Favorite Game Of All Time

[SecretAsianMan]

But we already have a great example to follow: The Idle Thumbs GOTYs.  Except this thread is about the game of your lifetime instead of just one year.  Maybe for the sake of brevity only write a lengthy post about the top game and just list a few honorable mentions/runners up.

[elmuerte]

I'm all for limiting the amount of games you can mention because it forces you to think about it rather than just spewing the whole list. It's a bit similar to only allow 5 grades for rating instead of 100.

So, maybe 1 absolute favorite, and a runner up?

 

 

 

As for Morrowind (not my "favorite of all time"), I totally agree. I've played quite a bit of Daggerfall and it was great, there was so much to do it the world, and there was so little force to follow the main story. With Morrowind this got dumbed down quite a bit, mostly because of technical difficulties, but the world received more depth in return. If Morrowind had the random content generation feature of Daggerfall it would probably have been my all time favorite.

I hope the next TESS game will have a Morrowind, or 2002 option to play the game without auto help (i.e. quest markers, or auto maps). I'm not sure on the fast travel. It would be awesome if cartography would be part of the next TESS.

 

 

got to think more about my own F-GOAT..

[TheLastBaron]

I still haven't played Skyrim at all because every time I feel like playing a TES game I've gone back to Morrowind.

[Dewar]

Final Fantasy Tactics introduced me to a whole new style of gameplay, in which I have since played a lot other games, but none have managed that cross-section of complicated mechanics, story about both interesting politics and the usual end of the world, and emotional impact.

 

I could name a lot of other strategy type games that I've put a lot of time in, but that's the one that really started it all.

[Zeusthecat]

Thanks for the input. I will modify the original post to have the following guidelines:

 

1. You must pick one favorite and provide an explanation.

2. At the end of your post, you may list up to three runner up games if you desire. No detailed explanations allowed for your honorable mentions but a brief sentence is okay.

 

Let me know if anyone else has any other recommendations.

[osmosisch]

I can't pick a favourite, sorry. I don't have favourite food or drink either, just things I enjoy a lot.

[miffy495]

Purely a gut-emotional choice, but Link's Awakening does it for me. It was the first game I ever bought with my own money. It introduced me to the concept of exploring a world rather than just going from level to level. It was the first game I ever beat. It is so many firsts for me, and on top of that it's just a fantastic game that does still hold up. I still remember the multi-level stuff in the Eagle's Tower blowing my mind completely out of my skull (IGN.com). When I finished the Wind Fish's egg, I was actually between games at a volleyball tournament when I was 9 years old. I took my gameboy to the damn tournament with me because I knew how close I was to getting it done. That game has been formative to my adult gaming tastes in so many ways, it has to take this spot.

 

Honourable Mentions:

Playing my friend Evan's big brother's copy of Monkey Island 2 at their house when I was a little kid introduced me to adventure games, which are the reason I'm a part of this community at all.

Lemmings is the only game that my entire family would gather around the old DOS computer to play together when I was like 5 years old.

Dark Forces was the first 3D game I ever saw and revealed a new possibility for games to me. I know it doesn't hold up, but this is a personal list, so fuck off.

[Sno]

Dark Forces is fantastic, i will hear nothing to the contrary.

One of the best "doom clones" of that era, and definitely holds up pretty well.

[Zeusthecat]

Honourable Mentions:

Playing my friend Evan's big brother's copy of Monkey Island 2 at their house when I was a little kid introduced me to adventure games, which are the reason I'm a part of this community at all.

 

I am in the middle of playing this right now for the first time and recently finished Secret of Monkey Island (thank you Idle Thumbs). There is something magical about these games and that Woodtick music is amazing.

 

My 4 year old daughter became enthralled watching me play parts of the first game and was disappointed when she found out I had finished it without her watching. So I have been replaying it with her and reading every line of dialogue just like I would read her a story and explaining everything I'm doing as I go. Then the other day she said "Daddy, remember when those two guys shot Guybrush out of a cannon? That was really funny!". For some reason it was just amazing to hear her say that. She's watched me play video games before but this is the first time she has actually comprehended the story and become attached to the characters in a game. It was a beautiful thing to witness.

[Tanukitsune]

I don't suppose arcade compilations count, right?

 

Geez, talk about a hard choice, it was hard enough to think of the worst game ever that is actually really bad, but my favorite of all time? I'm going to have to say Day of the Tentacle, I have at least two copies of that game (I'm not sure if I still have the disquette version), I tend to play it at least once a year and thanks to SCUMMVM, I can play it almost anywhere I want!

 

It's style still makes it stand out and look good today, it's still funny and it's still fun to play. 

[SecretAsianMan]

Because I'm too lazy to edit my other post.  Also, I wanted to say F-GOAT.

 

F-GOAT

TF2 (see earlier post for explaination)

 

Honorable Mentions

Freespace 2 - It's like watching a space opera, only you're playing it.

Terranigma (SNES) - It's unique and interesting.  Also awesome music.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - My personal favorite Zelda game.

Half-life 2 - Aside from the messiah complex, it's awesome.

 

Ok, I picked 4 honorable mentions.  Sue me.

[TheLastBaron]

Freespace 2 - It's like watching a space opera, only you're playing it.

 

 

Have you played Diaspora?  I've been meaning to try it myself as it looks really cool and I loved Freespace.

[SecretAsianMan]

I'm not familiar with Diaspora.  To be fair, Freespace and Tie Fighter are my only ventures into that genre, but Freespace impressed me enough that I rank it as one of my favorite games despite not really liking the genre.  It's also the only game on my list that I still have a physical copy of.

[TheLastBaron]

I'm not familiar with Diaspora.  To be fair, Freespace and Tie Fighter are my only ventures into that genre, but Freespace impressed me enough that I rank it as one of my favorite games despite not really liking the genre.  It's also the only game on my list that I still have a physical copy of.

 

It's a space shooter game which if I remember correctly is set in the Battlestar Galactica universe.  It's based on Freespace 2, but I don't think you need Freespace 2 to play it.

 

[chummer]

(Bumping with an answer b/c I think this is a really cool thread.)

 

My favorite game of all time is Passage. I imagine that's going to cause a lot of eyes to roll, but I'm being sincere. Though I don't go back for replays over and over, Passage was fantastic because I felt like it was the first game to speak to me in a language that I had known for a long time, but had never heard a coherent sentence in. While other games certainly gave me things to think about and consider in my life, that was mostly due to my individual experience monologuing over the game. Passage created a dialogue with its simple mechanics and aesthetic that really took me by surprise. Is the memento mori theme and exploration of personal relationships deep? No, but the form of the game perfectly delivered the message in a way that I hadn't seen in video games and still only rarely see.

 

Shadow of the Colossus is a gorgeous game. I feel like it's only one of a few games that I could earnestly describe as 'majestic.' The game has a way of making me feel small that I really enjoy. Link's Awakening doesn't make me feel small, but did give me the impression of a huge world as a kid that I still remember fondly. Easily my favorite Zelda game.

[dartmonkey]

For me, your all time favourite is your desert island game. The one you'd take if you were stuck with only one game for the rest of your life. Mine would be Banjo-Kazooie. It's the pinnacle of the collectathon 3D platformer before they ballooned into chores and it's so damn infectiously upbeat! It's a colourful, musical and beautifully animated world. I've replayed nothing else as much.

 

Majora's Mask gets a mention thanks to the final chapter with the masked children playing around the tree. It's a great and surreal Zelda, but being transported to that glade when I was expecting the final showdown was a true WTF moment.

 

And Portal. I liked that it was short. It arrived, blew me away and left me in awe of the design. Linking a narrative to such a 'gamey' mechanic might have seemed superfluous, but describing it as a First-Person-Platform-Puzzler doesn't come close to the actual experience.

[baconian]

Monkey Island 2: Le Chuck's Revenge would have to take the cake. It's just impossibly before its time. There still does not exist as good a combination of hilarious and thoughtful storytelling, difficult but satisfying and original puzzles, sweet ass tunes and incredible 2D art.

Also, Thief: The Dark Project and Super Mario 64.

[Nappi]

Despite all its flaws, and there are many, I'm going to go with Mafia. I loved the slow start, the restrained story, the soundtrack, the police that ticketed you for speeding, and the 1930s cars that made it hard to get ticketed for speeding, let alone reaching the top of a hill.

[juv3nal]

Purely by hours played, it'd have to be fallout 2. There was a weird period where I played fallout 2 and nothing else for the longest time (beat it 6 times normally, and probably an additional 15+ times with the assistance of walkthroughs and/or save editors). It got so I was so familiar with large chunks of it that I could just play on autopilot with the sound off while watching something on the tv.

 

One of the most amazing things about that game to me was discovering that if you betrayed the gang families at the right moment (and this needed to be done outside of dialogue, by manually entering combat mode and attacking the head of the family), it was possible to do (and receive xp for) all the quest lines for the major gangs in New Reno, all Fist Full of Dollars style. SO COOL.

 

Rodi makes a good case for Morrowind which I also spent a lot of time with, but looking back I think the majority of my time was spent futzing around with mods. Not sure I ever finished the game proper.

[Thyroid]

At the beginning of Ico, there's a gap in a bridge you need to cross. You jump over easily enough, but Yorda refuses to.

 

You have to move closer and closer to the edge, trying to encourage her to take the jump. In the end, she does, running for it and grasping your hand, almost falling over. You pull her up.

 

You adventure. She points and cheers and tries to help you solve puzzles. She chases doves and splashes happily around in a stream. You grow closer. When you pull her, saving her from shadows, your controller simulates her hand muscles. It's almost like she's in pain, but she knows you're desperately doing this so you two can get out.

 

Towards the end of the game - when it seems like you're finally about to escape the castle - you face a similar gap in a bridge.

 

You jump. You tell her to jump, too, and, without hesitation, she does.

 

That's why Ico is my favourite game.

 

Honourable mentions:

Shadow of the Colossus

Monkey Island (all of them)

Day of the Tentacle

Grim Fandango

Portal

Morrowind

Metal Gear Solid 1-3 (each has things I like about it)

[dibs]

I still haven't played Skyrim at all because every time I feel like playing a TES game I've gone back to Morrowind.

Everything I don't like about Skyrim is because i just wanted Morrowind in the snow. They did not deliver.

I've never even finished the bloody game, but I do love loading it up and wandering around every so often.

Autocorrect question: why is Mirrowind a word?

[chummer]

One of the most amazing things about that game to me was discovering that if you betrayed the gang families at the right moment (and this needed to be done outside of dialogue, by manually entering combat mode and attacking the head of the family), it was possible to do (and receive xp for) all the quest lines for the major gangs in New Reno, all Fist Full of Dollars style. SO COOL.

F'real? That actually is really neat.

 

*starts downloading original Fallouts*

[juv3nal]

F'real? That actually is really neat.

 

*starts downloading original Fallouts*

 

Yeah. To be clear, I didn't figure it out myself. There is an faq or walkthrough somewhere that explains what you need to do.

For anyone who hasn't played it, the way it's presented in game is very much "you need to pick a faction" but by killing the head of the faction you've been doing quests for you can kind of reset your neutrality status and take up with another gang.

[Dosed]

I'd have to say my favourite game of all time is World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. The expansion just gave the whole game a new breath of life. After trudging through Molten Core countless times, wiping in AQ and BWL a bajillion times (we weren't a great raiding guild... we had 10 Pala healers in 40 man raids), and the game just generally being a bit dull Pre-TBC it was like some sort of revelation (and revolution) when they finally released the expansion. 

 

Plus the game play in general was fantastic. The sense of accomplishment after downing a boss that you had literally spent days attempting to defeat is just wonderful, and I think it's something I attempt to chase in any game I play to this day regardless of genre. I think it has something to do with the age I was at when I started to play these games too, I was probably around 14 years old and I played until I was 19, and it was an amazing feeling to grow and actually understand the game a lot more as I became more... urmmm intelligent I guess. 

 

Of course any MMO is only as good as the people you play it with, and luckily I played it with all of my best friends from school. We would come into 6th form the next day and discuss ganking that arsehole of a Rogue who was camping the blood elves I was grinding mats for. WoW's also somewhere I became fascinated with individual game's vocabularies and secret languages, in case you couldn't tell by the last sentence... For instance Frenetic Pony's use of "teching" when discussing Smash Bros meant I instantly had to look up what it meant even though I have no interest in Smash Bros. 

 

Honorable mention: Pokémon Red because Pokémon cards, and movies, and anime, and discovery and Pokémon. And I was about 8 when it came out. NOSTALGIIIIAAAA. 

[dibs]

I'd have to say my favourite game of all time is World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. The expansion just gave the whole game a new breath of life. After trudging through Molten Core countless times, wiping in AQ and BWL a bajillion times (we weren't a great raiding guild... we had 10 Pala healers in 40 man raids), and the game just generally being a bit dull Pre-TBC it was like some sort of revelation (and revolution) when they finally released the expansion.

Plus the game play in general was fantastic. The sense of accomplishment after downing a boss that you had literally spent days attempting to defeat is just wonderful, and I think it's something I attempt to chase in any game I play to this day regardless of genre. I think it has something to do with the age I was at when I started to play these games too, I was probably around 14 years old and I played until I was 19, and it was an amazing feeling to grow and actually understand the game a lot more as I became more... urmmm intelligent I guess.

Ah my best WoW times were in Karazahn. I loved that place and there really was that sense of accomplishment when we downed a boss -moroes and the Curator were brutal for us in particular!