10 Best New Video Game Franchises Of The Decade (So Far)

9. Mark Of The Ninja

Mark Of The Ninja
Klei Entertainment

Klei Entertainment have to be one of the most under appreciated studios in the business. Apart from the fact that their main artistic collaborator, Jeff Agala, happens to be one of the medium's biggest unsung heroes, Klei's cartoonish take on the stealth and action genres has been a welcome step up from the titles that dominated XBLA's heyday. As Don't Starve Together continues the studio's unstoppable critical success, a question must be asked: what is their best franchise?

Of course, Shank and Don't Starve could easily take that crown, but for my money it is Mark of the Ninja. Although a sequel would be nice, I'm more than content with revisiting this classic when the occasion calls for it.

Indeed, it'd be pretty hard to improve upon what is in many respects already a perfect game. It's got the best blend of stealth and action you could possibly wish for in a side-scroller such as this, and again, that art style is just something wonderful to behold. If you're looking to satisfy a stealth fix, you could do a lot worse than Mark of the Ninja.

Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.