Killer7 SINdicate

Grandia 1 Saturn version

Some of my all-time favourites (in no particular order)

GTA III - I could probably write a whole book worth of stuff about why I love it. The most atmospheric GTA game, also the only game to have Kyle MachLachlan voice Billionaire necrophiliac cannibal Donald Love.

Deus Ex - Because deus ex (Invisible War was also great)

Shin Megami Tensei II - Proabably the best setting in an Atlus game. Post-apocalypse tokyo, russian roulette with demons, michael jackson, demon sex party in hell (?), kill god (and his children, again). Oh and satan looks like a mix of Sting and Billy idol.

Manhunt - Masterpiece of stealth horror, with a killer john carpenter-like soundtrack. The sequel was a lame fight club knockoff.

Silent Hill 2 - High art in videogame form.

killer7 - also a work of art.

Persona 2 (EP) - the best persona, and probably one of the best atlus games.

MGS2 - I have probably finished the tanker chapter atleast 30 or so times.

Castlevania SOTN - I haven't played the rest but I love this one.

Zelda BOTW - great atmosphere and exploration, but probably the weakest entry if compared to traditional zelda games.

Zone of the Enders 2 - I love the lightweight high-speed combat + great OST. the MARS remaster is excellent.

Since saying Deus Ex, Omikron or MGS2 would be a bad tone.
Here's the list of shit I return to from time to time:
/shoot Oni by Bungie. Literally the only Bungie game I've played. Also one of the first game that made me into japanese porn cartoons.
/shoot System Cock 1. I like how weird it is. Like, it's not a horror game, it's a simulator of a crazy dude running around space station, beating the shit outta erryone in his way while vibing to groovy tunes.
/shoot Brigand Oaxaca. Now, it's one of the "modern" games that I adore. This game looks like utter shit but it's an immersive sim with banana beer and voodoo magic.
/shoot DOOM 1. Absolute classic. The only game in the series that I've finished on UN difficulty. Also, level design is miles better than DOOM 2. You can't change my mind.
/shoot Delta Force series, especially LW and TFD. Nothing to say here. I'm autistic enough to play boring-ass games like these one. Though the one I mentioned are actually great.
/shoot Deus Ex Invisible War. Good think that liking IW considered as having a bad taste. I'll tell ya that a game where you can freely kill [REDACTED] and stash their bodies in trash cans AND destroy entire humanity is a REALLY good game.
/shoot Fallout 3. Simply for memes. Although now it's some psyop to make people believe that F3 was a great game, I finished is as a midget in samurai armor who blew up an atomic bomb in a city. Fucking fantastic.
/shoot Taimanin Asagi 1. Oh, lobotomize me already.
/shoot Prince of Persia The Two Thrones. For some reason, I didn't really like SoT or Edgelord Within. Idk why, but I spent a lot of time in 2T and regret nothing.
/shoot Way of the Samurai 3. I never bothered to reach 100%. I've settled that on the first run I was killed by Nobunaga or something like that and on the second run I was also killed for being a "heir" of some stupid clan. Great game. True samurai experience - all roads lead to death.
/shoot Operation Flashpoint Cold War Crisis. Another game for highly autistic people who don't mind lying for 15 minutes in grass to realize that your ambush on enemy was a failure and you've lost your progress.

This will be about PC games mostly, to keep it short.

1. [b]Populous: the Beginning[/b]

An exciting mixture of RTS and "simulator of divine powers" with the ability, among other things, to change the landscape of the environment. There is still no full-fledged successor, however, this does not bother the fan community.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDBPz6UAXnY

2. [b]Evil Islands[/b]

One of the masterpieces of the once shining Nival Interactive. A completely immersive mix of RPG, tactics and stealth. With one of the best crafting systems and a bunch of other interesting finds and nuances.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJS5udEvM-U

3. [b]Anachronox[/b]

Probably one of the most incredible accidents in the industry. "Western response to Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy" (!), moreover, on the engine from Quake II (!), and still managed to take a place among the beloved "cult" games despite all the difficulties with long-term development and the inability to realize all ideas ( !). As a result, we have a very unusual mixture of adventure and jrpg, which has some kind of inimitable charisma, as well as tons of humor and provides the player with a memorable and varied journey (and here a comparison with the movie "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" would be appropriate).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1sGfz5UQmA

4. [b]American McGee's Alice[/b]

Magnificent in its schizophrenia "playful reading" of the classic novel by Lewis Carroll. Of those games that gather around them not just a circle of fans, but the very subculture that neither is. If anything, I like the sequel too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mT6AyUOa13E

5. [b]Outcast[/b]

Not just the carrier of an impressive technology engine at the time of release, but The Most Epic Adventure with a capital letter. Interesting regions to explore, curious locals (the developers even came up with a whole language!) and a charming atmosphere will keep you company.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQwuiTqizME

6. [b]EvE Online[/b]

One of those rare occasions when I consider an MMO game to be truly great. Despite certain shortcomings or dubious changes that have appeared in the game over the twenty years of its existence. Still, this is a very unique experience of its kind, and in one way or another one of the most complex games (even if a particular player cannot fully experience all the facets of EVE for one reason or another). I don't know how to best describe Eve. It can be said that this is a kind of sandbox (moreover, a full-fledged one; I would even call it an ecosystem), combining flights on spaceships and deep equipment of these, trade, search for artifacts, battles (including between fleets of ships), production (moreover, with strong economic background), and anything else. The key role is played by the interaction of the players among themselves, and the game allows you to transfer almost everything to the shoulders of the players (as a result of which even the extraction of resources or trade becomes more or less a confrontation), which leads to a variety of opportunities. You can be very bad, engage in blackmail, piracy, deception, looting (or vice versa - help newcomers, "raise" the economy of the region, and so on).

"Eve" has stories that are interesting in scope, for example, about how a player, as a revenge no worse than the Count of Monte Cristo, joins a hated guild (if you use mmo terms, so be it), and for five years goes from a small fry to almost the most important person in the team ... everything in order to ruin the offenders, depriving them of everything in the end. And, remember, in EVE the loss of any assets is always felt very bitterly. Even losing a huge number of souls after a boss fight in Dark Souls is not so sad. However, I got carried away. In any case, Eve still remains something like that, and perhaps partially for one or another component it can be replaced by "single" games, but the whole experience of EvE - alas, no. Whatever people would joke about the "excel in space".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEtyIzw45MY

7. [b]Gadget: Past as Future[/b]

Explicit "outsider" for such top lists, but again I can't help but include it. Gadget is a strange and atmospheric interactive experience, the magnum opus of one of the pioneers of multimedia art, Haruhiko Shono. Recommended for fans of surrealism and dieselpunk. Today, it is mainly known "in the circles of fans of something obscure", which, however, did not prevent the game from gaining recognition at one time from such creators as David Lynch and Guillermo del Toro, and also from influencing the creators of the same BioShock and Half-Life (moreover, the screenwriter of the latter had the opportunity to write a novelization of Gadget at one time).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UqNyMKkmXs

8. [b]Zeno Clash[/b]

A quirky game from the Chileans, a kind of first-person bitmap. A picturesque and memorable game world, strange characters and a juicy combat system - all this makes Zeno Clash one of the most striking games from the South American continent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qolk9u-rKUk

9. [b]Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines[/b]

Perhaps I will say something strange. But for me, VtmB has always been the only "correct" successor to the first Deus Ex (with all the love for its sequels). One of the pinnacles of the immersive genre, despite any "buts".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOPv4o9Q8Cc

10. [b]The Void[/b]

To the one who is sighted, but blinded by the light of day,
To the one who is alive and thrown into a dark crypt,
To whom the earth is a sacred land of exile,

Who sees dreams and remembers names, -
To that in love the joy of meeting is not given,
Instead, the dark delights of parting!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOmKGNaNHiA

***

Now - not included (this time!) In the "personal top ten". The division into places in this section, like in the "prize" list above, one way or another, is very conditional. All of the mentioned titles are thumbs up from me.

11. [b]Omikron: The Nomad Soul[/b] - a world that sucks into itself and an interesting fusion of different ideas.
12. [b]S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl[/b] - atmospheric survival fps with a great world.
13. [b]Pathologic[/b] - a wonderful simulator of a detective in a plague city with a pleasant storyline.
14. [b]The Last Express[/b]- soulful to tears "real-time" quest based on the classic.
15. [b]Silent Storm[/b] - one of the most powerful turn-based tactics with cool physics.
16. [b]MDK[/b] - an eccentric and perky action game with a sense of humor and style.
17. [b]Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets[/b] - a great 3D platform game with metroidvania elements.
18. [b]Sanitarium[/b] - a good old surreal "psychological thriller".
19. [b]Eastern Mind: The Lost Souls of Tong Nou[/b] - psychedelic trip from master Osamu Sato.
20. [b]Daikatana[/b] - a much-maligned groundbreaking FPS that has a lot to love.

21. [b]The Wheel of Time[/b] - a great "literary" shooter with traps and magic.
22. [b]Torin's Passage[/b] - charming and cute point-and-click adventure with an interesting world structure.
23. [b]Sleeping Dogs[/b] - my favourite out of the relatively modern GTA-like games.
24. [b]Enclave[/b] - peppy fantasy action game with beautiful locations and a campaign for both sides.
25. [b]KISS: Psycho Circus - The Nightmare Child[/b] - a cool FPS with great levels and monsters.
26. [b]The Path[/b] - a bright, bloody stain in the first wave of "thoughtful" indie games.
27. [b]Deathtrap Dungeon[/b] - what did you say? "Sen's Fortress"? Oh, I'm begging you...
28. [b]System Shock[/b] - a great "immersive sim", amazes even now with its contents.
29. [b]Blood: One Unit Whole[/b] - *cynical laugh*, *scream*
30. [b]Dark Salvation[/b] - as they say, welcome to hell...

31. [b]Inside[/b] - atmospheric to goosebumps spiritual successor to Another World.
32. [b]Tempest 4000[/b] - an incomparable arcade psychedelic cocktail from Jeff Minter.
33. [b]Clive Barker's Jericho[/b] - gory "infernal" shooter with a good team of heroes.
34. [b]Half-Life: Opposing Force[/b] - the most atmospheric entry in series.
35. [b]The Thing[/b] - a decent arctic survival horror, and one of the best movie-based games out there.
36. [b]The Witcher 1[/b] - what can I say ... the first and favorite.
37. [b]BioShock[/b] - underwater delight! *plays a Cohen song on the piano*
38. [b]Supreme Commander[/b] - the ultimate macro king in RTS.
39. [b]Cry of Fear[/b] - the best "totally not Silent Hill" for gloomy emo boys like me.
40. [b]Psychonauts[/b] - a wonderful journey through the worlds inside the minds of other people.

41. [b]Devil Daggers[/b] - excellent "first person view Crimsonland" in the Lovecraftian style.
42. [b]Overgrowth[/b] - cool stealth parkour with a very interesting combat system.
43. [b]Iron Grip: Warlord[/b] - a sprightly mix of FPS and Tower Defense with a certain charm.
44. [b]Pac-Man Championship Edition DX[/b] - a wonderful reincarnation of the classic arcade game.
45. [b]Life is Strange[/b] - soulful "hipster" adventure game with time rewind.
46. [b]Pro Pinball: Timeshock[/b] - the best realistic, but with its own table design, digital pinball.
47. [b]Space Mouse 2[/b] - the cutest arcade game that combines many elements of your favourite retro games.
48. [b]Day of Defeat: Source[/b] - the perfect line between "serious" and "fast" WW2 multiplayer FPS.
49. [b]Dark Colony[/b] - a gloomy and brutal RTS, in some ways ahead of StarCraft.
50. [b]Armed & Dangerous[/b] - a goofy TPS with insane weapons and humor.

Obviously, in a different time and mood the list might be different. Also this doesn't cover other platforms. Well, whatever, it is what it is, for now.

/moonwalk

[quote=melonbread post_id=3140 time=1662525970 user_id=91]
Your all-time favorite game is Second Life?
[/quote]

You'd be amazed, in recent years I ran into a bunch of different people who were really attached to Second Life when it was on.
Unfortunately I barely ever heard anything about it back in the day except for an indie italian director wanting to make a movie simultaneously IRL and in Second Life, which I guess never really came out
https://www.collater.al/en/interview-berardo-carboni-director-youtopia/

Your all-time favorite game is Second Life?

[img]https://i.imgur.com/STw19hP.jpg[/img]

Thanks, Anthony. That’s what I’m talkin’ about. That’s why I made this thread. Honorary Big Dog status for this dog. Everyone else are literal cowards.

For me the #1 goes to the original UFO: Enemy Unknown.

[img]https://i.ibb.co/4fjGYSf/screen025.png[/img]

I think it's a perfect game. I can't imagine another game trying to do what it does surpassing it. It's a practically perfect realisation of its premise. There's a setting, a premise, goals, tools, options, freedom. It all works together. Everything you do in this game feels right and reasonable and compelling. Stakes are always high, goals are always clear, options are always open.

It's easier to see this game as perfect because in addition to various attempts at successors, it also got a spiritual 'remake' which completely betrayed the spirit of the original and made plain in many ways why the original works and is timeless. There's a perfect internal sense and harmony to how everything works in the original game which is completely betrayed by the remake. The original, despite being ancient, works on logic that feels perfectly sound and intuitive. It's all "of course I would do that, it makes sense to". Shoot things until they die. Bring as much stuff as humanly possible to conflicts to win. Playing the original X-Com *well* makes you do things which make sense. In all of my years of playing I've never found a true *cheese* tactic in X-Com. If something works it's because it makes sense.

In contrast, in the remake once people worked out more efficient ways to play the game became completely gay because optimal play looks nothing like the cool operator experience the game is meant to be, because the game's systems aren't robust enough to enable ostensibly sensible ideas to work. Getting good at the original game is about honing an organic sense for how to carry out a smallish scale gunfight at a decent level of fidelity. We aren't running a hard simulation of reality, but it feels like a simplified version of how such a scenario [i]*ought to work*[/i]. Getting good at the remake is not about what *ought to work*, the game is very particular, rigid, and fussy about what does and does not work. It's logic is very rigid, and very simple. It has *VERY BIG BLIND SPOTS*. Once discovered, playing the game *well* revolves entirely around these blind spots. And so it's now hideously boring and an inharmonious experience. The original game is a lower fidelity simulation of a war against aliens. The new game is a war against game mechanics.

This is my idea of what really makes a game great. This harmony. Is everything about the game pulling towards the realisation of the same vision? You don't have to dislike the vision, but is the work well realised? In my opinion no strategy game has realised this harmony better ever since. For strategy games if I'm not playing X-Com I'm probably playing modding X-Com. That's the other amazing thing. The screenshot above is from a mod, 'The X-Com Files'. The game's wonderful balance of fidelity and accessibility makes it an outstanding platform for building other games. Over the years X-Com modding has progressed from fixing bugs in the original game to the creation of total conversion mods which play like entirely new successor games on the same foundation.

I have a few other favourite games, and I might write about them here in the future. A common theme is that they achieve my standard of realisation to a very high level as well. A tentative top 5 might be:

1: UFO: Enemy Unknown
2: Super Mario 64
3: Halo: Combat Evolved
4: Dead Rising
5: Pikmin

To clarify I like the PC version that's played using a mouse.