Really, anything from the Game Canon is a good choice: Mario, Doom, Tetris, SimCity, Civ I, Warcraft, SpaceWar, Zork, that soccer game I don’t remember, StarRaiders.
I haven’t seen anyone mention Zork yet, and it really ought to be in contention here. Pretty much all video games can trace how their narrative is structured through gameplay back to the foundations laid by Zork, even doom. It drew on Colossus, sure, but it built on it so much that it became revolutionary to both games as a storytelling medium and to natural language processing. Really cool stuff.
I bet noone’s gonna mention the great grandfathers of modern RPGs. Bard’s Tale, Ultima, Dungeon Master… all modern games are standing on the shoulders of giants.
While they’re important, I think they’ve also aged poorly in many ways something like Doom has not. I’d compare their importance more to something like Pong or Galiga. Good games, that pushed the limits of the medium for their time, and are foundational, but more acted as a steping stone rather than something other games were widely inpired by or modeled after.
I wouldn’t disagree that Doom is a very good choice here too. The fact that it has become a tradition and challenge to try to run Doom on all kinds of hardware alone proves how influential Doom is.
However, I wouldn’t say Dungeon Master has aged more poorly than Doom. Both games are really fun today I think.
Dungeon Master is just way more niche, it’s older, it had fewer players and the franchise has died a long time ago, while Doom is going strong.
It’s a tough choice and I admit I’m a bit biased here anyway - Dungeon Master was my first true love when it comes to video games.
“Aged poorly” was a bad choice of words. My point was more that the industry has moved on from them, and while some of the conventions are the same, its largely stuff that predates them. If you go back to retro RPGs when you’re used to Skyrim, Dark Souls, Final Fantasy, ect. you’ll be unfamiliar with much of how the game plays. Not much was carried over from these games specifically. I’d argue that the influential RPG, that would be the genre’s equivalent to Doom, would be D&D. While not a video game, thats the model everything referenced, and still references, moreso than even Doom. It’s what codified core mechanics like HP, classes, character stats, and more, in the same way Doom codified modern first-person mechanics, ammo management, and exploding barrels.
My vote goes to Dragon Quest. Early gaming was dominated by JRPGs like DQ, Final Fantasy or Chrono Trigger. Pretty much every modern game has RPG elements. While there are earlier RPGs, DQ popularized them and invented the JRPG.
Of course, literally speaking, the first game ever is the most influential - therefore Tennis for Two.
I was there way back in the 8-bit times, and yet I still agree. There is only pre-Doom and post-Doom.
One of the proof points would be how the existence of Doom on x86 was the perhaps single most influential factor in the demise of non-x86 home computers (Atari ST, Amiga). We (myself included) just sold off what we had to get PCs.
I can’t think of anything that really competes overall. It could be argued games like Pong, Pac-Man, Quake, Half-Life, WoW, ect. all were pivotal points in gaming, but I don’t think anything has had as direct and widespread influence as Doom.
Wolfenstein 3D was an evolutionary stepping stone to Doom sure, but you can say that about any game which came before.
Doom really was a huge step up over and above Wolfenstein. Game play, visuals, realism, mood. I remember as a kid playing doom late at night in the dark and actually feeling a bit scared. Nothing before could ever do that.
Probably the first game to spawn a genre of its own, which still exists to this day and is still referenced with the original moniker, in a world where most gamers don’t even know what was “Rogue”, but they certainly know what a Roguelike or Roguelite is. Very feel games in history have been so massively impactful to give birth to new genres. Doom also did it for some time, there were doomlikes going around, until the lingo shifted to just calling them FPS.
Depends on what is meant by “Influential”. Are we talking within the industry or among players?
Because, as much as I hate to say it, World of Warcraft pretty much revolutionized the industry. From the live-service, massive multiplayer format to every nasty type of monetization model we’ve seen in almost every big title since.
And it’s not just that. Half-Life also spawned Counter-Strike, one of the foundational pieces of e-sports (if not also the modding scene in general today). Not to mention being a precursor to today’s digital distribution model in the industry.
I also said half life. Doom was a leap forward, but Half life actually set a technological and story telling bar, on a budget, in 1998. Many videogames drew inspiration from its innovations, storytelling or themes.
Might be biased but not only does the FF7 story hold up close to three decades later but it was also the catalyst for introducing Japanese RPGs into a western market.
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Really, anything from the Game Canon is a good choice: Mario, Doom, Tetris, SimCity, Civ I, Warcraft, SpaceWar, Zork, that soccer game I don’t remember, StarRaiders.
I haven’t seen anyone mention Zork yet, and it really ought to be in contention here. Pretty much all video games can trace how their narrative is structured through gameplay back to the foundations laid by Zork, even doom. It drew on Colossus, sure, but it built on it so much that it became revolutionary to both games as a storytelling medium and to natural language processing. Really cool stuff.
I bet noone’s gonna mention the great grandfathers of modern RPGs. Bard’s Tale, Ultima, Dungeon Master… all modern games are standing on the shoulders of giants.
While they’re important, I think they’ve also aged poorly in many ways something like Doom has not. I’d compare their importance more to something like Pong or Galiga. Good games, that pushed the limits of the medium for their time, and are foundational, but more acted as a steping stone rather than something other games were widely inpired by or modeled after.
I wouldn’t disagree that Doom is a very good choice here too. The fact that it has become a tradition and challenge to try to run Doom on all kinds of hardware alone proves how influential Doom is. However, I wouldn’t say Dungeon Master has aged more poorly than Doom. Both games are really fun today I think. Dungeon Master is just way more niche, it’s older, it had fewer players and the franchise has died a long time ago, while Doom is going strong. It’s a tough choice and I admit I’m a bit biased here anyway - Dungeon Master was my first true love when it comes to video games.
“Aged poorly” was a bad choice of words. My point was more that the industry has moved on from them, and while some of the conventions are the same, its largely stuff that predates them. If you go back to retro RPGs when you’re used to Skyrim, Dark Souls, Final Fantasy, ect. you’ll be unfamiliar with much of how the game plays. Not much was carried over from these games specifically. I’d argue that the influential RPG, that would be the genre’s equivalent to Doom, would be D&D. While not a video game, thats the model everything referenced, and still references, moreso than even Doom. It’s what codified core mechanics like HP, classes, character stats, and more, in the same way Doom codified modern first-person mechanics, ammo management, and exploding barrels.
… and why it’s World of Warcraft.
Do I want that to be the answer? No.
Sadly, that’s actually a decent choice, as much as I hate to admit it.
Oh, it’s a “type your pick”, not a list of choice. Interesting
Gamey McGameyface it is then
Mario? Tetris?
My vote goes to Dragon Quest. Early gaming was dominated by JRPGs like DQ, Final Fantasy or Chrono Trigger. Pretty much every modern game has RPG elements. While there are earlier RPGs, DQ popularized them and invented the JRPG.
Of course, literally speaking, the first game ever is the most influential - therefore Tennis for Two.
Most of all time. GTFO.
Doom.
Yep doom and pong
I was there way back in the 8-bit times, and yet I still agree. There is only pre-Doom and post-Doom.
One of the proof points would be how the existence of Doom on x86 was the perhaps single most influential factor in the demise of non-x86 home computers (Atari ST, Amiga). We (myself included) just sold off what we had to get PCs.
I can’t think of anything that really competes overall. It could be argued games like Pong, Pac-Man, Quake, Half-Life, WoW, ect. all were pivotal points in gaming, but I don’t think anything has had as direct and widespread influence as Doom.
I’d say Wolfenstein 3D is right there. Without Wolfenstein there wouldn’t be Doom.
Wolfenstein 3D was an evolutionary stepping stone to Doom sure, but you can say that about any game which came before.
Doom really was a huge step up over and above Wolfenstein. Game play, visuals, realism, mood. I remember as a kid playing doom late at night in the dark and actually feeling a bit scared. Nothing before could ever do that.
Probably Minecraft.
I’d argue Rogue at this point.
Probably the first game to spawn a genre of its own, which still exists to this day and is still referenced with the original moniker, in a world where most gamers don’t even know what was “Rogue”, but they certainly know what a Roguelike or Roguelite is. Very feel games in history have been so massively impactful to give birth to new genres. Doom also did it for some time, there were doomlikes going around, until the lingo shifted to just calling them FPS.
Depends on what is meant by “Influential”. Are we talking within the industry or among players?
Because, as much as I hate to say it, World of Warcraft pretty much revolutionized the industry. From the live-service, massive multiplayer format to every nasty type of monetization model we’ve seen in almost every big title since.
I would have said Doom, but I think in the long run it’s Minecraft or Skyrim.
I don’t think either of those two are in the top 10
Bad rats.
The intersectional apex of interactivity and storytelling
Concord!
Half-Life for me. The moment games really became an interactive storytelling medium.
And it’s not just that. Half-Life also spawned Counter-Strike, one of the foundational pieces of e-sports (if not also the modding scene in general today). Not to mention being a precursor to today’s digital distribution model in the industry.
I also said half life. Doom was a leap forward, but Half life actually set a technological and story telling bar, on a budget, in 1998. Many videogames drew inspiration from its innovations, storytelling or themes.
Of course it’s Half Life. Sad to see that people have forgotten the impact it had
Might be biased but not only does the FF7 story hold up close to three decades later but it was also the catalyst for introducing Japanese RPGs into a western market.
Chrono Trigger predates FF7 by two whole years, and is, objectively, one of the best Video Game RPGs of all times, while also being a JRPG in itself.