I feel like my “all-time favorite” changes depending on my mood, but if I had to pick just one, I’d probably go with The Witcher 3. That game just hit all the right notes—amazing story, incredible world-building, and so much stuff to do without feeling like pointless filler. Plus, the expansions were just as good, if not better than the base game.
What about you? Are you more into RPGs, shooters, or something else entirely?
Any of those three
- Disco Elysium
- Death Stranding
- Outer Wilds
Great list. But I love reading trough the reasoning behind the picks. What are yours?
Personally I think outer wilds is a one of a kind game which represents am artistic message about existence that cannot be conveyed the same way in any other medium.
I think the common denominator is a strong / immersive story and universe that appeals to me (big fan of sf), interesting mechanics and gameplay in a way that makes the game unique in its own way, and the artistic approach behind the game, so for each of those :
- Outer Wilds was a fantastic experience that you can only live once, the freedom of exploration is crazy, the feelings you can go through in the span of a single minute make it so memorable, I connected with this game like no other
- Death Stranding I played during one of the lockdowns, and after hiking in Iceland, it was a continuity of these two experiences that felt very personal. It was also my introduction to Kojima games. I found it to be such a premium experience and statement about video games, I loved the insanity of the plot, and once you dug deeper, you find all the artistic inspiration and process that went behind the game, it’s an insane work of interactive art
- Disco Elysium I was already fully on board just learning about the game, I sympathise with the authors, the fact that it started as an rpg campaign, with immense lore behind it, love the art style, the narration, the story and its themes, I haven’t lived in post USSR Europe but the game make me nostalgic/melancholic for a time, aesthetic, struggles I didn’t know
They’re my absolute favourite but some games come close, Inscryption, Pyre, Spiritfarer…
Great points. One think I love about disco is how much expression it gives to the mundane. It’s not about firebreathing dragons but about trashcans. My most intense interaction I’ve had in this game was with a malfunctioning speaker on a office building.
Based list. Outer Wilds in particular chef’s kiss.
The Witcher 3, followed by the Mass Effect trilogy (I consider it as a whole)
And honestly, Cyberpunk 2077 could complete the top 3
But if I have to consider multiplayer games, with 3000+ hours on Warframe (considering I haven’t touched it for years), I guess it could also be considered my favorite (I think I also spent 1000h on ME3 multi)
My nostalgia faves are still The Longest Journey and Grim Fandango. My love of stories told with games started here. I do need to think about what my all time favorites are, though. That’s a big question.
oh man, The Longest Journey has been on my todo list for eternities. Ages ago I was being a pixel-peeping-perfectionist and I hated the aliasing on the character models - but now that ScummVM does the game perfectly I really have no reason to wait… but… here we are.
Since the game is dear to you, how about some motivational sales pitch for it? Why should I drop everything else and go play the game right now? :D
One thing I really loved about it was even though the character models were as weird looking as you’d expect from the era, the backgrounds were beautiful and when i played it years later with more modern sensibilities, I still was fond of them. The story took advantage of the fact that the main character was an artist, so there were a number of colorful or visually interesting segments.
The whole experience felt so vast, and even not being a child any more (which can make stories seem vast because of your own imagination), there still feels like there’s a lot to both worlds. And history to characters, just out of view.
It also lives up pretty well to its name. There’s a lot of it. A lot of lore and locations and puzzles. Some of the puzzles are obtuse to the extreme, and silly. There’s one that’s almost legendarily bad, so it has that bit of history if you’re interested lol.
It’s tough to say what’s nostalgia and what’s my preference and what’s genuinely great. You’d probably have to play it to find out!
the character models were as weird looking as you’d expect from the era
Oh sure! Love the lowpoly/pre-rendered backgrounds aesthetic. The aliasing thing I mentioned earlier is just a “petpeeve” of mine, I can’t stand the jagged edges / lack of antialiasing. The rough pixel edges of the modes look so out of place when the pre-rendered backgrounds are so smoothly antialiased.
Though, there’s an argument to be made that when playing in modern high resolution, the character models are a lot sharper than the upscaled/blurry backgrounds :D
Some of the puzzles are obtuse to the extreme, and silly. There’s one that’s almost legendarily bad, so it has that bit of history if you’re interested lol.
I guess same goes for pretty much every point&click adventure game, sometimes you just need to be in the same “headspace” as the puzzle designer to get it, otherwise you just don’t.
But, sure I’m down for some history of a bad puzzle! I love obscure tidbits of old games.
Oh man, same problem. I can’t decide what I like more there are just too many good ones. The Witcher 3 is definitely up there for me too, but then I think about Red Dead Redemption 2 and how insanely detailed that world is, and I start second-guessing everything. Then there’s Elden Ring, which just blew my mind with how massive and rewarding it felt to explore. But if I want something more casual, I always go back to Stardew Valley or Hollow Knight both just have that perfect mix of chill and challenge. And of course, Mass Effect 2 still holds a special place in my heart.
What kind of games do you find yourself replaying the most? Do you go back to the same favorites, or do you always try to play something new?
Thief 2: Metal Age
Not just my mood, but I have different flavors of favorite.
In terms of nostalgia and all-time enjoyment, hard to beat Ocarina of Time.
In terms of pure “this game is so good”, may have to go with Red Dead Redemption 2. Truly a masterpiece.
In terms of most hours played, Civilization 6 at over 2000 hours.
I like this way of doing it. For me:
Nostalgia and all-time enjoyment, probably Pokémon Gen 2 / Remakes (Silver / Gold / Crystal / SoulSilver / HeartGold). I consider them all one game of different “flavours”. If I had to choose one I’d probably go with SoulSilver. The remakes added some much needed modern conveniences, and having your Pokémon follow you around in the overworld was awesome.
Pure “this game is so good”, probably Elden Ring. Before the DLC I’d probably go with Dark Souls III because of Gael and Friede, but Shadow of the Erdtree blew me away.
Most hours played, Skyrim at over 5,000. HITMAN is in second place at a bit over 1,300.
same deal, favorites change according to mood, but there are overall few mainstays:
Indiana Jones & The Fate of Atlantis.
It’s a childhood favorite I return to every now and then. It’s a point&click adventure, and to me it’s essentially the 4th (and last) Indiana Jones movie. :D
Apart from one or two bad bits the game pulls, it’s otherwise pretty logical from start to finish. 3 different paths from mid to late game, and mostly good voice acting (for the time). I know the game by heart at this point, but still it feels fun to play, every time. Nostalgia-goggles probably play a big part.
kinda spoilery descriptions of said bad bits
- there’s a “puzzle” where you need to go back and forth trading items between 2 characters, until eventually some hint from the recipient drops. Not hard, just… tedious.
- the hot air balloon controls are bad. Not impossible to use, but just imprecise for no real gameplay reason.
- if you didn’t LOOK at one specific Atlantean cupboard’s door, you have no clue how to solve a later puzzle. Though, you can return to the cupboard, but nothing hints there being instructions for the later puzzle on it.
Cyberpunk 2077
I know it’s a divisive game, don’t care, works for me. The bleak vibes of the game just speak to me. Have played it through several times since launch, occasionally still find new things here and there. Not the deepest rpg around, but a good action-rpg with neonlights.
Unnamed Space Idle
I’ve been on this idle/timewaster for way over a year, slow progress raising the numbers all the time. Sure it’s a bit low on gameplay, but absolutely neat little game to occasionally click few times when watching some longform content or so.
Happy to see an idle/incremental here as a lover of that genre. Wish the Mbin side of incremental.social worked, I’d love to participate on !incremental_games@incremental.social or use my account there.
I don’t see any new posts since 7 months ago. (Unless my instance stopped federating.)
I can‘t really pinpoint one game, it‘s easier for me to list a top 5ish in no particular order (but even then I‘ll probably answer differently in a month from now when I remember games I‘m forgetting about right now). It goes something like this:
Crusader Kings III
Monster Hunter World/Wilds (the latter if it didn‘t run like shit)
Nioh 2
Rocket League (haven‘t played it in years though)
HITMAN
maybe League of Legends if it still was season 7 lol (haven‘t played that in a while either)
Counterstrike 1.6
Dark Souls II (my first soulslike that I played on release with an active online population, so I have the fondest memories of this one, DS1 and its awful PC port was nothing to make fond memories with for me)
Seems like I‘m a competitive/challenging game enjoyer, but not the „1v1 no-hit bosses“-kind, I enjoy all of these games most in coop if they support it. Overcoming challenges together is my thing.
CK3 is really cool. It’s completely spoiled me on games like Civilization now. Being able to play as a person instead of some abstract concept of your empire is so fascinating to me. Things like worrying about how your child’s holdings will look once you die based on succession is fun.
I always thought CIV was „that game“ for me until I played CK3 and realized that what CK3 does was what I had looked for in CIV but had never really gotten
For me it was seeing people say that the character mechanics of Total War: Three Kingdoms were like a watered down version of CK. I hadn’t heard of it before. CK2 was the latest at the time and the UI in it is awful. Luckily CK3 came out soon.
There’s probably a lot of nostalgia in the choice, but my all time favorite game is Quest for Glory: So You Want to be a Hero. The game was just the right mix of fantasy, adventure and humor for a young me, and I still go back an play it about once a year. A close second is Valheim. It’s kinda my “cozy game”. I find building and exploring relaxing, and there’s enough fighting to keep the game from getting boring.
Oh my god. I NEVER see someone else suggest Quest for Glory in this kind of post, and I am SO HERE FOR IT! I was introduced to it when it was still Hero’s Quest (and EGA) but have played and replayed the entire series many many times over the decades since. Once I managed to get 500/500 puzzle points, by playing a thief that had every skill unlocked and doing all the various side quests.
Perhaps it comes as no surprise that Valheim is also my close second. I’ve got over 4K hours in that one, spread across many characters and worlds, and I just keep going back for more. Heck, I once found a patch of Meadows surrounded on 3 sides by Mountains, and with a narrow strip of Black Forest connecting it the the rest of the island and I build an homage to Spielburg in the middle!
I was introduced to it when it was still Hero’s Quest (and EGA)
This is the version I always play. There’s something just “right” about the EGA graphics and text parser. A clicky interface will never replicate:
Hut of brown, now sit downI feel seen.
I legit mentioned Quest for Glory a second ago, scrolled down, and saw your and their comments. I am so happy.
For me, Elden Ring. I enjoy open world exploration and collecting-heavy games, and I also enjoy soulslikes for the strategic combat and variety of options. So ER was like two of my favorite ice cream flavors combined into one delicious meal.
Came here to say the same thing. 2 of my favorite genres rolled into one epic game.
Before Elden Ring my favorite was RDR2. Didn’t think it was going to get bumped down anytime soon.
Oooh very difficult. For representing moments in time rather than necessarily being the best overall games, I’d say one of Rome: Total War, Dino Crisis, San Andreas, Oblivion, and Mass Effect
Sekiro.
Only hard until you start to understand the dance moves. Then it becomes pure nirvana.
After NG+7 I had to stop playing it and give some other games a chance.
I got stuck on it and then stopped playing for so long that I feel that I need to start again. I do intend to start it again if I ever get the time to put into it.
Once it clicks, there is no feeling like it. Incredible game.
YES.
Sekiro is my favorite game ever and I wish they’d make a sequel.
It’s so good that it ruins other games for paling in comparison.
I’m still surprised how well received it was, not because I disagree, but just because of the numbers. It’s currently sitting at 95% positive ratings on Steam, and that’s with 229k reviews, for a game that plays so different from what gamers expected out of FromSoft.
I was just reading some of the reviews on Steam the other night (because it’s my favorite game), and was pleasantly surprised to see that I was not alone in that view.
People who know, know.
Even when I suck at a boss fight it feels like I learn something new every time, such a good gameplay loop
I can’t beat Genichiro Ashina, but I think I’m going at him too early, but damnit I should still be able to!
He’s one of the first hard tests. You just gotta keep throwing yourself at him until it clicks. I went the other way and did Lady Butterfly which had its own pain. You have to play aggressively. Hesitation is defeat and all of that
Playing that now, just beat fake monk, next is the gorilla. Once the combat clicked for me everything made sense.
Morrowind. One of the few games you can fail the main quest by going on a rampage or by selling the wrong item.
The spells in Morrowind are so creative & fun too! Levitate & recall were my favorites.
Come on, now…
- Grind to gather resources.
- Make a potion to fortify intelligence
- Make a potion to fortify alchemy
- Drink potions
- While potions are active, make another set of fortify intelligence and alchemy potions, which - as a result of your potion-enhanced intelligence and alchemy skill - now fortified even stronger and longer.
- Repeat steps 3 and 4 a few times to become the smartest god-like being around for an infinite amount of time.
Game-breaking, but I would absolutely do it in real life if I had the option. I want the brains!
Night eye is amazing. Don’t even know what time of day it is when that spell is active.
Star Control 2 - it’s a mix of RPG storytelling with zany aliens mixed with Asteroids style PvP arcade gameplay. Like Ham and Cantaloupe, you think the combination wouldn’t work but it just somehow does. The writing and lore of the whole universe is just super rich and really immerses you into the whole universe.
Original far cry. Witcher 3. Baldurs Gate 1,2 and 3 Assasins Creed Ezio games Civ
Cant pick one but based on hours played it would be civ
