Walking sim: storytelling and environment design
Game Precedent Research: Message from Jason Li, Part Time Faculty in Game Design
Top and largely games are not suitable reference for students that are old and also made with quite a large amount of resources available to their teams. I think a game that is by one person or similar would be helpful to show what is possible for an individual, student. Additionally, using newer games would provide some crucial context for development today.
https://nickballou.com/blog/sdt-in-video-games-basic-needs-misunderstandings/