While many fans will describe some video games as being absolutely perfect, there isn’t really such a thing, because it is almost impossible to create a masterpiece without some sort of flaw. Titles such as Red Dead Redemption 2 and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild are some of the greatest video games of all time, but they contain a handful of issues restricting them from being flawless.
However, is there really no such thing as perfect? These ten video games beg to differ. This list will highlight ten video games that don’t have a single flaw based on gameplay, design, polish, optimization, pacing, originality, fan opinion, critical acclaim, and overall quality. Some gamers might not personally prefer these games, but outside of taste and considering the overwhelming consensus, these are flawless masterpieces.
‘Hades’ (2020)
Zagreus in the underworld in HadesImage via Supergiant Games
Making a flawless indie game can be harder or easier to make perfect, depending on the scope and passion behind it, and one masterful example is Hades. Zagreus is the son of the titular god and the prince of Hell, whom he repeatedly tries to escape from in hopes of finding the truth about his mother. Trying to get to Olympus, he must fight an endless battle against the forces of Hell.
The narrative problem of rogue-likes is solved in Hades, which uses the core feature as a way to tell its story. The sense of progression is incredible, with gamers naturally improving throughout the game. Hades has tight gameplay and a well-designed progression system, which work together with its narrative to create a flawless experience.
‘BioShock’ (2007)
A large robot attacking someone in BioShockImage via 2K Games
Video games have become a storytelling medium, and there aren’t many better narratives than BioShock. Playing as a character named Jack, gamers find themselves seeking refuge in a lone lighthouse after a plane crash. But when they go inside, they discover an underwater failed utopia with spliced mutations wandering the desolate city and political warfare still rampant.
Every BioShock video game is a masterpiece, but the first one is on another level, mainly renowned because of its narrative and shocking plot twist that shook the gaming landscape to its core. The game’s unrivalled aesthetic and tense atmosphere also play a part in the immersion, not to mention the puzzle-solving gameplay and shooter action, which enhances the narrative, tone, and themes.
Snake hiding from a guard in Metal Gear SolidImage via Konami
Hideo Kojima is a legendary game designer, and his magnum opus is arguably Metal Gear Solid. Playing as the iconic Solid Snake, players must infiltrate a secure nuclear facility on an island to stop a terrorist organization from launching a nuclear strike that could destroy the world.
Metal Gear Solid helped video games move past a simple gameplay route and adopt a form of prestige filmmaking. With dedicated camera angles, the design perfectly framed the player experience, offering a unique way to play the game. Besides its influence, Metal Gear Solid also boasts some of the best stealth gameplay in modern gaming, which surprisingly holds up even to this day.
Collider Exclusive · Action Hero Quiz Which Action Hero Would Be Your Perfect Partner? Rambo · James Bond · Indiana Jones · John McClane · Ethan Hunt
Five legends. Five completely different ways of getting out alive — with style, with muscle, with charm, with luck, or with a plan so intricate it probably shouldn’t work. Ten questions will reveal which action hero was built to have your back.
🎖️Rambo
🍸James Bond
🏺Indiana Jones
🔧John McClane
🎭Ethan Hunt
01
You’re dropped into a dangerous situation with no warning. What do you need most from a partner? The first few seconds tell you everything about who belongs beside you.
02
You have to get somewhere dangerous, fast. How do you travel? How you get there is half the mission.
03
You’re pinned down and outnumbered. What does your ideal partner do? This is when you find out what someone is really made of.
04
The mission is paused. You have one evening to decompress. What does your partner suggest? Who someone is when the pressure drops is who they actually are.
05
How do you prefer your partner to communicate mid-mission? Good communication is the difference between partners and a liability.
06
Your enemy is powerful, well-resourced, and has the upper hand. How should your partner approach them? The approach to the enemy defines the partnership.
07
Things go badly wrong and you’re captured. What do you trust your partner to do? Who someone is when you need them most is the only thing that matters.
08
What does your ideal partner bring to the table that you couldn’t replace? A great partner fills the gap you didn’t know you had.
09
Every partnership has a cost. Which of these can you live with? No one comes without baggage. The question is whether you can carry it together.
10
It’s the final moment. Everything is on the line. What do you need from your partner right now? The last question is the most honest one.
Your Partner Has Been Assigned Your Perfect Partner Is…
Your answers have pointed to one action hero above all others. This is the person built to have your back — for better or considerably, spectacularly worse.
Rambo
Your partner doesn’t talk much, doesn’t need to, and will have assessed every threat in your immediate environment before you’ve finished your first sentence. John Rambo is not a man of plans or politics — he is a force of nature shaped by survival, loyalty, and a capacity for endurance that goes beyond anything training can produce. He will not leave you behind. He has never left anyone behind who deserved to come home. What you get with Rambo is the most capable, most quietly ferocious partner imaginable — one who has been through things that would have broken anyone else, and who chose to keep going anyway. You’ll never need to ask if he has your back. You’ll just know.
James Bond
Your partner will arrive perfectly dressed, perfectly briefed, and with a cover story so convincing it’ll take you a moment to remember what’s actually true. James Bond is the most professionally dangerous person in any room he enters — and the most disarmingly charming, which is the point. He operates in a world of layers, where nothing is what it appears and every advantage is used without apology. You’ll never be bored. You’ll occasionally be furious. But when it matters — when the mission is genuinely on the line and the margin for error has collapsed to nothing — Bond is exactly the partner you want. He has survived things that have no business being survivable. He does it with style. That is not nothing.
Indiana Jones
Your partner will know the history, the language, the cultural context, and exactly why the thing everyone else is ignoring is actually the most important thing in the room. Indiana Jones is brilliant, reckless, and occasionally impossible — but he is also one of the most resourceful, most genuinely knowledgeable partners you could find yourself beside. He approaches every situation with a scholar’s eye and a brawler’s instinct, which is an unusual combination and a remarkably effective one. He hates snakes and gets personally attached to objects of historical significance, both of which will slow you down at least once. It doesn’t matter. What Indy brings is irreplaceable — and the adventures you’ll have together will be the kind people write books about. Assuming you survive them.
John McClane
Your partner was not supposed to be here. He does not have the right equipment, the right information, or anything approaching the right odds. He has a sarcastic remark and an absolute refusal to accept that the situation is as bad as it looks. John McClane is the greatest accidental hero in the history of action cinema — a man whose superpower is stubbornness, whose contingency plan is improvisation, and whose capacity to absorb punishment and keep moving would be alarming if it weren’t so useful. He will complain the entire time. He will make it significantly more chaotic than it needed to be. And he will absolutely, unconditionally, without question come through when it counts. Yippee-ki-yay.
Ethan Hunt
Your partner has already run seventeen scenarios by the time you’ve finished reading the briefing, and the plan he’s settled on involves at least two things that should be physically impossible. Ethan Hunt operates at the absolute edge of human capability — technically, physically, and intellectually — and he brings the same relentless precision to protecting his partners that he brings to dismantling organisations that shouldn’t exist. He is not easy to know and he will never fully tell you everything. But he will carry the weight of the mission so completely, so absolutely, that your job is simply to trust him — and the remarkable thing is that trusting him always turns out to be the right call. The mission will be impossible. He will complete it anyway.
‘Super Mario Odyssey’ (2017)
Mario walking around a big city in Super Mario OdysseyImage via Nintendo
Nintendo ensures games from their biggest franchises are perfect, and that is especially true for Mario, which has many games that could be on this list, like Super Mario World. Still, Super Mario Odyssey is a newer title that has the benefit of modern design and technology. The titular plumber must go on an adventure to rescue Princess Peach from Bowser, who’s holding her captive to marry her.
The platformer genre is dominated by Mario, and Super Mario Odyssey is Nintendo’s most recent 3D masterpiece. With open sandbox areas filled with items to collect, places to explore, and platforms to jump on, Mario has never been freer. The traversal mechanics were also phenomenal, with the capture system offering a wide range of opportunities, proving that the greatest video game character can still be fresh.
‘Outer Wilds’ (2019)
outer-wilds-echoes-of-the-eye-social-featuredImage via Mobius Digital
As mentioned, this list features a couple of indie games, with the next one being Outer Wilds. This experimental sci-fi title has players controlling an astronaut exploring a mysterious galaxy. Every 21 minutes, the world resets, with players needing to use what they learned during that time in their next loop, slowly uncovering the mystery of the planet and lore of its ancient race.
Progression is basically just a complicated system of locks and keys in most games, but Outer Wilds innovates with its knowledge-based progression system, which creates an intricately paced event based on each player’s actions and choices. Exploring the galaxy and learning its truths through experimental methods is a gameplay experience unlike any other, cementing Outer Wilds as one of the most imaginative titles in recent years.
‘The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time’ (1998)
The Legend of Zelda franchise is home to some of the best video games of all time, including The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Link is just a normal forest boy, but after the evil Gerudo king, Ganondorf, kidnaps Princess Zelda, the young hero must venture outside the forest and take on difficult dungeons in order to awaken the sages and save the princess.
As one of the best video game franchises, The Legend of Zelda is no stranger to perfection, but its best is undoubtedly Ocarina of Time. It introduced the Z-targeting mechanic, a feature still used today that redefined the modern era of gaming. Ocarina of Time features challenging yet rewarding and compelling dungeons along the way of an unforgettable adventure of wonder, drama, and excitement.
‘God of War’ (2018)
Kratos and Atreus standing together in God of War 2018Image via Sony Interactive Entertainment
The God of War franchise was beloved because of its adrenaline-pumping gameplay, but the 2018 reboot went in a completely different direction. After the death of his wife, Kratos sets off on a journey to scatter her ashes at the highest peak. Alongside his son, Kratos and Atreus must fight against the Norse gods who want the latter for mysterious reasons.
Right from the introduction, God of War comes out swinging, delivering a bridge of cinematic prestige and gameplay perfection. With riveting combat and inventive enemies, this acclaimed game has unfiltered action gameplay, well-designed areas that reward exploration despite being linear, and a world-renowned narrative that most agree is the best in the modern industry. God of War might just be the god of current gaming.
‘Super Metroid’ (1994)
Samus Aran face to face with giant alien monster Kraid in ‘Super Metroid’Image via Nintendo
Metroid may not be the best-selling Nintendo franchise, but it is home to some critically-acclaimed masterpieces, including Super Metroid. The space pirate Ridley has stolen an infant Metroid, prompting Samus Aran to travel to the planet Zebes in order to retrieve it. However, she must watch her back, or the creatures of the planet will overwhelm her.
The Metroidvania genre was established by two games, one being Super Metroid, which arguably perfected the formula. Boasting some of the best level design in gaming history, this seminal title invisibly guides the player without ever feeling like it’s hand-holding. Instead, the game takes players through new and familiar areas that never get boring to explore. Super Metroid keeps the gameplay flowing, using its flawless pace to create non-stop combat.
‘Portal 2’ (2011)
Portal 2Image via Valve
Valve is best known for the video game service, Steam, but they used to make some of the most engaging video games ever, such as Portal 2. Set an unknown number of years after the first game, Chell awakens again in the same facility, but this time it is worn down and abandoned. After accidentally waking up GLaDOS, Chell is forced to undergo torturous scientific challenges while trying to escape.
Taking the imaginative concept of portal guns and using intricate and well-designed puzzles to create a thought-provoking challenge is why Portal 2 is regarded as a masterpiece. It also has a co-op mode with equally engaging puzzles that challenge cooperation and synergy. On top of all of this, Portal 2 has sharp writing and witty dialogue, truly making it a flawless game in every aspect.
‘Tetris’ (1984)
Tetris – 1985Image via Tetris Holding, LLC
Most of the games on this list have some sort of narrative to give direction to the gameplay; on the other hand, Tetris is pure gameplay; there is no need for a story to get in the way. A select bag of pieces slowly falls down from the top of the screen one by one, with the player needing to arrange them in an order that doesn’t get too crowded, because when it reaches the top, the game is over.
As the oldest game on this list, Tetris has maintained its legacy perfectly because it is a game without any flaws. It may be a simple gameplay experience, but that is exactly why it is perfect. There is nothing to hinder the simple yet engaging loop, simply enjoying the tension with each new block drop. Tetris is a timeless video game that has only remained relevant because it is flawless, arguably the most perfect video game.
