How Modern Gaming Changed Culture and Memes

As gaming has become more mainstream and beloved, the pool of titles has become unimaginably big; it's hard to fathom, but Steam's library grows by thousands every month. A few of them have become classics that many gamers reference, or even memes that some repeat without knowing.

I thought I'd make a list of titles that seem to have affected culture and memes in such a deep way that they escaped the bubbles of their community into the wider sphere. Without further ado, here they are!

Left 4 Dead, Portal, Half-Life, and Team Fortress 2

Valve has become a behemoth in the industry and a true home for many of us, so it only feels fair to begin with their titles. Although some of us were already gamers by the time we came across Steam, it may have truly kick-started the love for the industry… at least, that's how it went for my wife and me, who arrived a bit late (and are still trying to catch up to this day).

But regardless of whether you started on Steam or simply arrived to it, you've surely crossed paths with one of Valve's many own games. I decided to bulk them up together because, while they're all incredible titles, I'd wager most players gravitate to one first. It just makes you "extra" "true gamer" if you've played them all.

This isn't me buttering up our papa, Gabe Newell: Left 4 Dead, Portal, Half-Life, and Team Fortress 2 have all spawned memes and references. Who could forget the numerous wacky videos with characters from these titles, or the hilariously accurate joke about Valve's inability to release third entries? For those of us who got into Portal, we also carry the wounds of GLaDOS' ego beatings. I still occasionally quote the poor little Sentries… are you still there?

No matter what, I'm willing to wager most "real gamers" have come across these titles. I find it interesting that they all seem to create cliques: Left 4 Dead is the dopamine-seeking action-addicted gamers, Portal attracts the brainiacs, Half-Life the conspiracy theorists and self-proclaimed intellectuals, and Team Fortress… well, we don't talk about them. They're the reason this exists… and I still have nightmares with it.

DARK SOULS

I knew about FromSoftware's games before I really knew about them. My first few encounters with their titles were from memes (that sometimes went over my head because I was so new at gaming) and terrifying clips. One of them lives rent-free in my mind, and I'm haunted by the idea of stumbling onto a similar situation when I inevitably consume all their releases.

I wouldn't say most gamers have actually played a soulslike; on the contrary, I think a lot of people fear they'll suck at it, so they avoid them. I was like that too, until I tried Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice at my wife's behest with a simple compromise: if I wanted to stop, we would immediately. It turns out that I never did, and even though I kept saying "This is probably where I fail" before every boss, I made it to Isshin.

Now, while thinking about this article, I was surprised at how many examples of references and memes I could remember for DARK SOULS. Maybe the best copium for soulslike fans is humour because you can't tell me you haven't seen any of the "You Died" memes, death compilation videos, or — my favourite and possibly the most controversial one — the dreaded "git gud".

I was fascinated when I learned that there's an etiquette in PvP, and that most (not all, because there will always be one maladjusted tryhard who takes games too seriously) players mean well by "git gud"; it's a joke, and a little bit of encouragement. We've all been there, and we're all proud of you for trying; welcome to the soulslike genre… except that guy who takes it too far; go back to Call of Duty.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

I don't think it's far-fetched to say that most players have begun but never finished Skyrim; a few have actually managed to beat it. This massive open-world RPG title is the type that splits the community in two: those who have thousands of hours on it, and those who have hundreds but never see the end. Heck, my playtime reaches over 70, and I don't think I've reached mid-game in any of the saves.

While it's hard to go years without finding a game that references The Legend of Zelda ("it's dangerous to go alone; take this!") or Super Mario Bros (the wrongly-quoted "your princess is in another castle"), I was surprised to see how many new titles also sneak Skyrim's "then I took an arrow in the knee". Perhaps more shocking than seeing a newish game be referenced is that I immediately recognised it, as if real life glitched and we were all suddenly privy to that one line from that one guard. The poor man wasn't even joking, yet he somehow became a punchline.

Another meme that circulated from Skyrim for a while was the countless hilarious (and sometimes slightly concerning) "Fus Ro Dah" videos, which play sound effects from the game while showcasing some show of strength. Nowadays, this wouldn't be as funny, what with the amount of AI slop that we have to deal with.

I'll say, in an era where I hear "unalive" instead of "killed" in every video, remembering this made me feel truly old. I'd wager most of the clips are not up to today's YouTube standard, considering the growing list of "Algospeak" words.

Hollow Knight: Silksong

I was shocked to find that I couldn't easily think of any memes for the original entry, as every joke I could recall is actually from Hollow Knight: Silksong. What's crazier is that the parodies began even before the title released; this was due to the silence from Team Cherry's part and the impatience from the community, as it had been years since the announcement, but there seemed to be no release in sight. It went as far as being referenced in a game!

Of course, this doesn't mean that Hollow Knight doesn't have any. While researching for this article, I learned about several of them, such as the No Cost Too Great (which, in retrospect, I think I've heard my wife reference, and I wrongly attributed to Thanos), Hornet is Void, and — my personal favourite one — Primal Aspid; that last one made me downright cackle!

However, the ones that I have seen and instinctively internalised are from Hollow Knight: Silksong. The sadly hilarious and accurate clown memes that surrounded the launch were only the beginning, as I was chuffed to find out I wasn't the only one who heard Hornet say something eerily similar to "git gud".

Regardless, even those who don't care about the franchise heard about the delays; even one of our staff members wrote an article about watching the entire situation unfold! So, I think it's safe to say that the Hollow Knight franchise has become a rite of passage.

Doki Doki Literature Club

If you haven't ever played Doki Doki Literature Club, what are you doing? The game is FREE! Jokes aside: big spoiler warning for this one; if you're interested in it, just skip to the next rambling section.

With that out of the way, let's talk about the collective trauma we all carry from Doki Doki Literature Club, especially those of us who were lured in by a loved one before we got a chance to see the psychological horror tag. While Valve has been changing them, the user-defined suggestions are usually funny or satirical… which only makes it funnier that they weren't trolling this time.

This seemingly innocent free-to-play visual novel with cute girls turns into a horror experience, and our way to cope was to reference it through numerous "Just Monika" memes. None of them may have become a mainstream template, but for a while there — and occasionally in the wild nowadays — you'll hear a whisper about it here or there.

Minecraft

Lastly, we have Minecraft — a game that MrBeast recently called "the biggest game in YouTube history". I can't imagine many people have been able to avoid it; even I wasn't naturally interested in it (I was in my uppity era back then, so I only played games with "good graphics"), but I ended up playing it for my wife, and subsequently became addicted. Somewhere out there on the net, there are hundreds of Minecraft pictures on my dead Facebook profile; I was particularly proud of my extremely average ability to build.

Its creator, who goes by the username Notch, isn't a great guy by any means, but he did build something truly special and innovative. He birthed a title that could be experienced however the person wants; some of us were in servers and met people across the globe, others were weirdly anti-social and played alone (me). And how can we ever forget chicken jockey? No, seriously; how do we forget it?

Jokes aside, Minecraft made ripples that became a tsunami, and it goes beyond just memes and references. I agree with MrBeast's comment — the game jump-started many YouTube careers; I feel downright nostalgic just thinking about Yogscast or CaptainSparklez! It offers a great escape that invites creativity.

When it comes to memes, there aren't that many. Weirdly, what it did create were tons of parody songs, and I could argue some are better than the original version… unfortunately, Minecraft also probably inspired Roblox. Oh, well; you win some, you lose some.

---

Thanks for reading my silly article. It was nice going down memory lane and thinking about all the games I've experienced during my long time as a gamer and how they ripple throughout the community years later!