Breath of the Wild changed how I felt about video games, and then somehow Tears of the Kingdom was better.
Stardew Valley is just a special game that hits a lot of bright spots for me and I keep replaying it over and over.
Special shoutout to X-Wing for being the first video game I truly loved.
1.Space Invaders - because I am old as hell and remember getting my dad bringing home an Atari right when they came out and playing this till our fingers fell off
2.Mortal Kombat - because, duh,80’s Arcades in the Mall
3.Super Mario Bros - because in HS I babysat every day after school, and we always had Tostitos chips and medium Pace Picante sauce and played Super Mario Bros for 3 hours until her parents got home. This is definitely a core memory for me.
#3 - Destiny 2 - This is a hard one for me. I put thousands of hours into this game. Literally thousands across multiple platforms. And I gave it up earlier this year because it lost track of itself and seems to be spiraling down a sad path. Bungie have always put their heart into their games, and this was no exception for several years, but it feels like they’re being pulled in another direction (bought by Sony and now working on a new title for them) so I’ll keep it on the list because of all the good times, but it’ll probably move further and further down the list as time goes, rather than holding this spot. 8/10 (was probably 9.5/10 for me if you’d asked a year ago, and that 8 is on shaky ground)
#2 - Half-Life 1 - This game changed everything in gaming. The storytelling was on point, the character design was fantastic, and it launched Valve Software into the powerhouse they are now. Without this game’s success, we might not have gotten all of the amazing things that came from Valve like Steam, Portal (which I’ll come back to), Counter-Strike, and even their amazing hardware like the Steam Deck and Index. 9.5/10 (If you want to experience this without it feeling like a 25-year-old game, you can play Black Mesa which is a modern remake that’s true to the original).
#1 - Portal 2 - This is not to say that Portal 1 wasn’t also worthy of mention since it led to the creation of 2, but 2 took everything great about the original and built it out even further. Both games are peak storytelling and the selection of voice actors couldn’t be more perfectly selected. Of all the games I’ve had and played over the years (btw, I consider myself to be a gamer over all other hobbies, of which I have many) I always think of this first when someone asks me about my favorite games. If you like first-person shooter-type games and enjoy puzzle games, this is the absolute best of both worlds and you never have to shoot a weapon. It’s designed perfectly to make you feel like an idiot when you can’t get a puzzle and feel like a genius when it clicks. 10/10
@capnjb Some true classics in there. I guess I stuck with more modern games because they have so much content and depth these days, but I certainly grew up on Atari 2600 titles and love that they inspired creators and paved the way for gaming.
#3 - Yar’s Revenge - It is challenging but playable with nonstop action.
#2 - The Legend of Zelda - We got it at a yard sale with no documentation, so it became a family project to burn every bush and bomb every wall to find everything needed to keep going.
#1 - Borderlands - You get a dune buggy with a rocket launcher and unlimited ammo guaranteed to eliminate all of your day’s frustrations.
@2many2no Borderlands 1 was a real treat at the time of its release. They haven’t messed up the formula so they are still quite enjoyable, but a little more spice in the new releases would be nice.
I never played video games as a kid because they didn’t exist. I predate Pong.
In the pre-Windows era, my go-to PC choices were Doom III and Wolfenstein. In the arcades, it was Tetris, Galaga and Time Pilot. I found all of the stuff like Mortal Kombat completely and utterly without any interst to me whatsoever, which meant that eventually the arcades stopped having anything I wanted to play.
In the Windows era, for a while, I played Gemcraft. and HalfLife, and later, Portal.
@PooltoyWolf “Walnuts, peanuts, pineapple smells, grapes, melons, oranges, and coconut shells!”
I’m glad you enjoyed it, but so much about that game irked me.
So many broken minigames! The final battle with King K. Rool had so much cool spectacle, but so many frustrating design decisions!
I feel bad bashing a game you clearly love, and not everything is going to hit with everyone
One of my favorite games is the generally-rightfully-criticized Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode on NES.
@Limewater My only two real quips with DK64 were the extreme difficulty of the final boss fight and the requirement to complete the Donkey Kong Arcade, heh. I grew up playing DK64 as a child, so it holds a special place for me.
NetHack / Angband (or various others, too many to list)
Portal (I never actually played Portal 2, but the first one was awesome and definitely groundbreaking)
Braid (probably it shouldn’t muscle others out of a “top 3” spot, but no one else has mentioned it yet and I’m too lazy to actually figure out my “most” favorite games)
We didn’t have a gaming console when I was growing up(I still don’t), and the neighbors were far away. So I tended to love the NES/SNES games, but hardly ever got to play them.
Star Control 2 is still the best game you will ever read. It’s an open-ish cosmic exploration game where you encounter cowardice on an intergalactic scale, absentminded mushrooms who are religious zealots, blurred lines between otherworldly prejudice/lust, spooky goldfish, and find out space a tough place where wimps eat flaming plasma death.
It’s also free (rebranded as the Ur-Quan Masters) for PC, mobile, and ported to platforms like the Wii or PSP.
You can read the game script here, picking and choosing between the various species you encounter (may I suggest to begin with Spathi or Zoq-Fot-Pik): https://www.sa-matra.net/quotes/
I’d ramble about portable gaming, Sa-Ga 2, Advance Wars 4, Metal Slug Pocket, Tetris, etc. but Star Control / Ur-Quan Masters needs more love. (I’m also selling these fine leather jackets.)
@grimblegromble I’m on the same theme but would step back to Oblivion along with Shivering Isles. It also could be where I was in my life where I had time to immerse myself in it over Winter breaks or Summer vacations (I would play on PC or X360 in a motorhome while my wife read books or watched satellite TV — it was a good time). Also the writing, locations, and NPC interactions seemed the best. Yes, even the madness of Shivering Isles. So well done. I would love a remaster of it, but also remastered Fallout NV would be great as well.
for perspective, I started with You are inside a building, a well house for a large spring.
Breath of the Wild changed how I felt about video games, and then somehow Tears of the Kingdom was better.
Stardew Valley is just a special game that hits a lot of bright spots for me and I keep replaying it over and over.
Special shoutout to X-Wing for being the first video game I truly loved.
Baulders gate 3. Why is it the best?
Halsin.
@riskybryzness going to add destiny 2. Recently stopped playing it because baulders.
Also throwing in Titanfall 2. A genuine toss up between this and halo, but Titanfall 2 made me sob. The story is so good.
I haven’t gamed much as an adult, so mine are the ones I enjoyed as a kid:
Super Mario Bros 3
Sonic 2
I played a decent amount of Mortal Kombat as well, but didn’t enjoy it as much as the other 2.
@Thumperchick Super Mario 3 is a gem, and it’s pretty high on my list.
1.Space Invaders - because I am old as hell and remember getting my dad bringing home an Atari right when they came out and playing this till our fingers fell off
2.Mortal Kombat - because, duh,80’s Arcades in the Mall
3.Super Mario Bros - because in HS I babysat every day after school, and we always had Tostitos chips and medium Pace Picante sauce and played Super Mario Bros for 3 hours until her parents got home. This is definitely a core memory for me.
@cardiganb We had this in the basement of my dorm. I was terrible.
Counting down from 3 to 1 here.
#3 - Destiny 2 - This is a hard one for me. I put thousands of hours into this game. Literally thousands across multiple platforms. And I gave it up earlier this year because it lost track of itself and seems to be spiraling down a sad path. Bungie have always put their heart into their games, and this was no exception for several years, but it feels like they’re being pulled in another direction (bought by Sony and now working on a new title for them) so I’ll keep it on the list because of all the good times, but it’ll probably move further and further down the list as time goes, rather than holding this spot. 8/10 (was probably 9.5/10 for me if you’d asked a year ago, and that 8 is on shaky ground)
#2 - Half-Life 1 - This game changed everything in gaming. The storytelling was on point, the character design was fantastic, and it launched Valve Software into the powerhouse they are now. Without this game’s success, we might not have gotten all of the amazing things that came from Valve like Steam, Portal (which I’ll come back to), Counter-Strike, and even their amazing hardware like the Steam Deck and Index. 9.5/10 (If you want to experience this without it feeling like a 25-year-old game, you can play Black Mesa which is a modern remake that’s true to the original).
#1 - Portal 2 - This is not to say that Portal 1 wasn’t also worthy of mention since it led to the creation of 2, but 2 took everything great about the original and built it out even further. Both games are peak storytelling and the selection of voice actors couldn’t be more perfectly selected. Of all the games I’ve had and played over the years (btw, I consider myself to be a gamer over all other hobbies, of which I have many) I always think of this first when someone asks me about my favorite games. If you like first-person shooter-type games and enjoy puzzle games, this is the absolute best of both worlds and you never have to shoot a weapon. It’s designed perfectly to make you feel like an idiot when you can’t get a puzzle and feel like a genius when it clicks. 10/10
Baldur’s Gate 3 will probably take that number 3 spot from Destiny 2 before Christmas. It is a brand-new masterpiece.
@ExtraMedium Portal 2 is a brilliant game.
@capnjb Some true classics in there. I guess I stuck with more modern games because they have so much content and depth these days, but I certainly grew up on Atari 2600 titles and love that they inspired creators and paved the way for gaming.
#3 - Yar’s Revenge - It is challenging but playable with nonstop action.
#2 - The Legend of Zelda - We got it at a yard sale with no documentation, so it became a family project to burn every bush and bomb every wall to find everything needed to keep going.
#1 - Borderlands - You get a dune buggy with a rocket launcher and unlimited ammo guaranteed to eliminate all of your day’s frustrations.
@2many2no Borderlands 1 was a real treat at the time of its release. They haven’t messed up the formula so they are still quite enjoyable, but a little more spice in the new releases would be nice.
@2many2no Yar’s Revenge. You just made me realize there is a hole in my Atari catalog.
BRB, if my wife calls, tell her I’m at Ebay.
My top 3 currently:
#1 Quake 3 Arena - I have been playing since the beta.
#2 Brigador - A game I got for free!
#3 Don’t Starve - I like it a lot even if there is no real point to the game.
Honorable mentions:
Infested Planet
Townscaper
Sim City 3000
Quake 4
Guns, Gore & Cannoli
I never played video games as a kid because they didn’t exist. I predate Pong.
In the pre-Windows era, my go-to PC choices were Doom III and Wolfenstein. In the arcades, it was Tetris, Galaga and Time Pilot. I found all of the stuff like Mortal Kombat completely and utterly without any interst to me whatsoever, which meant that eventually the arcades stopped having anything I wanted to play.
In the Windows era, for a while, I played Gemcraft. and HalfLife, and later, Portal.
I have no current favorite game.
@werehatrack Time Pilot is still one of my favourite arcade machines.
@werehatrack I agree with the early pc-era games of Doom and Wolfenstien, but aren’t you forgetting Duke-nukem?
@lonocat
I forgot that ten minutes after I played it, no need to forget it again.
@lonocat @werehatrack
Too late…
@werehatrack Doom III definitely post-dates Windows by a pretty long while. I am assuming that was a typo.
@Limewater You are correct, it’s a typo. Original Doom for the Windowsless PC was what I played.
spispopd
@Limewater @werehatrack I remember getting a 3dfx graphics card that could do 1024x768 — so amazing at the time! good memories.
Ouch, also just remembered I lost a lot of money investing in 3dfx stock. bad memories.
Hard to pick only three, but here’s three of my most favorite:
Super Mario 64
Metroid Prime
Metroid Fusion
Honorable mentions:
Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2
Donkey Kong 64
MarioKart 64
Halo 1 & 2
@PooltoyWolf Really, I enjoy so many games so much that it’d end up being a large list!
@PooltoyWolf “Walnuts, peanuts, pineapple smells, grapes, melons, oranges, and coconut shells!”
I’m glad you enjoyed it, but so much about that game irked me.
So many broken minigames! The final battle with King K. Rool had so much cool spectacle, but so many frustrating design decisions!
I feel bad bashing a game you clearly love, and not everything is going to hit with everyone
One of my favorite games is the generally-rightfully-criticized Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode on NES.
@Limewater My only two real quips with DK64 were the extreme difficulty of the final boss fight and the requirement to complete the Donkey Kong Arcade, heh. I grew up playing DK64 as a child, so it holds a special place for me.
We didn’t have a gaming console
when I was growing up(I still don’t), and the neighbors were far away. So I tended to love the NES/SNES games, but hardly ever got to play them.EVERYTHING IS AWESOME!
@mediocrebot Oh yeah, I forgot to edit that word in after the original post. Oops.
From different eras…
King’s Quest I (on the IBM PCjr)
Super Mario Bros (NES)
Half Life 1 (PC)
Star Control 2 is still the best game you will ever read. It’s an open-ish cosmic exploration game where you encounter cowardice on an intergalactic scale, absentminded mushrooms who are religious zealots, blurred lines between otherworldly prejudice/lust, spooky goldfish, and find out space a tough place where wimps eat flaming plasma death.
It’s also free (rebranded as the Ur-Quan Masters) for PC, mobile, and ported to platforms like the Wii or PSP.
You can read the game script here, picking and choosing between the various species you encounter (may I suggest to begin with Spathi or Zoq-Fot-Pik): https://www.sa-matra.net/quotes/
I’d ramble about portable gaming, Sa-Ga 2, Advance Wars 4, Metal Slug Pocket, Tetris, etc. but Star Control / Ur-Quan Masters needs more love. (I’m also selling these fine leather jackets.)
Surprised to not see Fallout: New Vegas mentioned. Easily my #2. Witcher 3 for #3. I think I’d have to go with skyrim for #1.
@grimblegromble I’m on the same theme but would step back to Oblivion along with Shivering Isles. It also could be where I was in my life where I had time to immerse myself in it over Winter breaks or Summer vacations (I would play on PC or X360 in a motorhome while my wife read books or watched satellite TV — it was a good time). Also the writing, locations, and NPC interactions seemed the best. Yes, even the madness of Shivering Isles. So well done. I would love a remaster of it, but also remastered Fallout NV would be great as well.
for perspective, I started with
You are inside a building, a well house for a large spring.
Honorable mention goes to Resident Evil 4.