Favorite Game, Yours, What is it? Why?

[thomaskattus]

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.

I have to concur with you on the awesomeness that is VtMB. I played the hell out of the game. I still go back and play it when I want an immersive RPG experience.

Thank goodness that there is a fan made patch that takes care of most of the bugs (as well as restoring deleted content).

 

[DishonoredElderSouls]

I might look odd for this, but Fallout: New Vegas is probably my ultimate favourite game.

New Vegas is anything but a flawless game- in fact, the first time I tried to play it, I absolutely hated the game. But over the course of a year or so, Obsidian really went out of their way to patch it up as much as they possibly could (since they were given only eighteen months to develop it by Bethesda, rather short for a game this scale) and turned it into something jaw-dropping.

To begin with, the dialogue and characters in this game are simply fantastic, and some of the best you'll ever come across in gaming. They will connect with you in really special ways and even change your course of action throughout the story. For instance, I met a follower named Veronica- a Brotherhood of Steel member- who, over the course of a week of travelling with me, became someone I genuinely cared about. When my employer in the game's main quest, Mr. House, demanded that I eliminate all existence of BoS in the Mojave Wasteland, I realized that Veronica would loathe me forever and I would never see her again. Thus, I proceeded to murder Mr. House- just beforehand, I explained to him that he had betrayed my personal interests- and then left his home, told Veronica that we should leave, and went on with my journeys through the wastes.

The fact that a collection of pixels combined with a voice could lead me to have emotional conflicts with what I should do next is something that no game with forced 'moral choices' has ever placed upon me. This is only one example of many throughout the game, however. There are plenty of other situations just like this, and the characters and dialogue throughout New Vegas are just consistently works of art.

New Vegas also provides excellent exploration and combat, all very well-balanced and fun. The game makes you feel powerful at what you do, but being a true RPG from a true RPG developer, also ensures that you have plenty of weaknesses and faults in your character. The possible character builds are nearly limitless, and there are narrative and gameplay choices abound. I was amazed by how dialogue with almost every character lands you in another interesting quest, and you'll find yourself with tons of distractions no matter where you go.

This game simply changed my perspective of gaming in a way that I can't quite explain, but its atmosphere, masses of content, excellent humour, addicting combat, wonderful design, and even touches of realism really blew me away.

Runner-ups: Oblivion, Destroy All Humans! 2, BioShock, Assassin's Creed II, Far Cry 3, Star Wars Battlefront II, Sly 2: Band of Thieves, Red Dead Redemption, Shadow of the Colossus, and Batman Arkham City.

 

[scorptatious]

snip

Oh you don't look odd at all. Fallout New Vegas is a fantastic game. Warts and all.

 

[JEBWrench]

I might look odd for this, but Fallout: New Vegas is probably my ultimate favourite game.

F:NV was my all time favourite game of all time too until I played Thomas Was Alone.

 

[Mycroft Holmes]

Favorite Game: Ultima Online.
What is it: The first MMORPG(not counting MUDs.) Isometric open world fantasy.
Why: Because it wasn't restricted at all. People were allowed to be who they really were unadulteratedly in a game that reacted and acted like a real world in a way that no other MMO has really even approached since. MMOs these days have lost out on the world simulation.

 

[VladG]

Deus Ex.


Great gameplay: And excellent mix of stealth and action with more depth than most modern games dream of. Want to stealth your way past a boss? Ok. Want to fight him head on? Ok. Want to put those exploration skills to work and talk him to death (quite literally)? Ok. Want to kill him 3 levels earlier despite having no real reason to do so and have the game acknowledge it? Ok.

Good characters, great story and great setting. There is so much to discover in this game that on my 7th playthrough I still managed to find something new.

Awesome soundtrack. Heck, I have the main theme as my ringtone and in my playlist.

 

[VladG]

I might look odd for this, but Fallout: New Vegas is probably my ultimate favourite game.

Have you played Fallout 2? In my opinion it is considerably better than New Vegas (and don't get me wrong, I loved NV)

If you haven't, you should totally give it a try. The only real downside is the horribly outdated 2d engine, but if you can get past that... you have one of the best games ever made to look forward to.

 

[Lygus]

STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl.

Despite all the bugs and inconsistencies, it was the first game ever that made me forget I'm in a virtual world. It's very immersive, has probably the best AI ever created, mutants are realistic, artifacts and anomalies are one of most interesting additions in games history, it has factions, is a mix of FPS & mild RPG elements, has a big variety of weapons, armor combinations, excellent storyline, incredible environments, a special kind of Soviet vibe and great graphics / effects and one of the best dark ambient soundtracks ever witnessed.

+ fantastic modding community that expanded the game greatly, added lots of removed-before-release features (radioactive terrifying emissions, loads of mutants, new scary environments, weaponry, drivable vehicles etc.).

It's a PC exclusive franchise and that's why it's fucking awesome and complex!

 

[foxlovingfreak]

That's an easy one for me it would be Final fantasy VIII I love everything about this game the places you get to vist the charcters the music heck I eveb enjoy playing the heck out of the card mini game that you can use to get rare items. It also fetures one of my favorite side dugeons the deep sea reaserch center where you can get two very powerful summons.

 

[InfernalPaladin]

Hmmmm, so many on my top list :/

I'd say Dear Esther - but that's not so much a game as an interactive story

Removing Dear Esther leaves me with Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. It was basically Civ 2 in space - ran off the same engine, with many improvements. The sheer amount of things you can do in that game is second to none.

Cover image:

Spoiler

For multiplayer #1 I would go with Worms 2. Ridiculous weapons, addictive multiplayer and pretty much a guaranteed hilarious moment every game. My earliest multiplayer games were 4 player hot-seat matches on my old Windows 98.

Image:

Spoiler

 

[TheEvilCheese]

If I had to pick a single game that I have the best memories of it would be Pokémon gold without a doubt. I don't think it's the best designed game ever, it's not the best in the series by a long shot but it's how I got into Pokémon and RPGs in general. Boy am I glad I did. Exploring the Pokémon world for the first time is a feeling I know will never be beaten for me and the memory of starting it up post-credits expecting nothing more than catching some things I'd missed only to find... what? there's 8 MORE gyms? Blew my fragile little mind.

And Red is still the best battle in any game ever. Everything about it.

So here's to you, Totodile.

 

[TheKwertyeweyoppe]

And the winner is...

Okami

- for being the single most beautiful thing, ever.

 

[Goblorke1]

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.

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

Yes. You are correct.
Okay, an admission on my part: I haven't actually played XCom(UFO?): Enemy Unknown (1993). What I have played is XCom: Apocalypse. I loved it for much the same reasons. Also, I personally liked the narrowed scope - Apocalypse was set in one large city, and a lot of effort was put into making the city feel alive. And I loved the real time tactical combat, even if you spent half of it paused at prompts.

Aside from those that have already been mentioned, XCom, Alpha Centauri and Oddworld: Abe's Exodus, I would add:
Total Annihilation
The most fun and viceral RTS that I've ever encountered. Years ahead of its time. Supreme Commander was of course its successor, but it somehow managed to lose the fun along the way. Better off just using the Escalation mod for Total Annihilation.

An FPS? It'd probably have to be Halo.
I've never owned a console, so Halo was pretty much my first exposure to a game which seamlessly integrated vehicles and friendly AI (who weren't specifically part of a team or commanded or whatnot) into the gameplay. And of course, the gameplay was just all very well flowing and balanced.

Edit:
Argh! Forgot to mention Freespace 2.
Primarily because it's the best Space Sim to date. WHERE IS MY SEQUEL?

Also, Sixcess:
DOOM1/2 - for sheer run'n'gun action nothing else comes close.
I would have to say that Quake, Quake 2 and Shogo Mobile Armour Division are worthy challengers to that title.

 

[IronMit]

Hitman Blood Money

I waited 5 years after release to play this game on a worthy PC and it didn't disappoint.
I was in awe at all the different ways I could try to achieve my goals. Do things in different orders, in different ways and everything was catered for. I really thought I was an assassin, I approached the situations like I would do in real life and very rarely was the illusion broken.
Someone is performing Tosca on stage...I just watched one full rehearsal...hmm shall I kill him back stage? or switch the guns, or kill the guy that is pretend shooting him or snipe him and the precise time the other actor pretends to shoot him...Surely the game won't cater to all this. Yep it does. hmmm ok, how would I go about getting myself to an area where I can achieve said goal.

No loading screens, no radar, no objective markers, no objectives to hand hold you.

The most emergent gameplay since Deus ex

 

[Nazulu]

Ah, Metroid Prime, Nintendo's masterpiece. Good choice Olas, though mine is Super Metroid.

My personal favourite is one I didn't think would be popular because of how difficult it can be, but I love Super Metroid to death. I skipped 3 days of school in a row to finish it I became so immersed. I guess what also makes it special to me is after playing only simple games over and over (like Mario and other toony games with minor violence), that it made a big difference to move into a dark, bleak, atmospheric and artsy game (since it had a set up experience). Not saying that automatically makes a game better though, Super Metroid just happened to do it perfectly.

Everything about the game is really well done (except the story which is pretty basic, don't confuse with narrative though which is great). Even though it took me awhile to bomb jump and jump of walls, the movement feels so good and steady that it didn't bother me and the rewards with new big area's to explore made it worth the time. Also, the hidden special abilities are fun to muck around with. I actually found a use for the self heal my first time playing when I got trapped in a room full of spikes.

 

[MHR]

Team Fortress 2 because of enduring multiplayer shooter fun.

I play tons of other games like everyone else that I find more fun than TF2 at any one time, but I keep coming back to TF2 because the multiplayer aspect means there's always fun to be had and you can never "finish." The 9 different classes mean some variation in what you want to play, and so too do the unlockable weapons.

And they update the thing for free all the time so it stays relatively fresh.

 

[Venom 3135]

Persona 4 or Psychonauts, a close second is Fallout 3.

Persona 4 just had me so emotionally invested in the characters and story line and even though the killers identity was spoiled for me, it still shocked me when that part of the story played out. The social links were amazing and the combat, whilst ridiculously easy, was insanely fun to me.

Psychonauts was just really fun and the story was hilarious and interesting. The gameplay, the setting and the characters were just amazing.

I'm not sure I really need to justify why Fallout 3 is there, it's just a fucking masterpiece (like the two games above).

 

[The_Echo]

My favorite game has been Kingdom Hearts for the past 11 years, and will probably remain my favorite until the end of time.

Every single game in the series, not just the first one.

There's just something about this franchise that really resonates with me.

I'm not particularly nostalgic for all those old Disney films. Hell, I haven't seen any of them more than once in my whole life (barring Hercules, which I watched for a second time just last year). Nor am I a big Final Fantasy fan (the only main-series FF game I've played is VII, and I still haven't finished it).

But this game... it has me by the balls. I bought a PSP and 3DS for this game. I got a PS3 just for the possibility of the franchise coming to that console. I preordered 1.5 HD for dat artbook (which wound up being a good choice, 'cause there's a secret message included!) despite there being no real benefit to owning those games again besides Trophy hunting.

Each game always stands out from the others without being too different; none of them feel like the same game, but at the same time they're all very familiar. The plot is deceptively simple; from the outside it's an easily identifiable good vs. evil story, but looking at the inner workings can, at times, be a little maddening (especially after Dream Drop Distance). But it's all connected together, which is a true feat considering it was never meant to be a series. I think I value these traits a lot in a game.

Man, it's just everything about these games. I could play them forever. I've sunk 200+ hours into Kingdom Hearts II alone. I never get tired of playing them, or watching others play it. The soundtrack never gets old. I never get tired of discussing the games, or clearing up plot/lore points for others.

 

[Gergar12_v1legacy]

The first battlefront game was my, and always will be. I got hundreds of kills using the sniper rifle alone, but it is in a close in my heart along with with Star Wars empire at war.

 

[Karoshi]

Used to be F:NV, but since last year it has been replaced by Spec Ops: The Line.

I have never experienced a game like this before and it left a deep impact on me. The environments and the plot went hand in hand together, filled with symbolism or just beautiful scenery. It was a disorienting and painful experience, with even the loading screens taunting me, but it was well-deserved and brought to the point.

No other ending left me as wordless as this one. In fact, there are several endings, but every single one feels like the "real" ending. You could have cut out every but one and it would have still been perfect. That's an incredible feat in my opinion.

I just love love this game and am incredibly impressed with its creators.