101 Video Games That Everyone Should Play At Least Once

Storyline (high-level) across the featured games

• The Witcher 3: Geralt searches for Ciri while navigating political danger, monsters, and personal relationships.
• BioShock: Jack escapes Rapture’s dystopia while fighting genetically altered enemies and uncovering the city’s collapse.
• World of Warcraft: Players grow a character through quests while choosing whether to support the Alliance or the Horde, living in an MMO world shaped by cooperation and conflict.
• The Last of Us (and Part II): Joel smuggles Ellie to find a cure; Part II follows Ellie years later as her community life is disrupted and she seeks justice/vengeance.
• Mass Effect 2: Commander Shepard assembles a crew to stop the Collectors and protect humanity.
• Borderlands 2: A Vault Hunter joins misfits to stop Handsome Jack from consolidating power.
• Narrative-focused entries: The Last of Us / Detroit / Disco Elysium / Heavy Rain / Life is Strange / Journey / Unpacking / What Remains of Edith Finch. These emphasize character relationships, identity, consequence-based choices, mystery investigation, and emotional storytelling over combat.

Major action/adventure arcs

• God of War (2018): Kratos and Atreus travel through Norse realms after a deathbed request.
• Red Dead Redemption 2: Arthur Morgan and the Van der Linde gang attempt “one last heist” as the Wild West fades.
• Uncharted games: Nathan Drake chases artifacts and treasure tied to dramatic setpieces.
• Ghost of Tsushima: Jin Sakai defends Tsushima from the Mongol invasion using guerrilla tactics.

Strategy/roleplay worlds

• Elden Ring / Dark Souls / Hollow Knight / Outer Wilds: exploration-driven mystery, lore discovery, and (often) hard combat.
• Oblivion / Skyrim / Civilization IV / Stardew Valley / Animal Crossing / Minecraft: freedom to explore, build, manage, and develop systems-driven worlds.

Mystery/horror frameworks

• Resident Evil (2002 remake) / Resident Evil 4 / Dead Space / Limbo / What Remains of Edith Finch / The Walking Dead: survival horror, puzzles, dread, and survival under pressure.

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Gameplay highlights & key strategies / tips mentioned

• Witcher 3: Enjoyable even without prior entries; strong storytelling, characters, art direction, and sound.
• BioShock:
  • Uses ADAM to give “superpower” abilities (fire/electrocution, etc.).
• World of Warcraft:
  • Start by choosing realm, then race/class, then Alliance vs Horde.
  • MMO tip: play with others—quests, dungeons, and social progression matter.
  • Free trial: can play up to level 20 without paying.
• Mass Effect 2:
  • Quality-of-life improvements: inventory, ammo instead of overheating weapons, Paragon/Renegade integrated.
  • Recommendation: play the rest of the trilogy too (but NOT Andromeda).
• Borderlands 2:
  • Procedural loot: pursue variety in guns.
  • Grab editions that include DLC (notably Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep).
• Outer Wilds:
  • Core loop is a 22-minute time loop; progress by learning from previous resets.
  • Tip: the game doesn’t “spoon-feed” answers—explore and piece together the Nomai mystery yourself.
• Resident Evil (2002):
  • Limited inventory: decide when to fight or flee; manage ammo and health carefully.
• Fallout 3:
  • Uses V.A.T.S. for combat utility; immersive wasteland + interactive RPG systems.
  • Platform note: PlayStation requires PS Now.
• Dark Souls / Elden Ring:
  • Emphasis on difficult combat but strong exploration rewards.
  • Tip (implied): investigate/explore rather than rushing bosses.
  • Elden Ring includes the “Try fingers, but hole” gag tip.
• Portal / Portal 2:
  • Core strategy: solve test chamber puzzles using the Portal gun’s physics-based mechanics.
  • Portal 2 adds co-op puzzle solving.
• Assassin’s Creed II:
  • Stealth/parkour focus; uses the Animus premise to replay genetic memories.
• Hitman: Blood Money:
  • Replayability comes from multiple routes per mission and many ways to take out targets.
• Detroit: Become Human / Life is Strange / Heavy Rain / Disco Elysium:
  • Narrative choice systems:
    • Life is Strange: rewind time to alter outcomes; seemingly small choices can matter later.
    • Heavy Rain: multiple characters with branching actions leading to many endings.
    • Disco Elysium: no combat; progress via skill checks (TTRPG-style).
    • Detroit: android stories centered on slavery/identity/humanity themes.
• Minecraft / Skyrim / Oblivion:
  • Freedom-first design:
    • Minecraft: mine, craft tools, build structures, explore (no fixed goal).
    • Skyrim: side content can be pursued for dozens of hours; main quest can be avoided.
    • Oblivion: main quest is available, but you’re largely free to roleplay side goals (rescuing characters, collecting rare items, etc.).
• Hollow Knight:
  • Metroidvania exploration; warning that the game is challenging, with Souls-like difficulty comparisons.
• Celeste:
  • Collectables (strawberries, cassette tapes, crystal hearts) affect difficulty/extra content and endings.
  • Framed as addressing depression/anxiety through gameplay and theme.
• Stardew Valley / Animal Crossing / Unpacking:
  • Wholesome loop:
    • Stardew: farming progression, relationships, community center help.
    • Animal Crossing: island life, turnip economy, relaxation and social time.
    • Unpacking: puzzle-like item placement that reveals story through objects and movement across rooms/time.

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Featured platform/time-access notes (as described)

• Many games are available on current gen and/or previous gen consoles plus PC (and some include remasters/remakes).
• Several older console storefronts are flagged as closing:
  • Pokémon Yellow on 3DS Virtual Console noted (store closing).
  • Pikmin 1/2 made less practical as Wii U availability declines; Pikmin 3 recommended instead.
  • Metroid Prime on Wii U tied to Wii U eShop closure timing.

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Gamers / presenters / sources featured (end of video)

• Team TripleJump contributors were referenced collectively (presenters/writers/editors, including Fraser).
• Named presenters/people inside the subtitles:
  • Ben
  • Peter
  • Ashton
  • Tiny Peter
  • Philip (speaker during the Journey bit)
• Specific voice/cast mentions in-game (examples called out):
  • Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson (The Last of Us)
  • Laura Bailey (The Last of Us Part II)
  • Nolan North (Uncharted 2)
  • Stephen Merchant (Wheatley, Portal 2)
  • Kevin Conroy, Arleen Sorkin, Mark Hamill (Batman: Arkham Asylum)
  • James Arnold Taylor, Tara Strong, John DiMaggio (Final Fantasy X English dub)
  • Kiefer Sutherland and Troy Baker (Metal Gear Solid V)
• External sources/awards mentioned:
  • Metacritic
  • British Academy Game Awards
  • Golden Joystick Awards
  • TGA (The Game Awards)
  • GOG.com (for Metal Gear Solid)