Some of the best games of all time, like Half-Life 2, Final Fantasy 7, and Resident Evil 4, are not going to be liked by everyone. They are very specific genre games that can be hard to get into for beginners, or for those who don't like shooters, RPGs, or horror games.
From the arcade scene to the Switch 2, have there been games with a universal appeal? Games so good and easy to understand that even a grandma could potentially jump in and jam out, or at least watch and have a good time. These games certainly rank high up there, and they will be judged by how accessible they are to everyone, along with their overall quality.
Stardew Valley
Living Your Best Digital Life
Stardew Valley is beloved by all who like life-sim games, but it is admittedly a bit trickier to get into. Players need to decide how they build their farm, from focusing on crops to branching out and getting farm animals.
There is no linear story, but quests will randomly pop up to sort of guide players in the right direction. With so many diverse gameplay options, it’s one of the better life-sim games to get into, but it will take a few hours to really get the hang of it.
Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Leveling Up Shooters
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was the first Call of Duty game to really break out and into the mainstream. It went away from World War 2 to focus on a literal modern battlegrounds across the globe. The set pieces were dazzling, from camouflaged sniper missions to regular war zones in the heat of it.
What really sold it was the multiplayer, as players earned a sense of progression with their profile, leveling up and unlocking new weapons as they both lived and died online, thus cementing the Call of Duty legacy forever that anyone could jump into.
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
Getting Lost In Tamriel
The reason why people still talk about The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, besides the fact that it keeps getting ported, is because there’s kind of nothing else like it as an RPG. The world is entirely open almost from the start, allowing players to go anywhere. If players liked a story, towns had quests.
If they preferred to explore, there were dozens of caves and old forts to research. Plus, with the weapon and magic systems, players could customize their characters to their liking. Any player can easily get dropped into the world and find fun in some form.
Grand Theft Auto 5
Creative Carnage
Grand Theft Auto 5 is an open-world game primarily set in a city, but players can also explore the surrounding wilderness and desert if they want. The Grand Theft Auto games have complex stories that some players find very compelling, but from a gameplay perspective, it also allows anyone to have a good time causing chaos with easy to learn driving and shooting controls.
As players shoot up the city, they will build a Wanted level that will bring in cops and the military, turning it into a sort of survival match. The online mode can get even more chaotic, and for those who just like to blow stuff up, there’s not a finer Grand Theft Auto game out there, although Grand Theft Auto 6 should be here soon.
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Round One, Fight!
Super Smash Bros. Melee is a fan favorite amongst the community, and while it lacks ALL characters like the latest game, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, this game dominated the GameCube era and beyond in fighting game tournaments in official arenas and in basements everywhere.
It was also the first game to feature Fire Emblem characters before North America even knew what that franchise was. With a good roster, slick visuals, and tight controls, it’s easy to see why fans stuck close to the game for so long, even after shinier iterations were coming out.
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This article originally appeared on GameRant and is republished here with permission.
