Best Video Game Stories of the 8th console Generation

Eighth generation of video gaming began properly around thanksgiving of 2013 with the release of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Video gaming has been proliferating a long time. The amount of time we spend on them is increasing at a ridiculous clip, as is the amount of money generated. These global trends appeared as a promising opportunity for investors. Lot of changes in industry have happened on the last decade. Since 2008, entrants into the prestigious Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame are mainly from the commerce side of the industry while the developers and other creators are now pushed off to the smaller Pioneer Awards. Video games based on professional sports as well as Call of Duty and Grand theft Auto are the franchises most non-gamers recall.

This leads to speculators who only care, understand and acknowledge short-term profit. Even existing companies try too hard to make existing IPs out to be the next best thing. The end up losing their existing fanbase due to too many proverbial cooks spoiling the broth and don't attract a lot of new players. Effectively they torpedo their own IP by trying to make it a massive 10X hit rather than please the current fanbase. Short / rushed development times, undercutting on paying skilled people and play it too safe now and build games from a formula rather than being creative. This desire for quick profits without putting in efforts is leading to broken products and ludicrous shovelware being released. There are also a lot of paid reviewers, streamers and glorified trolls called Social media influencers pretending to be on the side of video game customers. Their job is to glorify and justify the high budget games irrespective of the criticism or the actual product quality. The whole Soulsborne genre of video games base their market on watching other people play and suffer.
The Big trends of this generation have been:

1. Rise of mobile gaming and decline of other platforms
Covid 19 delayed a number of game releases, but we saw a significant increase in video game purchases by people quarantined at home. If we listen to the PR and paid influences, we wouldn't know that the video game industry as we used to call it suffered in this generation before the quarantines moved everyone indoors. Mobile phones games are no longer too simplistic. Mobile games; especially the Free to Play, Pay to Win varieties, are earning in billions on the back of captive audience and huge marketing budgets.

Console wars have always been a part of Video gaming. It was between Sega and Nintendo throughout most of the 1980s and 1990s. Later, it was between Sony and Microsoft. After the success of Wii and now mobile devices, the death of toxic rhetoric over the console wars demonstrates the great change in the industry. Since Nintendo discontinued the Nintendo 3DS, there are effectively no handheld consoles anymore.

Also, the increased attention of speculators to gaming industry meant that these wannabe Warren Buffets started to seek their own moats in video gaming to secure their profits. There was a strong walled garden approach to video gaming in this generation. Console maker and publishers each created and pushed their own storefronts. Exclusivity deals to platforms, even time exclusions were aggressively sought out. There was a massive amount of shovelware on all the storefronts. It is nearly impossible to discover anything good in these stores while dishonest businesses were gaming the system. This in turned disheartened users and developers. Industry events like CES and E3 lost their charm as each company tried to create its own trade show / convention. There were very few games designed for multiple platforms. Previously, Video Game publishers used the excuse of piracy being rampant in PC gaming to deny ports to PC even though games on Xbox architecture was similar to PC. That excuse is gone now. Very few games are sold on PC or consoles. On average, every seventh generation console sold also sold 11 games. Now that ratio is down to less than 6. While the game hardware continued to sell, video games sales for the big platforms are declining.

Steam is fighting strong with their platform for independent developers who understand the needs of players and have been providing the most refined gaming experiences for years. They are keen on scratching that player itch by creating rich gameplay, simply fun mechanics, or memorable experiences that provide a strong narrative, interesting protagonists and immersive stories, without junk and fluff micro-transactions ruining the experience. Valve, the owner of Steam has also been cracking down on gambling and gambling-like mechanics in video games.

The new low budget developers and publishers can set the record straight and reap the long-term benefits as players move toward the niches while large publishers are stuck in the tread mill of quarterly numbers. On the other hand, there continues to be a risk of quality games and developers being crowded out by sketchy or bad faith entrants like Yotta, Zynga, and Tencent firms like Riot and Epic.


2. Ascension of predatory loot box gambling, hordes of open-world survival horror and MoBA addiction
Put an open world on that! seems to be the most common feedback from senior management in design phases of games. The fourth generation saw a mad rush for platform game. Similarly, most of the money in eight generation video games gets spent on either open world action adventures or gambling simulators; especially with the loot-box mechanic masquerading as free to play in Multiplayer online battle arena games. Like the other entertainment industries, video game publishers went for cash grab as the strategy. When you stop caring about quality and focus on money-making mechanics, games lose their most important purpose and become shiny, but ultimately shallow and often half-baked money leeches. These are made with a casual player in mind, one who wants to pass the little time before her bus arrives, and to pass it, she plays titles that are simple to grasp and don’t require a lot of effort. They are also designed to be addictive, so that she keeps coming back and investors get their hefty returns. Game streamers are paid to peddle loot boxes. They have become mini social networks with its toxic culture and the diseases of preying on insecurities. Most money is being spent gambling on branded virtual costumes/skins that are useless to game-play. Gambling companies have now entered the field of gaming to lend their expertise. So now, we pay for a game and also keep paying for small items.

Also, the walled gardens created by various platforms means that Apple, being a broker to video games profits more than game developers. The competition from games on mobile devices has forced the console manufacturers to strongly embrace the indie video game development scene. All three manufacturers lowered the costs and barriers to put a game on their respective marketplaces. Still, difficulties with the certification processes on the console marketplaces are hindering independent developers and publishers. Enabling backward compatibility in consoles would have helped consumers continue to play the niche or scarce games they love. Instead of enabling backward compatibility in older video games that users already own, we have remasters, remakes.


3. Grind-house era
Showing Nazi symbols in a world war II game is bad for stock price. At the same time crude jokes, screams, cursing, gore and indecent exposure are desired. Also, for many decades, game publishers and decision makers have paid only lip service to bullying in video games. Video games publishers have always copied successful games from other publishers by adding a Gritty and / or Cynical aesthetic to create enough Serial numbers filed off legal difference. The 6th console generation saw wholehearted mainstream embrace of sex, violence, and shock typically associated with exploitation films. Many franchises try to cover-up the decline in game quality by aspiring for suggestive or explicit sex, sensational violence, drug use, nudity, gore, and destruction. Previously, the success of Wii had given game publishers the excuse that PS3 and Xbox One were oriented to serious players, but this generation's games have clearly demonstrated the hollowness of that argument.

Executive meddlers are slaves to their own eye for grisly visuals, even at the cost of the game and argue emptily that being gory is the only way to deplore wanton bloodshed. Shocking and lascivious content is inserted to makeup for a lack of story or gameplay. Mediocre, insecure sycophants in power with only the next quarter's performance appraisal / results meeting in mind promote shock and subversion as a way to be relevant, to stand out. They focus on being talked about instead of doing good work, because they can't make good work that will make them stand out. Creatively empty teams continue to use the added graphics potential to show more organic fluid splatter and naked body parts. Even in games not related to zombies, we have a bizarre zombie mode inserted. A lot of reviewers and influencers are paid to justify video game versions of exploitation films using lame overused terms like subverting expectations, cathartic, realism, for adults / grownups, etc. This is pandering to the stereotypes of a gaggle of teenagers at the food court of a suburban mall. The shortage of reviewers with integrity and the conflation of recognition to quality means that Metacritic; the successor of Gamerankings is now practically useless. Review stuffing has also stolen the shine of Opencritic. The difference between Grind-house movies and Grind-house games is that the movies do not pretend to be something else. As seen with arcade games, this leads to a cycle in which the uniformity of the content and audience discourages innovation in game design, which in turn further discourages people outside the narrow target audience from trying it. These games welcome controversy as a form of free promotion and seek higher short term profits but exclude potential players who could grow to be loyal customers of the publisher / franchise who bring long term profit.

We have seen many game franchises already worsen in quality due to the demand of financial speculators and their allies. Personally, seeing the above trends I do not play the latest video games anymore and instead I watch long-plays. So for me, the newest video games have moved from recreation to entertainment. Also, I discovered the patient gamers subreddit during the pandemic.

So below list is of the best video game stories from a gameplay viewer perspective. Forza horizon series have been one of the best open world games in this generation and have spawned awesome ASMR videos, and Mario Kart 8 is , Alas, they are not ranked here. Kentucky Route Zero, Untitled Goose Game and Donut County had quirky , original ideas. I have included multiple games of a series together to hammer home the point that quality games and franchises can be and have been built on good gameplay, narration, focus on quality rather than on outrage. A game series can be created using the same basics that have been working for decades. Long interesting stories can be told without resorting to cheap and trite patterns.

1. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy

   Platform:PlayStation 4

   
   Nathan Drake, the former treasure hunter, has a new and dull life of domesticity with Elena Fisher. He works as a diver to pull junk out of a smelly city rivers, when he's not hunched over a desk stamping forms and so, of course this dull life is disrupted. The arrival of Sam Drake, his brother brings past memories and regrets. One chapter with the winch has a believable and engaging couple's argument. That the interpersonal relationships aren't overshadowed by the scale of the treasure or the battles is a testament to the high calibre of storytelling. The increased computational capabilities of PS4 creates insane draw distances that lead to awesome views, improved AI, and bigger than before set pieces. Stunning art direction brings the scuba diving, stealthy infiltration, and driving of cars and boats to life. there are multiple ways to handle any objective successfully. Uncharted 4 is a bittersweet goodbye to Nathan’s adventures.
   
   As action-packed as ever, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy deserves additional applause for putting two memorable women as stars without effort to objectify them. The two stars come from different backgrounds and have their own motives and goals, still both are adamant at proving their worth in their male-dominated professions. There are also some great moments the two have when interacting with the world. Two figures introduced in Uncharted 4 play important roles here. Facial animations are incredible, and seeing Chloe bite her tongue or Nadine frowning adds to the realism that the excellent writing presents. War torn streets are littered with trash, cell phone screens easily attract fingerprints, fire and explosions cast a warm glow across the screen. The puzzles in this game will stump you long enough to make the feeling of solving them rewarding. There is a scenario set in India where two women blend in by wearing Indian clothes that are more functional for brawling than the stereotypical sarees. While the grappling hook and piton make a return, Chloe also has a few new tricks up her sleeve. An excellent game development by Naughty Dog.It is a real misfortune that Sony is not letting this series outside its platform

2. Horizon: Zero Dawn

   Platform: PC, PlayStation 4

   
   A post disaster world which is not another wasteland derivative of Planet of the Apes, Mad Max, I am Legend or Escape From New York ... you get the picture. This game dazzles with varied, gorgeous, stunning landscapes. We start with a mysterious baby called Aloy, and an exile who tries to raise her. The compelling story of the introverted Aloy and her vast and unforgettable world gradually unfurls and engages its audience with its controlled rhythm, quest givers with personality, and sharp gameplay. From a society with a foggy past and an uncertain future, the dueling themes of nature and technology are present in Aloy, who gains confidence and maturity in a believable yet made-up world full of great moments. Heading out into the world of Horizon Zero Dawn to face massive machines is an exhilarating feeling. Masterfully intertwining sci-fi and fantasy elements with the aesthetic of meshing tribal warfare with high-tech creatures.

3. Undertale

   Platform: PC, PlayStation 4, PS Vita, Switch

   
   A mesmerizing emotional trip that draws players and engage with their humanity.The story begins with a human child who falls into a deep underground cavern filled with monsters and must find a way to escape back to the surface. I have chosen the pacifist play-through for the link to highlight the diversity of play-styles that this game accommodates. Ambitious, impressive, and unquestionably successful labor of love from an almost one-person project. Filled with many hours of laughter, happiness, and warm, fuzzy feelings with sudden, honest and heartfelt surprises and shocks. Every person in the game is well-thought out and players have reasons to care about them. Writing is skilful with attention to detail and lot of humor.

4. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

   Platform: Switch, Wii U

   
   Nintendo took a huge risk putting the core Zelda formula into an open world game with one paramount virtue: freedom. You are, given a general direction that will serve you best, if you want to continue the engaging and mature story. But it’s all up to you, Breath of the Wild stuns with the choices that it lays at your feet in just these first few hours. We set foot,with no strings attached, in a world recovering from a disaster that also seems amazingly vast, feels unerringly magical, and proves relentlessly intriguing. It has some moments that fit and accent the level of desperation that usually comes with being the Hero of Hyrule. Puzzle and other elements of gameplay design feel legitimately interconnected, fluid and all-encompassing. The path you take on the way can be as direct or as winding as you like and the story you experience is both satisfying and meaningful. The door to fight Gannon is open from the very start, the work you do out in the massive fields and mountains of Hyrule, from solving mini-dungeons to collecting new gear, is all in preparation for that epic final battle.

5. Broken Age

   Platform: PC, PlayStation 4, PS Vita, Switch, Xbox One

   A crowdfunded callback to the age of point-and-click adventures games originally released in two parts. Duality is everywhere in the intertwined stories which are interesting reflections of themselves. The watercolor style brings out the vibrancy and wonder in the game world, while the voice acting makes the persons feel alive and natural. We start with 2 Teenagers having stereotypical issues seen in books labelled as Young Adult by publishers. The puzzles here were clever and fun. An easy-to-recommend, game that presents a detailed world to inhabit filled with persons and interesting plot developments.

6. Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisps

   Platforms: PC, Xbox One

   
   The most wholesome and the most mature stories of the generation with nuanced depictions of morality. As a portrayal of the traits and growth of the magical persons, the two games are beautiful and haunting, and the emotional weight is overwhelming. The second game is a masterpiece worthy of its predecessor and picks up from the first with a longer playing time. The games run well on all platforms, so there are no hiccups to dampen the emotion. These vibrant open world platformers of the Search Action / Metroidvania variety, marry inviting visuals, with robust platforming challenges that make the most of the games' responsive controls. The games look soothing, with lots of production value that Moon Studios has poured into every inch of the world. The hand drawn style artwork continues with music, the string arrangements accompany your rapid dashes and taps through the ethereal landscapes. Life forms move in organic fashion, and moments of narrative emphasis burst in a flurry of light and wonderment. Their moments of brilliance are worth experiencing. the artwork consistently works to create the impression of depth. Foregrounds, middle grounds and backgrounds are all lavished with attention.Combat is tense and exhilarating, though confronting in its brutality. It seems almost dissonant at first, hacking away with such brutality against slugs, wasps, canines, shelled maggot-like nightmares and the like while also exploring such a gentle and picturesque landscape. It delivers a layered, emotional story and makes time for a stunning, nuanced exploration of the fragility and of strength the spirit.

7. FINAL FANTASY XV

   Platform: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One

   
   A young prince on a road trip in a convertible which will end in his arranged wedding; a political marriage to his childhood friend designed to unite their families' opposing nations. Final fantasy XV starts with this premise and moves quickly into fantastically convoluted narratives about the turmoil plaguing the kingdom. The battle system has now become real time and thus immersive. The bond between its four stars and the themes of closeness and brotherhood make up the backbone of the story. The banter: in battle as they cheer each other on and pick one another up when they fall, or during driving when the banter and quirks add personalities to their persona. The open world of Lucis is huge, and its towering geographic features and sweeping, wide-open plains and a stunning cities like the one inspired by Venice give it a rare sense of scale. Also, players can collect and listen to the soundtracks of every Final Fantasy ever to personalize the driving experience. Along with the bromance on the open road, there is the love story, and the chance to fish the day away in pursuit of the perfect catch. The rest stops remind of the great plains while the vistas resemble the American South. A fun and emotional ride worth the time.

8. Cuphead

   Platform: PC, Xbox One

   
   This shoot 'em up is the only game in this list that I watched at 0.5 speed. Many studios; both big and small clamoring for the same settings, tropes and mechanisms to stimulates those gratification / addiction centres of the brain. For its first game, Studio MDHR, a Canadian indie game development studio has been the very definition of creative. Players assume the role of animated cups in a 1930s style cartoon world. Each level or boss battle throwing a new challenge or attack pattern. Apart from a couple of compulsory power-ups, the additional abilities can be stacked to suit game style. The presentation in Fleischer Studios and Ub-Iwerks style along with the jazz music is mind mindbogglingly cool.
   

9. Marvel's Spider-Man

   Platform: PlayStation 4

   
   Influenced by the Batman: Arkham games from the previous generation; particularly when it comes to the combat. There are brief and Interesting sections where we play as Mary Jane and Miles Morales sneaking around in very dangerous situations. Web-swinging in open-world interpretation of Manhattan and combat are fun, and JJJ as a talk show host brings a lot of chuckles. Players can also fast-travel across town and see a brief, silly cut-scene on the subway. The game's weakness is the adherence to the open world formula of this generation with radio towers you need to activate in order to fill in your map, multiple sets of minor collectibles, and mostly boring side missions. The third act also pulls it down.
   

10. Hollow Knight

    Platform: Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One

    
    A simple and deep Search Action platformer probably influenced by the Ori games. This is an independent game about insects with nice platforming and fighting mechanics along with corny speeches. The thematic infected area mechanic breaks the monotony of revisiting areas. While there is little story, there is a lot of environmental mood in this game. Along with foreboding, dark and gloomy art, as well as with huge and dark world and progression system, every area has its own palette, architecture, enemies, even sounds. The enemies also show a depressed body language before they spot the star. The muted ambient sound and the beautiful 2D art accentuate a once vibrant insect civilization now in ruins, along with the new life sprouting from those grim interconnected ruins. There is great variety in the strange creatures who call them home as well as the enemies to fight.
    

11. Hades

    Platform: PC, Switch

    
    Released some months ago by the same studio that made Bastion, Hades has beautiful artwork and music and the isometric view like Bastion. Unites the world view and gameplay more than ever while realizing the fun of action games. Also, unlike Bastion, it looks super difficult. No problem though as Zagreus, our star, is an immortal son of Hades. The typical Greek pantheon and family aggravations and shenanigans are here.

12. Ni no Kuni II: REVENANT KINGDOM

    Platform: PC, PlayStation 4

    
    An action RPG as well as a mishmash of multiple video game genres. As part of the core gameplay we get an RPG, a wargame as well as a satisfying city builder. The story that is in the front and on display is a medieval fantasy about a young prince who became a king constantly being advised to be less innocent and become more crafty, with cartoon like visuals. Many of the creative team come from Studio Ghibli pedigree. This shows in the strange cities you visit and the pointed political fables they tell drawing from the game’s broader theme of good intentions leading to cruel ends. The NobleBright main plot; hated by people who love stories of sad people having affairs, is also about the power of friendship uniting the world, as the sub-plots deal with grim and dark concepts like xenophobia, racism, environmental destruction, deep rooted government corruption, etc. While the opponents get dynamic personas, the player personas except one are flat. The inconsistent use of voice-overs and  kingdom building. The story arcs of the little countries you visit and citizens you befriend contain a decent amount of higher-minded stuff but it largely sits in the background due to the amount of reading required. The game’s ending is mishandled by a desire to tie everything . Also, someone higher up seems to have decided to break immersion on the world map using super-deformed models to latch onto the Chibi / Funko craze.

13. The Banner Saga Trilogy

    Platform: PC, PlayStation 4, Switch, Xbox One

    
    Another amazing game funded via crowdfunding and released in multiple parts. Most of the material for this story comes from the Viking legends and stereotypes. There are horned giants, pillaging, and axes. Each kill made by the player increases capacity to act beyond regular limits and decides if they level up. Early on the desolation of the Ice and Snow as captured by Alistair Maclean's works is on display. The attack and damage calculations are fresh and impressive. The burden of leadership; deciding with unclear consequences and without the guidance of morality is front and center in this intensely memorable story. Conversational choices reveal almost nothing until the end of a dialogue, where one character may give a small smile / smirk / some minute expression and your caravan earns rewards or punishment. Players will count their lucky stars when training some women later beget archers for combat, or just for having collected some supplies without losing fighters in the process. Losses are caustic and victories feel hollow in this dark setting. Each turn-based squad battle is momentous and requires time in planning and execution. Enemy AI follow predictable patterns of decision-making that are probably deliberately designed to be exploited. The seeds planted in the first part branch onwards to their conclusion with multiple endings in part 3 that your actions can steer your adventure toward. Exploration is minimal in this beautiful, rich land with hand-painted pictures and tortured by permanent twilight and other disasters. Lack of attention to all main roles after the end gives a feel they just rushed the game even with all the time they had and didn't finish it well.