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No entertainment industry has grown as fast and wide as gaming has. In only a handful of decades, it’s gone from a niche hobby to a household pastime. It doesn’t matter if you’re a diehard gamer with an endless game budget or a casual tuned out to the scene, we all miss out on certain games.
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Maybe we meant to try them out, but got caught up in whatever game came out after, or maybe it was for a console we didn’t have. Either way, missing out on a classic is unavoidable. Of all of the games I never actually played, these are the ones that always elicit an “oh man, it’s so good, you have to try it.”
Having not actually played any of these games, I didn’t know a good way to rank them. So to keep things simple and unbiased, I’m listing them by year released.
1 Secret Of Mana
Secret of Mana
- Released
- October 3, 1993
- ESRB
- E10+ // Fantasy Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes
- Developer(s)
- Square
This SNES RPG is one of the most beloved games of that era, apparently. It’s often brought up as one of the best Super Nintendo games, and it’s made its way onto plenty of “Best RPG” lists, to boot.
You’d think, given all this aplomb, people would talk about it more. Nothing about the game or its sequels, from gameplay to characters and story, is ever really detailed in discussion. So despite hearing about it so much, I don’t know a thing about it. The art style looks stunning for the era, though, which I’m sure plays a part.
2 Donkey Kong Country
Donkey Kong Country
Systems
- Released
- November 24, 1994
The influence that Donkey Kong Country had on the industry is pretty undeniable. The revitalization of an established Nintendo character sparked a brand that would thrive even now. The 3D-to-sprite rendering method allowed for some amazingly detailed graphics for the platform, and the music direction is top-notch.
This is one of the few games here that I totally understand why people say I’m missing out. It’s such a well-crafted experience that established itself at an iconic era in gaming history. And with how easy it is to play a retro game like this, I have almost no excuse to have not played it yet.
3 Chrono Trigger
Okay, real talk: This might as well be Secret of Mana to me. It’s a top-down turn based RPG with a bunch of nature and some probably grandiose plot line. It’s a beloved SNES game that no one can seem to articulate WHY it was such a big deal.
Based on the name, I’m assuming there’s some kind of time manipulation component. But having released over 20 years ago, and seeing little to no acknowledgement since, I’ve had little reason to care.
4 Silent Hill
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Animated Blood and Gore, Animated Violence
- Developer(s)
- Konami
- Publisher(s)
- Konami
- Engine
- Unreal Engine
- Franchise
- Silent Hill
- Platform(s)
- PS1
- How Long To Beat
- 7 Hours
- How Long To Beat (Completionist Runs)
- 14 Hours
- Metascore
- 86
I’m a sucker for a good horror game, especially one with underlying themes and messages. And few games are as influential to the genre as Silent Hill. But to be honest: I only played the second game.
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I didn’t have a PlayStation until the PS4, so I missed out on a lot of exclusives like this. While I’d love to give it a try, I’m concerned that modern gameplay controls have spoiled me, and trying to move around in the OG silent hill will feel insufferable. Maybe I’ll play that Bloober Team remake that might be happening.
I did play Silent Hill 2 a long while back, at least.
5 The Legend Of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
Systems
- Released
- October 26, 2000
- ESRB
- E10+ For Everyone 10+ due to Animated Blood, Fantasy Violence, Suggestive Themes
- Developer(s)
- Nintendo EAD
- Publisher(s)
- Nintendo
- Engine
- Proprietary Engine
- Franchise
- The Legend of Zelda
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo 64, GameCube
The weirdo of the Zelda series, Majora’s Mask is the favorite of a lot of N64 era gamers. It introduces several very novel concepts, like the transforming masks and the time manipulation.
It also has some wild nonsense going on. Flatwoods wannabe aliens invade a farm, An arm reaching OUT of an outhouse toilet uses a house deed, and Kamaro’s Mask needs no explanation. It all gives the game a bizarre vibe that strike somewhere between fever dream and overly-modded meme game. Without nostalgia to motivate me, I’ve never felt the need to return and give it a try.
6 Final Fantasy 10
Final Fantasy 10
- Released
- December 17, 2001
- ESRB
- T for Teen: Mild Blood, Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Square Enix
- Publisher(s)
- Square Enix
- Engine
- PhyreEngine
- Franchise
- Final Fantasy
- Platform(s)
- PS2
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
- How Long To Beat
- 45 Hours
- Metascore
- 92
Despite having over 16 entries, people only ever talk about three of them: FF7, FF10, and FF14. Final Fantasy 14 is an MMO, so that doesn’t count, and after playing the remake of 7, I get the hype.
10, however, is a strange one. It’s frequently mentioned when FF games are in discussion, but all I can tell from the talk is that no one knows how to pronounce “Tidus” and that he has a really strange laugh.
7 Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Hearts
- Released
- September 17, 2002
- ESRB
- E for Everyone: Violence
- Developer(s)
- Square Enix
- Publisher(s)
- Square Enix
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 4
- Cross-Platform Play
- android, ios
- Cross Save
- yes
- Franchise
- Kingdom Hearts
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- yes
- Platform(s)
- PS2
- How Long To Beat
- 29 Hours
- X|S Optimized
- no
- PS Plus Availability
- Extra & Premium
Kingdom Hearts is just Final Fantasy for Disney adults.
8 Red Dead Redemption
Red Dead Redemption
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs
- Developer(s)
- Rockstar San Diego
- Publisher(s)
- Rockstar Games
- Engine
- rockstar advanced game engine
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer
- Franchise
- Red Dead Redemption
- PC Release Date
- October 29, 2024
- Nintendo Switch Release Date
- August 17, 2023
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
- How Long To Beat
- 18 Hours
- How Long To Beat (Completionist Runs)
- 46 Hours
- Metascore
- 95
My experience with the Red Dead games is such a distorted one. I haven’t played Revolver, Redemption, or Redemption 2. I HAVE, however, played the Undead Nightmare DLC for Redemption when it launched as a standalone game.
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So as far as I am concerned, RDR is a game about some random dude going around wrangling zombies and completing pointless little side quests. I had fun, so I’m sure I’d love the main game, but I never go around to it.
9 The Last Of Us
The Last of Us
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language
- Developer(s)
- Naughty Dog
- Publisher(s)
- Sony
- Engine
- Proprietary (overall), Havok (physics)
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer
- Cross-Platform Play
- No, The Last of Us Part 1 does not have crossplay
- Cross Save
- no
- Expansions
- The Last of Us: Left Behind
- Franchise
- The Last of Us
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- Yes, The Last of Us is Steam Deck compatible
- Platform(s)
- PS3, PS4
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
- How Long To Beat
- 15 Hours
- X|S Optimized
- n/a
- Metascore
- 95
The Last of Us is, supposedly, a gripping tale about some guy taking care of a young girl in a zombie apocalypse. Unfortunately, it suffered some terrible timing. When it came out, zombies were a rising trend in pop culture, with shows like the Walking Dead and movies like World War Z and Zombieland.
PlayStation also had a bit of a trend going on at the time, focusing their efforts on narrative driven single player adventures that have grim settings and sadder stories. This double-sided oversaturation turned me off to the game. And despite the sequel and TV series, I’ve felt no real desire to give it a chance. Blah blah look how sad everyone is, humans are the real monsters, blah blah.
10 Persona 5
Persona 5
- Released
- September 15, 2016
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood, Drug Reference, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
- P-Studio
- Publisher(s)
- Atlus
- Engine
- Proprietary
- Franchise
- Persona
- Platform(s)
- PS3, PS4
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
- How Long To Beat
- 100 Hours
- X|S Optimized
- Yes
- File Size Xbox Series
- 39 GB (May 2023)
You know you have something special when you’re one of the weirder JRPGs on the market. Persona 5 is the most successful game in the bizarre series, where you unlock special spirits to help you fight the demons within people’s collective psyches.
After watching a playthrough on YouTube, I can safely say that it looks like a fantastic game. Solid plot, great characters, and amazing music and UI. The only reason I’m not going to play it for myself is because I don’t have the 200 hours to spend on such an experience. I’m a grown man with a day job. I don’t have time for that.
I got about halfway through Persona 3 Reload, and was really enjoying it. But it, too, fell victim to my limited time, and I never got around to finishing it.
