IGN: BAFTA Announces 'the Most Influential Video Game of All Time,' and It's a Real Head-Scratcher

Why are people acting like Shenmue isn't incredibly influential on how 3D games are structured today? It's not a list of the best games.

"Open world" (areas), time and date system, day-night cycle, NPCs with schedules and their own movements, you can talk, dialogue options, fully 3d, jobs, activities etc. It shouldn't be #1, but after SM64 and OOT, it's the most influential 3D game. Most open world games now are doing things because Shenmue did.

Some games should really shouldn't be on there though, #7, #16, #20.
 
The list is not bad, apart from the two recent games and also lacking no RTSs.
Sure, the genre is on life-support these days, but it was very influential and eventually spawned the MOBA genre.
 
jm89 said:
7. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 (2025)

Shits only been out for a few months, and not sure what influence it's exactly had. It's looks like a good game but really?
Click to expand...
Influenced me to take a bath and change my clothing before talking to my colleagues at work and now im ceo of my country.
 
To see there Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 and Baldur's Gate 3 is a joke.
The order of the list is another joke plus.
To miss games like Street Fighter II another joke.
 
Dzab said:
Why are people acting like Shenmue isn't incredibly influential on how 3D games are structured today? It's not a list of the best games.

"Open world" (areas), time and date system, day-night cycle, NPCs with schedules and their own movements, you can talk, dialogue options, fully 3d, jobs, activities etc. It shouldn't be #1, but after SM64 and OOT, it's the most influential 3D game. Most open world games now are doing things because Shenmue did.

Some games should really shouldn't be on there though, #7, #16, #20.
Click to expand...
Pretty much all of the things you mention were done in other games way way before Shenmue.

I think Ultima V was the first game with Day/Night cycles tied to NPC scheduling for example in 1988
 
Last edited:
Toots said:
Influenced me to take a bath and change my clothing before talking to my colleagues at work and now im ceo of my country.
Click to expand...
I keep getting pissed with the tramps around the corner from my house, I'm blaming Henry.
 
GTA 3 should be way higher, spawned an entire genre of alike games and then later killed the same genre because nobody can compete anymore.
 
It's not a bad list but WTF Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is doing there. In no way this game is revolutionary or the flagship of a new gender/era.
 
Last edited:
Where is Gravity Rush 1 and 2???

No Shadow of the Colossus
No Gravity Rush
No Breath of the wild
No Megaman
No Castlevania SoTN
This list is a fail

I'm glad at least they didn't put the overrated The Last of Us.
 
Last edited:
Pong, Tetris and Street Fighter II should all rank in Top 5 most influential videogames of all time without question.

Also no mention of Pole Position? Ultima? Starcraft? Wow. Just... wow.
 
I can understand and agree to most of the games here, but KCD2 is not at that stage yet even if the media were praising as a revolutionary RPG that isn't afraid of having deep systems to its core gameplay design. It is just too early to put it in such a high pedestal. And where the fuck is Ico or Shadow of the Colossus?

No 007 Golden Eye is another omission I can't look over.
 
Last edited:
Thick Thighs Save Lives said:

Here's the full list of the top 21 most influential games of all time, as voted by the public:

  1. Shenmue (1999)
  2. Doom (1993)
  3. Super Mario Bros. (1985)
  4. Half-Life (1998)
  5. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)
  6. Minecraft (2011)
  7. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 (2025)
  8. Super Mario 64 (1996)
  9. Half-Life 2 (2004)
  10. The Sims (2000)
  11. Tetris (1984)
  12. Tomb Raider (1996)
  13. Pong (1972)
  14. Metal Gear Solid (1998)
  15. World of Warcraft (2004)
  16. Baldur's Gate 3 (2023)
  17. Final Fantasy VII (1997)
  18. Dark Souls (2011)
  19. Grand Theft Auto 3 (2001)
  20. Skyrim (2011)
  21. Grand Theft Auto (1997)


www.ign.com

BAFTA Announces 'the Most Influential Video Game of All Time,' and It's a Real Head-Scratcher - IGN

BAFTA — the UK's independent arts charity celebrating excellence in film, games, and TV — has just revealed the most influential video game of all time... and it's probably not what you think it is.
www.ign.com www.ign.com
Click to expand...
Incredibly dumb list.

There is nothing influential about KCD2 or Baldur's Gate 3.

MGS is more influential to gaming than Minecraft.

IMO Doom is the most influential game of all time.
 
Dzab said:
Why are people acting like Shenmue isn't incredibly influential on how 3D games are structured today? It's not a list of the best games.

"Open world" (areas), time and date system, day-night cycle, NPCs with schedules and their own movements, you can talk, dialogue options, fully 3d, jobs, activities etc. It shouldn't be #1, but after SM64 and OOT, it's the most influential 3D game. Most open world games now are doing things because Shenmue did.
Click to expand...
Quick Time Events!

ice cream kid GIF
 
Well, I can only hope KCD2 will be influental and we will get more handcrafted, immersion and systems-driven RPGs that also feature high quality cinematic storytelling over the usual checklist and battlepass driven slop that most big publishers are producing.

Admittedly, that hope is fairly naive.
 
Cyberpunkd said:
Agreed

Not really, and I say this as huge Witcher fan.

It's not a list made by IGN, they just reported on it. Here, have a GIF:

idc laughing GIF
Click to expand...
W3 inspired a whole bunch of open worlds with similar structure, detective vision etc.

I would argue that you have more open world similar to w3 than open worlds similar to skyrim...

So yeah, disagree.
 
Last edited:
Thick Thighs Save Lives said:

Here's the full list of the top 21 most influential games of all time, as voted by the public:

  1. Shenmue (1999)
  2. Doom (1993)
  3. Super Mario Bros. (1985)
  4. Half-Life (1998)
  5. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)
  6. Minecraft (2011)
  7. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 (2025)
  8. Super Mario 64 (1996)
  9. Half-Life 2 (2004)
  10. The Sims (2000)
  11. Tetris (1984)
  12. Tomb Raider (1996)
  13. Pong (1972)
  14. Metal Gear Solid (1998)
  15. World of Warcraft (2004)
  16. Baldur's Gate 3 (2023)
  17. Final Fantasy VII (1997)
  18. Dark Souls (2011)
  19. Grand Theft Auto 3 (2001)
  20. Skyrim (2011)
  21. Grand Theft Auto (1997)


www.ign.com

BAFTA Announces 'the Most Influential Video Game of All Time,' and It's a Real Head-Scratcher - IGN

BAFTA — the UK's independent arts charity celebrating excellence in film, games, and TV — has just revealed the most influential video game of all time... and it's probably not what you think it is.
www.ign.com www.ign.com
Click to expand...
And this is why the public can't be asked anything right now
 
No Space Invaders, Pac-Man to say the least.

The average Joe on the street will have never heard of Shenmue.
Where the fuck did this polling take place a Shenmue conference ...
 
How the fuck is KCD2 going to have influenced anything in any meaningful capacity when it's been out two months? Anything other than retards killing off their last shared brain cell that is.
 
Toots said:
Shenmue is no doubt the most influential game for the 3d era.
Not the best, but the most influential.
Click to expand...
I recall interviews with them saying it's a new "genre" called FREE
Full Reactive Eyes Entertainment

It lived up to the hype imo

Still love that game to this day, jank and all.
 
Last edited:
Let's go!!! Yu Suzuki and Dreamcast for the win!
shenmue-shenmue-yu-suzuki.gif


shenmue-shenmue-i-love-dreamcast.gif



Now all we need is Shenmue 4 using that Virtua Fighter 6 engine, and collaboration with Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios for the glory of SEGA!
 
clarky said:
Pretty much all of the things you mention were done in other games way way before Shenmue.

I think Ultima V was the first game with Day/Night cycles tied to NPC scheduling for example in 1988
Click to expand...
Pretty much all the games on this list did things that were done before, except they did it in a way that made them influencial. This is a "most influencial" list, not a "did it first" list.
 
jm89 said:
7. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 (2025)

Shits only been out for a few months, and not sure what influence it's exactly had. It's looks like a good game but really?
Click to expand...
I was coming to point that out.

1 month. Influential to whom?!

Edit: Ranked just above two of the biggest and influential games of all time, one that brought to gaming true 3D gameplay and other that mainstreamed physics to games. Super Mario 64 and Half Life 2.
 
Last edited:
I feel like these 4 games have influenced gaming the most in order of release only

Super Mario Bros
Mario 64
Final Fantasy 7
Grand Theft Auto 3

Honorable mention to either Zelda or Metroid
 
As much as I loved WoW, it doesn't exist as it is without Everquest. This list is ridiculous, even Ultima online isn't there.
 
Yeah that's a reasonable and totally accurate list...I mean KCD2 influenced so many game releases in the 2 months its been since its release.

Ll Cool J Reaction GIF by BrownSugarApp
 
Cakeboxer said:
Shenmue and KCD2 are weird, Fortnite is missing and it should be GTA V instead of 1 and 3.. Other than that a solid list.
Click to expand...
GTA3 pretty much made the open world genre into what it is today. What did GTAV influence exactly? How to squeeze as much money as possible from absurd online microtransactions?
 
What "public" ? Oh, I see the "public" that votes on their website... That's representative of general public sentiment... HONEST!

Seriously. Noone really gives a shit about the BAFTAs. Hell the film & TV awards which has some actual history and cachet only got a fairly unspectacular 3.17m viewers... so ummm, how big is the sample size for the vastly less prestigious Games awards? Far, far less I'd reasonably expect.

Essentially what we have here is nothing vox-pop propped up by branding and a servile media ecosystem desperate for "legitimacy".

I don't really have an opinion on the rankings, what bugs me is the fake prestige that is undeservingly bestowed on this piffle.
 
"Baldur's Gate 3 (2023)" but not original BG1 and 2!? I mean I loved BG3, it's an amazing game, but what the hell?
 
Public polls will usually have weird results as it's based on fandom and word of mouth cheesing. Years back, a shitty NHL player named John Scott made the AS team because the top lineup on each team was fan voted. So since it was played in Montreal you had Habs all getting tons of votes and there was a viral campaign to get John Scott in. He's a fringe player and also played on Montreal. He was voted in with I think the most votes despite only playing 12 games that year. And at the time was playing in the minors. lol. A totally goofy situation. Everyone was laughing at it, but the league got pissed and tried to ban him from playing because it looked stupid. But ultimately gave in. The league changed the rules next year.

Another goofy one I read about was decades ago, Howard Stern got fans to vote in hank the Angry Dwarf as the most beautiful celeb. He got the most votes and won the magazine poll. lol
 
Last edited:
CrimsonTide said:
highly suggest getting the 1&2 HD remasters.
Click to expand...

I bought them at release and got to the docks in Shenmue 1 where you meet up with Guizhang, but couldn't remember what to do next and lost interest. Never started 2.

Don't get me wrong, playing Shenmue over christmas in 2000 was one of the most memorable, immersive gaming experiences I've ever had, but I feel like it's mostly nice nostalgia than great gameplay in the here and now.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

  • Locked
BAFTA's most influential games of all time list
1
277
ienjoyrawfish replied
IGN: The 16 Best Game Boy Games of All Time
Opinion Retro Trailer  2
72
771
EverydayBeast replied
The Dualsense is the most GOATed controller of all time
2 3
112
786
Aenima replied
The 25 Best JRPGs of All Time - IGN
2 3 4 5
246
3K
DelireMan7 replied
The 90's; IMO the most influential decade in gaming
2
91
3K
No BBC=Anger replied
Top Bottom