What's your favorite video game?

[Dao Ma]

Hello hello! Dao here with another discussion thread!

Let's talk about video games! What's your favorite?
Any favorie video game series? Or a specific one?
What makes it your fav?
What would you recomend others to play?

 

[Deleted 8]

[bcolor=#000000]What's your favorite?[/bcolor]
The Legend Of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel.

[bcolor=#000000]Any favorie video game series? Or a specific one?[/bcolor]
The Legend Of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel series. My now all time favorite. Nothing else compares.

[bcolor=#000000]What makes it your fav?[/bcolor]
The characters, storyline, music, replay value. It's just a great series.

[bcolor=#000000]What would you recomend others to play?[/bcolor]
The Legend Of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel series. You can get the first two games for either psvita or the ps4.

 

[Nyctibius]

Oh, lordy, my jam. Let's see.

What's your favorite?
Favorite is a hard term to nail down for me. I have the ones that mean a lot to me, like Zelda and Mass Effect, but day to day I'd say the one that's my 'favorite' varies a bit. Right now I'd have to say Destiny 2 is probably my solid favorite, in terms of current releases. Bungie is doing all the right things with this IP, finally... but I promise I won't get into gaming politics.

Any favorie video game series? Or a specific one?
Instead of answering one, I'll answer both, and with more than one answer;
If you love action and adventure and swashbuckling glee, some of the best musical scores in history, and a series that has earned its place as a legend, the Legend of Zelda is perfect.
If you want some of the hands-down best storytelling in gaming set in a vibrant sci-fi universe, memorable characters, amazing music, then treat yourself to Mass Effect (just be aware the first one is hard to actually play--the gameplay had yet to be fine-tuned so it can be janky starting out).
If you want to scream F-words so hard people literally go flying, ride horses made out of gas clouds, and fight flying steam engines, play and mod the hell out of Skyrim.
If you want a deep MMO experience with a ton of stuff to do, play Destiny 2... or Final Fantasy XIV, I guess.

What makes it your fav?
I guess I sort of answered this already, huh...

What would you recomend others to play?
There's a lot I would tell people to play. It depends on how 'into' gaming they are, if you catch my meaning. I believe some games are works of art that need to be experienced if you're into the medium, hands down. Everyone should at least try Zelda, everyone should at least try a shooter-style game like Bioshock, everyone should try a JRPG along the lines of the Tales of... franchise, etc., but if I had to recommend a single title?

The Last of Us.

This one hit me very hard when I played it. I consider it one of the best games out there, in that it blends all the right levels of stuff--a simple, but distinctly well-told story. Crisp, enjoyable gameplay. Excellent, entertaining characters. A musical score that aches as much as it soars. True morality, with none of the pandering nonsense to tell you if it's right or wrong, but instead leaves you to decide. Yeah. If I'm gonna recommend a game, I'm gonna tell everyone to play The Last of Us, or at least watch a playthrough.

Just brace yourself. The first ten minutes alone might catch you by surprise.

 

[Deleted 8]

Oh, lordy, my jam. Let's see.

What's your favorite?
Favorite is a hard term to nail down for me. I have the ones that mean a lot to me, like Zelda and Mass Effect, but day to day I'd say the one that's my 'favorite' varies a bit. Right now I'd have to say Destiny 2 is probably my solid favorite, in terms of current releases. Bungie is doing all the right things with this IP, finally... but I promise I won't get into gaming politics.

Any favorie video game series? Or a specific one?
Instead of answering one, I'll answer both, and with more than one answer;
If you love action and adventure and swashbuckling glee, some of the best musical scores in history, and a series that has earned its place as a legend, the Legend of Zelda is perfect.
If you want some of the hands-down best storytelling in gaming set in a vibrant sci-fi universe, memorable characters, amazing music, then treat yourself to Mass Effect (just be aware the first one is hard to actually play--the gameplay had yet to be fine-tuned so it can be janky starting out).
If you want to scream F-words so hard people literally go flying, ride horses made out of gas clouds, and fight flying steam engines, play and mod the hell out of Skyrim.
If you want a deep MMO experience with a ton of stuff to do, play Destiny 2... or Final Fantasy XIV, I guess.

What makes it your fav?
I guess I sort of answered this already, huh...

What would you recomend others to play?
There's a lot I would tell people to play. It depends on how 'into' gaming they are, if you catch my meaning. I believe some games are works of art that need to be experienced if you're into the medium, hands down. Everyone should at least try Zelda, everyone should at least try a shooter-style game like Bioshock, everyone should try a JRPG along the lines of the Tales of... franchise, etc., but if I had to recommend a single title?

The Last of Us.

This one hit me very hard when I played it. I consider it one of the best games out there, in that it blends all the right levels of stuff--a simple, but distinctly well-told story. Crisp, enjoyable gameplay. Excellent, entertaining characters. A musical score that aches as much as it soars. True morality, with none of the pandering nonsense to tell you if it's right or wrong, but instead leaves you to decide. Yeah. If I'm gonna recommend a game, I'm gonna tell everyone to play The Last of Us, or at least watch a playthrough.

Just brace yourself. The first ten minutes alone might catch you by surprise.

Click to shrink...

((I changed the theme from dark to light so I'm able to quote now lol)) I played the Last of Us when I had my ps3. I will agree with you I was surprised what happened in the beginning. I was pretty far when my system checked out permanently taking all the data with it ever since then I haven't gotten back into it.

 

[Dao Ma]

I didn't make it passed the first ten minutes of Last of Us. Not because I didn't like it—I actually loved the opening but it hit the feels SO HARD. After that I became a wimp because I'm easily scared by playing video games and haven't gotten around to watching a walkthrough lol.

but I've heard nothing but good things about this one.

side note, I'll post my favorites when I get home from work.

 

[Nevermind]

I've been meaning to post to this thread since the second you posted it. LET'S GET STARTED.

What's your favorite?
My favorite video game of all time is Mass Effect 2. Mass Effect 2 keeps me up at night, controls my life, runs through my veins. It will never, ever leave me.

Any favorie video game series? Or a specific one?
This is going to be a bit obvious, but my favorite video game series is the original Mass Effect trilogy (Mass Effect: Andromeda is okay, but it creates a separate story and thus I don't really consider it part of the main canon since it's, y'know, over there.)

What makes it your fav?
Whew. Okay. Let me see if I can put this into actual coherent words.

Mass Effect as a series made me understand how important writing is to a video game. In truth, I don't love ME because it's a great game, I love it because it's a fantastic story. The second game is where the series absolutely shines and pulls at your heartstrings. Each character on your team builds a relationship with you. How they feel about you is based upon the actions you take and the decisions you make during their individual missions. How you treat your team, how indepth you understand your team's strengths and weakness, how seriously you've taken your mission and whether you've planned and prepped all come into play in the final suicide mission. You can come out completely victorious with your entire team intact, or your entire team can perish. It's up to you.

Is ME perfect? Not even close. The gameplay is middling at best, though it does progressively improve each game (with, ironically enough, Andromeda having the most fun gameplay in my opinion). The honor/reputation system is extremely binary and simplistic, not leaving much room for nuance. And dear god some of the missions in ME 1 are just insufferable. When I go back to replay the trilogy for nostalgic purposes, sometimes I just skip ME 1 altogether. Even BioWare recognized how iffy ME 1 could be.

That being said, the characters are amazing (except Ashley Williams and Jacob Taylor because blegh) and rich, thoughtful, complex, with fleshed out personalities and backstories that draw you in. The stories you encounter as you travel through the Milky Way galaxy, the side characters you meet, the alien species you encounter, the lore just. Gets me every time. I didn't even like sci-fi until I played Mass Effect. That is how influential this game was to my gaming identity. Seeing how far BioWare has fallen since then still breaks my heart.

What would you recomend others to play?
Mass Effect of course (the first game will be rough, but do your best to get through it), Dragon Age, The Witcher 3, Catherine, the first two Kingdom Hearts games if you're into that kind of thing, Devil May Cry, Alan Wake, Nier Automata, Shadow of the Colossus, Batman Arkham Asylum, BioShock, Portal 1 & 2, Red Dead Redemption 1 & 2, The Longest Journey, just... so... many...

I'd imagine I'll have to look at my collection to remember more. But that's a good place to start.

 

[Ruby]

Oh boy oh boy! I love nerding out about games.

What's your favorite?
Easily, Zelda: Wind Waker, a lot of it for nostalgic purposes, but mainly it's just so freaking good. I'll get into why later. I always find myself saying "Man, this might beat Wind Waker" when I'm really into the game, but I always always come back to it. Its biggest competitors though I'd say would be Mass Effect 2 and 3 (I'm currently replaying the trilogy a third time), Dragon Age Origins, Zelda Breath of the Wild, Red Dead Redemption, Witcher 3, Okami, Octopath Traveler, FFVI, Fire Emblem Awakening or Radiant Dawn, and Smash Bros (1v1 me m8. I'll lose with style. Unpopular opinion: I hate Melee)

Any favorite video game series?
I have played literally every single Zelda game. Yes, even the CD-i ones and that weird Tingle spin-off game that wasn't officially released outside of Japan.
Fire Emblem, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and Pokemon are my other favorite series though. I'm especially into the competitive part of the Pokemon community as well as shiny hunting. And I don't think I'll ever be able to shamelessly admit how many hours I have in my Pokemon games dedicated to just shiny hunting actually...

What makes it your fav?
Wind Waker is perfect. Look, I get there's like no perfect anything ever... But if Wind Waker isn't perfect, it's damn near close. You get that real sense of adventure in this game, and it wasn't one I had felt again until I played Breath of the Wild. The story is strong with lovable and expressive characters, Link being one of them. That's kind of a hard thing to find in just about every other Zelda. Link is so expressive and charming and you can see him grow into a hero. You're not a chosen hero really, you're just a kid who wants to save his sister and will go to the ends of sea for family. Family's got a subtle but strong role in this game. And don't get me started on the graphics. It may have been bashed as all hell when it first came out, but it's aged wonderfully. It's so bright and vibrant and fluid and beautiful. Ugh. I love it so much.

What would you recommend others to play?
I once thought Link's Awakening is one of the most slept on games of all time, but now that they're coming out with a remake I'm excited a lot more people are gonna have a chance to play it.
FFVII is a fantastic game, but everyone forgot FFVI because of it. Great story, characters are lovable, and even with all those pixels I still get so emotional playing it.
I feel like people need to experience the ME trilogy at least once. It's fantastic and gave me a newfound love for sci-fi. Dragon Age is amazing too, especially for those into the medieval fantasy setting. God, I miss good BioWare...
Undertale. I might get hated on for so much as saying it, which is quite tragic. I actually played this game maybe a year ago now (it was released in 2015 for context) completely blind and fell in love with the characters, story, and soundtrack. The game should be given a chance just for the OST. If it weren't for the toxic fanbase, I might have played it sooner.
Speaking of great OST, Octopath Traveler is FANTASTIC in terms of gameplay, story, and especially OST and-- look, I loved RD2 as much as the next person, but Octopath Traveler was robbed of "Best Music" at the 2018 Game Awards.
Celeste for the same reasons above. But instead of a classic JRPG, it's a platform game.

Mkay I've had my share of nerding out. Thanks for reading~

 

[baman begins]

I haven't actually finished all that many games, most of them just sit unfinished or untouched in my steam library, BUT
so far
What's your favorite?
The only one I like that I've technically finished is Aer: Memories of Old, it's a non-competitive, non-combative exploration game. I love the blocky art style and the story. The fact that I can play the game at my own pace and explore the different sky islands is a huge plus, you play as a girl who has the ability to transform into a bird. I love the general effects of the game, and storytelling. The general vibe is that you have to defeat the darkness that haunts the world, by solving puzzles within different temples. It's a bit of a short game, I finished it in about 3 hours, but easily something I could go back to if I remembered to.

Any favorite video game series? Or a specific one?
I don't tend to really follow game series all that much, but I've been with Pokemon technically since Gen IV (my starter was Piplup), I currently own Alpha Sapphire and Sun (because my cousin lost Pearl at the beach).

What makes it your favorite?
I think the general aspect of going out and exploring the world on your own, is what gets me? Yes, combat is a very present aspect of the game but it's not something you directly have to focus on (yes you can catch pokemon, but it's not all that pressing to challenge the pokemon league from the get-go yknow). After, ORAS you can even just fly around with you Latias/Latios (even though you somehow lost their x-orbs so they can't even mega transform in battle for some reason).

What would you recommend others to play?
A Story About My Uncle, is a good one. You're the nephew of an uncle who explores this other planet through the use of a glove capable of pulling you towards objects (this is your main transportation throughout the game). It's a puzzle game in the sense that you have to think about every leap you make (you're eventually limited to three) but you rely on timing, position, and leap strength.

Journey is a beautiful game as well, you're a traveler who relies on non-vocal cutscenes and runes that tell of a once-great civilization that crumbled to automations that still roam across the sand dunes today. It's a beautiful story that technically could be the sandy mirror to another game I'd recommend which is ABZU. In ABZU you are a scuba diver that is tasked with exploring the great depths of the ocean. Like the games above, it is merely you exploring the game without having to fight anyone. The graphics are beautiful and as you dive deeper there are glyphs and runes to be found of a lost civilization as well. The difference is that you're often accompanied by a tiny tobot and the wildlife of the ocean (you can also hitch a ride with a dolphin or two, or even just sit down and meditate as you find out facts about the various fish swmming around you).

On the flip side I also play games like League of Legends, Tera: The Exiled Realm of Arborea, and Overwatch (when I feel like it, which is rare lmao).

 

[Genak]

My favorite video game of all time would be Contra for the NES. I have so many fond memories of that game, pkus it is where I learned the Konami code, up up, down down, left right, left right, b, a, start and bam you have 30 lives.

My favorite game series is a tie between Warcraft (1, 2, 3) and Empire Earth. Both are excellent RTS series that gave me loads of entertainment. The ability to create your own maps was a lot of fun.

Presently I would recommend SWTOR if you really want a game to play. You have Jedi, Sith, Bounty Hunters, Agents, Troopers, and Smugglers. You get lightsabers, forcepowers, blasters, and bad ass storylines. There are 8 unique stories, 16 total subclasses, and multiple ways to play each of those. You get to make choices, so being on the imperial side does not mean you can't be good and vice versa. ​

 

[Sleeping Umbran 93]

Its a toss up between Warhammer Online and Rift, both of which had such potential but ultimately fell prey to easy mode. #PVPRULES #PCMASTERRACE

 

[Sleeping Umbran 48]

Those were both amazing MMOs that were born at the wrong time.

 

[Sleeping Umbran 93]

@Sojourner Did you ever hit the Warhammer private servers? Return of Recokening was pretty great until all that mod drama tore it up. I never made it onto the other one; the code lifting thing just turned me off.

Rift was so well done, I think it was a little too "have all the things" to give the hard-core players, made it too hard for the noobs. Can't give heals to experienced deeps, they just steamroll all the newer gamers over. Same kinda thing that went south in ESO IMO.

 

[Nyctibius]

Just picked up a game called "Even the Ocean" on Steam. So far it's very interesting.

it's a story-based platformer set in a world "not unlike our own", except dominated by two different polarizing energies. Light and Dark, though the names are entirely circumstantial and not really imbued with any kind of morality. In terms of gameplay, your character can absorb both Light and Dark energy, and it affects how you move. Light lets you jump higher, and Dark lets you jump more horizontally. If you max out either one it kills you.

The story is sort of straightforward so far, but I won't spoil any details. Something's Happening, Nothing Seems Right, and Fishy Business are all afoot. But the game promises to be a deep one, even though I feel it'll also be kind of short and sweet. I'll report back when I've played more.

 

[Sleeping Umbran 247]

My favorite videogame...that's hard to say but my favorite solo game would probably be the indie Game Undertale

my favorite series of Games would be Elder scrolls or Kingdom hearts hands down with pokemon close behind

what makes Them my favorite? well let's start with Undertale plain and simple its story is amazing with lovable characters to boot. you have 2 choices you can do a genocide and difficult run where you kill everything like a normal RPG or the Pacifist run and spare every enemy and boss you come across and to be honest it has such a better ending then a genocide run. now for Elder scrolls. it has such good replay value and you can play how you want to if you wanna be a elf mage then you can use magic to kill all those who stand in your way with fire and ice. maybe the warrior way is your choice so you can suit up in heavy armor with a huge Battle axe being a huge fearsome foe or maybe stealth is more your route scaring your foes as they watch their teammates drop one by one either by a knife to the back or a arrow from above.

a game I'd recommend would be both undertale and kingdom hearts just simply for the story of both games showing that the power of friendship can be stronger then any blade including the Keyblade which is a sword and a key to the heart

 

[Nevermind]

I recently just started playing Witcher 3, and I'm going to use this thread to reiterate just what a triumph of gaming this piece of art is.

I played through the game once about sixish? months after it originally came out. Fell in love, instantly considered it a classic, did not play through the DLCs (which is a mistake I plan on remedying with this playthrough). Now that I'm playing it again years later with refreshed eyes, I'm remembering precisely what made me adore this game in the first place.

• There is so much to do in this game. Admittedly, it can be a bit overwhelming at first, especially if you're not someone who is used to the hugeness of fantasy RPGs. As someone who's been playing video games for over twenty years, even I see it as a lot. But once you start working through the quests, the witcher contracts, and the plethora of other fun things you can do, it becomes a refreshing reality that you have so many choices to do whatever you want at any time. Don't feel like doing any of the main story quests? Sweet, you have three witcher contracts you can do to make a few hundred coin and buy yourself that new silver sword. Don't want to do a witcher contract? No worries, there are a handful of secondary story quests you can do instead without progressing the main story line. Don't feel like doing any of that? Just play some gwent!
• The characters are awesome. Not only is Geralt of Rivia among my top five gaming protagonists ever, but the side characters (especially the women), are all amazing. Yennefer, Triss, Ciri, all powerful women who control their own destiny.
• The lore is rich and the monsters/creatures are fascinating. Not much more to say about that. They're just freaking cool.
• The combat system is difficult to master, but exhilarating once you figure it out. Swords, signs (witcher magic), oils, potions, there is so much to consider. Depending on what kind of monster you're going up against, different potions, oils, and signs are needed to be successful. To be the most effective, you're encouraged to read (yes, read) the game's Bestiary, which details which items and tactics the beast is vulnerable against. I ignored the Bestiary for the most part in my first run, but I'm playing the game with more intention now and man. I was stupid to not read the Bestiary.
• GWENT. I DON'T CARE WHAT ANYONE SAYS, THIS IN-GAME CARD GAME IS THE SHIT. I will collect every single gwent card and annihilate all my gwent enemies with it. Most in-game mini games are boring, but gwent is awesome. My boyfriend thinks it's stupid, my roommate also thinks it's stupid, but IDGAF. I LOVE GWENT.

I could go on about this game forever, because it deserves the hype. CD Projekt RED did a fantastic job and I'm hoping CD Projekt's next big project, Cyberpunk 2077, turns out just as impressive. Fingers crossed.

 

[Dao Ma]

Now here's the big question because this always scares me away from trying games: do you need to know anything about the other Witcher games to play Witcher 3?

 

[Nevermind]

Now here's the big question because this always scares me away from trying games: do you need to know anything about the other Witcher games to play Witcher 3?

Click to shrink...

Mmmmm, yes and no? Like, you will absolutely have no idea of a lot of the background info/characters from previous games if you haven't played at least Witcher 2 (I've never played the first game as that one is PC exclusive). However, you don't need to play the previous games to get invested into the plot of Witcher 3. All you really need to know is that Geralt is looking for his daughter and you go from there. The overarching plot and lore may be a mystery, but you're not going to be completely confused as you might be jumping into like Kingdom Hearts 3, where if you haven't played all 32489320483290 side games, you'll have very little idea what is going on.

 

[Nyctibius]

For additional perspective, let me say this.

I fucking hated The Witcher 2. I thought it was slow, boring, and went absolutely nowhere extremely slowly. The fighting was slow. The plot was slow. The crafting was slow. Everything was so methodical that by the time I had left the beginning area I'd put 40 hours into the game, was only level 10, and still had only a vague grasp on the expectation to brew a potion and fuck a hippogrif for luck before any major encounter. I never played one, but I did peruse the wikis for both games because Geralt is interesting enough to merit research on his own right. Learning about the events of Witcher 1 and 2 is very easy, and you would only really want to know about 2 because 1 has nothing to do with either sequel, it seems to me.

On the other hand, Witcher 3 is a masterwork. I went in fairly blind, and while the familiarity Geralt spoke to everyone with was slightly jarring, after a while it felt natural. It was less like jumping into the middle of an average story and more like beginning to read an exquisitely well-told one. After a moment the interactions don't feel strange or unfounded, because they're not. There's a quiet sort of intimacy between everyone and everything that's happening that feels so natural--of course Geralt knows this little Scottish dwarf fellow, why, they've known each other for ages!

So tl;dr: save yourself the effort and wiki-dive for the Witcher 2, then play 3 and lose yourself in a world richer than Bill Gates.

 

[Nyctibius]

But now I'm going to double post, because I'm an admin, and we also don't particularly care about that as long as it isn't done in exorbitant excess.

Lately I've been playing... quite a few games. I'm suddenly aware of my propensity to buy like three new games and juggle them all at once like some berserk clown with a thrill for electricity. Oh well. In no particular order:

Dragon Quest Builders 2. A really quite excellent RPG with a minecraft-building-oriented twist, based on the iconic Dragon Quest franchise. It's actually really closely tied to Dragon Quest 2, if you ever played that. If you haven't, do. It's a good old JRPG from the golden era. The plot is pretty straightforward; the Children of Hargon is a monster cult devoted to destroying the world. You are a potentially mentally vacant Builder. Confliiiiiiiict! But really, it's a surprisingly nuanced game--you can construct individual rooms and designate what that room is based on what you put inside it. Two beds and a light source? Bedroom! Clay pot and a hanging towel? Toilet! Washtub and more towels? Bathhouse! And on and on and on. You can farm, get pets, get livestock, and best of all there's a pretty rock-solid plot for you to follow and enjoy on top of all that. 8/10, will definitely play again.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Another JRPG, this one in the action strategy vein. If you played any other Fire Emblem, don't expect this one to be like it. Every system is new, improved, or just different. And the plot? Hoo, nelly, the plot. What a plot.In this one you become a professor and pick one of... three... houses... to guide through the storyline. Anything more than that is spoilers. But it's heavy. Real, real heavy.

Borderlands 3. It's Borderlands. If you played 1 or 2 you know what to expect. Big bosses, lots of guns, memes. Pretty damn fun game, even if 2K is a dumpster fire company and Gearbox has some worrying signs.

I've also been playing Link's Awakening, Super Mario Oddysey, Dragon Quest I... look, the Switch is just a really fun and easy console to use, ok?

 

[Dao Ma]

For someone that has never played a Fire Emblem game... where tf do I even start??? Like which game?

Also, I started playing SWTOR with my fiancé last night. Hoping gaming with him will take off the edge we are both feeling (my stress and he's feeling burnt out from a fallout with his guild in WoW). I was hesitant because I'm not the biggest Star Wars fan, but it's actually really fun.

Also we got Code Vein recently and need to play. I'm excited for it.

And to backtrack, Cyberpunk 2077 i am SO HYPE FOR.

And there's nothing wrong with playing on switch.
It's a solid console lol.