I’d love to have a list of how many hours I put into each videogame throughout my 32 years of existence. I think Pokémon and Halo would probably be on top, as I was basically addicted to those as a kid. There’s some other games I have very good memories of, that have already been mentioned here multiple times, Shenmue 2, Jet Set Radio Future, and Morrowind were blowing my mind at the time on the good old chunky Xbox. I still play a lot of video games, especially since I got myself a switch.
Witcher 3 (easily number one, the rest is unordered)
Portal 2
Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove
Super Metroid
Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Fallout: New Vegas
Resident Evil 2 Remake
Oddworld: Abe’s Exodus
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Edit: it’s really hard to narrow it down to 10. Some honorable mentions where I thought: “this is exactly what a video game should be like” are:
Zelda: A Link between Worlds
Baba is you
Edith Finch
Ori and the Blind Forest
Super Mario Galaxy
Witcher 2
Firewatch
Unravel Two
Gorogoa
I think haven‘t been mentioned yet:
Zak mc kracken,
Leisure suit larry
R-type, hybris, xenon 2, battle squadron (the music!)
Great shmups, altough i didn‘t come far on those sadly.
Same on polygun, a new great basic free shmup from a friend. was for iphone, now only for desktop
And the strange first game that i bought for my amiga: kult
I totally agree. I’d love to get into those worlds. But I very quickly realized after starting Dark Souls my life just doesn’t afford me the headspace for them. I’ll play them when I retire.
I’ve never tried that. I was always worried about dying and having to do everything all over again.
My first was Bloodborne and I gave up at the second boss, the werewolf dude. I didn’t want to give up, because I really like all that sinister Victorian thing. Even the name of that guy, Father Gascoigne, made me want to keep playing. But, believe me, I got so nervous that I remember having to take breaks and drink some water to relax a little bit. I wasn’t scared – although I can’t handle horror movies if they’re not made by Jordan Peele or Robert Eggers. It was only stress.
Okami - one of the greatest games ever. Metal Gear Solid 3 - love them all, but if I had to choose one… Morrowind - absolute classic and mind-blowing game for the time. Mario 64 - the play mechanics still hold up and its just as fun nowadays as it was in 96. Star Fox 64 - same as Mario. Doom II - absolute classic that holds up. Zelda: Majora’s Mask - this is a weird one that really resonated with me as a kid and still does. Summoner - I don’t think this is a great game for a lot of people, but the aesthetic and the story stuck with me. Stardew Valley - I don’t play video games much these days, so this was a nice one I could get into without too much pressure. Fallout: New Vegas - masterpiece.
Extra for good luck…Jet Grind Radio - dreamcast was a weird system and this was such a gem. The game exposed me to a lot of music I was unaware of so that’s especially relevant to this forum.
There’s so many other incredible and memorable games, but these are probably the 10 that I’ve been put the most time into, so that’s probably a best indicator of favorites.
I’ll go by influential = most playtime, so here are mine (not in particular order):
Super Mario Bros 3 (NES): childhood memories Dota 2 (PC): so much time wasted but always a lot of fun with friends League of Legends (PC): my entry to MOBAs. Great game, too, but shallow in comparison to dota2 StarCraft + Broodwar (PC): my first multiplayer game, null modem duells as a teenager Civilization 5 (PC): one more turn … Anstoss 2 (PC): German Football Manager game from the late 90s… Slay The Spire (PC/Switch): This is my go to chill game to play while watching youtube since it came out Demons Souls (PS3): imported a chinese version when this was still a insider’s tip and not officially released in europe and was blown away because I thought nobody would do games like this anymore Dark Souls 3 (PC): the best Souls game in my opinion because it’s hard but not annoyingly hard Sekiro (PC): hardest game ever but finishing the game felt like a real accomplishment
Half Life 1 is probably my favourite. The amount of time and Internet bandwidth used to download most of the mods was considerable. Opposing forces was probably the best mod, and coincidentally had the best early example of excellent AI.
I still have to play the Black Mesa remake.
But I most certainly will.
Shadow of the Collosus was my first really cinematic game. Awesome.
Dark Souls
Breath of the Wild
Chrono Trigger
Earthbound
Morrowind
Shadow of the Colossus
System Shock 2
Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers
Xenogears
The Guardian Legend
Honorable mentions: Zork, Ultima VI, Ultima Underworld II, Suikoden, Silent Hill II, Dead Space, Mario Maker, Super Metroid, Advance Wars
Haha yeah I imported the chinese demons souls also way back when… I remember basically raving to all my friends about how amazing it was and then it came out and reviewers weren’t really ready/accustom and it kind of got panned, except by a few. My friends at the time also didn’t really get it once they tried it but the series really grew on them over time.
Same experience here. I didn’t import the Chinese version, but I bought the US version on day 1. I really became obsessed with reading the reviews, both positive and negative were entertaining. Granted I wasn’t a games journalist with a platform, but I remember telling everyone I could that it was the best game I had ever played. My roommate and some of his friends were actually working professionally in the games industry at the time as graphic artists, and I remember them watching me play and laughing at the muddy textures and crude lighting. Wonder if they’ve seen the light since…
Dark Souls ranks for me because I think it’s the better game overall, but Demon’s Souls is 100% where my heart is.
Breath of the Wild
Super Mario World
Donkey Kong Country 2
GTA San Andreas
The Last of Us (both tbh)
Control
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3
Super Mario Galaxy
Smash Bros. Ultimate
God of War (2018)
