by triviaman09
These are my favorite video games of all time. They are not necessarily the best games ever made (I would argue some of them are great, particularly the ones at the top) but I had the most fun playing them and they have stuck with me through the years. My first console was a PS1 I got when I was 6 or so (I played some older PC games) and I couldn't really tell a good game from a bad one until the PS2/Xbox era, so I apologize to the older folks out there who might gnash their teeth when they read my list. There are a lot of Star Trek and Star Wars games on my list. I love those franchises. Whoever owns the ST license these days can basically sucker me into buying any crap they put out. Pretty much the same with Lucasarts and SW.
In the case of series I consider the series as deserving of one entry unless I feel I enjoyed the games in a series to different degrees or they had different merits worth considering on their own.
This list is a work in progress.
Showing 1-10 of 95 items
Perhaps not the best game ever made, but without a doubt my favorite. When it comes right down to it, the best games have addicting and satisfying gameplay, well-written characters and an engaging storyline. KOTOR has all of the above in spades. I vividly remember the mind-blowing primary plot twist which completely changed the way I looked at the game and raised my expectations for the stories of all future games to unrealistic heights. I remember sinking hours upon hours into well-written dialog trees with engaging characters. I remember finishing the game as a light-side character only to immediately start the game as a dark-side character to see how the quests, character interactions, gameplay, and plot would change. I wasn't ever disappointed. Since then I've finished the game maybe a dozen times (including once recently) and not only does it hold up each time, but each time I discover some new detail of the world that Bioware so lovingly created. KOTOR is a breathtaking game. It is a true masterpiece and a game against which I judge all others, not so much as to what they can be as to how they can make me feel.
Red Dead Redemption does the best job of any game I have ever played in realizing a time and a place. The Old(ish) West is not an easy setting to pull off in a game. As a literary and cinematic trope The Old West has not only a very specific cast of characters, set of tools, and melange of storylines, but a very specific feeling. It's a feeling of loneliness, a feeling of man brushing up against the edges of untamed wilderness, and a feeling of a place which is often unjust and sometimes cruel. RDR captures this feeling in a visceral way both when you are immersed in the game'ss deep and twisting storyline, and when you are on your own exploring or engaging in one of the games many side-activities. The things that happen to John Marston and the other wonderful characters Rockstar has created are rarely fair or under your control, but they are grimly believable. In this way, RDR is a work of realism in the truest literary sense, comparable as much to Thomas Hardy as Sam Peckinpah. The plot grabbed me and never let go until I had seen its brilliant ending-within-an-ending. The characters work within the carefully crafted western setting while maintaining Rockstar's trademark humor, realism, and relatability. Vitally, RDR also works as a game. Riding horses, so vital to the western setting, never felt so good. Shooting is serviceable, and the variety is endless. You are always doing new things and learning new ways to take down those who oppose you. RDR is a masterpiece and perhaps a better game overall than my #1 but I just didn't enjoy it quite as much. I sincerely hope that future game developers take its craftsmanship and artistry to heart.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is unlike any game I have ever played in its scope and variety. As a work of fiction, the only apt comparison would be to an ancient epic like Homer's Odyssey. CJ, like Odysseus, is tossed from place to place and forced to deal with ever more fantastical situations and characters often beyond his control before his triumphant return home. As a game, GTA: SA wasn't always the most fun to play. No mission checkpoints, frustrating controls and no semblance of a cover system led to many a frustrating mission retry. The graphics weren't the best even for the era. These flaws can be forgiven, however, when you are given an entire state complete with three fully realized and very different cities as well as huge amount of the countryside to explore and take on a variety of missions and challenges. San Andreas's scope has not yet been equaled even on modern consoles (RDR comes close). It is the greatest game of its era and I think has a legitimate argument as one of the greatest of all time.
Mass Effect 2 delivers on the promise of the first game in a big way. I wasn't in love with the plot. They did a better job with the "setting the scene" plot of ME1. The Collectors and Cerberus, while well designed, didn't really do it for me. What this game does better than really any game out there is marrying great squad shooter gameplay to the finest character interaction out there. Interruptions (while unfortunately weighted toward Renegade) make conversations more natural and cinematic. The characters are well written and relatable. The loyalty missions could have easily felt like a chore necessary to get the best outcomes for the start of ME3. Instead, they feel like great opportunities to flesh out the wonderfully written party members in ME2. As I mentioned before, the gameplay is great. Each class feels distinct and is worth a playthrough. The game is streamlined in its side quests and its much maligned mining and progression. It's a lot of fun to play, but sometimes I wish it was more of an RPG like its predecessor. Hopefully, ME3 can find a good balance between streamlined gameplay and the complexity of Bioware's RPG roots.
I add the Lost and the Damned and Ballad of Gay Tony to GTA IV for this ranking.
