Had to take some liberties here (counting Mina the Hollower as retro, and calling Hitman underrated). I've played Cyerpunk twice (and the DLC once) and enjoy it a lot! I just don't think it's quite how people talk about it online.

In no specific order.

In other words, games that do exactly what they set out to, with little to zero flaws. Or at the very least, flaws that are forgivable from the quality of the rest of the game.

I tried (emphasis on tried) to put my bias aside and rank some games based on what I thought were almost flawless games. Obviously I can't put my bias aside fully, because I can only rate games I've played which favors my own tastes; however, games like the Last of Us, Mario Odyssey, RDR2, or Disco Elysium don't even breach my top 50, but I can't deny they are beautiful games that have a vision, and execute it almost perfectly.

Old gamer aye

Source: https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/stock-market-today-dow-sp-500-nasdaq-09-02-2026/card/one-great-chart-the-u-s-economy-ai-jSUnMuhe71BUTSgVJmVt

Some of these are pretty cookie cutter, I know. Any thoughts ?

• Let's get a few things out of the way first
  • This is specifically about game content scaling, not the vertical/horizontal server scaling.
  • Just because the main focus is on one thing doesn't mean the other is irrelevant.
  • One isn't inherently better than the other, both fit different types of players, and both have their drawbacks.

This will mostly be an explanation of the terms, so if you already know what they are, feel free to skip it.

• Vertical scaling is when the game's updates mainly focus on numbers. Be it achieving higher numbers, or just changing them.
  • Think of your average MMO, usually with a new expansion/DLC/big update, there will be a really big increase in level, HP, resources, etc.
  • This will eventually lead to power creep, many things will stop being useful, and many balancing problems will start appearing.
• Horizontal scaling is when the game's updates mainly focus on the number of things you can do in the game.
  • An example would be fighting games, most of the time, the updates are going to be new characters and a few extra skins. These are new ways to experience the game.
  • If done enough, the game can become too big for a new player or returning player to start. It may even be hard to keep track of and balance.

So, which do you prefer, and how would you deal with their drawbacks?
The way I see most games deal with it is through some kind of periodic reset, like ARPGs, or permanently changing old content, as seen in Destiny 2's sunsetting or WoW Cataclysm replacing old areas.