What is your favourite game and why?

Personally mine would have to be Shadow of the Colossus. Its just a phenomenal experience. To get soooo much from a game with just 16 "boss battles" and 3 characters. One who never speaks and one who is a horse. No other game has ever had such an impact on me since. Its exactly my type of game.

In a close second though would be FFIX. Definitely my favourite final fantasy.

So what is your favourite game and why?

By far Fallout 2, it's just a remarkable game and a game that everyone should play.

God of War 3 (Ive only been playing games this generation)

The pacing was perfect and there was none stop set pieces. It also is an action adventure without guns, definetly my favorite genre.

Legend of Zelda; Majora's mask. The way that storytelling merges with the gameplay is absolutley outstanding. The fact that it's a darker, more mature take on my favorite series of all time doesn't hurt, either. (And when I say dark and mature, I mean it. The other Zeldas can't even hold a candle to this game. It is legitamatley depressing at points, and there's even an on screen death of a creature that isn't a monster. A rarity for Nintendo.) If you want my full opinion, read my reveiw for it.

Random off topic question to the TC: I never got around to playing shadow of the collosus. Is it worth finding my old ps2 and buying the game at this stage? My favourite ever game would be FFX. Simply because it is the game which really got me hooked on gaming, and RPG's in particular. 1zenron1

If you have a PS3 then just wait for the collection. If not then you really should get around to playing it. Its not everyones cup of tea. But I have only ever heard praise for it. Im not gonna force you to love it like me and force my opinion on you. But I think its awesome. Also FFX is my third favourite game. I wish I had my ps2 again to play it. Its an absolutely astounding game

If you have a PS3 then just wait for the collection. If not then you really should get around to playing it. Its not everyones cup of tea. But I have only ever heard praise for it. Im not gonna force you to love it like me and force my opinion on you. But I think its awesome. Also FFX is my third favourite game. I wish I had my ps2 again to play it. Its an absolutely astounding gameseanmcloughlin

Yeah, I just read about the team ico collection then. I'll wait till that comes out I think :).

Half-Life 2

Almost everything is spot on. The level design, the use of physics, the level of immersion, the characters, the pacing, the structure, the story, the graphics, the voice acting, the control system...

The only thing that's really disappointing is the AI. But the pros massively outweigh the cons.

New Game= Red Dead Redemption.

Nastolgia= Jak and daxter+ratchet/clank+sly cooper+star wars battlefront+Kingdom hearts+silent hill.

yeah...

Legend of Dragoon...DOUBLE SLASH!!! FTWTrapMuzik92

Also a fantastic game. Im playing it right now acually haha. VOLCANO!!! ahhhh the memories

Flight Simulator. It is open world (actually encompassing the whole planet mind you), thousands of airports to visit, hundreds of different airplanes to fly and fun too.

I have various "favourites"... one for each system I own(ed)...

Atari 2600

• Game: Pitfall!
• Why: Platforming goodness unparalled for the time.

NES

• Game: Contra
• Why: Platforming at it's best. The game was brutal, unfair even, against the player, but once you managed to memorize the paterns and spawning of the enemies, the sense of acomplishment of finishing a game sequence was grand.

Genesis

• Game: Shinig Force (And Shining Force two).
• Why: First turn based strategy games I played on a console. As I grew older (By than I should have something around thirteen and fifteen respectively), I got more and more interested in games that made me think, as oposed to the rote hand-eye coordination needed on platformers.

Playstation

• Game: Tactics Ogre
• Why: Turn based strategy with a history that gave the player freedom to choose their own path... (To follow the orders of your superior or to topple said superior and grasp the power for yourself... kill an entire village on cold blood and make it look like an attack from a neighboring country or refuse on raiding the vilage and go rogue on your quest...). There where many choices to make, along the whole game, that affected the outcome of everything that you'd do later...
• Honorable mention goes to: Final Fantasy VII (and VIII), Metal Gear Solid,Resident Evil Director's Cut,Syphon Filter and Tenchu.

Playstation 2

• Game: Disgae Hour of Darkness
• Why: Again, turn based strategy, but this time with a flair of sillyness and "bad" jokes that made me like the game almost instantly.
• Honorable mention goes to: Grand Theft Auto Vice City, Onimusha and The Godfather.

Playstation 3

• Game: Valkyria Chronicles
• Why: Turn based strategy, whith anime-like appearance and an interesting history... what is there not to like?
• Honorable mention goes to: Assassin's Creed series, Dragon Age Origins, Uncharted series and Vanquish.

PC (The only one that defies this chronological order I placed on this list... I've been playing PC since 1987).

• Game: Civilization (I own 2, 4 and Colonization)
• Why: Guess what? Turn based strategy! THough it lacks on history, the game mechanics is compelling enough to make me return for more, always.
• Honorable mention goes to: Mass Effect, Simcity (The original one), Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic (both) and Theme Hospital (Silly and bugy, but nice to play).

Half-Life 2

Almost everything is spot on. The level design, the use of physics, the level of immersion, the characters, the pacing, the structure, the story, the graphics, the voice acting, the control system...

The only thing that's really disappointing is the AI. But the pros massively outweigh the cons.

broken_bass_bin

Yep, well said... HL2 is the only game I can play over & over & never get sick of it. The level of detail & sheer variety in City 17 still blows my mind! It has everything a good videogame should have - an engaging story, memorable characters & a huge variety of gameplay.

The Ravenholm level is probably my favourite level in a videogame. It's videogame perfection!

Games like Deus Ex and Thief. I like adventure, puzzle solving& stealth and don't mind and occasional battle, but games that are nothing but battles that force battle upon the players with enemies re-spawning from nowherejust suck. This is why Half-Life and Half Life 2 are the exception. There's more adventure and problem solving and NO fighting enemies that appear from no where.

I can't name just one...

Shadow of the Colossus ~ An ethereal experience. It's world is just extraordinary, and the way it tells a story through imagery and tone instead of dialogue is one of the reasons I think it is one of the best experiences I will ever have in gaming.

Super Metroid ~ It is one of those games I consider to be "the best" on any platform. It is a "perfect" game in every right, and so well-made that it just reeks of atmosphere and depth. I've probably beaten it more than 100 times, and beaten it in 52 minutes. It is an extraordinary game, and a highlight of the SNES platform.

Doom II: Hell on Earth ~ Basically the PC game I grew up on. There really isn't much to say about it besides that I found it scarier than anything for the longest time, and only beat it legitimately (without cheats) a couple years ago (on Ultra Violence no less).

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past ~ My first real "adventure" game. I remember it extremely fondly, and can't say anything bad about it. Like Super Metroid, it is just one of those "timeless" and "perfect" experiences.

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island ~ Another nostalgia-ridden choice... but one of those I just can't help but remember fondly. It has a level of charm that is off the charts... and really, the only game that has ever come close to matching it, ever, is Kirby's Epic Yarn.

Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings (and the Conquerors) ~ There is no other game out there that I think I have invested as much time in as AoEII. Countless hours, over countless days... playing every campaign, and tons and tons of custom maps and random games. This is one of those games I want to see more of. A RTS that doesn't require massive amounts of micro-managment or complex strategy to enjoy.

--

I think its pretty clear that I grew up in the 1990's.

Chrono Trigger. Great story. Great characters. Best soundtrack of the 16-bit era. Excellent blend of sci-fi and fantasy, and one of the best time travel adventure stories period. It was the game that made me buy the SNES, and I stayed up until 4 in the morning many nights playing it over and over again. First game I was ever actually sad to beat, because that meant it had to end. I realize I get no points for originality with this pick, but this is one of the greatest games of all time.

A tie between Valkyria Chronicles 1 and Fallout 2.

I must admit that Viking: Battle for Asgard is a game I keep coming back to. A unique combo of stealth, hack'n slash and epic battles. It's amazing that game reviewers claim it's repetitive, when the variations in it's missions, maps and gameplay by far surpasses those of more acclaimed titles. Give it a chance, people - it really deserves it. You can read my review of it at my page.

Valkyria Chronicles, its by far my favorite game

Chrono Trigger. Had some amazing gameplay, loved the story and characters, the quests were fun and engaging, the music was absolutely brillant, just the whole package in itself is something to admire. Definitely a crowning achievement from Square! It isn't just my favorite RPG of all time, but it's also my favorite game of all time as well! :)

I can't, for the life of me, pick just one, my taste is bound to variety.

• Gothic 2: For the perfect 3D RPG, with a living & breathing world, unmatched even to this day. No dislike whatsoever, i love the combat system and the difficulty.

• Xenogears: For its great story about the origin of mankind, fantastic battle-system & wonderful characters. My only dislike, as with almost every JRPG(except Chrono Trigger), are the random encounters which get very annoying. (both Chrono Trigger & Xenogears are timeless classics that i can pick up and play now, but if i had to choose.. )

• Half Life + the expansions Opposing Force & Blue Shift: THE perfect FPS, Opposing Force is hard as hell, and i'm only trough half way fighting the black ops enemies. And i'm only playing on Medium difficulty. No dislike whatsoever.

• Deus Ex: THE perfect RPG/Stealth game with loose FPS elements, fantastic story about a conspiracy, and i love that cyberpunk atmosphere, my only dislike is the bad AI, but that's minor considering the overall package.

• Baldur's Gate 2: For THE perfect WRPG, the characters are fantastic, the battle system is a classic ADnD which i also like, the atmosphere is wonderful in this fictional world, & the replayability is endless, as with every one i've mentioned.

Honorable mentions: the entire Street Fighter series (with the exception of SF1), the entire Fatal Fury series(including Realbout & one of my favorite fighters of all times, Garou: mark of the wolves), entire King of Fighters series (up 'till 99), the entire Castlevania series (except the 3D ones), Super Mario World.

I love good games.

Mafia 2 and MW2.

Okami for the art style, music, characters, bosses, story, and the overall diversity of the game from every angle.

I must admit that Viking: Battle for Asgard is a game I keep coming back to. A unique combo of stealth, hack'n slash and epic battles. It's amazing that game reviewers claim it's repetitive, when the variations in it's missions, maps and gameplay by far surpasses those of more acclaimed titles. Give it a chance, people - it really deserves it. You can read my review of it at my page.

Georg_Maximus

Just gonna help you pimp Viking:BfA. This game is great fun. Plays alot like Mark of Kri, which is a good thing in my book. Exploring the world and finding junk/bad guys to kill doesn't get boring, especially with its lush environments. When you hit the major battles it is more akin to its ancestor Spartan: Total Warrior. Just wish the battles had more objectives to complete like in Spartan. IMO this game was underrated by the critics and with the price as cheap as (got mine for 8 bucks) its worth taking a look. Glad somebody to hear somebody else is enjoying it as much as I am.:)

I'm not that well experienced with games but lookin back the ones that struck me the most would be

Hitman 2 - Silent Assasin - great story, great character highly immersive great stealth

Mafia - great characters and story - very engaging - has a grace to it - slow pace- believable world,great greatatmosphere soundtrack

GTA: Vice City

GTA: San Andreas - blew me away when it came out - the sense of exploration and surprise & hugeness - and coming home from school early to play it

Oblivion -first game I've played that's an "Role Playing Game" just coming out of the prison - had no idea what to expect when I bought it - just looked at the map and picked a city to go to - the world feels alive - it's a magical experience :P

it leaves plenty of room for the player's imagination, and the sense of depth and discovery blew me away, the guilds, the arena, the cities, the tunnels, the dungeons, the animals, the sidequests & the random encounters

Prisoner Of War

Mega Man X2. In my opinion there is not a single (2d) platformer with better level design and pacing.

If I had to go by the Systems I own...

NES - Kirby's Adventure
SNES - Mega Man X2
Genesis - Sonic CD
GameBoy - Pokemon Gold
Gameboy Advance - Mega Man Zero
Nintendo DS - Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney
Nintendo 64 - Ocarina of Time
Playstation - Final Fantasy VII
Playstation 2 - Grand Theft Auto 3
Playstation 3 - Heavy Rain
Xbox 360 - Blazblue
Wii - Super Mario Galaxy
PC - Toss up between Half-Life and Warcraft III

Don't really have one favourite to be honest.. Just like many many things about many many games

[...] lack of story. [...]TheBigBadGRIM

Oblivion -first game I've played that's an "Role Playing Game" just coming out of the prison - had no idea what to expect when I bought it - just looked at the map and picked a city to go to - the world feels alive - it's a magical experience :Psoren008

[QUOTE="soren008"]Oblivion -first game I've played that's an "Role Playing Game" just coming out of the prison - had no idea what to expect when I bought it - just looked at the map and picked a city to go to - the world feels alive - it's a magical experience :Pfoxhound_fox

A Role Playing Game - How do you define an RPG?

I guess all games are role-playing games - when you think about it

Newest: So far (mostly from 2010) my favorite would be God Of War III. I honestly enjoyed every second of it, I thought the boss fights were original, the puzzles were fun, I absolutely loved it.

Old: One game I will probably never forget is Unreal Gold, mostly because it's the first game I've played on the first PC I got. Also because it's the game that got me into the whole gaming thing. I remember being so young, playing that game and some parts seemed so terrifying to me, it was fun.

A three- way tie between Shadow of the Colossus for the above mentioned reasons, Metal Gear Solid 3 for it's spectacular gameplay, storyline, and replayability, and Final Fantasy XII or it's story, length, depth, battle system, and boss battles.

Between the three games I've probably put in over 1000 hours...

A Role Playing Game - How do you define an RPG?

I guess all games are role-playing games - when you think about it

soren008

Tough question as I have a lot of favorites...I could list a bunch but I'll try to just pick one:

Dragon Force

I bought this back in the day with no knowledge about the game, just that I liked the cover. I didn't know anyone who owned it (I was the only one I knew with a Saturn) and the internet had yet emerged as a source for game information.

Playing this game was an adventure in itself. The scope of the game blew me away, and it was an unforgettable experience figuring out which strategies worked the best and how to properly utilize all of the gameplay mechanics. I pumped countless hours into this game, and once my internal memory on the Saturn went I left the system on for an entire week so I could beat the game. Just a very satisfying game with tremendous amount of replayability. Reading about the game now, there are strategies I never even thought of let alone tried (such as strategically releasing captured generals to manipulate the AI controlled kingdoms).

To be honest, I wish I still had my old Saturn hooked up so I could play it right now. Also it's too bad the second one wasn't released in US.

I've played so many games like most people here, it's a tough question. :shock:

Assassins creed series, DMC series, Bayonetta, Halo, COD, Crimson Gem Saga. Many more to name really. There's none that stand out for me though. Hope that day will come lol, even an older game can still amaze me.

I can see why people love Shadow of the Colossus. Amazing boss fights. It should've inspired many developers to create epic boss fights for their games but sadly it didn't. My only problems with the game are the weird graphics (looked more like streaming video than a game) and lack of story. Favorite game of all time - Final Fantasy 9 - It had the greatest set of characters I've ever seen in any game. All the characters had depth to them. You knew what troubled them, what they shrived to achieve, their weaknesses, etc. What's most important is that YOU CARE about all the characters. There were NOOOOOO bad characters. Not a single one.TheBigBadGRIM

You have some of the exact same thoughts as me.

Mine this "Gen" the Mass Effect Series Rich Dialoug awesome Characters and Music .

Of all time my favorite game would have to be as cliched as this sounds Super Mario 3 Nes its what got me into gaming , then the next id have to say Legend of Zelda ocarina of time , Because well its "EPIC"

A few of them really stand out. I'll go by system:

NES: Super Mario Bros.

Genesis: Streets of Rage 2

Early 90's PC: Doom II

N64: Super Mario 64

Late 90's PC: X-Wing Alliance

Gamecube: The Wind Waker

PS2: Shadow of the Colossus

Xbox: Knights of the Old Republic

Early 2000's PC: Half-Life 2

Xbox 360: Mass Effect 1 & 2

Wii: Super Mario Galaxy

Current PC: Dragon Age: Origins

Mine are TES III Morrowind, Arcanum of Steamworks and Magick Obscura, Heroes of Might and Magic III, Age of Wonders, Rise of Nations and of course Might and Magic III-VIII

Morrowind and Arcanum are because of the perfect atmosphere and gameplay system, and the absolute freedom. I've completed both of them 3 or 4 times. Heroes and AOW are because i like fantasy strategies pretty much, and they have a perfect gameplay system. Me and my friends sit together every weekend and play a round or two with HOMM III. Rise of Nations is because it's a very dynamic, fast strategie game, it's perfect in multiplayer and in singlepalyer too. And, the old classics, Might and Magic series were the RPGs i grew up with. I love them, they have a very good atmosphere, story and game system.

Well, this is the list of games which i'll never forget. Every year i dig them up and play with them, they are my forever-classics.

I cant really say one so I will list some of my favriotes

MassEffect1&2

Super Mario Galaxy

Halo CE

Donkey Kong Country

The Legend of Zelda: The wind Waker

007 Golden Eye-N64

Battlefield 2

Oblivion

Star Wars Battlefront 1&2

Gears of War 1

all of those have had such a lasting effect on me andthey remind me why I love playing video games

Dead Space. Technically perfect, visually stunning, incredible audio/sound effects, engrossing story, chilling atmosphere, scary enemies,holographic presentation and dismemberment gameplay make it a masterpiece of a sci-fi survival horror shooter.