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[MrS]

Yep. We're getting all-time great indies and good AAA experiences. What a time to be alive.

 

[Elfstar]

Or if RTS's are your favourite genre.

Or if you like arcade racing games...

 

[Jawmuncher]

Not really. An extreme lack of dinosaurs being the cause.

 

[Patrick Young]

You've left pretty much every pc classic off your list man.

There's a complete lack of PC games in your list of which my list would be full.

You’re both right, and I’ve now realised Doom and SimCity 2000 are missing from the list.

I fell off PC games from around the late 90’s until Half-Life 2 released and stuck with it since then, but on PC I almost exclusively play multiplats to this day with a controller.

 

[Mohasus]

As someone who loves platformers and non-simulators racers, no, it isn't. I'll probably stop gaming soon.

 

[valkyre]

A list without W3 TLOU and some other great games is just a bad list imo

 

[MontyBrown]

The games are probably as good as ever, if not better.

The business? It's fucked. Loot crates, microtransactions, pre-order bonuses, cosmetics, season passes, etc etc.

 

[Imp the Dimp]

Really? Divinity 2 stands as one of the all-time greats for me. The more time I spend with it the more I enjoy it. I'd still rank Torment higher (cliche, I know) but Divinity 2 has everything I look for in a rpg and then some.

I didn't play Divinity and even if it is an ATG CRPG, there were dozens of them in the late 90s and early 2000s. One game doesn't make a good era. I consider New Vegas the last ATG CRPG (I think it's superior to Witcher 3 at virtually everything) but again, I'm not into the Divinity series.

 

[kc44135]

Not really. An extreme lack of dinosaurs being the cause.

Yeah, I feel you. It's weird too, cuz I've never really thought of Dinosaurs as a niche thing. Dino games could bring in the $$$ if somebody actually bothered to make 'em, Imo. More Dinos and action RE style games are a must!

 

[Naarmight]

Yeah 100% first games I played were in the late 80s and I have to say things are so much better now.

What I find most shocking is when I play an old school game, or genre, and I wonder how the hell I used to put up with it. This year PUBG has stolen most of my game time, I bloody love it, wish I had gotten on the Battleroyal train sooner.

 

[Shake Appeal]

I didn't play Divinity and even if it is an ATG CRPG, there were dozens of them in the late 90s and early 2000s. One game doesn't make a good era. I consider New Vegas the last ATG CRPG (I think it's superior to Witcher 3 at virtually everything) but again, I'm not into the Divinity series.

What is an "ATG" CRPG?

The last few years have been ripe with good classic CRPGs.

 

[Servbot24]

The gaming industry is better than ever because there is a greater variety of quality titles than ever before. If you're burned out on lootboxes and GaaS, that's your own fault - there are a bazillion other games you could be playing instead. I'm overwhelmed with the number of high quality traditional single player games coming out.

That said individual games are not better than ever ever, although they are about equal. Nothing is coming out that is clearly better than SMB3 or Mega Man X or Majora's Mask or Metroid Prime, but there are games that are in that all-time vicinity such as Bloodborne and The Witness.

 

[Falchion]

I agree, games are just so good right now. Also I like your list, we could be friends.

 

[Tarextherex]

No, trash level design relying on quest markers exist

Trash controls too

 

[Valonquar]

Naughty Dog games have me feeling games are better looking than ever, and more cinematic than ever, but not necessarily more fun than ever. Unfortunately, games have advanced so much graphically, that I feel that most of the games designed from a pure fun standpoint look too childish, and I avoid them as a result.

 

[Bakkus]

Yes. Legendary companies like Capcom Konami, SEGA, Namco, Square Enix have never made better games than they do now and Nintendo and it's sister companies like Intelligent Systems, Camelot, etc has not regressed at all in the last 15 years. Your typical AAA games has not either cut down on actual gameplay in favor of cinematics either and the industry has not gone towards a more greedy look sacrificing quality for more money.

Spoiler

No...and my mentions are just the tip of the iceberg.

 

[Neptonic]

Yes. The amount of games I actually want to play is extremely high

 

[Insane Metal]

Absolutely not.

 

[Drillary Clinton]

One of my favorite games of all time came out in January and kicked off an absolutely crazy year. There's been some disappointments but overall its been wild.

But then we look at industry practicing that are infection AAA titles.

It was the best of times... it was the worst of times...

 

[Tain]

Probably, but I have a hard time ignoring that today we have extremely wide access to games of the past. Actually, no. It's not even a "hard time": I mostly think it's dumb to not play old games as well as new ones, assuming you're really into games.

Combine the widespread access of older games with today's heights being better in most genres (versus, say, the 90s) and yeah, I think games are better today.

 

[Perineum]

Not really. An extreme lack of dinosaurs being the cause.

ARK says otherwise. Plenty of dinosaurs in that.

 

[kamineko]

Probably, especially since accessing older games is way easier than it used to be. Emulators are easier to use. Lots of things have gotten easier.

& new tech keeps getting cooler.

The big issue today is development costs. The indie blow-up has turned out to be pretty great, but I miss the massive mid-tier output of name-brand devs during the PS2 area. That's become kind of a financial no-man's land for a lot of publishers and studios, and I think it hurts platform diversity.

It's too expensive to make games like Gravity Rush 2 and Prey today--sales numbers needed to break even can't justify a niche experience.

But still. Yeah, this year has been pretty awesome.

 

[KingBroly]

I'd say No

The creativity is basically gone

 

[wild wild rice]

Or if you like arcade racing games...

I just can't get over the dire state of the racing genre. These semi-arcade realism sims fucking blow and it seems to be all we're getting. It's Mario Kart or nothing, unfortunately, when I would kill for a new WipEout, Motorstorm, F-Zero, Waverace, etc. etc.


But overall, yes, there are so many great games to play nowadays and of course we have the accumulation of all the past classics that still hold up being easily accessible for the most part.

 

[Wagram]

I think mid tier titles are great. Games like Gravity Rush 2, Nioh, Cuphead, Nier, Yakuza, Bravely. Hell even small scale stuff like Ys and Salt and Sanctuary are amazing.

The so called "AAA" space is embarrassing to me these days. Whether it be predatory loot boxes out the ass (SWBF2), unfinished products (FFXV) or even the over use of the same ideas (open world titles). I can't take it. I don't buy these games anymore.

 

[Hippopuncher12]

Some are some aren't. I think genre plays a big part in this. Like I don't think RPG's are getting better for instance.

 

[boneyjangles]

The Rocket League / Overwatch / PUBG trifecta occupies most of my time, when I'm not getting distracted by Zelda on switch, or some brilliant indy game like Overcooked.

I don't remember a time in the past were I had this many good games, especially online games I would like to play.

If you are an offline gamer, maybe you could argue the other way, but I think most people are primarily social/online these days, and in that sector, it's not even close, it's way better than ever.

 

[ViolentP]

I think there is an abundance of games, especially with the indie renaissance, but I don't think that makes them necessarily better. Back in the 90's, there were fewer games available and the percentage of great games in that group was higher than today. In my experience at least.

 

[FiveSide]

OP's list

Have you played any of the Resident Evil games? If not, I would get on those pronto, particularly Resident Evil 4 and the REmake of the first Resident Evil.

Are games better than ever? Honestly, I think they are. 2017 was really something, might've single-handedly brought me back into the hobby. I was starting to bow out a bit in 2015-2016, other than the From Software and Atlus games.

Gaming peaked in 2005 with Resident Evil 4. We're just riding the coattails.

The reason Capcom ports RE4 to every new console gen is specifically to avoid this problem

 

[adamsapple]

Gaming peaked in 2005 with Resident Evil 4. We're just riding the coattails.

 

[ChiefofCitadelSecurity]

Games in general? I would say yeah.

The control and feel is way better than past generations.

Onimusha 2 is one of the greatest games I’ve ever played. The mainstream would clown the shit outta that game.

 

[Ctlead]

I'd say so, yeah! This year especially.

 

[iPaul93]

Short answer - Yes
Long answer - Yes

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

Since we no longer actively forget the past as in the demon-haunted, dogmatic Generation 7, and services like GOG and publisher classics keep golden oldies up for sale, perhaps.

 

[Abinash117]

I say in generally, perhaps. The quality and the quantity of different genre of games is better than it was a decade or so ago. However, the increase in quality has caused some games to lack any sort of interesting innovations that caused many games to be samey, increased the use of bad business practices, and caused some franchise to perform worse; to actually have decreased quality. As a result some franchise have gotten worse or simply failed and died. Still the market has grown to allow more types of games to succeed and to have high production values in some cases, so because of that many gamers are able to get the type of games they never would had or hadn't in a long time.

 

[Crossing Eden]

Yes and don't let any cynical truegamer™ tell you otherwise.

 

[StarPhlox]

Maybe the future will be even better, but as of now 2017 is the year to beat in terms of video games. This is without question the best it's ever been with Nintendo more vital than they have been since the SNES and Sony producing incredible AAA games and with the proliferation of high-quality indies. Enjoy this marketplace while it's still viable.

 

[TheBowen]

Even just the past 17 years have been fantastic for games. But 2017 itself has been fantastic.

People who I see in comments say that the NES/SNES era are the best gens for me just doesn't make sense, but it's there opinion.

 

[Sulik2]

2017 is going to join 98 and 04 as one of those legendary years for gaming. This year has been stacked, thats for sure.

 

[MoonFrog]

Nah. It is better, imo, than gaming was in the immediate past, mind you, but it is not better than it has ever been.

We're also in a really really good year. Let's see if it keeps up.

 

[Waddle Dee]

To an extent, yes. Indie games are in a better place now than ever before and some companies like Nintendo and Sega are releasing some of their best titles but the average triple A western game is a mess now.

 

[Anung]

Yep. This year alone has been an embarrassment of riches with so many good games from a whole heap of different genres. There is something for everyone and for someone like myself who has a wide range of interest I'm having a great time (my wallet isn't though)

 

[Ahasverus]

The games themselves are more polished and approachable, yes. The average game plays and looks well enough.

But don't get me started on the business side of the industry which is a mess. Anti consumerism and bad management run rampant in a way they don't in any other industry.

 

[bizzarewars]

There's never been a better time to be playing video games.

 

[MrOogieBoogie]

There's never been a better time to be playing video games.

Pretty much.

So many amazing games. My girlfriend will often joke that every game I play seems to have an amazing soundtrack. Like, how is such consistent quality from so many people possible?

 

[horkrux]

New games always appear better than older ones. Apart from the few games you have sprinkled in that list for nostalgia, you're just a victim of that bias. You will have forgotten most of these newer games in the list in a few years when a new heap of titles has accumulated, leaving only the very best of those then-older games still standing.
Also: The older you get, the more genres you might have started to tap into -> the more games to potentially make it into the top 100.

That said, it's been a great year so far regardless

 

[Raven117]

2017 has been one hell of a year. So many quality games for all kinds of tastes.

 

[SciencePilot]

I like a lot of old games and I like a lot of new games too.

The one thing that's clear to me is that the kinds of games I like have shifted away from being mainstream to being niche. I'm talking single player games with long, difficult campaigns. They still exist but they are not at the forefront. I'm a little worried that one day they will dwindle out of existence. But for now, they're fine.

 

[A.Romero]

In my opinion gaming is better than ever. On the games side, productions are more polished and have a higher quality than ever. Also, tools make it possible to smaller studios to give it a try without having to have a publisher which is a huge game changer.

On the business side, there is constant change. There is stuff that won't stick (for example one time use online codes) and there is stuff that he market will respond well. We just need to vote with our wallets. Loot boxes are a hot topic right now. I personally don't care for them. I probably have more unopened loot boxes in BF1 that I care for but that doesn't stop me from enjoying the game itself.

There a are many gems that are great games and are getting remakes and remasters all the time but that doesn't mean that current games are not as good as them. Most of the time its just nostalgia.

It's an exciting time to be a gamer. I'm 34 and I've been playing since I can remember and to me, games in general get better year after year. If things were as they were 10 years ago I'd probably wouldn't be as engaged as I am today and I think this applies to a lot of people here, whether they realize it or not.

 

[shimon]

Fallout 3 but not New Vegas? No Witcher 3? Cmon...