PlayStation is one of the biggest video game brands ever. It came onto the scene in the mid-'90s and challenged the likes of Nintendo, Sega, and Atari in the console market. It has outlasted two of them and continues to battle with Nintendo and Xbox to this day. One of the main reasons it has always held its own is its vast library of impressive games.

Many famous gaming series have initially debuted on PlayStation consoles, and some have even remained exclusive to that particular family of systems. Some of these titles have significantly impacted the video game industry. The following ones are the most influential, overall.

Grand Theft Auto 3 didn't invent the concept of an open world, but it sometimes feels like it did. This is because the game is so influential to modern-day open-world games. The large, immersive 3D worlds you see today that are filled with civilians and vehicles primarily exist because of GTA 3.

This is certainly true for games set in cities, such as Saints Row, Mafia, and even Cyberpunk. These sorts of open worlds didn't exist before Grand Theft Auto 3 came onto the scene, which is why many are branded GTA clones.

Over the years, the gaming world has seen plenty of action-adventure games that star a witty protagonist with impressive climbing abilities. The likes of Uncharted and Assassin's Creed come to mind straight away when thinking about these sorts of games.

However, the original Tomb Raider was the game that really started this trend. It was also one of the pioneers of third-person shooting and even 3D environments. Plus, there weren't many live-action video game movie adaptations before Lara Croft: Tomb Raider was released in 2001. So, the game influenced plenty of things.

The phrase "survival horror" originated as a marketing term for the original Resident Evil game. The fact that the term has stuck around since shows RE's impact. While many of the game's mechanics originated in other titles, Resident Evil perfected their use and ultimately popularized them. The game's success led to the release of many more horror games and the creation of survival horror as a major genre.

In addition, it can't be overlooked how much the game did for the PlayStation brand in general. The original PlayStation console was only released in the US a year before Resident Evil's release, so it was one of the first games on the platform to be incredibly successful. The fact that it was released on the console several months before other systems gave the PlayStation version extra attention.

Multiplayer shooters have been beloved for many years now. While you can't say that Call of Duty 4 is the sole reason for that, it certainly contributed.

The game really helped PvP online shooters become a much bigger deal, especially for PlayStation users who didn't have access to the likes of Halo and Quake. In fact, you could argue that it was the first big multiplayer game for PlayStation fans. It also helped Call of Duty become a giant franchise and showed the gaming world that shooters could be set in modern times instead of the past or future.

PlayStation fans got to experience the Soulslike genre before anyone else. This is because its core elements are featured in Demon's Souls, which was a PS3 exclusive.

Its spiritual successor, Dark Souls, established this type of game as its own genre, but Demon's Souls established this type of game in the first place. Many titles since, such as Elden Ring, Bloodborne, Nioh, The Surge, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and more, have included gameplay elements that either originated or were popularized by Demon's Souls.

It's rare for the seventh game in a series to be the most important, but it was the case for Final Fantasy. Not only is it one of the best in the series, but it was the one that made Final Fantasy a lot more popular. In turn, it also made JRPGs a lot more popular in the West.

Prior to its release, console RPGs, particularly JRPGs, generally struggled outside of Japan. Yet, FF7 proved that these types of games can have mass appeal. Nowadays, the genre does far better in the West, with games like Persona 5 having huge success outside of Japan.

Resident Evil is a unique series because it has had a huge impact on two genres. The early games popularized survival horror, while Resident Evil 4 helped revolutionize third-person shooters. Its over-the-shoulder, off-center camera angle became the norm for the genre after RE4. Before it, most third-person shooters had your character standing in the middle of the screen, typically with the camera zoomed out a bit, like GTA 3 and Tomb Raider.

The advantage of the over-the-shoulder view is that it moves your character out of the way and creates more space in the middle of the screen, giving you a better chance of seeing everything. The likes of Gears of War and Helldivers 2 use this viewpoint.

There's a reason many consider Metal Gear Solid the quintessential stealth series. The first game really helped popularize the idea of sneaking around enemies instead of fighting them. Its success led to the release of many more stealth games and the inclusion of stealth elements in traditionally non-sneaky games. Even Call of Duty games these days have stealth sections, which may not have been the case if MGS hadn't made sneaking around cool.

That isn't the only impact the game had, though. It was also a pioneer of cinematic storytelling, particularly with its use of long cutscenes. Metal Gear Solid was one of the first games to feel a bit like a movie, not only because of the inclusion of cinematics but also because of the way the scenes were shot and framed.