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

2. The Last Of Us

the last of us ending
Naughty Dog

As opposed to the other titles on this list which, in all honesty, all deserve sequels of their own, I can't for the life of me understand why people want another Last of Us.

It's very clearly an incredible and indeed monumental exclusive release, but it does not need a sequel. The narrative resolution provided at the end of the first game - which left everyone on a morally ambiguous cliffhanger - really doesn't warrant further explanation. If anything, further exposition could only mitigate the climax's potency, but I digress, as what's absolutely clear is that The Last of Us is an incredible experience to partake in.

In the same sense that Uncharted revolutionised cinematic storytelling in the medium in 2007, The Last of Us took emotional narratives to a whole new place altogether. It's an incredibly personal and engaging tale, one that isn't afraid to provoke or unsettle if the story necessitates. It represents the very pinnacle of unrestrained creativity in the medium, and with its blend of brutal, almost realistic gameplay, it took the world by storm.

It followed this initial success with a blisteringly good DLC prequel, and then a PS4 remaster along with it. Naughty Dog really did outdo themselves with this release, but it's probably best not to mess it up with a sequel.

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.