what is your single best/fav franchise of all time?

so my friends and fellow gamers. which single franchise you consider the greatest of all time?

to me its without a doubt Deus Ex

Each game in franchise (except IW lol) has been highlight of respected era. Deus Ex 1 is still greatest game of all time and highlight of early 00s. Deus Ex Human revolution was by far best game of last generation and highlight of last gen too. Mankind divided will be undoubtly highlight of this era and generation.

this franchise has been kicking both in gameplay, story and level design since its inception as its one of only few series that combine FPS, RPG and Stealth genre into one and deliver it perfectly.

so what one franchise you consider a greatest of all time?

discuss

Metal Gear Solid.

I particularly consider Metal Gear Solid 3 to be the best in the series.

Mario is without a doubt the best franchise of all time.

Mario is the franchise that saved video games back in the 80s and then for over 30 years the franchise has consistently produced excellent games and has also often been an innovator many times over the years.

Mario games are timeless and the Mario games that I enjoyed as a kid are still very enjoyable to me as an adult all these many years later.

Mario has been great in both 2D and 3D whereas so many other franchises have only been great in one or the other.

The Mario franchise has covered so many different genres from platformers to racing games to party games to puzzle games to RPGs to many different sports games, and Mario games have always been among the best games in every single genre that it has been a part of.

Halo

Legend of Zelda

I doubt I can pick just one so I'll list a few that have set the bar over the years.

Mario

Street Fighter

Virtua Fighter

DMC

Sonic (although nothing past Adventure)

Metriod

Gran Turismo

In terms of consistent quality Zelda or Mario.

For me - Resident Evil

Can't decide between:

Metal Gear

Street Fighter

Streets of Rage

Sonic (pre-Boom)

Resident Evil (pre-RE6)

Final Fantasy (pre-XIII)

Zelda, Mario, Civilization in that order

ARMA/OFP

God Theft Auto

i tired to get into Arma but couldnot as i dont see it as video game rather military simulation for army training campaign.

Yeah Arma isnt for everyone same as Dark Souls isnt. People do label the ARMA/OFP games wrongly though as they are not simulators they are tactical shooters with sim elements a la the old Hidden&Dangerous, Rainbow 6 and Ghost Recon games.

Personally I love ARMA especially for its multiplayer, there is really nothing else like it. I would have said something more expected like Doom, Quake or Resident Evil but there have been games in those franchises that lowered their value for me.

Hmmmm tough one... if I go by the sheer number of games in a series that I love, it'd probably be Halo.

But then there are games like Half-Life 2, Bioshock, Mass Effect trilogy, Witcher 3 etc that I rate higher than any single Halo game.

Souls series. Everything else became irrelevant. Fallout used to be on the same level but after seeing the lazyness of Fallout 4... f*ck Bethesda.

The Legend of Zelda

Half Life. Very compelling game world, great characters and fun gameplay that used technology in new exciting ways.

That,,, followed by Mass Effect, The Witcher, Starcraft and Thief.

Football manager, but if we exclude sports, because if your a sports fan sports games have a non gaming edge to bias.

So with sports excluded it is final fantasy.

Final fantasy VII is my favorite game of all time, I also love IV,V,IX, and X.

So for me it has to be final fantasy, even though the franchise was dead to me after XII

The Elder Scrolls

WarCraft

WarCraft 2

WarCraft 3

WarCraft 3 DOTA Mod

World of WarCraft

You can't really beat this lineup its just like step aside

Zelda even though SS was just not good. But I change me mind all the time and the games in my rotation include MGS, Doom, Street Fighter And Metroid. Megaman slips in there every now and then too.

Tomb Raider

Depends on the day, but I'll say Mario. So many good games that are still fun to replay to this day.

Grand theft auto

The one you hate. Your pick is Deus Ex? nice pick.

Mine is Castlevania. The series will always be special to me, just wish they would make more 2d goodness in the future

Obviously total war in my opinion despite the horrific launch of rome 2 and empire total war.

Grand Theft Auto and Splinter Cell

Resident Evil. ❤

Metroid with Super Mario in a close second

GTA <:3

I have so many, but i'll just say this one today. Forza series, Motorsport & Horizon.

Halo.

I was expecting to say Cod or Uncharted. I'm shocked.

Pokemon and God Theft Auto are my picks.

This will shock many.... Halo & Forza :P

Oooh that is a hard question, Depending on the day my answer might swap somewhere between these, but always one of these:

System Shock

Deus Ex

Fallout (mostly the oldies)

The Witcher

Thief

For me:

1. Mario

2. Elder Scrolls

3. Halo

except early rainbow six and original ghost recon were no where near boring and tedious as Arma and they were actually addicted.

Cant name one, i like so many, some in different ways too

My absolute #1 is Pokemon..........Halo is a distant second

Mario and Donkey Kong.

@ghosts4ever:

Metroid. Everything in the series was a blast to play but Super Metroid is my favorite in the series.

arma 3>>>>>>>any ghost recon game

Different people have different preferences. There is nothing tedious about ArmA if millions of people buy and play these games.

I have a lot of beloved franchises from different genres - in some respects it's hard to answer simply because it feels like picking between genres as much as franchises.

But I guess I'd have to go with Thief. With the exception of combat (which you weren't supposed to engage in anyway) these games are the embodiment of exceptional level design and stealth mechanics. Really under-appreciated masterpieces that I regularly return to

Arma fanbase is very nichie. "millions" of people are only playing it for Dayz.

only 30 people play or care about arma until Dayz happen.

It's a toss up between The Elder Scrolls, Mass Effect, MGS and Warcraft

@thehig1: Football Manager is the best football game, each version extracts at least 200 hours. Consistently good.

Probably Halo not just because of its own merits, but also for personal reasons as it is one of few games I have been able to enjoy with family members over the years.

no one series springs to mind. A few favorites:

Stalker, Mass Effect, Splinter Cell