Not a unique opinion, but Portal is probably the closest thing to a perfect game. Nothing feels unnecessary, and every part of it (story, gameplay, visuals) is not only good on its own, but also work together to make the game better than the sum of its parts.

Portal 2’s also great but suffers from a lot of fluff imo. The analogy I like to use is Portal 2 is like a big feast of really good food, while Portal 1 is just one small dish, but it’s the best version of that dish you’ve ever tasted.

Beyond Good & Evil, 2003. It’s been so long since I played it, I don’t remember much other than it was a sandbox and it had some neat mechanics and cute characters and I loved it. The closing credits musical sequence is magical, too.

My response to this will look like a who’s who of Dreamcast games. The Dreamcast was the first console I bought myself, so I have lots of fond memories.

• Soulcalibur I & II
• Sega NFL 2K1 (and I was NOT a sports game person)
• Shenmue I & II
• Jet Set Radio
• Phantasy Star On-Line
• Quake III arena
• Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2
• Hydro Thunder
• Fur Fighters

For me it was metal gear solid 3 snake eater. I thought it was the perfection of the metal gear formula. I’m exited to see its remaster.

One of my all-time favourites is Freelancer, 2003. Just a really fun arcade space sandbox with an engaging campaign and great multiplayer and modding scene.

Had a partner want to practice hacking a 3ds before they closed the shop so I can play PS1 games. The first one I put on that mofo is Azure Dreams, my first and probably favorite dungeon crawler roguelike with a city builder. Also Breath of Fire IV is one of my absolute favorite games ever.

• Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. My favourite game of all time. I played it long after it had released thanks to the PSOne classics section on the PS3, but far and away it is one of my favourite experiences I’ve had with gaming. The map is robust, the RPG elements allow for unique experiences each time I’ve played, and overall it’s just complex and challenging enough to keep you engaged, but not frustrating to the point of distress and apathy towards it. Highly recommended as a starting point for the PSOne.

• Super Metroid. Similar to what I loved about SoTN, but more obtuse in nature for sure (it came out earlier after all for the SNES). The gameplay and atmosphere of course are great focusing on exploration and a gradual increase in ability lending itself to pursuing more exploration, but even the story is compelling enough to keep you engaged throughout.

• Portal. Great puzzle game I’ve always loved. Challenged the medium when it first came out by taking what the source engine was best at (FPS’) and placing it in an environment with little to no combat and the player thinking of ways to overcome each challenge with the tools at their disposal. (Fun story: my cousin was allowed to let me play this when I was younger because it was the only game rated “T” on the Orange box. It’s also one of the few games I was able to beat in the hour or two periods we would visit my aunt and uncles’ home.). It’s short, sweet, and always a good time.

• Kirby Air Ride. Last one I can think of but probably the game I’ve returned to the most. (Including Smash Bros Melee for the same system, also a great game made by the same director and studio.). Overall the “rides” for Kirby are a unique concept, but the game really shines with City Trial, a frantic 5 (or 7 for most people who love the game) minute period of collecting buffs and changing vehicles in order to beat opponents in a randomly selected minigame (race, battle, beat King DeDeDe, etc) at the end. Such a novel concept and one I always love to come back to for a quick game now and then.

Baldur’s Gate II is and will always be the most influential and important game of my life.

Civilization III. Still undoubtedly the best from me, every subsequent change to the series has been negative.

@insurgenRat the king kong movie tie in game its actually really good and extremely innovative and alot of the ideas I’ve never seen replicated sadly we’ll probably never see a remaster cuz 1 it’s a tie in game and 2 it was made by ubisoft

Eternal Darkness

Silent Hill

Resident Evil 1+2

Call of Cthulhu

Quake 1-3

Doom 1+2

Chrono Trigger

Final Fantasy 3, 7, Tactics

Metal Gear Solid (all of them)

Shadowrun (SNES)

Castlevania 1-3, SOTN

I could go on…

The original Red Alert is still one of my favorites! In the expansion you can even fight Giant Ants!!! (Not sure how many people knew)

TimeShift came out in 2007, and that game was the bomb. Loved the concept with the suits that can control time, and the game play felt really smooth. Nothing beats freezing time and grabbing the enemies’ weapons from them and shooting them with it.

For me it will always be Zelda: A Link to the Past. Possibly due to nostalgia more than anything else.

(Also, unrelated but if you liked Chrono Trigger, look into Sea of Stars, an indie game heavily inspired from it. It should release this summer and Yasunori Mitsuda even composed some music tracks for that game!)

Edit : Another game, this one bad, holds a special place in my heart… Final Fantasy Mystic Quest on the SNES as well. The music is great, but the rest, meh. What’s special about it is one of my aunt shown me this game when I was a kid and it is what introduced me to the world of Final Fantasy. Unfortunately that aunt died many years ago.

There’s always Diablo 1.

But my favorite is Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura, which was made by some of the people who created Fallout and has a LOT in common with it. It’s an open world, a combination of classic fantasy with elves, dwarves, and halflings with a rising steampunk technology that competes with magic. There are many schools of magic and technology, as well as social, stealth, and combat skills. The graphics are very crude by today’s standards, but the gameplay is outstanding.