16 Best Video Game Trilogies Of All Time

Not once, not twice, but three times the charm.

Gears of War Ultimate Edition
Epic

What makes a downright brilliant trilogy? In movies its usually a story that's stretched across three epic films, the first two withholding some key elements that the last can wrap up in one brilliant denouement of explosive narrative, character fulfilment and budget-bursting set-pieces. In gaming that general sense of pacing holds true, although the flip-side is when some developers just can't help themselves, continuing on well outside of what would've been a solid three-title release.

When you've got a good idea and fans are clamouring for more, putting out another instalment is a recipe for success - providing you don't remove almost everything people loved of course. Still, there are still those initial few games that either get left alone to live on in infamy, or get iterated on into something else entirely, leaving the originals as a defined body of work that'll fill the shelves of any self-respecting gaming buff for years to come.

So, what makes a downright brilliant trilogy in gaming? Is it sticking to a well-worn formula and releasing out the barest of incremental additions along the way, or is it building to one tremendously all-encompassing climax, the endpoint of which only feels more purposeful the more you view all three instalments in sequence? Answers in the comments, but not before you've checked out these ten candidates first.

Gaming Editor
Gaming Editor

WhatCulture's Head of Gaming.