Summary
- Game developers exceeded expectations by creating iconic games with innovation and quality.
- Some debut games, like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, prove that passion and dedication can create something special.
- Titles like Dragon Ball FighterZ and Fortnite evolved from humble beginnings to massive successes.
Ever buy a game and think it could have been better because of X, Y, and Z? Then there's the counter to that, a game that exceeds hype and creates something so good that it's hard to process. These game developers went hard in creating something iconic when the bare minimum would have sufficed.
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Blowing expectations out of the water is what all developers should strive for, so long as a healthy work process backs it up. No one should put themselves in great pain just to get a game out. That said, if a game developer can keep a happy staff while making games that go as hard as these do, they deserve praise, an award, and a firm handshake.
Astro Bot
Outdoing Mario
Astro Bot
- Released
- September 6, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- E10+ For Everyone 10+ Due To Crude Humor, Fantasy Violence
- Genre(s)
- Platformer
The Astro Bot franchise began as a series of demos to promote PlayStation consoles, and even the larger titles, such as the one for PSVR, were still small in scope. That’s why Astro Bot on PS5 was such a surprise, as it is miles better than all of those games combined, plus it outdoes Nintendo in terms of innovation in the 3D platforming space.
Collectibles actually matter in Astro Bot, as rescuing fellow robots and cameo robots from other PlayStation franchises contributes to unlocking new areas and secrets at the Crash Site, the game's hub world. It's a celebration of everything PlayStation, from the brand's debut in 1994 to the best of its modern era, and it never ceases to amaze, from the first level to the credits sequence. The boss fights, in particular, are almost unbelievable in their scale and execution.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
A Stellar Debut
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- Released
- April 24, 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence
- Genre(s)
- Turn-Based RPG, JRPG, Fantasy
Debut games from new developers or project teams within AAA companies can be hit or miss, and often the sequels are better, after the team has had time to gel and work out some gameplay and design kinks. That is not the case for Sandfall Interactive and its debut title, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
A turn-based RPG hasn’t popped off this broadly since Final Fantasy 7 hit the PS1 in 1997. With a dedicated team of truly passionate artists, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is proof that when done right, turn-based games can be something special, even on modern consoles. From its exceptional writing, characters, and music to the deep combat system and insane enemy designs, nearly everything in this game feels like it is a once-in-a-generation experience, which is well beyond the level Sandfall needed to achieve for a successful debut.
Dragon Ball FighterZ
Arc System Works Finally Nailed The Dragon Ball Z Anime
Dragon Ball FighterZ
- Released
- January 26, 2018
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T for Teen: Cartoon Violence, Mild Language, Mild Suggestive Themes
- Genre(s)
- Fighting
Dragon Ball, as a brand, probably has the most video game adaptations in the industry, and the majority are typically fighting games. There have been some decent 3D Dragon Ball fighting games, but the 2D adaptations always lacked quality. That is, until Dragon Ball FighterZ hit consoles and absolutely wrecked every Dragon Ball game that came before it.
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Arc System Works is well-known for its work in the 2D fighting space, between their Guilty Gear and BlazBlue franchises. They put time into Dragon Ball FighterZ to make it the ultimate fan experience. It begins with the extensive roster that includes even obscure characters from the anime as fully-developed fighters with unique movesets. Next, they made the visuals look as close to the anime as possible, and they really nailed it. Third, and maybe most importantly, they included references that only diehards will get, which shows just how much love these developers poured into their game.
Fortnite
From A Joke To A Game That Prints Money
Fortnite
- Released
- September 26, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
Fortnite was announced in 2011 as a tower defense game where players had to build structures to fight against zombie hordes. Then it sort of disappeared from the limelight, until it sprang back up in a big way in 2017. In July of that year, Epic Games launched Fortnite: Save the World into Early Access, which was a broadened conceit of the original idea they announced in 2011.
It didn’t spark a lot of hype until months later, in September, when Fortnite Battle Royale 2017 was released, looking to draw in some of the success seen by PUBG. Thanks to the success of Fortnite's Battle Royale mode, Epic Games launched a digital store comparable to Steam. They’ve since partnered with more properties than one can count, from Star Wars to Batman, and built them into Fortnite as everything from cosmetics to game modes. There have been exclusive concerts in-game, with artists like Ariana Grande, Eminem, and Metallica taking the virtual stage. There is no bigger game than Fortnite right now, and it has been that way for about eight years.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
The Wildest Final Fantasy In Years
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
- Released
- February 29, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T For Teen Due To Blood, Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco, Violence
- Genre(s)
- RPG
Final Fantasy 7 Remake was a bit different than what fans expected. It wasn’t a full remake of the entire PS1 game; it changed quite a bit of the lore, and it only took place in Midgar. However, Final Fantasy 7 Remake walked so that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth could run.
The combat in Rebirth is more fleshed out thanks to more playable characters, and players can swap between them outside of battle. There is a massive open world to explore and mini-games galore; seriously, so many mini-games. The Queen’s Blood card game alone is better than it has any right to be, and Square Enix carried that mindset into every aspect of Rebirth, proving that the developer still has plenty of gas in the tank to make this remake trilogy sing.
Indiana Jones And The Great Circle
Better Than The Movies
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
- Released
- December 9, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
The LucasArts adventure games based on Indiana Jones were favorites among the PC crowd in the 90s, but they still couldn't hold a candle to the movies. No developer ever nailed a 3D game starring everyone’s favorite whip-cracking professor, though, until Indiana Jones and the Great Circle from MachineGames, and they nailed it so hard that it became the only Indiana Jones property that can confidently stand alongside the original trilogy.
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This is no average 3D adventure game, with its smart puzzles, open areas to explore, and tactile stealth combat with a variety of standard and atypical weapons. More so than any of that, the most impressive thing is Troy Baker, who absolutely crushes Harrison Ford’s voice and mannerisms without the use of AI. It even impressed Ford himself, which speaks volumes.
The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild
Link, And Hyrule, Reimagined
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Released
- March 3, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
The Legend of Zelda series nailed down its formula on the SNES with The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. It gave players a world to explore, a series of MacGuffins that then led to another round of MacGuffins, and of course, dungeons laid out with puzzles and fun tools with which to solve them. It was a fun formula for over a decade, and then it started to feel a bit stale, even with new gimmicks like the Wii's motion controls.
As a launch game for the Switch, no one could have predicted how different and freeing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild would be. Set in an open world, it had a non-linear structure, not many tools to collect, challenging combat, the ability to climb anything, free-form cooking, over 100 Shrine puzzles to solve, and so much more. The Zelda series and open-world games as a whole were changed in 2017, without a doubt.
Shovel Knight
Going Beyond The Classics
Shovel Knight
- Released
- June 26, 2014
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- E For Everyone due to Mild Fantasy Violence
- Genre(s)
- Platformer
By the 2010s, fans of the NES era were hungry for games that reminded them of their youth. Shovel Knight could have just rested on its laurels, sporting visuals like an NES game with gameplay similar to DuckTales, but it was so much more than that as one complete package.
The pixel art is immaculate, every song is an absolute banger, the bosses are varied, it's challenging (but not downright sadistic like the NES Ninja Gaiden games), and it also manages to innovate on retro game mechanics while still keeping them familiar. Beyond that, Yacht Club Games could have been happy with the success of Shovel Knight, but then they kept expanding the game's content, adding multiple new campaigns and spinoff modes. Shovel Knight is easily the poster child for Kickstarter campaigns and an all-time classic in the indie genre.
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