What are the best games of this generation?

In lieu of new consoles launching this year and the start of yet another generation of video games, what are your favorite games of this generation? Mine are the Mass Effect series, the Portal series, Mortal Kombat, and XCOM. there are still so many games that I still haven't played though. I am working on going through my back catalog and nothing new is really coming out that I wanna play, well except for The Last of Us.

What are your favorites?

Dead to Rights Retribution.

Oblivion, Skyrim, Fallout New Vegas, Just Cause 2 and Red Dead Redemption are my top five. GTAV could also be a contender.

Bioshock 1/Infinite, Dark Souls, Skyrim, Ni No kuni, Uncharted 2, Mass Effect 2, Portal 1&2, MGS4, Banjo Kazooie : Nuts and Bolts, Arkham Asylum/City, and Xcom Enemy Unknown.

Downloadable - Trials HD/ Revolution, Shadow Complex, Journey, Bastion, Renegade Ops, The Walking Dead.

There's really too many to reasonably list, but these are some of my favorites.

The best game for me by a landslide was Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. The only other games that I can think of would have to be Civilization Revolution and XCOM.

The whole mass effect series, especially one and two, fightinggames like blazblue, P4:A and Virtua fighter 5, dark souls ofcourse and... I think I've played more last gen games lately so many of those are more prominent in my mind right now.

There were some nice wii-games like xenoblade and super mario galaxy too. One game that were pretty poor gameplaywise but still made a mark on me were fragile dreams.

Standout games that come to mind are Vanquish, Bayonetta, Hard Corps: Uprising, The World Ends With You, WipEout HD, DiRT 3, Dead Space, Super Mario Galaxy 2, the first two Gears of War games, Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu Black Label, Muchi Muchi Pork! and Espgaluda II.

Dragon Age Origins on the PC. I am playing it again and it is still fantastic. This is probably my top game of this generation.

Skyrim and Oblivion tie for second place in my book.

I preferred Uncharted 1 a little more over Uncharted 2 because it was newer and something I hadn't seen before even though I fully recognize that the mechanics in Uncharted 2 were better.

The same can also be said of Mass Effect 1 versus Mass Effect 2. I have a lot of gripes about ME1 but I like the more-RPG aspects of it.

Finally, I had a hell of a lot of fun with both Borderlands and Saints Row 3.

Tales of Vesperia, Super Meat Boy, Bioshock 1 & Infinity, Portal 1 & 2, Mass Effect 2

Bioshock 1. Arkham Asylum. SMB. Uncharted 2.

MGS4, El Shaddai, Call of Duty 4, Tekken 6, Katamari Forever, Battle Field 1943, Starcraft 2, Mass Effect 1 & 2, Shadows of the Damned, Metal Gear Rising: Revengance, Pacman DX Champ ed, Grand Theft Auto 4, Journey, DayZ, LA Noire, Fallout 3, Gran Turismo 5, Portal 1 & 2, F1 2012, Tatsunoku vs Capcom, Fez.... erm

Probably some more to add to that list but thats all I can think off atm

(in no particular order)

Mass Effect 1, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Arkham City, Alpha Protocol, The Witcher, Witcher 2, DX: Human Ravolution, Bioshock 1, Skyrim, Heroes of Might and Magic 5, Xcom, Dark Souls, BF: Bad Company 2, Dragon Age: Origins, Borderlands

It's a lot of games but hey, it's been a long time.

@blargonaut: I don't think in lieu means what you think it means.

"Best games" and "favorite games" are two separate categories, but I'll go with favorites. I rarely beat games anymore. Still, I liked, nay, loved everything about Red Dead Redemption, which, to tell you the truth, is probably my favorite game of this gen. All of Dragon Age has been great, as well as the first Mass Effect. I like car games, and I played the shit out of Forza 2 and Dirt 3. The likes of Call of Duty 4, AC Brotherhood, GTA 4 and the Gears of War trilogy are of course objectively fantastic products as well.

Flawed games that I still liked enough to play a lot include Prince of Persia, Dark Void, Enslaved (you can probably tell I'm a sucker for pure and simple adventure), Sleepy Dawgs and Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway.

I keep a list for every year and this generation. I should also make lists for consoles and other gens. That sounds fun. Anyways.

1. Mass Effect 2

2. Bastion

3. Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit

4. Dead Space

5. Persona 4 Arena

6. Uncharted

7. Super Meat Boy

8. Batman: Arkham Asylum

9. Dragon Age: Origins

10. Fallout New Vegas

• The Witcher 2
• Arkham Asylum
• Bastion
• Banjo Kazooie Nuts & Bolts
• XCOM
• Red Dead Redemption
• Assassin's Creed 2
• Mario Galaxy
• Portal 2
• New Vegas.

Both Metro games have been some of the best experiences I've had this gen.

Dark Souls, Witcher 2, AC Brotherhood, Bayonetta, Vanquish, Arkham Asylum/City, Mass Effect 2, Red Dead Redemption, and Uncharted 2 for retail releases

Mafia 2.

portal 2, skyward sword, MGS4, arkham asylum, fallout 3, uncharted 2, the witcher 2 and burnout paradise i'd say are the best, though my favourites were skate 3 and rock band 3. by the end of the summer I imagine XCOM: EU and dark souls will be among my favourites by the way they've both started

SHADOW!!!

Bioshock

Fallout 3

Fallout:New Vegas

Motorstorm

GTA IV

Red Dead Redemption

Skyrim

inFamous

Bioshock:Infinty

Heavy Rain

Burnout Paradise

COD: Black OPs 2

Warhawk

Ni no Kuni

Dishonored

Killzone 3

Uncharted

MGS4

Rock Band 2

Dark Souls

Mass Effect 2

only games that came out on a console, because talking generation on a PC is a fool's errand

1. Nier

2. Dark Souls

3. Witcher 2

4. Binary Domain

5. Fallout: New Vegas

The Witcher 2 probably takes the top spot, aside from that.

Skyrim

Dragon Age Origins

Red Dead Redemption

Dragons Dogma

Xenoblade Chronicles

Halo Reach

Gears of War (All 3)

Max Payne 3

Think that's it.

My personal favourites:

1. Mass Effect (1)

2. Batman Arkham Asylum

3. Red Dead Redemption

4. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

5. NHL '11

• Metal Gear Solid 4
• GTA 4
• Uncharted 2
• Fallout: New Vegas
• Saints Row The Third
• Deus Ex Human Revolution
• Red Dead Redemption
• Mortal Kombat (not counting the online stuff)
• Killzone 2
• Tomb Raider

Mass Effect 2

Deadly Premonition

1. Minecraft

2. Portal 2

3. Red Dead Redemption

4. Super Meat Boy

1. Fallout 3

FO3 is tops for me, followed by Assassin's Creed 2, AC Brotherhood, Red Dead Redemption, Dead Space 1, Halo 3.

DS games count as this generation, right? Excluding sequels that I really liked but weren't my favorite entry in that franchise of this generation, here's my list in order of US release dates:

• Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
• No More Heroes
• Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
• Batman: Arkham Asylum
• Deadly Premonition
• Alpha Protocol
• Vanquish
• Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
• Pac-Man Championship Edition DX
• Ghost Trick
• Yakuza 4
• Mortal Kombat
• Deus Ex: Human Revolution
• Sonic Generations
• Binary Domain
• Sleeping Dogs
• Double Dragon Neon
• Anarchy Reigns
• Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

Mass Effect 2, Skyrim, Halo 3, Sleeping Dogs, and... Hm. I'm not sure if I want to give the fifth spot to Arkham Asylum or Deus Ex HR. Maybe I'll give it to CoD 4, which is still a damn good game.

I feel like I should add more but I don't know what. All these games are my favorites. Best is games that are universally loved. Favorites are my opinions. Here:

• Bioshock (Best)
• Bioshock Infinite (Best)
• Red Dead Redemption (Best)
• Uncharted 2 (Best)
• Mass Effect 2 (Best)
• Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (Best)
• Batman: Arkham City (Best)
• Burnout Paradise (Best)
• Call of Duty 4 (Best)
• Dead Space 2 (Best)
• Fallout 3 (Best)
• Far Cry 3 (Favorite)
• Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon (Favorite)
• God of War 3 (Best)
• Journey (Best)
• Infamous series (Favorite)
• Mirror's Edge (Favorite)
• Portal 2 (Best)
• Gravity Rush (Favorite)
• The Walking Dead (Best)
• Spec Ops: The Line (Best)
• Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time (Favorite)
• Sound Shapes (Favorite)
• The Unfinished Swan (Favorite)

Red Dead Redemption

The Uncharted series

Driver San Francisco

Far Cry 3

GTA 4

The Batman games

Max Payne 3

-Portal 2

-Halo 3

-Just Cause 2

Mass Effect 2, Assassin Creed 2, Arkham Asylum, Uncharted 2, Dragon Age Origins and Deadly Premonition

• Mario Galaxy 1 & 2
• Uncharted 2
• Dark Souls
• Batman
• Assassins Creed 2 & BH
• Saints Row 3
• Infamous 2
• Portal 2
• Ace Attorney
• Borderlands
• ... so many good games. This was a golden generation.

1. Skyrim
2. Uncharted 2
3. The Witcher 2
4. Bioshock
5. Red Dead Redemption
6. MGS4
7. Mass Effect 2
8. Assassins Creed: Brotherhood
9. Portal 2
10. Arkham Asylum
11. Journey
12. inFamous
13. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
14. God of War 3
15. Beatles: Rock Band

I tried to keep it to 10 but these sorts of lists are too damn hard! Looking back there were a ton of amazing games this generation, There's a whole bunch more downloadable titles I would have liked to have included but this list is too long already.

NO LOVE for Braid? Not one has mentioned it.

Allow me to retort.

BRAID. Game of the generation.

FLT

Great responses everyone. There really were a lot of good games this generation. Wow.

Viva Pinata

ROLF

I don't know if I can name any.=-|

Oblivion, Rainbox Six Vegas, and Call of Duty 4 turned me into a hardcore gamer for sure. Rainbox Six multiplayer brings back some of the most nostalgic memories of online gaming for me. Oblivion really got me into role playing and open world games, and in my opinion Call of Duty 4 had one of the best all-around online experiences of its generation. Best maps of any Call of Duty game as well.

Mass Effect series, Bioshock series, Super Meat Boy, XCOM, Batman, Portal games. Just to name a few. Bloody hell there has been a lot of great games.

Okay, i guess i'll do a top 10. These aren't in any particular order. I just picked my one or two favorite from each genre I like.

Super Meat Boy

Trials Evolution

World of Goo

Forza 4

Dirt 1

Viva Pinata

Demon's Souls

Dark Souls

Hotline Miami

XCOM: Enemy Unknown

Special bonus category for game I was so very much prepared to love based on design and premise but was terribly let down: L.A. Noire. Goddamnit that game could have been so good. So good. *sniffle* (╯﹏╰)

• Mass Effect Series
• Red Dead Redemption
• Batman Arkham Games
• Terraria
• Ni No Kuni
• Metro Games
• Mortal Kombat
• Far Cry 3
• Dishonored
• Bioshock 1/Infinite
• Luigis Mansion
• Super Mario 3d Land
• Super Meat Boy
• Portal series
• Assassins Creed series
• The Elder Scrolls
• Fallout series
• Minecraft
• The Walking Dead
• Demon's Souls/Dark souls
• Xcom
• Uncharted
• The Witcher series
• Gears of War series
• Dead Space 1 & 2
• Borderlands 1 & 2
• Infamous 1 & 2
• Sleeping Dogs
• Metal Gear Solid 4
• Deadly Premonition

Fuck, I can't think of anymore. This generation has been pretty great to say the least though.

• Mass Effect series
• Skyrim
• Fallout 3
• Fallout New Vegas
• Dragon Age series
• XCOM
• The Witcher 2
• Uncharted series
• Tomb Raider
• Borderlands series
• Dishonored
• Saints Row The Third
• Portal series
• Red Dead Redemtion

Sadly just realized this was my first generation where a JRPG didn't even come to mind u_u.

Bayonetta, Fallout New Vegas and Borderlands. There are more but those are deff top 3.