I've been thinking about this for a little while, after someone asked me what my favorite game was. I rattled off Fallout 3 without thinking about it. That is still my favorite of all time, but there are many, many more that I have fun with, and still have fun with today. Anything after Fallout is in no particular order.
This, as stated, is my favorite game of all time. I love everything about it, bugs and all. The soundtrack is perfect, and very fitting, and I love how easily it can become a survival/horror game. Need an example? There's 2 blocks left on your health meter, you have no Stimpacks, limited ammo, and you're entering an area with 5 Super Mutants.
I've poured countless hours into both of the games, and feel like I could still put more time into them and have a damn good time. I'm a sucker for plot changes due to choices made by the player, so after I finished the first Mass Effect game, and started the second one and saw what my decisions wrought in the first game, I could do nothing but smile in happiness.
Although Final Fantasy 7 was my introduction to RPGs, Final Fantasy VIII is my favorite of all the games. I still remember getting this game on Christmas 1999, and putting it into my Playstation, almost bouncing in anticipation of starting the game. The soundtrack is very, very memorable, (I even have the Laguna/Ward/Kiros battle theme as my ringtone!) that characters were great, and the story was amazing. A game I've played many, many times, and am in the middle of a playthrough of as I type this.
I have this thing where I won't read too much about a game because I don't want to be spoiled on anything in it. I want all of it to be a surprise. I went into this game figuring I was still playing as Solid Snake from the previous Metal Gear Solid games. I remember thinking to myself "Oh, ok. This guy is some super soldioer that doesn't age. Got it." The camo system was pretty cool, and I loved being in the completely wrong ammo for what environment I was in (red camo in the snow, anyone?) and the boss battles were nothing but pure fun. When I got to the conclusion of the game, I was floored when it was "revealed" to me that I was playing as Big Boss before he was Big Boss. After I got over the shock, all I could think was "WHY THE FUCK WASN'T I SOLIDUS SNAKE!?!? MAKE A GAME WHERE I CAN BE SOLIDUS!!!!"
This game should be on EVERYONE'S list. No exceptions. Anyone who hasn't played it needs to find a way to play it NOW! The music was great, and it's just an all around great game. I've never finished the game (Yeah, I suck) but I've played it on anything that I could get it on. It's a game that must be played by anyone who has even a fleeting interest in video games.
All stereotypes aside, I had alot of fun with this game. The soundtrack Rockstar selected for this game was classic, and alot of the tunes are permanently stuck in my head, To this day, I keep hoping for ne GTA games to revisit CJ, or San Andreas.
I know, this is a weird choice, but this was the first first-person shooter game I ever played. Before I played this, I swore against them. "I need to be able to see my guy!!!" is what I would say when someone asked me why I didn't play FPS games, but when I saw this game, I just had to try it. I got it from Gamefly, and was pleasantly surprised with the game. I really, really liked it, although I never finished the game. Even so many years later, I wish I had finished the game, but this game holds a special place in my heart for introducing my to the FPS genre.
How many games can say they have a weapon that is a hybrid of a bat and a dildo? None. Saints Row 3 (I refuse to call it The Third) is completely ridiculous, and I wouldn't want it any other way. Shooting mascots, blowing up cross dressing behemoths or using a pedestrian to surf on concrete, this game is 100 percent fun.
Another weird choice, I know, but this was the second FPS I played, and had a ton of fun with. I love how the story progressed through TV news clips, and the game just felt all around amazing at the time. I wish I could find a copy of this for my Xbox 360, but I doubt if Microsoft made this compatible, which is a damn shame.
This game was my first foray into a BioWare game, and it combined my love of the martial arts with RPGs. This was aso the first time I'd played a game where choices truly mattered. I could either being a super goody two shoes, or an all around asshole, and I loved it. I loved going back, and playing as the opposite of my first playthrough to see what would be different than the first playthrough.
This game had the soundtrack to my childhood. I've played this game so many times, and have never finished it. I always die on the second part of the Death Egg Zone, but I still love the game, and play it to this day. It got even better when Sonic & Knuckles was released, and I was able to play through the game as Knuckles.
This is a game that eluded me for years. About maybe twice a month, my mom would go to a mall, and in that mall, there was an arcade that had the 6-player variant of this arcade cabinet. As a huge fan of anything Marvel, this game was my dream! A beat 'em up with the X-Men!? I NEEDED to play it! Yet, my mom would never let me play it. NEVER. The arcade was too far from her final destination, and I she wasn't going to let me play it alone. Finally, after years of wishing to play it, I was able to get a chance...but not in an arcade. I found...another way to get to it. Even though it wasn't the same as experiencing it in the arcade, I was just happy to have a chance to play it. Many years later, when I found out it was coming to Xbox Live Arcade, I was super excited. I couldn't WAIT to get my hands on it, and play it online! I bought it day 1, and do not regret the 10 dollar price of it. I love that game. Asways have, and always will.
Of course, I had to add this game. Shenmue changed the way I viewed video games. I never really saw it as an art form until I played this game. Playing through the game, trying to find Lan Di's whereabouts was amazing fun, but I found myself in the arcade area, messing with the QTE Fighter machine, collecting capsule toys, and playing the emulated versions of old Sega Genesis games. Shenmue was the first game that I veered of the normal path of the game's progression, and go off to do other things (I had an addiction to those damn capsule toy things!) Of course, the 100-man battle with Guizhang Chen by my side cemented it's place in my heart as a favorite.
I, like probably the majority of gamers played some form of Street Fighter II as their first ever fighting game. I had the Special Championship Edition for the Sega Genesis, and with the amount of time I played it, I'm surprised that the cart, or the Genesis it self didn't just explode. The only reason the cart got any rest was because I upgraded to Super Street Fighter II. SFIISCE is still a game I play to this day.
I put the Tony Hawk franchise here only for the first 5 games (Tony Hawk's pro Skater up to Tony Hawk's Underground.) I had this game on a demo disc (The exact same one as Metal Gear Solid) and I played the hell out of it. Primus' "Jerry Was a Racecar Driver" somehow fit the game perfectly, and it put the game over the top for me. I had to have it. from that Christmas on to the next 4 years, I got a new Tony Hawk game. The game felt smooth, and was just alot of fun to play either alone, or with a friend. The addition of a Story Mode to Tony Hawk's underground was genius, and was damn fun to play through. The original THPS is a game that I still play on and off.
