In my recent mailbag post, my friend Ross asked me what modern games I considered timeless. My first instinct was to say that pretty much any modern game that is well-regarded will probably be timeless. I think there are plenty of games in the early 3D era that were considered amazing that have not aged particularly well due to how clunky that era could be. But either way, if you look at all of the best-rated Metacritic games of all time, just about everything in the top 100 would still be considered a great game today by most.
But the more I thought about it, there are undeniably some games that just seem to have a much longer shelf life than others. Maybe all of those games from the past are still great, but some just engender more passion, which then gets more and more people to play and enjoy them, even as many years pass by. If you scroll through past “Game of the Year” nominees, it’s fascinating to see which games that were once very highly regarded that are now somewhat forgotten.
A truly timeless game stands on its own, and there’s no way a sequel will make it feel irrelevant. To me, this means it truly maximized its gameplay in a way where I just don’t see many paths for improvement. Also, a great story will always be worthwhile, no matter how much time has passed. When Ross asked which modern games are timeless, he cited Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI as past examples. The stories and characters in those games make them stand the test of time in ways that something like Breath of Fire cannot.
With that, let’s get to it! Here are my top 10 games of the 2020s that I think people will still continue to discover and enjoy for decades to come.
10. Hollow Knight: Silksong
In general, a great 2D game is probably more likely to stand the test of time than a great 3D game. While there will always be innovation, 2D games are at the point where they can’t really be drastically improved upon in terms of visuals and animations in particular.
This is why it’s tough for me to ever see Hollow Knight: Silksong going out of style. It has some of the best and most responsive combat and platforming that I have ever experienced, and some of the smartest boss and enemy design I have ever seen as well. The oppressive music and art also create an atmosphere unlike almost anything else in this space.
Admittedly, I have quite a few annoyances with Silksong. I don’t think the lack of fast travel points or long runbacks really enhances the game in any meaningful way. But the core stuff is so good that I don’t believe it will ever fade. Also, the Soulslike genre feels like the genre that seems to have some of the best-aging games from the past decade. People still love to pick up Dark Souls and other games like it many years later. With the amount of quality that Silksong has, I don’t think it will be any different.
9. Unicorn Overlord
If I were to have made this list from 2019 on, a different game from Vanillaware very well might have been in this space. There’s an extreme passion for 13 Sentinels out there that doesn’t seem to be close to fading. Multiple people get excited whenever I mention that I’ll be playing that game soon. It apparently has an unforgettable story, and as I said, a great story will always be timeless.
Unicorn Overlord will continue to age well for a completely different reason. Simply, it has the best SRPG gameplay that I have ever experienced. There’s so much customization here, and yet it is all incredibly user-friendly. Also, it utilizes an “RTS-light” format that is very rare in this genre, which means the gameplay will likely continue to stand out for many years to come. And if more games start using this type of gameplay, Unicorn Overlord will probably look even better and be cited as a big inspiration.
Even with the story being a bit mediocre, I have no doubt that people will enjoy this one for a very long time to come. And Vanillaware doesn’t really do sequels, so there’s almost no way a sequel will come and make it feel irrelevant, though I also think that this game is so polished that would be impossible anyway.
8. Balatro
Balatro is in that Slay the Spire realm, where I imagine it is going to be cited as an inspiration for a very long time to come. Almost any time someone implements a real-life game of some sort into a roguelike, Balatro will be referenced.
I simply don’t see how this one will ever be significantly improved upon. The implementation of poker mechanics both makes it timeless and makes it difficult to do much more with it than what this did. It’s easy to pick up and play, has tons of build options, and has a really nice variety of content. This will be an easy one for anyone to enjoy for generations.
7. Chained Echoes
As much as I love the previously cited Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger, there is one way in which those games don’t completely stand the test of time, and that is with their battle systems. Both of those games were incredibly ahead of their time with combat, especially Chrono Trigger, but they still lack a certain depth that I prefer to see out of any turn-based RPG that were to come out today. They aren’t bad, but they aren’t nearly as exceptional as they once were.
The thing that makes Chained Echoes really stand out to me is that it essentially “future-proofed” its battle system. It innovates on the classic formula in a myriad of ways, and with the glacially slow way that the JRPG genre evolves, I think it will be a long time before this system isn’t considered interesting and unique. More than anything, I love how much thought you can put into literally any battle in the game, which isn’t something you say often in this genre.
Also, the addition of a fantastic story and great exploration elements just rounds everything out. I think people will be discovering and loving this one for a long time to come, just like some of the classics that helped inspire it.
6. The Last of Us Part 2
It’s weird to say that a former “Game of the Year” winner is underrated, but I honestly think The Last of Us Part 2 is not recognized for how great of a game it really is.
I’m not saying all of the criticism of the game is unwarranted, but I do think a decent chunk of it stems from how whiny gamers can be, and how much many of them hate being challenged in any capacity.
I actually don’t love certain elements of the first half of the game, but I think the second half is truly incredible from a storytelling perspective, and the gameplay in this series has aged well, and I think it will continue to.
I think a few decades from now, when some of the emotions fade and people inevitably experience this again, they will find themselves surprised by how powerful this story was. But maybe I’m overestimating gamers here.
5. Hades 2
I called Hades 2 the best roguelike of all time in my review of it last year, so yeah, it’s kind of hard to see this one fading away.
Hades 2 has brilliant and responsive combat. It has an unbelievable amount of different satisfying ways to play each run, and it has great music, art, and a solid enough story to round it out. A lot of games that I consider 10/10s still have a fair amount of flaws here and there, but I genuinely can’t think of any real gameplay flaw that Hades 2 has. I think it will be a long, long time before I play another roguelike that supplants Hades 2 as my favorite roguelike of all time. Thus, it’s hard not to see this one being cherished for decades and decades to come.
4. Astro Bot
Outside of a few games from the N64 era, I feel like platformers are the genre that has generally aged the best over the years. Platforming gameplay mechanics haven’t evolved that much over the years, and these games don’t tend to rely on fancy production values to draw people into the experience.
So, of course, the best-rated platformer of the 2020s has a pretty good chance of aging well. I feel like Astro Bot is going to be that game that gets kids into the genre for a long time to come, and while I think there are a few ways that an Astro Bot 2 can improve on this game, there aren’t tons of paths for it to do so. The joy, the pick up and play value, the nostalgia, and the great difficulty balancing all make this a game that is truly for everyone, and I expect it to stay that way.
3. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
As I’ve said, the ultimate way for a game to age well is to have a great story, and Expedition 33 might very well be the best story in gaming history. The characters, world, and twists all make this a memorable experience, and I don’t think it will ever not hit for new players.
I almost lowered Expedition 33 a bit more because, as much as I love the gameplay, I think it has flaws and might become more dated in a few decades. The turn-based elements are neat, but your build options can be a bit limited. And the parry system is very innovative for this genre, but I think this game will encourage others to expand on it and make it even better. I also can’t believe that Sandfall doesn’t appear to ever be implementing a few basic quality-of-life features for its exploration elements.
But none of it matters, because if people still play the most barebones JRPG battle systems for their stories today, there’s no way in hell people won’t overlook some perceived flaws for this one. It’s more than special enough to stick around for a long time to come.
2. Baldur’s Gate 3
I genuinely don’t know how many games quite like Baldur’s Gate 3 we will ever see in the future. Even though BG3 boosted this entire genre to a new level of popularity, all of the next generation of CRPGs will likely be unable to reach some of the greatest heights that this game does. The sheer amount of choice and variations in story and dialogue is pretty much unattainable by any modern developer except Larian. With outside publishers in control and budgets to stay under, I don’t see how any other developer would ever have the time and resources to do what was done here. Larian is in a very unique position to be able to make a game like this.
As I said, there will obviously be many games that come down the road that are influenced by this one, but I think Baldur’s Gate 3 will stand atop of them all for a long, long time to come. I’d say it’s unlikely that even Larian ends up being able to make something that surpasses this in the eyes of most fans. I really don’t care for CRPGs, and I admittedly didn’t finish Baldur’s Gate 3, but I’ve still logged something like 80 hours into it over two playthroughs because it really is that amazing.
1. Elden Ring
Funny enough, both games in the top two are games that I haven’t finished. But you don’t have to finish a game to recognize its greatness.
First off, Elden Ring is completely futureproofed when it comes to its exploration and design. It’s clear that the future of open-world design involves fewer map icons and more organic exploration, and Elden Ring is going to be one of a few games that defines how open worlds are made for a long time. It does just about everything right with its exploration.
Even as visuals improve in the future, the art direction here will always be astounding. Very few games have crafted a world that constantly catches your eyes the way this one does.
From there, the challenging combat, a myriad of options, and incredible boss design are all things that will remain strong forever. If anyone has any interest in Soulslikes, Elden Ring will likely be the first game that is recommended for the foreseeable future. And I believe that it is special enough where a sequel will not ever come close to making it irrelevant, much like pretty much every game from FromSoft.
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