Your Top Ten Favorite Video Games

[Jack Joe Tip Toe]

In no particular order.

1. GTA San Andreas
2. Mass Effect 2
3. The Last of Us
4. Uncharted 2 or 3
5. Def Jam: FFNY (The game is still fun as hell)
6. GTA Vice City
7. Resident Evil 4
8. Deus Ex: HR
9. WWE Smackdown: HCTP
10. Saints Row 2

 

[ShinobiJedi42]

10. Star Trek: Armada
9. F-Zero X
8. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
7. Half-Life 2
6. Minecraft
5. Civilization II
4. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
3. Metroid: Prime
2. Fallout 3
1. Mass Effect 3, post Ending DLC. Great ending to a fantastic science fiction trilogy.

 

[Charli]

1. Sonic the hedgehog 3 & Knuckles
2. Tales of Symphonia
3. The Warcraft Series (Including WoW)
4. Jak and Daxter
5. The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim (While I love Morrowind and Oblivion, Skyrims modding scene is starting to reach levels where I can safely put it on the top spot, want the systems the past games provided? Mod's gotcha covered.)
6. Final Fantasy 9
7. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (People might argue otherwise but the art style sealed the deal for me)
8. Spyro the Dragon 1,2 and 3
9. Super Mario 64
10. Portal 1 & 2


I'm probably not thinking very hard but... these are games I keep returning to, Pokemon gets an honorary mention but since I don't own any system to play it on right now I never get to return to it. Same with Lol but I have a bit of a lovehate relationship with that game.

 

[Strelok]

Hard to pick just 10 I will include series or sequels as well:

1) S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Series
2) Metro 2033/Lastlight
3) Blood/Blood II
4) Tie Fighter
5) Wing Commander Series
6) Battlefield Series (especially 2142 and 3)
7) Cryostasis: Sleep of Reason
8) Brutal Legend
9) Psychonauts
10) Dark Forces Series/Shadow of The Colossus (I couldn't choose between them)
10.1) Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, ok I better stop now or I will have a list of 100s

 

[ghostrider409895]

Based on games that I have played in my life time this is my top 10 list:
1. Deus Ex: Human Revolution
2. StarWars: Bounty Hunter (Game Cube)
3. The Punisher (2005 videogame)
4. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
5. Dead Space
6. Constantine (PS2)/Spider-man 2 (Game Cube)
7. Red Dead Redemption
8. Fallout: New Vegas
9. Batman: Arkham City
10. Bioshock

Reasons:

Spoiler

I put Deus Ex: HR first because it genuinely made me feel like a spy. I replayed that game one play through after the other to explore all the different ways to get through levels. Plus, I could even get through the game without killing anyone, which really made me feel like a spy (even the boss fights didn't hurt me that much).

With Bounty Hunter, I liked being a Mandalorian bounty hunter. I had fun with it.
Like Bounty Hunter, I liked taking on the role of the Punisher. He is among my favorite Marvel characters, Welcome Back Frank was my second Graphic Novel second to Watchmen, and I liked to hear Tom Jane voice the Punisher again. I had a lot of fun with the game.

Ocarina of Time was the second game I ever played on a Console. I still remember going back and forth from a Game FAQs to the game because I was too young to figure out a lot of the puzzles, which now seem a lot more reasonable. It was my second game, and it was my first RPG style game so it opened up the world of RPGs to me. It showed me how videogames could also tell an incredible story of their own. It was a major game.

Ask anyone who knows me and they will say that I do not like horror movies, horror games, or horror anything. However, I looked into Dead Space. I ended up buying Dead Space, and after playing Dead Space I found out that I really like Dead Space. I liked it so much I went out and watched the movies, and read the novel to go along with the series. I just became a major Dead Space fan.

Both of these games were really fun. Constantine was cool since I was able to go fight demons, while using an assortment of weapons and collecting odd artifacts to fight demons. Spider-man 2 game me all of Manhattan and Rhode Island to explore, and even let me use a helicopter to reach Elis Island. There were fun villains to fight, and Bruce Campbell voiced hints again.

Red Dead Redemption let me live out being a hero of the old west, letting me duplicate actions I saw in great Spaghetti Westerns. The game taught me how to play poker. It had a character that I actually cared about, and was saddened by what happened to him in the end.

Fallout: New Vegas was my first Western style RPG, and I played that game well into the night when I had it for Christmas. It also let me listen to some really good music, and I liked that my actions affected the ending and other characters in game - and that I had the option to be good or evil.

The Scarecrow parts were visually neat in Asylum, and I was upset that they didn't make a reappearance in City, but that being said I thought they really tightened up the combat system, as well as the stealth system, and it made me feel like Batman. If it can make me feel like the character I am, be it spy, chain smoking exorcist, ex-cowboy trying to help his family, or superhero that game succeeded.

Bioshock was my first next gen. video game, and that in conjunction with the fact that I really liked the look, feel, and mystery of it, the game falls on this list.

 

[briankoontz]

1. Deus Ex
2. Baldur's Gate 2
3. Doom
4. Autoduel
5. Street Fighter 2 (arcade)
6. Dark Souls
7. The Sims 2
8. World of Warcraft
9. Planescape: Torment
10. Chrono Trigger

 

[RJ 17]

I would say "Yay! Another one of these threads!" but I'll be fair since this is literally the person's first post/topic ever........which is odd because the topic has actually made it to 3 pages and the OP has yet to make another post.

But oh well, I'm here now so I might as well play along.

10: Star Craft
The reason this one is so low on the list is, quite simply, I fucking hate Blizzard. I've never been able to forgive them for splitting SCII, a game I waited over a decade for, into 3 games. I don't care what anyone says, to me it's nothing but a money grab. Almost every I've spoken to that has played it admits that the vast majority of the campaign missions (which is what I loved about SC and Brood Wars...what can I say? I liked the singleplayer stories, damnit!) are nothing but fluff that don't really add to the story. Out of the 30 missions, you could really chop out about 20 of them and still tell the complete story. 10 missions sounds about like what the campaigns for the SC/BW were, and they managed to fit all those onto one disc. But I'm not here to complain about Blizzard and why I hate them, I'm here to explain why I picked SC to kick off my count down. As I said I really enjoyed the stories in the first game and the expansion. The races were fun, the units were fun, and it was just overall a very fun RTS. I absolutely LOVED laying siege to a mission's main base with a bunch of Siege Tanks. Roll up and deploy with a bunch of goliaths for anti air and a Science Vessel or two for eyes in the sky...of course you can't forget a 5 man SCV team for repairs when needed. Just let your tanks level everything within range then pull up the ones in the back, make some advancement forward, redeploy until you've leveled everything in range, rinse and repeat. Just sooooo much fun.

9: Mario Kart 64
To borrow/modify a line from Idiocracy: "If you don't like Mario Kart 64...Fuck you." Probably the only racing game I was ever good at (I was decent at Burnout Revenge...but come on, that didn't have red fucking turtle shells!) It was also the last in the franchise that I was ever interested in. It was a perfect match between being big without being too big and being complicated without being too complicated. You had to know just when to fire your stuff off to get the maximum effect when playing with multiple people. And lets face it, if you grew up with this game and you didn't have friends over all the time playing Battle Mode then I have absolutely no idea what you were doing with your childhood.

8: Batman: Arkham City
What can one say? It's Batman perfected. I got it, played it, enjoyed it, didn't play it for a couple years, started playing it again earlier this year and good god I couldn't put it down. I think I played through it at least 8 times (four games with four New Game +'s) earlier this year. I just couldn't stop myself. The combat is just cream-in-your-pants good. Especially since I started getting good at the combat....REALLY good. Think my record is a 124 hit combo, completely flawless without getting touched, on one of the harder Riddler Combat Challenges. There's nothing quite like the feeling of Batman'ing the FUCK out a massive group of thugs including two titans and a one-armed giant. The only reason it's not higher on the list is because I'll always be an RPG fan at heart, which brings us to......

7: OBLIVIOOOOOOOOOOOON!!!!!! (Sorry, but whenever talking about that game with my friends we always yell it out in an over-dramatic voice )
Ohhhhh Oblivion, easily one of the greatest RPGs I've ever played. I had gotten Morrowind for Christmas on my Xbox, but never really got into it because I didn't have any idea what I was doing. Then I saw a friend playing Oblivion while over at his house and wanted to give it a try for myself. Needless to say, I was absolutely hooked. It was the first game I had ever played (well, besides Morrowind, technically) where you get out of the intro area and then the game just throws a MASSIVE world at you and says "Alright, go have fun now." You can do whatever you want, whenever you want, however you want to do it. It was absolutely amazing and for the life of me I couldn't stop playing it. I always ended up playing some kind of thief/assassin with just a splash of magic abilities. Then I got turned into a vampire while exploring a cave and HOLY SHIT! I get a free-spell that I can use as much as I want (i.e. not a daily recharge spell) that gives me Night Vision AND Detect Life?! Yes please! But my favorite part of the game was easily the Dark Brotherhood quests. The Murder Mystery Mansion Party is probably my favorite all-time quest in any game ever. Good lord, that mission was TOO much fun. But as fun as all it was, it still didn't have as much of an impact on me as #6 on my count-down.

6: Mass Effect Series
This is the #1 pick of the bottom-five of the list. Not that the series isn't fan-frickin'-tastic (at least in my opinion), it's just from 5 and up, they all have HEAVY nostalgic points for me, and that heavily weights the decision making in their favor. Unlike the vast majority of gamers, I actually didn't throw my Xbox out the window with the original ending to ME3. I wasn't necessarily thinking it was the greatest possible ending I could have hoped for, for me it was more like a "Huh...well that just happened." But my favorite thing about the ending to ME3 (and something I love to boast about on this forum even though I'm sure no one really gives a damn) is that 1: I never believed in the so-called Indoctrination Theory. To me, that always brought up even more plotholes than trying to take a literal interpretation...namely the fact that no matter what the outcome of the ending, it means that you lost the war. It was said that two out of the three possibilities mean that Shepard ends up Indoctrinated and so the galaxy is fucked, while the other means that Shepard snaps out of the Indoctrination and.......is still laying in a bloody heap on the battlefield of Earth with everyone dying all around him/her. So what did I do? I made up my own theories. I thought of the implications for each possible ending and from those I derived "what would have happened", kinda like making up my own version of an epilogue for each one. I posted these "epilogues" in a topic about 6 days after the game came out...and hot damn, it turns out I accurately predicted all three of the Extended Cut endings almost down to every specific detail long before the EC was even considered as a thing to be made.

As for the rest of the series, I frickin' loved it all. The only game that I've sunk more hours into than the Mass Effect series is the game that's in my #1 spot. I honestly can't count the number of times I've played through each ME game...I think at least 9 characters for each game, each having at the very minimum two playthroughs (with the first and third installments having a minimum of 4 per character). So we're talking a rough minimum estimate of 90 playthroughs........good god, after doing the math that's fucking nuts. o.o Still, though, as I said, even that can't compete with the gaming hours I poured into my #1 game.

5: Dead or Alive fighting series.
No, no, NO! I swear, it's not for the reason you're thinking. I won't deny that I do enjoy the eye-candy as much as anyone, that's actually not the only reason why DoA is the only fighting game (well, series) up here. I love it because it's the only fighting game I'm actually good at. I really like their "paper-rock-scissors" format of hit-beats-throw, throw-beats-counter, and counter-beats-hit. Seems simplistic, but it actually takes a lot of skill and reading your opponents moves to be able to master it. Having grown up getting my ass handed to me in Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat by my older brothers, DoA was the fighting series that finally allowed me to exact my revenge! >

4: AvP2 for the PC.
I was always a huge Predator fan based on the movies and the AvP arcade beat'em-up was my favorite arcade game for a very long while. When I first saw the original AvP shooter for the PC I was like "hooooooooooly shit!" and loved it to death. I became an absolute master at that game's multiplayer. It'd likely be up here on the list but since AvP2 was basically the same sort of deal just with better graphics, mechanics, and an actually damn-good narrative for the singleplayer, I decided to just leave AvP out and put AvP2 up here on the list.

Annnnnnd while I really hate having the top three be all from the same series, I cannot deny that each one of these games has had a huge impact on me and what I intend to do with my life (hopefully become a writer!) So they each get their own slot.

3: FFVI (actually FFIII. When I first saw/played the game it was the original American release on the SNES as FFIII so damnit that's what I'm gonna call it!)
Great story, great characters, really this one is damn near a tie with my #2 game of all time. Sooooo hard to pick. But in the end I don't like ties so I had to chose one or the other. I take off points from this one because, unlike in my #2 pick, there's no real drama in the story. Nobody permanently dies in the game (unless you're impatient while escaping from the Floating Continent). That and the roster is pretty cumbersome. It's really neat that they had soooooo many characters to chose from, but a lot of them were pretty useless. Everyone's got their "badass party of badasses" in FFIII, and for most people that party includes Shadow, Sabin, and Cyan. For me, the 4th slot was Gogo, God of Death and Destruction. :3

2: FFIV (actually FFII. Like with FFI, I first saw it during it's original American release on the SNES as FFII, so that's what it'll always be to me.)
Like I said with FFIII, it's hard for me to pick between this one and that one. These WERE the games that made me love RPGs. I just picked this one because I think it has a better story and good god do I love the soundtrack to it. I mean how can you NOT get pumped for an epic fight while listening to this?

Spoiler: Behold, the Four Fiends!

Now THAT'S some good ol' fashioned FF music!

1: Final Fantasy Tactic (original PS version)
The gameplay was fun and unique for the FF series. I really enjoyed the job class system in it and all the various ways you can set up your characters. My favorite thing to do was nerf myself by not using any of the main characters except Ramza (since he has to be there for the story fights), but instead just have a roster of random units in my battle party. It was just so much fun to me to watch a completely unknown, random recruit go from being just another face in the crowd to being a god-damned hero in their own right. It cot to the point where I'd actually feel a deep sense of emotional loss when/if one of these characters perma-died because I didn't resurrect them soon enough on the battlefield. Put enough time and energy into building your characters and they can become true badasses, and I really liked watching them blossom. Speaking of time and energy, as I mentioned in my Mass Effect series explination: no game has sucked up more of my time than FFT. As I recall, I had about 15 playthroughs, all with completely maxed out game playtime clocks, "99:59:59" Sooooo yeah, I played FFT for a little while. The main reason for this is because I love me a game with a deep, delicious story to sink my teeth into. And I loved the story of this game so much that it inspired me to become a writer, hoping to come up with some great fantasy stories of my own. I just need to get off my lazy ass and actually start writing. >.>

Wow, in looking back over my list, I don't think I've ever put as much time, thought, and effort into making a Top 10 Game list before. What's really sad is I doubt anyone cares enough to read it all. u.u

 

[Nazulu]

I have no idea with my favourite, every time I make a list it changes, but I'll list the usual suspects.

Super Metroid - I still believe this classic has the greatest opening ever and it sucked me in like nothing ever before when I was a kid. It is basically the game that opened my eye's up to that artistic side, and it's not because it played out like a fucking movie like so many modern games try to be. By actually letting me discover everything on my own I found it far more engaging than any film.

Including I have to put this one every time since it out does most games in just about everything, though I can see how some of the techniques you need to learn to make it through certain puzzles can be painful. I find it really unique in that way though since it's one of the few.

Metroid Prime - This game is still possibly the greatest game ever. Beside doing everything really well, I was surprised how un-annoying scanning everything was, and just how many memorable events there are. They were just that... Captivating.

Half-Life 2 - Same goes for this game which I believe is the second highest. I find the pacing is just perfect, and all the level design really goes hand in hand with the simplistic speedy game play. This is on PC by the way, I have no idea how it plays on console but from what I've heard it's not as good.

Shadow of the Colossus - Who knew having to travel to your to each of your opponents would work. Well, it's because of the atmosphere created with the design visuals, lighting, sound and music which is another thing that rarely happens well these days. Because these aspects were so effective you could literally take it in like a breath of fresh air. And some of colossus themselves are a really interesting challenge. Yes, not all, just SOME. It's what makes this game lose the top spot because I don't find trying to re-reach weak spots amazing, it gets old, and some of the idea's I just don't find that extraordinary. However, for the ones that are I do find it worth replaying every now and again, and I really appreciate how pulled it off.

I'll leave it there for now

Sonic Adventure 2 - YES, I KNOW IT MAY NOT HOLD UP AS WELL NOWADAYS BUT I STILL LOVE IT SO VERY MUCH, SHUT UP!

People have a problem with SA2? But it's a fuckin' amazing game with great EVERYTHING! I'd say it holds up more than these critical graphic loving turkey's believe.

 

[IllumInaTIma]

1)Front Mission 3.
I do realize that game doesn't hold so good by todays standards, but I just can't help it. I adore this game. This game is not just my favorite game, it's my DEFINITIVE game, that game defined me as a gamer. Every game that I've ever fallen in love with shared some key elements with Front Mission 3. Here's to you, my good old buddy.

2)Persona 3 and Persona 4.
If not for a random incident and my love for Front Mission 3, I would've never discovered Persona series. I do realize that objectively Persona 4: Golden is superior gameplay version than any Persona 3 release, but I would be a fool to judge Persona games solely by gameplay merits. For me, both Persona 3 and Persona 4 are equally brilliant, but each in a different way, and I looooooove those games.

From now on it's gonna be in no particular order

3)Mass Effect series.
Incredible setting, incredible plot, incredible characters

4)The Last of Us
Incredible setting, wait, I said that already. Ok. When it comes to characters in media, I judge them by three merits. Character itself, Character interaction and Character growth. For the longest time Persona games dominated in first two sections, but then the Fire Nation attacked The Last of Us happened. I've never seen more genuine character interaction than between Joel and Ellie. That game solely justified my purchase of PS3.

5)Dino Crisis 2.
To that day Dino Crisis 2 is the only game that I can say I 100% completed. I've replayed that game too many times and I can speed run it with my eyes closed.

6)King's Bounty:The Legend and King's Bounty:The Armored Princess
If you love turn based strategy games you simply owe yourself to try it. These games stand as true proof of just how much potential there is in Russian developers.

7)Torchlight 2
This is the Action RPG in its purest, most refined form. Incredibly fulfilling and addicting.

8)Call of Duty:Modern Warfare 2
I remember the day MW2 was released. I was in my dorm room, it was midnight, pre-load finished. I launch the game and find myself 5 hours later staring at the credits. Modern Warfare 2's single player campaign is the most enjoyable and intense roller-coaster like experience I ever had.

9)The Walking Dead
Once again, incredible setting and incredible characters is all I need.

 

[Frasman]

1 - Final Fantasy 6
2 - Shenmue
3 - Diablo 2
4 - Tetris
5 - Warcraft 2
6 - Final Fantasy 4
7 - Mega Man 3
8 - Grand Theft Auto 3
9 - Civilization 2
10 - Mega Man x

 

[Andy Shandy]

Spoiler

Uh... But Shadow of the Colossus IS my favorite game. I didn't place it up on the top of the list to look cool or because it's considered an art game, I legitimately love the game.

Tornado, it's fine if you don't enjoy the game, but it's kind of rude to call people who do like it hipsters.

Actually I think Shadow Of The Colossus is a really good, captivating, and atmospheric game. Unlike some games (cough*OcarinaOfTime*cough), it does actually deserve the praise it gets. I never said any of the games where bad. I agree that Valve makes high quality games (albeit not to my taste), and I enjoy many AAA games. It's far easier to peg me as a hater though so people assume...

My point wasn't that the games aren't deserving, just that these threads are rarely ever actual conversations and they're basically pointless. People come in, post their top 10's and then leave, often without reading a single post before them. Hardly anyone elaborates on why these games are their favourites or says anything that might lead into an actual conversation. No. They just dump their list and leave, often not even caring if people ever respond to it. It's quite sad really, threads like this are basically the forum equivalent of a toilet. People just dump arse and leave.

As for the hipster comment, I think I'm justified. Whether people like it or not, for every one person who genuinely likes Shadow Of The Colossus as their favourite game, there are two who just claim they do (some without even having played it), because it's the cool hipster game of choice. It's the go to game for arguing "video games are art", so all the pompous arrogant, "I like games that broaden the horizons" douches, (you know; the ones that think games like "The Path" are saying something profound), they all latch onto it as though it's the fucking messiah. Like I say, I do like the game... probably not in my top 10, but top 20 sure.

While I still don't necessarily agree with the hipster comment, I can kinda see where you're coming from when it comes to these threads. People do kinda just leave a list and don't elaborate. (I'm somewhat guilty of this.)

Off topic: Okay seriously, these ads that are blocking where I type are kind of annoying.

Just get Adblock Plus, seriously. I have no trouble at all. You can always white-list sites if you feel particularly charitable but I find few sites use ads conservatively and respectfully enough for me to do so.

As for top 10's, I actually like them. I watch countdowns on YouTube a fair bit, but honestly most top 10 lists are so incredibly predictable all I can think of is this.


It's just too true...

Doesn't suggesting Adblock incur moderator wrath? Or am I thinking of something else?

Yes it does, in fact I already have a warning for it here:-

This message is being automatically sent by the forum system to let you know that you have been issued a warning by a forum moderator.

Warning Details
Post: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/9.822194.19880531
Reason: Please do not advocate the use of Adblock. Thanks!

Being issued a warning does not prevent earning any badges. Please take this as a warning to adjust your behavior on the forums. If you would like to dispute this, please use our contact form.

I will advocate the use of anything I damn well please.

Stop using obtrusive, insulting, and in some cases actually HARMFUL adverts that trick us into clicking on them, and often slow our computers with processor intensive and often broken scripting, and we'll start white-listing your site. I've even had a virus from an embedded advert on this site before today, so don't even think about telling me what the hell I can do with my computer. Until you start treating us with some respect and dignity, and not like a cash cow, stop fucking complaining. The vast majority of your users use Adblock for a good damn reason, and if you want this to change perhaps you should question why.

In short, my behaviour will not be changing, and don't bother warning me for posting the warning... we've done that crap before, and you already know it's not going to help. Treating me like an unruly child isn't going to convince me to white-list your site.

To be fair, if you're going to act like - in your own words - an unruly child by flagrantly ignoring the Code Of Conduct, then The Escapist is well within its' rights to treat you like one.

They aren't saying you can't have Adblock installed - although obviously they would rather you haven't, or whitelist them at least - all they are saying is that you can't discuss it which, considering they lose money that keeps the site running for every user that uses it on the site, seems fair enough.

 

[King Billi]

Snip

Did you come here specifically hoping for an excuse to unload this little tirade against The Escapist? You seem to be much more interested in that than you do the actual topic of the thread... couldn't you have created a new thread specifically to make your point or do you feel its better if the whole thing appears spontaneous?

Whatever, best of luck with the revolution.

 

[Soundwave]

11. Shining Force 2
Had to squeeze this game in. It was on the genesis and kinda like Fire Emblem. Except it was okay if your guys died. Also had robots, centaurs and some sort of flying turtle guy.

10.Supreme Commander
I could spend hours on a single map in this game, setting up impenetrable fortresses, stealth bases, and all sorts of RTS wet-dream material that no other game has even attempted.

9. Sleeping Dogs
I genuinely enjoyed the story, the combat systems were just fantastic. It let me live out my fantasy of being Jet Li or Donnie Yen.

8. Dune: The Battle For Arrakis (sega genesis version)
First RTS I've ever played, inspired my imagination for years, I still get goosebumps listening to the old soundtrack

7. Mass Effect 2
My favorite of the trilogy, played it more times than anyone ever should.

6. Final Fantasy Tactics
Fantastic story, pretty fun game even if the combat is a bit exploitable and broken.

5. Resident Evil 2
I've squeezed every bit of content out of this game, and periodically retread it. I can't stop myself.
Also the bad acting in it was delicious.

4. Megaman 3
My personal favorite of the series. Best music of the entire NES generation.

3. Earthbound (mother 2)
First non-fantasy/sci-fi rpg I ever played, was hilarious and charming.

2. Phantasy Star IV
My favorite RPG of all time, loved all the characters, the setting was great, the story was great.
It occurs to me that I'm probably getting kind of repetitious.

1. Super Mario Bros. 3
My first gaming love. Still love it. Could play it all day and never get tired of it, have often.

 

[Ikasury]

oh these are always fun~

letsee, first i have to figure out ten games i love beyond all reason... kay, done! now to put them in some semblance of an order based on... something... hrm... more difficult...

10. Front Mission 4 (PS2)- there is just something about the combination of right kind of mecha, strategy, and feeling like i'm playing live-action chess that makes me all squeally about this game... plus i loved the French Chick, i don't even remember her name but i would squeal every time her assault storm would save my ass in every battle...

9. Ookami (PS2)- aside from the fact its the culmination of all things in japanese mythos i actually already knew... ITS GODDAMN PRETTY :3 and the MC is a wolf-goddess, nothing about that does not appeal to me, the humor is great and its epic in its own right for just how far off the beaten path it is yet oddly so very old school and really, who doesn't love fairy tales :3

8. Persona 4 (PS2)- of the entire Persona Series, this is definitely my winner of them all, i loved 3, enjoyed 1, 2ep and 2is (oh hitler~) but this one REALLY stood out for me... primary reason? NAOTO SHIROGANE!! XD i'm all for traps, but holy fuck that one is a trap... so much love <3 that and the fact of how it wasn't as emo as 3 and the rest and while i like the more gothic style of SMT stuff, something about bright yellow, primary colors, and goddamn rainbows everywhere is morbidly hilarious and appealing when it really has probably the most dark background story of the entire series... irony...

7. Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines (PC)- cannot tell you the number of times i've beaten that game, with all clans, all endings, with mods, with 'true' mod, cheats and without, and so on and so forth... but good god i love that game... right amount of humor, gore, not-giving-a-fuck, crazy (Oh Malkies and their crazy text~), irony and epic foreshadowing that has you laughing when you finally get it... but what does it most for me? Deb... oh Deb and the goddamn radio inserts, i ripped those from the disk and have them on my music player just for the joy of having a brief 'commercial break' and its so damn hilarious when it comes on in my car and my peeps got no idea what's going on XD such a good game... such a good freakin' game...

6. S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl (PC)- the entire reason i bothered to get into FPS games or modding/screwing with code... i don't know what it is about this game that just clicks so well with me, the russians, the scifi, the fun as fuck guns and mods to play with, the legit difficulty... whatever, its damn fun to play... so much so i would play it for like a week then have dreams about the Zone and planning my next moves... also an interesting example of a game that's freakin' good without the need of any female inserts, because really, it would make no sense ._.

5. Demon's Souls (PS3)- i find it slightly strange this is the only modern gen game on my list, but that probably tells anyone reading this a lot about my opinions on modern-gen games -.- most things have disappointed me by having their pretty graphics and shallow everything else... this is a game that is extremely ironic in that it is not... it has lower graphics for this-gen stuff, but what it has in depth *squees* of course, the depth is only noticeable if you're willing to brave insanity to look... and no, i'm not putting this as a 'series' game, i'm not including Dark Souls, which is good, no doubt, but it is not its predecessor... Dark Souls is far too... 'concrete' lets say, where as this one... there is so much left unsaid, and all of it is just too sad and painful when you really think about it... primary love goes to Maiden Astraea and her knight Garl Vinland... oh the tragedy their story must be...

4. Digital Devil Saga 1&2 (PS2)- both games as they are a complete story... A FUCKING AMAZING COMPLETE STORY!! DDS1 is the first SMT game i played, and holy fuck, its because of it i love the series, but mostly i love the entire cast and everything about the games, they are different, which is what first attracted me to them, using Hindu Mythos as their base instead of the typical binary european/japanese fairy tales everyone knows... the designs are beautiful, and at the time i hated cell, now because of it and SMT i love the medium... but it really is the story, the depth and just the range of what it all covers... and not only does it have the HARDEST BOSS IN EXISTENCE but seriously, the amounts of 'WHAT?!' not to mention the BEST death scenes i've ever seen... so freakin' beautiful... truly visual art...

now, for the top three, they are my holy trinity, but seeing as this is a numbered thing and i don't feel it right to put them all as 'number 1' as there are differences, just know i love these three as the basis of what i stack all games to...

3. The Legend of Dragoon (PS1)- OMG! i don't give a flying fuck if its Sentai, I LOVE THIS GAME!! each character is deep, unique even if they are cliches, and seriously, the left turns this game pulls for its story <3 love <3 it truly is a game good at telling a story, getting you into it, and hell making you WANT to go find all 50 of those goddamn pieces of stardust to fight that totally baller optional boss that gives you one of the sweetest items in the game... plus, the entire concept of the Dragoon Spirits and the history in the game is just fan-freaking-tastic... and for the time, hell even now, the cutscenes are memorable and very nice... course all these games have freaking amazing cutscenes, because back then, these were the rewards for kicking that bosses' ass that you'd spent 10hrs grinding too XD so worth it... so... so freakin' worth it... and one of the rare games that actually has a good ending and epilogue <3

2. Xenogears (PS1)- DEUS BE PRAISED!! i also extend this to the Xenosaga series, and if i ever get around to getting a Wii or emulator Xenoblade, but for now, XENOGEARS!! the original, the greatest of all interactive novels and one of the most amazing games to date, why? because despite the fact the damn thing was unfinished its STILL this freakin' good, i can play it right now and still be just as happy/satisfied/enjoying myself as when i beat it as a kid... another one of those games that i've beaten countless times, and with a game that averages over 80hrs of just STORY that's fucking amazing... an INCOMPLETE story to boot and its still freakin' amazing... this is one of those games that taught me more then any history or philosophy class ever could on the moral greyness that is humanity, religion, the psyche, its depth is unfathomable, as it has spiritual sequals and they STILL don't cover like half the stuff in Perfect Works... plus its Mecha, the GEARS are the greatest Mecha i've ever seen, their concept, design, and potential limitless, not to mention that by sheer size alone they could wipe the floor with pretty much any other Mecha in the history of the genre... so glad they're making more 'spiritual successors' to this game, even if none of them really measure up to the original... its one of those things i wish to all gods above and below that they would take the awesome anime cutscenes and make a full series of just the story, seriously 80hrs of gameplay? that's a garunteed season of 26eps and they could even hash out all the BS... also, despite what TheDarkId says, I LOVE RICO!! <3

1. Parasite Eve (PS1)- INCLUDING its direct sequel and 3rd Birthday, but primarily? why does a game that is one of the original survival horrors and totally not an JRPG my number 1? AYA MOTHER-FUCKING BREA!! that's why, 1998 we have the birth of one of the best Protagonists in the gaming industry, and guess what, ITS A WOMAN!! XD take that you sexist bastards and crazy feminists, laura croft and beyonetta got nothing on Aya... my personal childhood hero if i were ever going to say i had one... but its more then that, the story is solid, amazing, surprisingly realistic, still very much fun to play with and has not aged badly like the other two of my trinity... for the sake of doing it as i was going on someone about a good protagonist recently i replayed the entire series, just to see if it was still as good as i remembered... guess what, it is, in fact i might even say its better as i was specifically looking for things to rip it apart with, and yea, its still my numero uno... there is no villain like Eve, the entire concept of the body-horror that is Mitochondrial take over is still probably the most unique/creepy thing i can think of, and the monster designs are freakin' amazing, in all three games... the transformation sequences are some of the most amazing CGI i've seen in anything, i don't care what you say they are amazing, not to mention backed up by an amazing score mix of techno and opera, its hauntingly appropriate and great even out of the game... and seriously, i learned more about cellular biology and the energy cycle from a VIDEO GAME then i did in school, hell i wrote a paper on just the information put out in the original game and got an A, who says games don't teach you anything? and what they pulled in 3rd Birthday? well... lets just say i've never seen that pulled off, and so freakin' amazingly right... Aya Brea, you are my hero~


well that's my input into this whole deal-y, woo~

 

[Ikasury]

1. The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
2. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
3. Legacy of Kain: Defiance
4. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2
5. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
6. Mass Effect
7. Saints Row 2
8. Dragon Age: Origins
9. Age of Empire II: Clash of Kings
10. Fable

i just wanted to poke at this :3

WHERE ARE YOUR BLOOD OMENS!! XD Kain is not amused~

 

[Ikasury]

I wonder how many people actually read the lists others have posted. I mean honestly, practically all the post in this thread will just look like this.The saddest thing is most people won't even notice that I'm made this observation and will just scroll past my post to enlighten the world with their top 10 only further proving my point.

1. Shadow Of The Colossus, because we're all hipsters here.
2. ACTUAL favourite game goes here.
3. Obscure shit no-one's heard of but you.
4. A Valve Game
5. AAA Action (A. Creed, MGS, Batman, Bioshock etc.)
6. Another Valve Game.
7. Random retro game to make me look complex.
8. Zelda Game, Any Zelda Game.
9. Guilty pleasure, or Third Valve Game.
10. Random AAA as I could only think of 9 games.

It could be worse, at least the Escapist are filled with hipsters who think SOTC is awesome, and not the far more common child of '64 (and I don't mean the year). Kids that grew up with an N64 so blinded by nostalgia that more than half their top 10 will be N64 games. Obviously Ocarina Of Time gets #1 because of reasons... the others can go in any order really but you must include GoldenEye, Super Mario 64, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Majora's Mask and Banjo-Kazooie in there somewhere.

so god of hip and bridges, where's your list?

... and glancing at my own, unless you count PS1 era games and/or SMT games 'obscure because its cool' by all means, chew away as i submit to the hipster masses... though suppose i don't support the god of Valve or modern triple-A, oh woe is me for being so far from the curve, the utter sadness of actually looking at what others think is interesting... snark snark snark *snickers*

 

[Mondai Randy]

1)Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

It is simply one of the best games I have played , and one of the most interesting stories I have seen in a game. It's also a very challenging game (if a little bullshit at times.... damn you Dragon Eye). Story was interesting , and it didn't feel like a generic RPG for me , demon recruiting and fusing was always an enjoyable thing for me. And the Labyrinth of Amala was such a great dungeon (and freaking difficult).


2)Devil May Cry series

I have very fond memories playing Devil May Cry 1 when it first came out, I just thought it was really really fun. Devil May Cry 2 , while not a super good game , isn't as bad as most people say it is , I liked it... meh. Devil May Cry 3 is definitely the best DMC game in the series , just really stepped it up with all the styles you could use and the difficulty was good for me. Devil May Cry 4 was a good game, but ultimately I found it a little boring due to all the backtracking and such , still like it. DmC is an enigma though , most people HATE it, I really liked it though , and this may sound like heresy to some people... but I place it as the second best Devil May Cry game behind DMC 3, it's that good to me.



3)Persona 3/ Persona 4

More Atlus games , Persona 3 just had a really good story for me (though battles could be tedious at times and Tartarus was hit or miss.... music was awesome though). Persona 4 had better characters (my opinion of course) story for me was a little lacking, but the gameplay was solid , and persona fusing was again so much fun. I hope Persona 5 can have a P3 story and P4 characters.... that would make it such a good game for me.


4)Final Fantasy VII

First Final Fantasy I remember playing , and to be honest , when I first started to play it , I really didn't like it , I thought it was lame, but after a while , I just started to like where the game was headed and all the materia and summons you can find were just fascinating for me at that age (and the Phoenix mini game... the mountain battle thing... was FUN as hell for me).


5)Resident Evil 4

Sure the tone of the RE series changed with this game, but for me, it is by far the best RE game in terms of gameplay, It is just really enjoyable though it took me a while to get used too. One of the few games I can replay over and over again and not get tired of it (which is rare for me to find in a game).


6)Final Fantasy VIII

This one is an enigma as well, most people seem to really dislike this game and while I can agree that Squall was a bland character and Rinoa was just ugh, FF8 has a really good battle system, I love the junction system and I hope a future FF game has it again (though I doubt it will).


7)The Witcher 2

Such a vast improvement over the first one it is astonishing, most people hated the battle system here as well, but I really think it meshes good and I enjoyed it.


8)Pokemon Gameboy/DS Series

These games are timeless, the type of games that you can replay for a long time , trying to catch all of them or trying to breed a really good one and battling with other people is always such a good time.


9)The Walking Dead

One of the most emotional games for me recently, I really felt the connection between Lee and Clementine, such a good story pacing as well, sure it had a predictable ending, but it was satisfying for me because it hit the right emotional buttons.

10)Dark Souls

If I made this list a year or two ago, Dark Souls would have been number 1 on my list , when I got this game, I used to play it for 8+ hours pretty much every , I was obsessed with it. But looking back now, it is still one of my favorite games of all time no doubt, but since the DS fever is gone , I can now think more carefully and I realized that there are 9 other games that I greatly enjoy over it.

 

[JasonKaotic]

Oo, another one. How can I resist?

1) So that I don't fill half of my list with games from the series, I'm just going to put the whole pre-Enix Final Fantasy series here. My actual number 1 is Final Fantasy VIII.
2) Lost Odyssey
3) Persona 3 FES [sub][sub][sub]Just have to finish the friggin' The Answer campaign so I can start Persona 4[/sub][/sub][/sub]
4) The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
5) Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus
6) The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
7) BlazBlue: Continuum Shift
8) Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
9) Shadow of the Colossus
10) Saints Row 2

Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to scream into a pillow over games I should or shouldn't have included.

 

[happyninja42]

10. Abe's Odyssey - The good ending, where all the Mudokan you save come back to rescue you, through that growing chant of power, makes me cry every time I see it.

9. Force Unleashed (1&2) - Nothing's made me feel more like a Force wielding badass than those games.

8. Spiderman 2 - Nothing has captured the Webslinger's ability to travel around as freely, and with as much fun.

7. Mark of Kri - Do you like disney cell shading? Do you like Conan the Barbarian? Do you like awesome, gravely voiced narrators describing your actions of Badassitude while you crush skulls and slaughter your foes before you? HELL YES I DO!! That's why I love Mark of Kri.

6. Homeworld - Haunting atmosphere, great music. Truly felt on the run as the last vestiges of my people depended on me to keep them safe.

5. Homeworld: Cataclysm - Awesome story, great voice acting. Gave me chills from start to finish.

4. Thief (all 3 games) - Can't really sum up why these games are awesome, they just are.

3. Fallout 3 - The atmosphere of the game was very engaging. Really felt post apocalyptic.

2. inFamous 2 - Awesome character interactions. Fun story, great powers, one of the few games to truly pull off the Superhero Badass and make you truly feel powerful.

1. inFamous - Loved the way the city would react to your actions, citizens coming to your aid in battle in droves, taking pictures of you. Coming up to you to ask for your help with another citizen in need. The story, the characters, the atmosphere, all of it.