7 masterpieces ? eh... - Sun, May 24, 2026

I found myself enjoying the videos of mhswoocer, a hardcore Monster Hunter and JRPGs fan.

He recently posted this video :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJtXPCqsdxU

The premise is simple, finding out which games are the greatest most important, best… THE masterpieces.

In this video, he struggles a lot, how can he be objective, and while using a criteria he chose, admit that a masterpiece is something we deem worthy of remembering, and as such there is no one list for all, we each have our own.
So he makes the list he thought was objective and the one for him.

But here is the problem, I don’t mind his personal one, and I am gonna make one too, but the universal one… oh god. Never seen (lying I actually did) at top 7 so insanely taken by nostalgia and legacy. Putting trash tier games as masterpieces because Japanese are unable to think while looking at a cute animal (pikachu)

Here is the list :

So let’s get this straight :

His methodology was that gaming masterpieces should have certains attribute which are

See a problem ? A hunch of what I might dislike in the top 7 ?

Influence, impact and legacy are the same thing, he says they aren’t in the video, but clearly they are from how it’s identified. And from the list we can see that every game, was chosen for it’s legacy, for it’s impact or influence. They are for the most part not focused at all on quality, timelessness, which are primordial.

So who would I cut from the list ?
Maybe everything is not rotten… we can salvage this. Old games are over represented so let’s remove some.

Pokémon

the most agrigious on the list, Pokémon is not a quality game nor a timeless one, it sure had impact but is freakin unplayable today, holy shit you’d die of boredom.
As one said, Pokémon was not good, you were nine.

The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time.

Hey, listen ! I’m not gonna say it’s bad, it was probably good when it first came out but… that game too is unplayable nowadays, truly boring not fun clunky, like maybe I’m not a retro type, but it’s supposed to be universal, and this clearly isn’t. It’s a big name, for sure, but nobody plays it anymore for sure.

FFVII and Mario Bros.

I don’t really know about those, I haven’t’ the fantasy one so I can’t really tell, but Mario bros? Seriously ?
The game isn’t shit I’ll admit it but we are talking masterpieces, and Mario doesn’t feel like it,
It sure is universal, timeless it is, influential ? Certainly. Maybe it was novel at that time but quality wise… Don’t we have better ?

About FFVII i feel like the most important part of this game is the story, maybe i’m wrong feel free to tell me ( contact ). If it is mainly good because of his story then i have an issue, a good story isnt enough otherwise a movie would be the same, So i’ll propose some alternatives of Story driven games that include well thought gameplay that enhance the story in a way a movie could never do.

Doom

I feel very divided by this one, doom was a good game for it’s time and is actually playable today not the greatest experience, but it’s definitely okay. Quality wise it is 100% not up to standards there are so many FPS games way better than doom, so i what name does he deserve a place here ? If aliens came and asked for what to experience, would you rather have them play the OG doom or the Doom eternal one ?

Tetris and Minecraft.

And Tetris and Minecraft are absolutely monument and I recognize them as among the greatest, they are universally understandable, timeless, qualitative and influential.

Any contenders for the now empty seats at the table of the masterpieces ?

Undertale.

The game that made indies mainstream
The game whose story is so humane, that anyone can understand and empathize.
Amazing writing, simple yet engaging mechanics a community always growing. Undertale is a masterpiece.

Portal

Quality game, Quality story, mechanics so simple yet so deep. and absolute banger even today, fans scream for a third entry… Portal has it all.

Outer Wilds

The open world to rule them all, story is good, gameplay is fantastic, i think we can say it is quite novel. Accessibility is good enough, i think that the game does a great job at teaching you how it works, figuring out the rest is the point of the game.
The only question would be legacy, is it famous enough ? it is quite famous but not mainstream… Anyways i think Outer Wild is a strong contender for masterpiece title.

Doom Eternal

I’m not sure aliens would actually apreciate it, but it doesn’t matter, this is the continuation of the legendary but dated Doom, universally acclaimed for beeing a worthy successor, is there any point in the old when when the new made is so much better. I am willing to give this seat to any shooter of the same quality. but doom eternal it is for now

What Remains of Edith Flinch Or Before Your Eyes

I promised a story focused game with a game-play designed for it, both of these games are. I’m gonna keep Before your eyes for it’s novelty even though it lack recognition.
This seat is very a shaky one, i have a few contenders that do have a lot going for them, namely hollow knight

Finale

So here we go 7 games to rule them all and two of them are barely legitimate, ready to get taken over at any moment.
This is not to say they are bad. Before your eyes is probably my favourite game of all times, but would everyone like it, is it objectively superior ? not sure
It takes a lot to get to the top, way more than nostalgia.

Also a quick note i didn’t include games i haven’t played, Not because i think i played every good game far from it, i think that by including a game i haven’t played and only heard good press from, i give way to much credit to legacy instead of actual quality

Also some links are broken, they will one day be fixed, i just don’t have time to write a lot and finish everything i started.

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