I saw this thread somewhere else and thought it would be perfect for GOG.

There are games like Super Mario World, etc. that are just as good now as they were when they were released. What modern games do you think will be the enduring classics of the future?

Mind you I'm not asking you to just name games you like, but games that won't be replaced by whatever new thing in the genre is bound to show up.

My pick: Portal. It's simple, has straightforward controls, and most of all it's fun.

Amnesia: The Dark Descent

While there is a sequel coming out that could very well surpass the original, for now I have to go with Amnesia. It's scary, it's clever, and it's immersive.

I can see people playing that game for the first time 10 years from now and getting a great kick out of it.

But if the sequel delivers as I'm sure it will, maybe both will stand up together (as I feel Portal and Portal 2 will).

I wanna say Mass Effect (the first one) and I'm not really good at explaining stuff, so I'll just hope someone feels the same and has the ability of smart talk.

I would agree with Portal being on that list. Maybe Borderlands (probably the best hybrid FPS/RPG I've ever seen, paired with a wicked sense of humor, and intentionally nonrealistic graphics, it seems to age well).

There's not a lot of other 'new' games that I would feel that way about- right now. However, I do feel that some of the recent Kickstarter funded games, when they release, have the potential to rise to the ranks of enduring classics.

The thing is, that most of the game publishers don't want to innovate, they want to go with "an improved version of that game that sold really well last year."

While few of the 'enduring classics' were truly innovative as far as the type of game, they were done well by people who believed in them and wanted to make games people would enjoy.

In this day, we need to innovate on the classic genres of games, to either blend genres (Borderlands, Portal, etc.) or to improve on a classic genre so much that it will blow the minds of fans everywhere (things like Project Eternity, Dysis, Dead State, etc. have the /potential/ to do that).

Wind Waker
The Binding of Isaac

The Witcher methinks, it was aged in many ways when it came out and people still loved it.
STALKER games, definitely.

define modern...

Psychonauts
Oblivion / Skyrim
Fallout 3 / F:NV
Torchlight
DIablo 3
Borderlands

can we also call this thread "Games I like"...

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. All of them were amazing.. And nothing like it exists..

Modern is up to you.

And I explicitly asked not to just name games you like.

For example do you really think that two games as close to each other like Diablo 3 and Torchlight will both endure? Isn't that redundant? Won't one be more remembered than the other in the end?

Also, certainly fans will remember both Oblivion and Skyrim but do you think they'll both survive as classics? I barely hear people talk about Oblivion since Skyrim came out and won't that be left behind as well when the inevitable Elder Scrolls 6 come out?

You can name whatever you want, but it helps if you elaborate on why you think it will endure.

My take on it:


La-Mulana (PC metroidvania.)
Phoenix Wright (All of the games.)
Metroid Prime (In my opinion, one of the best 'thinking' shooters out there.)

Borderlands 2 but only sort of... I think 2 improved in almost every way over 1 and there is still enough room in which Borderlands 3 could improve on that.

Dark Souls but with the same problem Dark Souls II could improve on it.

Fallout New Vegas: A successor can only top it if it is also made by Obsidian or at least the story writers from them and the story still stands as a great game where choices really matter.

NIER: It was simply a great experience. While the gameplay and graphics can easily be made better the story can't.

The WItcher 2: Mainly because of the story and the choices that felt like they actually have a meaning.

Dragons Dogma: Actually there is quite some stuff that could be improved like the healing system but it is one of the few new RPGs that actually has challenge (at least if you couldn't always heal to full in the inventory.

I do not think Skyrim will be an 'enduring classic', and Oblivion has been proven not to be.
Don't get me wrong, I love Skyrim, it's a fun game.. The only TES game I've played that I could stand more than a few hours of it vanilla.

but all things considered it's just a good Western RPG. It will be blown away by maybe not the next big title, but in the next 5-10 years there will be another AAA WRPG title that will blow Skyrim completely out of the water.

Same goes for Fallout 3 and New Vegas. In the interest of being nice, I won't go in to my opinion of Failout 3.

Of all the TES games, the only one I think could possibly be an enduring classic is Morrowind, simply because of the following that one has.

Generic ARPGs are also very unlikely to stand the tests of time, they're not designed to. They're designed to be an epic grindfest until something better comes along.

Another that could withstand the tests of time, however, is Orcs Must Die (and it's sequel): It's a very simple game to be sure, it's got super dynamic gameplay though, allowing you to play almost however you want, a wicked sense of humor, and like Borderlands it's graphics are those that will stand the tests of time because they're not aiming for photorealism.

WoW

(well, if we exclude the other MMORPG that Blizzard are making nowadays)

Even though I detest WoW, I can actually almost agree with this, it's the only MMO I could really see maybe managing to survive the tests of time. Blizzard has a good track record of supporting their old games and keeping servers up, so it's unlikely that WoW will be shut down for a long time after development stops.

However, once the community begins to fade from WoW, a large chunk of the game goes away. MMOs are often more define by the players than the game, most MMOs have very simple and often even boring gameplay and tends towards highly unoriginal and repetitive quests.. without the people, either for the partying and friendship or competition.. they become mediocre grindfest RPGs.

I never played that but from what you say it seems like the type of game I think can be a classic.

Being simple is one of the biggest assets a game can have in that regard. Older games tend to have different control schemes and people often don't have the patience to get used to it (we never know how much we'll miss mouse scrolling until it is gone). Simpler games soften that blow, that's why it's easier to get a modern gamer to play Mario than an old rts for example.

An example that comes to mind is Red Dead Redemption. I loved it, it was certainly my GOTY of 2010, but there was a million commands you could use and it took me a couple of hours to get my bearings.

So I wonder, ten years from now, when every game is played by sticking a motion controller up your ass and shaking it in front of a camera will the game remain accessible to future generations? I don't think RDR will but Portal, and from what you said Orcs Must Die. might.

Also like you said non-photorealistic graphics really help too. It is why SNES games look better nowadays than PS1 games.