1. RDR2
2. The Witcher 3
3. Skyrim
4. GTA 5
5. Zelda Breath of the Wild
Honorable mentions: Red Dead Redemption, AC Odyssey, Rocket League, Stardew Valley, Minecraft, Portal 2, Divinity II, Hitman
I've never played TLOU but I believe it's the best game. I'll have to try to find a way to try it
Red Dead was my favorite game up until RDR2 came out on PC in November, and it's now my #1 easily. Ive never cared about characters in a game more, and it's the best open world ever made IMO. I don't think it gets enough credit for how amazing the narrative is, and the pacing is perfect
Updated to here! Some notable swings in the top 5, The Witcher 3 and Skyrim each jump 2 spots to take over #1 and #2 respectively. Witcher 3 takes over the top spot!
One battle I'm keeping an eye on is RDR vs RDR2. Right now RDR is ahead by 1 point. I personally enjoyed it more, it was just such a masterpiece at the time.
Ours is actually one of the better lists I’ve seen so far. So many sites out there trying to be hip and trendy and picked a bunch of indie games while leaving off a lot of all time great stuff like Witcher and TLOU (I saw a top 50 list that had neither, like, come on).
Yeah I agree. I was looking at some lists and they had some interesting choices. Like FTL, which I LOVED, but better than The Last of Us and Skyrim? lol, come on. On a personal list I could see it, some games just grab people, I went a bit off board with two of my picks too. But on a pro list by actual reviewers? You have to consider the impact of a game when you're in that role
Skyrim is a huge open world accomplishment, but at the end of the day, is it really any better than Oblivion? Significantly? As shipped? The biggest reason that game had the staying power it did (does?) is mods. Bethesda still can't write dialogue or story, and never could, so I can't justify its presence among these titles.
As for RDR2, clearly a great game and great accomplishment, but playing it, I frankly have to agree with Jim Sterling's criticisms: it's a bit too finicky and prioritizes its attempts at being a hyper-realistic Cowboy simulator over delivering an entertainment product.
__________________ "The great promise of the Internet was that more information would automatically yield better decisions. The great disappointment is that more information actually yields more possibilities to confirm what you already believed anyway." - Brian Eno
I think I might have some recently bias towards Skyrim because I’ve been playing it on Switch. I didn’t like it as much as Oblivion or Morrowind when it came out but i still love it.
I probably should have put GTAV on my list but I’m not sure what I would replace.
I think I might have some recently bias towards Skyrim because I’ve been playing it on Switch. I didn’t like it as much as Oblivion or Morrowind when it came out but i still love it.
I probably should have put GTAV on my list but I’m not sure what I would replace.
Oblivion felt more dark and bleak, but Skyrim is more refined.
There is a lot to love about Skyrim and I played the heck out of it, but it does become repetitive, especially the dialogue.
__________________
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Aw man, now this is a hard list to produce. I play quite a bit, so sharpening it down to a 5-piece list is tricky. Something like this for me:
1) Witcher 3- Probably the most memorable game of the decade overall. So grand in scope and rich with quality, which is a combination that's often tough to come by. The first time I saw the trees actually blowing in the wind in the first area, I knew cool stuff was about to go down for the next 120 hours. Somebody else was correct in saying that the expansions could have almost been standalone games themselves. I still haven't played 1 or 2 so my investment in the world wasn't all that high, which is all the more impressive that it tops my list.
2) Mass Effect 3- Probably sacrilege for some that this is above 2 because of the somewhat controversial ending, but I loved this game from beginning to end. Mass Effect is my favourite series of all time, so number 2 and 3 on this list are the 1-2 punch of ME2 and ME3 for me, no question.
3) Mass Effect 2- ^^
4) Red Dead Redemption 2- This could probably be GTA V too, and maybe it's recency bias, but there were some purely magical moments in this title. It looked great and did a great job of "seating" you in what felt like a gritty and realistic world.
5) Destiny- I'm cheating and including D2 in this as well, so it's sort of a "franchise" umbrella, but no game's provided me more entertainment per dollar spent than Destiny, nor as many fun memories with friends. It was a grand concept that has struggled at times and didn't fully execute out of the gate, but the gameplay and world they've created there is pretty special I think. The amount of time I've put in to this game basically mandates that I put it here.
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Too many runners-up to mention. Titanfall (and Titanfall 2), Battlefield 1 (and V), God of War, Last of Us, Breath of the Wild, the Wolfensteins, the Tomb Raiders, Horizon Zero Dawn, Sea of Thieves, Ori and the Blind Forest, etc.
I played the Witcher 3 and both expansions last year on PS4 and it's definitely a real gem. Even if the controls or combat are complex for you, you can always adjust the difficulty way down and just enjoy the world and stories. It honestly had every element of great story telling I could think of.
... except that literally nothing was character driven and it was entirely about plot points that the player follows along with? Witcher 3 is a great game but it's campy and safe, story wise. Which is fine, because that's basically all games and almost all fantasy media regardless of medium, but it's not like it was some storytelling masterpiece. It executed a narrative formula that games like Mass Effect and Dragon Age have followed for years, and did an excellent job of it.
Also, normal difficulty in Witcher 3 is pretty easy. It's not "you'll beat the game and never die" easy but it's also never frustratingly hard. Most people won't have any trouble with the controls or need to turn down the difficulty, I don't think. It's a pretty balanced game, for my money.
__________________ "The great promise of the Internet was that more information would automatically yield better decisions. The great disappointment is that more information actually yields more possibilities to confirm what you already believed anyway." - Brian Eno
Last edited by CorsiHockeyLeague; 01-15-2020 at 09:08 AM.
I find it incredibly difficult to pick just 5 games.
1. The Witcher 3 - This is the only game I am 100% sure of and to be honest, it may just be my favorite game of all time. Nothing I have ever played has even come close to the depth, scope and scale of The Witcher 3. It's full of interesting characters, quests and lore. Yes it has some wonky combat and some map bloat (especially around Skellige) but the game was enjoyable from start to finish. This game is truly something special.
2. Mass Effect 2 - I still hold ME1 as the best overall ME game almost purely for story reasons. ME2 kicked off with a bang and continued on at a breakneck pace. ME2 is littered with great quests and memorable characters from returning favorites like Garus and Tali to amazing new ones like Mordin, Thane, Legion and the Illusive Man. The end boss fight was meh but the journey there was a thrill.
3. Deus Ex: Human Revolution - HR took me by storm in 2011. It was the first game I played where I failed a quest because I took too long jabbering about in the starting area. I love the setting, the globe trotting, the amazing soundtrack and the story/quest/philosophical issues in the game. The ending was anti-climatic but the entire game has left a lasting impression on me.
4. DOOM - DOOM caught me by surprise in 2016. Admittedly I've never been a huge fan of Doom but the recent track record from Bethesda published titles like Dishonored and Wolfenstein TNO along with reviews encouraged me to give DOOM a shot. And I am so glad I did because from minute one I was hooked. DOOM is all about the combat and everything in the game is designed to get you into fights and keep you there. Unlike a lot of other shooters you don't fear getting into big fights, you thirst for them.
5. Rocket League - This one makes my list almost entirely based on playtime. The gameplay is so solid and fun that it's been such a pleasure to play from day one. Simple to learn and hard to master. I've had a lot of fun times in Rocket League with my friends over the years.
Honorable Mentions (my top 20 in no specific order and honestly some of these could easily slide into 2-5):
Firewatch
Spec Ops The Line
XCOM 2
Titanfall 2
Battlefield 3
Batman Arkham City
Rainbow Six Siege
Dishonored
Wolfenstein: The New Order
Sleeping Dogs
Life is Strange
The Banner Saga
Hotline Miami
Transistor
Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild
Last edited by cDnStealth; 01-15-2020 at 09:33 AM.
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Updated to here! No movement in the top five but The Witcher 3 pulls ahead now with a commanding lead.
Maybe I'll have to try it again. I played The Witcher 3 but found the combat to be really clunky and annoying. I'll have to give it another go to see what I'm missing
Feel free to update your lists if you think you missed something or just want to make a change. Just please quote yourself and make your revised list in a new post so I don't miss it and don't count votes twice
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