Jump to content

MKnight82's Top 50 Video Games of All Time - Full List Up


Recommended Posts

Just took a look through the list and some of the write ups - someone really loves them some BioWare games. What a fall from grace they've had. My personal top 50 list would be a lot of games from the late 90s to mid 2000s and then a lot of games from 2011ish and on. Kinda fell out of video games in that in between time and still need to play for the first time a lot of games considered classics released in that time, like the Mass Effect trilogy. Maybe I should do at least a top 10!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Going to limit it to one per series. 

10. Grand Theft Auto V - Really all of the GTA series is excellent, with the exception of 4. I'd go with V specifically due to how I've put the most time into it. GTA Online is of course fun in spite of the microtransactions out the ***, but I mainly play for the sandbox. 

9. Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Hadn't played a Zelda game since Wind Waker but this one got me right back into it. Switch in general was a big comeback for Nintendo and it was of course led by this game. The list of open world games that truly make me want to explore them is a very small list, but this one makes it. Could be even higher if it just had dungeons like Zelda of old. 

8. Portal 2 - This game got me back into single player games after I spent the late 2000s playing nothing but Call of Duty and Madden, yeah I was that guy. Pretty brilliant and creative game, I loved puzzle games as a kid and it reignited some of that feeling. Pretty polished, all around perfect game. 

7. Super Smash Bros. Melee - Classic LAN party game back in the day. Spent so much time playing with friends, it's a big esport for a reason. To me it's LAN party perfection. 

6. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt - The best open world game I've ever played. The world itself wasn't necessarily the best (Red Dead 2 takes the cake for me), but the narrative it was able to tell despite all the issues that come with open world games was fantastic, and this game has the best DLC of all time. The 2 big DLCs elevate this game beyond how great it already was. 

5. Resident Evil 4 - A classic. Replayed it semi-recently (early last year) when it was on Xbox Gamepass, love that game. It just gets "it." Never a dull moment due to phenomenal pacing and classic gameplay mechanics, resource management always enough to keep you on your toes but never enough to become frustrating. 

4. Destiny - I know, I know. But hear me out. To me, online games have kinda become the standard over the past generation and a half of consoles. CoD, Overwatch, Halo, battle royales, MOBAs, you name it, but Destiny remains my favorite one ever. There's just something satisfying about playing that game that words couldn't describe, the gameplay is so fluid and smooth, the gameplay loop is addicting. And of my favorite memories from playing games ever - beating some Destiny raids on day 1 are all up there. It's the MMO for people who don't like MMOs, too time consuming and grindy, and while you can grind Destiny for sure, it's entirely possible to get a ton of fun out of it without the hardcore grind. 

3. Pokemon Red/Blue - The first game I ever played was Pokemon Blue as a kid. Pokemon was almost my entire childhood, the series does not hold up as well today because it's a series made for kids. I still love Pokemon, but the Pokemon games are easy and very simple. Nostalgia keeps this game here, can't beat the classics.

2. God of War (2018) - The pinnacle of what modern AAA games can achieve, from both a gameplay and cinematic experience standpoint. Honestly, part of me wants to put this game as my GOAT just because I feel like it's the peak. There have been games with better gameplay, and games with better story, but the combination of both here just flows so seamlessly together. Other cinematic games like Witcher 3 and the one I have as my #1 just don't have gameplay as satisfying as this. Other gameplay driven games like Resident Evil or Soulsborne games just don't have the cinematic experience this game gives you. 

1. The Last of Us - This game will always stick with me as the best story video games has to offer. The gameplay is good, even if not amazing, but as time fades you forget how it felt to play the game, and rather just the experience. I could still tell you the entire game's plot in detail to this day. The horror the first time you encounter clickers. The game just played to some part of me that I loved so much. 8 years later and the story hasn't been topped, maybe never will. 

 

HM: Uncharted series, Resident Evil 2, Batman Arkham series, Black Flag

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Spartica4Real @MKnight82 @MikeT14

@Matts4313

I'm new to MMO games. As you probably noticed from my list I was way heavier in sports/arcade/FPS games.I just always looked at MMO games and thought 'nerds' lol

my buddy during the pandemic got me into a free game called Path of Exile. It was the first time I've ever really played a MMO like that before. I've never played a game for 7 hours and accomplish absolutely nothing before I played these types of games hahaha time just goes by sooooo fast. But it was so addicting

anyways I loved it, have any of you had a chance to play PoE and if so, what were your opinions?

Edited by AkronsWitness
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/7/2021 at 1:43 PM, MKnight82 said:

#23 - Rome: Total War

2218779-589390_front.jpg

Played On: PC

 

This is one of the best 4x games in history.  I've played several of the Total War games and this one stands out as my favorite. The setting is perfect, with a huge map across the whole Mediterranean during a very interesting period of human history.  I think I've installed and played this on every computer I've ever owned. The thing that makes this one stand out from other Total War games is that there is great diversity in the different factions and their units.  Also there is the family tree, which is a really fun side part of the game. Your generals get married and have children (or adopt children) and build a family tree.  You can select who is the heir apparent to take over your faction once your current leader dies.  The fun part of this when you get like 200 turns into the game you can go to the tree and see how your current leader came to power. Also, you can have a 4th generation descendant of your original leader have a battle go wrong for him and completely wipe out that family's line. Its just a really interest tidbit in a game with lots of other stuff going one. There is a remastered version but I prefer the original over that and definitely over Rome 2 which was lame. 

If you haven't played the game its set during the antiquity period starting around 272 BC.  Rome is separated into 3 factions all vying for control.  Eventually you can unite the romans into a full fledged empire, and conquer a lot of the rest of the map along the way. 

 

 

I really want to dig into this list more, but I have to admit that I was surprised to see this game, and not only that, placed it so high.  Total War has been struggling to reach these heights since the original launch, but I put in countless hours into this game and different campaigns.  I conquered the whole map probably five times, and played as unlocked factions, so one of those times was actually starting as Rome itself.  

It is my #2 RTS behind Warzone 2100, but more than that, RTS is one of my favorite genres, and it is a shame that it is not getting as much play as it used to.  I will say that I am glad it seems to be on the upswing again, and there is Relic working on Age of Empires for PC and console.  Perhaps with Age of Empires returning, as well as Halo Wars being a good success, we can see this genre make a return.  

I am also a bit surprised by the lack of Star Wars games on this list.  There have been a ton of clunkers over the years, but I also think of timeless titles such as X-Wing/TIE Fighter, Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight and the original Battlefront II.  I would be curious to see if any of them were close to making this list.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/23/2021 at 4:10 PM, Spartica4Real said:

Just took a look through the list and some of the write ups - someone really loves them some BioWare games. What a fall from grace they've had. My personal top 50 list would be a lot of games from the late 90s to mid 2000s and then a lot of games from 2011ish and on. Kinda fell out of video games in that in between time and still need to play for the first time a lot of games considered classics released in that time, like the Mass Effect trilogy. Maybe I should do at least a top 10!

It is a fall from grace, but you really have to blame EA here.  They ruined a great company- ME2 was the last release that they had full creative control over.  After that, you had a great showing in ME3 that was marred by the ending.  They followed up the next entry in the ME franchise with Andromeda, a good game but it was NOT ready for release and was rushed by EA.  

In between those games, they released Star Wars: The Old Republic, and in a sense this game was never going to live up to it’s predecessors.  However, they released an MMO with very limited end-game content, and were slow to bring out expansions.  Content has since slowed to a crawl during the pandemic.  I love it, because the stories are great, but this is the definition of a “what if?” Title.  

It seems that the bottom has really fallen out with the Anthem release.  Yet another game that EA had a developer rush out, and from what I’ve heard, a lot of the game was rebuilt similar to how Battlefront II had to be rebuilt after the loot boxes were taken out.  

I haven’t played DragonAge, so someone correct me if I am wrong, but they’ve even slipped in quality over the past couple years.  

BioWare is in a precarious spot moving forward, and they HAVE to hit big on DragonAge4 and the new Mass Effect.  There isn’t much room for error.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, naptownskinsfan said:

I really want to dig into this list more, but I have to admit that I was surprised to see this game, and not only that, placed it so high.  Total War has been struggling to reach these heights since the original launch, but I put in countless hours into this game and different campaigns.  I conquered the whole map probably five times, and played as unlocked factions, so one of those times was actually starting as Rome itself.  

It is my #2 RTS behind Warzone 2100, but more than that, RTS is one of my favorite genres, and it is a shame that it is not getting as much play as it used to.  I will say that I am glad it seems to be on the upswing again, and there is Relic working on Age of Empires for PC and console.  Perhaps with Age of Empires returning, as well as Halo Wars being a good success, we can see this genre make a return.  

I am also a bit surprised by the lack of Star Wars games on this list.  There have been a ton of clunkers over the years, but I also think of timeless titles such as X-Wing/TIE Fighter, Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight and the original Battlefront II.  I would be curious to see if any of them were close to making this list.  

I would consider Rome Total war a 4x game not a RTS but yes I’m a big fan of the game. I played the X Wing game before tie fighter but never tie fighter. Also when that came out I was sharing a computer with my older brother so I didn’t get to play as many games. I’ve played Dark Forces but it doesn’t really stand out to me. I’ve never played Battlefront.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, MKnight82 said:

I would consider Rome Total war a 4x game not a RTS but yes I’m a big fan of the game. I played the X Wing game before tie fighter but never tie fighter. Also when that came out I was sharing a computer with my older brother so I didn’t get to play as many games. I’ve played Dark Forces but it doesn’t really stand out to me. I’ve never played Battlefront.

Eh, the whole battle portion is RTS, at that point we’re splitting hairs with what we call the game.  

TIE Fighter is awesome.  I wonder if anyone has done an unofficial remake.  That game would be awful to try and play now without it, but it was an awesome game.  Same with X-Wing Alliance.  Both campaign stories were great.  

The original Dark Forces was nothing more than a Doom clone, but Dark Forces II was the first game where you controlled a lightsaber and could legit duel someone.  It also was the first game with your Light/Dark choice.  The Mysteries of the Sith expansion was solid as well, and of course the sequels were also very good games and build on the lightsaber combat.  

The original BFII is a must-play.  Seriously.  There is also an all-hero battle royal mode on Mos Eisley that is so much fun.  I could literally play that mode with friends for hours.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/23/2021 at 5:29 PM, Spartica4Real said:

Going to limit it to one per series. 

This is actually fairly close to what my list would be. Destiny and RE4 off of it, and adding in a couple like Odyssey, probably one COD

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/6/2021 at 12:44 PM, MKnight82 said:

#33 - Diablo 3

diablo-3-cena-prodaja-srbija.jpg 

Played On: PC, Xbox 360, Xbox One

 

When this game originally came out it never would have been on this list. It didn't offer much new compared to its predecessors other than new loot, and generally felt more cartoonish than its prior installations as well. I also had a friend tell me the story was complete crap and not worth playing (my rebuttal to that is that the story in all diablo games is crap, its the gameplay that makes it great). Blizzard has done A LOT of modifications to this game since launch. They eliminated the real money auction house (which was very controversial, and just an obvious money grab by the developer), added a great expansion in Reaper of Souls, added new games modes like the bounty system, and a non-story mode where you can basically sandbox and do whatever you want. One of the biggest gripes with Diablo games too is that there is a lack of end game content, which they've somewhat fixed by making the ladder seasons shorter, so you're always grinding in the early-mid game. All of these improvements have rounded it out to a very strong and likeable game. 

The sheer amount of hours I've spent on this game must be respected. This game game out all the way back in 2012 and I can honestly say I've played it every year since its been released. I've owned it for PC, Xbox 360 and Xbox One (I may own it for Switch too?). But I acknowledge if I do this list 10 years from now, and Diablo 4 comes out with a better version of what 3 provides, this game will likely eventually drop from this list. 

 

 

Its free on xbox:

https://slickdeals.net/f/15196579-xbox-one-series-s-x-consoles-only-diablo-iii-reaper-of-souls-ultimate-edition-free-w-xbox-live-gold-membership?src=frontpage

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/9/2021 at 10:41 AM, MKnight82 said:

#10 - XCOM 2

918MBaFEp9L._SL1500_.jpg

Played On: Xbox One

 

This game is the pinnacle of tactical turn based combat. All of the units are diversified and well balanced, and there are a good variety of enemy units you square off against. There are RPG elements with your characters leveling, and the different perk trees gives each squad member a different use and personality. The expansion pack really adds a bunch of great additional content along with some high end boss fights. The game is also just a really cool concept, with a human resistance group fighting against an alien invasion of earth. There's a lot of game mechanics that increase the replay ability too. You can upgrade your ship in any number of ways, and generally don't go in the same order as the time before. The research tree can be progressed along in any number of ways, and while some of the missions are standard story ones there is plenty of randomization happening within the combat there that makes every playthrough different than the last. I have definitely played this game all the way through at least 10 times at this point and it hasn't gotten old. 

Another thing that makes this game fun is that its hard. You can do seemingly everything right in a mission and then take a wrong turn and get your whole squad wiped out. That challenge and the other reasons listed above are why I have played this game so much and I expect I will continue to for many years to come. 

 

 

This is on mega sale at xbox. Thinking of picking it up. IIRC its ~80% off. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...