The last decade of gaming has been a roller coaster of successes and failures, but amid performance issues, closures, and uncertainty surrounding AI, there have been some pretty incredible games launched in some of the biggest franchises. As nice as it is to see brand-new IPs, sometimes it is great to see longer-running series and characters still find success, especially if they have managed to come back from the brink of death.
Continuing an existing story or universe is never easy, let alone reinventing one from the ground up, but against all the odds, these franchises have been able to carry the torch high and proud. We have had sequels and spin-offs, and even a few remakes, spanning every genre from survival horror to boomer shooters, and as we look ahead to the next decade of gaming, the hope is that these franchises will continue to flourish for years to come.
To qualify, a series must have released 3 notable games/releases since 2016.
Resident Evil
Reviving The Horror Icon
Details:
- Three mainline entries, remakes, and re-releases
- Not afraid to reinvent the formula
Prior to 2016, Resident Evil had become known for campy action games, with its incredible horror titles far in the back end of its catalog. However, that all changed with RE7, which single-handedly brought the franchise back, introducing a new engine and a first-person perspective that immediately captivated and terrified longtime fans and newcomers alike.
From there, the train of success only grew stronger, with two more mainline entries that introduced even more new characters, whilst bringing back some lovable familiar faces as well. On top of the original games, we also got remakes for 2-4, DLCs, re-releases for some of the original games on Steam, and we are also getting a movie and a Code: Veronica remake, so as insane as this run has been, I don’t think it is going to be slowing down any time soon.
The Legend Of Zelda
Setting The Standard For Many Genres At Once
Details:
- Breath of the Wild introduced a whole new level to open-world gaming
- Countless other great releases from action-heavy to arcadey
Zelda has been around about as long as gaming has (or at least Nintendo’s gaming). In that time, we have seen an insane number of world-class releases that frequently top all-time best-game lists; Nintendo, in its Switch generation, showed that it is more than happy to keep pumping out bangers.
Starting with Breath of the Wild and its follow-up Tears of the Kingdom, we got to see a whole new side of Hyrule. Later on, other entries like Echoes of Wisdom and Age of Calamity slotted in perfectly with other genres, demonstrating the franchise’s absurd skill to adapt. The future also looks bright, and although we don’t know about much more than Ocarina of Time Remake, I’m sure there are so many more treats in store as we round out the 2020s.
God Of War
The King Of Carnage
Details:
- A reboot that reinvented the character
- Strong future slate
God of War was among the most beloved PlayStation franchises, but during the mid-2010s, the radio silence surrounding Kratos was almost deafening. Then, in 2018, the reboot was finally released, and the rage machine was transformed into a loving father with a far more emotional persona that many older players welcomed with open arms.
Then we got Ragnarök, the closing piece of the Norse saga, and a metroidvania, God of War: Sons of Sparta, which added some nice backstory to the now 20+-year-old IP. And, despite it only being a few years since we finished up the adventures of Kratos and Atreus, we are already getting Laufey, a show, and a remake of the original trilogy, to keep us hungry action fans sated for a few more years.
Monster Hunter
Cult Icon Turned Global Phenom
Details:
- World brought the IP into the mainstream
- Wild set new records for the series and the entire industry
Monster Hunter existed for over a decade before most Western players noticed it. World changed that overnight in 2018, streamlining the series’ notoriously deep systems without gutting them, and the DLCs that followed and the launch of Rise kept the audience growing through the next few years.
Wilds then shattered all those previous records, selling an absurd number of copies in a short time and setting an insane peak player count across all platforms, showing once again that the franchise had a huge audience outside the East. We even got Monster Hunter Stories 3 and have more content on the way, all with just as much hype and attention as any other big franchise.
DOOM
The Icon That Came Back From The Dead
Details:
- Dormant franchise brought back
- Modern visuals and gameplay that now stands as the best in the genre
DOOM may have been there at the start of the FPS revolution, yet throughout the mid-2000s, it showed no signs of sticking around. Aside from the DOOM RPGs, we saw basically nothing from the series between 2004 and 2016; fortunately, the shooter world was once again taken by storm.
DOOM, Eternal, The Dark Ages, VR, and re-releases for the classics, all in the span of 10 years; it felt like someone at iD finally woke up and decided they wanted to be the FPS king all over again. With so much competition in the genre, it is hard to stand out even remotely, yet somehow, this iconic franchise now has some of the best games out there, and I would even go as far as to say Eternal is a top three FPS of all time.
Like a Dragon / Yakuza
From Criminal Gangs To Pirate Coves
Details:
- Multiple remakes and new launches of all themes and settings
- Unafraid to break out of conventions and do its own thing.
Whether you knew it as Yakuza back in the day or are now a Like a Dragon fan, the fact remains that these past few years have been unreal for this classic role-playing franchise. The rebrand marked a dramatic shift in the series, opening the door for some pretty absurd stories and adventures in Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii and Infinite Wealth, but there was still loads of room for more series entries like The Man Who Erased His Name.
That breadth of content was further extended by remakes of the first three games, which launched alongside fresh titles that offered completely different experiences from one another, despite sharing the same universe. Now in just a few months, we are going to get our hands on Stranger Than Heaven, a cross-era epic that I think may very well top all the previous games.
Mario
Nintendo’s Flagship Just Keeps On Going
Details:
- Odyssey and Wonder both found new ideas for old-school platforming
- Continual updates and content for multiplayer launches
Mario’s been Nintendo’s mascot since 1985, but the plumber has rarely coasted on nostalgia alone. At the start of the Switch era, Odyssey served as the perfect reinvention of 3D Mario, using reality-bending power-ups that felt genuinely fresh, while spin-offs like Mario Kart 8 and Mario + Rabbids kept the character’s range on display, with no downtime in between.
Now onto the Switch 2, we have Mario Kart World, an open-world reinvention of the karting formula, and an endless stream of spin-offs from Donkey Kong Bananza to Tennis Fever. It feels like every other week I am hearing about another Mario game, which I am certainly not complaining about, and it just goes to show that old can still mean gold.
Forza
Racing That Never Gets Old
Details:
- Horizon and Motorsport continue to go strong
- High scores across the board for the later titles
Forza has always run two parallel tracks: Motorsport’s simulation-focused racing and Horizon’s open-world arcade festival. Horizon 3 and 4 built the template through the back half of the 2010s, and Horizon 5’s Mexico setting became a genuine phenomenon that arguably carried Xbox throughout its lifespan.
Motorsport did get a reboot of sorts, and was met with solid praise across the board, but it seems the focus has shifted far more towards the Horizon series, and judging by how great 6 is, it was a bold but great decision. It might be a while before we see any major launches in the series, yet we have a healthy roadmap of content to follow around Japan, to keep us happy and racing long into the future.
Final Fantasy
More Games Than You Can Count
Details:
- Remake trilogy that rounds out in 2027
- Room for new mainline releases and smaller-scale projects
Final Fantasy has more games in its history than almost any other IP, yet for all the fantastical adventures we have been on, it seems there are always more stories to be told. XV continued the mainline numbered series in 2016, and Square Enix pivoted hard afterward with XVI, both having their own incredible high points and fair criticisms, but the biggest move for the series came with the VII Remake project, which took the boldest swing of all, splitting one beloved game into three full-scale releases.
Revelation will be ending the trilogy in cinematic fashion, and I would say that the remakes have been almost universally loved by everyone who has played them. As if that weren’t enough, there have been so many other releases, like Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, and the MMO is going stronger than ever, giving every kind of Final Fantasy fan something to play all year round.
Insomniac’s Spider-Man
Web-swinging Never Looked So Good
Details:
- Translates movie magic to the gaming world
- More Marvel characters to come
Insomniac was best known for Ratchet & Clank before 2018’s Marvel’s Spider-Man turned the studio into PlayStation’s premier superhero developer. It wasn’t the first time we had seen the friendly neighborhood hero in the gaming world, but it was certainly one of the best, and later on, Miles Morales gave the series a second lead worth caring about who would show up again just a couple of years later.
Spider-Man 2 lets you swing as both Peter and Miles at once, closing on a cliffhanger involving some of the IP’s most iconic villains that should lead us nicely into the next installment. However, rather than rushing to a sequel, Insomniac is expanding the universe first, with Marvel’s Wolverine arriving this September, and a Venom game is reportedly next, meaning that even if we have to wait a little longer before Spider-Man 3, there will be several more great superhero games from the same talented dev team.
