Top 5 Games of the Xbox One and PS4 Era
The Xbox One and PlayStation 4 era of gaming was massive. It saw the rise of free-to-play console games, the birth of battle royal, and VR began its mainstream debut. But what were the best or most era-defining games? Before we get into it some ground rules; no console exclusives. We’re talking about consoles as a whole, no remakes, rereleases, or remasters. For a game to be considered, it had to originally come out on both the Xbox and PS4. So, without further ado let’s get into it.
1- Doom Eternal
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I have never been more confident that something is one of the best video games ever released. Doom Eternal is action FPS gold. It combines; tight shooting, brilliant arena design, and a killer soundtrack to create one of the most fun gameplay experiences in recent memory. Every combat arena is a new puzzle for the player to solve.
Doom Eternal makes you work for every victory and punishes you for every mistake without ever feeling unfair. It goes without saying that the Doom Eternal looks stunning as well, whether it’s the vistas post-apocalyptic earth or the gothic castles of Argent D’Nur, it is consistently jaw-dropping.
Doom Eternal almost never misses a beat and while I could sit here for hours and write about all the things it does right, I will say the one department where it’s lacking is its story. But, that said if you’re playing Doom for the story, you’re playing it for the wrong reasons. All things considered, Doom Eternal managed to set the bar for shooters.
2- Destiny 2
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I know, I know, Destiny 2 had its troubles at launch and has continued to have them. But that’s the nature of a free-to-play, live service game. To me, that’s the strength of destiny and what makes it emblematic of PS4, Xbox one era of video games.
There were so, so many games and companies that attempted to do the live service thing and failed. To the point where failed live service games are kind of a mascot of that generation. Destiny 2 and the studio behind it, Bungie, seemed to have pretty much done it though.
As I said, Destiny has and will continue to have its fair share of troubles. But over 4 years, 13 seasons, 3 major expansions, and more events and updates than I care to count, you’re gonna have some misses. It’s just mathematics at that point.
I could write about how the world is deep, engaging, and well thought. I could rave about how the movement and shooting are tighter than almost anything I’ve played since. But, ultimately what qualifies Destiny 2 for this list is that I and many of my friends have played Destiny together for at least an hour a week every week for the last 4 years.
3- Apex Legends
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No list about the Xbox one/PS4 era of gaming would be complete without a mention of battle royals. Much the same as live service games, these were the years where everyone and their mother decided to make a battle royal game. So the question then becomes which battle royal was the best?
Myself and the group of friends I consulted with while coming up with this list ummed and ahhed endlessly about Apex or Fortnite. Fortnite is undoubtedly the bigger game, it makes a frankly ridiculous amount of money and has comfortably made its way into every home.
But we felt the quality is more important than the quantity.
To us, Apex is the highest quality of battle royal that came out during that era. The shooting is tight and the movement is fast and fluid. But what really sets Apex above the rest is the opportunity for team play. An Apex team that is communicating, and knows how to use their abilities in ways that complement each other has a pretty clear advantage over a team that doesn’t.
Apex Legends is the most unique and the strongest example of what a battle royal can be to come out in the Xbox PS4 era of gaming.
4- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
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By now, most of you have probably heard of the Witcher because of its Netflix series. The fact the same source material can be adapted into a multi-million dollar highly successful Netflix series at the very least should imply good things.
With The Witcher 3, CD Projekt RED managed to create a game that hits it out of the park in every aspect. The world is both beautiful and full of complex and engaging characters. Stories you can find in the world of Witcher will have you constantly asking yourself if you made the right choice.
This makes one the best examples of what Kotaku called the “daddening of video games“. This “dadding” was one of the strongest storytelling themes that appeared throughout the PS4 and Xbox one era and I struggle to think of a game that did it better than The Witcher.
Honestly, there isn’t really anything I can say about The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt that hasn’t been said thousands of times over, it’s one of those games that only happens once a generation.
5- Titanfall 2
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Way back at the start of the Xbox one PS4 era there was the double jump craze. Every studio ever decided that they need a first-person shooter that was super fast, super-aggressive, and had 3D movement. The first Titanfall was arguably the game that started the trend.
Titanfall 2 however, was the game that perfected it.
Titianfall 2’s movement system was easy to use and the maps were designed in such a way that it always felt useful, as opposed to there being one or two spots where a wall run or a double jump might come in handy. The game’s combat complemented this movement system by being fast and aggressive but never overwhelming.
The story was some best stuff I’ve seen come out of first-person shooters in a while. The environments you fight in are again designed to take full advantage of the movement and combat systems. Not to mention that the writing is top-notch. Unlike the Witcher or even Destiny, there is no grander ideal at play here, there are just characters, and the writing team at Respawn does a brilliant job of making you care about them.
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