I make the distinction because it's a different experience entirely, this doesn't mean you can't name a game with multi-player, it just means you'll be meaning the campaign only.
Anywho, your top 3 favorite single-player games and why they're your favorite.
1. Final Fantasy VII, (Yes, I'm a JRPG guy.) It could have been because it was my first game I played for my PSX, it could be that I loved the atmosphere, the music, characters, areas, story, and all the extra side-quests to do. Whatever it was, I absolutely love this game and could go play it today with out any hampered experience, even with the horrible graphics. It had an incredibly epic tone to it and everything you did just sucked you in, I can't really explain it but it's definitely my favorite game.
2. Star Ocean II, I seem to be fond of reading text but I very much liked this game a lot. It had many different aspects and did most of them well. The combat system was a very innovative way of playing back then, the crafting weapons and armor was done fairly well also. Most of the characters were outstanding (Dude had dragons on his back!!), I very much liked how your choices and people you talked to, affected what characters you could get on your team or what side-quests were opened. The story was little after-school special but the fact that after you beat the game, they added not a 'little' extra but a ton in the ways of making the boss nigh-invulnerable, a huge hidden dungeon that was extremely intriguing, and 80+ endings more than makes up for that.
3. Portal, I'm a little surprised at but I'm very sure it is. I like any game that requires you to think, granted most of the tests weren't hard, but it was such a relief that it rose out of all those fps games. The humor was fantastic and dark, the story was straight-forward and that's not always a bad thing. Though what I liked best is something everyone dislikes about Portal, it took like 2 hours to finish, maybe 3-4 if you're achievementing. I love that it's specifically designed to not be a timesink, you play the game and you love every second of it until you run out of things to do and leave the fan-base wanting more.
Edit - Yes, I understand the irony of the last sentence coming from someone who just named two exceptionally long games.
Anywho, your top 3 favorite single-player games and why they're your favorite.
1. Final Fantasy VII, (Yes, I'm a JRPG guy.) It could have been because it was my first game I played for my PSX, it could be that I loved the atmosphere, the music, characters, areas, story, and all the extra side-quests to do. Whatever it was, I absolutely love this game and could go play it today with out any hampered experience, even with the horrible graphics. It had an incredibly epic tone to it and everything you did just sucked you in, I can't really explain it but it's definitely my favorite game.
2. Star Ocean II, I seem to be fond of reading text but I very much liked this game a lot. It had many different aspects and did most of them well. The combat system was a very innovative way of playing back then, the crafting weapons and armor was done fairly well also. Most of the characters were outstanding (Dude had dragons on his back!!), I very much liked how your choices and people you talked to, affected what characters you could get on your team or what side-quests were opened. The story was little after-school special but the fact that after you beat the game, they added not a 'little' extra but a ton in the ways of making the boss nigh-invulnerable, a huge hidden dungeon that was extremely intriguing, and 80+ endings more than makes up for that.
3. Portal, I'm a little surprised at but I'm very sure it is. I like any game that requires you to think, granted most of the tests weren't hard, but it was such a relief that it rose out of all those fps games. The humor was fantastic and dark, the story was straight-forward and that's not always a bad thing. Though what I liked best is something everyone dislikes about Portal, it took like 2 hours to finish, maybe 3-4 if you're achievementing. I love that it's specifically designed to not be a timesink, you play the game and you love every second of it until you run out of things to do and leave the fan-base wanting more.
Edit - Yes, I understand the irony of the last sentence coming from someone who just named two exceptionally long games.
