The 10 Most Ambitious Video Games Ever Made

Some games improve familiar formulas, while others attempt to simulate living societies, entire planets or worlds shaped by thousands of players. These ten projects stand out for taking unusually large creative and technical risks.

Grand Theft Auto 6 may eventually become the leading example of game-making ambition, based on what is publicly known about it. Until then, these releases and long-running projects show how far developers have already pushed the medium.

That same spirit can be found in arcade design, from full-size cabinets to ambitious home projects. RETROCADE’s Arcade Blog covers more gaming and arcade industry stories.

10. Shenmue (1999)

Available on: Dreamcast

Shenmue envisioned towns populated by non-player characters with their own routines, rather than characters who remained in one place waiting for the protagonist. Its detailed world supported a long story intended to unfold over several games.

The Dreamcast launch could not deliver the complete saga. The first two entries were eventually followed by the crowdfunded Shenmue 3, but the story still stopped before its final resolution. Even so, the series left a significant mark, and one poll named it the most influential game ever made.

9. Fable (2004)

Available on: Windows PC, Xbox

Peter Molyneux, whose earlier work included Populous and Dungeon Keeper, presented Fable as a role-playing world that would respond extensively to its player.

Several announced ideas disappeared during development. Children were meant to continue a player’s adventures, and individual actions were expected to reshape the world in more complex ways. The completed game expressed morality primarily through an alignment system, including visual effects such as horns or a halo. It did not fulfil every promise, but it remained one of its era’s strongest action RPGs.

8. Daikatana (2000)

Available on: Nintendo 64, Windows PC

John Romero’s Daikatana made time travel and changing locations central to its design. The sword carries players through settings including ancient Greece, a future San Francisco and a later version of Japan.

The project pursued bigger stages, larger enemy encounters and more detailed visuals than its production could easily sustain. Staff departures, delays and damaging press coverage complicated development. The finished game fell far short of its intended scale and became associated with a failure serious enough to threaten a studio. Ion Storm later recovered with the considerably more successful Deus Ex.

7. No Man’s Sky (2016)

Available on: Windows PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Switch 2, Xbox One, Xbox Series X

Hello Games was previously known for the motorcycle-stunt titles Joe Danger. Its next project expanded dramatically, launching with an entire universe for players to explore despite coming from a relatively small team.

The initial release disappointed many players and critics because promised features were missing. Hello Games responded through extensive updates, steadily expanding the game until it more closely matched the scale and variety audiences had expected.

6. L.A. Noire (2011)

Available on: PS3, Xbox 360

Development on L.A. Noire began in 2004, with facial performance at the centre of its technical ambition. The game pursued subtle expressions and believable emotional reactions rather than avoiding the difficult problem of the uncanny valley.

Its carefully recreated Los Angeles added to the project’s scope, but the facial models and character performances were the clearest breakthrough. They established a new benchmark for expressive faces in story-driven games.

5. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017)

Available on: Switch, Switch 2, Wii U

Breath of the Wild returned The Legend of Zelda to the open-world character of its earliest adventures. Mountains, caves and distant landmarks were presented as places to visit, not merely scenery.

Link could knock apples from trees, cook over an open fire, hunt wildlife, swim, climb and hike across the landscape. Its physics systems gave many puzzles multiple possible solutions. Nintendo delivered that broad, experimental world on hardware weaker than its main competitors, making the achievement even more notable.

4. Baldur’s Gate 3 (2023)

Available on: PS5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X

Digital role-playing games try to reproduce the freedom of a tabletop campaign, but developers must still build the places, characters and responses players can encounter. Baldur’s Gate 3 came unusually close to making that freedom feel genuine.

Choices have lasting effects, and characters can be romanced, killed or ignored without stopping the wider adventure. Major scripted moments remain, yet the game reacts with enough flexibility to resemble a campaign guided by a highly capable virtual dungeon master. It is the kind of shared experience that suits a properly planned arcade machine setup.

3. EVE Online (2003)

Available on: Mac, Windows PC

For more than two decades, EVE Online has maintained a persistent universe shaped by its players. Freight transport, alliances, factions, piracy and enforcement all operate within a system that permits cooperation as readily as betrayal.

Players may rob one another, while major space battles can involve thousands of participants. That scale can create problems for the people playing, but it also explains the game’s enduring appeal: its economy, conflicts and history develop through the actions of real players.

2. Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020)

Available on: Windows PC, Xbox Series X

The Microsoft Flight Simulator series is older than Windows, but the 2020 edition is its most expansive achievement. Asobo Studio combines Bing Maps data with weather modelling and flight physics to represent real-world regions.

Instead of limiting pilots to a handful of carefully designed locations, the simulator makes the whole planet its play area. Its emphasis on scale and believable systems has much in common with the design challenge behind a convincing racing simulator.

1. Star Citizen (TBA)

Available on: Windows PC

Led by Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts, Star Citizen aims to combine space trading, combat and several other genres in a persistent universe where each player can follow an individual path.

The project still has no official release more than a decade after its Kickstarter campaign concluded in 2012. Crowdfunding and microtransaction revenue from early-access players has exceeded $1 billion, funding hundreds of employees working on the game. Starter packs are offered, and limited free events sometimes allow people to try it.

A full release may not arrive until 2027 or 2028, or later, for players who have invested less in the project. Its lengthy journey towards completion is itself one of the most extraordinary parts of the story.

Why these games stand out

Ambition takes different forms: living populations, reactive morality, planetary scale, huge online battles and decisions that reshape a campaign. Some of these games delivered their original goals, while others changed substantially during development. Each nevertheless attempted to move beyond the boundaries of its era.

For readers planning an ambitious home gaming project, RETROCADE also offers DIY arcade kits and arcade and virtual pinball plans.