Your Top 50 Games of All Time Lists
Re: Your Top 50 Games of All Time Lists
Trying to put a list together now and I’m not sure I can, I keep remembering things I like. Sword of Vermillion! Point Blank! Typing of the Dead
I will do this, I can do this... I can...
I will do this, I can do this... I can...
- ThirdDrawing
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Re: Your Top 50 Games of All Time Lists
I forgot Doom. Dammit.
And Typing of the Dead as well.....
And Typing of the Dead as well.....
Re: Your Top 50 Games of All Time Lists
Well I’ve managed it. I’ve tried to mostly discard my nostalgia filter and pick stuff that I think is still fun to play in the here and now. I’m always conscious that there’s a certain amount of ‘recent’ bias when making lists like this as well.
But for what it’s worth, here you go, in alphabetical order...
But for what it’s worth, here you go, in alphabetical order...
- Spoiler: show
- Simonsloth
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Re: Your Top 50 Games of All Time Lists
Great list! I can’t believe I forgot Indiana Jones!
Re: Your Top 50 Games of All Time Lists
Going to reread mine and see how close I am too now.....DomsBeard wrote: ↑April 1st, 2013, 1:22 pm Here's mine
http://www.giantbomb.com/profile/domsbe ... ames/83997
Re: Your Top 50 Games of All Time Lists
To be fair that is a great list.
I would have included since then Alien Isolation in the top 10.
I would have included since then Alien Isolation in the top 10.
- Spacefarer
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Re: Your Top 50 Games of All Time Lists
I'm saving Indy for when I can play it through with my brother. The lack of Harrison Ford puts me off just a little though...
Re: Your Top 50 Games of All Time Lists
I think I played it on the Amiga, so no voice acting for me.Spacefarer wrote: ↑May 29th, 2018, 9:55 pm I'm saving Indy for when I can play it through with my brother. The lack of Harrison Ford puts me off just a little though...
It’s my favourite of the SCUMM games by some margin. A combination of the characters and puzzle design. I still dearly wish we’d got to see Sophia on the big screen, she’s definitely my favourite of Doctor Jones’ foils.
The whole middle section of the game changing based on one decision was insane though, the locations and general plot stayed the same, but the puzzles changed completely. (It does make it pretty clear it’s about to do this, it’s not like it’s something subtle you can miss that makes the choice.)
Re: Your Top 50 Games of All Time Lists
TOP 50:
My process for making the list was first to consult my larger 100+ list, which is ranked (S through C), but not ordered individually. I took the top 50 or so of those, then added another 15-20 that I have been too lazy to add to the master list.
I started just trying to order the whole thing, but quickly ran into a problem with gameplay focused games versus narrative or experiential games. I love both categories for very distinct reasons, and pitting one against the other was too difficult to start with. So I removed the following games and set them aside:
Life Is Strange: BtS
Thomas Was Alone
The Beginner's Guide
Doki Doki Literature Club
Life Is Strange
Hatoful Boyfriend
Flower
There were a couple games, Talos Principle, for instance, that fit into both categories, but I erred on whether or not I would have gotten the impact of the story without being directly involved in the gameplay. Or something.
After this I organized the top 15 or so games, and got them into a fairly definitive order, they would still get switched up a bit more before the end, but it was a good place to start.
Next I tried organizing the everything else, but found it too daunting, so I created another small group, this time of multiplayer shooters. I would rank the following games against each other, then find where other games fit in between, above, or below them:
Star Wars Battlefront 2
CoD 4: Modern Warfare
Gears of War 2
Halo Reach
CoD: Black Ops
Halo 3
At this point I still had over 50 games total. around 57 including the story games I had pulled early on. I went through the list and found roughly 12 games that I decided could be cut. More on that later.
I got most of the games that come between and above the shooters pretty quickly, then took a bit longer sorting through what was left over below them. After this I took the 7 story/experience games that I pulled earlier, and placed them where I felt they belonged in the list.
INSIGHTS & STUFF
As with everyone else, this got difficult to cut and organize. I tried not to focus too much on nostalgia. Games that I haven't played in forever, or have and have had less of a fun time with, were not considered; games like Sonic Adventure 2 and Timesplitters 2.
I was extremely surprised how low the Hotline Miami games ended up being. These are games that I platinum'd, and bought the vinyl soundtracks for, as well as the collectors edition. I still certainly love them, but it has probably been at least a year, if not two, since I sat down and really connected with them. I'm sure in a few years they could be back among the top 25, or maybe won't be on the list at all.
Similarly, I cut Bastion and Arkham Asylum from my list. Two games that at one point I would have easily put in my top 10. Bastion I had played twice right after I bought it. What "ruined" it for me, I think, was going back and playing again when it was released on the Vita. I resonated less with the story, probably because I had already experienced it twice, and also didn't get along with the controls.
With Arkham, I think I have since tried going back to it, but again, the experience is no longer fresh, I've played other games that do what it does better mechanically, and as such I think the story has lost some of its luster.
There is another category of game that I had a hard time cutting, which are games that have been more inspirational to me than I enjoy playing. World of Goo and Viva Pinata are the highlights of this category. They have been very influential on my art and thoughts on games and gardening, but just couldn't make the cut in terms of fun and engagement that I have with them now.
I think the biggest factor in how things got ordered overall wasn't necessarily what games I think are objectively better, but what I am mostly to want to play now. For example, I don't really enjoy Civilization V that much on its own, but I have great memories, and still greatly enjoy playing it with my brother and friends. It is a very relaxed, extended experience that I don't get with any other game on this list.
With some exceptional exceptions, I found that I favor multiplayer experiences over singleplayer.
- Spoiler: show
My process for making the list was first to consult my larger 100+ list, which is ranked (S through C), but not ordered individually. I took the top 50 or so of those, then added another 15-20 that I have been too lazy to add to the master list.
I started just trying to order the whole thing, but quickly ran into a problem with gameplay focused games versus narrative or experiential games. I love both categories for very distinct reasons, and pitting one against the other was too difficult to start with. So I removed the following games and set them aside:
Life Is Strange: BtS
Thomas Was Alone
The Beginner's Guide
Doki Doki Literature Club
Life Is Strange
Hatoful Boyfriend
Flower
There were a couple games, Talos Principle, for instance, that fit into both categories, but I erred on whether or not I would have gotten the impact of the story without being directly involved in the gameplay. Or something.
After this I organized the top 15 or so games, and got them into a fairly definitive order, they would still get switched up a bit more before the end, but it was a good place to start.
Next I tried organizing the everything else, but found it too daunting, so I created another small group, this time of multiplayer shooters. I would rank the following games against each other, then find where other games fit in between, above, or below them:
Star Wars Battlefront 2
CoD 4: Modern Warfare
Gears of War 2
Halo Reach
CoD: Black Ops
Halo 3
At this point I still had over 50 games total. around 57 including the story games I had pulled early on. I went through the list and found roughly 12 games that I decided could be cut. More on that later.
I got most of the games that come between and above the shooters pretty quickly, then took a bit longer sorting through what was left over below them. After this I took the 7 story/experience games that I pulled earlier, and placed them where I felt they belonged in the list.
INSIGHTS & STUFF
As with everyone else, this got difficult to cut and organize. I tried not to focus too much on nostalgia. Games that I haven't played in forever, or have and have had less of a fun time with, were not considered; games like Sonic Adventure 2 and Timesplitters 2.
I was extremely surprised how low the Hotline Miami games ended up being. These are games that I platinum'd, and bought the vinyl soundtracks for, as well as the collectors edition. I still certainly love them, but it has probably been at least a year, if not two, since I sat down and really connected with them. I'm sure in a few years they could be back among the top 25, or maybe won't be on the list at all.
Similarly, I cut Bastion and Arkham Asylum from my list. Two games that at one point I would have easily put in my top 10. Bastion I had played twice right after I bought it. What "ruined" it for me, I think, was going back and playing again when it was released on the Vita. I resonated less with the story, probably because I had already experienced it twice, and also didn't get along with the controls.
With Arkham, I think I have since tried going back to it, but again, the experience is no longer fresh, I've played other games that do what it does better mechanically, and as such I think the story has lost some of its luster.
There is another category of game that I had a hard time cutting, which are games that have been more inspirational to me than I enjoy playing. World of Goo and Viva Pinata are the highlights of this category. They have been very influential on my art and thoughts on games and gardening, but just couldn't make the cut in terms of fun and engagement that I have with them now.
I think the biggest factor in how things got ordered overall wasn't necessarily what games I think are objectively better, but what I am mostly to want to play now. For example, I don't really enjoy Civilization V that much on its own, but I have great memories, and still greatly enjoy playing it with my brother and friends. It is a very relaxed, extended experience that I don't get with any other game on this list.
With some exceptional exceptions, I found that I favor multiplayer experiences over singleplayer.
- ColinAlonso
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Re: Your Top 50 Games of All Time Lists
Nice write-up Tleprie.
I've actually prepared my list but then my laptop crashed (I probably have to reinstall the OS) before I uploaded it. I'm actually taking an opposite approach on nostalgia, games that I really enjoyed at the time will be included on that basis. So yeah, Timesplitters 2 is on my list .
I've actually prepared my list but then my laptop crashed (I probably have to reinstall the OS) before I uploaded it. I'm actually taking an opposite approach on nostalgia, games that I really enjoyed at the time will be included on that basis. So yeah, Timesplitters 2 is on my list .
Re: Your Top 50 Games of All Time Lists
Banging list and interesting process.
Interesting also how many have actively tried to quell the effects of nostalgia. I couldn't boil a list down to any objective or subjective criteria beyond 'which games meant most to me, as I remember them'. You'd think that would lead to significant recency bias but it turned out not to be the case, or at least less than I might have expected.
I have very very fond memories of playing Pinball Dreams on the Amiga and Gobliiins and Skidmarks. They're some of my formative gaming experiences and I played them for hours and hours, but they don't resonate with me emotionally and I can't remember them ever doing so. They were 'just' good fun, whereas Castle Quest on the BBC Micro was not much fun at all, but it utterly captivated me and the sounds and sights of the duelling toothbrush enemies still give me chills. It felt like an insurmountably challenging adventure, and indeed it has been, for me.
Anyway, just interested that a number of people have tried to strip away the nostalgia to approach this with a little more emotional distance and critical consideration.
Interesting also how many have actively tried to quell the effects of nostalgia. I couldn't boil a list down to any objective or subjective criteria beyond 'which games meant most to me, as I remember them'. You'd think that would lead to significant recency bias but it turned out not to be the case, or at least less than I might have expected.
I have very very fond memories of playing Pinball Dreams on the Amiga and Gobliiins and Skidmarks. They're some of my formative gaming experiences and I played them for hours and hours, but they don't resonate with me emotionally and I can't remember them ever doing so. They were 'just' good fun, whereas Castle Quest on the BBC Micro was not much fun at all, but it utterly captivated me and the sounds and sights of the duelling toothbrush enemies still give me chills. It felt like an insurmountably challenging adventure, and indeed it has been, for me.
Anyway, just interested that a number of people have tried to strip away the nostalgia to approach this with a little more emotional distance and critical consideration.
- Simonsloth
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Re: Your Top 50 Games of All Time Lists
I took the list as meaning “best games” rather than the most important 50 games to me. It probably would be a completely different list if I factored in impact. It would however end up being full of games I wouldn’t want to play anymore and couldn’t recommend to anyone.Stanshall wrote: ↑May 30th, 2018, 9:59 pm Banging list and interesting process.
Interesting also how many have actively tried to quell the effects of nostalgia. I couldn't boil a list down to any objective or subjective criteria beyond 'which games meant most to me, as I remember them'. You'd think that would lead to significant recency bias but it turned out not to be the case, or at least less than I might have expected.
I have very very fond memories of playing Pinball Dreams on the Amiga and Gobliiins and Skidmarks. They're some of my formative gaming experiences and I played them for hours and hours, but they don't resonate with me emotionally and I can't remember them ever doing so. They were 'just' good fun, whereas Castle Quest on the BBC Micro was not much fun at all, but it utterly captivated me and the sounds and sights of the duelling toothbrush enemies still give me chills. It felt like an insurmountably challenging adventure, and indeed it has been, for me.
Anyway, just interested that a number of people have tried to strip away the nostalgia to approach this with a little more emotional distance and critical consideration.
- ratsoalbion
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Re: Your Top 50 Games of All Time Lists
So I'm not quite the only person who still likes BioShock Infinite then.
Re: Your Top 50 Games of All Time Lists
I enjoyed it enough when I played it. And the art and audio direction is still great. But it doesn’t trouble my top 50 at all.
Re: Your Top 50 Games of All Time Lists
I loved Bioshock Infinite, certainly more than what I've played of the other two Bioshocks, but not quite enough to make it into the top 50.
- AndrewBrown
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Re: Your Top 50 Games of All Time Lists
At first I thought this list would be plainly impossible, but after I saw Flabyo just post his fifty games in alphabetical order, it seemed like a much less daunting task. So here's mine. It has very few surprises.
- Spoiler: show
- ColinAlonso
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Re: Your Top 50 Games of All Time Lists
Well I reinstalled Windows and now here's my list, with its excessive number of JRPG's and platformers. And they're ranked, which means I will hate the list in an hour.ColinAlonso wrote: ↑May 30th, 2018, 9:06 pm I've actually prepared my list but then my laptop crashed (I probably have to reinstall the OS)
- Spoiler: show
To make the list I came up with about 100 games and tried to sort through them in order from top to bottom. I did that 4 times or so to smooth out the list. Sonic 2 was actually number 35 after I did that but I really didn't want to put 3 Mega Drive Sonics on the list and it was the lowest of the three so I snuck GTA:VC onto the list (so cheating a bit).
- ColinAlonso
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Re: Your Top 50 Games of All Time Lists
Yup, forgot 80 Days in my process . Possibly wouldn't have made the list anywayColinAlonso wrote: ↑June 4th, 2018, 9:53 pm And they're ranked, which means I will hate the list in an hour.