What's your favorite video game of all time? And why?

[ashez2ashes]

What's your favorite video game of all time? And why?

My personal favorite is still the PC rpg Arcanum. It had some of the most amusing dialogue options I've ever seen. The game REALLY high replayability. For instance, if your background was an arsenist, you'd often suggest "fire" as ways of solving problems, lol. Another thing I loved was that every door in the game could be busted down or my favorite blown up. Sure you could go on that quest for the magic key of whatever, but why bother when you can blow the hell out of it with dynamite? Necromancy was pretty fun as well, killing someone then raising their spirit from the dead to gloat gave me many many hours of fun.


What game is your all time favorite?

[MrRigger2]

I'm honestly not sure I can answer that. I simply enjoy too many games. I'm always going to enjoy the classics, like Sonic and Mario (side scrolling versions, thank you, I couldn't bring myself to play the 3-D versions), but I'm not sure I can call them my favorites. Then there's Ratchet and Clank: Going Commando, which was one of the first games I bought for PS2, and I still find myself replaying it every so often. Doesn't matter that I've beaten it dozens of times, or that I know where and how to get every item in the game, I still enjoy it. And then there's Disgaea (the original), I've sunk hundreds of hours into that game, and still get a kick out of it.

I'm going to say Disgaea, with Ratchet and Clank 2 and Sly Cooper 2 tied for an extremely close second.

MrRigger

[lucifer10]

I'd have to go with Baldur's Gate II, simply due to sheer replayability. I can't seem to get away from that game for too long before I'm drawn back in. But as MrRigger2 said, there are just too many games for me to choose one for my all time favorite. I'd have to break it down to genre, system, etc. to start listing my favorites. I choose Baldur's Gate because of the amount of time I've played and invested into it. This is just so hard for me. Maybe I'll break it down later.

[Wittgen]

Baldur's Gate II also takes my top spot. I've played it so many times, and it always feels just about as flawless an rpg experience as you are going to get. The graphics get the job done without hurting. The writing might not be as good as Planescape ever or a Troika rpg at its best, but it's good. The story is engaging and sprawling while still feeling personalized. The powering up curve is absolutely perfect. I love it.

Arcanum is awesome. I think my copy is back at home, but when I get the chance, I'm going to have to try out the pyromaniac background. I didn't realize it had dialogue effects.

Troika made Arcanum, and the also made Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines. That was also a fantastic game.

[Lthayer3]

Really, I've had too many favorites over the years to really choose just one. Off the top of my head, Quest for Glory, Age of Empires II, Starcraft, RF Online, and Hearts of Iron II all come to mind. The last four all have high replayability and have kept me entertained for hundreds of hours each over the years. The Quest for Glory series, though, is a bit different. They will always have a warm fuzzy place in my heart as the games that got me really interested in computer games and RPGs in general.

[DidelotM1]

oiy, I have lots...

1) the Civilization series- 'one more turn, just one more turn..wait why's the sun coming up already?' Yeah I'm totally addicted to this series.

2) The Sims - what can be more satisfying than running a little virtual person's life and then subsequently destroying said life. much fun.

3) Baldur's Gate II - for all the reasons stated above. You all are gonna drive me to reinstall that bugger. For whatever reason I can never be evil and the cleric/mage avariel's usually the romance interest. It almost always ends up that way despite my determination to be different.

4) Any game Bioware's made - I've yet to hate a game by these guys and it makes me interested in upcoming games like Dragon Age and Star Wars the Old Republic

5) Street Fighter 4 - a return to classic street fighter, I despised Third strike in all it's forms, but this, this is gold for me and satisfies my fighting game urge.

6)Fable II - Yeah Peter M. Tends to promise the moon, but I just ignore him and base judgement on the game's merits and I've played this one repeatedly.

7) City of Heros -while it's getting long in the tooth for an MMO(5 years now), I'm still signed up for it, though I play less regularly now than I have early.

[Psalm Of Fire]

Sheer Hours: Starcraft
Hands down I have put the most time into this game. With community maps, intense multiplayer, and game-changing maps like the Fastest Possible (huge money) it really kept its shine. I played with a friend and we got good together, and then would go online and play 2v3 games. That's hard, so we lost more than we won, but he had an awesome time trying to hold out.

Emotional Impact:
Jeeze, this is hard because when ever I think of a game that was moving I think of a book that easily blows it out of the water. I will place an honorable mention though: Neverwinter Nights. I got to a certain part in the original game and put it down for five or six months because I was so pissed/hurt by a character. I would say that is the single strongest emotional moment I've experienced in a video game.

Overall Enjoyment: Knights of the Old Republic
Obviously I had fun with Starcraft, but KotOR was the most fun on the first and second playthroughs of any game. Mass Effect gets a close second as well. Says a lot about BioWare (developer of Baulders Gate I & II, Neverwinter Nights, Knights of the Old Republic, and Mass Effect), no?

Non-Starcraft Multiplayer: Halo 1 & 2
Halo was actually the game that got me into gaming. I really enjoyed both, and for my young mind it was thrilling. I must say that while I've had fun with 3, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare has really set the new high-water mark for multiplayer FPS.

The Game I Worship without Question: Knights of the Old Republic
This is the game that always pops to mind first when someone asks "what is your favorite".

Most Anticipated: Dragon Age
At first I didn't care. It was going to be PC, and since EA has bought BioWare I figured the Digital Rights Management (DRM) would be appalling. Now I know it's coming to the 360, where I don't have to spend $400-$800 dollars worth of upgrading. The DRM will be nicely invisible too. If you are an RPGer I and haven't yet checked out the "origin stories" I suggest you do. If "Dark Heroic Fantasy" interests you, then check it out.

Oh yeah, and STARCRAFT II...
*SQUUUUEEEEEEEEEEE*
*Pant* Ten years waiting, *SQUEE!*

*Straightens imaginary tie and clears throat, and then leaves swiftly with any dignity that remains*

[Bill Doors]

...even though I know it doesn't hold up in terms of gameplay the way it used to back in the day, my favorite is still Super Mario RPG, the first console rpg I ever played. That was a formative time for me in a lot of ways, and while I don't particularly care for the JRPG model anymore the game did enough to subvert certain standards of that sub-genre that I still have fun playing it. SMRPG was probably the last game I remember where all of my friends were still playing the same games on the same console, we could all relate to each others experiences with it. I remember talking strategy (Geno Whirl ad nauseam!) for that game with this quiet girl I didn't know very well - I couldn't get past Johnny the Shark and she told me about The Masher that I missed in Booster's Tower. (Of course, when I played it again a few months ago for the first time in years, my problem in hindsight was that I was avoiding too many battles and was several levels below the experience curve for most boss-fights, and also that I was too dumb to figure out the timing for getting a Massive Critical with Geno Whirl ) Funnily enough, a lot of the things that I thought were really touching and even profound in the experience when I was younger I now recognize for what they are, gentle self-parody on Squaresoft's part.

[AntiNaba]

The Dungeon Keeper Series will always hold a special place in my heart, although Quake IV has an honourable mention.

[Shoubushi]

My favorite game of all time will always be Baldur's Gate 2 with the Throne of Bhaal expansion. For me, the NPCs were brilliantly written in ways that make many RPGs of today (I'm looking specifically at you NWN2 *glare* ) pale in comparison.

[AntiNaba]

I never managed to get the Throne of Bhaal expansion, although I've heard that Aerie's birth cutscene was rather... lackadaisical.

[DidelotM1]

I never managed to get the Throne of Bhaal expansion, although I've heard that Aerie's birth cutscene was rather... lackadaisical.

I've played her romance through more than the others, and yes, it can be If and only IF you spend forever either waiting for it or going after every single nook and cranny item on all the maps. Of all the times I've played the game, by the time the 'I'm pregnant!' talk comes around you're pretty set on storming everything else in your way and ending the game before she has the kid. I've never seen the kid/item in her inventory despite all the times I've run that romance plot through and that's alot.

[AntiNaba]

Did you use the debug function to speed up the timer?

[DidelotM1]

I tend not to touch the debug timer or any other debug command at all if I can help it. Meaning If I don't find myself stuck or glitched or something I won't bother. I love BG2, though I tend more toward the melee fighter type classes for the pc character and almost always good. I just can't 'go bad' in those games.

[AntiNaba]

Yeah, I always seemed to go for the more Magical areas, mostly Bard and Specialist Invoker. I tired doing a Jaheira shot, but the timer must've bugged or something. Nothing worked.

[lucifer10]

Jaheira's romance was the most bugged out of them all and one of the biggest bugs in the entire game. As a major Baldur's Gate II fan I spent a lot of time trying patches and different bug fixes to try and get it to work along with dealing with the timers. Jaheira was the first NPC I romanced and I found hers to be the most gratifying for the longest time. Although the bugs were cause for constant frustration. Aerie was always too annoying with her whining about her wings. Later on when I tried a party with Viconia I found her backstory and romance the most satisfying of them all. Unlike Aerie she has a backbone and unlike Jaheira you don't have to hear about Khalid all the time. I also found Viconia's story after the conclusion of TOB to be very well done and a testment to the great writing of the series.

I was really depressed when I found out that TOB was the conclusion of the series. I still wish that they'd make a sequel to its end, where your decision at the end of TOB determines the occurances of the next game. I remember spending time with friends dreaming up writing a story for a sequel and sending it in to get it made into a video game. Ah to be young and foolish.

[AntiNaba]

Getting raised in a clean, kind environment and then getting your limbs hacked off would excuse a massive amount of whining in my book.
As for a sequel... pah, maybe some kind of Online spiritual successor...

[Shoubushi]

Have any of you tried the Saerileth mod? It's one of the BG romance mods (requires TOB) and for me at least it's pretty much THE romance subplot bar none. You have to be a goody two shoes to have her on your team much less romance her but it's well worth it.

[lucifer10]

Getting raised in a clean, kind environment and then getting your limbs hacked off would excuse a massive amount of whining in my book.
As for a sequel... pah, maybe some kind of Online spiritual successor...

Yeah, but when all of the major dialogue revolves around it my patience began to wear thin. Given the hero's past it also made her plight a little less sympathetic in my eyes. You up and leave Candlekeep, then immediately afterwards your father of sorts is murdered before your eyes. Then you go on a campaign across the Sword Coast battling hundreds of enemies all the while having to keep your eyes open for possible treachery and to avoid the minions of some unknown mastermind who are hunting you down. Eventually you discover that the man is your half brother and that your father was an evil god of murder. After killing him you then are kidnapped and endure torture for an unspecified amount of time. Maybe it was just me but Aerie's wing stuff doesn't really compare in my book.

Have any of you tried the Saerileth mod? It's one of the BG romance mods (requires TOB) and for me at least it's pretty much THE romance subplot bar none. You have to be a goody two shoes to have her on your team much less romance her but it's well worth it.

No I haven't ever tried that mod. Maybe if I have the time at some point I'll give it a whirl. I tend to be a goody two shoes as it is.

[Shoubushi]

Linkage!

http://www.gilalion.com/saerilethmod.htm

[DidelotM1]

There are quite a few BG2 mods on my computer, most add little touches and fixes to the game. Including banter packs (adding more inter party conversation, flirt packs (allowing you to start dialog with your chosen love instead of always being on the recieving end of things.), fix packs (fixing little gaffs and such), a quest pack that adds most of the 'we ran out of time but wanted to add these sidequests' pack, and my most 'must have' a mod that lets you skip the entire starting dungeon while giving you all the crap and xp from doign it so you can jump right into the meat of the story. All these are installed before I start a game and I've had no glitchiness or trouble running them all at once either. I tend to shy away from full character mods, mostly because to me they don't 'feel' right. That's admittedly just me.


Hmm, we've derailed this thread, maybe we should start a BG2 topic and move the convo there perhaps?

[AntiNaba]

We are discussing our favorite game. This is on topic.

Ah, if only I'd brought the CDs up with me when I got a flat in the big smoke...

[lucifer10]

I'm for starting a new thread for BG2. Although this is on topic in that we are discussing our favorite game, my understanding was that the intention of this thread was to mention why it was our favorite and then move on. A dedicated thread for BG2 would be useful in that we could continue discussing BG2 without interfering with other posts.

To the mods, would you be so kind as to move this to a different thread? :D

[shoootme]

this is hard command and conquer has always been one of my favorites even on the playstation where me and a mate would play link games every day after school but then theres halo 1 with the 16 player fest every Saturday which always stopped for red vs blue or the take away arriving. can i choose both?

[Kitsune_Akatsuki]

The Legend of Zelda: Orcarina of Time got me into gaming and I cried when my mom sold our old 64, squealed like a rabid fangirl when my mom got me The Legends of Zelda: Collectors Edition for my birthday, and actually went into a four month depression when someone stole it....And suspiciously it went missing around the last time I'd had my then-best-now-ex-best-friend over. Add in the fact he'd been coming over only to play it in the few weeks before, and that one showed up at his house a week later, and said he'd bought it from Gamespot the day before, when we'd check the same supposed day right when the store opened, and....well....Thats the reason why I treat him like he doesn't exist....