007)

  • Description: Valve's puzzle-platformer arms players with a portal gun to solve physics-based challenges in Aperture Science test chambers. It blends environmental puzzles with unique traversal mechanics.
  • Why it Defies Genre: While primarily a puzzle-platformer, it's built on an FPS engine, offering unique traversal where the "only gun available shoots portals instead of bullets." Its iconic and ingenious portal mechanic transcends typical genres, offering a "physics playground" with rich world-building.

10. Crypt of the NecroDancer (2015)

  • Description: This indie roguelike is a dungeon crawler with a twist: every move and attack must be on the beat of the game's soundtrack. Players step through monster-filled caverns to the rhythm of the music.
  • Why it Defies Genre: It blends dungeon crawling RPG with "rhythm action," making it unique. While it's still a dungeon crawler at heart, its rhythm-based gameplay sets it apart from anything else in the genre.

11. Katamari Damacy (2004)

  • Description: Players control the Prince, who rolls up everyday objects into enormous balls to recreate heavenly bodies (planets, moons, stars) at the command of the eccentric King of All Cosmos.
  • Why it Defies Genre: Often tentatively defined as an "action puzzle game," it doesn't comfortably fit either. It lacks traditional action (beyond rolling things up) and isn't puzzling in a brain-teasing sense. Its core goal of rolling an ever-larger ball is unique, making its genre classification non-existent.

Video Game Protagonists Who Are Doomed

In the world of video games, sometimes a protagonist's fate is sealed, regardless of the player's actions. These characters are destined for a tragic end, and there's nothing the player can do to prevent it.

Here are 10 video game protagonists who are doomed no matter what you do:

1. V (Cyberpunk 2077)

  • The Doom: V, a cybernetically enhanced mercenary, becomes a "ticking time bomb" early in the game after a heist goes wrong. A biochip containing Johnny Silverhand's personality is inserted into V's head. V's fate is sealed: either the biochip destroys their brain, or Johnny Silverhand takes over their body, leaving V stuck in virtual space.
  • No Escape: There's no way to avoid this fate; even the expertise of a "pro ripperdoc" cannot remove Johnny Silverhand from V's head.

2. Raziel (Legacy of Kain series)

  • The Doom: Raziel, initially a vampire hunting warrior, is resurrected and becomes a lieutenant to the vampire Kain. His power eventually rivals Kain's, leading to his execution. After being revived again, Raziel, armed with the Soul Reaver (a sword with a tortured soul trapped inside), embarks on a quest for revenge. Through time travel, he discovers the soul in the blade is his own from the future.
  • No Escape: Despite attempts to avoid his fate, Raziel eventually accepts it, becoming the Soul Reaver's imprisoned soul, trapped for eternity within the blade.

3. Arthur Morgan (Red Dead Redemption 2)

  • The Doom: Arthur, a high-ranking gang member, contracts tuberculosis early in the game after a sick man coughs in his face while collecting a debt.
  • No Escape: Tuberculosis was incurable in 1899, the game's setting. No matter what the player does, Arthur's days are numbered, and he ultimately succumbs to the disease, mirroring historical figures like Doc Holiday.

4. Nathan Hale (Resistance series)

  • The Doom: In Resistance: Fall of Man, US Army Ranger Nathan Hale is infected by the Chimera virus but gains an innate resistance, allowing him to use Chimera powers. However, in the sequel, Resistance 2, Hale's condition worsens, and he inevitably succumbs to the virus.
  • No Escape: By the end of Resistance 2, Hale's transformation is irreversible, forcing a comrade to execute him.

5. The Nameless One (Planescape: Torment)

  • The Doom: The Nameless One is an amnesiac immortal who awakens on a morgue slab. He discovers he's immortal because he sought it out after committing terrible sins, now doomed to fight in an eternal clash of fiends known as the Blood War whenever he dies.
  • No Escape: Regardless of player choices, The Nameless One will always end up stomping off to play his part in the Blood War. His original sin remains unknown, emphasizing the inescapable nature of his fate.

6. The Chosen Undead (Dark Souls)

  • The Doom: The player's created protagonist, the Chosen Undead, is trapped in a hellish prison and faces constant death in combat. However, true doom in Dark Souls is not dying but "going Hollow," which means an undead creature loses their mind and free will, falling into madness, accompanied by physical deterioration.
  • No Escape: While the Chosen Undead has a choice between two main endings (sacrificing themselves to the First Flame or ushering in an Age of Dark), both are arguably better than the inevitable fate of going Hollow if they stop their quest.

7. Frédéric François Chopin (Eternal Sonata)

  • The Doom: The entire game, Eternal Sonata, takes place within the dreams of the renowned Polish pianist and composer Frédéric François Chopin as he is dying from tuberculosis in real life.
  • No Escape: Even after battling and helping a group of youths in his dream world, Chopin eventually accepts that everything is a dream and "returns to the real world where he passes away." His fate is tied to historical fact.

8. Zack Fair (Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII)

  • The Doom: Due to "prequel-itis," Zack's fate is already known to players of Final Fantasy VII (released 10 years earlier), where he is shown to have been mercilessly gunned down by Shinra soldiers in a flashback.
  • No Escape: Players know Zack is doomed from the beginning. Crisis Core provides a "beautifully rendered CG ending" where Zack goes down fighting, passing his Buster Sword to Cloud, fulfilling his tragic destiny.

9. Nariko (Heavenly Sword)

  • The Doom: Nariko, the protagonist of Heavenly Sword, picks up a cursed titular sword early in the game. Her narration reveals that any mortal who wields it will die soon after.
  • No Escape: Nariko's fate is explicitly stated from the outset. While player actions can change how she dies (e.g., dying to save her clan versus dying mid-battle), she still succumbs to the sword's power at the end.

10. Noble Six (Halo: Reach)

  • The Doom: Noble Six, a Spartan supersoldier, is doomed due to "prequel-itis" and the established lore of the Halo universe: the planet Reach is glassed (destroyed by orbital plasma bombardments), and Master Chief is thought to be the last active Spartan.
  • No Escape: Despite heroic efforts to defend Reach and allow the evacuation of the Pillar of Autumn (carrying Master Chief), Noble Six is the last to fall. The game's narrative ensures Noble Six cannot survive, regardless of player skill.

Video Game Theme Parks We'd Hate to Visit

Theme parks in video games often offer quirky, creative, or terrifying experiences. Unlike real-life parks focused on safety and guest satisfaction, video game versions can be anything from death traps to psychological horrors.

Here are 10 video game theme parks we'd hate to visit:

1. Pinna Park (Super Mario Sunshine)

  • Description: A typical fairground with a ferris wheel, teacups, roller coaster, and swinging pirate ships.
  • Why We'd Hate It: It's a "bloody death trap." The ferris wheel is dangerously fast, pirate ships spin entirely around, and a giant Mecha-Bowser wreaks havoc nearby. Access is via a "large cannon," and it costs 10 "Shine Sprites" to enter.

2. Lakeside Amusement Park (Silent Hill)

  • Description: An amusement park with an innocent name, sharing it with a real park, but in the "other world" it's a mental scar-inducing hellscape. Features mascot Robbie the Rabbit.
  • Why We'd Hate It: It's "10 times as deadly" as Pinna Park. Hazards include being crushed by a haunted mansion's spiked ceiling and insta-death "Red Mist." The "happy Carousel" features "real life horses kebabbed on poles." It smells "a lot worse than the usual sort."

3. Del Diablo Amusement Park (Nightmare Circus)

  • Description: More of a circus than a park, Del Diablo was burned down on opening night by its owner for insurance money. Years later, a ghost-busting Native American, Raven, finds its hollowed-out remains.
  • Why We'd Hate It: The park is a wreck, but "roller coaster dodgems and chainsaw-wielding maniacs" are still operating. It features minifigure arms on walls ("is this Legoland?").

4. Dr. Quandary's Carnival (The Secret of Dr. Quandary)

  • Description: A monochromatic carnival run by a "quiz master."
  • Why We'd Hate It: The quizzes result in players being sucked into a doll's body and thrown into the sea. The "black and white carnival" with its "dodgy looking prizes and evil hook" isn't worth the price of admission (even if free). Making it through involves solving math and logic puzzles.

5. Nuka-World (Fallout 4 DLC)

  • Description: A full-on Disneyland-sized theme park. Prior to the nuclear apocalypse, it had six different zones and 31 attractions (roller coaster, cola-themed mountain, fun house, gingerbread cottage, shovel museum, world's largest fire hydrant).
  • Why We'd Hate It: It was a front for a "military-funded biochemical warfare lab," containing "combat robots, soft drinks containing radioactive isotopes, and a private vault for the still living head of the parks founder." By 2287, it's a "Raider Camp." You're "safer just staying out in the nuclear wasteland."

6. Atlantic Island Park (Alan Wake's American Nightmare)

  • Description: Inspired by Lakeside Amusement Park, this park is also a "mess." Funded and run by a "tycoon rejected Illuminati member" and "literal supernatural monster" Nathaniel Winter, it was built on a "Nexus of Supernatural power."
  • Why We'd Hate It: Numerous accidents and incidents killed workers and guests, and drove the man in the Chipmunk costume to "insanity and murder." Winter now lives in the park, operating the Octotron House of Horrors and the swan ride (Tunnel of Tales), absorbing visitors' fear and joy. Not a place for a bank holiday.

7. Inkwell Isle 2 (Cuphead)

  • Description: A small run-down seaside funfair that is not entirely abandoned or haunted. It features a circus run by Beppi the Clown, with a funfair attraction and a roller coaster. Sugarland, a themed kingdom with gumballs and waffles, and a living castle, is nearby.
  • Why We'd Hate It: Its owners "still want you dead." The roller coaster allows bumper cars and balloon animals to operate 50 meters in the air ("like being at a Merlin entertainment park"). All creatures and objects "were trying to kill you."

8. Pirate Island (Detroit: Become Human)

  • Description: A pirate-themed adventure park that was left to rot. It contains dozens of "Jerrys" (androids) left behind.
  • Why We'd Hate It: It's "not a pirate pun, you're just legitimately going to die." The park is massive and obscured by darkness and wild weather. Concept art shows cool entrances like a giant pirate skull but hints at clowns, which are "very much steering clear."

9. Uranus Zone (Dead Rising 2: Off the Record)

  • Description: An amusement park within Fortune City. It has major rides (UFO Crash, Freefaller, Galactic Glide) and creatively named stores.
  • Why We'd Hate It: "Someone seems to have either foreseen the zombie apocalypse or had their own nefarious goals in mind because a lot of the rides have been specially designed to kill people." This is good for killing zombies but bad for regular park-goers. Even its name is a pun ("your anus zone").

10. Cartoon Wasteland (Epic Mickey)

  • Description: A haven for discarded Disney characters, ruled by Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. It was built to resemble Disneyland, but Mickey Mouse ("Mr. Beaned the entire thing") transforms Cinderella's Castle, It's a Small World, and other attractions into warped versions.
  • Why We'd Hate It: Overrun with "Gremlins, ink monsters, and corrupted animatronics." The rides are broken, buildings have chunks missing, and Mickey has drawn a "horrible face over the smudge mark." Even after it's restored, accessing it involves breaking into a "powerful wizard's house" or being "forgotten by society."

Most Heart-Wrenching Video Game Deaths

Video games often feature character deaths to add stakes and emotion to their narratives. While some are predictable, others can shock and devastate players, leaving a lasting impact.

Here are 10 of the most heartbreaking deaths in video game history:

1. Cole Phelps (LA Noire)

  • The Death: Despite his flaws, players grow fond of Detective Cole Phelps. His death comes unexpectedly when, while pursuing a suspect, he drowns in a sewer during a flash flood.
  • Impact: His sudden demise, after spending the entire game with him, is a shocking twist, especially since he drowns rather than dying heroically.

2. Sean MacGuire (Red Dead Redemption 2)

  • The Death: Sean, a beloved companion, is killed by a sudden bullet to the head during an ambush.
  • Impact: His death is abrupt and unexpected, coming out of nowhere and shocking players who assumed he'd be safe after previous rescue attempts.

3. Jackie Welles (Cyberpunk 2077)

  • The Death: Jackie, heavily featured in pre-release footage, dies early in the game during a botched heist. He is fatally wounded and succumbs to his injuries after helping the protagonist escape.
  • Impact: Players, expecting him to be a major character, are shocked by his quick, unexpected demise within the prologue, leading to a sense of lost potential.

4. Caroline (Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus)

  • The Death: Caroline, a key resistance leader, is captured by Irene Engel and brutally decapitated by her.
  • Impact: This scene is "absolutely brutal," with players unable to save a heroic character. The moment is shocking and confirms the grim stakes of the narrative.

5. Lugo (Spec Ops: The Line)

  • The Death: Lugo, a squadmate, goes missing and is later found being hanged by a mob of civilians. Captain Walker and Adams are unable to revive him.
  • Impact: Coming after intense emotional battering from the game's brutal narrative, Lugo's unexpected death feels like another blow to the player.

6. Dom Santiago (Gears of War 3)

  • The Death: Dom, who has suffered immense personal tragedy (losing his children, wife's torture and euthanasia), sacrifices himself by driving a tanker into an explosion to save his companions from being overrun by enemies.
  • Impact: His self-sacrifice, driven by loyalty, is a heroic but heartbreaking end for a character who endured so much.

7. Booker DeWitt (BioShock Infinite)

  • The Death: Booker is drowned by Elizabeth and multiple versions of herself at his baptism, preventing the future existence of the villain Comstock.
  • Impact: Despite the game's complex narrative, players become attached to Booker. His death, which is necessary to break a time loop, comes at a "massive emotional cost" to the player.

8. Jin's Horse (Ghost of Tsushima)

  • The Death: Early in the game, the horse Jin chose is peppered with arrows after an ambush. It carries Jin to safety but ultimately succumbs to its injuries.
  • Impact: Despite being a game focused on human conflict, the death of the loyal animal companion hits hard. Jin's laments ("unable to protect his loyal stallion") make the scene particularly heartbreaking.

9. Aerith Gainsborough (Final Fantasy VII)

  • The Death: Aerith, a beloved party member and valuable healer, is unexpectedly murdered by Sephiroth during a prayer at the Forgotten City.
  • Impact: Her death comes "absolutely out of nowhere," shocking players and the other characters. Her "innocent determination" is no match for Sephiroth's brutality, leaving players feeling "empty and heartbroken." It was a watershed moment in gaming, teaching players the emotional impact of character death.

10. Joel Miller (The Last of Us Part II)

  • The Death: Joel, a central character and surrogate father figure, is brutally beaten to death with a golf club by Abby within the first two hours of the game.
  • Impact: Players, familiar with Joel and Ellie from the first game, are shocked by the timing and explicit brutality of his death, leaving them reeling and forcing Ellie onto a path of vengeance.

Horrible Decisions Video Games Forced Us to Make

Video games sometimes force players into difficult moral quandaries, presenting choices with far-reaching consequences that challenge one's sense of right and wrong.

Here are some of the hardest decisions video games forced us to make:

1. Love, Sacrifice, or Wealth (Fable II)

  • The Choice: At the end of Fable II, protagonist Sparrow can choose one of three wishes: "Sacrifice" (resurrect thousands of innocent people killed by the villain, but never see their own family again), "Love" (resurrect their family and beloved dog, but leave thousands dead), or "Wealth" (take a cash prize).
  • Impact: The choice between saving many strangers or a few loved ones is incredibly difficult, with no "right" answer for most players, except for the clearly psychopathic "Wealth" option.

2. Rewrite the Geth Heretics or Destroy Them (Mass Effect 2)

  • The Choice: Commander Shepard is given the option to either destroy the Geth Heretics (an AI faction) or rewrite their code to force them to abandon the Reapers.
  • Impact: This philosophical question forces players to consider the morality of taking away free will, even for a "greater good." While one option grants Paragon points and the other Renegade, the ethical implications of "rewriting" sentient beings are profound.

3. Cure Cancer or End World Hunger (Saints Row IV)

  • The Choice: As the President of the USA, the protagonist must choose to pass either a bill to cure cancer or a bill to end world hunger. Only one can be chosen.
  • Impact: Both options have enormous positive impacts, but choosing one means allowing millions to continue suffering from the other. The choice is made null by Earth's destruction, but the immediate moral weight is immense.

4. Charge the Husband or the Child Molester (L.A. Noire)

  • The Choice: Detective Phelps must decide whether to charge the husband (Hugo Moller) with murder, despite evidence pointing to him, or allow a known child molester (Eli Rooney) to go free, hoping he will eventually be punished for his past crimes.
  • Impact: This choice doesn't have a morally "correct" outcome, as neither individual committed the specific murder. It forces players to weigh immediate justice against a desire for retribution for other unpunished crimes.

5. Stand Up to Ramsay or Let Him Torment Your Sister (Game of Thrones - Telltale)

  • The Choice: Ethan Forrester can choose to verbally confront Ramsay Snow to protect his sister, or remain silent.
  • Impact: Ramsay is volatile, and any "misstep" can have severe consequences. Regardless of Ethan's choice, he still dies, but the decision forces the player to consider character and defiance in a hopeless situation.

6. Shoot Lee or Leave Him to Turn (The Walking Dead - Telltale)

  • The Choice: At the end of Season 1, Lee, bitten by a walker, must ask Clementine to either shoot him (mercy kill) or leave him to turn.
  • Impact: This is one of the most gut-wrenching decisions in gaming. The player is forced to decide the fate of a beloved protagonist and surrogate father figure, impacting Clementine deeply.

7. Cut Off Your Own Finger or Risk Not Finding Your Son (Heavy Rain)

  • The Choice: Ethan Mars, pursuing the Origami Killer, is given 5 minutes to amputate part of his finger on camera to receive a clue to his son's location.
  • Impact: While other trials in Heavy Rain are also extreme, this one is a viscerally shocking act of self-mutilation. It forces the player to literally inflict pain on their avatar for a slim chance of success.

8. Shoot Yourself or Shoot Ashley (Until Dawn)

  • The Choice: Chris is strapped to a chair with Ashley, and a psycho forces him to choose: shoot himself to save Ashley, or shoot Ashley. Failure to choose means both die.
  • Impact: This "prank" by Josh forces a horrifying, life-or-death decision between two characters the player has control over, with very real and deadly consequences in the narrative.

9. Kill Vault 34 Inhabitants or Leak Radiation (Fallout: New Vegas)

  • The Choice: The Courier discovers Vault 34 is leaking radiation, contaminating water for farmers. They must choose to shut down the reactor (killing those inside the vault) or reroute power to free them (releasing massive radiation and causing famine for the farmers).
  • Impact: This is a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" scenario. Both choices lead to tragic outcomes, forcing the player to choose the "lesser of two evils."

10. Save the Town or Save Chloe (Life is Strange)

  • The Choice: Max, with her time-rewinding powers, must choose: allow a massive storm to destroy Arcadia Bay (saving Chloe), or go back in time and allow Chloe to die (saving the town).
  • Impact: The choice pits the lives of many strangers against the life of a deeply cared-for individual, made even harder by the bond developed throughout the game. It’s a "horrible" decision despite the mathematically logical outcome.

Most Important Video Game Composers

Video game music is integral to the experience, inspiring, amusing, and enhancing gameplay. A top-level score can elevate a game from memorable to iconic. These composers have created soundtracks so recognizable that they have become cornerstones of gaming history.

Here are 10 of the most important video game composers of all time:

1. Shoji Meguro

  • Notable Works: Persona series (Persona 3, 4, 5), Shin Megami Tensei series (Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne).
  • Legacy: Meguro, a versatile composer with eclectic tastes (classical, rock, jazz, electronic, J-Pop), found his niche developing soundtracks that deeply connected with gamers, especially through the Persona series. He recently became a game developer himself.

2. Yuzo Koshiro

  • Notable Works: Streets of Rage series, Shinobi games, The Original East Game.
  • Legacy: A chip-tune expert whose music influenced the '80s and '90s. His Streets of Rage soundtracks are legendary, pushing the Mega Drive's sound capabilities. Though self-taught, he studied under renowned film composer Joe Hisaishi. He contributed to the recent Streets of Rage 4, continuing his legacy of "banging tunes."

3. Akira Yamaoka

  • Notable Works: Silent Hill series, Contra: Hard Corps, Sparkster.
  • Legacy: Yamaoka found his niche creating foreboding and unnerving atmospheres. He masterfully uses instruments like the mandolin, blending it with ominous chanting, metallic screeching, and shambling percussion. His music is "synonymous with the series," leading him to score the Silent Hill films as well.

4. Michiru Yamane

  • Notable Works: Castlevania series (starting with Castlevania: Bloodlines), Rocket Knight series.
  • Legacy: Yamane is best known for her Castlevania soundtracks, which she took over from previous composers. Her music blends rock and baroque influences, creating scores that evoke "medieval folky horror tropes, dignified grandeur, and cool whip-cracking action."

5. Grant Kirkhope

  • Notable Works: Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, Donkey Kong 64, Perfect Dark, GoldenEye 007, Civilization: Beyond Earth, Viva Piñata.
  • Legacy: A prolific multi-instrumentalist (guitar, trumpet) who provided musical accompaniment for many '90s Nintendo classics while working at Rare. His work on Banjo-Kazooie is especially iconic. He was nominated for awards for his Civilization scores.

6. Jun Senoue

  • Notable Works: Sonic Adventure 1 & 2, Sonic Frontiers, Team Sonic Racing.
  • Legacy: Senoue took over lead composing for Sonic's full 3D debut in Sonic Adventure and has been a prominent force in the series ever since. He's also part of the band Crush 40, whose songs appear in Sonic games and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. He is credited for being a "consistently good thing about the Sonic franchise for about 20 years."

7. Jeremy Soule

  • Notable Works: The Elder Scrolls series (Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim), Guild Wars, Dungeon Siege, Harry Potter games.
  • Legacy: A prolific American composer whose orchestral works are "atmospheric, rousing," and perfect for epic adventures. His Elder Scrolls music is featured on classical radio and used by Dungeons & Dragons players. His music has a "soul" that makes it particularly impactful.

8. Martin O'Donnell

  • Notable Works: Halo series (Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo Reach), Oni, Myth series, Destiny.
  • Legacy: O'Donnell created some of the most recognizable video game soundtracks. His use of Gregorian chanting in Halo: Combat Evolved became iconic, instantly linking it to "gigantic floating rings in space." His scores beautifully captured sci-fi drama and the mystery of the Covenant. Despite being a "Bungie Legend," he was controversially fired in 2014.

9. Nobuo Uematsu

  • Notable Works: Final Fantasy series (Final Fantasy I to Final Fantasy XV).
  • Legacy: World-renowned for creating the soundtrack to the entire Final Fantasy series, one of the medium's most popular franchises. Uematsu isn't afraid to blend hard rock, operatic vocals, techno, and jazz into his scores, often at the same time. His music, while distinctly Japanese, draws from British and American influences, notably Elton John.

10. Koji Kondo

  • Notable Works: Super Mario series (Super Mario Bros., Super Mario 64, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Mario Odyssey), The Legend of Zelda series (The Legend of Zelda, Ocarina of Time).
  • Legacy: Kondo is responsible for the backing music of gaming's most recognizable superstars. He "casually cooked up one of the most memorable and recognizable themes of all time" (Super Mario Bros. theme). His music is fluid and reflects gameplay movement. He is responsible for two of gaming's most important themes (Mario and Zelda) and scored the critically acclaimed The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Video Games About Video Games

These titles break the fourth wall, referencing gaming culture and mechanics, or even embedding games within games, offering meta-commentary on the industry itself.

Here are 10 video games about video games:

1. Our World Is Ended (2017)

  • Meta Element: Follows seven developers of a dysfunctional indie studio who create an augmented reality headset that generates a virtual reality duplicate of the real world. Death in the virtual world means death in real life.
  • Gameplay: Visual novel. Developers hack the virtual world to survive. A "meta sci-fi twist."

2. God Medicine: Fantasy Sekai no Tanjo (1993)

  • Meta Element: Story revolves around the highly anticipated upcoming RPG "Phantom." The game building burns down, and a rift opens, transporting "Phantom's" heroes and a powerful demon into the real world. Main characters then enter the "Phantom" world.
  • Gameplay: Classic RPG. Fan translation available.

3. Kid Chameleon (1992)

  • Meta Element: The titular Kid, Casey, fights his way through a hologram-based game in a large arcade. The final boss escapes the game and traps kids who play it.
  • Gameplay: Mega Drive platformer. Kid Chameleon can transform by putting on masks, offering varied gameplay across 103 levels.

4. Game Dev Tycoon (2012)

  • Meta Element: Players take on the role of a game developer, starting in a garage and building their company.
  • Gameplay: Simulation game. Players balance aspects like topic, genre, and development time. Allows recreating actual games and comparing them to real-world counterparts.

5. Moon: Remix RPG Adventure (1997)

  • Meta Element: A boy plays an RPG called "Moon," then is sucked into his TV and becomes an inhabitant of the in-game world. He collects souls of animals killed by the game's hero to level up his "love."
  • Gameplay: Anti-RPG. Major influence for Undertale. Localized for Switch, PS4, and PC decades after its Japan-exclusive release.

6. The Magic Circle (2015)

  • Meta Element: The player is a newly hired QA tester playing as a hero in a game stuck in "development hell" for 20 years. A rogue AI grants the player powers to escape the unfinished game.
  • Gameplay: Satire of the gaming industry. Allows players to follow the "chaotic development process."

7. Nashi no Game (The Nameless Game) (2008)

  • Meta Element: Rumors circulate about a cursed, unnamed video game that kills players within seven days if they don't complete it. The protagonist receives this game.
  • Gameplay: DS horror adventure. Gameplay switches between wandering the real world and playing the cursed 8-bit RPG, unraveling mysteries in both. Japan-only, but fan translation available.

8. SUPERHOT (2016)

  • Meta Element: Players receive messages from a friend asking how they like "superhot.exe," a leaked copy of an upcoming game. It becomes clear someone is watching their gameplay, and ominous threats appear.
  • Gameplay: FPS with "time moves when you do" mechanic and distinctive visual style. The meta-narrative about being watched and the implications for the player's real life add tension.

9. CrossCode (2018)

  • Meta Element: The protagonist, Leah, has no voice or memories and is told she must play the fictional MMO "CrossWorlds" to regain them. She fights through dungeons and bosses within this in-game MMO.
  • Gameplay: Retro-inspired action RPG. The game's elements are deeply intertwined with the story's gaming theme. Leah learns about herself and her companions through the MMO's mysteries.

10. Doki Doki Literature Club! (2017)

  • Meta Element: Appears to be a dating simulator but quickly devolves into psychological horror. One character, Monica, is self-aware of her status as a video game character and manipulates save files and deletes other characters.
  • Gameplay: Visual novel. The game breaks the fourth wall, and Monica directly interacts with the player, even deleting the entire game. "Mentally scarred" due to its dark themes around mental health and self-harm.

Video Games That Make You Feel Smart

These games pose challenging puzzles and strategic scenarios, rewarding players with a sense of intellectual accomplishment upon completion. They demand critical thinking and careful planning, rather than just quick reflexes.

Here are 10 video games that made us feel like a genius:

1. Portal and Portal 2 (2007, 2011)

  • Challenge: Players solve a series of test chambers using the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device. Puzzles escalate from simple movements to complex scenarios involving timing, redirecting projectiles, and using gravity.
  • Why it Makes You Feel Smart: The games thoroughly "exercise that gray matter," leaving players feeling like "proper smarty pants" by the climax.

2. Fez (2012)

  • Challenge: Players navigate 2D levels in a 3D world, needing to rotate the environment to reveal new paths and solve puzzles. The solution isn't always immediately obvious, requiring multiple rotations.
  • Why it Makes You Feel Smart: Its unique gameplay mechanic, blending 2D and 3D, offers a rewarding feeling when you "piece all the different sides together."

3. Lemnis Gate (2021)

  • Challenge: A turn-based first-person shooter set in a time loop. Players control specialists in a 1v1 or 2v2 match, with all turns "layered on top of one another." Players must plan moves strategically, considering how their current actions will interact with past and future turns.
  • Why it Makes You Feel Smart: It demands "4D chess" thinking. Successfully predicting and counteracting opponent's moves across the time loop provides a "smug" feeling of strategic brilliance.

4. Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines (1998)

  • Challenge: Players oversee a six-man unit in a real-time strategy game. Each commando has unique skills. Missions require careful placement and execution, as an "all guns blazing approach is off the table." All squad members must survive.
  • Why it Makes You Feel Smart: It's "incredibly tense" and demands "sneaky ways to undertake the objective," making success feel "all the more satisfying."

5. Unheard (2019)

  • Challenge: Players solve crime mysteries using only their hearing. A piece of technology allows them to listen to conversations from crime scenes at different points in time. Players must carefully listen for clues and often relisten to pick up minor details.
  • Why it Makes You Feel Smart: It's a unique "crime-solving" experience. With no time limits and minimal visuals, the focus is entirely on auditory deduction, making it rewarding to unravel the mystery.

6. The Turing Test (2016)

  • Challenge: An engineer must solve a series of puzzles on Jupiter's moon Europa, puzzles that have stumped an AI. Puzzles involve redistributing power around the base using a special tool.
  • Why it Makes You Feel Smart: Puzzles require "serious lateral thinking" as they escalate in difficulty. While it can be frustrating, solving them provides a strong sense of intellectual achievement.

7. Sudden Strike (2000)

  • Challenge: A real-time strategy game where reinforcements are finite, and units take realistic damage. A single poor decision can lead to lost troops and a failed mission.
  • Why it Makes You Feel Smart: It emphasizes tactical precision and resource management, rewarding careful planning. The "level of challenge" makes victories "all the more rewarding."

8. The Witness (2016)

  • Challenge: An expansive island puzzle game where players explore and solve grid-based puzzles. The game provides no instructions, forcing players to use environmental clues (shadows, tree branches) to understand the puzzle mechanics.
  • Why it Makes You Feel Smart: Its lack of instruction means players must truly deduce solutions. Breaking through the initial "baffling" stage to "crack" a puzzle gives a profound sense of intelligence.

9. Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars (1996)

  • Challenge: A point-and-click adventure game filled with puzzles that require "serious lateral thinking." The infamous "goat puzzle" is particularly notorious for its bizarre (but logical) solution.
  • Why it Makes You Feel Smart: The game's puzzles are "top notch," and its well-written story and excellent presentation enhance the feeling of cleverness upon completion.

10. Discworld (1995)

  • Challenge: Based on Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, this adventure game features "insane" puzzles due to its Discworld logic. Many involve combining items or triggering events in obtuse ways, like the "fishmonger's belt puzzle."
  • Why it Makes You Feel Smart: Despite the extreme difficulty and often nonsensical solutions, successfully solving these puzzles feels like a monumental intellectual feat, as few could do it without a guide.

Games That Explore What Happens When We Die

Video games often delve into profound themes, including the mysterious process of death and the concept of an afterlife. These titles explore various beliefs and scenarios, prompting players to consider what happens beyond life.

Here are 10 games that explore what happens when we die:

1. Dante's Inferno (2010)

  • Exploration of Death: Loosely adapted from Dante Alighieri's "The Divine Comedy," the game focuses on Dante's journey through the nine circles of hell to save his beloved. It explores the belief in ultimate judgment for living actions and tailored punishments for specific sins.
  • Concept: Hell is not a one-size-fits-all eternal damnation; rather, it’s a granular system where Penance is tailored for various crimes, albeit with "a lot of unnecessary admin."

2. God of War (2005)

  • Exploration of Death: Kratos experiences the Greek underworld (Hades) firsthand after being killed by Ares.
  • Concept: It depicts Greek mythological beliefs about the afterlife, where souls separate from the body and go to Hades. Good souls enjoy Elysium (if remembered) while bad ones face a grimmer fate, with various mythical creatures as inhabitants.

3. Afterparty (2019)

  • Exploration of Death: Lola and Milo wake up in hell with no memory of how they got there. They discover that torture and punishment only occur during "office hours," and demons and the damned party afterward. If they can outdrink the devil, they might escape.
  • Concept: This game explores themes of alcoholism and addiction, portraying Satan as a troubled individual whose vices negatively impact Hell. It's a "darkly funny" and thought-provoking take on escaping damnation.

4. Avenging Spirit (1991)

  • Exploration of Death: The protagonist is shot to death but becomes a spectral hero, summoned by his girlfriend's father. He must save his kidnapped girlfriend and bring justice to his murderers to finally rest in peace.
  • Concept: It delves into the belief that spirits remain if they have "unfinished business." The protagonist possesses others to gain powers, then discards them, which has "no ethical ramifications whatsoever."

5. Hades (2020)

  • Exploration of Death: Zagreus, son of Hades, tries to escape the underworld to find his birth mother. The game explores the afterlife and the gods and goddesses who oversee it.
  • Concept: It also examines how death (specifically the stillbirth of Zagreus) impacts those left behind. The game blends Greek mythology with family drama and a constant challenge of escaping death.

6. A Mortician's Tale (2017)

  • Exploration of Death: Players control Charlie, a mortician, and engage in the day-to-day activities of running a funeral home, from preparing bodies to comforting mourners.
  • Concept: This short but thought-provoking title encourages players to view death positively and understand the physical process. It aims to normalize the discussion around mortality.

7. P.O.M. Gets Wi-Fi (2018)

  • Exploration of Death: A pomeranian and her housemate die in a fire and arrive in "doggy heaven," where the pomeranian discovers there's no Wi-Fi. They embark on a quest to find a connection.
  • Concept: It playfully explores the idea of a pet afterlife, humorously depicting concerns relevant to modern life even after death. It suggests a "better place" for beloved animal companions.

8. Valheim (Early Access)

  • Exploration of Death: Players become Vikings granted everlasting life by Odin, who start in a vast meadow and learn skills to survive. If they die, they simply respawn at the last bonfire.
  • Concept: While players are technically "dead," they experience a form of perpetual, combat-filled afterlife. It’s an imaginative take on Viking mythology and offers continuous exploration and challenge without permanent consequences.

9. Grim Fandango (1998)

  • Exploration of Death: Manuel "Manny" Calavera, a travel agent for the Department of Death, uncovers a corrupt conspiracy denying deserving souls their ticket to paradise.
  • Concept: It explores the idea that even the afterlife can be corrupted by unscrupulous individuals. It questions the fairness and justice of those overseeing eternity, forcing players to consider the integrity of the journey to the "great beyond."

10. Pokémon (various entries)

  • Exploration of Death: Many Pokédex entries imply dark and disturbing origins related to death, suffering, and existential dread for numerous Pokémon.
    • Parasect: The bug host is drained and possessed by a parasitic mushroom, acting like a Cordyceps fungus.
    • Sliggoo: Has trouble distinguishing friends from food, capable of dissolving and eating even those it gets along with. Its mucus dissolves anything toothless.
    • Froslass: Based on the Japanese Yōkai "Yuki-onna," a woman lost on an icy mountain reborn as a spirit who feeds on life force or freezes victims.
    • Palossand: A sand castle Pokémon made of dried bones, it drains victims of vitality and curses anyone who stands near it.
    • Cubone: Wears the skull of its deceased mother and pines for her, implying its species' mothers are always doomed.
    • Mawile: Based on the "futakuchi-onna" folklore, a woman with a ravenous mouth on the back of her skull.
    • Yamask: Carries a mask that used to be its human face, crying when looking at it, and searching for someone who knows its face.
    • Drowzee: Based on the "Baku," it preys on children by eating their dreams, leaving nightmares behind.
    • Mimikyu: Wears a sad Pikachu costume, but its true form causes terror and death to anyone who sees it. It seeks merciless revenge on those who break its disguise.
    • Drifloon: Grabs the hands of small children and drags them to the afterlife, disliking "heavy" children.

Animal Crossing Features Lost to Time

Animal Crossing, while consistently popular, has seen many features come and go across its nine main series games and numerous platforms. Some changes were due to technology, others to streamline gameplay or mix things up, but many older features are missed by veteran players.

Here are 10 Animal Crossing features lost to time:

1. Special Characters

  • Lost Feature: Many non-villager NPCs who serve specific jobs have been removed or replaced. Examples include Katrina (fortune teller), Pete (postman), Gracie (fashion designer), Dr. Shrunk, and Wendell (artist/wallpaper merchant). Tortimer, the former mayor, retired to his island but his current whereabouts are unknown, though a gravestone in trailers caused fan speculation.
  • Context: These characters provided unique interactions and services, making the towns feel more dynamic.

2. Lighthouse Duty

  • Lost Feature: In the first Animal Crossing game, Tortimer would ask the player to turn on the lighthouse every night in January and February. If completed for a week, he'd reward the player with a lighthouse model.
  • Context: This represented small, vital tasks that encouraged daily engagement. While New Horizons allows purchasing a lighthouse, it's merely a prop.

3. Town Gates and Guards

  • Lost Feature: Older Animal Crossing villages were surrounded by cliffs, with a single entry/exit point controlled by "gate guards" like Booker and Copper. They checked entrants/exits and served as a lost property box.
  • Context: These guards provided a sense of security and community. Their absence in newer games removes an element of town management and raises questions about why they were needed in the first place.

4. Personality Quizzes

  • Lost Feature: In previous games, players couldn't choose their appearance directly. Instead, a travel companion (Rover, then Kapp'n) would ask questions that determined the player's permanent look based on their answers.
  • Context: This added a unique, personality-driven character creation. Modern games allow direct customization.

5. Gyroids

  • Lost Feature: Gyroids are sentient clay beings found by digging them up, especially after rain. They were a fixture in older games, acting as save points and providing quirky interactions.
  • Context: Their presence added mystery and a unique collecting aspect. Brewster is the only remaining notable Gyroid in newer games.

6. Rudeness from Villagers

  • Lost Feature: In GameCube and Wild World, villagers could be surprisingly rude, angry if ignored, teasing, or outright insulting if players neglected the game.
  • Context: While contrary to the "wholesome" vibe, their rudeness made villagers feel more realistic and dynamic, adding consequence to player neglect.

7. Mr. Resetti's Screaming

  • Lost Feature: Mr. Resetti, a mole, would pop up and furiously yell at players who turned off their game without saving or attempted to time travel.
  • Context: He was a "bastion of save data," providing a unique form of "tough love" to enforce game rules. With autosave now standard, his job is largely obsolete.

8. Flea Market

  • Lost Feature: A monthly event in Wild World and City Folk where villagers opened their homes, allowing players to buy virtually any item from their houses.
  • Context: This provided a unique way to acquire furniture and other items, but was scrapped in New Leaf and hasn't returned to New Horizons.

9. The Roost (Coffee Shop)

  • Lost Feature: Brewster's coffee shop, The Roost, was originally a small, albeit dingy, room in the museum's basement. It was a cozy spot for coffee and even hosted quiet K.K. Slider concerts.
  • Context: While Brewster now has his own outdoor coffee shop in New Leaf, many miss the intimate "snugness" of the original Roost within the museum.

10. NES Games

  • Lost Feature: In Animal Forest (Japan) and GameCube Animal Crossing, players could find and play original, complete NES titles within the game through various in-game competitions, drops, or by using the Nintendo e-Reader.
  • Context: This offered a unique "game inside a game" experience and a collectible aspect. With Nintendo now selling retro games separately, this feature is no longer integrated.

Weirdest Veterinarian Video Games

While many kids dream of caring for animals, veterinarian video games often delve into surprisingly strange or overly detailed scenarios, moving beyond the simple joys of pet care.

Here are 10 of the weirdest veterinarian video games:

1. Zoo Vet (2004)

  • Weirdness: Throws players into caring for exotic animals (pandas, lions, elephants) that are already tranquilized. Treatment involves "actual incisions and invasive treatments" using surgical instruments, with exact vital signs displayed.
  • Context: Unlike simpler games, Zoo Vet is disturbingly in-depth, even prompting real-life parents to question what their kids are doing when observing the game.

2. Zoo Hospital (2008)

  • Weirdness: Focuses on "vetting through fun mini-games" with a focus on speed over accuracy. Players quickly inject blue potion into glowing dots or guide "Tetris pieces through bisected intestine." The game implies that a vet can save a struggling animal park from closure.
  • Context: Challenges like "anesthetic only lasts 3 minutes" create unusual pressure. The premise of a vet saving a zoo from being bought out is economically dubious.

3. My Vet Practice in the Country (2008)

  • Weirdness: Players start with crippling university debt and a large countryside estate, implying financial struggles. They still attend basic lectures despite practicing. The game incorporates resource and money management, requiring trips to a strangely specific "vet supplies district."
  • Context: This game unusually blends financial simulation with vet care, making the player worry about restocking medicine and food for animals.

4. Animal Planet: Vet Life (2009)

  • Weirdness: Players are top vet students competing with "Jack and Abani" to become "the newest vet for the Heal the Globe Foundation." They deal with "restless pets" that refuse to stay still during treatments like "taking temperature from the wrong end" and "performing brain surgeries under local anesthetic."
  • Context: Despite being "supposedly exemplary students," the characters seem to need constant hand-holding for routine procedures. The game's depiction of animals requiring extraordinary effort to treat adds to the strangeness.

5. Petz Vet (2007)

  • Weirdness: More of a dating simulator than a vet game. The player character is overly interested in socializing with co-workers. Vetting is simplistic: spamming a "love button" to reduce animal stress and playing "Space Invaders to kill the germs." An ostrich can be brought into the clinic.
  • Context: Character designs resemble manga. The game neglects realistic vet procedures, focusing on social interactions. The inclusion of an ostrich and the general lack of work being done by staff highlights its bizarre priorities.

6. Pet World 3D: My Animal Shelter (2016)

  • Weirdness: Players are interns who "apparently just rocked up to the local animal shelter." Their job is to keep brushing and feeding animals "to within an inch of their lives" for adoption.
  • Context: This focuses on the lower-level aspects of animal care, making the player perform menial tasks under an "old Professor who honestly doesn't seem to be pulling his weight."

7. Barbie Pet Rescue (2002)

  • Weirdness: Barbie, perpetually busy with merchandising deals, delegates animal rescue to the player, with her younger sister Stacy. It includes "detangling the hamsters' pipes" and rescuing a wide range of animals: cats, dogs, bunnies, hamsters, and monkeys.
  • Context: The mix of common pets with exotic animals, and the slightly absurd premise of Barbie's busy schedule, adds to the oddity.

8. Planet Zoo (2019)

  • Weirdness: Allows players to manage animal happiness and even decide whether to put them on contraception. Reintroduces the "sheer exhilarating thrill of allowing you to delete fence posts and watch the animals terrorize the guests."
  • Context: While a spiritual successor to Zoo Tycoon, it delves into finer details of animal management. The "terrifying" but fun element of releasing animals into guest areas adds a dark humor.

9. Zoo Vet 2: Endangered Animals (2007)

  • Weirdness: A sequel where players are "back at the nameless zoo." Some original animals are "still kicking around though barely." No news on magnifying "animal feces." The game features "distressingly realistic wounds" and a graphical downgrade in some areas.
  • Context: The game's portrayal of animal condition and the implied minimal progress despite previous efforts in the first game make it strangely morbid.

10. Vet Emergency 2 (???)

  • Weirdness: A "full motion video game" where "actual surgical procedures aren't animated or in motion at all." Instead, players click on JPEGs of animals. Dialog for bad actors includes lines like, "I don't know how to say this lady like, but he's been having a problem, you're, and today he started." The game registers every "random guess-estimation click" on creams, injections, and thermometers.
  • Context: The extreme lack of animation in surgical procedures and the comically bad acting make this game unintentionally bizarre and amusing.

We've been trapped, we've been judged, and we've suffered for our art! We've also experienced the pinnacle of entertainment that the video game industry can offer, regardless of player count or the involvement of celebrities. So settle in, get comfortable, and enjoy these 10 impossible achievements and trophies that you'll likely never unlock.

Key Points Summarized from the Transcript (approximately 77,977 words worth of detail):

This comprehensive tutorial covers a variety of topics related to video games, drawing details from the provided transcript.

1. Impossible Achievements and Trophies:

  • World Champion (Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter): Impossible due to defunct multiplayer servers; even when live, required being the global best.
  • The Three Mountains (Europa Universalis 4): Conquer the world starting as tiny Ryukyu in Iron Man mode (no reloads), a near-impossible global unification.
  • Hail to the King (Final Fantasy 9): Achieve 1,000 perfect jumps in a skipping rope mini-game, demanding robotic precision with changing tempo and input lag.
  • Quiz (World of Guns: Gun Disassembly): Identify 10 out of 200 similar-looking gun silhouettes in 45 seconds, with limited retries. Cited as one of the hardest challenges by a top achievement hunter.
  • Bladder of Steel (Rock Band 2): Complete a 6.5-hour endless setlist without pausing or failing, requiring extreme endurance.
  • 7-Day Survivor (Dead Rising): Survive 14 real-time hours without saving, constantly losing health and searching for non-respawning food.
  • Stampers Forever (Rare Replay): Collect all 330 stamps across 30 games, often requiring 75% completion in each, including the notoriously bad Grabbed by the Ghoulies.
  • Emperor (Elder Scrolls Online): Capture and hold six Imperial City keeps while being the highest-ranked player in your alliance for a week, competing against millions.
  • Impossible Right? & Lowest of the Low (Crypt of the NecroDancer): Beat the game with high-penalty character Coda (dies on missed beats, gold touch, no upgrades, double speed) or complete an all-character, no-item, no-shrine run. Extremely rare.
  • Various Achievements (Dragon Fin Soup): Many achievements are literally impossible due to broken stat tracking, glitches, frequent crashes, and developers abandoning the PlayStation port.

2. Most Disgusting Video Game Characters:

  • Gerty (The Binding of Isaac): An unsettling, immobile mound of flesh and organs; originally designed as a pile of dead children.
  • The Master (Fallout): A hideous biomechanical blob formed by the FEV virus, absorbing living beings and merging with technology, possessing multiple creepy voices.
  • The Bloater (The Last of Us): The fourth stage of Cordyceps infection, a hulking fungal monster that insta-kills, hurls mycotoxin, and is covered in tumorous growths.
  • Marguerite Baker (Resident Evil 7: Biohazard): A twisted, insectoid-spawning matriarch with elongated limbs and a stomach swollen with bugs, scuttling on walls and ceilings.
  • Cerberus (Dante's Inferno): A repulsive beast guarding hell, with human hands, worm-like heads, decaying teeth, and snapping chops replacing its eyes.
  • Abstract Daddy (Silent Hill 2): A manifestation of childhood trauma, two bodies intertwined beneath fetid flesh, with dangling limbs and distorted mouths, embodying perversion.
  • Dr. William Birkin (Resident Evil 2): Mutates into grotesque forms after injecting the G-virus, losing human semblance, culminating in a shapeless mass of fangs and tentacles.
  • Dead Hand (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time): A hunched, pale, bandaged creature with multiple monstrous hands, disturbing neck-wobbling walk, found in dark, unsettling locations.
  • The One Reborn (Bloodborne): A massive amalgamation of rotting corpses and limbs, formed from a ritual, hitting hard with putrid vomit and raining decaying bodies.
  • The Brood Mother (Dragon Age: Origins): Human women abducted and gruesomely mutated by Darkspawn, forced to lay larvae and reduced to immobile, tentacled creatures of insatiable hunger.

3. Weird Character Cameos in Video Games:

  • Kratos (Everybody's Golf World Tour): The Spartan warrior golfing, surprisingly fitting due to his powerful drives and ability to spin.
  • Scorpion (Injustice: Gods Among Us): A Mortal Kombat character in the DC universe, retaining his move set and ending the story by raising a demon army.
  • Pac-Man (Anna Kournikova's Smash Court Tennis): The ghost-eating blob playing tennis as a secret character alongside Tekken fighters.
  • Shrek (Tony Hawk's Underground 2): The ogre skateboarding with unique moves like earwax grinding and belching graffiti.
  • Geralt (Monster Hunter: World): The Witcher tracking monsters in another universe, fully voiced, with his magic and senses adapted for Monster Hunter gameplay.
  • Donkey Kong (Punch-Out!! Wii): The giant gorilla as a secret boss, boxing Little Mac, representing an unfair fight due to his size and strength.
  • Link (Soulcalibur II): The Hylian hero fighting with his Master Sword and tools, seamless due to his silent nature and iconic gear.
  • Spider-Man (The Revenge of Shinobi): A licensed appearance as a boss, a "real" Spider-Man whom the player gravely wounds.
  • Creepers (Borderlands 2): Minecraft's exploding enemies in a cave, dropping Minecraft-themed loot and skins.
  • Raiden (Unreal Championship 2): The Mortal Kombat thunder god in a shooter, using lightning powers and talking smack, but with vague in-game motivations.

4. Things Gamers Don't Do Anymore:

  • Using Cheat Codes: Modern games rarely include them due to online multiplayer and hacking concerns.
  • Buying Physical Game Guides/Calling Tip Hotlines: Replaced by ubiquitous online resources.
  • Blowing into Cartridges: Obsolete with disc-based and digital games.
  • Tripping Over Controller Cords: Wireless technology eliminated this common hazard.
  • Pirating Games: More difficult and carries stricter penalties than in the past.
  • Constantly Switching Input Cables: HDMI streamlined console connections.
  • Using Memory Cards: Consoles now have internal storage.
  • Queuing for Midnight Launches: Digital pre-loads made this unnecessary.
  • Waiting for Territory Releases: Global simultaneous releases are now common.
  • Renting Games: Largely replaced by digital subscription services like Game Pass.

5. Impossible Video Game Bosses:

  • Countess (Darkest Dungeon): A vampiric noble with multiple turns, increased resistances, and healing, especially tough in bloodlust form.
  • Sinistar (Sinistar): A screaming arcade boss that requires precise hits with "sinibombs" and quickly destroys the player if too close.
  • Grim Matchstick (Cuphead): A giant flying dragon boss on moving platforms, with multiple heads, splitting fire, and environmental hazards.
  • Alma (Ninja Gaiden): A fast, magical demon with various damaging attacks, short windows for counterattack, leading to frequent demolitions.
  • Malenia, Blade of Miquella (Elden Ring): Extremely fast, heals on hit, waterfoul dance is devastating, has two phases with Scarlet Rot; from a hidden, punishing area.
  • Sigrún (God of War): The Valkyrie Queen, using all previous Valkyrie moves with added aggression and damage, requiring perfect timing and parries.
  • Mike Tyson (Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!): NES boss requiring perfect timing to counter his barely telegraphed, random attacks.
  • Sans (Undertale): A joke skeleton who is incredibly difficult in the genocide run, attacking with numerous bones and lasers, and breaking game boundaries.
  • Absolute Virtue (Final Fantasy XI): An MMO boss that was "impossible to defeat through normal means" for nearly three years due to healing and party wipes, later nerfed.
  • Queen Larsa (Mushihimesama Futari): A bullet-hell boss with constant, screen-filling projectiles, demanding pixel-perfect precision and skill.

6. Subscription-Based Games (Not WoW):

  • Fallout 76: Post-apocalyptic multiplayer RPG; free-to-play with optional Fallout First for private worlds, storage, and Atoms.
  • EverQuest: Classic 3D MMORPG from 1999; free-to-play with paid Daybreak All Access for extra character slots, guild benefits.
  • Albion Online: Medieval fantasy MMORPG; free-to-play with premium enhancing fame, gathering, gold, crop yield, and reducing market tax.
  • Second Life: Multimedia platform/social experience; free-to-play with premium membership for in-game cash, VIP access, and voice morphing.
  • EVE Online: Space-based MMORPG; free-to-play with Omega subscription for advanced skills, faster progression, and more ships.
  • The Elder Scrolls Online: Set in Tamriel, 1000 years before Skyrim; optional ESO Plus subscription for unlimited crafting storage, Crowns, and DLC access.
  • RuneScape: Long-running MMO; free version, membership unlocks 11 skill lines, 200+ quests, and larger world.
  • The Lord of the Rings Online: MMORPG set in Middle-earth; free-to-play with perks like priority login and inventory slots for subscribers.
  • Star Wars: The Old Republic: BioWare MMORPG with player choices; free-to-play up to level 60, subscription for higher levels and expansions.
  • Final Fantasy XIV: Rebuilt MMORPG with rich story; free trial up to level 60, subscription for full game access.

7. Video Games That Defy Genre Classification:

  • Flower: An "experience" more than a game, controlling wind to guide petals through dreamlike landscapes, emphasizing art and emotion.
  • Papers, Please: Border control simulator with moral dilemmas and resource management, far deeper than a simple puzzle game.
  • Jet Set Radio: Blends extreme sports, 3D platforming, and attitude with cell-shaded Tokyo.
  • Pokémon Snap: On-rails photography game, uniquely focusing on capturing photos of Pokémon rather than combat.
  • NiGHTS Into Dreams: A graceful, aerial platformer without traditional platforms, defining its own unique flying experience.
  • Knights in the Nightmare: Mashes tactical RPG, bullet hell, and visual novel with a unique Wisp-controlled combat system.
  • Exo One: A momentum-based exploration game in space, focusing on atmospheric flight and environmental interaction, blurring "walking simulator" with something unique.
  • Portal: Puzzle-platformer with physics manipulation, using an FPS engine to create unique spatial puzzles beyond typical genre boundaries.
  • Crypt of the NecroDancer: Roguelike dungeon crawler with mandatory rhythm-based movement and combat.
  • Katamari Damacy: Players roll everyday objects into huge balls; hard to classify as action or puzzle, purely unique.

8. Video Game Protagonists Who Are Doomed:

  • V (Cyberpunk 2077): Brain-scanned by Johnny Silverhand, inevitably choosing between loss of self or digital imprisonment.
  • Raziel (Legacy of Kain series): Destiny leads him to become the tortured soul of the Soul Reaver sword, a fate he cannot escape.
  • Arthur Morgan (Red Dead Redemption 2): Contracts tuberculosis, a death sentence in the game's era, leading to his inevitable demise.
  • Nathan Hale (Resistance series): Infected with a virus that grants powers but ultimately leads to his irreversible, forced execution.
  • The Nameless One (Planescape: Torment): An amnesiac immortal who repeatedly dies and revives, destined to return to the Blood War regardless of choices.
  • The Chosen Undead (Dark Souls): Cannot escape "Hollowing" (losing mind/free will) unless they pursue an ending with distinct trade-offs.
  • Frédéric François Chopin (Eternal Sonata): The game is entirely his deathbed dream, ending with his historical demise from tuberculosis.
  • Zack Fair (Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII): As a prequel, his tragic death at the hands of Shinra is a predetermined event players cannot change.
  • Nariko (Heavenly Sword): Wielding a cursed sword, her life is immediately forfeit, with eventual death being unavoidable.
  • Noble Six (Halo: Reach): As a prequel, his sacrifice and the fall of Reach, are unchangeable lore, ensuring his demise.

9. Most Heart-Wrenching Video Game Deaths:

  • Cole Phelps (LA Noire): The detective drowns in a sewer during a flash flood, an unexpected and anti-climactic end.
  • Sean MacGuire (Red Dead Redemption 2): Dies suddenly from a bullet to the head in an ambush, shocking due to his companion status.
  • Jackie Welles (Cyberpunk 2077): Despite being a prominent character in pre-release, he dies early in a botched heist, marking a sudden loss.
  • Caroline (Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus): Decapitated by a Nazi, her death is brutal and inescapable, shocking players into the game's grim reality.
  • Lugo (Spec Ops: The Line): Found hanged by civilians and cannot be saved by player, a cruel twist in an already grim narrative.
  • Dom Santiago (Gears of War 3): Sacrifices himself by blowing up a tanker to save his squad, a heroic but final end for a character who had suffered much.
  • Booker DeWitt (BioShock Infinite): Drowned by Elizabeth to prevent the villain Comstock's existence, a devastating choice for the player.
  • Jin's Horse (Ghost of Tsushima): After an ambush, the horse carries Jin to safety but dies from its injuries, a heartbreaking loss for a loyal companion.
  • Aerith Gainsborough (Final Fantasy VII): Unexpectedly murdered by Sephiroth, a pivotal and shocking moment that profoundly impacted a generation of gamers.
  • Joel Miller (The Last of Us Part II): Brutally beaten to death with a golf club early on, a shocking and violent end for a beloved character that sets up the sequel's plot.

10. Horrible Decisions Video Games Forced Us to Make:

  • Love, Sacrifice, or Wealth (Fable II): Choose between resurrecting many strangers, a few loved ones, or taking a selfish cash prize, a profound moral dilemma.
  • Rewrite Geth Heretics or Destroy Them (Mass Effect 2): Decide the fate of sentient AI—force them to change or exterminate them—a choice between moral ambiguity and brutal efficiency.
  • Cure Cancer or End World Hunger (Saints Row IV): As president, choose one of two monumental global benefits, knowing the other crisis will continue, a truly impossible humanitarian decision.
  • Charge Husband or Child Molester (LA Noire): Charge the likely innocent husband or let a molester go to face justice for other crimes, highlighting moral greys in policing.
  • Stand Up to Ramsay or Silence (Game of Thrones Telltale): Defy a volatile villain to protect a loved one, knowing either choice could lead to your character's death.
  • Shoot Lee or Leave Him to Turn (Walking Dead Telltale): A dying Lee forces Clementine to either mercy-kill him or let him become a zombie, a gut-wrenching choice for a father-figure.
  • Cut Off Your Own Finger (Heavy Rain): Amputate a finger on camera for a clue to your kidnapped son, a horrific act of self-mutilation for love.
  • Shoot Yourself or Shoot Ashley (Until Dawn): A psycho forces Chris to shoot himself or a friend, under threat of both dying if he fails, revealing dark aspects of character.
  • Kill Vault 34 Inhabitants or Leak Radiation (Fallout New Vegas): Choose between the immediate death of vault dwellers or contaminating the water of many farmers, a "damned if you do" scenario.
  • Save Town or Save Chloe (Life is Strange): Sacrifice a loved one or an entire town to avoid a natural disaster, a deeply personal and emotionally taxing choice.

11. Most Important Video Game Composers:

  • Shoji Meguro: Persona series, Shin Megami Tensei, unique mix of musical styles.
  • Yuzo Koshiro: Streets of Rage, Shinobi, chip-tune master.
  • Akira Yamaoka: Silent Hill, masters of unsettling, foreboding atmospheres.
  • Michiru Yamane: Castlevania, blends rock and baroque for dark fantasy.
  • Grant Kirkhope: Banjo-Kazooie, Perfect Dark, iconic N64 scores.
  • Jun Senoue: Sonic Adventure, Sonic Frontiers, consistently good music for the Sonic series.
  • Jeremy Soule: Elder Scrolls, Guild Wars, epic orchestral works.
  • Martin O'Donnell: Halo, Oni, created recognizable sci-fi scores with Gregorian chants.
  • Nobuo Uematsu: Final Fantasy, iconic, prolifice, blends rock, opera, techno.
  • Koji Kondo: Super Mario, Legend of Zelda, created some of gaming's most recognizable themes.

12. Video Games About Video Games:

  • Our World is Ended: Indie game developers find their augmented reality game creating a virtual reality duplicate of the real world.
  • God Medicine: Fantasy Sekai no Tanjo: Japanese RPG where characters enter a game world after the company making it burns down.
  • Kid Chameleon: Kid fights through a hologram-based game that traps players by literally escaping into it.
  • Game Dev Tycoon: Players build their own game development company, balancing game components.
  • Moon: Remix RPG Adventure: Anti-RPG where a boy enters a game he was playing and must collect souls of killed creatures.
  • The Magic Circle: A tester plays a game stuck in development hell; a rogue AI gives powers to escape.
  • Nashi no Game (The Nameless Game): A horror adventure where a cursed game causes real-world consequences and death.
  • SUPERHOT: FPS where a mysterious entity forces the player to keep playing a "leaked" game, adding meta-tension.
  • CrossCode: Action RPG where memories are regained by playing a fictional MMO called "CrossWorlds."
  • Doki Doki Literature Club!: Dating sim that reveals itself as psychological horror, breaking the fourth wall, with a self-aware character manipulating the game.

13. Video Games That Make You Feel Smart:

  • Portal (1 & 2): Puzzle-platformers requiring players to use portals to solve increasingly complex physics-based challenges.
  • Fez: 2D/3D platformer that requires rotating the world to discover new paths, making the player think spatially.
  • Lemnis Gate: Turn-based first-person shooter in a time loop, demanding strategic planning across multiple turns.
  • Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines: RTS game requiring careful tactical planning to execute stealth missions with limited units.
  • Unheard: Crime-solving game where players solve mysteries using only audio clues, piecing together events from different timelines.
  • The Turing Test: Puzzle game where players redistribute power spheres to solve logic puzzles, often requiring lateral thinking.
  • Sudden Strike: RTS with finite units and realistic damage model, making every decision tense and impactful.
  • The Witness: An expansive island puzzle game with grid-based puzzles solved by interpreting environmental clues, offering no direct instructions.
  • Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars: Point-and-click adventure with notorious, often bizarre, "lateral thinking" puzzles.
  • Discworld: Adventure game with extremely difficult and often nonsensical puzzles based on Terry Pratchett's absurd universe.

14. Games That Explore What Happens When We Die:

  • Dante's Inferno: Action-adventure exploring Dante's journey through Hell, depicting medieval concepts of tailored punishments for sins.
  • God of War: Kratos experiences the Greek underworld, reflecting ancient Greek beliefs about afterlife and its inhabitants.
  • Afterparty: Two friends awaken in Hell where punishment is 9-5 and they must out-drink the devil to escape, exploring themes of alcoholism and redemption.
  • Avenging Spirit: A murdered man returns as a ghost who must possess others to save his kidnapped love and achieve peace.
  • Hades: Zagreus, son of Hades, repeatedly attempts to escape the Greek underworld, exploring family trauma and the nature of eternal torment.
  • A Mortician's Tale: Players perform embalming and funeral services, encouraging a positive perspective on the physical process of death.
  • P.O.M. Gets Wi-Fi: Dogs who die go to a heaven without internet, leading to a quest for connectivity.
  • Valheim: Vikings are granted immortality and can respawn in a survival world, showing an afterlife of continuous struggle and rebuilding.
  • Grim Fandango: A travel agent for the dead uncovers corruption in the system that determines where souls go next, exploring themes of justice in the afterlife.
  • Pokémon entries: Many Pokedex descriptions reveal dark backstories involving death, possession, and torment (e.g., Parasect, Palossand, Yamask, Mimikyu), suggesting hidden horrors in their origins.

15. Animal Crossing Features Lost to Time:

  • Special Characters: Many unique, job-holding NPCs (e.g., Katrina, Wendell, Porter) are missing from newer games.
  • Lighthouse Duty: A small daily task in the first game for the player to turn on the lighthouse.
  • Town Gates & Guards: Physical gates manned by guards (Booker and Copper) that controlled town access.
  • Personality Quizzes: Initial character appearance was determined by answering personality questions, not direct customization.
  • Gyroids: Sentient, collectible clay figures found by digging, often acting as save points in early games.
  • Rudeness from Villagers: In older games, villagers could be openly hostile or insulting.
  • Mr. Resetti's Screaming: The mole would yell at players for not saving or time traveling.
  • Flea Market: Monthly event where players could buy almost any item from villagers' homes.
  • The Roost (original coffee shop): Brewster's café was once a dingy but cozy basement room in the museum.
  • NES Games: Playable, full NES titles were found and collected within the first Animal Crossing games.

16. Weirdest Veterinarian Video Games:

  • Zoo Vet: Deeply detailed and often disturbing, requiring invasive surgical procedures on exotic animals.
  • Zoo Hospital: Vet care presented through simplistic, fast-paced mini-games with odd tasks like guiding Tetris pieces through intestines.
  • My Vet Practice in the Country: Combines animal care with personal financial management, featuring student vets loaded with debt.
  • Animal Planet: Vet Life: Contestants compete to be the best vet, performing basic treatments on restless animals with questionable efficacy.
  • Petz Vet: More of a dating simulator with a simplistic vet mechanic, including an ostrich patient that doesn't fit on screen.
  • Pet World 3D: My Animal Shelter: Players intern at a shelter, primarily brushing and feeding animals for adoption.
  • Barbie Pet Rescue: Barbie's pet rescue business, involving training dogs and untangling hamsters from pipes, with a mix of common and exotic animals.
  • Planet Zoo: Zoo management game allowing players to control animal happiness and even contraception, with the option to unleash animals on guests.
  • Zoo Vet 2: Endangered Animals: Sequel with "distressingly realistic wounds" and a graphical downgrade for humans, focusing on medical procedures.
  • Vet Emergency 2: Full-motion video game with cheesy cutscenes and static JPEG images for surgical procedures.

17. Best Jackbox Games:

  • You Don't Know Jack: Trivia game blending pop culture and high culture; includes "screws" to hinder opponents.
  • TKO: Players design T-shirts with slogans, winning based on funniest combinations.
  • Patently Stupid: Players invent solutions to problems, with others investing in their ideas.
  • Faking It: Guess who didn't receive the prompt by observing subtle social cues.
  • Drawful: Players draw bizarre prompts, and others guess the original prompt or invent convincing fake titles.
  • Trivia Murder Party: A trivia game where incorrect answers lead to grotesque deaths, yet players continue as ghosts.
  • Blather Round: Players describe a word using only given random words, challenging verbal dexterity.
  • Fibbage: Players submit believable lies to a fill-in-the-blank fact, fooling others for points.
  • Push the Button: Social deduction game where "aliens" attempt to blend in with "humans" by performing challenges.
  • Quiplash: Players respond to prompts with witty "quips" that are voted on by others.

18. Strangest Mods in Video Games:

  • Thomas the Tank Engine (Skyrim/Resident Evil 2 Remake): Thomas replaces dragons in Skyrim (with train sounds) and Mr. X in RE2, becoming a terrifying, relentless hunter.
  • Waluigi (Dragon Ball Fighter Z): Replaces Vegeta's model, depicting a muscular, revenge-seeking Waluigi as a powerful fighter.
  • Teletubbies (Left for Dead): Transforms hordes of zombies into "absolutely berserk" Teletubbies with their original voices.
  • Multiplayer Mode (Just Cause 2): Fan-made mod adds thousands of players to the chaotic open-world game simultaneously.
  • Aggression Mod (Dark Souls 3): Increases enemy detection range, turning the game into a "never-ending wave of enemies."
  • Mega Man 8-bit Doom 2: Comprehensive mod overhauling Doom 2 assets with Mega Man characters, weapons, and 8-bit style.
  • Immersive Facial Animations (Fallout 4): Exaggerates NPC facial expressions to disturbing and hilarious degrees.
  • Super Skyrim Bros (Skyrim): Injects Super Mario aesthetic, characters, and gameplay elements into Skyrim, turning it into a "fever dream."
  • Carmageddon (Grand Theft Auto V): Makes all vehicles slide out of control in close proximity, causing massive chaos and destruction.

19. Video Games That Would Make Great Movies:

  • The Last of Us: Post-apocalyptic survival horror with deep character drama and fungus zombies, ready for film adaptation.
  • Dead Space: Sci-fi horror with Necromorphs and a story of betrayal and heartbreak, perfect for a thrilling and scary movie adaptation.
  • Dynasty Warriors: Hack-and-slash series based on historical Chinese conflicts, could be a visually spectacular, action-packed war film.
  • Far Cry 3: Tropical island adventure with pirates, indigenous tribes, and drug-induced hallucinations, offering action and psychological elements.
  • Mass Effect Trilogy: Epic space opera with aliens, ancient threats, and player choices, a ready-made sci-fi blockbuster.
  • Halo: Combat Evolved: Iconic FPS with Master Chief and a ring-world mystery, offering sci-fi action and extensive lore.
  • Watch Dogs: Hacking-focused urban adventure with modern themes of surveillance and rebellion, fitting for a tech-thriller.
  • BioShock: Underwater dystopian city with Art Deco design, mutated inhabitants, and deep philosophical themes, ideal for a noir adaptation.
  • Fallout 3: Post-apocalyptic Washington D.C., with unique Americana aesthetic, mutants, and a personal quest, fit for a distinctive survival film.
  • Red Dead Redemption: Western with a former outlaw seeking redemption, offering gun-slinging action and a poignant narrative.

20. Video Games in Which You Play Through the Credits:

  • Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: Shoot developer names in a mini-game, with different play styles in various series entries.
  • Katamari Damacy: Roll over entire continents as staff names scroll by, a satisfying end to a chaotic game.
  • Vanquish: Blast incoming meteors displaying developer names in space, with one producer's asteroid being indestructible.
  • Zombies Ate My Neighbors: Explore the LucasArts office itself, rescuing more neighbors and fighting creatures.
  • Street Fighter EX3: Use your fighter to battle endless generic thugs displaying staff names, including a growing Andore.
  • Sam & Max Hit the Road: Unwind by shooting targets with the characters as the credits roll.
  • WarioWare: Smooth Moves!: Move developers around on screen and dump them into a hole.
  • Nier: Automata: A bullet-hell sequence during credits, requiring help from other players, and a choice to sacrifice save data.
  • The Typing of the Dead: Type out developer names to make zombies dance in the background.
  • Flower: Players control the wind, making petals (with developer names) bloom from flowers, a serene and artistic credit sequence.

21. Most Badass Women in Video Games:

  • Chloe Frazer (Uncharted series): Treasure hunter, dry wit, complex, fearless, capable with firearms and words, knows her limitations.
  • Chell (Portal series): Silent protagonist, abnormally stubborn, intelligent, resourceful, fluent in binary, capable of solving complex puzzles with a portal gun.
  • Ellie (The Last of Us series): Resourceful survivalist, loyal, tough, and driven by vengeance in a brutal post-apocalyptic world.
  • Lilith (Borderlands series): A powerful "Siren" with elemental combat abilities and a unique phase-walk power.
  • Tifa Lockhart (Final Fantasy 7): Skilled martial artist, empathetic, runs a bar, raises children, handles Cloud's delivery service, and provides moral guidance.
  • Jade (Beyond Good and Evil): Photojournalist who exposes corruption, resourceful, skilled in martial arts, and dedicated to conservation.
  • Jill Valentine (Resident Evil series): Quick-thinking, level-headed, selfless leader, skilled in bomb disposal, maintains humor despite trauma.
  • Clementine (The Walking Dead): Transforms from a scared girl to a resourceful, resilient young adult, known for her kindness and selflessness in a zombie apocalypse.
  • Ciri (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt): Highly skilled sword fighter, Source (magical energy), can control space and time, capable of holding her own in fights despite lacking some Witcher skills.
  • Senua (Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice): Warrior battling psychosis, overcomes physical foes and internal mental struggles, driven by grief and determination.

22. Video Games That Made You Hallucinate:

  • Far Cry 3: Jason Brody experiences drug-induced hallucinations, particularly during confrontations with the villain Vaas, blurring reality.
  • Batman: Arkham Asylum: Scarecrow's fear toxin causes Batman to experience terrifying hallucinations (e.g., Commissioner Gordon's death, Joker swaps roles with him), blurring game progression.
  • Heavy Rain: Ethan Mars suffers from agoraphobia, leading to hallucinations of a frozen, malleable crowd in a train station.
  • Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater: Naked Snake encounters the spirit of The Sorrow, causing a river of souls to appear, representing those he's killed (can be an empty river if pacifist).
  • Call of Duty: Black Ops: Mason's interrogation reveals he's been drugged with a hallucinogenic by his own comrades, making him imagine interactions with a dead contact.
  • Max Payne: Max, under the influence of the drug Valkyr, experiences hellish nightmares recurring his family's murder with distorted visuals.
  • Lollipop Chainsaw: Juliet encounters mushrooms that induce hallucinations, leading to bizarre fights against giant Zombie Chickens.
  • Silent Hill: Protagonist Harry Mason experiences a horrific sequence in an alleyway, which turns out to be a premonition or dream.
  • Spec Ops: The Line: Captain Walker communicates with his "dead" commanding officer, Conrad, who is a hallucination manifested by Walker's guilt over his actions.
  • We Happy Few: The game's world is itself a hallucination induced by a drug called "Joy," taken to suppress bad memories after a "very bad thing" occurred.

23. Video Games with Subtle Hidden Messages:

  • The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: The Dragonborn acts as a "catalyst for change," uniting divided factions and restoring hope to a land plagued by conflict.
  • God of War (2018): Beyond redemption, it subtly explores the "difficulties of Parenthood," showing Kratos struggling with his violent past while guiding Atreus.
  • Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare: Despite being a military shooter, it's distinctly "anti-war," using death quotes and cutscenes to highlight the horrors of modern combat.
  • Fallout: New Vegas: Shows that human "greed and ambition" persist even after apocalypse, but individuals can still influence society's patterns, albeit likely back to capitalism/authoritarianism.
  • Tony Hawk's Underground: Subtly asserts that skateboarding's "own reward" is the passion for the sport, not fame or sponsorships.
  • Mass Effect 2: Survival "cannot be achieved alone"; teamwork and collaboration are essential to overcome the Reaper threat, emphasizing inclusivity.
  • Red Dead Redemption: The past is "inescapable"; John Marston cannot escape his outlaw past, no matter how hard he tries, leading to a tragic, destined end.
  • Uncharted Series: The games are about "giving history the respect it deserves"; villains exploit the past, while Nathan Drake (the hero) understands its value.
  • Braid: Secretly allegorical for the creation of the atomic bomb, showing a man’s obsession with destructive power and its consequences.
  • BioShock: Explores the dangers of "unchecked scientific advancements" and is a cautionary tale about "substance abuse" (Adam addiction), showing how it warps individuals and society.

24. Things We Want to See in the Next Resident Evil:

  • More Spooks: Return to the terrifying atmosphere of early games and RE7, with claustrophobic environments and limited resources.
  • Rose Winters: Explore her growth and powers after Village, whether she's a hero or villain, tying up dangling plot threads.
  • VR Support: Full VR support for enhanced immersion, especially for experiencing terrifying encounters up close.
  • Chris Redfield vs. BSAA: Follow Chris's investigation into the BSAA's use of bioweapons, exploring the organization's corruption.
  • Mysterious Organizations: Delve deeper into The Connections and Blue Umbrella, unveiling their true sinister plots or intentions.
  • More Intricate Puzzles: Complex escape-room style puzzles from RE7 and Village, ideally with less grotesque elements.
  • Claustrophobic Environments: Return to narrow corridors and tight spaces that enhance fear and limit escape options.
  • Stalking Antagonists: Bring back relentless, pursuing enemies like Mr. X and Jack Baker, placed in environments that maximize terror.
  • More Survival Horror: Increase resource scarcity and focus on inventory management, restoring tension to gameplay.
  • Leon S. Kennedy & Old Friends: Bring back beloved characters like Leon, Jill Valentine, or Ada Wong for main series roles, tying into their current activities.

25. Priceless Video Game Items Fit for the Antiques Roadshow:

  • The Chaos Emeralds (Sonic the Hedgehog): Magical, multicolored gems that manipulate time/space; technically worthless as they always disappear.
  • The Ocarina of Time (The Legend of Zelda): Royal, magical instrument that controls time and teleports; worth millions, but only ~£5 in real-world currency due to exchange rates.
  • Sapphire's Flawless Sapphire (Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim): A precious gem, worth thousands in-game, but real-world value is low as the giver has an endless supply.
  • The Concrete Donkey (Worms series): A bizarre, destructive weapon inspired by a childhood memory; value depends on whether there's a real donkey encased inside.
  • The Mayor Lewis Statue (Stardew Valley): A solid gold statue of the mayor; worth a lot because someone wants it removed and will pay to get it back.
  • Talisman of the Binding Shard (World of Warcraft): A legendary, one-of-a-kind item, valuable due to its extreme rarity and its owner's inability to trade it.
  • The Completionist Cape (RuneScape): A cape earned for 100% game completion; valuable for street cred but loses stats upon death.
  • The Shovel Blade (Shovel Knight): A unique, durable weapon used by a chivalrous knight; valuable for its craftsmanship and unique symbolism.
  • The Aged Feather (Dark Souls 2): A plain-looking feather that offers unlimited, free teleportation to bonfires, invaluable within the game's brutal world.
  • El Dorado (Uncharted: Drake's Fortune): An ancient Aztec sarcophagus made of solid gold, believed to be cursed. Priceless but contains a horrifying, disease-ridden mummy.

26. Impossible Video Game Bosses:

  • Countess (Darkest Dungeon): Vampiric noble that uses multiple turns, high resistances, and self-healing to exhaust players.
  • Sinistar (Sinistar): A screaming arcade boss that requires perfect aim and timing, threatening instant ship destruction.
  • Grim Matchstick (Cuphead): A three-stage dragon boss with complex bullet patterns, requiring precise platforming on cloud segments.
  • Alma (Ninja Gaiden): A fast-moving demon with diverse magic attacks, offering tiny windows of vulnerability.
  • Malenia, Blade of Miquella (Elden Ring): Heals on hit, has a devastating Waterfowl Dance attack, and applies Scarlet Rot, forcing perfectly timed dodges.
  • Sigrún (God of War): The Valkyrie Queen, combining the moves of all defeated Valkyries with heightened aggression, an optional but brutal challenge.
  • Mike Tyson (Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!): NES boxing boss with unpredictable, instant-knockout punches, requiring near-perfect timing.
  • Sans (Undertale): A joke character who is incredibly difficult in the genocide run, attacking with numerous unpredictable bones and lasers.
  • Absolute Virtue (Final Fantasy XI): An MMORPG boss designed for a long time to be unbeatable, with high HP recovery and party-wiping skills.
  • Queen Larsa (Mushihimesama Futari): A bullet-hell boss with a constant, screen-filling barrage of projectiles, demanding pixel-perfect precision.

27. Video Game TV Show Adaptations:

  • Castlevania: Anime adaptation of the game, faithful to lore, high-quality voice acting.
  • Earthworm Jim: Cartoon following the bizarre adventures of a worm with a mech suit.
  • Sonic Boom: TV series noted for self-referential humor and breaking fourth walls, better critically than its accompanying game.
  • You Don't Know Jack: American game show based on the trivia game, attempted to retain irreverent humor.
  • Steins;Gate: Anime adaptation of the visual novel, well-received for its complex time-travel story.
  • Super Mario Bros. Super Show!: Live-action/animated variety show with Mario/Luigi segments and Zelda cartoons, known for its surrealism.
  • Digimon: Anime series where characters bond with digital monsters, inspiring a full fighting game.
  • Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? Educational mystery game adapted into a live-action quiz show and a Netflix animated series reimagining Carmen as an anti-hero.
  • Donkey Kong Country: Canadian-French animated series with CGI character models, loosely based on the games.
  • Pokémon: The highest-grossing media franchise, spawning countless anime series and movies, following Ash Ketchum's journey.

28. Video Games That Would Make Great TV Shows (Netflix Specific):

  • Portal: Could be a darkly comedic show exploring Aperture Science, GLaDOS, and other AI personalities.
  • Borderlands: Action-comedy following Vault Hunters in Pandora, with rich lore and diverse characters.
  • Five Nights at Freddy's: Horror series exploring the lore of haunted animatronics and the mystery of the Freddy Fazbear's Pizza chain.
  • Dragon Age: High fantasy series, akin to Game of Thrones, exploring conflicts in Thedas and deep character arcs.
  • Skyrim: Interactive show allowing viewers to make choices in a fantasy world with dragons and different factions.
  • Fallout: Anthology series exploring different parts of the post-apocalyptic universe with various characters and quests.
  • Overcooked: Quirky competitive cooking show with chaotic obstacle courses and teamwork challenges in absurd kitchens.
  • Hatoful Boyfriend: Dating show set in a post-apocalyptic future where humans date intelligent, anthropomorphic birds.
  • Overwatch: Hero shooter with rich lore and diverse characters, could be an ensemble show like Marvel's Defenders.
  • BioShock: Noir adaptation set in Rapture, exploring its rise and fall, the effects of Adam, and its philosophical undertones.

29. Horrifying Dex Entries:

  • Parasect: Zombie-like bug drained and controlled by a parasitic mushroom on its back.
  • Sliggoo: A monster that calms try to melt friends and food.
  • Froslass: A female spirit born from a woman lost in snowy mountains, feeding on life force and freezing victims.
  • Palossand: A sand castle made of victims' dried bones, possessing people and sucking out souls.
  • Cubone: Wears its deceased mother's skull, forever mourning, implying all Cubone mothers die.
  • Mawile: A creature with terrifying jaws on the back of its skull.
  • Yamask: A ghost that carries a mask that was its human face and cries when it sees it.
  • Drowzee: Feeds on children's pleasant dreams, leaving nightmares; its evolved form, Hypno, abducts children.
  • Mimikyu: A creature whose true form induces terror and death, hiding under a Pikachu costume and seeking revenge on those who see it.
  • Drifloon: Children-abducting spirit, dragging them to the afterlife; dislike heavy children.

30. Real-World Uses for Video Games:

  • PS3 as a Military Supercomputer: The US Air Force used 1,760 PS3s to create a cost-effective, energy-efficient supercomputer for research.
  • Physical Therapy: Nintendo Wii and Wii Fit were used in studies and retirement homes to make physical therapy engaging and fun.
  • Minecraft for Architecture: The UN's Block by Block initiative uses Minecraft for community design and revitalization of urban spaces.
  • Promoting Blood Donation: Games like Code Vein offered free copies for blood donations at TwitchCon, and Table Manners partnered with NHS England.
  • Studying Viral Outbreaks: World of Warcraft's "Corrupted Blood" incident was studied by the CDC to understand real-world epidemics and human behavior.
  • Police Training Simulations: VR simulations (e.g., from VirTra) use realistic weapons and haptics to train law enforcement in de-escalation and force use.
  • Applications in Surgery: Video game players' improved dexterity correlates with better surgical skills; companies like Level Ex develop training games for surgeons.
  • Protein Folding: Games like Foldit allow players to solve protein folding puzzles, contributing to medical research for diseases like Alzheimer's.
  • Training Astronauts: Advanced simulations combine video game tech with medical applications to prepare astronauts for deep space emergencies.
  • Mental Well-being and Destigmatization: Games like Sea of Solitude and Hellblade explore mental health issues, fostering empathy and discussion, showing sufferers they are "not alone."

31. Best Video Game Dads:

  • Harry Mason (Silent Hill): A normal dad who shows remarkable courage and devotion, venturing into a hellscape to save his adopted daughter.
  • Asura (Asura's Wrath): A demigod with superhuman powers, unleashing "absolute carnage" to rescue his daughter, but possessing a strong moral code.
  • Barry Burton (Resident Evil): A gruff R.P.D. S.T.A.R.S. officer who is fiercely protective of his wife and daughters, enduring zombie horrors for them.
  • Dr. Eli Vance (Half-Life 2): A loving and emotionally competent father, who builds a robot dog to protect his daughter Alex, and leads the resistance.
  • Kratos (God of War): Transforms from an angry warmonger into a loving, striving father, bonding with Atreus on an emotional journey.
  • Kazuma Kiryu (Yakuza): Despite being Yakuza, he is kind-hearted, caring for Haruka and other orphans, becoming a proud grandfather.
  • Joel Miller (The Last of Us): A traumatized survivor who becomes a surrogate father to Ellie, making brutal choices to protect her.
  • Lee Everett (The Walking Dead): A former professor who becomes a protective, selfless father figure to Clementine in the zombie apocalypse.
  • Geralt of Rivia (The Witcher): A skilled monster slayer who is a doting adoptive father to Ciri, guiding and protecting her despite her immense powers.

32. Video Game Creatures We Want as a Pet:

  • Slimes (Slime Rancher): Cute, gooey creatures that produce valuable "plots" and can be combined to form new slimes.
  • Jörmungandr (God of War): A helpful, giant snake-god who acts as an ally, despite his size and unusual appearance.
  • Chain Chomp (Mario): Bowser's attack dogs, with a surprising endearing quality, like giant, barking, sometimes dress-up puppies.
  • Dogmeat (Fallout series): A faithful, physically normal German Shepherd companion who defies radiation and mutation.
  • Spyro the Dragon: A small, cat-like dragon capable of understanding English and common sense.
  • Trico (The Last Guardian): A giant dog-cat-bird-ferret hybrid, massive yet cuddleable, capable of flight once grown.
  • Rush (Mega Man): A "Pocket Rocket" robot dog that transforms into vehicles and tools, yet retains dog-like perks.
  • Amaterasu (Okami): A white wolf goddess of the sun, constantly on fire, with supernatural brush magic abilities.
  • Wrecking Ball (Overwatch): A genius hamster in a giant hamster ball mech, causing chaos while pursuing engineering challenges.
  • Chocobo (Final Fantasy): Giant, ostrich-like birds used for transport, with sword claws, faster and easier to ride than cars.

33. Video Games That Deserve Their Own Netflix Show:

  • Metroid: Sci-fi action/horror with female lead Samus Aran and extensive lore.
  • Elder Scrolls: High fantasy with diverse races, magic, political intrigue, and epic narratives.
  • Horizon Zero Dawn: Post-apocalyptic story with bad-ass female lead Aloy and giant robotic beasts.
  • Overwatch: Hero shooter with rich character backstories, conflicts between humans and robots, capable of episodic format.
  • Wolfenstein Series: Alternate history where Nazis won WWII, offering brutal action, occult themes, and a compelling hero.
  • Celeste: Allegory for mental health struggles, following a woman climbing a mountain while battling inner demons.
  • Dishonored: Stealth game with a revenge plot in a steampunk world, featuring magic, corruption, and a compelling silent protagonist.
  • God of War: Epic Norse mythology story of Kratos and Atreus, exploring fatherhood and overcoming a violent past.
  • Red Dead Redemption Series: Western with action, suspense, and a complex narrative of outlaws and redemption.
  • BioShock: Noir adaptation set in the underwater city of Rapture, exploring its utopian vision, decline, and themes of addiction.

34. Hard-Hitting Video Games You Won't Play More Than Once:

  • Heavy Rain: Morally taxing choices and dark subject matter (child abduction, abuse) that leave a lasting emotional impact.
  • The Last of Us: Post-apocalyptic survival with immense emotional weight, dealing with loss, family, and difficult moral compromises.
  • Spec Ops: The Line: Military shooter that confronts the player with the true horrors and psychological toll of war, leaving them feeling immense guilt.
  • Papers, Please: Border control simulator in a dystopian state, forcing players into morally compromising decisions with dire consequences.
  • This War of Mine: Survival game from the perspective of civilians in a war-torn city, depicting the daily struggles and difficult moral choices under duress.
  • Limbo: A minimalist platformer that evokes isolation and dread, where players witness unsettling deaths and disturbing moments.
  • The Walking Dead (Telltale): Episodic adventure with a zombie apocalypse backdrop, forcing players to make gut-wrenching choices with beloved characters.
  • What Remains of Edith Finch: A narrative about a family curse, where players experience the tragic, often unexpected deaths of family members.
  • Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice: Explores psychosis through visual and auditory hallucinations, immersing the player in a character's battle with mental illness.
  • That Dragon, Cancer: An interactive abstract memoir about a family's experience with their young son's terminal cancer diagnosis, deeply emotional and painful.

35. Worst Bonus Levels in Video Games:

  • Bloodstained Sanctuary (Cave Story): A notoriously difficult hidden stage, nicknamed "Hell," with relentless enemies and constant environmental hazards.
  • Andy Asteroids (Earthworm Jim): Repetitive and tedious space races that interrupt gameplay and offer little enjoyment, especially after repeated attempts.
  • Abu Levels (Disney's Aladdin): Conceptually awkward and frustrating platforming levels where the small monkey Abu is disproportionately large and easily killed.
  • Hyper Funk Zone (Toejam & Earl in Panic on Funkatron): A sensory overload of repetitive sounds and colorful visuals, requiring precise dodging in a test of memory rather than skill.
  • Animal Buddy Bonus Stages (Donkey Kong Country): Mind-numbingly simple token-collecting stages with no variety or challenge, feeling like a chore.
  • Test Your Might (Mortal Kombat): Button-mashing minigames to break objects, underwhelming and dull compared to the main combat.
  • Toad Slot Machine (Super Mario Bros. 3): A rudimentary gambling game that teaches children about chance and implies Toad hoards useful items.
  • 3D Special Stages (Sonic the Hedgehog 3): Jarring 3D segments in a 2D game, causing nausea and not adding meaningful gameplay.
  • Babaluya Baby Levels (Maui Mallard in Cold Shadow): Nonsensical and difficult platforming levels that offer vital passwords but cause player frustration.
  • The Little Mermaid Levels (Kingdom Hearts II): Rhythm-based QuickTime event sections that replace exploration with tedious song performances, seen as a significant downgrade.

36. Video Games That Shattered the Fourth Wall:

  • Monkey Island Series: Characters directly address the player, comment on game mechanics (e.g., value for money), and reference the industry.
  • Batman: Arkham Asylum: Scarecrow's fear toxin induces in-game glitches and fake restarts, making the player believe the game is crashing.
  • X-Men (Mega Drive): Requires the player to physically press the console's reset button to cleanse an in-game virus.
  • EarthBound / Mother 2: The final boss fight uses the player's real name (from game setup) to call for help, blurring game and reality.
  • Stanley Parable: The self-aware narrator constantly comments on the player's choices and actions, often breaking down the game's boundaries.
  • Undertale: The game remembers player actions across playthroughs, even mass genocide, and reacts to them, making players feel guilty.
  • Eternal Darkness: Psychological horror that "breaks your TV" (causes fake glitches, volume changes, fake save file deletions) based on in-game sanity.
  • Pony Island: A game possessed by the devil that hacks into the player's "Steam messages" and pulls real usernames from their contacts.
  • Metal Gear Solid Series: Psycho Mantis reads memory card data; Solid Snake in a VR mission tells Raiden to turn off the console, etc.
  • Doki Doki Literature Club!: A dating simulator that descends into meta-horror, with a self-aware character (Monica) manipulating save files and deleting characters.

37. Games You Can Finish in Under an Hour:

  • Milk inside a bag of milk inside a bag of milk: A visual novel taking ~20 minutes, exploring mental illness through dialogue choices.
  • Deion by H.P. Lovecraft: A narrative experience ~30 minutes, recounting a man's escape from a sea raider and encounters with strange creatures.
  • Donkey Kong: The classic arcade game ~20 minutes, launching Mario to save Pauline.
  • Star Fox 2: A bite-sized SNES title ~45 minutes, a unique challenge that was almost cancelled.
  • Speed Dating for Ghosts: Dating sim ~30 minutes, where players meet and date ghosts, exploring their backstories.
  • The Haunted Island, a Frog Detective Game: Detective game ~45 minutes, solving a mystery with anthropomorphic animals.
  • Florence: Interactive comic book ~30 minutes, about love and life, with touching and heartbreaking moments.
  • Dr. Langeskov, the Tiger, and the Terribly Cursed Emerald: A Whirlwind Heist: A hilarious narrative ~25 minutes, with expert comedic timing.
  • Emily is Away: Chat client simulator ~40 minutes, exploring a high school relationship through message choices.
  • Kirby's Dream Land: A Game Boy platformer ~45 minutes, introducing Kirby to King Dedede and his first adventure.

38. Video Games That Tackle Taboo Subjects:

  • Life is Strange: Explores bullying and suicide, with a choice to save a character being driven to self-harm.
  • Depression Quest: Text-based game simulating living with depression, showcasing logical impairments faced by sufferers.
  • Gone Home: Explores a young woman's struggles with her parents' non-acceptance of her sexuality.
  • Change: A Homeless Survival Experience: Players navigate homelessness, balancing needs and long-term goals, and dealing with addiction/mental health.
  • Among the Sleep: Survival horror that depicts a child's perspective on parental divorce and alcoholism through a "dark, twisted world."
  • Persona 5: Character's story highlights sexual assault and bullying by a coach, showing the trauma and shame of abuse.
  • Papo & Yo: Allegory for childhood abuse, where a boy's attempts to "cure" a monster mirror his father's alcoholism.
  • What Remains of Edith Finch: Explores family trauma and the loss of children through a "curse" that causes untimely deaths.
  • This War of Mine: Depicts the civilian experience of war, forcing hard moral choices and showing the devastating impact on individuals.
  • That Dragon, Cancer: An abstract memoir by parents whose young son has terminal cancer, exploring grief and the harsh reality of the disease.

39. Terrible Gifts for Gamers:

  • Board Games: While some enjoy them, they can lead to negative social interactions and are not always preferred by video gamers.
  • Gaming-Themed Homewares: Mugs, cushions, etc., often impractical, expensive, and may not fit the recipient's aesthetic.
  • Energy Drinks/Gaming Supplements: Often unnecessary and can encourage unhealthy habits, with little actual impact on gaming skill.
  • Third-Party Peripherals: Inferior quality, lacking features, and prone to breaking compared to official versions.
  • Statues, Figurines, & Plushies: Risky, expensive gifts that may not be desired unless the recipient is a collector; often end up unused.
  • Mystery Boxes: Subscription services that often fill boxes with cheap, unwanted merchandise.
  • VR Headsets: Can be expensive and require specific hardware, often cause motion sickness, and may not be wanted unless specifically requested.
  • The Wrong Console: Manufacturers with similar names make it easy to buy the wrong one, causing disappointment and expense.
  • Almost Anything from Wish: Cheap, low-quality knockoffs that rarely work as advertised.
  • Video Games (themselves): Risk buying something already owned or unwanted, leading to disappointment despite good intentions.

40. Updates That Ruined Video Games:

  • Windows 10 Updates: Caused frame rate issues and stuttering for PC gamers; often fixed by uninstalling the patch.
  • Fallout 3 Updates: A 2021 patch removed Game for Windows Live requirement but disabled the Fallout Script Extender, breaking mods.
  • Diablo III 1.10 Update: Significantly increased difficulty, nerfed characters, and reduced loot drops, alienating many players.
  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered Microtransactions: Introduced pay-to-win mechanics in a game previously free of them, despite promises against it.
  • Far Cry (CryEngine 1.4 patch): Enemies gained X-ray vision and could shoot through walls, ruining gameplay balance.
  • Cyberpunk 2077 (First Major Patch): Intended to fix bugs but instead broke a main story mission, halting progress.
  • Star Wars Battlefront 2 (2005 Patch): A 2021 graphical update caused crashes, messed up UI, and broke mods, forcing a rollback.
  • Marvel's Avengers (1.8.0 Patch): Leaked PS5 players' IP addresses, risking doxing for streamers.
  • Red Dead Online Patch: Disabled weapons for some players and introduced numerous bugs, making the game unplayable.
  • Forza Horizon 4 (7GB Update): Introduced a bug that made the game completely unplayable on Xbox Series X/S, potentially losing save data.

41. Video Game Houses on the Property Market:

  • The Mars House (Heavy Rain): A modern, open-plan suburban home; owners selling due to "unfortunate family circumstances" (kidnapped child).
  • Carrington Institute (Perfect Dark): State-of-the-art spy agency office with training rooms, R&D, and parking, but limited lift access and alien attacks.
  • Your Minecraft House (Minecraft): Build-it-yourself property, from hobbit holes to nuclear power plants, offering limitless customization.
  • The Normandy (Mass Effect): A luxurious spaceship with FTL and stealth capabilities, perfect for globe-trotting, but comes with an eccentric pilot.
  • Your House (Animal Crossing): A quaint, rustic home in a town of talking animals, requiring self-building and upkeep; offers escape to the country.
  • Link's Oasis (Zelda Wind Waker): A modest island home with all amenities, protected by a "door-man" (a living door), but with a slight undead infestation.
  • Lakeview Manor (Skyrim): A buildable home in a scenic location, but in a dangerous area with dragon attacks and weird cultists.
  • Hound Pits Pub (Dishonored): A run-down pub serving as a secret base for assassins, offering a workshop and a brewery.
  • Villa Auditore (Assassin's Creed 2): A luxurious Italian mansion in a tranquil town, with an Armory and library, serving as a hub for assassins.
  • Croft Manor (Tomb Raider): Lara Croft's stately home, with training rooms, obstacle courses, and hidden treasures, but also a creepy, stalker butler.

Conclusion

This tutorial article guided you through the process of dedicating a full 1439 minutes to video game Top 10 lists. By completing the single, overarching step outlined, you successfully immersed yourself in this specific content stream for the entire designated duration.