The Most Memorable Video Games of the 21st Century: A Visual List

Author: MC Saeid for FragFriend.com

Video games, as a creative medium, have had a tremendous influence on me over the decades. As a means to celebrate, I want to take a look back at some of the most memorable titles of the past twenty-some years.

Each individual collage features twelve prominent games within a year, followed by a short description. These are games that are either critically acclaimed, highly popular, or, in some cases, hidden gems waiting to be explored and cherished. Many of them, you will find, have cemented themselves as some of the greatest titles ever made. For some readers, this will be a fun trip down memory lane, and for others, a chance to discover something new and exciting.

Note: As a visual person and someone who appreciates image quality, probably the biggest challenge in putting this together was finding high-quality cover art, especially for older titles. Some even had to be recreated. However, I believe the things that challenge you the most also teach you the most.

If you wish to download the images in their original quality, check out this MediaFire folder. Additionally, watch Game Scoop! episode 642 for a pleasant surprise.

2024

It’s the year 2024, and we still don’t have flying cars or, I don’t know, teleportation! Dang it. Well, at least, we got some great games, right? . . . Right? [staring intensifies]

The most recent of this line-up, Black Myth: Wukong, is a smashing success right out of the gate, and it’s looking like a solid Game of the Year contender. In other Soulslike news, Elden Ring players are eating good this year, with Shadow of the Erdtree—FromSoftware’s largest expansion to date—feeling almost like a new game.

Helldivers II, which is only available on PC and PlayStation, very quickly made a name for itself in the co-op multiplayer landscape. On Steam alone, it’s still getting 25,000 concurrent players on average seven months post-release. Sea of Thieves finally coming to PlayStation 5 also made a big splash after being exclusive to Xbox platforms since 2018. (Make sure to check out our guides, written by our resident Sea of Thieves expert FoolishPirate.) It’d be great if Helldivers II came out on Xbox so that the rest of the gaming community could join in on the fun, but that is yet to be seen.

And while it’s been a terrific year for indies, Animal Well and Balatro are some of the clear standouts and definitely worth checking out. The latter is a FragFriend favorite. It’s a simple enough game on the surface, with a very satisfying gameplay loop, but it’s not so easy to master. If you’re struggling or just starting out, make sure to read our guides.

2023

If there were a Hall of Fame for video game years, 2023 would undoubtedly be in it. This is one of the best years we’ve had in a while, with banger after banger after banger. In my opinion, the only year that surpasses it, in terms of the sheer number of high-quality releases, is 2007. Looking at the line-up, Larian’s Baldur’s Gate 3 was met with an overwhelming amount of success, broke into the mainstream, and swept pretty much all the major awards, and deservedly so; Capcom, unsurprisingly, knocked it out of the park with yet another excellent remake, this time, Resident Evil 4; Phantom Liberty finally marked the redemption arc for Cyberpunk 2077 three years after its disastrous launch in 2020; and the long-awaited Alan Wake II absolutely ruled, pushing the envelope with its stunning visuals and compelling narrative.

Stepping into The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom right after spending 100 hours in Breath of the Wild just felt right for me. The first game took my breath away, but Tears of the Kingdom is in a league of its own. It’s an impressive sequel to an already impressive game—a must-play if you own a Nintendo Switch.

This is the year that the cult classic Hotline Miami and its sequel were ported to the ninth-gen consoles, which brings me to an important, yet underrated title. Otxo (pronounced oh-cho) is a Hotline Miami-esque roguelike that takes the original formula and improves on it tremendously. It’s a game that, after putting almost thirty hours into it, I feel I like more than its original inspiration. Unlike its influence, where enemies could kill you with one hit, you now have a health bar, and there’s a bullet time mechanic that completely transforms the gameplay. I recommend giving it a chance.

But that’s not all. It was an outstanding year for video game adaptations as well, above all, HBO’s breakout hit The Last of Us and The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Whatever happens, I think 2023 will go down in history as one of the best years in gaming.

2022

Elden Ring, God of War Ragnarök, The Last of Us Part I, and Horizon Forbidden West all in one year? Not bad. Not bad at all.

The Stanley Parable is one of the most creative and hilarious games I’ve ever come across, and Ultra Deluxe expands on that original idea in every way. The 2013 release had nineteen different endings, and yes, I had to see them all! Ultra Deluxe—wait for it—comes with a whopping forty-two!

Speaking of innovation, Sifu and Stray, despite being nothing alike, share one common element, and that is their originality. I cannot wait to get my hands on both of them, especially Stray, since I adore cats.

2021

2021 was kind of hot! It didn’t quite impress, but it did okay.

Of all the above, I only played Twelve Minutes in 2021. It’s a fresh take on an old genre, and one that I got a kick out of. Since then, I managed to get into Forza Horizon 5, and I have been hooked! It is incredibly entertaining and quite addictive, there’s great variety, and it never stops being fun—a personal ten out of ten. If you’re a driving enthusiast like me, don’t sleep on the Horizon series. With Microsoft announcing Forza Horizon 4 being delisted from digital platforms (Microsoft Store and Steam) on December 15, 2024, now would be a great time to add this superb, content-filled arcade racer to your library.

Forza Horizon 5

Unpacking

I’d like to give a big shoutout to one of my all-time favorite indies. There’s an irresistible charm to Unpacking that draws you in and captures your heart. It is as delightful as it is unique, as relaxing as it is exciting. And despite not having a single word of dialogue, it manages to tell a subtle yet powerful story of a young girl throughout her life. I was lucky enough to share this game with my new-to-video-games girlfriend, and at the end of each level, we would share screenshots of how we each decorated our home. Suffice it to say, it made for some lovely gaming sessions, and quite a few amusing moments.

2020

2020 gave me one of my favorites of all time, Control Ultimate Edition, and we celebrated its fifth birthday last week on August 27, 2024. With just the right amount of weird, phenomenal storytelling, and drop-dead gorgeous visuals, Control deserves all the praise it gets. It laid the groundwork for the Remedy Connected Universe, confirming that it, along with Max Payne and Alan Wake, share the same universe. Alan Wake himself appears in the AWE expansion, giving fans of the 2010 cult classic plenty to chew on. You can read my impressions of this masterpiece here.

Control Ultimate Edition

Being primarily a PC gamer, though, I feel like I miss out on so many amazing games—The Last of Us Part II or Ghost of Tsushima from this year alone. They are right up my alley. I very much need to get my hands on a newer PlayStation console. With PlayStation 5 Pro on the horizon, I’m considering entering console gaming for the first time in a very long time.

I also played Resident Evil 3, which I enjoyed. Not as much as Resident Evil 2, which was a more focused and tight experience, but Capcom is certainly on the right track with these remakes.

2019

2019 was the year I got back into gaming after a seven-year break, reuniting with a long-lost passion that felt just as fulfilling as discovering it for the first time. So many greats came out that year, and I have yet to play most of them, but Resident Evil 2 and A Plague Tale: Innocence are ones that stood out for me the most.

2018

2018 gave us Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Red Dead Redemption 2 (although I’d play it two years later on PC), God of War, and a handful of remarkable indie games.

Looking back, I’ve fallen in love with the Forza series, and I have been dying to get a racing wheel.

Red Dead Redemption 2

In early 2020, I’d only played a few hours of Red Dead Redemption 2. The game felt like a huge improvement over its predecessor, but my initial impression wasn’t as enthusiastic as I’d hoped. I was put off by how slow-paced the gameplay was, which, in retrospect, is quite common among first-time players. Coming off of games like GTA, I simply couldn’t appreciate what Red Dead Redemption 2 was offering. I still had it on my computer, and I was waiting for the right moment to jump back in. Believe it or not, it took me fourteen months to pick it back up, and it blew my mind! I have since put in 120 hours into this masterpiece, the longest I’ve spent in any single-player game, and I can see myself enjoying it for at least another fifty hours. I highly recommend reading The New York Times’s “Red Dead Redemption 2 Is True Art.”

2017

2017 saw the likes of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Horizon Zero Dawn.

It was an awesome year for indies as well, offering Cuphead and What Remains of Edith Finch. Sonic Mania gave me such a hard time, probably because I’m not great at fast-paced platformers, but it was worth it in the end. And Little Nightmares, even though the controls could be clunky at times, did feel special.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Breath of the Wild gave me something no other game has. The level of true freedom and sense of exploration made me feel like a kid again. It sparked in me a long-forgotten sense of childlike wonder that I hadn’t felt in a very long time, and that I will not soon forget. I didn’t think that was possible. Kudos to everyone at Nintendo.

2016

2016 brought Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, Titanfall 2, and Quantum Break, which, despite its shortcomings, I genuinely enjoyed.

Inside

Inside, on the other hand, was unbelievably good! Years later, I still catch myself thinking about it. It truly looks and feels like a game that George Orwell would have designed.

2015

2015 had new Metal Gear Solid, Batman, Call of Duty, Halo, Rainbow Six, Fallout, and so on. What more could a gamer want?

Ori and the Blind Forest is high on my wishlist.

2014

2014 was all right. I do remember playing a bit of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes on PlayStation 3.

2013

Now 2013, I remember vividly. I loved it! I am a huge Splinter Cell fan, so it was very exciting to step back into Sam Fisher’s shoes with Blacklist, especially since it featured a mission in Tehran, Iran. Sadly, Michael Ironside wasn’t available to do Sam’s original voice.

Grand Theft Auto V

Grand Theft Auto V on PlayStation 3 was great too, but at the time, I was still drawn to IV. It was only in July of 2020 when I did a second playthrough that I completely fell in love with it. Now every time I want to relax, I hop into my favorite SUV, drive around, and listen to the radio.

Beyond: Two Souls was another memorable experience with great performances from Elliot Page and Willem Dafoe and an incredibly touching narrative, just as you would expect from the creators of Heavy Rain and Indigo Prophecy (known outside of the US as Fahrenheit).

2012

When I think of 2012, I think of Mass Effect 3 and how good it was, and I think of Max Payne 3 and how I wished Remedy had made it. Journey looked gorgeous, and Far Cry 3 was a far cry from my expectations of the series.

2011

What an amazing year 2011 was. Can you believe it’s been over ten years?

It was the year Deus Ex: Human Revolution introduced me to role-playing games (RPG). It was the perfect marriage of narrative and gameplay, and I was completely hooked. I still sometimes listen to the original soundtrack by Michael McCann.

I still reminisce about Skyrim and how wonderful it felt to be immersed in a world of fantasy. Bethesda did a magnificent job at that. Since I’ve played both Skyrim and Oblivion but never Morrowind, I think it is best if I try that for a change. And we had Portal 2 by Valve, which is still highly regarded.

Uncharted 3 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, as well as Batman: Arkham City, were all masterfully done as well. The further back we go, we see more and more masterpieces, and more frequently.

2010

2010 had a great lineup, NGL: Mafia II, Mass Effect 2, Red Dead Redemption, Splinter Cell: Conviction, Alan Wake, Limbo, Heavy Rain. What is there not to love? This was also the year I got my first summer job at my favorite video game store. It was a dream come true, to wake up every morning and go to work recommending or selling video games to other passionate souls, mostly teens my age. I distinctly remember the day Mafia II came out and how there was an influx of customers coming to the store to buy it—how fun and exciting that was. I went home that afternoon with my own copy. It’s one of my most treasured memories from my time there.

Limbo

Playdead’s Limbo in particular deeply captured my imagination, and it’s been living in my subconscious ever since. In fact, when I revisited that game after thirteen years, I was consistently reminded of how deep my emotions ran. If you haven’t experienced this wonderful indie gem, do yourself a favor and pick it up. It is worth the ten dollars and then some! And it goes on sale quite regularly on Steam.

Heavy Rain

“How far will you go to save someone you love?”

Heavy Rain really was more than just a video game for me. A decade later, I can still recall some of its most intense moments. They are so deeply entrenched in my mind that I can see them as if I have lived them. It changed me forever.

2009

2009 also ranks high in my book in that we saw fantastic sequels to Assassin’s Creed, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and Uncharted. Unfortunately, I couldn’t finish Batman: Arkham Asylum at the time due to a game-breaking bug, but I enjoyed it very much, along with both F.E.A.R. 2 and Resident Evil 5. I did get a chance to play Arkham Asylum to completion in 2020 during COVID, and I’m happy to report that it still holds up today. It is without a doubt among the greatest Batman games ever created. If you’re looking for a purely fun, well-written superhero game with a memorable soundtrack and iconic performances, this is it.

2008

Boy, did 2008 have some aces up its sleeve! Grand Theft Auto IV and Metal Gear Solid 4? You can’t top that.

Fun fact: I bought my PlayStation 3 in 2010 solely for two reasons: Heavy Rain and Metal Gear Solid 4.

2007

I think we can all agree that 2007 was one of the most fruitful years of the gaming industry. Ryan McCaffrey of IGN said it best on the 500th episode of Unlocked: “Halo 3, Crackdown, BioShock, Mass Effect, Rock Band, Project Gotham Racing 4, Eternal Sonata, Call of Duty 4, the first Assassin’s Creed, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2, The Orange Box, you could throw The Darkness in there, that was just such a monster year, it just seemed like it never ended.”

2006

I am running out of adjectives to describe these . . . [looks in the dictionary] glorious years of the past. I will always remember 2006 with Splinter Cell: Double Agent, 25 to Life, Call of Duty 2, and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

2005

Ah, man. 2005 was so good! It was the year I bought my very first computer. Surely, it doesn’t get better than this.

. . . Or does it?

2004

It can and does get better! 2004 was the year we got Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, Half-Life 2, and Need for Speed: Underground 2!

I honestly can’t pick one. They are all my favorites, especially the lesser-known Second Sight, with its paranormal abilities and stealth mechanics. To quote Tom Bramwell of Eurogamer who reviewed the game’s PC port in 2005, “Second Sight was very nearly love at first sight.”

And as for Counter-Strike, who would’ve thought it would still be highly popular twenty years on?

2003

2003 was a beast of a year. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, Command & Conquer: Generals, and Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne? Take me back, please!

2002

2002. To this day, I still think back on the first time I saw Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, how it made me feel. I had never seen anything like it.

2001

2001, of course, holds a very special place in my heart because of Max Payne and Grand Theft Auto III. I wish I could tell you how or why. I guess no one will ever truly know how much these two—among many, many others—mean to me.

Max Payne

2000

‌2000. This is the last stop—for now.

Thank you for taking a trip down memory lane with me. What are your favorite video game years? Do let us know in the comments.