Prey, System Shock 2, Outer Wilds, and Undertale are fully-realized microcosms where the primary game is unfolding the complex origami of the setting. All of them absolutely beautiful to experience.

Sekiro

Few games have such tight game design, story, lore, and characters blended so well into a single experience.

I don't think I even want or need a sequel.

Sid Meier's Pirates.

Either version.

Super Metroid

S tier

• Lufia
• Dragon Warrior 3
• Final Fantasy 3 & 7
• Sonic Adventure
• The Guardian Legend
• Ecco the Dolphin
• Silent Hill
• Mario Kart
• Dark Cloud 2
• Chronotrigger
• Zelda: A link to the past
• Submachine (flash)

A tier

• Oddworld, Abe’s Odyssey
• Resident Evil: codename Veronica
• Banjo Kazooie
• Mario RPG
• Donkey Kong Country
• Earthworm Jim
• Battletoads
• Wizards and Warriors 2
• Megaman 2
• Populous
• One Chance (flash)
• Daymare Town (flash)
• Abadox - hardest game I ever beat

B tier

• The Lion King
• Overlord
• Oregon Trail
• Dinopark Tycoon
• Snowboard Kids
• South Park
• Kid Icarus
• Sweet Home
• Monster Party
• Dr Mario
• Abobo’s Big Adventure (flash)
• Alice is Dead Ep 1 (flash)
• Starfox
• Shadowgate

Immersive sims: Prey, Dishonored, Deus Ex

Story-driven: The Last of Us, Horizon Zero Dawn, Halo, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Uncharted, HL2, Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, Splinter Shock, The Walking Dead

Platformer: Braid, Ori and the Blind Forest, Mario 64, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Limbo

Action/roguelike: Bastion, Hades

RPG: Fallout: New Vegas, Mass Effect

Puzzle: Lumines, Puzzle Quest, World of Goo, You Must Build a Boat, Reigns, Threes, Meteos

Other: Desert Golfing

We’re including mobile games too, right?

Monument Valley

Half-life 3 Mario 69 Pokemon Asbestos Super Smash Bros Bawl (if you ban Metaknight)

Super Hexagon

It's about as simple as a 'modern' game can be (I read there was even a port of it to Commodore 64.) but it's a finely tuned machine. When you lose - and you will, a lot - it feels like mostly your own fault and not the game's.

The difficulty levels very accurately start at Hard for the easiest one. There are 6 total levels, the next 5 difficulties are Harder, Hardest, Hardester, Hardestest, and Hardestestest.

With much time and luck I can beat the first level (unlocking the 4th). On a lost save I had unlocked the 5th level by completing the 2nd, and have only ever seen the 6th in videos from other people. I would have to beat the 3rd to see it myself, and that's not happening.

The criteria to beat a level is "last for 60 seconds".

Braid. Surprised that it wasn't mentioned yet

I didn’t see these listed so I’m dropping some objective masterpieces here:

• Persona 5 Royal
• Golden Sun
• Golden Sun: The Lost Age
• Horizon Zero Dawn

Edit: Added HZD as I didn’t see it while scrolling through this post.

Nethack

Half-Life 2, both Psychonauts games, the Arkham series

Hollow Knight is peak

Chromehounds was the greatest mech game on shitbox 360 and you can't change my mind.

The sheer variety in player created metas was glorious to behold. Sure, you could play how the game encouraged you to play and hang your weapons in "normal" configurations. But you could also bury whole teams in indirect fire with a triple double from across the map. You could build a little punchy boi buggy with a dick piston, cockpit, wheels, and nothing else. You could even try to sweat the meta in the chicken leg howitzer or the turtle up in the armored crab.

The only limits were creativity and spacer availability lmfaooo

Minesweeper.

Simple, endlessly playable.

• Sonic the Hedgehog ( Genesis/Mega Drive )

• Chuzzle Deluxe

• Borderlands

• Baba Is You

Those would be some picks I would say are objective masterpieces, but that's subjective, I guess.