Favorite Game, Yours, What is it? Why?

[Olas]

You can probably tell more about someone by their favorite videogame than by their favorite movie, book, or any other medium.

So... this couldn't be any simpler of a question, and I'm sure this thread has been done 4.7 bajillion times. But dammnit, why not?! I'm curious what all your favorites are. Some of you I suspect I already know [sub][sub][sup][sup]Daystar[/sup][/sup][/sub][/sub] but most of you I have no clue.

Let us all know what your most cherished game is and let us know why it's awesome (to you).

Spoiler: Mine?

I'm not shitting you when I say I've probably played this game over 20 times, and I have basically all of Tallon IV mapped in my brain. This game is an experiment in building atmosphere from beginning to end. Combine that with open world exploration, immersive gameplay, a huge array of interesting creatures, a near perfect difficulty curve and you've got a great game by almost any standard.

I particularly love how instead of throwing the story in your face with long dramatic cutscenes and dialogue Retro left it for you to find via scannable documents scattered throughout the game. And I love the mounting feeling you get when you know you're approaching a boss because all the scans you read are describing it. And the rewarding feeling when you find out how to reach a missile/power expansion, or better yet a new power.

But I think I especially like the dark loneliness of it. As a very introverted person it's a feeling I'm very comfortable and in tune with. That's always been an essential element of the Metroid games that I feel Team Ninja fundamentally didn't understand, and that Retro got perfectly with Prime. Being alone on a fascinating, if bleak, alien world with nothing but your own thoughts and intuition to guide you is something Prime drives home better than any other game I can think of. Even it's own sequels, while similar and very good in their own ways, failed to replicate that experience.

So that's that. Now it's your turn.

 

[thesilentman]

My favorite game is Mario 3.

It exemplifies why I play games: with a promise of challenge and a feel that no other medium would replicate well. It's difficult and a 2D side scroller, which has influenced many of my game choices from there. Heck, my original choice was Cave Story, but Mario 3 takes the cake for me.

Wow, one year ago I answered this exact question as my first post. Fitting, perhaps. ;-)

 

[Angelblaze]

Spoiler

Come ON man. Who the fuck can deny the BEAUTY of this game? Any game where you can watch Jack Skeleington kick ass and fight along side him is already a seller for me but Disney and Final Fantasy? I'm sold. Combat's fucking awesome too. Perfect blend of thematic and combative for such an anime inspired game. But why 2 you ask?

Why 2?
Because it had TRON dammit.

FUCKING.
TRON.

Mkay. There's mine.

 

[scorptatious]

Shadow of the Colossus

To me, it's almost perfect in every way. I love the simple yet engaging story of a young man taking on impossible odds in order to bring his loved one back to life. I love the grand and epic battles against the colossi, I love the somber and lonely tone the Forbidden Lands give off, I love the soundtrack, I love damn near everything in this game.

Except those few times where the camera gets a little wonky. But that's really it.

I always find myself coming back to the game and playing through it every few months. I think I might have played through the game nearly ten times by now.

 

[IllumInaTIma]

FRONT MISSION 3

Hands down my favorite game of all time. I think the main reason why I hold that game in such a high esteem is that Front Mission 3 was not just INCREDIBLY good, but that it defined me as a gamer. Every single game that I ever loved shared some elements with Front Mission 3.
1)Front Mission 3 was the first game that made me feel invested in story and attached to the character, even though I understood fucknot because of young age and horrible Russian translation. Game had incredibly engaging story about wars, political machinations, super nations and weapons of mass destruction. Add to it a cast of very compelling and unique characters and you have a recipe for success!
2)Gameplay. Front Mission 3 is turn based strategy where you control a team of giant war robots called Wanzers. Gameplay was really stellar and balanced, with a bunch of unlockable and hidden Wanzer parts and weapons.
3)The way campaign was structured. Ok, this is a feature that I still haven't seen implemented in ANY game except for Front Mission 3. So, basically, early in a game you make a decision that will determine what route campaign will take. One campaign teams you up with USN (future super nation formed in North America) and another with DHZ (future China and Asia). Two campaigns are COMPLETELY different in terms of narrative and missions and each may go for as long as 80 hours. And here's what really freaking awesome about it, characters that would be your allies in one campaign will be your enemies in another. So, in USN campaign you meet a guy named Marcus. He's a big, kindhearted American dude. Through dialogues with him we find out he has a wife and two little daughters that email him their little drawings. In DHZ campaign he's just a nameless "Bravo leader" that you have to kill in order to advance. And everytime replaying DHZ campaign I find so difficult to kill him! And that's what I really love about that narrative. WHAT IF. If you didn't make a certain choice in the past, that guy, that kindhearted guy would have been your friend.

So yeah, maybe that was a mess of a writing, but there are my thoughts on Front Mission 3, my favorite game of all time.

<img src=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/50/Front_Mission_3_Coverart.png>

 

[sethisjimmy]

It changes from time to time, and there's usually more than one in the top spot, but a constant has always been Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door. I really love the charming and funny writing, and the unique and creative scenarios of each and every chapter. Complete with a solid, entertaining and engaging RPG system with partners and timed action techniques. Plus the attention to detail. There is a tattle for essentially every single NPC, sub area, and enemy in the game, and the large majority of players won't even bother to read a quarter of them. NPC's often say different things between chapters, enemies change. There are also a bunch of sidequests and hidden badges and secrets. It's probably the only game I've ever played where I can't find a single flaw.

I'm currently doing a "danger Mario" run, which is where you put all your levels into Badge Power, and then get a bunch of badges that buff Mario's stats while his HP is low, so that while Mario's HP and FP stay dangerously low the entire game, you also get extremely powerful as the game progresses.

Recently the Metal Gear games have made their way to the top of my list as well. As in all of them. All I can say is that I consider Hideo Kojima a genius who really changed the way I see storytelling in games, and who revolutionized the industry several times.

 

[Windcaler]

My favorite game of all time is Xcom: Enemy unknown (the 1993 one) because its as close to the perfect strategy game as games get. As the commander of a paramilitary force tasked with stopping an alien invasion you have full control over your organization. You can make the game as easy or as hard as you want it to be. You dont have to make hard choices unless you put yourself in that position. For example in the most recent game they put in a hard choices system where you have to pick 1 of 3 countries when you detect abductions even if you have a massive amount of money that could theoretically build a new base. In this Xcom, I can build other bases and patrol multiple areas with multiple squads of soldiers

Abduction sites or other alien related activity is not automatically found either. You have to get out there and look for it. Neither is there just one alien base to raid, aliens can establish multiple bases and conduct varying different kinds of missions. Theres also a wider variety of aliens that use a larger variety of tactics and weaponry.

You can hire a variety of solders, each being different and depending on what you have them do and the weaponry they use they can grow in different ways allowing you to truly customize them without the need for classes or other pigeonholing nonsense.

Being able to build multiple bases also allows you to specialize them. For example I often build one base that does nothing but mass research, another that specializes in manufacturing weapons of war, and then Ill have several radar bases to detect enemy movements.

Full control is what its about. There is no other game that is as immersive for a leadership role because no other game gives you the full control it should.

 

[Foolery]

Pokemon Silver and the remake Soul Silver. Red was the first version I played but I have fonder memories of Silver. It was a big game and an impressive sequel. 2 regions, 16 badges, excellent mix of old/new pokemon, cool legendaries, breeding, held items, berries, apricorns, a battle with trainer Red from Kanto and so on. I could play through it endlessly and never get bored.

 

[TheRaider]

Cosmic balance because I wrote it lol

 

[Miss G.]

Even though I had a launch SNES with Super Mario World bundle first, my favorite game is Pokemon Gold on the Gameboy Color. It was the first game & system combo present I got that I was actually able to play myself instead of watching my big cousin play it for me, thus getting me into gaming in the first place. My sister got Silver and her own Gameboy and we would play with and against each other for hours on end. Even at our young ages we had trouble bonding and these games helped immensely. She's not into gaming now, but now I play with my younger brother and we bond over our shared gaming hobby.

 

[ninjarafter]

Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines. I absolutely adore this game. I wouldn't say it's the best game I've ever played(either best gameplay, or best story), but it IS the one I enjoy replaying the most, it's my favorite game world to experience and explore. Everything fits in together so well, it's perfect. The fantastic music, the superbly written dialogues, maybe the best voice acting I've ever seen in a game, the hubs, the amazing game mechanics(aside from the combat, that is), everything. There is no sidequest that is wasted and pointless and contributes nothing to the game world, everything contributes to the world-building, everything fits perfectly. And of course the main plot, which is fantastic in and of itself. So much wonderful vampire politicking, so many exceptional characters, such a great, constant sense of impending doom, such an awesome resolution.

Hate to to use the ol' Bethesda buzzword, but it is the most immersive game I have ever played. Shit, I might just go and replay it right now.

I 3> you, VtMB.

 

[piinyouri]

FRONT MISSION 3

I love you.

--------
I'm sure people are getting sick of seeing me post stuff about this game, but it left indelible marks on me that have never vanished over time.

Spoiler

Crystalis is the story of one mysterious hero traversing the newly twisted lands of the world after a global axis shift took all of civilization back to it's primitive beginnings and effectively wiped out science as we know it.
The ways of magic have resurfaced (or have they?) and any technology is cast out as a wretched evil.
The creatures have become weird shapes and forms of their former incarnations. Giant bear like behemoths patrol the woodlands outside the village of Leaf, axe slinging monkey mutants mercilessly hunt down anyone caught wandering about, and beware the poisonous large miconids.

The caves and ruins are filled with stranger and far more dangerous aberrations. Walking forms of rock, large mutated bats, cave crawling urchins, and massive spiders able to paralyze their prey ensure anyone who ventures into the dark spaces between the lands are not heard from again.

The game takes you from your mysterious cave near leaf where you awaken to all kinds of varied locales.
Frozen bodies move on their own in and on Mt.Saber, the very air itself is poison to all but the native life in the swamp that surrounds the dwarf village of Oak.
Portoa sits on the lap of the ocean, extending an illuminated hand to any lost sailors on the sea. A sea you will calm, and travel yourself.
Amazones, the city of women will spurn and detest any men who enter their village. The great desert in the south hides many deep, twisting confusing labyrinths, where some claim a great ring of power may be found.

Throughout your adventure you will be hunted by Draygon and his army. His ears and swords are within the dankest caves, and the most frozen of precipices, so watch out.

Along the way you will collect powerful weapons and tools. Swords that can summon gusts of wind, tornadoes, create ice bridges, make walls of flame, and conjure entire lightning storms.
You'll find boots that ward poison, berries that can bring the petrified back to life, and a flute that will grant you a companion on the seas.

If your will is strong, and your level high, you may make it to the lost weapon Crystalis, and with it end Draygons plans for technological destruction.

 

[unindexedsearchengine]

To hell with despotic Tyranny! Who say there can only be one king to rule all others? I propose a triumvirate!

Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars : One of the greatest point and click adventure games ever. It's style is really special. The way it builds atmosphere is legendary, and the story plus soundtrack make this a glorious game. Plus, this game was my first ever exposure to video games as a whole (Thanks big brother!), so it has a special place in my heart.

Mass Effect (whole series,because I can): Once again, story+ soundtrack. I'm one of the heretics who likes ME3 as much as the other two. The characters are the real strongpoint here.

Assassin's Creed 2: Story + soundtrack (I see a pattern here). That moment in the beginning when Ezio and his brother are on top of the church tower.
Ubisof Presents....
*cue the track "ezio's family"*
Assassin's Creed 2

that moment I knew it will be an amazing game.

I truly cannot pick between these three, but if someone was to put a gun to my head and order me to, i'd say broken sword, for nostalgia's sake.

 

[gamexpert1990]

My personal favorite game (outside of the Mass Effect series, anyway) happens to be: Dark Cloud 2.

The reason: I had a LOT of fun with this game, plain and simple. I actually still play it from time to time...

 

[Sp3ratus]

Half-Life 2. It absolutely blew me away back when I first played it in 2004 and I stll go through the main game and episodes about once a year. I'm fascinated by the universe created by Valve, the atmosphere of the game, the characters, the setpieces, really everything in it. It all just add up to an amazing game. Sure, you can find flaws, as you can with everything, but none of that really matters to me, when playing HL2.

 

[GodzillaGuy92]

Favorite game, mine, Portal, because it's flawless and even if it wasn't the combination of innovative, fun, easy-to-learn-hard-to-master gameplay and the deliciously darkly satirical take on video game storytelling would forever outweigh any flaws it could possibly have.

HUGE props to the OP, though, for going with my #2 choice. Why, just earlier today I couldn't resist listening to this track half a dozen times or so:

 

[Evil Smurf]

Sid Meier's Alpha Centuri. It's the best civ game, therefore best game ever.

I always recommend these games:
Bastion
Zelda: Twilight Princess/Skyward Sword/Ocarina of Time.
Sid Meier's Alpha Centuri
Pokemon black/white 2
Jazz JackRabbit
TF2
and most recently Saints Row: The Third and Mass Effect.

Go play any of these games if you want a good time.

 

[Maximum Bert]

You can probably tell more about someone by their favorite videogame than by their favorite movie, book, or any other medium.

Huh you can? how?

OT my favourite game is FFVII because it is one of the very few games that completely blew me away at the time I hated RPGS and pretty much played games with minimal story such as fighters or platformers or other such action games. I had tried other RPGS in the past but I got bored quickly. Something was different with VII though it hooked me from the beginning and kept me playing all the way throughout its still the only game to make me completely re-evaluate my outlook on an entire genre, I have played many RPGs since some of which have been amazing but FFVII is the only one I have been able to revisit multiple times and still enjoy.

Also it has my favourite cast in any videogame ever. Its a shame what it was has been tarnished by overhype backlash and squares inability to capture what it was that made the game and characters so special. Every time I see Cloud in a game now I cringe because he will almost certainly bare little resemblance to the cloud in FFVII beyond looks.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

Dark Souls.

Excellent level design (generally), simple but deep combat with a massive variety of weapons and many viable builds, actions have real consequences, excellent for roleplaying, good balance of risk and reward, forces the player to strategise and think about their approach to gameplay, story is hidden in NPC dialogue and item descriptions and implies things rather than states them outright, bosses are largely challenging and satisfying...

...suffice to say I've spent more time in Dark Souls than any other game except Armored Core for Answer.

Armored Core and Monster Hunter come behind in that order, but Dark Souls has been climbing my estimation since I got it, and now has quite a lead at the top.

 

[alphamalet]

Shadow of the Colossus

To me, it's almost perfect in every way. I love the simple yet engaging story of a young man taking on impossible odds in order to bring back his loved one back to life. I love the grand and epic battles against the colossi, I love the somber and lonely tone the Forbidden Lands give off, I love the soundtrack, I love damn near everything in this game.

Except those few times where the camera gets a little wonky. But that's really it.

I always find myself coming back to the game and playing through it every few months. I think I might have played through the game nearly ten times by now.

I like this guy!

Same answer for me and for the same reasons. Shadow of the Colossus is simply a masterpiece. I can't count the number of times I've played it.