Favorite Video Games!

[CWGameplay]

The title says it all!  I'm curious to hear about some of your favorite video games.  I love hearing about games that people really have passion for, and maybe I'll find a new game to play over quarantine in this thread.  For starters, I'll talk about some of my own favorite games!

Xenoblade Chronicles: Xenoblade is probably my favorite video game of all time.  I adore basically everything about the game, and it holds a lot of nostalgia for me.  The gameplay is fun and fluid, and the story and cast are amazing.  Playing through the game, I always found something that I could be doing, never getting bored.  I've poured countless hours into the game, even 100% completing it through a New Game+ file.  Needless to say, I'm extremely excited for Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive edition, which comes out on the Nintendo Switch on May 29th (just two days after my birthday!).  If you've never played it and like big JRPGs like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, then I'd definitely suggest picking it up next week!

Hollow Knight: Hollow Knight is a gorgeous, atmospheric metroid-vania that I can't stop playing.  The gameplay is just difficult enough that it scratches my itch to torture myself, but I never felt that the game was unfair when playing through it.  The entire game is hand-drawn, and every single area feels unique and immersive.  The story is subtle, yet gripping, and rarely does the game interrupt your gameplay with long conversations or cutscenes.  On top of that, the game is only $15, available on PC, Xbox, Switch, and more.  Despite the ridiculously low price, the game has just as much content as any other $60 triple A game, and comes with 4 free DLC packs.  It;s a great value for an even greater game.

Celeste: Celeste, in a lot of ways, is very similar to Hollow Knight for me.  It's another platformer indie game, but has an entirely different vibe and energy than Hollow Knight.  Rather than the combat that Hollow Knight focuses on, Celeste is entirely about its platforming.  It's difficult, yet gratifying, and the longer you play the more interesting your movement options become.  It also tells a simple, yet touching story about anxiety and accepting yourself.  The graphics take on an 8-bit, classic style, and look beautiful.  On top of that, I'd have to say its soundtrack, by Lena Raine, is one of the best I've ever heard.  It's only $20, but I'd only suggest it to those who really enjoy a challenge or platformers.  Once you get the hang of the game, it's not too difficult, but for those who don't have interest in platformers I don't think it would appeal.

Those are just some of my favorites, but I won't go on for too long!  I might add more later, but for now I just want to hear everyone else's favorites.

[Benice]

My favorite video game of all time is Skyward Sword, hands down. There's hardly a thing I don't like about it! I also adore Wind waker and Breath of the Wild. Aside from that, Mariokart Wii shall always possess a portion of my heart, as will Sacred stones and Binding blade.

And, of course, Wii sports/resort.

[SoulWeaver]

Both Megaman-inspired series by Keiji Inafune, Mighty No. 9 and Azure Striker Gunvolt, are fantastic. Gunvolt draws more from the X and Zero series of the games, while Mighty No. 9 is more Classic Megaman themed. Both games can be frustratingly punishing like any good Megaman ought to be, and the process of overcoming the challenge of each game is really satisfying.
Gunvolt has a heavy anime feel, with characters having flashy cut-ins depicting themed haikus to announce their ultimate moves, the main protagonist casually hurling lightning around like it's nobody's business, and the background music cutting out in favor of songs by a virtual idol if you rack up enough points. There's two games and a semi-spinoff holding over while we wait for the third game, and pretty much all of them are worth looking into if you even remotely liked playing Megaman X or Zero.
Mighty No. 9 is a WiiU title, but despite that it's a pretty solid game. The final boss was like fighting Wily at the end of Megaman 2 all over again, with me having no idea how to even damage the thing until I looked it up, and even then struggling(in Mighty's case, for over a year) to beat it. If that wasn't enough challenge for you, there's also a second character path where your health constantly drains and only restores when you kill enemies -built-in speedrun/hard mode, check. Beck is also apparently voiced by Yuri Lowenthal if that counts for anything. Sadly, there's only the one game, but it totally sets up for a potential sequel and I hope we get it one day.

I have others but I'll get them later.

[null]

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild: Not only is this my favorite Zelda, but it is my favorite video game of all time. I could go on and on about everything I love about BotW, but some standouts for me are the atmosphere, the story, the gameplay, and the soundtrack. The atmosphere is an aspect of BotW that I feel perfectly sets the tone of a post-apocalyptic Hyrule, with ruins and barren plains and mountains scattered everywhere with small groups people spread out across the landscape. Without getting too long-winded, for me, BotW's gameplay is the most satisfying and rewarding gameplay of any Zelda game that I've played. The difficulty is perfect (Trial of the Sword is an all-too-delicious challenge to surmount), the variety of solutions to different problems allows for some crazy experimentation, and the combat is more strategic than just "mash sword button to win." Admittedly, the game could've used a fully-fleshed out crafting system to build upon the survival mechanics, but it's still pretty great as is. Lastly, the soundtrack, while not as notable as in previous games, has some standout tracks ("Tarrey Town,"  "Molduga Battle," "Main Theme," "Mipha's Theme," "Rito Village," "Kass's Theme," etc.) that add to the already well-establish atmosphere of loneliness and sadness that the player feels. Another reason I will always have such strong feelings and memories for BotW is that it helped me get through a rough part of my life, when I was dealing with illness in the family. It helped take my mind off the situation and allow myself to relax.

Fire Emblem: Awakening: This was my first FE and was a great entry point into the series for me. Everything was so engaging, from the strategy involved in the gameplay, to the likable (if a bit one-note) characters, the supports system, the soundtrack!, and the choices given to the player to play the game how they want. Being my first FE, there was a lot for me to learn about how the gameplay works (the weapon triangle, why certain units are better for certain situations than others are, how stats influence gameplay, etc.). There was a bunch of trial and error, where I would use different strategies to win battles, having to restart multiple times, but I was so into it that I didn't mind having to start over. Even though the characters rely heavily on certain character tropes to define them, they are still very likable with a few standouts (Inigo, Severa, Lucina, Gregor, Frederick, Gaius, Maribelle). Now, while I like the idea of having support conversations between the characters, I feel that this is an area where Awakening is very hit-or-miss. One on hand, you have the excellent parent-child conversations of Inigo and Severa, where they demonstrate their vulnerabilities and how the loss of their parents affected them; but you also have downright terrible conversations like Frederick and Cordelia's S support, Nah and Inigo's S support, Chrom and F!Robin's supports, Nowi with most characters, and Chrom and Sumia, as well as others). When it comes to the soundtrack, I can honestly say that Awakening has one of the best video game soundtracks I've ever heard; songs like Conquest, Id (Serenity), And what if I can't?, and Don't speak her name! are all so memorable that I still listen to them often. Although Awakening has its share of flaws, I love it and will keep revisiting it as time goes on. It's just that great in my mind.

Other honorable mentions that won't get a wall of text to describe them: Skyward Sword, Wind Waker, Blazing Blade, Super Mario Sunshine, AM2R, Mario Kart: Double Dash

Edited October 15, 2020 by twilitfalchion

[Yexin]

NieR:Automata: great action rpg with memorable characters and incredible OST, but what i will always remember it for, is how effectively a game can convey messages and emotions, and a game where the main cast is composed of androids and machines at that
it's no understatement to say that the way i looked at and perceived videogames completely changed due to Automata

Trails Series: simply the best JRPG series i've ever got to play, and i think i'm doing a pretty good job spreading love for this series  (i already managed to get around 10 friends of mine into this series); tons of memorable soundtracks, characters, places, events and more, you can really feel how much Falcom loves what they've been doing with this series, and i can't but repay them with my love in return

Bravely Series; Octopath Traveler; Xenoblade 1 and 2; Final Fantasy VI, VII and X; Kingdom Hearts Series: i don't think i really need to explain what these games are, let's just say that they are other JRPGs i really really loved (FFX, KH1 and Xenoblade 2 in particular)

Smash Bros. Series: Smash doesn't need any introduction either, it's just what instantly comes to my mind when i think what miracles are (for videogames, of course)

[Etrurian emperor]

Assuming that favorite doesn't necessarily mean objectively the best then definitely Kid Icarus uprising. Its a one of a kind game and everything about it just wants to make me smile. 

Tales of Symphonia is a big one. All in all its a fairly standard jrpg. Its even THE standard jrpg. Everything a jrpg does it does excellently. I probably completed it about 10 times and at least 8 of those 10 were almost completely in co op which makes for some happy memories. 

Wind Waker is kinda like Kid Icarus. It just makes me want to smile a lot. 

[Fabulously Olivier]

Guild Wars is my favorite game of all time. It's a fully instanced multiplayer CRPG, with an incredibly deep build system. Mix and match any 2 of 10 professions and slot 7 regular skills and 1 elite skill out of hundreds of potential options. It's a thinking man's RPG, where everything is designed around a level 20 level cap, and it's your team's choices and use of skills that mean all the difference between victory and defeat. And because the monsters use the same skills as the playable classes, you really have to build around countering them.

Edited May 21, 2020 by Fabulously Olivier

[Captain Karnage]

That's always a rough question for me since I have a lot of games I love, but it's kind of hard to say what's my favorite

DOOM ETERNAL now if there was a game that satisfied my need for pure action and adrenaline, this would be it. I love the fast pace action, the need to swap weapons frequently make the game play a lot more varied than the last game. Not to mention the game is very fitting for my username.

HALO 3 What can I really say, I loved the multiplayer, and I really miss arena shooters. This is just one of those games that's pure nostalgia for me, and I can't wait for Microsoft to release the PC version

Assassin's Creed II & IV This one is a toss up on I love both of the games stories, but the 2nd game's story was something special and I still get goosebumps when I remember how it ended. For IV I loved the pirate stuff, and thought it was really cool getting to be an early 18th century pirate, the story was also pretty strong, but didn't have a good twist like the 2nd.

Shin Megami Tensei IV For this it's purely on the story, and I don't want to spoil even a bit of it

except for this little thing

 

one thing I've noticed is that SMT IV and the DOOM series have the same origin story as to how Hell came to earth

some one was siphoning energy from Hell, which opened the Gates of Hell to Earth

Fire Emblem Path of Radiance again, pure nostalgia. I really believe that it needs a remake more than FE4

Super Smash Bros Ultimate purely for the roster, and I've had a lot of good matches with friends

Edited May 21, 2020 by Captain Karnage

[Rapaille]

Lord of the Rings Online; First I want to make clear that this game isn't great. It's your average MMO which forces you to pay absurd amounts of money if you want to experience the game to it's fullest. But if you're like me and have grown up with Lotr this is a truly breathtaking game. despite being almost 15 years old, the way it bring Middle-Earth to life is is mesmerizing. Of course you have well known locations like the Shire & Gondor but it are the places that are never visited in the books that are the main selling points. the fact that they clearly took inspiration from the appendix and how they incorporated new ideas into these places without them feeling forced or unfaithful (Unlike some other Lotr games that shall not be named in the same breath as LOTRO) is truly something to behold. The music is also pretty good and raids can be pretty fun but the world is really what sells it for me.

Outside of LOTRO there are quite a few other games I would consider some of my favourites. Ocarina of Time, Link's Awakening, Breath of the Wild, Call of Duty World at War, pretty much every Pokemon game up until White 2 (only enjoy the competitive side of Pokemon beyond that and SwSh kinda ruined that for me too), Final Fantasy IV ds, Super Mario Galaxy, Medievil, Morrowind, Skyrim, Super Smash Bros  & (of course) around half of the Fire Emblem games (to be more specific; fe3, fe4, fe5, fe6, fe10, fe11, fe12 & 3H)

[Lightcosmo]

Anything Xeno related: I love the Xeno series!

Kingdom Hearts: from my Profile Pic, it's obvious Aqua is a personal favorite! 

Final Fantasy: another series I really enjoy.

[Fire Emblem Fan]

My absolute favorite game of all time is Crash Bandicoot: Warped. The Crash franchise is one I've loved dearly for my entire life and I've always held Warped up as both the highest high of the franchise, and my personal favorite. It's a game I play yearly, if not more, and one I can remember every single level for. I adore this game and I genuinely believe it has the best platforming of the PS1/N64 era.

Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! is another game I adore. This is the closest to perfect any collect-a-thon style game has ever been, in my opinion. This is another game that I can remember basically every level and every secret, and one I come back to frequently.

I was very late to this party, but another favorite of mine is The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. I never owned a Zelda game until Twilight Princess on the GameCube, and even then Ocarina wasn't a game I played until a little later after that. I have no nostalgia for this game, but when I actually played it for myself for the first time, I fell in love. It has a couple minor things here and there that I'm not too fond of but, as a whole, it's the most complete package I've experienced in a Zelda game. I love it.

Two more favorites for me are Chrono Trigger and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. I was late to these two parties, as well. I didn't play Chrono Trigger until the DS port, and I didn't play Symphony until it was downloadable from the PS3. But, like with Ocarina, I fell in love when I played these games. I dunno how I missed them back in the day when they came out (I'm 27, it was right in my era!), but it's better late then never, eh?

A few more modern favorites for me are Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal, Resident Evil 4 (okay, those two aren't exactly "modern," but), Until Dawn, Marvel's Spider-Man PS4, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, and Dishonored.

We're on a Fire Emblem forum, so, I won't talk too frequently about any of them. I'll just say my favorite game in the franchise is Blazing Blade.

[Silver-Haired Maiden]

My top 3 are basically interchangeable. I adore all 3, I have played each one at least 10 times through, they are all wonderful games. Before you ask, you are correct, I have no life.

1-3: Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, Okami, Tales of Berseria

See a theme there? Yeah. Radiant Dawn was my introduction to Fire Emblem and man what an introduction it was. I fell head over heels for the difficulty, the magic, the world building, and the sheer scale of the war. It felt like I was genuinely fighting a war. Okami is just a gorgeous game and a super chill and fun experience. I go back to it if I ever want to just have fun in a mystical and pretty world and beat up monsters while I'm at it. Tales of Berseria is the first RPG I fell in love with in a while, I loved the environments, I thought the battle system was intuitive and fun, and the story and world building aren't that bad either. Where Berseria shines though is definitely in it's characters. I adore all of them and the game does a great job with it's main cast. You fall hard for Velvet's story right from the start.

4: Tomb Raider (2013) - The first of the new TR games and, in my opinion, the best of them. I love the shipwrecked survival story, I love the combat, this game does bows the best of any game I've played to memory, and it's just a good game. It's the one I reach for if I want to get some aggression out and kill stuff while experiencing a fun story on top of it.

5: The Last of Us - Does this really need an explanation? I don't think it does. Shame the next installment has had so many issues though.

[NSSKG151]

A Link to the Past is still my favorite Legend of Zelda game and one of my favorite games overall. It's one of the few games that I know all the ins and outs of plus I like trying to speed run the game and recently I have been enjoying playing an edited version of the game where the whole game is randomized.

Megaman X1 is another game from the SNES era that I enjoy playing through every now and then and is fun to just speed through.

I never that I would say a visual novel was one of my favorite games but Nine Hours Nine Persons Nine Doors really is one of my favorite games since I really enjoyed the story of that game, it had interesting characters and had puzzles that were fun to solve and figure out the answers too.

Someone else also said this but I also want to state that the Trails series of games (Sky, Zero, Cold Steel) is also my favorites series of RPG games. Their games always has an interesting cast of characters and the world building for the series is just phenomenal. Falcom always has great music in their games as well.

Now I like Persona 5 as much as everyone else but I would still say Persona 4 Golden is my favorite Persona game. I arguably still like the cast from Persona 4 more since they are more memorable to me since I played the game about twenty times now plus a lot of quality of life features that Persona 5 has came from Persona 4 Golden.

I wanted to try to keep it to a minimum of my top 5 but I also wanted to point out Pokemon Stadium for being what I always wanted in an 'endgame' for a Pokemon game as well as the Megaman Battle Network series for the childhood memories and introducing me to the Megaman series and the finally an indie game called The Messenger for being my favorite 2D platformer/sidescolling game.

Edited May 22, 2020 by NSSKG151

[Reality]

I change my mind on things but

I think my favorite games are still

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 - Of the Neversoft Games (1-4 and Underground 1-2) 1 and 2 have noticeably  different balance physics for grinds and manuals, with a kind of grace period per new grind thing going on, as opposed to 3-4-UG having new grinds remember where you were balancing in your previous grind as well as a really weird and sudden change about 5 seconds in to how sensitive it is to swinging. I do like Reverts and Transfers, but most of the other stuff new stuff I feel like is either neutral or negative so eh. I do like the a lot of the level design in the later games, but I appreciate 2's more compact levels 

Roller Coaster Tycoon 1 - A lot of people like the sequel for having more ride options, but for me the big draw of RCT is that even though it's on the easy side, I always felt like each level had a competition besides the actual level goals - To make something more creative than Chris Sawyer's "starting ride" setpieces - This is really lacking in 2, because more of the parks start out totally empty, compared to in 1(and it's expansions) which usually have about 2-5 rides in a starting park. 1 also has raw creativity with its landscapes like the Glass Pyramid level, the Skyscrapper level, etc. I can't really think of anyting in RCT that fires you imagination like Three Monkey Park's triple racing roller coaster 

Worms Armageddon - My favorite of all Party Games, even though it's Turn Based >> Always a lot of fun because of just how random it can be, and how chain reactions with mines / gravestone explosion can hurt your opponent AND your self, and the out of nowhere "alliances" and betrayals happen naturally if one player gets the lead or if someone feels like goofing off. Lot of fun with the Cartoon voices and screams of the worms, can be fun using all the silly animal weapons OR measuring the Wind and carefully to do crazy trick shots with the basic bazooka. Even the movement is surprisingly comfortable, with both the backflip and Forward jump being steerable, and REALLY crazy things being possible with the Ninja Rope if you get used to It. 

I could write paragraphs about Puzzle games or Platforming games, but best genre and best palatte cleanser genre speak for themselves.

 

[DragonFlames]

17 hours ago, Silver-Haired Maiden said:

Tales of Berseria [...] I loved the environments, I thought the battle system was intuitive and fun, and the story and world building aren't that bad either. Where Berseria shines though is definitely in it's characters. I adore all of them and the game does a great job with it's main cast. You fall hard for Velvet's story right from the start.

Tales of Berseria is absolutely great! I love that game to death, as well.

---

My personal favorite game of all time and one that I want to replay again very soon is most definitely Nights of Azure. That game just speaks to me on so many levels, from its premise to its characters to its gameplay to its story... it's just about perfect for me.
The protagonist, Arnice, is my favorite video game character of all time. She's brave, has a sharp tongue, knows what she wants to do and doesn't take crap from anyone. And yet she struggles with herself, being a half-demon, something rejected by both humans and pure-blooded demons alike with only one person in her life really caring about her as a person rather than a tool or a monster. She also looks like an older version of Micaiah, but that has no bearing on anything, really. Just an observation I made when I first got the game.
Said person, Lilysse, is also a great character in her own right, being a priestess chosen to save the world through sacrificing herself to keep the Nightlord, a powerful demon who wants to plunge the world into an eternal night, sealed away, and she fully accepts this, which conflicts with Arnice wanting her to reject this duty of hers, wishing to find another way instead that doesn't require sacrificing the only person who ever genuinely cared for her.
The game does a really great job at portraying their relationship and I ended up rooting for these two so hard.

Before I start gushing too much (and I could go on and on about why I love this game, trust me), I want to mention the music, at least.
Because this game has my absolute favorite soundtrack in any game. From the peaceful title screen music that is a piano version of the true ending theme, which is in itself an absolutely beautiful song, to the relaxing hotel music, to the gripping, exciting area and boss themes, this game is an absolute treat on the ears as well.

[Anacybele]

I'm technically on hiatus from this site, but I have managed to limit myself to like one post a day when I typically would post quite a bit more than that, and this is a fun topic, so I'll throw in a short post here!

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - My favorite Zelda game of all time and I've replayed it several times already! I want to replay it yet again too. lol It just has the most engaging story and characters and the most fun gameplay of any Zelda title imo. Who cares if it's linear? Whether a game is linear or open world never mattered to me. I just want fun gameplay and stuff, really.

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn: A no-brainer on my favorite titles from my favorite video game franchise. Stars one of my favorite characters of all time in Ike as well and he means a lot to me. ❤️

Luigi's Mansion series: I haven't played the first game as much as the other two, but I have beaten it a couple times and I still love this entire franchise to death. Luigi is my other favorite video game character besides Ike. Words could not describe how massively excited I was when Luigi's Mansion 3 was announced! And I loved the game too. I play at least one LM game at Halloween every year. This year, I'll probably replay the third game since it's the newest and I've only cleared it once. I hope Nintendo keeps continuing this series, as Luigi is so beloved and entertaining. And this series is unique among the other games in the Mario franchise!

 

Edited May 23, 2020 by Anacybele

[vanguard333]

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance: My favourite video game of all time. It's also the game that stars my favourite video game character: Ike. 

The Legend of Zelda: I love the Zelda series in general, with them easily being some of my favourite games. Particular favourites would have to be the following:

• Spirit Tracks: This game has its issues (only four dungeons, the spirit flute being one of the worst Zelda instruments ever, etc.) but the things that are good about it are so good that I love it: Spirit Zelda is easily my favourite of Link's companions as she's both extremely useful and a great character, and her dynamic with Link is one of the most adorable things I've ever seen. 
• Wind Waker: Easily my favourite 3D Zelda game. 
• Ocarina of Time: It's the first Zelda game I ever played, and it's a classic for a reason. 

Shadow of the Colossus: I only played this game for the first time last year, and it's quickly become one of my favourite games. I love the atmosphere, the epic boss fights, and the ambiguous-yet-sorrowful story that really only a video game can tell.

Valkyria Chronicles 4: Again; I only began playing it last year, and it's quickly become one of my favourites. I had never even played a Valkyria Chronicles game before, and I found myself really enjoying this one. I dislike that the True Ending was hidden behind post-game content, but it was still a good ending to a great game. 

[MagicCanonBalls]

Dynasty Warriors 5, 8 and Warriors Orochi series. I always have a lot of fun playing these games. People keep saying they don't change the formula, but when Koei do change it up in 6 and 9, many fans (including me) were not happy with the changes. It's like Call of Duty. Fans stay and continue to buy because there isn't much better alternative, and also brand recognition is there. I can tell from Warriors Orochi that Koei is almost wanting to try new things. They don't have to come up with 3 character rotation for that game, or come up with a new battle system to fit both Dynasty and Samurai. Speaking of, Samurai Warriors play differently than Dynasty too, which is why I don't like it as much, but definitely apprecite the difference and nt just copy paste its Dynasty counterpart. Dynasty 8 is almost perfect for me. I love the XL version, but the Empire version is a let down compared to last few ones.

Fire Emblem New Mystery. my first FE. I still remember browsing which NDS game to play. Then I saw the description for this game which includes Avatar customization and all the cool battle stuff. I took a chance and got it for myself. Man it was blast. Looking back if that game didn't have casual mode and avatar I just might give up before prologue. After finishing it I went and try the older entries but none of them really fit my taste due to lack of avatar and reclass options. So I just replay NM again on hard mode, and it was a different kind of fun I didn't knew I would enjoy.

Mass effect and Dragon Age series. Cool gameplay, dialogue and Gay romance. It's also around the time I understand English much better when I started playing ME1, so it served as my gateway into Western RPG.