Any platform(s).
I play them still.
- Total annihilation.
- Zero-k
- World of Warcraft, as long as I can avoid cataclysm
I don’t play them but would easily
- The settlers III + Amazons
- Torchlight
- Diablo II as it was in like 05
- Quake II + lithium (slow hooks; hi Nelson crew)
- Dune 2
- WCII as in 98
Huh. That’s it. StarCraft is out as I played for a day before cavedog ruined it for me forever, but it get it if you still love it.
I’m probably a little biased but… (I’ll also include my fave music track from each game as a little bonus!)
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source; check me out at GitHub.
Metal Gear Solid 1
Cyberpunk 2077
Civilization V
Gods Will Be Watching
Portal
Splinter Cell Blacklist
Dead Cells
Sniper Elite 3
Dirt Rally
Ghost of Tsushima
I was so close to putting Dead Cells on my list, but I opted for Hades instead. Dead Cells is so damned good, though.
- Yars revenge on Atari 2600.
- Kaboom on 2600.
- Pitfall on 2600.
- Myst on classic Mac.
- Dark Castle classic Mac.
- Diablo 1.
- Star Wars Dark Forces.
- That weird Ayn Rand utopia in the sky Bioshock sequel on any platform.
- The Star Wars Battlefront game that came out around rogue one on Xbox until the developer started tweaking with it and it became a griefer’s paradise.
- Gauntlet arcade and home versions. So fun to play as co-op.
- Ms Pac Man arcade.
- Tempest arcade.
And a shout out to Arashi, which was a great classic mac homage to Tempest.
I find helldivers has that gauntlet vibe.
I had a 7800 with custom bios and ram cart and would play a kaboom hack that started at max difficulty and ramped from there
a lot of early 2000s 2600 homebrews would probably make my list but Thrust+ is the GOAT
Atari 2600 gamez! Very cool. I still have my 2600 and the TV I used when I was a kid. Both still work.
Also, so glad someone put arcade games on their list.
Roughly in order, I think:
- StarCraft: Brood War
- Subnautica
- FTL: Faster than Light
- Spec Ops: The Line
- Risk of Rain Returns
- Portal
- Dead Cells
- Team Fortress 2
- Borderlands 2
- Unreal Tournament 2004
- Diablo II
Spec ops is amazing
Funny story about that one: my first time playing it, I actually found it a bit too… visceral, and had to stop after getting a couple hours in - I only came back to play it all the way through several years later.
In the intervening time, I learned that one of the developers, when asked whether the game had a “good ending”, said something along the lines of “that’s when the player stops playing in disgust”.
Guess I got the good ending.
Its a great anti war message marketed to the quasi pro war gamers.
It’s also just an incredible deconstruction of the “modern warfare” shooter genre. It screams at the player, “hey, hold up a sec, think about those people you’re shooting”.
I think it’s part of why the only other shooters I like are TF2 and the Borderlands series, both of which frame the violence with a distinctly fantastical, escapist setting, intentionally distancing the game from reality.
Can’t stop playing FTL years later.
Weirdly Monster Train has a similar flavor to me in play style.
In no particular order:
- Elden Ring
- Team Fortress 2
- Day of the Tentacle
- Freelancer
- FTL
- System Shock 2
- Duck Game
- Red Dead Redemption 2
- Rome: Total War
- Diablo 2
Have you played Wing Commander: Privateer? It predates Freelancer by a bit but it hit a lot of the same notes for me.
Day of the Tentacle is one of my first PC gaming memories. My friend’s brother had a PC that could play it, and I was in awe. I remember he had to uninstall it to make room for Duke Nukem 3d…
Chrono Trigger
Earthbound
Xenogears
Nier: Automata
Vagrant Story
Super Mario World
Hades
Elden Ring
Horizon: Zero Dawn
Final Fantasy XIV
Kind of in order, kinda not. They all deserve 1st place, really, and I’m sure there are many others that could be up there with them that didn’t spring to mind as fast.
- earthbound
- final fantasy 6
- chrono trigger
- super mario world
- mario 64
- halo 2
- grand theft auto 3
- half life 2
- bioshock
- tears of the kingdom
I remember playing Mario 64 at my grandparent’s house when it first came out. My grandpa, who was born in the 1920s, was absolutely stunned. He said, “this is a video game?!” and then just say and watched me play.
Haha that’s awesome. I remember playing a racing game on the Sega Saturn as a kid and thinking it was so insanely realistic and there was no way that graphics could get any better.
Haha I remember thinking the same thing playing Virtua Fighter on the Sega Saturn back in the day.
Half-life.
Sim city.
Smb3.
I know you don’t mean super monkey ball 3, but, there is the smallest chance you do. :)
Dwarf Fortress
Factorio
CS 1.6
Dunno after that - probably one of the civilizations, I’m partial to Test of Time personally.
The factory must grow.
Satisfactory RDR2 Cyberpunk2077 Mass Effect trilogy Cities Skylines, GTA 5 Halo series then probably a bunch of simulators
In no particular order:
- Mass Effect 2
- Pokémon Colosseum
- Kingdom Hearts 2
- Kirby and the Forgotten Land
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Super Smash Brothers Melee
- Ocarina of Time
- Ratchet and Clank
- Uncharted 2
- inFamous 2
I realize I included a lot of games that were sequels or part of a series, but these are my favorite of the series in general.
Honorable Mentions:
- Pokémon Emerald
- Mariokart 8
- Super Mario Sunshine
- Mario Galaxy
- Sonic Adventure 2
- Splintercell
- Final Fantasy 7
- Halo ODST
- Halo 2
Not in order:
- Outer Wilds
- Return of the Obra Dinn
- Metal Gear Solid
- Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
- Super Metroid
- Red Dead Redemption 2
- Fallout: New Vegas
- Stardew Valley
- Undertale
- Starcraft
Dang. This is almost my list as well, and the ones that are different I can totally see why they could be on someone else’s list. I like your taste in games.
Is Obra Dinn that good? I started it but only played for about an hour. If it’s on your top 10 I might have to give it another look.
I love Obra Dinn, but not top 10 love. I think the fresh style in an industry of samey games using the same few engines made it really stand out for me. It’s retro styled, but also goes beyond that to show you it’s world in a new way.
If the art style doesn’t do it for you then you might not enjoy it as much.
Subjectively I’d say definitely yes. I adore cerebral games with interesting stories to tell, and this one has that plus a ton of mystery at its core (mystery is maybe my favorite genre of any fiction). The art style can be a little hard for some to get behind, but if you enjoy similar themes & game elements it’s a phenomenal game that will live in your head rent-free for awhile after you’ve finished. It’s one of only maybe three games I’ve ever legitimately referred to as a masterpiece (one of the others being Outer Wilds).
- Universal Paperclips
- Dark Souls
- Return of the Obra Dinn
- Golden Sun (duology)
- Persona 3 FES
- Night in the Woods
- Pseudoregalia
- The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
- Splatoon 2
- Stacklands
This may be the first time I’ve ever heard someone mention spirit tracks positively
Pseudoregalia is so fucking good
Not in any particular order:
Curse of Monkey Island
Final Fantasy VII
SOMA
Stardew Valley
Anno 1800
The Last of Us
The Last of Us 2
Dark Souls 3
Monster Hunter World
HadesI think Curse of Monkey Island is the only Monkey Island game that I haven’t beaten. At the time, I really couldn’t get over the art style. Might have to give it another shot.
Aw, I really like the art style personally. I do love all the Monkey Islands (though haven’t gotten around to the newest one!), but Curse has such a special place in my heart. I say Papapishu in my every day life.
