The Composite list of the Giant Bomb's top 10 games of Gen 7

The original thread: (Click Me!)

The rules were simple, yet many of you managed to break them anyway: You gave me a list of your top 10 games from generation 7, and I counted them. Games ranked #1 were given 10 points and so on down until games ranked #10 were given 1 point.

Some lists were not ordered. These were given 5 points per game listed, which is just below the average for points awarded per person (ten games totaling 55 points, or 5.5 points per game). A couple lists were unordered and had way more than 10 games. These were not counted. These people were probably also not known for their ability to color within the lines. I'm sure they're amazingly creative people in their own way.

Some people listed multiple games in one spot, such as: "Portal 1 & 2", or "Mass Effect Trilogy." These were issued divided points, rounded down, minimum of one point... I may have also uttered assumptions about their parentage under my breath. Except for the cool kids. You know who you are.

There are many versions of Street Fighter IV. I counted all these votes together.

World of Warcraft came out in 2003, but it was played by a lot of people for the entirety of the 7th gen of video games, and was constantly updated. I felt like it would be wrong to not include it. All versions were also counted together.

Remakes were not counted. Life is hard. This is one of those moments.

On to the scores!

Top 10:

Not a lot of surprised there, with the exception of Dark Souls if you are one of those poor fools who hasn't tried that game yet. Seriously. Go. I'll wait.

The other surprise, at least for me, was The Last of Us. I'd be really interested to see how it holds up in the long run, seeing as it is relatively new.

Mass Effect 2, by the way, took the lead somewhere in the middle and ran with it. Red Dead Redemption was an early leader, but just couldn't keep up in the long run.

The fun of these charts isn't just the actual top 10, but the other games that came close. Here's the next 10 games on the list:

Dragon Age: Origins made a solid recovery over the course of this "vote" from a very low starting position. Interestingly, Dragon Age 2 did not make a single top 10 list. Imagine that.

Giant Bomb favorites The Walking Dead and Saints Row: The Third were contenders the whole time, and holy crap, check out that Super Mario Galaxy love.

The showing of The Witcher 2 is also impressive, considering that it got the media coverage of a Gilbert Gottfried sex tape.

Alright, enough foreplay. Here's the rest of the top 50, and I'll see if I can squeeze the full list of 263 games in the next post:

Oh, man. I had to shorten the title to under 60 characters, and I left a 'the' in there. Now I sound like I'm from GameBomb.ru. My apologiez, comrades.

Here's the rest of the list. I'm not going to order them because I'm tired and honestly I've been staring at a spread sheet for way too long.

The second 10 is totally the better list.

Thanks for doing this! The Last of Us and Red Dead Redemption I did not expect to be in the top 10.

Gosh this just reminds me of how many great games I have been able to play this generation. Thanks for doing this!

SO happy Dark Souls got that 2 spot.

I feel pretty content with that top 10. I think 7 of my choices were on there, albeit in somewhat different order, and the others are deserving. Too bad Red Dead wasn't number one or two.

I feel bad for not voting now that I know I would have pushed Dragon Age: Origins into the top 10.

I didn't get to finish my list. Fuck. Oh well.

Did not expect so much Bethesda love. But as always Dark Souls>Skyrim. (you know you wanna bite that bait)

I HAVE PLAYED NEITHER OF THOSE GAMES, NOR DO I HAVE A MODICUM OF INTEREST IN EITHER BUT I STILL HATE YOU FOR POSTING THAT!!

Erm...I mean, thanks @viking_funeral for putting this together, it's nice to see things like this. It's interesting to see how you handled the lists that didn't quite follow the rules.

The lack of Rock Band saddens me.

I'm sorry, but how did not that many people vote for Call of Duty 4? That game was AMAZING when it came out and it still plays amazingly; just ask Activision, they keep making the same damn game... It was without a doubt one of the most revolutionary games this generation by setting the bar for how to do online multiplayer right.

Okay, bitch spiel on an internet forum is over. The rest of the list kicks ass.

Only three of mine made it into the top ten, but I expected that, especially once it got down to the lower half. I wouldn't be surprised to find I'm the only one who had Dead Rising 2 and Saints Row 2 on their list :P

Damn youuuuuuuu.

It really is nice to see the community discussing something like this in a very civil manner. I imagine most other places on the Internet wouldn't do anywhere near as well.

Also, as the list currently stands, I'b be satisfied with Mass Effect 2 taking the coveted title of Game of the Generation.

I completely agree with you about it being a fantastic and completely revolutionary game for this generation, but unfortunately it's been mostly overshadowed by it's many sequels. Over saturation can be a bitch.

yeh that seems pretty fair - 'cept GTA 5 feels like it's a bit low, and given more time I could see it rise a few spots.

also, if there's one element I just don't get, it's the 2 Bioshocks up there, maybe it's just that the settings only ever reminded me of musicals and fairgrounds, and were never really somewhere I wanted to spend time.

Disappointed Mass Effect won. I played through the game and just didn't think it was particularly exceptional. Great list of games to be fair though. Would have liked The Walking Dead to get that 10th spot and Mario Galaxy to get into the top ten, but all things considered it did pretty well.

I love that Crusader Kings II ended up doing well - it's one of my top ten games of the generation, and I'm honestly surprised that it beat such stand-out games as Team Fortress 2 and Braid.

I've played all but two games in the top ten (Batman: AA and Uncharted 2), and Red Dead Redemption, Skyrim, Fallout 3, and BioShock were all in my personal top ten. Mass Effect 2, Portal 2, and The Last of Us are all in my top 20 - I respect Dark Souls, and it's a fine game, but I only played 10 hours before I got fed up, and so it doesn't make my top 50. The game in the 11-20 range that I rated the highest is Dragon Age: Origins, my third best game of the generation.

It's pretty incredible that Dark Souls ranked so highly- I wonder if that's just a reflection of the GB community, or if From truly revived the idea that hard games are worthwhile.

Good list, amazed that assassin's creed didn't place better.

Well, I guess that confirms it. I'm the only person that actually likes Final Fantasy 13. Seems like a pretty solid list overall. Only 3 of mine were in the top 10, but 9 of the 10 were great games so I can't complain. It's also interesting to see that for as often as people complain about the overabundance of sequels and franchises, all but one of the top 10 were part of a franchise.

It is nice to see Dark Souls so high up there. I may of been the only person to vote for it but at least I single handedly raised Katawa Shoujo above a bunch of other games.

I'm surprised at GTA V's low position. I think that'll improve given time (I reluctantly ranked it, even though I'm only about 50% of the way through), although conversely, perhaps The Last of Us' high ranking is an consequence of its relative freshness in people's consciousnesses (and the fact that, for the many that ranked it, it may already be a 'complete' experience, which is easier to comprehend from a distance, unlike GTA).

I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Red Dead Redemption, but never felt compelled to finish the main storyline in the manner I have done other Rockstar games. My lukewarm response to that game was likely my own fault, playing it, as I did, over two years after its initial release.

Dark Souls did fantastically well. I'm delighted.

Glad to see that my personal top 4 made it into the top ten (Red Dead, Uncharted 2, Fallout 3 and ME2).

I thought the original Portal was way better than the sequel, and conversely I thought BioShock Infinite was way better than the original so those are a bit weird to me. Batman and Skyrim were both pretty great so I can totally see why they deserve top ten places even though they aren't for me personally. The Last of Us is also pretty great but I really don't think a lot of people are gonna remember it in like 5 years where they will some other games. As for Dark Souls, I haven't played it so I'll reserve judgement I suppose.

Overall I think it's a pretty damn good list. Good on you, GB.

Huh, you didn't ask me to make a list.

つ ◕_◕ ༽つ Give DIRETIDE

Exactly. That's why it's not as relevant a talking a point for most people in the conversation right now. Although it's without a doubt one of the most significant and influential games of this generation, that doesn't necessarily make it one of the best overall. The fact is the Call of Duty series has been overly saturated, mostly overshadowing the merit of the game by itself(Which in my opinion is still a fairly competent one).

I had one game from my list in the top 3. #goodenough

Glad Bayonetta made it as far up as it did too. Will make up for the incoming crushing defeat in the bracket version.

Also lol at the predictable list being all predictable.

That's pretty cool. Mass Effect 2 is my favorite game of this generation.

Bastion at 39th? Behind Journey and Portal? I dunno about that, duders. Bastion is maybe the greatest downloadable/download-only/15 dollar/you-know-what-I-mean game of all time. Also, where's Shadow Complex?

Here's something weird... Giant Bomb GOTY 2008 Grand Theft Auto 4... nowhere to be found. It's runner-up Metal Gear Solid 4 is 19th, Dead Space is 36th, and Fallout 3, which barely got into the 'final ten' that year is 7th.

No love for Dead Space 2 is surprising. That game is incredibly solid.

Last of Us being that high seems like its due to it being new. Definitely don't think it'd make the list if this was done in a years time. Other than that, that's a pretty good looking list!

have you played it? It's like saying Pulp Fiction got too much praise at first and it would lessen overtime. Classics are classics man.

Crazy there is no Assassin's Creed in the top 20! Get II in there.

eh, I didn't enjoy it that much. Wasn't that fun to play and though the story was told well... was it actually any good? Not to me. I recognize I'm in the minority though. I think Uncharted 2 was a lot better.

Some people like jackie brown more than pulp fiction (looking at Alex Navarro. Also, sorry for the double tarantino analogy); people are guaranteed the right to having opinions, and I completely respect that right. Just pointing out that the general consensus for the last of us is overwhelmingly positive, so dont be surprised if that game gets acknowledged for some time (well, at least I think it deserves to. Who knows, maybe everyone will hate it in a year like gta4).

Hm, I have played zero of the games in that top 10.

I'm very interested to see how it makes out in GOTY. I feel like fans like it more than most media types do... maybe just the ones I listen to on podcasts and stuff are the crowd that isn't that into Last of Us. I definitely wouldn't expect to see it on many media "games of this gen" top 10's, but again maybe I'm out of a touch on that.

Interesting lists. Pretty sweet this exists.

I would be interested in making a compilation video of the top 50, not for any particular reason but I just like doing video editing and I think it could be a fun project, think I own most of these games too. Guess I'll do one and try to have it done before end of the year

About what I expected except for Dark Souls being so high. Probably a side effect of Vinny and Rorie.

Do it. I will give you all my internet stuff if you do.

Note: My internet stuff consists of mostly praise and thanks.

Only three of mine were in the top 50 and only one was in the top 10. I guess I have strange taste. Glad to see Valkyria Chronicles ranked so highly. Much respect to whoever put Valkyria Chronicles II in their top 10. It seems I'm the only one to vote for Motorstorm PR and Where is My Heart?, while only two or three others voted for Limbo, Mirror's Edge and Professor Layton & the Curious Village.

That's a heck of a list.

@artisanbreads: It's, most likely, going to get ignored by GB because most of the crew just arent willing to put in the time to play it (which saddens me). I think it will be widely talked about as a goty contender on most sites. Not sure about GOTG, mostly because I'm not sure how many sites will actually be doing something like that (VGA's did a best of the decade in 2012, which is odd because most people do best of decade lists based on standard decades (the 00's would be 2000- 2009). Doing 2003 to 2012 seemed odd to me.

Hell yeah DmC with 1 point thanks to me! :D

Also the top 4 are the same 4 games i took for my predictions on the GotG community bracket and in both cases ME2 is on top. Feel pretty good about that.

Me too.

Oh dude. That's a real shame. I get it's maybe not on the minds of folks these days, but I missed so many classes getting caught up playing Rock Band and Guitar Hero with friends. For years.

@manhattan_project: Haha I'll start planning after I'm done watching WCS finals :D This seems pretty easy and fun project for the most part, just lots of footage to record and I'll have to think if I'll go with clips with original audio, clips with SFX but game related music on top, or clips with SFX and some unrelated epic music going through the whole video. Tests will be made

An alright top 10, just out of order. Fallout 3 should not be on the top list 100%, replace with Witcher 2 and order appropriately and it would be quite solid. CoD 4 is right around where I would put it incidentally.

Not one of my top 10 games is in the Top 10. I'm now gonna go and pretend I'm super special because I have an "acquired taste" that differes from the taste of the "common folk" because it is so special.

Although it isn't my personal GOTG, Mass Effect 2 is still deserving of its top spot. Having 5 from my personal top 10 in this list's top 10, 2 in the top 20, and 2 more in the top 50 are also evidences that the Giant Bomb community obviously has great taste.

@awesomeusername said:

Ha. I remember your list. I definitely counted what you had already put down.

All three Rock Band games made the lower tier spots (#7 - #10) on a number of lists. Unfortunately, those positions don't award a lot of points, and people's preferences were spread over all three versions, preventing any one of them from accumulating a sizable number of points. You can see their total points on the full list in my 2nd post.

At one point Call of Duty 4 was starting to approach the top 5, but ultimately not enough people included it on their lists. It still did very well at #16.

It was also by far the highest ranked multiplayer game. Multiplayer games did relatively poor overall.

Saints Row 2 took spot #54, if you expand the list in my 2nd post. It was another game that surprised me with how often it was mentioned. It was often near the bottom of lists, but it made quite a few.

Were you the one guy that voted for Final Fantasy 13? That was funny when I finally saw that game. Sorry.