Zelda: Breath Of The Wild Tops Another 'Greatest Games' List

I don't disagree

Still making my way through TOTK and while it's an excellent game, just can't beat that first-time feeling.

No xenoblade on the list.

The results cannot be trusted.

This tracks. While I can't deny how impressed I was with ToTK scope, physics, etc., it was a bit expected coming from BoTW as a base. The sheer shock and awe of BoTW on release will be difficult to replicate going forward. It was such a shift in direction and leap in performance.

My top choice is always Dance Dance Revolution.
This year is 25th anniversary of Dance Dance Revolution.

Just came to make sure that Half-Life 2 was in the top 10. Phenomenal game. Portal as well.

moronic list many epic games were not even on the list...

Resident Evil 4 is number 1 and it's not even close.

(Love BotW)

Much preferred to TofK for me.

my all time top ten off the dome (and i cheated)

1. ocarina + majoras mask
2. fzero, fzero x + fzero gx
3. metal gear solid 1-4
4. suikoden 1 + 3 (I have yet to get into 2)
5. street fighter II turbo
6. ikaruga
7. r type 3
8. melee
9. xenogears
10. gitaroo man
(f*** it this is impossible)
11. sotn
12. something mario

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

i also think i prefer botw to totk, to the extent that i just consider totk a sort of new game+ of botw.

i always prefer the first time through to the new game+, but importantly:

i always VERY MUCH appreciate new game + as essentially the most generous gift a developer can give us, and from my perspective TOTK is the best new game + in the history of gaming

and its NG+ for probably the best game ive played in 20 years (but it still doesnt break the top "10" 😆)

The best of the single-word abbreviations of Zelda titles.

One
Two
Ocarina
Twilight
Skyward
Tears
BRETTADEWAHH

It hasn't left my brain, just like when I saw the word 'Splatoon' for the first time I couldn't stop saying it in a Jim Ross voice. Still can't!

I‘ve got 7 of the top 10 on my Switch. Still hoping for HL2 coming to Switch and ER to Switch 2. And for Halo: Phil, please 🥺

@Matl Unfortunately Xeno is just too niche of a series, but I would totally include it on my personal list. However not including things like Super Smash Bros, Kirby, or Animal Crossing, Undertale/Deltarune, and many more makes me seriously question the integrity of that list.

I've no real opinion on BOTW vs TOTK I don't really think either of the games was personally for me, though they are obviously quality games and I'm happy so many people enjoy them. I just much prefer the smaller and more linear Zeldas, Links Awakening being one of my absolute favourite games of any series or genre.

These lists are always highly subjective of course, but seeing Mario 64 as high as #3 makes me smile. Nice mix of modern and classic titles covered, about half of which would be contenders for my own top 100.

The entire list is invalid though because my #1, (Nights!) didn't even make it into the top 100. 😤 Also no ACNH, DK '94, not a single Sonic. What is the world coming to?

I think the full list is pretty heavily weighted towards recent releases but that's always the way. Nice to see Deus Ex in there though. I had so much fun with that when I played it, absolutely feel in love with his it just set up the world, gave you various different tools to exploit it and then let you unleash your creativity. My favourite thing was sticking a proximity mine next to an alarm panel then spooking a guard so he ran for the alarm. Smarter enemies would spot the mine and find another alarm to use. I was delighted when I discovered that if you dropped a potted plant in front of the mine they wouldn't see it. With hilarious results.
I am a little disappointed that none of the first three Splinter Cell games made the list though. Those are stone cold classics and deserve to be remembered.

Tons of good games on the list!
I'm happy to see Advance Wars place, even though AW2 is the better game by far. Pokemon Red/Blue of course deserves its spot for championing a new era of pop culture...but again, it's surpassed by its own sequel, and especially that sequel's remake: HG has the special split and the move type change (crazy to think all fire type moves used to be special), in addition to held items, online, and everything else that changed in the intervening years, that make it much more playable and many more Pokemon viable.

Not that I envy anyone trying to balance legacy, impact and quality across infinitely different genres. Fun to peruse, anyway!

No Sonic Adventure?

Wow, this list sucks.

Man, it's awful seeing something that massively disappointed you being almost universally loved by everyone else, especially when it has effectively replaced the thing you loved. I mean sure, everyone is going to have their own tastes, but when you have what you think is a generally agreed upon checklist of criteria for what makes a good entry in a series, and then a game that fails to tick a single box is met with unprecedented praise and popularity, it's just really disheartening.

Pretty solid list. C'mon tho for being UK based I'd thought they fit Xenoblade Chronicles 1 somewhere in there. Bayonetta mention so hell yeah. Congrats to BoTW.

WTF happened to Halo man that series was the staple of first person shooters back then. I remember seeing long lines for Halo 3 on the news. Couch Co-op just hasn't been the same since.

Makes sense BOTW got 1st. Still I prefer TOTK but neither of those should hold the greatest game of all time title. Ocarina should. It not being at 1st is a crime.

Also where the heck is Pikmin, F-Zero X/GX and Rayman Legends?

Great to see Slay the Spire on the list, its got better with age ☺️

BOTW considering how innovative the game was that lead to TOTK is remarkable in itself.

@Ooyah Didn't you notice that the list is for the best video games of the last 30 years? That's why they didn't include oldies, and games like Bubble Bobble, Rainbow Islands or Secret of Monkey Island 2 weren't eligible.

The whole top 100 list is off for me. Lots of amazing games not in it and the order is totally different to my own tastes.

However, Breath of the Wild probably is the best game of all time. In my humble opinion.

Nintendo should be proud of having three of the top four games, including the top spot.

My favourite games of all times are for sure the Bayonetta games. Alltogether. BotW is for sure top 10, Hollow Knight and Super Mario Galaxy 1/2 as well, Tetris, MK8 and Hyrule Warriors DE.

No Kirby games made it? ):

For Zelda games, it goes 1) WW, 2) OoT, 3) TP for me.. BotW's weapon system was far too unforgiving and it lacks the 'innocence' which the other games have if that makes any sense.

No Secret of Monkey Island? Wing Commander? TIE Fighter? Ultima VII? That list is not real.

I think it's a pretty great list except no Pikmin or Batman: Arkham. Here's my list:
10. RDR2
9. UNCHARTED 2
8. FE3H
7. TOTK
6. Batman Arkham Asylum
5. Elden Ring
4. Super Mario Odyssey
3. Pikmin 4
2. Batman: Arkham City
1. BOTW

Still the better game than totk.

@Axecon
The fact that a niche series like Persona was included yet not Xenoblade really makes me question just how many JRPGs they play. Especially with Persona 5 ranking near the bottom.

@JR150 This is a poll of the readers of EDGE magazine, a UK based publication. I imagine the results would look different if the poll were run by, say, Famitsu instead.

Persona and Xenoblade would probably get a boost but Halo, Half Life and DOOM would almost definitely slide out of the Top 10 (perhaps even the Top 100).

There’s no real definitive version is this list, but we do at least now know a little more about the tastes of EDGE’s readership.

As for Persona vs. Xenoblade, it seems a little strange to call the former niche but not the latter. Looking at the sales of the most recent games in their series, Persona 5 (including the Royal version) has sold 7.2 million while Xenoblade 3 has sold 1.86 million. If those figures are accurate, P5 has sold almost four times as many copies at X3. Of course, Persona 5 has had multiple releases across multiple platforms, but the fact that it has warranted such treatment goes to show that… it’s not really that niche!

@Runo It’s still a Japanese-developed game, I only know like 2 people IRL that have played it. I haven’t met anyone that doesn’t think the voice acting is cringey beyond belief.

Suprised no one on here went for the 'but EDGE gave Skyward Sword a ten...' argument. Well done, guys.

@Anti-Matter
I saw that an official DDR Mini console was announced on a Japanese crowdfunding site this week, and I thought of you. 😁
It looked like a cool little device to me. Have you seen it already?
https://www.timeextension.com/news/2023/10/zuiki-officially-unveils-the-dance-dance-revolution-classic-mini-in-japan

@Teksetter
Oooh...
DDR Mini?? 😃

People at resetera saying "TotK is an improvement of BotW" couldn't be more wrong. I've made several lists with a case of how BotW does almost every basic thing better than TotK. BotW is not better simply because it was released first- it's better as a game

@Cia I reckon TOTK has better 'videogamey' mechanics due to its unbridled creativity but it loses out when it comes to the wonder of exploration.

BOTW was the first real open world videogame where you'd just see something on the horizon and then just walk towards it. There are no barriers to exploration and no dots on a map to mop up. You as the player have to find everything and it's wonderful because of it.

So many titles in this list are (also) in some form on Switch! Especially in the top 40 (PlayStation exclusives are mainly in the section 61-100).
@NintendoLife: Would you please make an analysis of which of the top 100 are in fact available on Switch? Thank you!

I still need to get around to playing this. I didn't really get into it the first time I played. I have downloaded on my switch.

Can we look at the bigger picture?

Nine years ago Nintendo was on the ropes. The future of the company, the future of its creative work was seriously questioned.

Now, we debate which switch game should be the greatest of all time.

I am so happy to be a gamer these past 7.5 years.

Good list overall. TotK and BotW would be my personal #1 and 2(respectively) overall, but I understand why BotW is still #1 since it was more groundbreaking. But yeah, overall a good list that I can get behind.

However, No Super Mario World or a single Donkey Kong Country game is pretty surprising. I also think Persona 4 Golden, SMT IV and at least one Xenoblade game deserve to be here, but that's just me personally.

IM SO PROUD!! My boy Outer Wilds made top 20 beating Skyrim, Red Dead 2, Witcher 3, proud gamer moment, my favourite indie game made top 20!!

@Matl Xenoblade isn't bad but it's not a contender for "greatest game". It's definitely down to opinion, but considering the entire Xenoblade franchise has sold less copies than Monster Hunter Rise, I'm going to say that your opinion is in very low minority.

@echoplex actually no, a lot felt like you did, in my opinion if you've already played BOTW, then you've already experienced roughly 70% of what TOTK offers.

I got bored after 10-15 hours, literally felt like BOTW DLC, it did NOT help that i went back to BOTW for a bit in preparation for Tears, that was a HUGE mistake because it really highlighted how little they actually added to the game.

I have no idea how this game took 6 years to make when it's around 70% reused assets.

At least the better of the 2 open world titles is at the top, but TotK still shouldn't be on there. Overall though a great list of games! Not a single GTA or CoD in sight, and, the ONLY good Halo title! Well, at least in the top 10. I'd hate to see The Witcher 3 or Skyrim on the list if I actually look because then all faith will be lost.

@dugan I was happy to be a gamer when Nintendo was, "on the ropes", because they still made fantastic games and a lot of them are on Switch now too. Never be a fairweather fan, just be a fan.

I don't even know what to say about this list.

At the first glance you see that there are great entries

But then you see that the order was set by a random number generator

Skyrim being above Morrowind was my favorite joke of this one until someone pointed out that there is no Xenoblade Chronicles game.

Wait I see the last of us as no 15 above Morrowind and... Okami is not on the list

out of so many joke/troll lists, this one is one of my favorites

@Reztobi Just because xenoblade isn't the most popular series shouldn't exclude any of the titles from being a contender for a top 100 game.

Hell, if we want to play the sales game then why the hell is advance wars on the list? It didn't even reach a million sales, which all the xenoblades on switch have passed by a large margin.

@RobynAlecksys absolutely! Good point!

@Maxz too rational. That’s not the way the comment section works… 😃

@Reztobi
TotK has at least 3 times the landmass of BotW when you count all the sky islands, caves, wells and the Depths together. And of course there are changes on the surface, all new story, all new shrines (152 of them), all new quests, all new dungeons, all new mechanics, bosses, etc... saying that BotW is 70% of TotK is the most false thing I've heard.

Then again, if you only played 10- 15 hours you must've barely gotten out of the tutorial area which can easily take 10 hours first time.

@Cia i said i got bored after 10-15, i played about 40 hours.

People trying to claim this isn't over priced DLC sold as a full game to fleece Nintendo gamers because Nintendo have been fleecing Nintendo gamers for the past 7 years, are taking strong doses of copium.

Couple of comments

1. Edge did something like this back in 2017 entitled The 100 Best Video-games You Can Play Today. That included Xenoblade Chronicles for those interested.

2. I would pick BOTW over TOTK too. The sense of freedom and endless possibilities is impossible to beat and not really matched in TOTK in the same way, even though its bigger in size. I don't agree that TOTK is just dlc though. Very unfair comment.

anyone else enjoy botw more than totk? Idk y totk doesent feel as good to play

@Cia it's funny to me that people aren't getting up in arms about Spiderman 2 having the same exact city, just expanded. Or how the Yakuza games did that about 20 times or so.
Spiderman 2 is just DLC...