There are hundreds of all-time classic video games out there, but how many of those classics belong in perfect trilogies (or any perfect three-game runs)?The Witcher 3is one of the greats, but it had a rather middling start with the original game. The originalDevil May Crytrilogy has one of the worst games in existence making the bridge between two truly phenomenal entries.Mass Effect 3crashed and burned while attempting to land after the two best sci-fi RPGs of all time. TheDead Spacetrilogy? Oh dear.
Miracles aren’t a rare occurrence in the video game world, but the consistency to keep on capturing that lightning in different bottles sure is. Let’s look at the few series capable of proving that it was never just a fluke for them. Let’s look at the best three-game runs ever pulled off.
The original Halo trilogy
The originalHalotrilogy isn’t just a collection of three excellent games — it also shows that three “perfect” games can still somehow evolve further — under the right direction.Halo: Combat Evolveddid what no other shooter had done before it. It invited vehicles to the action, made the game larger than ever before, set a new standard for weapon loadouts, and even made First Person Shooter games no longer feel like an afterthought.
Halo 2greatly capitalized on the original’s multiplayer capabilities and, to cap it all off,Halo 3improved upon what both previous entries did best and gave us an excellent ending to the game’s storyline. We may never get an FPS trilogy quite as impressive as this one, but Valve is more than welcome to try.
Bloodborne, Sekiro, Elden Ring
I had a hard time not placing the originalDark Soulstrilogy here instead, but I’d be lying if I were to sayDark Souls 2is on par with the other games there. Still, the breadcrumbs led me to the important realization that, despite its many shortcomings,Dark Souls 2was instrumental in the creation of one of FromSoft’s best titles, a title that actually does reside inside a perfect three-game run.
You could argue thatBloodborne-Sekiro-Elden Ringis not a real trilogy — or even a same-series run — as it’s not united by a plot thread. But you’re able to’t deny them being united byFromSoft’s unique and beautiful vision.There’s a reason why we call them Soulsborne titles, right?
This trilogy rules not because they’re repeatingDark Souls’greatest hits, but because it’s taking risks at tinkering with its most beloved parts — and it somehow always pulls it off. Bloodborne straight-up forces defensive players to unleash thedodge-based speed runnerin them.Sekirodoesn’t let players rely on one single mechanic to avoid enemy damage, as they have to choose wisely between dodging, parrying, and jumping over enemy attacks — and it even brings back the beloved stealth mechanics from the classicTenchu.Then, to cap it all off beautifully, you haveElden Ring, whichdares to fix the mistakes made byDark Souls 2and ends up giving players what’s arguably the bestDark Soulsexperience to date.
The original Silent Hill trilogy
I don’t think it’s hard to understand why someone would put the two first entries ofSilent Hillhere, especially if you’ve been gaming since the originalResident Evilcame out. The originalResident Evilis great, but it’s incredibly campy. The camp perhaps works as a great breather for more susceptible players, but it just won’t do for hardened horror fans.
Silent Hillchanged the world of horror games by inviting players to a world of psychological horror that never took time off from haunting them. The second game is even better, as the graphical leap is accompanied by a comparable leap in narrative quality. The third Silent Hill game is a more divisive title, as many deride it as a step back, but it really isn’t. While Silent Hill 3 doesn’t feature the narrative highs of Silent Hill 2, it’s still the best-looking game in the history of the PS2, as well as one that has enjoyed a very well-deserved positive cultural reappraisal on its portrayal of the truehorrors of womanhood.
Zelda Ocarina Of Time, Majora’s Mask, Wind Waker
Ocarina Of Timehas enjoyed the title of the greatest game ever made in the minds of millions of gamers ever since it came out, which likely put the devs at Nintendo under pressure to make the next game in the series another hit. Wisely, they decided not to fry their minds by attempting to make something better, but by making somethingdifferent.
Majora’s Maskgoes for a very peculiar campaign style where players are tasked not with enjoying the amazing world, but with racing against the clock to save it — and it works. Moreover,Majora’s Maskis sometimes downright creepy, which proves the devs weren’t afraid of taking risks. Even thoughMajora’s Maskwasn’t as well-loved asOcarinaupon release, so many have since grown to understand its greatness.
Later we gotWind Waker, which proved the biggest departure in terms of looks, but actually fell well within line with Nintendo’s experimental design philosophy. Once again,Wind Wakertook some time to win the hearts of players, but it remains one of the most funZeldatitles ever made, and you just cannot ignore its contributions to open-world exploration titles.
Final Fantasy 7, 8, 9
It’s hard to find a better microcosm of whatFinal Fantasyis at its best — and other series should attempt to be — thanFinal Fantasy’sPS1 run.
Final Fantasy VIIcompletely changed what people thought an RPG should look like. Gone was the medieval setting and the 2d graphics.Final Fantasy VIIwas a perfect poster child for the PS1’s potential to surprise, but it didn’t show the console’s true graphical potential. That’s whereFinal Fantasy VIIIcame in, which outdidFinal Fantasy VIIin the graphical and artistical sense to come up with one of the most beautiful looking — and sounding — worlds in the history of gaming. Its plot and gameplay didn’t originallyget as much praise as its looks, but that’s oftentimes the price of coming up with something new. Luckily,VIIIhas been enjoying a lot of highly positive critical reappraisal from the people who were possibly too young to value its merits when they first experienced it. And, if that still doesn’t do it for you, you can always enjoyFinal Fantasy IX,a magnificent love letter to the most beloved elements of the series in the shape of an original game.
Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, IV, V
I totally get why someone reading this might get puzzled that I didn’t just go withGTA 3, Vice City, and San Andreas.That’s because I just cannot ignore the spectacular additions brought byGTAIVandV,and becauseSan Andreasalready sums up pretty well what the PS2GTAtrilogy did.San Andreasis peak PS2GTA, as it gives you more to do than any of the previous games. It even features what is easily the best and most original plot for aGTAgame up until then.
ThoughGTA IIIdeserves all the credit for completely changing the gaming landscape,GTA IVis an even better Liberty City story, with a more mature tone and attention to detail and gameplay mechanics we didn’t even see in the sequel. As forGTA V, it’s a no-brainer to add one of the most fun, largest, and definitely most successful games in the history of the medium.
Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3, Resident Evil 4
Again, I could’ve just gone with the first three games in the series, call it an entry, and no one would be bothered. Still, I believe the series deserves more thought to be put into it.Resident Evil 3tends to get less love than the previous two games in the series, but I find the addition of Nemesis — both an awesome character and mechanic — to help it rise above the original.
Don’t get me wrong;Resident Evil 1deserves all the credit for kickstarting the survival horror craze, butResident Evil 4— whether or not you like the more action-oriented take on the series — is a much better game, and one that aged much better. As forResident Evil 2, well, that is the best game in the original format of the series and remains one of the best sequels of all time.
Gran Turismo 1, 2, 3
The originalGran Turismois the highest-selling PS1 title for a reason. It managed to beat all competition on both the arcade and simulation fronts.Gran Turismo2just continued the trend by featuring 650 cars, a completely unbelievable figure at the time.
The image above doesn’t look all that impressive nowadays, but pretty much everyGT3screenshot looked impossibly good back in 2000. Racing games got much more realistic-looking since then, but I doubt any screenshot ever had such an impact on racing fans as these did. AndGran Turismo3didn’t just look good, it also played better than anything that came before it. Boot it up, even nowadays, and you’re likely to still have a blast.
God of War 2, 3, and God Of War
For the originalGOWtrilogy, Sony presented a very compelling case of “don’t fix what isn’t broken.”
The originalGod Of Warmade playing a villain way more fun than it should be, and it totally deserved to be on this list just for getting the ball running. The graphics looked impossible for the PS2 hardware, and the gameplay felt just as good — if not better — thanDevil May Cry’s.God Of War 2didn’t really break new ground, but it’s the one I’m putting here because it improved on just about everything that made the original special.God Of War 3then benefitted from the generational jump to the PS3 to deliver one of the best-looking games of its time. After this, Sony went in a completely different direction to create the series’ amazingGod Of Warsoft reboot. The result is a game that does the father-and-child even better thanLast Of Us. It also featured some of the best graphics from its generation, naturally.
The Original Metal Gear Solid trilogy
Some of the perfect trilogies on this list have achieved that distinction simply by improving upon the previous game’s strengths and fixing their flaws. That’s absolutely not what happens here. Every single game in the OGMGStrilogy is wildly different from the other two in any metric you’re able to think of — except for storyline wackiness, maybe.
The originalMetal Gear Solidintroduced various fresh mechanics, an incredibly complex storyline, made stealth gameplay a mainstay, and even proved games can be as cinematically entertaining as Hollywood movies.Metal Gear Solid2introduced one of the most stunning graphical leaps ever seen, and doubled-down on the incredibly complex storyline.
One could argue Kojima went too far with some of the plot elements on that one, butMGS 2provided social commentary that proved incredibly prescient, so we gotta give that one a pass. On the surface,Metal Gear Solid 3went for a more back-to-basics approach, but it really was the most mechanically complex game in the trilogy, and the one that many believe to be the best in the entire series.
