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[Vince DiCola]

I posted this list in the bucket list thread because I'm a goof and misunderstood what bucket list meant.

But I felt it was a good list, I put thought in to it and it brought up great memories for me so I'd like to share with you, Neogaf, the 5 games that mean the world to me.

Halo - The game that got me back in to video games.
I never owned a PS2 (there, I said it) as I'd "grown out" of gaming to drink underage and skip school and shit.
Then, one day my mum comes home with an Xbox and Halo (and Timesplitters 2 but I never liked it), her work friend was going on a long holiday with her family and was selling stuff to fund it, my mum played games with me when I was younger so maybe she was curious, maybe she wanted to see if this would stop me from staying out all night.
It worked. Man, I was hooked from the moment I landed on Halo, the graphics were insane, the world was inviting and the gameplay... I'd played Quake on PS1 and kinda liked it, Alien Trilogy was too hard and our PC sucked at 3d games so this was magical.

Halo Reach - The end of an era and the beginning of the best days of my life.
My girlfriend liked games but mainly played Pokemon or puzzle games on her DS.
She saw me playing this one day and I'm not sure what it was but she was blown away.
"The graphics are crazy! No way! You get tanks! Grunts are sooo cute, why do we have to kill them?" But we played so much Reach together, it's what got her in to FPS and why she swears that Reach helped us fall in love.
It had a good story, with an excellent ending, great multiplayer (come at me) and my best Halo memories.

Ninja Gaiden 2 - There was a time when I was fucking incredible at this game, I wasn't methodically reading bosses (not consciously anyway) or watching videos teaching me how or why but I FELT IT.
For a good while, I felt insanely good at this game, I never finished Master Ninja mode but I recently got my 360 out, installed NG 2 again and I'm going back to finish what I started.

Dark Souls - The big one. This game man, this game. DS taught me how to fight bosses, how to plan a character build, it taught me that story in video games can be unique and beautiful, it can tell stories in ways books, films and songs can't.
It's not perfect, it has flaws and low points but when this game is on point, time slips away and I lose hours upon hours.

Destiny - Honestly, I love this game. I love the world, the weapons and armour. I love the minute to minute gameplay, the supers and abilities. I love the way a successful super can charge your teammates, that split second decision making affecting you and your fire team.
I love raiding with my clan, figuring out these combat puzzle boxes over several days and learning how to do it better each time.
I love HAND CANNONS.
Well, I loves these things but I'm bored of it now because there just isn't anything to do right now, nothing that interests me anyway.
But, I'll be back and so will my clan because the things Destiny does well, I believe it does better than any game out there.

I've left out tons of other games I love, Dark Souls 3,Ninja Gaiden Black, DMC 4, Bayonetta, Halo 3, Half Life 2, Sonic 2, Sonic 2 (master system), Burnout Revenge, XCOM (new one).. the list goes on.

All of these games are flawed gems, games with dumb shit in amongst the genius diamonds (what) but these are my favourite games I think, it's what my heart tells me at least.

 

[DJIzana]

Earthbound: This was the RPG to get me into JRPG's. I tried playing FFVI to see what all the hype was about as a kid but I gave up because I could understand how to do blitz. I went back to FFVI after and loved it after I understood JRPG's but yeah... Earthbound made me go from hating the genre to falling in love w/ it.

Chrono Trigger: Played it after Earthbound. The music, characters story... doesn't get any more magical than that.

Chrono Cross: The setting, the music, the world... I love it ever so slightly more than trigger. Trigger had better characters but man, that setting... I've never watched a game trailer so many times and have been so hyped more than Chrono Cross.

Phantasy Star Online Episode 1 and 2: Playing local 4 player multiplayer with my friends... was amazing. Especially episode 2. The music, character customization for its time, the weapons, the areas...

Final Fantasy Tactics: By far the characters, the story and the classes were some of the things that stood out to me the most in this one. Music too, of course.

Common themes why I love all these games? Music, setting/general art direction, characters and story. I still play all of these games every now and then.

 

[Ottobit]

World of Warcraft
Pokemon Sapphire
Final Fantasy VII
Battlefield Bad Company 2
Ico

in that order. random ass list, but those 5 games have been some of the biggest & most meaningful parts of my life.

 

[Astral Dog]

Zelda OoT /Wind Waker,
Devil May Cry
Bayonetta
Resident Evil
Metroid Prime/Fusion

 

[User 479360]

Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Zelda: A Link to the Past
Goldeneye 007
Harvest Moon 64
Perfect Dark

Close:

Grand Theft Auto 3/Vice City
The Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse
Fallout 3
NHL 96
3 on 3 NHL Arcade

 

[Death Insurance]

MegaMan Battle Network 3
Sonic 3 & Knuckles
Marvel vs Capcom 2
Metal Gear Solid 2
Bayonetta 2

 

[Frimaire]

Ocarina of Time - First game I owned
Paper Mario - Just a great game
Donkey Kong Country - Played with my cousin before I owned a console
Bayonetta - First Platinum game
Persona 3 - First console Atlus game

 

[hydruxo]

Banjo Kazooie
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
Destiny
Mass Effect
Skyrim

 

[Omega Kirby]

Ocarina of time: Made me connect with my farther a lot as we made it through the game together. He had a full printed guide ready whenever I was too lost.

Mario 64: The game that made me love Nintendo forever

Battalion Wars

Wario Land 3

Undertale

 

[VanCityGamer]

Grand Theft Auto 3
Fallout 3
Uncharted 2
The Last of Us
The Witcher 3

 

[Guess Who]

Team Fortress 2 was basically my life as a teen. I made some good friends playing that game, some of whom I'm still very close to today. It also really got me thinking a lot more about game design and development, through the developer commentary, developer blog posts, and freely-available mapping tools.

I first played Persona 4 during my second semester at college, when I was a thousand miles from home, struggling to meet people, and dealing with some deep depression and self-hatred. You can imagine how it resonated with me, given its subject matter.

Sonic 2 isn't my favorite Sonic game, but it was the first one I played as a very small child, and learning about the prototype version of it that was available online in the 90s became a sort of gateway drug into learning about emulation, game development, and ROM hacking, among other things. I was only like, seven or eight when Sonic 2 got me into all this stuff!

I never had a N64, so I first played The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on an N64 emulator on my crappy old Dell laptop with a shoddy PC gamepad. I was definitely years late to the party on the game, but it struck a chord with twelve-year-old me. I had a little-kid crush on Saria and I loved how massive the game felt, just the scale of it all. The soundtrack also kind of makes me cry to this day.

And it's hard to nail this down to one game, so let's just say the Rock Band series from 1-3 was hugely influential to me. I had been into quite a few rhythm games before, including Guitar Hero II, but Rock Band got me interested in playing the drums, introduced me to new bands, let me play online over Xbox Live with this chick I had a crush on in high school during summer break, and was all-around one of the coolest games ever made.

 

[Regiruler]

How is this supposed to be different from your 5 favorite games of all time?

 

[Vard]

It's a tough question to answer but I'm pretty happy with making these my picks:

Super Mario World
Mario Kart 64
Ocarina of Time
ICO
Katamari Damacy

Other games in consideration: Advance Wars, FIFA, Battlefield 194x, Shenmue

 

[Pagusas]

The Journeyman Project Turbo - The game that made me realize games could tell stories and do it well.

Final Fantasy VII - the best game ever made. Period. Any other opinions are wrong. This game means everything to me.

Borderland 2 - the first game my wife and I played and loved together. We've put well over 500 combined hours into it.

Knights of the Old Republic -. Man oh man what a game.

Civilization 2 - I've probably spent more hours with this than any other game, got me into stratigy.


Additional games of note: Pokmon Blue, Shenmue, Darkwing Duck (gameboy), Half Life 2, Black & White

 

[Harlequin]

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness - Not only is it one of my favourite games but it also marks the end of the Tomb Raider series as I've come to love it and symbolises the truly unfair way in which Eidos treated Core Design (not just in regards to AoD but throughout their entire time of working on the TR series, basically).

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary Edition - And by that I mean the cancelled 10th anniversary game Core Design had been working on before being sold off to Rebellion. It looks like it would've been a fantastic remake, going off the trailers, screenshots and info we have, and us fans never getting to play it definitely hurts.

Assassin's Creed - Mostly because of how much Assassin's Creed fan fiction I've consumed over the years, really, and how attached I've become to some of the characters as a result.

Mass Effect 3 - I guess this one's more of a symbolical stand-in for the entire Mass Effect franchise (and the Dragon Age franchise, too, to some degree). Like with Assassin's Creed, I've read vast amounts of Mass Effect (and Dragon Age) fan fiction and written some of my own, as well. I certainly hated the third game's ending, even the updated one, but the reason I choose to include the third game (rather than the second) in this list is that it included gay romance options which may be a stupid reason to some but not to me.

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend - This one's a bit more complicated. I wouldn't actually say that I like it a lot nowadays because I've come to associate it with an "evolution" of the franchise that I now view extremely negatively but I cannot deny that it was the game that sort of got me into gaming (after which I discovered Core's Tomb Raider games and figured out how much more I enjoyed those) and that it is a solid action-adventure game in its own right (it just isn't a proper Tomb Raider game). So yeah, I'm including it more for the meaning it has had in my life rather than because of my current opinion of or feelings towards it.

Runner-ups: Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Mirror's Edge

 

[Vince DiCola]

How is this supposed to be different from your 5 favorite games of all time?

It's not different really but I chose games that have the best memories associated with them.

Why not share your 5 favourite games?

 

[Fix-It Felix. Jr.]

Pokémon Gold was my first pokemon game, and is probably the game I've put the most hours into. It was like entering a whole new world, and I never got tired of reliving the adventure, even after more installments started to come out. I still regard this as my favourite game in the series, and my favourite gen.

Kingdom Hearts was a truly magical experience for me. Being a huge Disney and gaming fan, this partnership created something really special for me. Sure, there had been Disney games before this, and I had played them, but never did Disney worlds collide like they did in the KH universe. It was, and still is, my IDEAL game.

SmackDown vs. Raw 2007 has a lot of special memories connected with it. This game even has more sentimental value since my childhood best friend, who I spent a lot of time playing this game with, passed away. Really hits the nostalgia.

Castlevania 64 was the first time I was introduced to an "in-depth" game with a darker plot and more "complex" game mechanics. I know it's not the most innovative game out there, and is pretty low on CV rankings, but I really loved this game - and still do!

Lots of games could take #5. Donkey Kong Country might fit the bill though, since my uncle use to play it when he babysat me, and I remember being totally impressed by how far he could get. or Addams Family Values because it was the only game my mom ever played with me. I don't know. Lots of nostalgia in this post.

Note: Kingdom Hearts and Pokemon Gold are the only games I'd put in my "Top 5 Favourite Games" - the others are good, but my love for them is heavily enforced my nostalgia/fond memories.

 

[Aters]

Pokemon Fire Red/Leaf Green: First game I ever played.
Final Fantasy III: First mainline Final Fantasy.
Battlefield 4: First FPS, first multiplayer game I ever played, and I have invested the longest time in this game.

Dragon Quest V and The Last of Us: They help me develop my own criterion for videogames.

All of these games are important to me, though they might not be my favorite games.

 

[sgjackson]

Probably...

-World of Warcraft - The only reason I don't regret wasting thousands of hours with it is the lifelong friends I made.

-Pokemon Red - Right age, right time. Fell hard for the craze and never really escaped.

-Mega Man X - There are a lot of games I liked as a kid, but I think this has been my favorite since I first played it. Dozens of Sigma deaths later I still love it.

-Sonic 2 - Still remember opening the Genesis I got for Christmas in 1995 (I think) that had this packed into it. As I've grown older I've gotten less fond of it, but I can still picture every level vividly in my mind.

-Mass Effect - I turned an IRL acquaintance onto this and turned them into a close friend and a die-hard PC gamer in one fell swoop.

 

[Harlequin]

How is this supposed to be different from your 5 favorite games of all time?

It's definitely different for me. My 5 favourite games are the 5 games I've enjoyed the most, whereas in this thread I'm posting games that I, for one reason or another, attach a lot of emotional meaning to. That emotional meaning doesn't necessarily have to be positive and it doesn't have to be linked to the game's quality or my enjoyment of it, either, so my list in this thread differs quite a bit from my 5 favourite games list.

 

[Sealion88]

Final Fantasy VII - got me into a whole new experience of gaming besides those maxis interactive games, or point and click during those days

Command and Conquer - one of the first RTS games I enjoyed before playing warcraft and starcraft.

Metal Gear Solid - i liked the whole watching cutscence thing lol. Never experienced anything like this before MGS

Goldeneye - played with competitively with my cousins every weekend back then. Camping inside the toilet vent was the best.

World of Warcraft - back in the days where 40 man raids were like a night time job. I can't say I regret it!

 

[royox]

Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II One of my first 3D videogames. The game that introduced me to the Star Wars franchise. Now I'm a huge star wars fan.

Zelda Ocarina of Time: My first "best game of the unvierse".

Knights of the Old Republic: My "holy shit since when I love WRPGs?" game.

Mass Effect: The first game that made me wish that I could forget it to play it again.

Final Fantasy VI: First game that made me cry. My first FF and first JRPG.


Special mention to Halo:CE as it introduced me to console FPS and made me abandon the Nintendo ship on the PS360 generation.

 

[R00bot]

Super Mario World
WarioWare: Twisted
GTA III
GTA San Andreas
GTA Vice City

Some of the first games I can remember having fully enjoyed as a child. My uncle was a tech guy and had the internet before anyone else I knew, he built me a computer and put those games on it (except Twisted, that was on Gameboy) when I was around 4 or 5. Yes, he was the greatest uncle ever at the time.

 

[watdaeff4]

The Legend of Zelda. -
I have played this game so many times it's not funny. My entire family: brother, sister, father all played the shit out of this game over and over for years. My then-3 yo baby sister would sit and watch our dad play and guide him telling him exactly where to go, etc. I still consider Zelda my all-time favorite series, but truth be told it's mainly because of this game. In 1987, I had played nothing else like it and since then no other game has had the same magical feeling as this game.

Bloodborne -
This was my first Souls game as last gen I didn't have that much gaming time and was always kind of intimidated by the Souls difficulty reputation. I'm so glad I bought and played this game. I've played through this game 4 times, something I haven't done since the SNES era.

Final Fantasy IV (II on SNES) -
The only JRPG I had played before this was the original Dragon Warrior on NESand honestly wasn't that big of a fan. This game though completely changed my outlook on the genre. I was amazed by the gameplay and storytelling of this game. To this day, I still consider it my favorite Final Fantasy game and it's the only RPG that I've played through multiple times

Super Mario Brothers -
While it feels dated now, the impact of this game in my household as well as North America was huge. My family was one that had an Atari 2600 and gave up on the industry after the crash. I played this at a demo set up in a Walmart a few weeks before Christmas and told my parents if they bought me anything for Christmas this was all I wanted. I was amazed how advanced it was compared to the Atari 2600 games, to me this was such a leap in gaming technology from one console to the next that has not been replicated since. I still enjoy playing Mario games to this day and it all started with this game.

Street Fighter 2
Got this for the SNES and loved it. My first fighting game and have always had a love for Street Fighter because of it. Bought every edition that came out for it on the SNES and also on the VC.

Honorable Mentions:
Halo 2/3 and Call of Duty 4:
These are the games that got me hooked on online multiplayer shooters. Halo 2 being the first of course, but 3 expanding on that and then Modern Warfare showing a different new fun formula.

Pac-man/Ms. Pac-man:
These were the first video games I ever played. The Pizza Hut my parents would take me and my brother too had one. The two of us would just play this until our pizza was served. These arcade cabinets are what got me started on gaming to begin with

 

[EscapeArtist]

Persona 4
Half-Life
Half-Life 2
Counter-Strike
Final Fantasy VII.

All of them stuck with me in one way or another.

 

[Goose_Se7en]

Metal Gear Solid 2: this game on Ps2 is what really sucked me into video games insofar that it made me think "whoa, someone made this and I wanna know why and how" really important game that made video games more than a hobby and a passion.

MVP Baseball 2005: my favorite baseball game of all time and because it was the last MLB game that EA made I must have played upwards of 4.5 seasons (4 full 162 game seasons) with my beloved NY Mets. Won 2 world championships, lost a WS to the Blue Jays and got eliminated in a NLCS to the Diamondbacks but made the postseason every year.

https://youtu.be/TUr8kT2o3jA

We got the noise song just reminds me of playing all those baseball games. Good fucking times.

Smackdown HCTP: imho the best wrestling game of all time, I spent so many hours playing this game, it was the game that spurred me to get a multi-tap for my ps2. Back when I was younger I was really big into professions wrestling, not the sports entertainment crap it has become today. You could create a wrestler (which oddly enough I never did unless I was creating a wrestler not on the roster) or navigate a WWE guy and boost his stats all the way to a 10/10 rating which I did with almost half the roster. I had a notebook in which I would play booker and have match cards at certain PPVs etc. I'd also notate wrestlers title reigns. Triple HHH being my fav wrestler as a kid I had him win the World Heavyweight Championship like 27 times.

I think I still have the notebook.

Destiny: this game is undoubtedly without its flaws but I won't focus on that on here. Straight up there is no other feeling in any other shooter on the market to go through a raid on hard and just figure it out. Team work, coordination, supporting each other when one of us would drop the ball, getting the flawless raider trophy playing Crota's End on our second try. Doing it again for shits and giggles on VoG and getting it after 8 tries. 6 guys who just got along with each other and it just worked. Coming from PS3 to ps4 although I played online games but I never really communicated with folks and would rarely use a mic. Destiny changed that for me, it encouraged me to band together with randoms to reach a common goal.

PlayStation 3 (the system): my 5th pick isn't a game but a console. The PS3 was a system that made me a "core gamer" insofar that it rekindled that line of thinking MGS2 fired up. Why is this console hard to program for? What is IP? Why is it not feasible for 2K and R* to release GTAIV only on PS3 from a financial standpoint? What's a 1st/2nd and 3rd party game? 90nm chips, 45nm chips, RSX, Cell Processor? All these things which to the non gamer came into focus. It was like "whoa this is cool, I like to geek out on this stuff". Ps3 cemented me as a gamer.

 

[silva1991]

Crash Bandicoot: not my first video game, but it was my most played game back in the day and asked my father to buy the PS1 just because of it

everyone and their mothers used to have this game. no matter where I go and see kids playing a game it's most likely to be Crash 1 haha. what a great era.

RE4: one of the definitions of it's era and easily the most impressive game for me on PS2 and most played one as well. a TPS masterpiece even though it's direction is what lead to what RE has become now

Dark Souls 1: the game that brought me back to gaming after the garbage and the terrible year that was 2012

I honestly almost lost interest the whole of last gen, but games like RE6 and AC3 wee almost the last nail on the coffin and I almost say goodbye to gaming until I played Dark souls 1 early 2013 and I as consumed by it and then my faith in gaming has restored

I still play DS1 after almost 4 years and can't get tired of it.

 

[SpartanSlayer117]

Halo CE
Pokemon Silver
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Halo Wars
Battlefield 4

There are many other games i love and could switch in but at least Halo CE will forever be the King. Nearly 15 years and thousands of hours played later, i still genuinely have fun with it.

 

[Strimei]

Homeworld: Probably the first game where I felt some real emotions.

Spoiler

13 year old me returning to Kharak and finding it burning, paired with Agnus Dei...to this day, I get goosebumps.

This is one of those games where I can simply play the music, close my eyes, and I'm instantly back there.

Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War: Similar reason to above. I definitely enjoyed 04 but 5 clicked better, had a better story I felt, and I loved that my wingmates weren't faceless, nameless mooks.

Spoiler

Which meant the loss of Chopper hit me hard.

. As with Homeworld, the music part is the same here (though, truth be told, I think Agnus Dei/Megalith is probably the best track, and that's from 04).

Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner: I remember getting one of those Playstation magazines (maybe EGM? It was so long ago...) which came with demo disks, and this particular one having the first level of ZoE2 on it. And I played the hell out of it. Again, music is a large part of it as well, but I mean its just an awesome game all around. I think I was more interested in it than MGS2 at the time.

Warcraft 2: I've been playing Warcraft games for most of my life at this point, but Warcraft 2 has its place in my heart for one very specific reason: My father. My father wasn't a gamer, but he appreciated that I liked them. But he had an obsession with some aspects of Warcraft 2. Specifically, Blizzard's trademark poke-quotes. He cracked up at them and would quote them from time to time. I remember, in the last few years of his life, as his brain was left swiss cheesed by the mental illness that ravaged him, I could still coax a smile out of him and a slurred recitation of "Join the army, they said. See the WORLD, they said. I'd rather be sailing."

Dark Souls: While I think I enjoy DS3 a bit more, Dark Souls just left me feeling satisfied at the end of it. Knowing how to parry, how to dodge, when to attack, everything I had learned came together. I felt like the game had forged me, in a sense.

 

[Asmodai48]

WoW
CS
Dota
Dark souls
Pokemon Blue/Red

 

[HCgamer]

super mario galaxy
super mario 64
chrono trigger snes
picross ds
castlevania symphony of the night ps1

 

[Sir Ilpalazzo]

Viewtiful Joe - the game that got me to really appreciate tightly-built action games. My favorite genre of games are crazy action games (like the Devil May Cry series and Ninja Gaiden series, as well as most of what Platinum Games makes); this is what led me to them.

Ghouls 'n Ghosts - basically a perfect action-platformer. One of the coolest arcade games (it displays their unique strengths perfectly), and also the first arcade game I managed to clear on a single credit.

Mother 3 - still in love with the presentation. When you get down to it, it's really just a pretty standard jRPG with fairly unimpressive combat (although the rhythm combo system is great) but man, the music, NPC dialogue, art and character animations, the narrative - all totally on point. One of the best endings in games too.

Ketsui - maybe the coolest shmup? I haven't played a great deal of them but I can still say that this is almost certainly one of the best action games (of any type) of all time. Like Ghouls 'n Ghosts, it's pretty much a perfect arcade game.

Super Mario World - honestly, this is just a pure nostalgia pick; it's the first game I ever really played. It's far from my favorite Mario game and I wouldn't call it one of my favorite games, either, but it definitely left an impact on me.

 

[DieAntwoord]

Jet set Radio Future and Jet Grind Radio - for many reasons this turned out to be one of those defining games that help cement my musical, fashion and gaming taste.

Halo - bonded so much with this game over the years with my family and friends. I remember games that went well into the night on this one. The OG Xbox was fantastic for It's lan party abilities.

Street fighter 2- I remember being like 3 playing the genesis and it's such a fond memory. I just can't get certain moments that haven't changed since I was a kid about the time I spent playing.

Life is Strange - I know it's going to sound weird but this game was the final nail on the coffin that helped me get over my best friends passing. The idea that two best friends just reconnect and go on an adventure was just what I needed at the time. I loved their connection and outright willingness to help each other and it reminded me so much of me and my friends Stephen's friendship. When the final scene played out and you had to make the choice to rewind or let the bay go pieces I surprisingly chose to let her die... That was the moment I realized that her speech I felt like Stephen was talking to me trough this game. About telling me that no matter what all those memories are real and they won't leave me. And letting Chloe die was like telling me it's o.k., that life is strange (no pun intended) and it's o.k. to grieve and that you can go on in life but those memories no matter what chose will always be with you and you can carry your friend with you for the rest of your life. I bought the limited edition and left it wrapped up. It's my personal time piece.

 

[ULTROS!]

Final Fantasy X
Suikoden II
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Day of the Tentacle
Silent Hill

 

[Fat4all]

Sure, why not.

Majora's Mask - I spent countless hours with this game. My first playthrough had to of taken longer than nearly any other game I played, as I never had the strategy guide and sort of just wandered, figuring out the mechanics of the world and characters by myself. It was something I felt similar in Ocarina of Time, but felt very different. The 72 hour cycle fascinated me, how the characters would reenact the same actions over and over, and how I could change or alter them. Beating that game 100% was bitter-sweet.

Final Fantasy 6 - While not the first Final Fantasy game i ever played, it was the first one I beat and the one I feel is the strongest to this day. The music, characters and plot were unlike anything I had played at the time, and I often replay it every couple of years, along side other games on this list.

Undertale - I feel like this game hit me at just the right time. I consider myself to be as active as I can in following the game industry and playing games eagerly and often, and this game released just as I was gearing up for the fall slate of blockbusters. It knocked my expectations on its ass. The level of detail put into Undertale cannot be understated, it does things the average player will never see, but knows gamer's will look for.

To The Moon - The writing for this game is some of my favorite writing in the medium. Funny and sad, with beautiful music and a perfect cast. It's a game that tells the story of imperfect people, and the chance to fix the mistakes of the past. Not in reality, but in memory.

The Witness - The Witness is a game that hits home in a lot of ways. To discuss why would be spoilers, but I can say that went in to making this game feel like a personal escape from the life you might wish was different. It asks a lot of questions without really saying anything to you directly. When a person looks at this game and only see puzzles, that's a good thing, because puzzles are all you are suppose to see at first. When the game starts to unravel, you can feel it in your gut.

 

[mkfred]

Super Mario 64 - One of my favorite games of all time. i still play it every once in a while

Super Smash Bros Melee - this was the game of my middle school years. Me and my friends played for hours and years

Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time - Its what got me into my favorite video game series. Ive played everyone since. Oddly enough i finished majoras mask before i finished OOT because the cartridge was messed up and couldnt save

Resident Evil 2 - Made me fall in love with horror and zombie games. I play through this game every once in a while. I cant wait for the REmake

Mortal Kombat 3 - My first memory of a video game. My sisters, brother, brother in law, and I would play this all the time of the Sega Genesis. Mortal Kombat has been in my life ever since

 

[bbkkristian]

Xenoblade Chronicles: upped my standards of JRPG storytelling.
Zelda Ocarina of Time: like my childhood encapsulated in a video game.
Persona 4 Golden: a reminder that I can replay this game anytime and get absorbed into the world whenever I don't have a game to play.
Dissidia 012: Final Fantasy: This game is very special to me, it is a pure fanservice game with tons of replayability.
Smash Bros Wii U: playing this after graduation will remind me of all the fun I've had and all the friends I have made.

 

[Jawmuncher]

No order

Metal Gear Solid - got me into gaming and was the building blocks of a lot of tastes I have in numerous forms of media.

Super Smash Bros Brawl - with the inclusion of snake, let me finally jump into the series and make a lot of new friends.

Dino Crisis - It's still the best dinosaur game in my eyes, so it's important to me just for that.

Resident Evil 3 - got me into resident evil and helped me overcome my fear of scary games.

Gears of War - much like smash, played a lot of mp and ended up getting a lot of friends out of it.

 

[Jombie]

Silent Hill 2
Dark Souls
Resident Evil
Bioshock
Super Mario Bros. 3

 

[Blue Calx]

Super Mario 64
WWF No Mercy
Mortal Kombat II
Mario Kart Wii
Super Street Fighter II

 

[brettski2024]

Earthbound - one of my favorites and has a lot of nostalgia from my childhood / middle school years. Seriously great times

Wonder Boy 1 and Monster Land on SMS - early elementary days with my older brothers where I learned to love games. Was able to beat Monster Land easily without the pause cheat

Goldeneye - so many great memories of playing with friends in high school. We still talk about some of those memories

FF6 (3 SNES) - similar to Earthbound. The story was so enchanting as a kid. It really was something to behold at the time. Probably my most played rpg

Zelda series Links Awakening or OoT probably mean the most and draw on the most sentimental memories. I would love to see Links Awakening released on WiiU

 

[bounchfx]

off the top of my head

super mario world - pretty much got me into hardcore gaming as far as I am aware. I was still super young but this game was THE FUCKING BOMB. I've replayed it more times than I can count.

rock band/guitar hero - this series changed my life in a small way and in fact was also what I got to work on for my first game industry job (one of the DS ones, halp. Still counts!) I played a ridiculous amount of it, made friends through it, it gave me goals, and even got me started on learning to drum. Still one of my favorite franchises despite the troubles it has been through.

doom/2 - pretty much got me into PC gaming. I remember as a kid playing this over and over. one of my mom's coworkers children would bring over the discs and show me how to boot it and play. I was hooked. I still go back and play it from time to time and I'm even more stoked that the new one isn't trash.

dota 2 - pays the bills. unlocked my life from a daily 9-5 job and gave me a lot of freedom with what I do now. I don't look at it as fondly as I did 1-2 years ago because of how valve has chosen to do things, but it is probably the most directly influential game in my life besides:

everquest - took over my high school life (along with tac ops). pretty much opened my eyes as to what a video game could be, and social gaming was never going to be the same between this and UO (never played UO though ). I pretty much put 6+ hours a day into it and it wasnt about min maxing, or just the loot, but exploring the world and spending time with friends. It was fucking magical. Especially during the time and place the internet was at that point. Met so many people, made so many stories, and pretty much solidified the fact that I wanted to be in game dev. I've worked on a few MMOs since then and it wouldn't have any of the same meaning to me if I had not experienced EQ when it was thriving (Rallos Zek server, suck it bitches)

special mention: Tactical Ops 1.6-2.0 - Most people played Counter-Strike, but I played the Mega Blocks version to CS's lego. I loved Unreal Tournament, and this was the CS for that. The community was considerably small, maybe only a few thousand at most, but this also meant we saw a lot of repeat players, and our community within thrived. So many 'famous' names and clans within what small amount of players we had, each with their own stories and personalities and fuck, it was almost like a shooter version of WWF. Seriously. It was amazing/hilarious. Fun fact: I met the designer of one of my favorite maps at GDC. Not only was I shocked that he even knew what Tac Ops was (which blew my mind), but he designed for it. like, wtf man? Played this fucker for maybe 4 hours a night until I got into EQ then kind of mixed the two. Would sit there with a box of Cheez-Its or Goldfish + a case of Dr. Pepper and that's the story of why I was a fat teenager.

fuck, the memoriez bro.

 

[Sotha_Sil]

It was hard to leave KOTOR 2 (best SW story/writing) and Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear (favorite MP ever) off this list, so these are their honourable mentions.

5. Freespace II - Close to a flawless game. Still holds up exceptionally well. Far too many hours playing and replaying this one.

4. Dark Souls - Many flaws, but still a masterclass in level design and creativity.

3. Fallout: New Vegas (UE) - Unlike so many other RPGs, New Vegas understands that a RPG isn't about levelling stats so you can kill things more efficiently, it's about levelling stats to open up new dialog options and new paths to solve quests (aka the game reacts to your abilities). Combine that with a healthy load of choice/consequence, a real endgame, the most diverse cast of well-written characters from last gen, many unique locations and environments, and you have an RPG that hasn't been bested since its release in 2010.

2. Deus Ex - The gameplay hasn't held up great, but arguably still the GOAT. Almost every game released since can learn a lot of things from the game design of DE. If any game ever needed a remake keeping all the same player options available....

1. Morrowind (GOTY edition) - My favourite gaming world. When Bethesda and Todd Howard were at their best. Exploration was the name of the game, and the game was completely hands-off on what they allowed the player to do. There was even some excellent lore, solid writing, and a few extremely good characters. Tribunal and Bloodmoon were fantastic expansions.

 

[OrbitalBeard]

The Legend of Zelda (NES) - The game that made me fall in love with the medium
Super Mario Bros. 3 - The most excited I've ever been for a video game....and it delivered in spades
Resident Evil 4 - The most perfectly-paced video game ever made
The Last of Us - The first game to truly elicit an emotional reaction from me
Bloodborne - The game that made me realize this medium can still surprise and delight me

 

[ForsakenLotus]

Super Mario Bros. 3/Super Mario World -

Got me into video games as a kid. Between my sister, who moved out when I was 6, playing these games and showing me secrets and my sharing these secrets with playground friends, it cemented my love of video games. Of course Donkey Kong and Kirby also belong in this category.

Final Fantasy VII -

Like many, this was my first JRPG and I immediately fell in love with the characters, the story, and the world. It was cinematic like I had never seen and it was emotionally gripping like I had never experienced. I love the Final Fantasy series so much I even started collecting Final Fantasy games and figures.

Halo -

Probably the most important game to me in a way, in that it introduced me to some of my best friends. Also, while I played GoldenEye and Perfect Dark on the N64, Halo was my first real experience in intense local co-op.

Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn -

This is my favorite game of all time. Whereas Mario, Donkey Kong and Kirby made gaming my favorite hobby, BGII made me appreciate that games could be more than a fun distraction. I played this before I played Final Fantasy VII (I had only played a couple RPG's), or else Final Fantasy VII may very well have this special place in my heart. Regardless, it's one of the best WRPG's of all time and when I would have played it wouldn't have changed that - I'm glad I played it when it was still pretty new so I wasn't so far removed from the classic PS1 JRPG's to still fully appreciate them.

Journey -

This is the most personal one on this list. In a really tough time in my life when my father was dealing with some severe medical issues and I was struggling with helping him and going to school, Journey was a needed respite and I am legitimately thankful I decided to play the game when I did. As sappy as it sounds, this game actually helped me in a meaningful way.

 

[Skeeter49]

1. Metal Gear Solid 3- This game got me into gaming. I gamed before, but I wasn't the type of person who kept up on gaming, who needed to play games, they honestly felt meaningless until I played this game. It made me realize there was more to a game than just it's gameplay, games could have stories that emotionally grab hold of you. MGS3 has the most meaning to me because of this.

2. Resident Evil Code Veronica- This was my first Resident Evil game, and it got me into the series as a whole, and opened my universe to the survival horror genre, I loved horror, but never assoiciated games with horror.

3. Grand Theft Auto San Andreas- I played this game hours and hours when I got it. This was the GTA that captured me with it's story, it's mission design, and it's pacing, which are so much better than 4's, and to a degree 5's.

4. Pokemon Yellow- One of my most fondest memories of Pokemon is being too stuborn to catch a mankey or butterfree, and instead getting my Pikachu to level 20, teaching it slam, and beating Brock the way that would make LT. Surge proud, with my fucking electric mouse.

5. Syphon Filter- The only game on this list that I would say has aged poorly, but I have so many fond memories of this game, since MGS3 was my first MGS game, and Code Veronica was my first Resident Evil game, this means I didn't play the PS1 originals until way later than the PS1 gen, so Syphon Filter became one of my favorite PS1 games. Setting enemies on fire will always be the funnest thing.

 

[Panthalassic]

Undertale
Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
Pokemon Ruby & Sapphire
Mario Kart Double Dash

I can't think of a fifth one. Undertale embodies many games that I never got to play as a kid, but also with modern ideas and additions. The other three are games I would always play with my little sister, and they were extremely important in our sibling bonding. Wind Waker also helped calmed me down when my anxiety/depression was first starting to show up in life (just listening to Dragon Roost's theme helped so much).

 

[OrlanisWorks]

Life is Strange
The Witcher 3
Grand Theft Auto San Andreas
Halo Combat Evolved
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3

 

[Shanks D Zoro]

Super Mario Allstars.

So much fun playing this over the years with my sister.

Donkey Kong

Still a game I play every year.

WWF Attitude

Was one of the first games I remember getting excited about. I would look for any bit of info I could get. Game delivered for me with so many hours playing it.

MGS2

This whole list good be MGS games, but 2 means the most to me. The most excited I have ever been about a game. Bought ZOE for the demo and the demo alone would be good enough to mean a lot to me. The whole thing was just a beautiful masterpiece. Every minute left me anticipating what would come next.

SSX

I bought a PS2 near launch, but couldn't afford any games. I still got dozens of hours out of the console just playing the SSX demo. Then I got the game and loved every second. Again playing with my sister was a great part of the fun.

 

[The Wheel of Fortune]

Great thread idea, OP, there's definitely some good food for thought here.

Paper Mario 64: My favorite game of all time; this and Pokémon RBY were the games that helped me start learning English, and here I am now. Playing this makes me so nostalgic... everything from the magnificent art style (which will never age, I swear) to the excellent writing (those characters, their corny-yet-funny lines, everything!) will always have a special place in my heart.

Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow: This helped me learn English along with PM64, and was my first game/console that was mine and just mine to own (I shared an SNES with my cousin, who I used to visit every day). I don't think it's one of my favorite games of all time, but it's definitely one very important game that will never leave my mind.

Minecraft: Hundreds, maybe even thousands (between the PS3 and PS4 versions), of hours of me and my sister playing it (we still do, event though I'm way too busy with med school to do so as frequently as we used to), trying to get the trophies together or just building weird shit around and trying to survive. I hope to continue this little tradition for a long time. Minecraft itself is not one of my favorite games, though, as I think the game has a lot of flaws. I think the memories of sharing it with my sis are the important thing here.

Pokémon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum: I met some very important people that changed my life thanks to this game. I particularly like Platinum because of the Battle Frontier and how it's so ominous and dark, in my mind, and it was pretty much the complete package for competitive battling. This was also the game that got me into online gaming. However, I prefer Pokémon Emerald a lot better, the perfect Pokémon game for me, which is one of my favorite games of all time.

Super Smash Bros. 4: This game helped me and my friends from med school to get together, we kept adding more and more people who play the game until we formed a pretty solid and awesome group of mates who do everything together, from playing football to watching movies, studying, eating, and so on. Towerfall, Binding of Isaac, Brawl, and Melee also helped us bond a lot, but this game is the one that started it all and the one we always come back to, no matter what. I still think Brawl is the superior package because of the Subspace Emissary (which I really, really like), but this is definitely the better multiplayer/party game.

It's surprising, really, how only one of my top 10 games of all time is there, the rest (PM:TTYD, Pokémon Emerald, SSB Brawl, Dark Souls, Persona 3, GTA San Andreas, and others) are masterpieces to me, but didn't impact my life as hard as the ones in my former list did.