objective

MEDIA APPRECIATION DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY, GOOD NIGHT!

Portal 2.

Celeste. Emotional narrative that seamlessly blends with the gameplay, which implementa never before seen accessibility configuration, enhanced by one of the best soundtracks ever. All while being cheap, indie, and one of the best speedrun games ever made

Since I haven't seen it on here: FTL.

• Portal 1/2 of course.
• Grim Fandango. (Flawed yes, but absolutely a masterpiece)
• Psychonauts.
• Fallout New Vegas.
• System Shock (the original).
• The Longest Journey.
• Mass Effect. Maybe.

So I think it's actually really important that the games that would be considered objective masterpieces would have to overcome any language barriers and be an experience approachable by anyone. You can learn the mechanics to enjoy the gameplay without words
So:

• Portal
• Journey
• Binding of Isaac
• Shadow of the Colossus
• Metro 2033 (which I have sat on and I believe even if it was entirely in Russian you would still get it )
• DOOM (original you don't need words you shoot)
• Super Mario Bros. 3
• Katamari Damacy

Then there are dialogue option stories that are fantastic stories that I could consider greats but shareable masterpieces is hard to say as they rely on you speaking the language both literally and then gameplay wise:

• Stanley Parable
• Outer Wilds
• Tales From the Borderlands
• To the Moon
• Talos Principle
• Golf Club Wasteland
• Dead Space

Just out of curiosity, listing the games mentioned here as of this writing by their date of release:

Nobody can answer that question objectively.

RDR2. Witcher 3. Fallout New Vegas.

There are a lot of answers, mine will be drowned but... there it is. In no particular order :

• Final Fantasy X
• Clair Obscur : Expedition 33
• Baldur's Gate 3
• Kingdom Hearts 1 & 2 (but you had to be there when it came out)
• Metal Gear Solid 3
• Shadow Hearts : Covenant
• Kya : Dark Lineage (the bugs were a feature)
• Horizon : Zero Dawn
• Megaman (any megaman will do)
• Crash Bandicoot Trilogy
• Spyro Trilogy
• Pokemon Yellow/Crystal/Emerald
• Pokemon Jade (yes that bootleg version)
• The Last of Us (pt. I & II)
• Astroneer
• GTA : Vice City
• Unreal Tournament 2004
• CS 1.6 played in the most dirty lan at your disposal
• Control
• Tetris
• Neverwinter Nights 2
• Dragon Age : Origins
• Quake III
• Bomberman

I'd say :

• The first Deus Ex and its first prequel Human Revolution
• Mafia I
• Max Payne 1 and 3
• Crash Bandicoot 1
• Age of Empires II
• GTA III
• Doom 1/2
• First Half-Life
• First Unreal
• Doom 3
• Duke Nukem 3D
• Morrowind
• Skyrim (modded and fixed, vanilla is pure garbage)
• Blood Omen 1
• Silent Hill 1 and 2
• Resident Evil 1 and 4 (and their remakes)

Factorio.

Spec Ops: The line

Basically the "committing war crimes isn't funny after all" game

This is your fault, god-damnit 🫵

Okay, now do it all on a bell curve.

What's the most absolute medium game, to which all other games are compared to, and if worse, fail, or are better and pass?

I think Outer Wilds is the most unique and fantastic way to tell a story I've ever experienced. Truly open in a way I've not seen before or since.

With the banger of a soundtrack too, I just can't bring myself to rate other games higher than it; even if I enjoy them more, Outer Wilds is probably the best game I've ever played.

Slay the Spire probably makes the list as it's inspired countless tweaks on its incredibly balanced deck building experience

• Chrono Trigger
• Disco Elysium
• Sekiro
• Zelda Ocarina of Time
• Bioshock
• Portal
• Half Life
• Nier Automata
• Tetris

Flawed Masterpieces

• Minecraft (surprising)
• Dragon age Origins
• Team Fortress 2
• Fallout New Vegas
• Dark Souls
• Every Baldur's Gate

Masterpiece in my heart: Terraria

Super Metroid

What's left of edith finch.

Such an amazing game. Absolute masterpiece.

Zelda: A Link to the Past

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Disco Elysium
Alpha Centauri
Super Marios Bros 3
Bloodborne
Ori 1 & 2
Fallout 1 & 2
Planescape: Torment
The Outer Wilds

Slay the Spire

We'll see how much is recency bias and how well it will stand the test of time, but I really think Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 will be on this list going forward. It's definitely one of the best games I've ever played, and I've played a lot of games. It's not perfect, but it's close enough in all the parts that actually matter.

Otherwise there's your usual suspects:

• Disco Elysium
• Portal
• Half-Life 2
• Bioshock 1
• Final Fantasy VI
• Chrono Trigger
• Zelda: Ocarina of Time
• The Last of Us
• Baldur's Gate 2

Katamari Damacy. It has a reputation for being silly Japanese nonsense, but the gameplay is brilliant, the graphics are timeless, the soundtrack is incredible, and it has some surprising thematic depth.

Holy shit somehow no one has mentioned:

Nier Automata

It counts as a masterpiece because of how well it blends game design, gameplay and story. I have played very few games as thoughtful, or that weaved the gameplay together into the story it was telling in such a meaningful way. I never thought once in my life that I would think philosophically about bullet hell but somehow Nier Automata has something profound to say and even manages to say it using bullet hell as a gameplay mechanic.

On top of all this, it also has a lot to say about classical philosophers, their works, and honestly deeply subverts things they had to say. It asks tough questions about their thoughts and ideas, once again, through gameplay. Numerous characters are named for classical philosophers: Pascal, Jean-Paul, Simone, Engels, Immanuel... (Yoko Taro obviously has feelings about how Jean-Paul Sartre treated Simone de Beauvoir.)

Further, Yoko Taro is doing something that a lot of game developers fail to manage to do: He is embracing gaming as a storytelling medium and eschewing the traditional three-act arc from film. Because gaming is not film. As Marshall McLuhan posited, "the medium is the message" and unlike other developers Taro's writing is aimed at the medium he is working in instead of leaning on the ropes and tropes of other mediums. (Referring back to above, tying the gameplay into the story, focusing on the medium)

It's basically impossible to not break down into tears at the ending.

Don't write it off because of the scantily clad anime women. Stay for the depth of the human condition. It is truly a masterwork in multiple respects.

Portal/Portal 2

Deus Ex (the original)

Minecraft

Stardew Valley

Terraria

Mirror's Edge

Chrono Trigger

Cyberpunk 2077

Hades

Subnautica

A Short Hike

Donut County

Outer wilds

Immersive sims: Prey, Dishonored, Deus Ex

Story-driven: The Last of Us, Horizon Zero Dawn, Halo, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Uncharted, HL2, Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, Splinter Shock, The Walking Dead

Platformer: Braid, Ori and the Blind Forest, Mario 64, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Limbo

Action/roguelike: Bastion, Hades

RPG: Fallout: New Vegas, Mass Effect

Puzzle: Lumines, Puzzle Quest, World of Goo, You Must Build a Boat, Reigns, Threes, Meteos

Other: Desert Golfing

Assuming that "masterpiece" refers to the quality and impact the games had in their time (not how well they aged) some of my picks would be:

• Baldur's Gate 2 + ToB
• Star Wars: KotoR
• Morrowind
• Read Dead Redemption 2
• The Witcher 3
• The Last of Us 1+2
• God of War
• Shadow of the Colossus
• The Legend of Zelda: BOTW
• Mass Effect 1+2
• Disco Elysium
• Half Life 2
• BioShock 1
• Diablo 2
• Fallout 2

I don't know how objective this list is. Some picks are definitely subjective and fit more in a "flawed masterpiece" category of games that had a large impact on how I perceived games but that may not be so widely acclaimed as some others on this list.

Minesweeper.

Simple, endlessly playable.

Journey

There is not a single word in the game, barely any control but the game take you through an emotional story.

It's multiplayer in a sense that you might meet another player, they can help you, you can help them or just continue on your path and despite not having any words it just fell like a genuine, pure connection with someone.

And the music is amazing.

Shadow of the Colossus

My Picks...

Deus Ex (So many games try to be this and fail)

Cyberpunk (This one eventually measured up)

Alpha Centauri (Innovation mixed with familiarity and setting)

Fallout 2 (they're all good. Fallout 2 is special)

Kotor (Star Wars story telling in a beautiful way)

Baldur's Gate 2 and 3 (I'm stunned that 3 was a worthy successor)

Homeworld (One of the World's truly beautiful games)

For me it's Journey. That game gave me an emotional experience I've never had in any other.

Supergiant games' holy trinity: Bastion, Transistor and Pyre.

Also, the only Borderland games 1 and 2; don't believe the lies there are no more true Borderlands games and no there most certainly is no movie.

There's also one other, but you'll need a crowbar or a gravity gun in hand for me to tell you about it.

Metro 2033. Played it in the dark with good surround sound headphones on, and it's positively claustrophobic.

Last Light is good too, but at little too optimistic IMHO. 2033 nails that endless pit of despair feeling, with just enough lucky breaks that you might make it through.

Honestly, many of them you know full well, but that's because yes, they are that good:

• Minecraft
• TES III Morrowind and TES V Skyrim
• The Witcher 1 and 3
• Deus Ex Human Revolution and Mankind Divided
• Cyberpunk 2077
• Dishonored 1 and 2
• Warcraft III and World of Warcraft

Completely deserve their legendary status

Bastion, Hades, Disco Elysium, Planescape: Torment, and Tyranny (even if the last act is rushed in the last two) come to mind for me

There is no "objective" when talking about subjective terms.

My personal, SUBJECTIVE favorites are Mass Effect, Titanfall 2, Subnautica, Stardew Valley, Ori and the Blind Forest, Dave the Diver, Balatro, and Portal 1 and 2

I'd say games that have set the standard for their genre, and have not been surpassed, would be the only ones that count.

• Half Life 1 and then again with 2
• Half Life Alyx
• Age of Empires II
• Baldur's Gate 3
• Warframe
• Ratchet and Clank: Going Commando
• Knights of the Old Republic
• Fallout: New Vegas
• Crash Bandicoot: Warped
• Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and then again with Tears of the Kingdom
• Elden Ring
• Hollow Knight
• Dirt Rally
• The World Ends With You (the original NDS version)