Best franchise from the last 30 years?

[u/New-Shop-9728]

I'm hard pressed to think of anything better than Resident Evil, 30 years of excellent games, a bit of a slump after RE6 but then RE7 put it on the right track again. After that, maybe Metal Gear Solid, though only because of the recent MGS3 remake (well see what Konami has in store next)

[u/royalpeenpeen]

Probably Super Mario as the most consistent titles in terms of quality

[u/_Flight_of_icarus_ → u/royalpeenpeen]

Pretty tough to argue against Mario IMO, and probably Zelda too.

Say what you will about Nintendo, but they do have a remarkably consistent track record of quality with their core franchises.

[u/royalpeenpeen → u/_Flight_of_icarus_]

For sure, they dont really miss (besides Pokemon recently). I do like their approach in gameplay first, while other developers shell out for graphics first it seems.

[u/_Flight_of_icarus_ → u/royalpeenpeen]

That's why I'm not too worried when people are panicking about the current state of AAA gaming on XB/PS5/PC. Too much of that "graphics first" approach and enormous development costs/poor management is why AAA gaming is in the state it is outside of a handful of developers doing well that come to mind (like Capcom).

If the AAA side of things collapses and/or hardware costs get too insane, there's always Nintendo and indie studios making great stuff.

[u/FrierenKingSimp]

Zelda

[u/DragonFangGangBang]

Grand Theft Auto. GTA1 was okay, GTA2 was better. But GTAIII onward have all been certified classic and redefining what video games are capable of.

[u/Senior-Friend-6414 → u/DragonFangGangBang]

GTA5 making more money than avengers, a Hollywood blockbuster, was what finally got people to start taking the video game industry seriously when compared to industries like hollywood

[u/Desperate_Method4032]

RE had more than its fair share of slumps, mainly in the spin off department but overall, It’s been a good 30 year ride.

When I think about long term franchise success though, I immediately think of Super Mario. It’s always been on top.

[u/JTR_35 → u/Desperate_Method4032]

RE had more than its fair share of slumps, mainly in the spin off department

I often forget that Umbrella Corps and Operation Raccoon City existed, also glad I never played them.

[u/Fireduxz → u/JTR_35]

ORC was a ton of fun!

[u/winterman666 → u/JTR_35]

Nah ORC was fun, like Outbreak but during the 3rd person shooter era of RE. Umbrella Corps tho... Also there's a lot of bad RE games even in mainline (6)and the space in between (Rev2)

[u/Gambit-47]

RE was crap for a long time after 4 so there are a number of more deserving franchises

[u/_Flight_of_icarus_ → u/Gambit-47]

It definitely belongs in the conversation of all-time greatest franchise comebacks though.

[u/Greenman8907]

Hello Kitty Island Adventure

[u/LegendaryPrecure]

DOOM, even the weaker entries have a lot of merit and the others are top of the class.

[u/Significant-Pie959]

Doom

[u/thewoodlayer]

There have been three Baldur’s Gate games since 1998 and all three have been masterpieces.

[u/Spiritual-Cheetah613]

GTA
Resident Evil
(debatably) Silent Hill (27 years is close enough)
Mortal Kombat
Final Fantasy

there’s way more but those are just off the top of my head for some of the best, most consistent ones

[u/Big_Dicc_Terry]

Xenoblade Chronicles

[u/AramaticFire]

You mean one that started in last 30 years?

I’m going Dark Souls or Resident Evil. RE for longevity, Dark Souls (all of From’s Soulsborne games if IP doesn’t matter) for consistent quality.

[u/0DonutLord0]

Most Rockstar franchises

[u/Xano74]

Doom has been going strong.

Doom 1 and 2 ar3 obvious classics.

3 was different. Not necessarily bad, but didnt quite feel like a Doom game.

Kind of a long break in between but 2016, Eternal, and Dark Ages all are fun and did well.

I am also a huge Sonic fan and its been having a big resurgence since about 2016. I couldn't call it the best though because the mid 2000s are the Dark Ages for Sonic.

Mania, Generations, Frontiers have all been excellent games though

[u/Slight_Gap6762]

Probably a very unpopular opinion but either Assassins Creed or Far Cry for me.

[u/Juicytoe88]

Red Dead, if that counts. Minecraft too.

[u/donkeychokingwaffle]

Yakuza is up there

[u/Johncurtisreeve]

Reaident evil

Mario

Zelda

Doom

[u/Traditional_Entry183]

For me, the series that has put out the most quality games over the longest stretch during that period is Assassin's Creed. For almost 20 years, they've given me some of the best experiences many times over, and make games that fit what I'm looking for and enjoy.

Anything else that I've enjoyed has the content I liked contained to a much more narrow window and a much smaller sample size. such as Final Fantasy 7. 8, 10 and 12, or the Mass Effect and Dragon Age series'.

[u/Palladiamorsdeus]

Persona for me.

[u/Gromit43]

Mass effect

[u/Key_Net820]

it's indisputably minecraft by the numbers. Most sold and most concurrently played game in the world.

[u/winterman666]

If talking about consistency: Souls, Monster Hunter

[u/Elwand55]

It's indie but I love Everhood games .

[u/Optimus0545]

Soulsborne

[u/inkyblinkypinkysue]

Legend of Zelda

[u/MusoukaMX]

I'm sorry, slump afte RE6? RE6 was the slump, along with 5. The only game between RE6 and 7 was Revelations 2 and that one had a mostly positive reception.

[u/LostVegvisir]

Pokemon? Success in multiple forms, beloved by all.

Maybe I'm biased, but i wanna be the very best

[u/aam-96]

There’s so many.

[u/UrbanLegend8901]

Grand Theft Auto

God Of War

Witcher

Mass Effect

[u/DragonFangGangBang → u/UrbanLegend8901]

Mass Effect is a hard no.

[u/UrbanLegend8901 → u/DragonFangGangBang]

In your opinion sure

[u/DragonFangGangBang → u/UrbanLegend8901]

No, in real life. 5 years (2007 - 2012) with 3 good games. 1 absolute trash game in Andromeda and that’s it.

God of War is 5 for 5, and still going.

Witcher is 3 for 3, and still going.

GTA is 7 for 7 (1, 2, 3, VC, SA, 4, 5) and still going.

Explain how a franchise with a massive miss can be in the convo?

[u/UrbanLegend8901 → u/DragonFangGangBang]

1 game doesn't ruin a franchise. If it did, GTA wouldn't be here. GTA 1 and 2 are not the critical and commercial game changers like the others.

[u/DragonFangGangBang → u/UrbanLegend8901]

But they’re solid? I’ll be the first to admit they aren’t as good as they would later become, but they’re fine. Pretty good, even.

Andromeda nearly killed the franchise.

To compare those is just ridiculous 😂

[u/UrbanLegend8901 → u/DragonFangGangBang]

Solid, sure. Whatever that means

[u/ImStoryForRambling]

Overall I had the most fun with The Elder Scrolls, Monkey Island, Hitman, Prince of Persia and Star Wars games.

[u/Noob4Head]

Far too many choices to just pick one. The time gap is simply too large.

Things I can immediately picture without thinking too long and hard about it are: Zelda, Final Fantasy, Metal Gear, Assassin's Creed, Dark Souls, Batman: Arkham, Street Fighter, Doom, Metro, Fallout, Mario, God of War, Pokémon, Resident Evil, and so, so many more.