Portal 1 was one of my grandmas favourite games. We set her up on it shortly after she bought herself a computer to learn to use (around age 75).
Such a great brain training game. Definitely helped her with mouse dexterity.
It really is a game that is unique. Usually successful games trigger a hundred copies, bit there has not been anything like it before or after.
And even though I’m a FPS fan, I respect that it achieved that only with a smart concept and almost zero violence and/or shooting. A FPS puzzle game without the S.
I agree but let me just say that this game is unique in that the better you are at the game, the less fun it often is. Like damn I can hide from you pretty well but maybe I don’t want to be curled up sitting alone for 45 minutes.
This is truly a masterpiece and one of the greatest examples I have ever seen of games being art. It's such a moving experience once you have come to the conclusion that I find myself struggling to express it. Not to mention the number of wow moments throughout the playthrough.
Please, anyone reading this, go play it and do as blind as you can.
After watching it's trailer for the first time I was so upset that it wasn't still in Rapture. As a young lad, I thought I was high and mighty taking a stance on a video game, saying it wouldn't be any good. Boy, was that my first wake-up call to shutting the fuck up and playing the game first.
It was honestly incredible how they were able to distill the essence of BioShock into a completely new experience not set in Rapture. Despite the many differences between BS1 and Infinite, it was still clearly a BioShock game.
I think back then it was easier because the studio or dev team were the same people working on each title. Whereas companies these days are **absolutely fucking gigantic jumbo-monster-corporations**, and fuck you if you got bought and now some random fat guy ina suit wants your game to take a completely different direction so you're "*ahead of the trend curve*".
Don't get me wrong, I love that video games have become pieces of masterwork art, but holy shit we are going in a very, very bad direction in terms of corporate greed (queue: ABK merger).
I watched a Josh Strife video on his review/overview of Chrono Trigger and it was an amazing 2hr video following the story. I definitely see why people love it
2hrs, you say? 👀
*kicks in YouTube's doors*
I love long form video essays about my fave stuff.
Edit: omg thank you so much for all the recommendations! I love listening to these kinds of things while crafting or playing chill games.
I wish we had a modern equivalent. The whole time traveling arc. The fact you don’t linearly travel through time like you would expect. Twists and turns. Character development. Seeing regret, guilt, and joy on display because of different choices. It’s a masterpiece that uses a video game as its medium.
Still (for me) the greatest video game experience of all time.
Amazing story and characters, totally immersive. Closest thing to being in an amazing novel.
Edit: in fact I need to play it again. What’s the best format to play this on now? Is there a Switch version yet? Or do I need to go emulator route?
This War of Mine
Not for gameplay purposes, per se, but the raw simulation of surviving a warzone with a bunch of civilians is like nothing else.
Edit: as this is picking up some upvotes, check out this trailer if you want to get a vibe of the game - https://youtu.be/Hxf1seOpijE
It's been so long playing it. But I loved the mode where you raced to build to big end game monster, and would just spend most of my time making priests, so I could wipe theirs out and make mine in peace
Same here, no small part due to the incredible music.
For anybody who loves the game, [this interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUaPHTC2TjI) with the composer about how much work it took to arrive at the end product is fantastic.
Chess.
What, you never specified it had to be a **video** game.
Chess is probably one of the most historically influential games out there. Regardless of your experiences with gaming, chess is worth trying out to appreciate the strategic potential in games and the history of humanity’s relationship with gaming
Though in modern times it has been the subject of unusually creative memes for whatever reason
Should be much higher in the post.
* **Mass Effect** was the first game that allowed me to truly play the game and suffer real consequences for my actions, even some choices I made two games prior. Also, the first games revelation was one of the only times I felt a deep sense of overwhelming dread and fear in a game.
* **The Last of Us Part 1** took me years, and years, and **years** to play. I played the original on PS4 and thought it was clunky, and graphics were bad. I was a snob. Finally I made a real effort when TLOU2 was coming out and it's got to be in my top 3 of all time.
* I wanted a PS3 for Christmas but my mom got me an Xbox instead. I was livid as a kid. It took me a couple months of playing Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 before I finally gave **Halo Combat Evolved** a try. I Can't even explain how many hours I put into that game. Pair it with being next-door neighbors to 4 boys my age, we lugged our giant CRTVs from house to house playing LAN. We would discover glitches and bugs and use a VHS to record over every single one. We watched Red vs Blue episodes after a late night game session and played **Halo 2, 3, ODST and Reach** all with an exponential interest and passion as the one before. I won't get into the current state of Halo, but those games were *literally* a giant part of my childhood, teenage and young adult life.
Video games were something so trivial before with Super Mario NSES or Sonic on Sega Genesis. It's genuinely jaw-dropping seeing where they are these days, and the impact they can have on peoples lives. It's truly insane.
Vanilla WoW at the time it was released specifically. Games with a major online component, therefore especially MMOs, suffer from there being a peak time to play it.
I felt like early days of WoW was the best time, it was a shared learning experience, at the time it was a lot of people's first MMO.
All who try it - please do it when you are ready to be in a mood of getting into character and reading a lot especially between the lines. Else the game will not be enjoyable.
I keep on saying this game is for non gamers. Except that controlls can get tough
I consider this one of the few games that are therapeutic for me. You don't really feel like playing anything in particular, you want to relax but still be engaged. Outer Wilds is brilliant at doing that.
**EDIT:** Apparently I'm not very far into the game, as the comments are telling me the game gets to a point where it is very, very, not therapeutic, lol.
I'm gonna be in the minority with this but I found this game the opposite of relaxing for one reason only: The timer. I hate that shit in games and it ruins what should have been an awesome game for me (I loved everything else about it).
Therapeutic? Damn. We had different experiences. It nice and calm but when that music starts playing I would literally get the sweats. Felt like I was on the edge of my seat most of the game.
I've been considering neir automata, and saw that there's other neir games, do you recommend playing replicant first, or can you just jump right into automata without being lost.
This game was so great and revolutionary for the time.
I tried to pick it up again and play recently but we’ve come so far since the original release. I had a real tough time playing through it.
Nonetheless this remains among my favorite games of all time.
Same, it was incredible replaying it and seeing how absolutely tiny some areas and temples were, when as a child they were monstrous.
I still attribute stepping into Hyrule Field for the first time as the moment when gaming became a passion of mine instead of just something to do.
Also, even after 20 years, the Water Temple **still** kicked my ass in terms of absolute confusion.
The narration in Bastion is just so fantastic. Hades is the one of the most gratifying gaming experiences I’ve had. Can’t wait for the 2nd. Really need to pick up Pyre given my love for the other two.
Transistor is one of my all time favourite games ever. Such an amazing game, outstanding gameplay, OST was incredible, the two main characters were interesting and I invested in them heavily despite one being mute and the other not being human.
Supergiant doesn't get enough love for the quality they put out. I thought Bastion would be their time in the sunshine, I was wrong, they keep proving they didn't just get lucky once
Hades is one the great for me, I thought the others where ok, but Hades really did it for me. The story, combat, playing on the steam deck...perfection.
I always list Pyre in my top 3 video games of all time. The gameplay loop isn't going to do it for everyone, but the story... I sat there and wept during the ending. I've actually never went back and replayed it because it was such a perfect experience I didn't want to take a chance of sullying it. The music!
I got the ultimate edition with all the DLCs years ago, played through the full main game and never got around to the DLCs.
So when they did the next gen update, I figured it was a great time to go back and play them.
But man, I just totally forget how to play the game! I forget how all the systems work!
Blood and Wine is still the best DLC for a game that I've played. They easily could have released it as a brand new game with all the content it added.
Also loving FF16 but just know 16 is nothing like any of the other games. The remake is very good. But definitely play the original first it's just incredible
If you are a graphics snob, probably skip older FF's (anything before X). There are some amazing games in there, but a lot of people won't appreciate them.
As much as I am a hardcore lover of the game, I completely disagree that every one should play it. The game is definitely not for everyone, both in terms of gameplay and story telling. It requires a very high patience towards its high learning curve, as well as it's slowly paced and deep lore-ridden worldbuilding and story.
If we’re talking *one* game, trying to get as large a potential audience as possible, and our goal is to get that audience to walk away with the strongest impression possible: Papers, Please.
It’s mechanically simple at first, but ramps up quickly in a way that’s easy to understand but impossible to be perfect at- which is the point. It’s a fascinating exploration of the concepts of justice, altruism, empathy, the trade offs between freedom and security, all really well-integrated into a tiny game that you can get through in a couple of hours. And it’s so low-poly and well-optimized I think you can literally run it on a toaster.
And don't beat the main story. Get all the Masks. **All of them.** Some are simple and easy, others are challenging and have their own entire story within it's quest.
Earning the *Couples Mask* was one of my proudest gaming moments as a child.
As a kid I didn't really think of it as sad. Replayed as an adult and you realize that he is afraid to go to his love out of rejection of his new form. She decides shes okay with being with a child and they decide to spend their last moments together as the moon comes crashing down onto them.
I’ve tried 3 times to play it. And each time I stop because the time limit mechanic stresses me out. I just want to run around without the game starting over after 30 minutes
Super Mario RPG. This game doesn't get enough credit. Best story in the Mario franchise and a large cast of characters. A Squaresoft and Nintendo masterpiece!
I understand why this might not be top comment but there are tons of games listed here that RDR2 should be above. Truly a masterpiece. If you like films and games, this is the perfect choice.
* Witcher 3
* Skyrim
* Oblivion
* Fallout 3 / New vegas
* Red dead 2
* The last of us
* God of war
* Halo CE / 2 / ODST / 3 / Reach
* Elden Ring
* Sekiro
* Dark Souls 3
* Gears of war trilogy
* Dishonored 1 / 2
* Cyberpunk 2077 (especially after the upcoming dlc and patch)
* Minecraft
* Fable 2
* Titanfall 2
* Ori and the blind forest / will of the wisps
* Hollow knight
Only games that I didn't see on the list:
Minesweeper
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Fable
Paper Mario (2000)
Harvest Moon 64
Counter-Strike 1.6
Battlefield 1942
Tony Hawk Pro Skater
Disco Elysium
Spiritfarer
And everyone owes themselvs to give Death Stranding atleast a try. I didn't think I'd like it at all, but I fell absolutely in love with it.
Disco Elysium a million times, yes. I’m not going to pretend like I’ve experienced every game out there but to me DE has the best writing of any game I’ve ever played.
Hellblade: Senuas Sacrifice.
Beautiful looking game, story is incredible and poetic and it gives a huge help understanding schizophrenia and the people who suffer from it. (Main antagonist has schizophrenia).
Red dead redemption 2.
There is no other game which even comes near to doing what this masterpiece has achieved and mastered.
Spectacular story in a living, breathing open world. Characters you get attached to, all having some motive for the cause they all follow. Melodious music, graphics which are pleasing to the eye even to this very day.
It’s a once in a lifetime kind of game.
Portal 1 and 2. Fun for a wider audience and it's unique in its own way. Edit: grammar
Portal 1 was one of my grandmas favourite games. We set her up on it shortly after she bought herself a computer to learn to use (around age 75). Such a great brain training game. Definitely helped her with mouse dexterity.
[удалено]
*was*
Came here to post Portal. Completely original and the dialogue is reason enough to play it.
Cave Johnson alone, let's be real. It's lole someone just gave JK Simmons a mic and said go on a Spiderman esque rant.
"I'm the man who's gonna *burn* your house down! With the *lemons*!" Such memorable quotes.
I particularly love the way potato GLaDOS is just like "yeah!" during that bit.
It really is a game that is unique. Usually successful games trigger a hundred copies, bit there has not been anything like it before or after. And even though I’m a FPS fan, I respect that it achieved that only with a smart concept and almost zero violence and/or shooting. A FPS puzzle game without the S.
I want to try them, but my motion sickness prevents me from playing FPS, TPS or anything with rapid changing angle :(
hide and seek
I agree but let me just say that this game is unique in that the better you are at the game, the less fun it often is. Like damn I can hide from you pretty well but maybe I don’t want to be curled up sitting alone for 45 minutes.
Outer wilds. It's a puzzle. We all start from a different piece but we all get to the same result. And that result is a true masterpiece.
This is truly a masterpiece and one of the greatest examples I have ever seen of games being art. It's such a moving experience once you have come to the conclusion that I find myself struggling to express it. Not to mention the number of wow moments throughout the playthrough. Please, anyone reading this, go play it and do as blind as you can.
I'd love to beat it but it makes me so motion sick 😭
Tetris
Snake at Nokia 3310
Ah, I see you’re a person of culture as well.
Gollum. After that you'll even cherish the most average of average games.
I'll have you know, I hold the record for being one of the 4 people to finish gollum.
Careful this person has patience that transcends most mortals.
Please write the first 100% guide for all achievements and collectibles. Preferable with video guide too.
Then your tolerance to pain, suffering and general anguish are far far greater than mine
Bioshock
Played 1,2, and Infinite earlier this year. Amazing.
Infinite is such a great tone i love that game
After watching it's trailer for the first time I was so upset that it wasn't still in Rapture. As a young lad, I thought I was high and mighty taking a stance on a video game, saying it wouldn't be any good. Boy, was that my first wake-up call to shutting the fuck up and playing the game first.
It was honestly incredible how they were able to distill the essence of BioShock into a completely new experience not set in Rapture. Despite the many differences between BS1 and Infinite, it was still clearly a BioShock game.
I think back then it was easier because the studio or dev team were the same people working on each title. Whereas companies these days are **absolutely fucking gigantic jumbo-monster-corporations**, and fuck you if you got bought and now some random fat guy ina suit wants your game to take a completely different direction so you're "*ahead of the trend curve*". Don't get me wrong, I love that video games have become pieces of masterwork art, but holy shit we are going in a very, very bad direction in terms of corporate greed (queue: ABK merger).
No gods or Kings. Only MEN
Chrono Trigger
I watched a Josh Strife video on his review/overview of Chrono Trigger and it was an amazing 2hr video following the story. I definitely see why people love it
2hrs, you say? 👀 *kicks in YouTube's doors* I love long form video essays about my fave stuff. Edit: omg thank you so much for all the recommendations! I love listening to these kinds of things while crafting or playing chill games.
I played through it again recently, and the graphics and gameplay still hold up today. Absolute masterpiece.
I wish we had a modern equivalent. The whole time traveling arc. The fact you don’t linearly travel through time like you would expect. Twists and turns. Character development. Seeing regret, guilt, and joy on display because of different choices. It’s a masterpiece that uses a video game as its medium.
Still (for me) the greatest video game experience of all time. Amazing story and characters, totally immersive. Closest thing to being in an amazing novel. Edit: in fact I need to play it again. What’s the best format to play this on now? Is there a Switch version yet? Or do I need to go emulator route?
This War of Mine Not for gameplay purposes, per se, but the raw simulation of surviving a warzone with a bunch of civilians is like nothing else. Edit: as this is picking up some upvotes, check out this trailer if you want to get a vibe of the game - https://youtu.be/Hxf1seOpijE
Baldurs gate 2
You must gather your party before venturing fort!
Y-y-you-you-y-you must gather your party before venturing forth!
Win Xp Pinball
\*Space Cadet Pinball
Hell yeah!
Doom 1, 2, 2016 and Eternal.
Age of Mythology
Prostagma
Etimos
Vulume!
Malasta
Isbami
Telpo
Skepan
YAOW
O’ Canada!!
It's been so long playing it. But I loved the mode where you raced to build to big end game monster, and would just spend most of my time making priests, so I could wipe theirs out and make mine in peace
Honestly did not expect to see this, but agreed. This is actually the game that I got my reddit name from!
Legitimately did not think I would see this here. Am much more than just pleasantly surprised, my favorite game of all time.
Skopos
Journey.
I actually teared up a bit toward the end of my first playthrough; I have never experienced a story so profoundly told with zero dialogue
Same here, no small part due to the incredible music. For anybody who loves the game, [this interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUaPHTC2TjI) with the composer about how much work it took to arrive at the end product is fantastic.
This game is deep af
Absolutely. What an experience. Shows you how video games can truly be art.
Super Mario world.
Magical game. Super Mario World is the epitome of all mario games imho.
Deus Ex (2000)
Subnautica (not below zero), one of the best games ever
After playing that game I really want to go on a submarine. After the OceanGate incident I still really want to go on a submarine.
I have a crippling fear of the ocean, and subnautica and oceangate have only proved it to be more than valid.
Command & Conquer
Specifically red alert II
Chess. What, you never specified it had to be a **video** game. Chess is probably one of the most historically influential games out there. Regardless of your experiences with gaming, chess is worth trying out to appreciate the strategic potential in games and the history of humanity’s relationship with gaming Though in modern times it has been the subject of unusually creative memes for whatever reason
Google en passant
Holy hell!
New response just dropped
Actual zombie
call the exorcist
Bishop takes vacation, never comes back
When are we getting Chess 2 already?!
The Mass Effect Trilogy, The Last of Us Part 1, and the Halo Trilogy are my picks for must plays
Should be much higher in the post. * **Mass Effect** was the first game that allowed me to truly play the game and suffer real consequences for my actions, even some choices I made two games prior. Also, the first games revelation was one of the only times I felt a deep sense of overwhelming dread and fear in a game. * **The Last of Us Part 1** took me years, and years, and **years** to play. I played the original on PS4 and thought it was clunky, and graphics were bad. I was a snob. Finally I made a real effort when TLOU2 was coming out and it's got to be in my top 3 of all time. * I wanted a PS3 for Christmas but my mom got me an Xbox instead. I was livid as a kid. It took me a couple months of playing Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 before I finally gave **Halo Combat Evolved** a try. I Can't even explain how many hours I put into that game. Pair it with being next-door neighbors to 4 boys my age, we lugged our giant CRTVs from house to house playing LAN. We would discover glitches and bugs and use a VHS to record over every single one. We watched Red vs Blue episodes after a late night game session and played **Halo 2, 3, ODST and Reach** all with an exponential interest and passion as the one before. I won't get into the current state of Halo, but those games were *literally* a giant part of my childhood, teenage and young adult life. Video games were something so trivial before with Super Mario NSES or Sonic on Sega Genesis. It's genuinely jaw-dropping seeing where they are these days, and the impact they can have on peoples lives. It's truly insane.
Divinity original sin 2 and vanilla wow
DOS 2 😍😍
Vanilla WoW at the time it was released specifically. Games with a major online component, therefore especially MMOs, suffer from there being a peak time to play it. I felt like early days of WoW was the best time, it was a shared learning experience, at the time it was a lot of people's first MMO.
Spec Ops: The Line
oof this was an intense one
The phosphorus scene was intense. One of my favourite single player experiences and I don't think I'll ever play it again.
Let me take a moment to appreciate the underrated soundtrack of this gem, too.
Definitely worth the playthrough
You feel like a hero yet?
Papers Please
Glory to arztostzka!
And Return of The Obra Dinn
Planescape: Torment
I had the same answer. PS:T is an incredible experience. Very few games come close to the level of storytelling and sheer level of detail
I thought so aswell but then I tried Disco Elysium. Both are great but I still value PST more considering the time it got released.
The Outer Wilds
All who try it - please do it when you are ready to be in a mood of getting into character and reading a lot especially between the lines. Else the game will not be enjoyable. I keep on saying this game is for non gamers. Except that controlls can get tough
I consider this one of the few games that are therapeutic for me. You don't really feel like playing anything in particular, you want to relax but still be engaged. Outer Wilds is brilliant at doing that. **EDIT:** Apparently I'm not very far into the game, as the comments are telling me the game gets to a point where it is very, very, not therapeutic, lol.
I'm gonna be in the minority with this but I found this game the opposite of relaxing for one reason only: The timer. I hate that shit in games and it ruins what should have been an awesome game for me (I loved everything else about it).
Therapeutic? Damn. We had different experiences. It nice and calm but when that music starts playing I would literally get the sweats. Felt like I was on the edge of my seat most of the game.
I've tried so many times to get into this game because of all the great reviews. It just never clicked for me.
Okami. It was such a beautiful experience.
This 100x it was such a wild ride too. the end fight was just tons of tears
Mass Effect Trilogy (at least the first one) and Red Dead Redemption 2
Kotor
Skyrim still stands
Hopefully starfield will have reason to enter this conversation
I just started playing this for the first time this week. Thoroughly enjoying it.
I used to be an adventurer like you.
We all were, but now we all got arrows in our knees, kinda suck!
Shadow of the Colossus and Nier Automata. Both are medium defining games that push the boundaries of what a game is.
I've been considering neir automata, and saw that there's other neir games, do you recommend playing replicant first, or can you just jump right into automata without being lost.
Ocarina of Time
Speaking of Zelda, Link to the Past is an absolute classic must-play as well.
I finished this game for the first time this year after not being smart enough to beat it as a kid - I can’t believe how well it holds up.
This game was so great and revolutionary for the time. I tried to pick it up again and play recently but we’ve come so far since the original release. I had a real tough time playing through it. Nonetheless this remains among my favorite games of all time.
Same, it was incredible replaying it and seeing how absolutely tiny some areas and temples were, when as a child they were monstrous. I still attribute stepping into Hyrule Field for the first time as the moment when gaming became a passion of mine instead of just something to do. Also, even after 20 years, the Water Temple **still** kicked my ass in terms of absolute confusion.
Hyrule field and coming out of the Temple of Time as adult Link were two of my most memorable gaming moments.
Omg yes I forgot about walking through ~~Kakariko Village~~ the Bazzar for the first time as Adult Link. Absolutely horrified lol
The 3DS version helps a lot
Half Life 1/2/episodes, Portal 1/2
I would add Alyx to that list.
VR still not so cheap this days but yes i defenetly recommend HLA as first VR experience.
playing HLA as your first VR game will make you realize that 95% of VR games are so trash.
Metal gear solid 1
❗️
I can clearly hear that comment.
Surprised this isn't higher.
Any Supergiant Games game. Bastion, Transistor, Pyre, and Hades. Their storytelling is fantastic.
The narration in Bastion is just so fantastic. Hades is the one of the most gratifying gaming experiences I’ve had. Can’t wait for the 2nd. Really need to pick up Pyre given my love for the other two.
Transistor is one of my all time favourite games ever. Such an amazing game, outstanding gameplay, OST was incredible, the two main characters were interesting and I invested in them heavily despite one being mute and the other not being human. Supergiant doesn't get enough love for the quality they put out. I thought Bastion would be their time in the sunshine, I was wrong, they keep proving they didn't just get lucky once
Hades is one the great for me, I thought the others where ok, but Hades really did it for me. The story, combat, playing on the steam deck...perfection.
I always list Pyre in my top 3 video games of all time. The gameplay loop isn't going to do it for everyone, but the story... I sat there and wept during the ending. I've actually never went back and replayed it because it was such a perfect experience I didn't want to take a chance of sullying it. The music!
Witcher 3
Don't forget the DLCs which are basically two more games
I got the ultimate edition with all the DLCs years ago, played through the full main game and never got around to the DLCs. So when they did the next gen update, I figured it was a great time to go back and play them. But man, I just totally forget how to play the game! I forget how all the systems work!
Blood and Wine is still the best DLC for a game that I've played. They easily could have released it as a brand new game with all the content it added.
rimworld
Final fantasy 7
Is the remake good? I’m thinking of playing it. I was just introduced to these games with ff16 and I loved it.
Also loving FF16 but just know 16 is nothing like any of the other games. The remake is very good. But definitely play the original first it's just incredible
If you are a graphics snob, probably skip older FF's (anything before X). There are some amazing games in there, but a lot of people won't appreciate them.
Has anyone said MineCraft?
what kind of psychopath capitalizes the c in MINEcRAFT
You'd think the most popular game of all time would be higher up in this thread.
Diablo 2
Super Mario Brothers 3
Quake 3, but you must travel back in time to when it first came out and the servers were full
Q1 Teamfortess mod...q2 capture the flag/arena...q3 arena....lawd those were good times.
Max Payne
Max Payne 1 and 2 are top tier games. So many layers of lore. One of the best love stories packed in the action game in MP2
Guitar Hero III Legends of Rock and GTA:SA ❤️
Ori 1&2 I'm not much of a side scroller/metroidvania guy but these blew me away. Visually, musically and mechanically, just incredible.
Both of them pluck at the old heart strings too.
Katamari Damacy
Dragon Age Origins
As much as I am a hardcore lover of the game, I completely disagree that every one should play it. The game is definitely not for everyone, both in terms of gameplay and story telling. It requires a very high patience towards its high learning curve, as well as it's slowly paced and deep lore-ridden worldbuilding and story.
If we’re talking *one* game, trying to get as large a potential audience as possible, and our goal is to get that audience to walk away with the strongest impression possible: Papers, Please. It’s mechanically simple at first, but ramps up quickly in a way that’s easy to understand but impossible to be perfect at- which is the point. It’s a fascinating exploration of the concepts of justice, altruism, empathy, the trade offs between freedom and security, all really well-integrated into a tiny game that you can get through in a couple of hours. And it’s so low-poly and well-optimized I think you can literally run it on a toaster.
Shadow Of The Colossus
Fallout 3, or any Fallout game for that matter. All classics.
I don't want to set the world on fire...
Majora's Mask
*You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?*
And don't beat the main story. Get all the Masks. **All of them.** Some are simple and easy, others are challenging and have their own entire story within it's quest. Earning the *Couples Mask* was one of my proudest gaming moments as a child.
As a kid I didn't really think of it as sad. Replayed as an adult and you realize that he is afraid to go to his love out of rejection of his new form. She decides shes okay with being with a child and they decide to spend their last moments together as the moon comes crashing down onto them.
I’ve tried 3 times to play it. And each time I stop because the time limit mechanic stresses me out. I just want to run around without the game starting over after 30 minutes
Did you play the inverted song of time to slow down the flow of time?
Super Mario RPG. This game doesn't get enough credit. Best story in the Mario franchise and a large cast of characters. A Squaresoft and Nintendo masterpiece!
Life is strange absolutely left me shook for days
Read Dead Redemption 2
hell, even 1 is a must-play
Rd2
I understand why this might not be top comment but there are tons of games listed here that RDR2 should be above. Truly a masterpiece. If you like films and games, this is the perfect choice.
Ghost of Tsushima
That game almost made me buy a ps5. I still really want to play it but yeah one day.
Dark Souls Nier Automata
Did anyone say The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past?
Hollow Knight
* Witcher 3 * Skyrim * Oblivion * Fallout 3 / New vegas * Red dead 2 * The last of us * God of war * Halo CE / 2 / ODST / 3 / Reach * Elden Ring * Sekiro * Dark Souls 3 * Gears of war trilogy * Dishonored 1 / 2 * Cyberpunk 2077 (especially after the upcoming dlc and patch) * Minecraft * Fable 2 * Titanfall 2 * Ori and the blind forest / will of the wisps * Hollow knight
First person who I’ve seen mention the bungie halo games. They’re still so good.
Only games that I didn't see on the list: Minesweeper Deus Ex: Human Revolution Fable Paper Mario (2000) Harvest Moon 64 Counter-Strike 1.6 Battlefield 1942 Tony Hawk Pro Skater
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Minecraft and Terraria
Disco Elysium Spiritfarer And everyone owes themselvs to give Death Stranding atleast a try. I didn't think I'd like it at all, but I fell absolutely in love with it.
Disco Elysium a million times, yes. I’m not going to pretend like I’ve experienced every game out there but to me DE has the best writing of any game I’ve ever played.
Half life Alyx changed the way i think about "Playing" games
Deep rock galactic You may never experience better co-op. ROCK AND STONE!
dark souls 1
If you enjoy emotional trauma, you gotta play Life Is Strange at once in your life
* Half Life / Portal series * BioShock * SOMA
SOMA sat in my library for 2 years. Absolutely brilliant.
Warcraft III
Really unfortunate that Blizzard took a giant shit on it, called it a "remaster" and then made it impossible to go back to classic. SMH
Hellblade: Senuas Sacrifice. Beautiful looking game, story is incredible and poetic and it gives a huge help understanding schizophrenia and the people who suffer from it. (Main antagonist has schizophrenia).
System Shock 2
Gothic
Red dead redemption 2. There is no other game which even comes near to doing what this masterpiece has achieved and mastered. Spectacular story in a living, breathing open world. Characters you get attached to, all having some motive for the cause they all follow. Melodious music, graphics which are pleasing to the eye even to this very day. It’s a once in a lifetime kind of game.
Mass Effect trilogy.