The 10 Most INFLUENTIAL Video Games of All Time
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00:00 Welcome to Mojo Plays and today we're looking at the industry leaders who shaped the video game landscape for the better and sometimes for worse.
00:09 "I'll see what I can do."
00:11 Resident Evil 4
00:16 "Where's everyone going? Bingo?"
00:21 The original Resident Evil had already changed the landscape of horror video games when it was released back in
00:28 1996. But with the series fourth mainline entry, Capcom introduced game mechanics that would fundamentally change the industry forever.
00:36 Gone were the days of the fixed camera, as Resident Evil 4 would utilize an over-the-shoulder
00:42 third-person view, giving the player full control over everything they could see and aim at.
00:48 Not only did this open combat as well as the players perspective,
00:52 but it allowed Capcom to overwhelm the player with multiple enemies and more action focused encounters.
00:58 The switch also allowed players to make precision shots instead of depending on luck as in previous games.
01:04 RE4's over-the-shoulder camera influenced some of the best third-person games of the last two decades and other series would iterate on these new
01:13 mechanics, eventually allowing the player to move while aiming.
01:17 "Okay, it's game time."
01:21 Destiny
01:25 "Guardian? Eyes up, Guardian."
01:28 "It worked. You're alive. You don't know how long I've been looking for you."
01:34 Sometimes a game's impact isn't always for the better of the industry.
01:40 After revolutionizing first-person shooters on console with their Halo series,
01:45 Bungie set out for new horizons with their Destiny franchise and thus the live service sub-genre was popularized.
01:53 Bungie described the game as a shared world shooter rather than a traditional MMO.
01:58 Destiny saw routine content rollouts to keep players consistently coming back to Destiny over the course of numerous events and expansions,
02:06 mostly behind paywalls, all while making slight improvements with each new update.
02:11 The genre became insanely profitable and soon publishers were scrambling to create their own endless stream of income.
02:19 This in turn led to the popularization of battle passes, which allowed publishers to behave even more
02:25 scrupulously and nickel-and-dime its player base.
02:29 While Destiny might not be the first game to use the live service model, it's arguably responsible for its recent surge in popularity.
02:37 "Now that really is fascinating."
02:41 Super Mario 64
02:45 [Super Mario 64 music]
02:47 [Super Mario 64 music]
02:49 "Yahoo! Ha ha!"
02:51 Although Super Mario Bros. solidified Nintendo and Mario as industry icons,
02:56 Nintendo's biggest jump for the plumber remains one of the most important in video game history.
03:02 With video games beginning to experiment with 3D,
03:05 Super Mario 64 not only proved it was the future,
03:09 but also set a benchmark that wouldn't be met by most developers until the next generation of consoles.
03:15 Shigeru Miyamoto and his team not only had to create a camera system that would accurately follow the player,
03:22 but also an entirely new control scheme for players to move Mario within a 3D world.
03:27 Super Mario 64 not only transitioned the traditional Super Mario experience to a new dimension,
03:34 but opened the world for the player to explore and offered specific challenges for players who ventured off the beaten path.
03:41 If not for Super Mario 64's success and innovations,
03:45 the wealth of 3D platformers would have most likely ended with Bubsy 3D.
03:50 [Super Mario Bros. 3D music]
03:52 "Woohoo!"
03:54 "Here we go!"
03:56 Super Metroid
03:58 [Super Metroid music]
04:00 [Super Metroid music]
04:02 [Super Metroid music]
04:04 Arguably responsible for one of the most popular genres in gaming,
04:08 Super Metroid and Castlevania Symphony of the Night revolutionized video game exploration.
04:14 By locking off certain areas until the player acquired specific skills or gear,
04:19 players were able to explore the environments for secrets while progressing through the game.
04:24 It would then backtrack to open new areas that would lead to even better gear.
04:29 This open-ended level design allowed players to progress as much or as little as they wanted,
04:35 depending on how dedicated they were to uncover all the game's secrets and hidden areas.
04:40 The genre of Metroidvania can be felt in everything from FromSoft's Dark Souls series
04:46 to even the most recent God of War games,
04:49 as well as the style of gameplay becoming a staple of indie game developers.
04:53 "So, I tragically sacrificed all I held dear in a search for power, did I?"
05:00 "Did you not?"
05:02 The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time
05:04 [Ocarina of Time music]
05:13 Much like how Super Mario 64 revolutionized 3D platformers and the 3D camera,
05:18 The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time did the same for storytelling and world-building in the 3D landscape.
05:25 Not only did Ocarina of Time manage to tell a compelling story,
05:29 but the player's actions within the narrative also affected the world
05:33 and the game's use of music and dungeons as in-game puzzles remains the industry standard.
05:39 One of Ocarina of Time's most important innovations is the use of Z-targeting,
05:44 which allows the player to focus on enemies or objects by pressing a button to lock on,
05:49 allowing Link to freely move around without losing focus on his target.
05:54 Ocarina of Time's open-world design and NPCs that had daily routines the player would be able to track
06:00 breathed new life into their world and influenced later titles
06:04 that would improve on the groundwork laid by Nintendo's masterpiece.
06:08 [Ocarina of Time music]
06:16 Street Fighter II
06:18 The entire fighting game landscape would look very different without the innovative bug
06:23 that made Street Fighter II the landmark title that it is.
06:27 During development, the developers discovered they could chain attacks together
06:31 and left the bug in as a hidden feature,
06:34 which quickly became a fighting game standard that would be improved and iterated on within the entire genre.
06:40 A year later, another fighting title would become almost as influential,
06:45 but for entirely different reasons.
06:48 Mortal Kombat burst onto the arcade scene and made an impact with not only its solid fighting mechanics,
06:54 but also its use of finishing moves, and what was considered for the time, ultra-violent.
07:00 While there were countless imitators that attempted to cash in on Mortal Kombat's success,
07:05 Ed Boon's creation also led to the creation of the ESRB,
07:09 and the game's rating system to regulate which games were appropriate for specific age groups.
07:15 The Last of Us
07:16 I didn't ask for this.
07:17 Me neither.
07:18 Tess, what the hell are we doing here?
07:20 What if it's true?
07:22 I can't...
07:24 Naughty Dog were already pioneers in the gaming industry,
07:28 but The Last of Us marked a significant shift for the developer.
07:32 With Uncharted, Naughty Dog already showed the developer moving in a more mature direction,
07:37 but with The Last of Us,
07:38 Neil Druckmann and his team not only created what is widely considered one of the best games ever made,
07:45 but also crafted one of the best stories ever told in the medium,
07:49 and put video games on the same level as filmmaking.
07:52 The characters, world, writing, and performances were above and beyond anything most studios were producing,
07:59 and forced the rest of the industry to significantly step up their production values.
08:03 While this could also be argued as a negative,
08:06 as budgets for most AAA games began to balloon trying to keep up with this level of production,
08:11 the impact The Last of Us had on video game storytelling and motion capture cannot be understated.
08:18 Well, what am I supposed to do?
08:20 I am sure you will figure that out.
08:23 Doom.
08:24 Doom might not have been the very first first-person shooter,
08:27 but it definitely put the genre on the map.
08:30 The game's simple premise of shooting as many demons as quickly and efficiently as possible
08:36 became an instant hit with gamers who loved id Software's fast and fluid combat and shooting mechanics.
08:42 Doom not only popularized first-person shooters,
08:45 but also helped make video games more mainstream.
08:49 The ability to move in any direction within a 3D space was revolutionary,
08:54 as was the game's local multiplayer that allowed players to duke it out in the game's arenas on the same network.
09:00 Doom started a revolution of first-person shooters and influenced entire genres,
09:05 as well as built a solid community of modders that continues even today,
09:10 as do the many clones of this iconic shooter.
09:13 Dark Souls.
09:14 [Explosion]
09:16 [Wind]
09:21 The most recent new trend that has taken the gaming world by storm is the Souls-like,
09:27 and it all stemmed from the original masterpiece that refused to hold players' hand
09:31 as they died again and again and again from Soft's Dark Souls.
09:36 This approach to letting the player find their way and discover the game's mechanics
09:41 also carried over to the game's narrative,
09:44 which only the most dedicated of players would uncover through obscure item descriptions or references within the world.
09:50 The unexpected success of Dark Souls immediately led to innumerable other games adapting this style of tough but fair gameplay,
09:58 but especially Dark Souls' control scheme and combat system.
10:03 The Dark Souls formula, much like Metroidvania, became its own sub-genre of games,
10:09 and developers have applied its gameplay style to their own Souls-likes,
10:13 as well as combining genres to create something entirely new using Dark Souls as their starting point.
10:19 [Wind]
10:26 Grand Theft Auto III.
10:28 "Sorry babe, I'm an ambitious girl."
10:30 [Gunshot]
10:31 "You're just small time."
10:35 The game that has undeniably had the biggest impact on the gaming landscape is of course Grand Theft Auto III.
10:42 Rockstar's crime epic had a moderate fanbase with its top-down perspective and cops vs. robbers gameplay,
10:49 but GTA III changed everything.
10:52 Never had players had this level of detail and an entire city to freely explore on foot or by car,
10:58 and just create as much mayhem as they desired in between the main story missions.
11:03 The entire sandbox-style open-world concept was born with GTA III,
11:08 and developers quickly started turning out copycat titles,
11:11 and this approach to video game design quickly became the new standard.
11:15 The open-world sandbox style of game design can be felt in nearly every genre of video games,
11:21 from racing games to platformers, and basically every game Ubisoft puts out these days.
11:26 Rockstar changed gaming forever, but still remains the kings of the genre they pioneered.
11:32 "We're gonna have such fun, 'cause you know, I love you. I really do, 'cause you're such a big, strong man, and that's just what I need."
11:39 What video game do you feel had the biggest impact on the gaming industry?
11:43 Let us know down in the comments.
11:46 Did you enjoy this video? Check out these other clips for Mojo Plays,
11:49 and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.
11:54 [music]