Top 10 Favorite Games of all time
Here is a list, in no particular order, of my top 10 games of all time. These aren't the best games ever made, just my favorites.
List items
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Deus Ex was a transformative experience for me. The story, gameplay, and setting were all right in my wheelhouse at the time. This is a game that I keep on replaying on a nearly annual basis to try out different approaches and strategies. I haven't played this game since 2012 but it is playable on the Steam Deck so I might still come back to it at some point.
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I played through BG2 at least once a year for about 10 years straight. This is Dungeons and Dragons done right with a fantastic story, setting, and characters. I haven't played this game in a few years but I have the Enhanced Edition on Steam and will play it again on the Steam Deck.
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Being a huge Star Wars nerd growing up, I devoured every piece of Star Wars Expanded Universe I could get my hands on. This included the books and especially the video games. TIE Fighter took the space combat that made X-Wing great and added a great story. For the first time (I think), you could play as the Empire and meet Grand Admiral Thrawn and even the Emperor. Of the early Star Wars games, this one was the best.
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Shadowrun (SNES) is the game that got me into cyberpunk. Shadowrun is a cyberpunk world mixed with fantasy tropes. In a world that was already Cyberpunk, Orcs, Elves, Trolls, Dragons, and magic all reappeared. So it was Dungeons and Dragons and Blade Runner at the same time. To this day, the Shadowrun universe is still one of my favorites. I even have a Shadowrun tattoo.
The Genesis game is the superior version. For a 16bit game, it is fairly open ended. The story has you looking for your brother's killer so you become a mercenary - a Shadowrunner. To find the killer, you need to recruit a team, go on jobs to make money all while following clues to progress through the story. The jobs can be taken at most bars and are procedurally generated. Go heist X, infiltrate company and hack Y, Escort employee Z out of a hostile office. The open ended nature of the game and the neo noir plot hold up well today and is worth experiencing for yourself.
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Total Warhammer 3 could be my forever game. My desert island game. The game that will always be installed because I never know when I'll get the itch to start up a new campaign.
Warhammer 3 took what made the second game great and simply expanded it in size and in number of factions. They took what was an already great game and made it better.
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The story, characters, music, and gameplay make this my favorite Final Fantasy game. When this game came out in 1994, I wasn't really into RPGs. After seeing this game constantly listed as one of the greatest of all time in magazines and websites, I felt I missed my chance to play it.
Thanks to Emulation and the Steam Deck, I finally played this game spoiler free in 2022. I was even able to play a patched romhack version of the game. In an internet world where everything is either the best or worst thing ever, Final Fantasy 6 lives up to the hype. I enjoyed this game immensely and will be replaying it in the future.
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Chrono Trigger is a masterpiece. Everything is nearly perfect about this game and I recommend it to anyone.
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Crusader Kings 3 is just an expanded CK2 which is my most played game EVER on Steam. I still go back to start up a new family every now and then. But after 1200+ hours combined, I don't really have a desire to go back to it.
But, Paradox doing what they do best, I am sure some future DLC will draw me back in.
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Of all non strategy games on this list, I probably replayed Mass Effect 1 and 2 the most times. That alone gives this Legendary edition a spot on this list. These games aren't perfect and I don't like how the gameplay got more action oriented from Mass Effect 1 to the sequels. But these games will forever hold a place in my heart.
What tends to get overlooked is how the Mass Effect games aren't that long, typically in the 20-35 hour range. This makes it perfect to replay with a different character and make the same choices.
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If I could put an entire franchise on this list, then this is my attempt. Civilization has gotten me through some tough times. Civ has been the game I played when I didn't feel like starting a new game. There were times when I was anxious or on a business trip with nothing to do. In those occasions, I could always play Civ.
Civ is my gaming comfort food. I don't really play on a hard difficulty, I just enjoy building my empire and crushing the AI.
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