Top 10 videos games of all time (your personal list)

If you had to make a list of your top 10 favorite video games of all time, what would they be and why? Would you have them in a specific ranking order, or just a collection of 10 that you can't get enough of no matter how many zillion times you've gone through? I am curious what fellow Doomers love the most, as I have learnt that everyone here has quite an interesting variety of tastes!

I have no idea about the actual order but my ten favorite games as of now are: 

Resident Evil Remake (2002)

Resident Evil 7

Path of Exile

Ultimate Doom

Silent Hill 2

Starcraft: Brood War

Perfect Dark

Call of Duty: World At War

Mortal Kombat Trilogy

Deus Ex

(no specific order here)

BTSX 2 (if you count mods, this is my all time favorite)

Doom Eternal

Spider-Man

Batman: Arkham City

God of War 3

COD: Black Ops

Fallout: New Vegas

GTA 4

Red Dead Redemption 2

i actually can't think of a last one.

My top 10 favorite games in no particular order are:

Dark Souls

Undertale

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Super Mario Galaxy 2

Xenoblade Chronicles DE

Metal Gear Solid V

Hollow Knight

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Outer Wilds

:)

Here's my top 10 based on games I own and/or played with friends of mine

1.- Left 4 Dead 1

2.- Half Life

3.- Final Doom (Both Megawads)

4.- COD Black ops 3

5.- Plants Vs. Zombies

6.- Snes Doom

7.- Snes Final Fight 3

8.- Super Mario RPG

9.- Ninja Gaiden 2004

10.- Five Nights At Freddy's 1

:-)

This list isn't in any particular order, I love all these games for different reasons.

Half-Life 2

Doom

Final Doom ( specifically plutonia)

Darkwood

Bioshock

Blood

Oxenfree

Yakuza Kiwami

Portal 2
Dusk

Ori, Ochi, Onoe

Yume Nikki

Yume 2kki

Clannad

Quake

Doom

Warcraft franchise

The Secret World

Metal Slug 

Descent 2

Honorable mentions:

Rule of Rose

Silent Hill 3

Heretic

The list would probably vary depending on the day, but now I'd say:

Doom 2,

Quake,

Blood,

Shadow Warrior (1997),

Hexen,

Super Metroid,

Super Mario World (or 64, I'm not sure which one I like more),

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link,

Donkey Kong Country 2,

Hotline Miami 2

For me off the top of my head (and this is difficult)...

1) Doom 1993

2) The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

3) Mass Effect (Original Trilogy)

4) BioShock (first one, though I like all 3)

5) Deus Ex (original)

6) Red Dead Redemption 2

7) The Last Guardian

8) System Shock 2

9) GTA V

10) One of the Fallouts (New Vegas? 3?) or The Last of Us or Metal Gear Solid (1998)

Since someone mentioned BTSX I simply can't in good faith include the actual original doom games in this list over design masterworks like that.

So to compromise:

Doom fan content,

Gothic 1 and 2,

Thief 1,

The Witness,

Nier Automata,

Mushihimesama,

Kingdom Come Deliverance,

Warcraft 3,

Zeroranger,

Northern Journey (not a great game by any stretch of the imagination but for me specifically it's like reliving a dream version of my childhood, was absolutely enchanted by it)

Honorable mention to Klonoa and Hyperlight Drifter, both purely for the music that I still revisit which no other game even in this list can claim.

1. Legend Zelda Breath of the Wind

2. All Super Mario Platformers on NES and SNES (Super Mario World was the best)

3. GTA V

4. Metal Gear Solid

5. Super Metroid

6. Mass Effect 2

7. Chrono Trigger

8. Metal Gear Solid

9. Quake

10. DOOM

Honourable mentions ah not really.

Big Rigs Over The Road Racing (YOU'RE WINNER!)

Super Turbo Turkey Puncher 3

1. Doom 2 (+ all mods)

2. Doom (+ all mods)

3. Quake 2

4. Fallout 3

5. Left 4 Dead

6. Gran Turismo 6

7. Grand Theft Auto 4 (+ expansions)

8. Age of History 2

9. Frogger 2

10. Sly 2

Honorable Mentions

1. Quake 3 / Quake Live

2. Return to Castle Wolfenstein

3. Jak and Daxter - The Precursor Legacy

4. Zeepkist

5. Wreckfest

I will not mention Doom because it's a given.

I've played so many games to the point where this is damn near impossible to quantify, I've thought about it more than I should have.

10: Dragon Age Origins

9: Deus Ex

8: Half-Life 2

7: Duke Nukem 3D

6: Morrowind

5: Timesplitters Future Perfect

4: F.E.A.R

3: Worms: World Party

2: Total War: Warhammer 2

1: Honey Select Fallout New Vegas

No particular order, but I always come back to these games:

GTA San Andreas
True Crime: Streets of LA
Tony Hawk's Underground 2
Driver 2
Daffy Duck starring as Duck Dodgers
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Super Castlevania IV
Super Metroid
Equinox
Starwing/Starfox

Barbarian

Mortal Kombat 2

Doom II

Quake

Worms

Pro Evolution Soccer

Championship Manager 00-01

GTA Vice City

Fire Pro Wrestling World

Hotline Miami

1. Quake

2. Doom

3. Doom 64

4. Touhou Project

5. Robotron 2084

6. Metroid Prime

7. Satisfactory

8. Ranger-X

9. Mass Effect 2

10. Tempest 2000

I tried to do it in order. So hard to pick only 10 though:

Doom 1/2

Urban Terror

Quake 1

Descent 1/2

Diablo 1

Starcraft 1

Tyrian 2000

Super Mario World

Star Wars Episode 1 Racer

Rocket League

Hmm, Top 10 "ever" is hard. Very hard. And not because there are too many but because there are too few. I require a certain level to put a game in such a list. So here are my current top few but not without their caveats. (In alphabetical order because that's how they are in my folder.)

-Antichamber (A must play but it's quite short and does not really allow variety gameplay unless in speedrunning)

-Borderlands 2 (I could add the Pre-sequal too, really just a masterpiece. 3 is OK at least now, 1 was a letdown for me, but I played it after 2 so it could not have happened any other way)

-Call of Duty 2 (No MW and such the original 2005 game, I don't know why I like it, but... I just enjoys it.)

-Descent (I had fond memories, I played it and for what it was it's genious. In nowadays environment it's still a really unique game - I played Overload but other than that I don't know any similar genre game - The game is short, hard and really unfun experience especially fighting rocketlaucher wielding bots in tight spaces, but overall a great game with really epic music. If it was new I'd hate it, but I love it.)

-Diablo 2 (I only play it singleplayer and it's unending fun.)

-Factorio (Just a great game)

-Minecraft

-Starcraft: Brood wad (To be honest I haven't touched it in a while because I tried ladder and realized I suck big time and I'd have to invest decades to be decent. So I just consume an unhealthy amount of media about it. It started with the english casted ASL - held yearly 3-4 times - now I watch 2-3 hour korean casts twice every week. I don't speak korean.)

And that's it. I know it's only 8 and I play other games, but I could just not put them on this list for a reason or other. Like I play a ton of Doom, but I think both 1 and 2 suck. I like the gameplay but if I was limited to the original maps they wouldn't hold up. (Khhm, damn you Chasm!) So I think what keeps my love alive is the user generated content which is innovative, fun and evernew, but that's not the original game. I've been playing World of Tanks for a decade, but I don't think it deserves to be on the top 10. So I dunno, maybe I'll expand my list some day but for now my top 10 only contains 8 games.

Deus Ex

Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis

Fallout 2

Fallout: New Vegas

Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven

Saints Row: The Third

Halo: Reach

Far Cry 3

Red Faction: Guerrilla

Darksiders 2

1. Doom 2/1 - ultimate combat

2. Quake - ultimate chtonic atmosphere and combat

3. Dune 1 - this one is so mother fucking good, even today, one of few real adventure games

4. Little Big Adventure 1/2 - best character values overall, Twinsen is real chad

5. Hexen 2 - finally 3d medieval space I loved

6. Blood - Caleb is the real chad

7. Silent Hill 3 - I just love Heather, she looks so fucking sick and fragile

8. Mass Effect - everything besides combat, planet probing shit and vehicles

9. Open Transport Tycoon Deluxe - infinite money and let's build

10. Aer - great toy, but so much wasted potential here

Doom

Metroid Prime

Castlevania

Megaman X

Tomb Raider

Duke Nukem 3D

Alien Isolation

Bloodrayne 2

Fallout 4

Skyrim

Why not...

Doom II/Final Doom/all related mods are number 1, but that's understood. 

1. The Last of Us - played it probably 5-6 times, more than any non-Doom game, story/acting made a permanent impression on me, but it's also incredibly fun and gripping to play. Disregard the sequel.

2. Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - my second most-played game of all time, endlessly impressive, imaginative, exploratory. Best video game score ever.

3. Kingdom Hearts - Just the first one. All time classic that I place here for nostalgia reasons, though I'm still moved to not-very-grown-up outpourings of emotion when the score hits me at the right (or wrong) moment.

    Final Fantasy X - K.H. of my adulthood, the only FF game I really got into. Terrific narrative, music.

5. Jak & Daxter - One of the classic PS2 games. Still fun to blaze through. Jak II is also good, but significantly more frustrating!

6. Doom 2016 - The only nuDoom for me.

7. Icewind Dale/II - Outstanding D&D games that emphasize dungeon crawling over story. Incredibly cozy to play in the wintertime.

8. Radiata Stories - One of the most underrated RPGs of all time, idiosyncratic, witty, moving, and immersive. Tell your friends about it!

9. Star Wars Battlefront (2004) - The original, disregard all sequels and remakes. I'd take this over any modern multiplayer shooter.

10. Starbound - I've spent hours exploring, building, and dreaming in this game. Music is beautiful.

Eight* of my faves in alphabetical order, along with some unfocused rambling for each:

AI War: Fleet Command

An obscure indie genre-buster, combining elements of RTS, Grand Strategy, Tower Defense and even lite RPG mechanics. The premise is simple: you, the player, are tasked with leading the broken remnants of humanity in a desperate guerilla struggle against an overwhelmingly powerful machine intelligence, capable of wiping you out in short order should you provoke it prematurely. This conflict lies at the heart of the game; an experience of desparate struggle against a powerful, dynamic opponent which relies on a complex series of overlapping systems to create the illusion of intelligent opposition as opposed to the dull, predictable scripted AIs that dominate the strategy genre.

Amusingly, as a teen I was so enamoured with this game and its (surprisingly extensive) lore that I wrote a 60,000+ word space opera heavily inspired by it, along with Star Wars and Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Crusader Kings II

The first Paradox Interactive Grand Strategy game to appear on this list, CK2 is best described as a medieval role-playing game with strategy elements. The premise is thus: you play as a land-holding noble somewhere in 8th-13th century Eurasia (sans East and Southeast asia), and your sole objective is to further your dynasty by whatever means, for when the last eligable member of your family dies, the game ends. The core gameplay consists of a mixture of interpersonal interaction, diplomacy, succession rule lawyering, plotting and war-waging, all conducted from a series of menus overlayed over the game's massive and colourful strategic map. While far from realistic, CK2 does capture the essence of the back-biting power struggles that have long defined the interactions between people in positions of power; I often found myself considering abhorrent actions (such as fratricide) as casually and clinically as I would the choice of weapon in a Doom  combat encounter, which is very much to the game's credit. It also has a very immersive atmosphere despite its necessarily abstract presentation, largely as a result of a superb OST combined with intelligently designed UI and SFX, which really get one in the zone for some morally bankrupt aristocratic funtimes.

Dark Souls III

As a general rule, I think it is fair to say that one's first Souls(borne-Sekiro-Ring) game is typically one's life long favourite, and DS3 is my personal proof of this - while I adore both Elden Ring and Sekiro (the other two games in the 'franchise' which I have played extensively), nothing will ever be able to replace the transcendent moments of triumph against gamings coolest opponents, nor the profound melancholy brought on by hours spent in a beautifully-realized dying world about to gasp its last, exhausted breath, nor the myriad other unique experiences this game has given me over the years. While it may lack DS1's masterful level design, DS2's interesting narrative, Bloodborne and Sekiro's focused consistency or Elden Ring's awe-inspiring grandeur, DS3 exceeds its peers in two crucial respects from my perspective: atmosphere and boss design. I have no objective argument in the case of the former: I'm just a sucker for the dying world shtick, really; in the case of the latter, though, I am confident in saying that DS3's boss roster is unmatched in terms of sheer quality. Ask yourself this: what other Souls game can compete boss-for-boss with DS3's mid / late game lineup? The Abyss Watchers, Pontiff Sulyvahn, The Boreal Dancer, Champion Gundyr, Lorian and Lothric, The Nameless King, Soul of Cinder, Sister Friede, The Demon Princes and Slave Knight Gael are all spectacular and memorable fights with tough-but-fair mechanics and excellent lore. Much as I love the exploration aspect of these games (and believe me, I love the exploratory mode of engagement almost above all others), it is these awesome battles that stick in my memory the longest, and no other games (Souls or otherwise) can compete in this regard.

Dominions 5

An obscure turn-based indie strategy game where you play as one of twenty or so mythology-inspired fantasy nations, with the sole objective putting your custom 'pretender' god on the Throne of Ascension, left vacant by the unexplained disappearance of the world's former chief deity (the 'Pantokrator'). This game is by far the most alienating on this list by conventional standards, due to its dated graphics, horrific UI, bafflingly complex mechanics and AAA price tag. Needless to say, 'tis right up my alley, heh. It's hard to describe why I like the game so much, but it may have something to do with the fact that you could quite concievably have a battle between Norse demigod horsemen wreathed in Glamour (a common fantasy concept, usually manifesting in the form of partial or full invisibility) and blood-powered Samurai demon ogres supported by mercenary mermaids wearing player-manufactured air-breathing necklaces, or any of a hundred similarly absurd and hilarious combinations. Idk man, I just like it.

Doom

I don't need to explain this one, heh. Just read, well, any of my lengthy posts on the matter to gain some insight into my love for this game. Moving on.

Hollow Knight

A beautiful, original and thoroughly engaging indie metroidvania, with a profoundly immersive atmosphere, gripping story, fascinating lore / world-building, surprisingly difficult and complex combat, ultra-responsive controls and paradoxically weighty and impactful gamefeel. While I do not generally play side-scrolling platformers (childhood flash game escapades aside), this one very quickly lodged itself in my Hall of Game^tm due to all the reasons outlined above. Truly, a lovely indie gem, near and dear to my heart. Now, all I need is a Silksong release date...

Get on it, Team Cherry! Your Omniarch commands it!

Total Annihilation

A truly ingenious RTS from the late '90s, featuring a (for the time) advanced physics engine and a weighty gamefeel that has yet to be replicated anywhere else in the genre, along with a similarly unparalled level of depth and complexity in its simulation of futuristic combined arms warfare. The premise is simple: there are two factions of self-replicating war machines that have been fighting for 4,000 years for reasons long forgotten, each headed by a sole remaining 'Commander' (giant fuck-off sapient mecha). You take control of one of these commanders and try to destroy your opponent's chassis before they destroy yours. At the highest level, TA is just like any other RTS from the '90s, featuring a singleplayer campaign to teach you the mechanics but with an ultimate focus on symmetrical competitive multiplayer. What sets it apart from most others, afore-mentioned gamefeel and complexity aside, is its invention of the so-called 'stream economy', which differs from the standard 'collect resource, drop off resource, spend resource like currency' model that dominates the genre by instead using a 'flow' style of income / expenditure, wherein resources are collected and spent at steady, per second rates, with player-built storage capacity acting as a buffer against 'stalling' (overspending). One interesting aspect of this setup is that every unit has a set resource value, which can be partially reclaimed via salvaging, making every battleground a potential resource. TA was ahead of its time, and frankly ours, in many ways. It also has a dedicated modding community nearly a quarter-century after its release (much like another favourite of mine), which helps keep the game interesting.

Victoria II

Likely my most-played game of all time at this point, Vicky 2 is by far the grandest of the grand strategy games I've played, boasting a fully-functional population simulation which models the needs and political beliefs of every household in the world (in an abstract fashion of course) as well as a truly dynamic global goods market. Every decision made on the part of the player directly effects the lives of millions of people: raise taxes too high, and the populace will not be able to afford vital goods, leading to massive unrest and possible revolution; wage a brutal war of attrition, and watch and your fighting-age population is decimated, potentially crippling your country in the long term. These are but a few small examples of the kinds of effects your decisions can have. Now, it is important to mention that this game is, by conventional standards, completely and utterly broken, especially in its vanilla form. The AI especially suffers from a completely immersion-breaking and challenge-negating level of incompetence, which limits the potential engagement of the singleplayer experience significantly. Multiplayer is also subpar, prone to regular desynchronisation and praticed by a small handful of often toxic individuals. There are also innumerable QoL issues that make playing the game a chore more often than not. Why, then, have I sunk so many hours into it? Simple, really: it's the only option when it comes to this kind of deep simulation. Despite its flaws, the game is a work of almost unparalled genius that keeps me coming back year on year like an abused but co-dependent spouse. Needless to say, I do not recommend this title.

* ^{I ran out of writing energy, heh.}

In no particular order...

1. Dark Souls - best game of the last 15 years

2. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty - best mindfuck

3. Jak 2 - best feel good game

4. Shadow of the Colossus - best atmosphere, most haunting

5. Deus Ex - nostalgia pick

6. Final Fantasy VI - best cast/plot

7. Assassin's Creed (2007) - best setting

8. Broken Sword - best point&click

9. FTL: Faster Than Light - best indie

10. Prince of Persia (DOS version from 1990) - best game design

1 hour ago, MtPain27 said:

 

5. Jak & Daxter - One of the classic PS2 games. Still fun to blaze through. Jak II is also good, but significantly more frustrating!

I don't know if you heard but they just released a reverse-engineered PC port of Jak & Daxter a few days ago. Basically a source port. Runs like a charm. No need for orginal hardware or PCSX2. They also added some quality of life improvements. Have just started replaying Jak & Daxter with that and it looks better than on PS2 - crisper and without interlacing at a stable 60 fps. You just need a copy of the orginal game, obviously. Just like ZDoom. ;)

I feel like you could program an AI to guess the exact age of everyone in this thread.

...And since I'm old, the list I've settled on is something like this, in only the vaguest possible sense of ranked order.

-Ultima Underworld/Ultima Underworld 2

-Doom/Doom 2

-Knytt Underground

-The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening

-Exile/Avernum 1-3

-Myth: The Fallen Lords

-The Elder Scrolls: Daggerfall

-Super Mario Bros. 3

-Limbo

-Anodyne

This list hasn't changed in maybe a half dozen years, but that's probably because I mostly play Doom mods :P

would probably look something like this (no particular order):

RE2:Remake
Elden Ring

Doom Eternal
Undertale

Modern Hitman Trilogy (you can play them all in Hitman 3, it counts)

Mario Odyssey

Guilty Gear: Strive

Dark Souls III

Left 4 Dead 2

Doom 2

There are a lot of newer games on here, but what can I say, sometimes good games come out.

Limiting myself to 10 is hard.  I have a bunch of games I'd consider to be all-time favorites, but I picked the ones with the most variety.

Celeste - Fluid movement and a skill ceiling that seems limitless.
Super Smash Bros 4 - IDK if this is my preferred Smash game but it's the one that brought me to my closest friends.
Doom Eternal - Improving at Eternal's combat loop gives me a high like no other.
Journey - The only game I played that made me feel enlightenment.
Radiant Historia - Favorite jRPG, and probably my favorite main character.
The Wonderful 101 - Such a unique hack & slash with a cheesy yet charming style.
Zelda: Twilight Princess - Pretty flawed, but I have way too much nostalgia for this Zelda.
Super Metroid - Sequence breaking this game is always fun.
Chrono Trigger - 2nd favorite jRPG, forever a classic.
Final Fantasy Dissidia 012 - This was actually my gateway into most of the FF series.

I’m honestly not as well-versed in games as a lot of y’all, but here’s my top 10:

1) Halo 3 - the tightest multiplayer I’ve ever played. This game is incredible and has never been matched since.

2) The Classic Dooms

3) Doom Eternal

4) SWBF2 (2005)

5) Halo CE

6) Halo 2

7) Portal 2

8) Half Life 2

9) Rise of Nations

10) Frogger 3D (1998) - this is actually the best game on this list

Infamous Second Son

Doom 2

GTA Vice City

Ridge Racer Type 4

Blood

Super Mario 3D Land

Mirrors Edge Catalyst

Spiderman PS4

Portal 2

Broken Reality