On the subject of Hellblade. finding out years later that the dark Rot going up your arm doesn't actually delete your save data blew me away. Every time I died in the game I legitimately panicked, it brought back that feeling of old video games that would start you from the beginning if you ran out of lives, but it was all just a ruse the developers used to help the player get into the mind of Senua who suffers from a form of psychosis (A mental disorder characterized by a disconnection from reality) way better than anything I've ever gotten out of a AAA game.
@manaash4316
10 ай бұрын
The special features on it talks about how they worked with real people who shared Senua's disorder to make sure they got it right. I read somewhere that a teenage kid played the game and realized that his brain wasn't totally broken, just disordered, and he spoke to his mom about things he was seeing so he could get treatment. He had been making plans to off himself before that. And the face model for Senua was actually just one of their office workers they had originally planned to use as a stand in for an actual actor, but she was so good that they kept her in the part. Like, it's just a fundamentally great game, but the stories about its development and its impact are just so impressive and wholesome to me.
@pye2574
10 ай бұрын
It was actually quite clever. It says about the rot spreads if you die and if it reaches your head gameover. However it will reach your head and will be gameover. I thought it was a genius concept that they technically didn't lie about it. Just made it so people misinterpreted it
@Spr0ket
9 ай бұрын
@@pye2574 I'm gonna be this person :D "Godzilla had a stroke trying to read your comment and died"
@ahmadjaber5293
10 ай бұрын
I expected to see Hollow Knight Or even Cuphead! Those two games were just top notch and their success was unprecedented
@gameranxTV
10 ай бұрын
👆🏻
@RottenSloth93
10 ай бұрын
Why? Two super niche games that did about as well as the devs expected?
@agentepolaris4914
10 ай бұрын
Nah, everyone knew cuphead would be a success from the very beginning
@keynanmartinez
10 ай бұрын
@@gameranxTVSplatoon should be on a Sequel list.
@ashtinpeaks9972
10 ай бұрын
@@RottenSloth93 Cuphead i would agree with being expected to do well, but hollow knight not really. It just blew up out of no where with no previous title from what I understand. (Unless you count hungry knight lmfao not really a full game)
@Merellin
10 ай бұрын
I'm surprised Minecraft is not on the list, One of the biggest games ever, Originally cretaed by a single man before he built Mojang to help with further development of the game. After the first month of sales in Alpha he made 11 million dollars from the game, And having never expected to become rich over a month he was in total shock. During interviews when asked what he did with his money he could just stammer out that he bought a hat while looking totally shell shocked. And it only went up from there.
@Fivemonthslater1
10 ай бұрын
I checked the comments to say exactly this. Minecraft is the biggest “shocked its developer” ever!
@Twigg4075
10 ай бұрын
That's because their lists are almost always lacking.
@MrCode4money
10 ай бұрын
You hit the nail on the head. Falcon probably left it off the list deliberately to get the interactions "down in the comments". 😂
@SquallLeonhartlo
10 ай бұрын
Also, he kind of went crazy after being bought out by Microsoft. They probably don't want to draw attention to him.
@ExTAzY101
9 ай бұрын
League of legends was also created by a single team in small office before it started breaking records.
@Luv2Flood
10 ай бұрын
Great video! I've always loved Baldur's Gate. The humbleness in the comment "...I hope there's no big bugs left" just shows the amount of work put in. All the praise is thoroughly deserved. You guys rock. Awesome game. Well done!
@jimmythegamer2231
10 ай бұрын
Too bad there were big bugs left at launch, plenty of them, especially in Act 3.
@criticallol3039
10 ай бұрын
@@jimmythegamer2231True but you can't deny they've been staying on top of their patches/hotfixes pretty well. I mean you look at their major patch notes and you end up scrolling for a while. It does prove your point about the amount of bugs the game was released with and still has but they appear to be pretty transparent about it (even when their patches/hotfixes causes more or other bugs), which I respect.
@benedictjajo
10 ай бұрын
@@jimmythegamer2231none of them are game or immersion breaking though, at least for me.
@winstonsmith8597
10 ай бұрын
GOTY
@jimmythegamer2231
10 ай бұрын
@@criticallol3039 Most devs that release unfinished and/or buggy games are transparent about it to an extent and actively try to patch it post-launch, as was the case with Cyberpunk, Cities Skylines 2, and more. Doesn't make it acceptable that the game launched in the state it did. BG3 and Larian get a massive pass that other AAA studios don't just cuz "game good" and cuz they're independent and not owned by someone like EA. Game could be your favorite game of all time for all I care, doesn't excuse it nonetheless when said game releases with major bugs/glitches and a half-baked ending at launch. People need to call out when devs release unfinished games and not blindly fall into the hype train.
@wendahu5943
10 ай бұрын
A Plague Tale somehow has this mesmerizing charm with it's story that managed to be extremely dark and heart-warming at the same time. It leaves the player a strange unique feeling that's no other game can deliver.
@MtnNerd
10 ай бұрын
I want to play it but I'm terrified of rats the way some people are about spiders.
@ernovanchannel
10 ай бұрын
@@MtnNerddamn. If you are afraid of rat the it will feel overwelming to you. Because by looking at them from a distance I got shivers, especially in the first flood. I said flood it literally flooding with rats..
@MtnNerd
10 ай бұрын
@@ernovanchannel Yeah I'm going to have to sit this one out. I'd basically be Ellen from those Arachnophobia videos.
@WaffleOnTheRun
10 ай бұрын
I do kinda understand Miyazakis suprise, the series was known for basically being only played by hardcore players and Elden Ring ammased a huge audience with a ton of people that would probably consider themselves more casual gamers, it has sold 20 million as of March this year. With it's sucess though I think it just showed that honestly the games aren't nearly as hard or confusing as people potray them to be, it doesn't hold your hand but thats kinda the beauty of the game, because going in almost any direction will bring you to something cool.
@datboyjesus9004
10 ай бұрын
i can definitely vouch for this. elden ring was my first ever fromsoft game and it got me roped into the world of dark souls and souls-like games. one of my favorites now is lies of p lol
@prajyotkumar9644
10 ай бұрын
yep...the other dark souls basically stuck you at a point if you cant beat a boss and its annoying af. elden ring went out of its way to not do that. You can even move 90% of the time without any fight and just running away and killing who you can. I really cant just get stuck at one place fighting a boss. The other game who semi applied this is " seikiro shadow die twice ". You can directly some of the minor bosses if you want and it gives a lot of option to movement.@@datboyjesus9004
@Voldemorts.Nipple
10 ай бұрын
I like the freedom for sure but I still wish there was a story easy to understand. At least it doesn't force you into "missions"
@DoomsdayMayBeOkay
10 ай бұрын
@@datboyjesus9004 Try Bloodborne if you can, that one is pretty especial...
@A-Duck
10 ай бұрын
The games have never been "hard" and I don't mean that in a snobby elitist way, but I believe it's important to note. The best way to describe the Fromsoft catalogue, in my opinion, is uncompromising. From the challenge to the worldbuilding, they have an internally well defined design philosophy and adhere to it strictly. Part of that happens to be 'minimal hand holding'. At the time they started making these games way back around 2009, an uncompromising challenge without handholding was an EXTREMELY underserved niche in the industry. I cannot stress enough how different the gaming landscape was back then. The idea of deliberately _not_ guiding your audience as much as possible was considered a failure, not a deliberate and valid design choice. Making sure every player got to experience every scrap of content was considered an objective merit, and not doing so an objective misstep. It was this environment that created a deep desire in the market for experiences without excessive hand holding, and it's there Fromsoft found their audience. It's also why they will never include a difficulty setting, and why that's a good thing.
@ARIXANDRE
10 ай бұрын
In hindsight, it sounds crazy but Rocksteady wasn't too sure about Arkaham Asylum. The Batman IP was in the gutter when they made the best Batman trilogy ever.
@legendsclan9108
10 ай бұрын
how? Batman Arkham Asylum came out in 2009 and TDK, one of the best CBMs of all time and one of the best Batman movies of all time came in 2008, so although they may have been worried about it, the Batman IP was not in the gutter, culturally wise.
@JoJoZaka
10 ай бұрын
@@legendsclan9108the market was oversaturated and media sales outside of the movies were tanking. to the point that even mentioning batman outside of his own stories in the comics was banned for a short period.
@nintendork23
10 ай бұрын
He didn't phrase that very well, but I think what he's trying to say is that batman video games did not have a great track record at the time, which was true.
@LeStacheman
10 ай бұрын
That's exactly what he meant but these other 2 trolls are braindead apparently
@wgnd1614
9 ай бұрын
he phrased that perfectly fine and i have no idea how yall missunderstood his comment...
@mtnman8783
10 ай бұрын
Two gameranx videos in one day?? Truly we live in a blessed age
@Azreal357
5 ай бұрын
Now, none for a month. The scales will balance out!
@snake_doc1788
10 ай бұрын
I'm shocked that Stardew Valley wasn't on here!? I can't believe that sole dev thought it would be as popular as it is!!
@gameranxTV
10 ай бұрын
👍🏼 part 2
@kinginthenaught
10 ай бұрын
Even terraria... That was WAY more successful, has more current players and even highest concurrent players than many AAA games on steam alone. For a game over 12 years old!
@Azreal357
5 ай бұрын
That's what I said. It has outsold Elden Ring, had 1 developer making it and didn't need a 200 million dollar budget.
@drgonzo123
10 ай бұрын
I want more people to play A Plague Tale: Requiem. That story, especially the way it wraps up, just floored me. They’re short games. If you haven’t played them you’re missing out.
@Aschwiftbreeze
10 ай бұрын
plague tale is such a good series, super slept on beautiful journey
@gameranxTV
10 ай бұрын
👍🏼
@DicepairGames
10 ай бұрын
@@gameranxTVPlease stop spoiling the game's twist 😣.
@visionhawk4403
10 ай бұрын
The thing about Hellblade is that, the way they made it, it simulates schizophrenia very well. It's the biggest reason I had a hard time playing it for lengthy times at once, because I have schizoaffective disorder. The way they recorded voices, the visual hallucinations, hell, they even simulated paranoia by making you believe that you would lose your save if "the rot" got to your head by dying too much.
@MightyGreedo
10 ай бұрын
I seem to recall that (back in the day) Valve was shocked at how popular Portal 1 became. They had just thrown it into this collection called The Orange Box as an afterthought. It came with Half Life 2 and Team Fortress 2. Epic collection!
@kaldo_kaldo
9 ай бұрын
Had never heard of Valve or any of the games before The Orange Box.
@GruncleSheeku
10 ай бұрын
Honestly id put the OG Subnautica on a list like this. Yeah some success was expected just because of the survival crafting aspect but the whole underwater thing was originally thought it would be a detriment because everyone HATES water levels yet they essentially made their whole game a water level. and everyone LOVED it. Couldnt get enough.
@hagenstein3130
7 ай бұрын
Yes. Subnautica was my first thought when reading the title. Another one I miss: Banished. Made by a sole developer. And it has become the game a lot of other games in this genre are compared to, i.e. are they as good as it?
@Free_speech_is_dead
10 ай бұрын
Both Plague Tale games are 10/10 masterpieces.
@danielh12345
10 ай бұрын
Absolutely love those games! Storytelling is great! Although I'm normally not really into super linear games those games kept me so interested and engaged. Wouldn't have wanted it differently!
@cea5er
10 ай бұрын
The truth has been spoken
@thelastpersononearth9765
9 ай бұрын
@@danielh12345Some games Like Plague Tale, Uncharted and Resident evil are way better being linear. They wouldn't work as open world imo.
@tiacool7978
7 ай бұрын
@thelastpersononearth9765 for A Plague Tale, I think what bothers people is the sort of on rails movement. Really felt like you couldn't go anywhere except where they wanted you to. The sequel loosened it's grip though, which was greatly appreciated. Even Hugo was less annoying in it.
@dustinyoshimura5612
10 ай бұрын
WoW could have gone on this list. I don't remember the actual numbers any more, but their high end estimations were say 200K players beyond other similar games. Which was a decent sized upscale on the data they were using. Their servers basically filled up immediately (I remember jokes about playing the WoW board game while you waited in queue), and they had to scramble to increase the amount of servers they had, which also filled up almost immediately.
@Yggdrasil42
10 ай бұрын
I'm sure the Outer Wilds developers didn't expect to make such a well loved game.
@avez-ch1np
10 ай бұрын
Flappy Bird also deserves a mention. A game that exploded out of nowhere, media tried to frame it as evil, all accumulating to the dev shutting it down from stress.
@omarmainuddin7251
10 ай бұрын
Double header Saturday, thanks Gameranx!
@Zytrazz
10 ай бұрын
Miyazaki's way of thinking about his games really deserves so much respect and we should appreciate him more. Only few would think of that way. Others would only see it as an opportunity for the game to be their cash cow. And yes, just like what Ubisoft are doing with their main titles. This must be the reason why they were mad to Elden Ring open world design, completely total opposite mindset.
@elijahe7612
10 ай бұрын
A game I thought of when I saw the title was The Last of Us. I know Neil Druckmann has talked in the past about how much of a passion project it was, and he was so certain that it'd be a failure and that people would want Naughty Dog to stick to the successful Uncharted and Jak and Daxter games instead of a grounded cinematic M rated game. And since then, it's become many people's favorite property from the studio and it's become a wildly successful drama show.
@BrandonMarshall547
10 ай бұрын
Thank God two uploads within a couple hours. They must know I’m bored at work! 😂
@stuartmorley6894
10 ай бұрын
As a voice hearer, Hellblade was such a good game to go through. I know everyone's experience is different but just seeing and playing a game that truly made an effort to use and explain that experience was fantastic. Even if it helped only a few people understand voice hearing better thats a great result. I know the actual game, which i really enjoyed, is the more important thing to most but it just felt good to be "seen".
@mintymushrooms8025
10 ай бұрын
Yeah I felt they took mental distinctiveness to another level and handled it beautifully. Honestly in my top three games of all time
@redmannamder3620
10 ай бұрын
What is a voice hearer?
@stuartmorley6894
10 ай бұрын
@@redmannamder3620 someone who hears voices either inside their head or externally that others can't. There's more too it and lots of different possible reasons but that's the basic.
@MegaHassan3000
10 ай бұрын
damn I thought it was some kinda of job to hear voices or something@@stuartmorley6894
@dorabrooks76
10 ай бұрын
I wasn't able to play it, but I did watch a play through. I watched with surround sound headphones on, and the effect was incredible! It really felt like the voices were inside my head. If that's even a fraction of what you and others experience... I'm so glad they made the game and did such a great job with it. I'm happy for you that it made you feel seen. I hope it's helped people understand a little better what your experience of life is like, as I imagine it's hard to fully describe. Cheers!
@ninjalemurdude
10 ай бұрын
I'm surprised Fortnite wasn't here. The original game took years to develop and was a bit of a flop. They absolutely did not expect the battle royale to take off the way it did.
@mt_baldwin
10 ай бұрын
Elden Ring was so successful because there was one big fear non-souls players had about playing a souls game, that they'd get stuck on some hard boss and be unable to finish the game, and Elden Ring being open world greatly alleviated this fear. It was the last ingredient needed to finally launch a souls game into mainstream popularity (23 million copies sold in 21 months, this is Zelda and Final Fantasy levels of mainstream). The other reason were souls fans speak of these games with such awe and reverence for the story, settings and game play and being able to beat one is a badge of gaming honor. So for a lot of these people, myself included, it was the best chance to finally get into one of these.
@Alloveck
10 ай бұрын
Personally, I'd say its greatest success was simply going open world right when my frustration with game design that's basically a bunch of linear narrow hallways hit its tipping point. Wide open spaces and choosing which direction I felt like going was exactly what I was hungrier for than I ever had been before, and it delivered. Aside from that, I'd say Elden Ring has other strengths and even some significant weaknesses if not steps backward, but that feeling of open exploration is just such a big deal it made up for the problems. So yeah, I'd agree that being open world was THE singular greatest reason it succeeded so hard, but not because of a fear of hitting a brick wall of a boss in my case. I just really like when games let me explore to the left, right, and behind as much as forward.
@FlashesSoccer011
10 ай бұрын
@Alloveck it wasn't just that it was open world. Plenty of games have open world design. Ellen Ring felt FULL. You could stumble onto a new vista at any second, find a secret, a dungeon, a random boss, a crazy ass encounter, or even take a seemingly innocuous elevator and end up in a new zone that felt like you were in an entirely different universe. It was simply sensational.
@trcthorkun
10 ай бұрын
I love that the UI is so unintrusive, there is no handholding, quest markers and shit clogging up my screen and the map. You just go explore. Sure that means that it's very difficult completing an NPC questline in Elden Ring without looking it up, but I'd rather do that than have the game have 15 blinking arrows filling my screen pointing to the objective.
@juancarloang
10 ай бұрын
Kinda surprised that Flappy Bird wasn't in this list.
@denzo3882
10 ай бұрын
2 videos in a day, I feel blessed
@gameranxTV
10 ай бұрын
👍🏼
@Yuki-rh1ie
10 ай бұрын
valheim in vr is a BREATHTAKING dream come true. i cud live in it FOREVER. spendin a huntin night out in the woods n sleepin in the grass under the canopy in the fog, gettin back hom at dawn n just takin in the sun rise over your village. there's just nothing like it. there just is no words to express sailing in it in vr
@IntimateGamer
10 ай бұрын
Hell Blade is pure perfection. The puzzles and fight mechanics were kept simple as so not to detract from the story and it worked amazing well. Everyone whose played this game cried at the end.
@liamvermaak982
10 ай бұрын
I know I cried in the final fight. Needing to accept fate and give in, even when all you want to do is keep fighting, even when the odds are impossible
@CardinalZyn
10 ай бұрын
Hell blade is such an immersive and fun experience, I’ve played through it more than I did Halo 2 when I had nothing better to do. It doesn’t take long to complete, but every play feels new and different. Fantastic idea and so much fun
@FaisalDonno
10 ай бұрын
Wasn’t Fortnite an unexpected success? It started off as a hobby for the epic devs that took a long time, and was mainly a zombies survival game that then added a BR which skyrocketed in success out of nowhere. I would say it should be Number 1 on the list. (Not a fan of the game, ngl miss the zombies mode but still )
@rikko47
10 ай бұрын
I swear I seen a plagues tale years ago and was like "man idk what it is but I wanna try this game" and I Love it, its different and it's amazing
@muzamilnabinadroo
10 ай бұрын
Im very happy for Baldur's gate 3 because this game redefined to many of us what a True RPG means. Many people have been considering Sony style Action Adventure games with skill trees as RPGs.
@andrewcarter9649
10 ай бұрын
I really wish you idiot gatekeepers would pull your heasd out of your arses, there's more than one way to make an RPG.
@shabr1ri
10 ай бұрын
Exactly. No other game gives you so much freedom over deciding your direction. Just as easily as you can be the good-guy, you can be the antihero, you can straight up be the villain if you choose, whenever you want. The story lays out clear consequences and outcomes of your actions, but you still have the freedom at nearly every turn to navigate a situation in a way that suits your character. This, combined with gameplay mechanics that truly reflect Larian’s dedication- shows that so many aspects of BG3 are major improvements to the top-down genre. This may be my own personal opinion, but even compared to my running of Divinity Original Sin 2 DE, BG3 is just _better._
@doctordoom85
10 ай бұрын
Well, to be fair, even a few of those Sony games have their RPG elements still feel more authentic in comparison to the nothingburger that was Final Fantasy XVI’s “RPG” elements. “Hey, congrats, you upgraded your sword and gained a level!” Cool, does the upgrade unlock a new skill or passive ability? Maybe Clive could learn a different weapon type option? “Hahaha, NO. Enjoy those minor stat increases that barely make a difference in almost any fight.” Well, could we at least have elemental weaknesses/resistances so the different combat styles actually matter? “Fuck you.” …….alrighty then, uninstalling and will just wait for FF 7 Rebirth as at least Nomura knows how to make a action RPG. (I laughed my ass off at seeing a thread blow up talking about how GOW Ragnarok was more of a RPG than FF 16, because the people mad about hearing it were grasping at straws to claim otherwise) But just to be clear, BG 3 is easily my GOTY, just that not every RPG needs to be like it. Variety is the spice of life.
@liamvermaak982
10 ай бұрын
My time with Hellblade was truly breathtaking. I was so blown away by the story and atmosphere. Can't wait for the sequel to finally release, cause Senua's Sacrifice was not just a game, it was almost a spiritual journey. AND HOW COULD ONE FORGET THAT CHILLING SOUNDTRACK?!
@GYTCommnts
10 ай бұрын
Other thing about Hellblade is that they worked about an important issue that is mental illness. Not only they deserved the success because of the quality, but for the subject they chose to work and the way they did it.
@Kumagoro42
10 ай бұрын
Yeah, Hellblade's behind the scenes featurette is illuminating. They didn't just consult with medical specialists, they scheduled sessions with people suffering from Senua's illness, showed them the game at various stages of development, and incorporated their notes. That's an absurd amount of time and money invested just to do justice to a theme. I don't think anybody else ever did such a thing for a game.
@Alloveck
10 ай бұрын
I know next to nothing of the game aside from seeing little snips of gameplay that make it seem like some sort of fantasy adventure, and that it somehow deals with mental illness and hearing voices. Which has lead me to suspect it's ultimately an "all a dream" or symbolic sort of deal where a significant amount or all the cool/fantastic stuff happening turns out to be just in the character's head or metaphorical or whatever, or is left ambiguous whether the cool magic things happened or not. As such, despite people saying it's good, I've avoided it because personally, I've never found that trope to be at all satisfying to put it mildly. So... is my suspicion correct?
@Kumagoro42
10 ай бұрын
@@AlloveckNot exactly. It doesn't really use that trope, it's smarter than that. Senua's journey actually happens. We don't know what exactly happens during it, because she doesn't know, because she can't know. It's first and foremost the most accomplished schizophrenia simulator ever attempted (and it can be very upsetting in that sense). The real people suffering from the disorder they consulted with (as documented in the featurette that's accessible through the game menu) were so unbelievably touched for being seen at this level of authenticity for the first time in any media. It's a milestone not just for video games.
@oneevilchef
10 ай бұрын
The way falcon said "if you have $14..." immediately made me think of, "If you have time to watch Twitch, you have $10."
@Celedhring-pv4js
10 ай бұрын
Great video as always! I feel that World of Warcraft should at least get an honorable mention on this list, even if this happened 18 years ago ... after all, how many other games do you know of where they had to ask folks to stop selling the game because it was too successful? Six months in, WoW's servers were so impacted, the hardware simply didn't exist to be purchased, so Blizzard reached out to retailers and asked them to stop selling the game.
@TheOdMan
10 ай бұрын
WoW should have been number 1 on the list. To not even include it is just weird.
@Melvinator311
10 ай бұрын
What a great morning!! TWO fantastic videos from the best in the business. Keep up the amazing work gameranx!!
@Nitro_Foundry
10 ай бұрын
The shots of SpongeBob’s full ass had me dying 💀😂
@Runeclaw
10 ай бұрын
The developers of #8 Valheim, Iron Gate, are from the same small town of Skövde as the developers of #4 V Rising, Stunlock Studios. Oh, and also Coffee Stain Studios (Goat Simulator) and Landfall (Totaly Acurate Battle Simulator) are also from that town of just about 50.000.
@irecordwithaphone1856
10 ай бұрын
So what you're telling me is small towns breed big talent
@Runeclaw
10 ай бұрын
@@irecordwithaphone1856 They started a school program for game development 20 years ago and have "The Game Incubator" to help out local studios and developers get the needed resources and find good contacts in the industry. And now the result is showing, as there are even more developers from Skövde.
@abraxis59
10 ай бұрын
Sooooo.... Are we saying that Vampire Survivors was not a surprise to its developers? I was expecting it to be number one. 😀
@lyndonmarquis414
10 ай бұрын
Really pleased to see Plague Tale and Hellblade on this list. The latter I have played through probably 6 or 7 times now even though there’s no real re-playability options. Hope the sequel expands on the first without losing what made it great. And hard agree on the full-assedness of Plague Tale.
@Kumagoro42
10 ай бұрын
I'm a bit conflicted about Hellblade 2. On one hand, I really really want to play as Senua again. On the other hand, I'm not sure what to make of the trailer showing her fighting a giant alongside other Celtic warriors. Given how the first game ends, and what it retroactively means for the story, I don't know how to reconcile those scenes. But ultimately I trust Ninja Theory to know what they're doing.
@lyndonmarquis414
10 ай бұрын
@@Kumagoro42 Maybe the group mêlée is a cutscene flashback? Certainly the first game is a very solitary endeavour and I don’t know that I want very much more in-game interaction _but_ like you say, I trust Ninja Theory to nail it.
@GamerMan05
10 ай бұрын
Elden Ring's immense success was due to its timing. At a time when everybody was sick of Ubisoft-esque checklist games with microtransactions, buggy and unfinished at release, Elden Ring was the perfect remedy, no handholding, exploration oriented (kinda like both) with no microtransactions and at launch, you had the full game. This played a part and made it more successful than it would have been if it had launched at any other time.
@fotisj321
10 ай бұрын
To say that it wasn't as bad as many other games doesn't really do justice to the incredible heights of game design that Elden Ring has reached. The specific mix of open world and progression, allowing everyone to move on to the next boss encounter when they are ready, is wonderful. The rich and lush graphics, where you can take screenshots in most places and frame them. The consistent atmosphere of the world, an atmosphere of deep pathos and desolation. The boss design, the crafting system, the density of the world etc. etc. So: No, its immense success was not due to its timing, but because it is - from my perspective after 30 years of games - one of the best games ever designed. And we have a lot of really good games, especially in recent years (some are on the list in the video).
@thangadurairajac3101
10 ай бұрын
Elden ring not only sold well it even got "game of the year" even 8 months after the release
@FrenchyMcToast
8 ай бұрын
I've seen so many examples of people learning the wrong lessons from their success and trying to recapture it unsuccessfully that I think that Miyazaki's answer here is exactly the correct one. "I've captured lighting in a bottle, I'm not really sure how, but we probably won't be able to do it again. Let's just move on."
@FightYourCouch
10 ай бұрын
The Witcher 3 deserves a mention. Barely anyone talked about the second game other than, "it looks really good". The Witcher 3 completely blew everyone away and had people talking about how hollow bethesda games were retroactively.
@jimmythegamer2231
10 ай бұрын
Lol can't get Bethesda out of your mind, can you? Both Bethesda games and The Witcher 3 have different goals and are different games in comparison. There's a reason why games like Skyrim, Fallout 3, Oblivion, etc. sold well and it's not because they're "hollow." The Witcher 3 is, by comparison to Bethesda games, hollow when it comes to environmental interactivity and sandbox-y nature, among other things. Perhaps that's because, shocker, the Witcher isn't a sandbox game like Bethesda games are.
@FightYourCouch
10 ай бұрын
@jimmythegamer2231 I don't care any which way about Bethesda and wasn't trying to say any of the crap you're ranting about. I'm sorry Starfield sucks and your favorite game studio is creatively bankrupt. Calm down my dude.
@CosimaNonymouse
10 ай бұрын
A plague tale: Innocence is just so full of details, one playthrough is not enough to discover them all. Like Amicia's hair at the beginning of the game and as the game continues, it falls apart just like it would in real life (that is just one of the first things I noticed so, yeah). And Baldur's Gate 3 is more than I've expected, so much more. They didn't try so hard to appeal to a new audience and as someone who has played the previous two titles, I feel appreciated.
@Name_Lessness
10 ай бұрын
Elden Ring, it's an open world Dark Souls, the first of it's kind, it's not that complicated as to it's success. This list goes to show that a new idea is valued with it's simplicity. These games will go on to inspire other fresh ideas while showing a possibility of great success.
@x01021
10 ай бұрын
On the other hand, Souls type games are successful but still considered “niche.” A lot of people maybe tried DS1 a long time ago and decided the entire genre wasn’t for them. That’s why the success of ER would still be a shock to FromSoft because it sold at the level of a big budget AAA with tons of hype. Goes to show that gamers reward passionate devs!
@VictorGabriel-ht5qp
9 ай бұрын
Yes, exactly, people say like no one could have seen Elden Ring's success, but lots of games from From Software were already famous, like Dark Souls, Sekiro and Bloodborn
@dolo429
10 ай бұрын
Number 1 definitely has to go to minecraft. Literally one of the biggest franchises in gaming. Notch was so shocked when it blew up and then went on to sell it for like a billion dollars.
@InnerSunshine
9 ай бұрын
Plague Tale Innocence was also good due to the WRITER. I went back and looked as his priors. Unusually talented guy. He created engaging characters, a rarity in games where 99% of the devs are coders 🙂
@istofar560
10 ай бұрын
"....with all seriousness this man is a lunatic" got me cracking 😭😂😂😂😂😂
@alister101
10 ай бұрын
I feel like the kid controlling the rats could've been kept a secret, it was nice to stumble on it.
@shaanix4811
10 ай бұрын
just finished the game last week, almost got spoiled by the old bird :)
@CUbanageNT_24
10 ай бұрын
Isnt that game a rip off of "The" Suicide Squad character RatCatcher 2 ?
@CUbanageNT_24
10 ай бұрын
Not to mention the original character from before 2021
@irecordwithaphone1856
10 ай бұрын
@@CUbanageNT_24I don't think you can copyright the concept of controlling an animal, actually
@metal4lifewp
10 ай бұрын
Its more about that tale of the rat catcher I think
@spamuel98
10 ай бұрын
I actually bought the game on release because I heard lots of good things about it the whole time it was in early access. It was the first game in a long time that I actually paid full price for.
@claytondeloach4142
10 ай бұрын
To me plague tale was what happened if you combined Tomb Raider and The Last of Us. Its a good mix of both, but has its own spin.
@BritReadsBritAuthors
10 ай бұрын
Honestly, if this video was made two weeks after its release, I think *The Amazing Digital Circus* might have earnt itself at least an honourable mention.
@KomaedasOneTrueHope
7 ай бұрын
That is not a video game
@Curt_Randall
10 ай бұрын
While I really suck at FromSoft games, and in Elden Ring several aspects about that game frustrate or disappoint me, I will grant that the overall game experience was remarkable and unforgettable.
@ryanschindler923
10 ай бұрын
Not putting Minecraft on here seem illegal at best. The success of Minecraft from where it started is unreal.
@naddiithequeenholler5341
10 ай бұрын
I love how Falcon points out that BattleBit only costs 14 dollars when its actually 14.99 dollars. 🤣😂🤣
@wade196840
10 ай бұрын
Plague's tale innocence I would describe as a stealth survival game.
@reecesmith5819
10 ай бұрын
A plague tale is so good. Played the first a few months before the second game came out. The developers clearly care about the games and that’s awesome to see.
@69Mikou
10 ай бұрын
The love for a plague tale is so appreciable!!! I Love the games too!! The second one took a bit too much time for my taste to start, but... I am still recovering from its ending, such an incredible game ❤
@frikyouall
10 ай бұрын
Sometimes, perhaps most of the time, it's best to block out the success and hone your art. That's what will make the next game great. Dragon's Dogma was Devil May Cry in an open world, and would have never come to pass if the team had just focused on replicating their success.
@WolvenSpectre
10 ай бұрын
ARK: Survival Evolved ranks under this too. New indie studio makes a prototype version of a game that could go several ways. They had to contract other studios to get it going and make an e-sports mode because they didn't think that many people would play it. Then BOOM, epic starts looking into integrating some of its custom code and pushes them to upgrade to the latest engine, money is rolling in, and one of the main partners isn't even off his non-compete yet. They then try to turn the prototype into the game they eventually wanted to make. Now all these years later they have 2 games in the top 10 most played, an animated series waiting to be launched, and the top selling game on Steam.
@OrelhaKanjo
10 ай бұрын
Miyazaki not playing his own games is the reason he's a lunatic😂
@MaidenlessScrub
10 ай бұрын
I read somewhere that the devs actually forced him to at least test his games out because they knew he sucks. So if he could pass some bosses, it would mean the difficulty was not over tuned 🤣
@electricluna2774
8 ай бұрын
That's how most creators are. They don't enjoy their own creations
@youngshaun2004
9 ай бұрын
List like this is great because there are so many games that are excellent that typically missed if it's not AAA title. Especially some older games you can get used and enjoy!
@Jay-mt6nu
10 ай бұрын
Genshin impact should have an honourable mention because i dont think hoyoverse thought at that point how big that game would get
@P1P31150
10 ай бұрын
Twitch went wild for a wild as well with it
@shakingsticksatthings6628
10 ай бұрын
After Dark Souls becoming legendary with it's difficulty and the YOu Died meme and shirts, and the absolute brutal beauty of Sekiro, the buzz I was picking up prior to Elden Ring was that as other devs like Ubisoft were hit and miss, Fromsoft was invincible. Then there was the whole "is this just Dark Souls 4?" debate... and that kinship was all ER needed in the current climate to be a home run. Throw JRR Martin in on the lore and it was a perfectly baked Fromsoft cake. Everyone was excited about it. I wasn't surprised about it's success at all. Open world Dark Souls was irresistible.
@chiballer20
10 ай бұрын
Battlebit is simply amazing for what it is and what it cost. I got a chance to join a couple play test over the last two years and just knew it was going to be a great game. Its all I play today for shooters, no more Apex, COD or Battlefield. Its just more fun. I'm glad it turned out great for the developers.
@RQuinton79
10 ай бұрын
Absolutely shocked Minecraft wasn't number 1, and not even being mentioned is head scratching. Number 1 selling game of all time, studio selling to Microsoft for 2 billion, and all stemming from a guy who just wanted to try programming blocks.
@nomanrao7385
10 ай бұрын
I'm surprised vampire survivors is not on this list.
@jamesfinch-t7l
10 ай бұрын
Pretty shocking that Vampire Survivors didn't make this list. It actually ushered in a new genre of video game.
@pgaboury
10 ай бұрын
Never heard of it.
@mimcduffee86
10 ай бұрын
@@Unknown_Geniusit didn't even do that. Shoot em ups have been around and relatively mainstream for almost 50 years.
@VictorGabriel-ht5qp
9 ай бұрын
A new genre? 😂😂😂 Man, just because the game is good doesn't mean it created a new genre
@AkaManah45
10 ай бұрын
2 videos in one day!?! WICKED AWESOME!!
@Schizm1
10 ай бұрын
Miyazaki is a humble genius. Like literally - One of the VERY few game directors that I can call that. I'm glad From is now under his supervision.
@user-uk9rj4rx5y
4 ай бұрын
I started Elden Ring recently as a player new to souls-likes, who doesn't like medieval tones, or fantasy with childish elements like unicorns, elves, magical dwarfs etc. After 2 weeks I'm totally possesed by the game and I think the formula for it's success is really simple - this game just does everything right. It gives a lot of freedom with gameplay. Sound design is incredible. Fighting gives a lot of satisfaction. World design with its verticality makes it bigger than it actually is and introduces effort to get to some places. You don't collect trash and everything is useful for crafting. Lore isn' overwhelming and allows itself to be discovered with your own pace. It reminds me Half Life 2 with it's approach to players fun - you get toys and the game does everything to not interrupt you and throw you events or scenarios that allow to have fun with these toys. Elden Ring isn't revolutionary in any way, it is just a great execution of everything that's fun in gaming.
@JoaoPedro-sb5sq
10 ай бұрын
Elden Ring didn’t just cater to FromSoftware fans, it also reached new audiences. They made a bridging game that could introduce other gamers to their franchise.
@pflaute
10 ай бұрын
Vampire Survivors doesn't even get a honorable mention. I call shenanigans
@collinvesel9362
10 ай бұрын
How can you make a list like this and not mention Minecraft, which got so successful that Notch didn’t know how to handle it?
@vaenii5056
10 ай бұрын
"I think it would be a bad idea to analyze it deeply and to consciously trying to replicate it in another game" That is why we love Miyazaki and From Software. They always want to come up with something new and exciting.
@nanach6276
10 ай бұрын
On he game awards he even said that we should expect even more and better things to come and somehow not sounding like he was bragging. Damn I love japanese people. Especially Miyazaki and Eiichiro Oda, author of One Piece. Such masterminds
@phoenixundrfire2349
10 ай бұрын
When Gameranx reviewed the MSG reboot they hit the nail on the head here. They said that nostalgia is hard for companies to grasp. When we as consumers want nostalgic games, most companies believe that means we want the exact same game/ mechanics/ story. What it really means is that we want the game to blow us away just like it did the first time we experienced it. everything that comes out of From Software is just so unique and exhilarating. They have their formula, but the individual titles share inspiration like separate paintings from a master artist. you can tell it was the crafted by the same hands, but its an entirely new experience to behold each one.
@bigd8055
10 ай бұрын
A Plagues Tale blew my mind, absolutely loved it!
@Mabaz
10 ай бұрын
I kind of expected the number one game on the list to be Minecraft. I mean nobody expected MC to blow up to those proportions. It literally reinvented a whole game genre and is still thriving to this day.
@TheStormComando
10 ай бұрын
So surprised The Last of Us wasn't on this list. The Devs at Naughty Dog admitted that they believed it would flop and not only was it a huge success, but they had to re release it like a year later when the PS4 came out and it resold at pretty much the same volume.
@ernovanchannel
10 ай бұрын
I agreed on everything you said on A plague Tale. Truly horrifying-calming-satisfying game to play. The sequel is even better especially the ending.. I can't think of any game that makes me feel what I feel towards the ending of the sequel.
@avalineriley6809
8 ай бұрын
Elden Ring did something no other Souls like has done, it did the dirty word some gamers hate, it made them "accessible". I'm in the middle of the road between casual and hardcore. I spend a lot of time gaming but i'm more interested in story based ROG's than hardcore games like Dark Souls etc. It was my partner that bought me Elden Ring and i've sunk so many hours into it it's unreal. The other in the genre i've played are the 2 Remnant games. I own Dark Souls and Bloodbourne but never played them. To be fair I got Bloodbourne free with my PS+ and Dark Souls on my PC came in a bundle. TLDR; I love Elden Ring even though it's not really my kind of game usually. BG3 is more my speed and that I love too.
@markomamic2169
10 ай бұрын
I really enjoyed Plague Tale Innocence.Great story,interesting boss fights and good graphic. Can't wait to play Requiem 🙂
@DesGeneral
10 ай бұрын
Not to say it’s at the level of these, but Bad Company 2. It was made to test the new Frostbite engine at the time, its campaign ended on a cliffhanger, the whole thing was just an in between leading to BF3 but it took off like they never imagined. It topped both CoD MW2 and Halo 3 in player count until people realized it wasn’t getting any real substantive additions. Because it was never supposed to be popular in the first place. They never made BC3 because they could never figure out what they had done so correctly in 2.
@shanemoore2617
8 ай бұрын
Love ya Falcon!! You helped with some dark times. Always kept a light on the ready. I appreciate all the work you do and thank you so much please keep making videos!! Thank you so much love the videos man
@MikeTheGreek
10 ай бұрын
Good video Falcon. Keep it up on Gameranx
@Tyler40k
10 ай бұрын
I’ve been watching these for years… finally subscribed. Sorry for the delay.
@DanielS-gv5nj
10 ай бұрын
I am very surprised not to see Minecraft on here. It started out as some simple virtual Lego game made by some guy who sold it for 10 bucks and it became the biggest game in the world.
@benhaloho8231
10 ай бұрын
You forgot Flappy Bird. That game was so shockingly successful that the dev deleted it entirely from the store :D I think the poor guy still suffers from PTSD.
@Kris-wo4pj
10 ай бұрын
I convinced my buddy to buy thr early access o bg3 cuz i moved away so we couldnt play dnd together anymore. He loved it so much that he got his entire dnd group and sister to buy it when it csme out.
@GG01011
9 ай бұрын
A Plague Tale is absolutely one of the best game stories ever made
@michealketchum4076
10 ай бұрын
Dude i cant explain how heart warming this video really is. Theres two games i really think should havr honorable mentions which is cuphead and the binding of issac
@comixof2morrow
10 ай бұрын
Also, just cause someone plays PC games doesn't mean they use mouse and keyboard. Many PC gamers use gamepads
@punishertahsin
10 ай бұрын
2 videos in 1 day. NIce
@gameranxTV
10 ай бұрын
Thanks
@Boss_Fight_Index_muki
10 ай бұрын
The game i'd put here is Final Fantasy, the game wasn't just a surprise, it created Squaresoft as we know it today. The title itself refers to the creator Hironobu Sakaguchi's final attempt at a videogame, since the two before failed.
@andybolton3971
10 ай бұрын
I think the secret to elden rings success is it had the core souls like player base but then it appealed to the fringe market of players that wouldn't normally go for a souls like but felt like this was a middle ground because it was an open world
@spicynips8466
10 ай бұрын
The reason Elden Ring was such a success was because it got mainstream. So many people heard about the game without ever playing a souls game before, that they got interested and ended up making up maybe even more of the sales than the souls fans themselves.
@flicka25
10 ай бұрын
I have many of the games you mentioned (V rising, Valheim) but you forgot Stray. Stray is a phenomenal game. It's right up there with the Plague Tale Games which I also played. You did mention one game I might pick up...Hellblade. Never head of it then again so many games so little time.
@tobybll
7 ай бұрын
Valheim deserves all the flowers! And A Plaque Tale without a single doubt. Both games were masterpieces!
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