8 Great Video Games Remembered For ONE Thing

Generally speaking, most great video games are remembered for many things - for the strength of their story, the brilliance of their gameplay, their impeccable performances, killer music, and so on.

After all, a brilliant video game is typically the summation of the work of countless people, where so many variables and disciplines have to coincide harmoniously, so why would it ever be any different?

But sometimes for one reason or another, a terrific game ends up being remembered for just one thing above all else, for better or worse. 

One thing associated with the game ends up rising above everything else and sticking in players' minds, perhaps even enduring years or even decades after release.

And that's absolutely true of these eight games, each of which remain remembered today for one thing - perhaps a riotous Internet meme that blew up shortly after release, or a more divisive, perhaps even downright loathed aspect of the story or gameplay.

No matter how much time passes, these games will always be best associated with these single things, undeniably overshadowing all of their achievements otherwise...

Even though just about everyone agrees that Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty is a masterful sequel from a gameplay perspective, while boasting a story and themes that were wildly ahead of their time, pretty much all discussion about the game begins and ends with that twist.

In what is surely the Hideo Kojima troll-job to rule them all, despite the marketing leading fans to assume they'd be once again playing as Solid Snake for the entirety of the game, Metal Gear Solid 2 actually ditches Snake after the tanker-set prologue sequence.

After this, players are given control of a new protagonist, Raiden, for the rest of the game - a character rather derisively referred to as an "effeminate wet blanket" at the time of MGS2's release.

While some respected Kojima's ballsy decision to pull the rug out, many more were disappointed that Snake was relegated to a small supporting role while they were left playing as a decidedly less-badass and more annoying new lead.

Even though MGS2 has aged extremely well and Raiden became a far cooler, more interesting character in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, the protagonist bait-and-switch continues to dominate the discourse surrounding the game, ensuring it will remain a heavily contested sequel until the end of time.