10 Best Video Games Ever Made (Until You Played Them Again)

Absolutely integral games...that REALLY haven't aged well.

GTA 3
Rockstar

Just because a piece of media doesn't hold up to modern scrutiny, does not take away its importance to the landscape. That is true of every medium, but especially so for gaming.

There are countless games that are nothing short of integral: those that defined what a genre or indeed the entire medium could accomplish with evolving technology and technique, without which half of what we now take for granted could not exist.

However, going back to them today often leaves you feeling... disappointed. Gameplay you once put up with but now have higher standards, story elements that REALLY haven't aged well, and a host of other factors can play into a game held aloft as one of the all-time greats just leaving you cold today.

There are many things that can leave a game once considered a masterpiece behind, all of which can be found in these ten classics that have aged like milk.

10. Fallout

GTA 3
Bethesda

The original Fallout is... rough. Certainly a masterful groundwork for a franchise, but looking back on it, it doesn't hold up well, even just compared to its first sequel, which ironed out pretty much everything Fallout 1 set up.

Now, it's not a bad game at all, which is why it's all the way down here on the bottom, but the first Fallout has quite a few issues that keep it from being appreciated today as it was back then.

For one, the UI is REALLY rough in spots. Every Fallout player has made the mistake of accidentally giving their character the name of "None" because the way the UI is set up gives the player no reason to believe the nameplate can be written over. On top of that, the dice roll combat can take some getting used to compared to modern Fallout games, especially since it isn't as refined here as it will be in Fallout 2.

Fallout is still a stone-cold classic, and one of the most influential and important PC games ever made, but going back to it 30 years later leaves a lot to be desired.

Contributor
Contributor

John Tibbetts is a novelist in theory, a Whatculture contributor in practice, and a nerd all around who loves talking about movies, TV, anime, and video games more than he loves breathing. Which might be a problem in the long term, but eh, who can think that far ahead?