Whether you started with a 2600 and a joystick in your hand, an N64 with a blistered palm or building your first PC in your teens, what is that one video game you’ve played at some point that to this day sits at the top of your list.
What a tough question to answer, stretching all the way back to Atari 2600 for me.
I think I’ll pick No Mercy/Virtual Wrestling Pro 2 on the N64. Possibly thousands of hours both solo and competitive at a friends with some incredible round robin tournaments with up to five participants. Just amazing Create A Wrestler and one of my handful of favorite gameplay mechanics ever. Also we were paying during the exciting days of pro wrestling so we had that enthusing us as well.
Streets of Rage 2. Favourite soundtrack, too.
Deus Ex on PC, from the year 2000.
This game made me rethink what a game could even be. Whenever I thought of what a great game would be I’d think “It’s like Deus Ex but…”
DDR probably. Helped me lose a bunch of weight and actually get reasonably healthy.
I have massive respect for anyone who plays DDR even somewhat regularly. Nice work!
That’s fantastic, good for you.
Tekken 3 for the sheer amount of times I beat it front to back. I had no memory card for my PS1 as a kid so I’d leave my Playstation on all weekend while I beat the game. Some days the power went out and I’d lose progress and have to beat it all over again.
EarthBound
Command and Conquer, it’s one of the few things I can remember fondly sharing with my dad growing up. Also it has such a great soundtrack.
I spent like 15 years of my life on World of Warcraft through all the good and bad, but it was the friends I made and the late night messing around that was the fun.
I started Wow casually during Cata. MOP was the first MMO launch I experienced and it blew my mind. I played the first few months of each expansion through Legion, but never really did anything outside of quick queue LFG stuff.
Once the pandemic hit, I had some free time and returned to Shadowlands. People say it was the worst expansion but I met such fun and incredible people and I thought the dungeons were amazing. We all went our separate ways when Dragonflight came out and so I stepped away. It wouldn’t be the same without those awesome people.
But WoW definitely holds a special place in my heart because of the bonds you can form through the various activities.
I’m so old I played vanilla wow. I still had like my private tags last time I logged in
Left 4 Dead 2. It’s not my favorite game, or what I think is the best game of all time, but it’s definitely my most played by more than 1k hours. The game hits a sweet spot in terms of tactical gameplay that’s almost chess-like in its level of complexity, balance, and replay-ability. The fact that it was released 14 years ago and still has a massive modding community and playerbase speaks to its quality. It’s also on sale on Steam right now for $.99, and as it uses the Source engine, runs well on the most basic of potatoes.
Stardew valley
The Outer Wilds. IMO, non-violence-based gameplay design is an underexplored space, especially in 3-D games. The Outer Wilds manages to feel like a fully-fledged game, rather than a traditional walking simulator, using exploration as it’s core gameplay loop.
Further, it’s main progression system is you, the out-of-game player, learning about the world. There’s no abilities you gain or keys you have to find. You unlock new areas, not as a programmed game mechanic, but as a function of reasoning about what you’ve discovered and gaining insight into how the game world works. Any playthrough could be beaten in about 15 minutes – there’s nothing physically blocking you from triggering the end of the game – but it takes you 15 hours or so of flying around the solar system to accrue the necessary insight to get there.
It’s really a special game.
I have never played The Outer Wilds, however your description makes the game sound similar to No Mans Sky. Is this a fair assumption?
Beyond being set in space I would say they are pretty different. Outer Wilds is set in a single, hand crafted solar system. The planets are kind of “cutesy” and small. Like you can see the curve of the horizon when you are on each planet because they are each designed as spherical levels you are meant to explore most of.
The space flight mechanics are also pure Newtonian physics ala the Expanse, whereas the ships in no man’s fly like planes, not rocket ships.
All that said. If you liked No Man’s Sky I think there’s a decent chance you’ll like Outer Wilds.
Original Myst was like that- you could technically beat the game inside of seconds- if you knew the answer. (Empty world where everyone was sealed inside books- you could free them by freeing one of two heirs. You had to decide which was the “right” heir.)
The puzzles left clues around the entire game to explain things unlocking puzzles
It’s a toss up for me between Outer Wilds and Subnautica. I found Outer Wilds after playing Subnautica and looking for something with the same feeling.
Anyone that liked Outer Wilds should also play Subnautica. Although the game play is more similar to No Man’s Sky (even though Subnautica is definitely much better than NMS)
The first Subnautica.
I’m playing Subnautica for the first time right now, after hearing it was similar to Outer Wilds. I’m discovering I have a much bigger fear of vast open water than I do for space!
Tried to get my now-husband to integrate the soundtrack into our wedding, but alas!
And for anyone reading this thread and thinking it sounds worth a try: a) do no further research, go in blind, very important and b) Outer Wilds is the one you want, not to be confused with The Outer Worlds.
And an amazing soundtrack to match the thrills and sadness of the journey. Dlc was awesome too.
I’m so happy this is the top answer. The best game of all time imo. Needs more clones.
The music towards the end aaa
I wish I had the guts to play it - the anxiety I got from the water-tornados and huge vast emptiness of space, the black hole - the game did such an amazing job at giving me an overwhelming sense of dread that I had to just stop playing. I consider that a compliment towards the game lol
Hey, speaking as someone who hated all the planets (especially the a fog-ridden one I won’t spoil)
Part of the reason why I fell in love with this game was the realization that nothing could ever really harm you. The anxiety I feel when exploring the water-tornado planet was always there – slightly dampened by the understanding that nothing dangerous could ever happen. At most, I was flung up to space. Black hole? Don’t worry, you’ll just end up far away. I’m always anxious, always fearful. I had to learn to be with those feelings, instead of pushing them away.
This was outer wild’s personal message to me: it’s okay to feel scared or overwhelmed. It’s okay to be crushed by narrowing tunnels or die of oxygen depravation or whatever else the universe can throw at you. You’ll always be back in front of a crackling campfire. That’s the safety that the game always guarantees you.
Honestly, with enough exposure to outer wilds, I tried doing black hole trick jumps and sometimes even drove my ship right into the tornados for fun.
I really hope you continue playing! This was one of the best games I’d ever played.
You’re the first person that actually makes me want to go back and give it another shot, thanks!
Outer Wilds was such an awesome experience. I listen to the soundtrack sometimes and the emotions rush back, especially a few songs from the DLC.
Titanfall 2 is the most fun I’ve had with a video game. The movement is so amazingly fluid, it’s like Quake or Unreal Tournament but with more verticality, and then there’s the Titans themselves, which feel like awesome weapons of war, yet not insurmountable to a skilled pilot on foot. Everything from the gameplay balance to the mechanics to the visuals and sound design is incredible, and the single-player story was very touching and exactly long enough to satisfy you without overstaying its welcome. I’m gutted that we’re probably never getting a Titanfall 3.
That game is like the gold standard of fps for me. There isn’t a better game yet. That level, you know the one, the first time you play it is something kind of magic.
Witcher 3 is, for me, the best single player game I’ve every played. Though Ocarina of Time comes a close second - and I never even played it on release only years later when I bought an N64 at uni.
For multiplayer, however, you can’t beat Halo with a load of mates round and a crate of beer.
Satisfactory.
I love making efficient systems and the freedom to do things the way I want to, such as by using the game’s alternate recipe system.
The exploration and movement systems in the game are also to notch. It’s not quite Titanfall, but I struggle to think of any other game where simply moving around is so fun. That’s on top of how pretty the actual environment is to explore.
THPS2 and a close one is F.E.A.R.
