What is your favorite game of all time and why?

[Il_Exile_lI]

It may be a cliche answer, but The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
I just love the world, the puzzles, and even the story. I probably played through the game 100% at least 12 times between 1998 and 2000.

 

[omicron1]

Nethack.

Because I have played it, from start until the point when I died (at which point my savegame was deleted and my progress lost), literally three hundred times, and each time felt just as fresh and interesting as the first.

Alternate: Age of Empires, for pure theme more than anything else. It felt right.

 

[penguindogexd]

i absolutely loved the living breathing world of red dead. gta 4 had a realistic world but aside from that was a bit horrible (gameplay wise). so yeah. red dead. fun.

 

[bkeyt]

Gotta say Metroid Prime 1 (or MP Trilogy since they're all on one disk now). Loved the atmosphere, lack of spoken dialogue, and great boss fights. Glad to see the very talented Retro studios picking up the slack from Rare's golden days of Donkey Kong Country.

 

[theguitarhero6]

ooo, that's tricky.... Maybe Portal?
I know its not incredibly lengthy or anything and, besides a few easter eggs, has really no explorative value. But that's fine, you know, because it is perfect in its simplicity.

 

[CiferForLiberty]

Well, I love a lot of games people have already listed, and more recently, Deus Ex: HR was a contender, but none stayed my favorite. My favorite game of all time has to be Fallout 3. I love the setting, the gameplay, the weapons. Honestly, the best part for me is the setting. The desolate wastes, half-assed cities, and grotesque creatures with the 1950's esque style to items, weapons and music. Those all sell the series to me. And with the change from the original Fallout, and Fallout 2, it was a good way to introduce me to a series I love. Although, I do admit, Fallout 1, 2 and Tactics are some of the most difficult, yet fun, games I've played

 

[Darth Rosenberg]

Morrowind. Captivated me so damn much. It's dated now and I doubt I'd be able to enjoy it in the same capacity - but it's still number 1 for me. Probably. Maybe not. COD 4 was pretty amazing too.

Morrowind would be my answer. (aproppos of TES: because of TES3 I utterly, completely, entirely, spectacularly, hated TES4... )

And I wouldn't say it looks dated at all. Fire up a few texture replacer mods and - output to a decent tv - it has the power to isntill that same feeling of awe and wonder as it did when it first launched. With just a few mods it looks utterly incredible, and it makes you appreciate the original designs even more.

If not Morrowind, Dragon Age Origins, which I think is BioWare's very best action/adveture RPG. If not that? An old Amiga point'n'clicker called Dreamweb. Or the original Syndicate.

One 'favourite' is not nearly enough.

 

[scorptatious]

Abes Oddysee is definatley my choice... It was the first game I ever actually played and it was unlike any other game at the time. Also, Abe was a very likable character so I was partly drawn into the story-line, even though it wasnt exactly detailed and in-depth...

I love that game as well. One of the first games I've played. I'll admit though I do think Exoddus was a bit more manageable thanks to the quick-save feature. Still, they are both great games.

My personal favorite however, would have to be Shadow of the Colossus.

With it's simple yet engaging story, the vast world, the fantastic fights against the various colosi you meet, and it's beautiful soundtrack, it's something I keep finding myself playing over and over again. If you haven't played this game yet, you're missing out.

 

[Nazulu]

I don't have a favourite of all time, many games I will always remember for the great experience but I doubt they will last forever. My current favourite I think is Half-Life 2 for it's great design, really fast paced fluent game play, some of the great weapons and the many different interesting challenges I have fun playing over and over. It's far from perfect though. I find the story and characters just decent, lacks big boss fights and I didn't find the soundtrack good enough to chuck on my iPod.

I'd like to mention some past favourites; Super Smash Brothers Melee (probably played that for 1000 hours), Super Metroid (Greatest atmosphere for a 2D game by far) and Lineage II (before it was filled with bots it was awesome).

 

[geK0]

Really hard to choose.... I think ima go with Warcraft 3

 

[Cosmic Humor]

Ocarina of Time... that game got me through some rough times, man...

 

[Furious Styles]

Shadow of the Colossus

Its achingly beautiful, totally unique and thought provoking like no other game with no words

 

[Dagda Mor]

Shadow of the Colossus.I honestly don't think I need to explain,but I'll just say a couple things.There are no flaws in the game,besides the frame rate.Anything you don't like was a carefully made design choice,and it just might not fit your tastes personally.The colossus fights are thrilling and beautiful,the landscape is gorgeous,the game makes the player think instead of just making him slog through to the end,and the soundtrack is bombastic.

 

[Penumbran Wolf]

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. It's was and still is the best RPG I have ever played.

 

[Dagda Mor]

The overarching story of KH2 was pretty good,it's just that the dialogue and overall writing weren't.

 

[sr.orgasmo]

star wars knights of the old republic

for me it took games onto another level and it taught me to read every little piece of info the game gives you.

 

[A Red Robot]

Persona 4 and Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door.
Persona 4 because of the memorable characters and the interesting story.
Paper Mario because it was one of the first RPGs I played, the story was actually pretty good, the characters were memorable, and I really liked the overall atmosphere of the game.

 

[spartxn]

Super Smash Bros Melee. I luvd that game from the first time I played it, in which case I spent over 15 hours straight just playing it. Probably would have been longer but I had to go to school. I have also played this game more then any other game I have ever had. Well except for maybe Halo 3, but its close, its really close.

 

[deathbyoatmeal]

Red Dead Redemption. Never before have i been so enthralled with just looking around a world. They nailed the music, sound, and look of the old west, and as someone who has literally walked around in a canyon in the west in the middle of the night, it resonated with me. Then built upon that is a great action game with responsive controls and some cool additions. The world is just so fun to mess around in that you can get lost for hours and not really accomplish a whole lot. And on top of THAT, there's a great story filled with social commentary, tragedy, and great characters. AND THEN there's the expansive multiplayer where you can ride around with your friends for hours terrorizing towns and fighting gangs. It's easily the most complete game i've ever played and one i love to go back and experience again and again.