The Escapist's Favorite Games

[DrunkOnEstus]

Wait. I know what you're about to do. You have a quick snap ready about how this thread comes up all the time and it's ridiculous and cyclical. Topaz may even have the business end of the hammer pointed at me. I promise I have a real and different plan for this.

The deal:

Make 3 separate lists (or 1, or 2 of them) of the 5 greatest: Games of all time, Games of this past generation (2005-2012 for my PC friends), and highest hours of game time in Steam. The "current generation" list can have different games than the "all time" list, even if your favorite game of all time came from this generation. This is if you want to avoid duplication or mention more games than the 5 available in the "all time" list.

I think it'll also be interesting to see if people spent more hours in Steam on games than ones that qualified for the list(s).

After a couple of pages, I will do all of the behind the scenes math and give an update on what the master lists are, defining what the Escapist thinks overall. After the thread dies (I say a week or so), I'll update the OP or make the final post with the ultimate tally of master gaming information 9000. I'll start:

All Time:
Chrono Trigger
Dark Souls
Rez
Final Fantasy 7
Shadow of the Colossus

This Gen:
The Binding of Isaac
Bioshock 1
Dark Souls
Super Mario Galaxy
Rock Band 3

Steam Time:
Dark Souls - 93 hours
The Binding of Isaac - 23 hours
Bioshock: Infinite - 22 hours
The Secret World - 8 hours
Max Payne - 8 hours

Remember, you don't have to do all three lists (obviously console-only players can't). I'll count whatever I'm given. Let's see what the collective loves to play!

UPDATE (nobody gives a shit about Bigfoot!):

Well okay...that took way more hours than I expected (and this is the intermission). Anyway, I'm a man of my word, so let's reveal the results!

For greatest game of all time...

Spoiler

A tie between Metal Gear Solid 3 and Half-Life 2 with 7 votes each!

2-5:
Dark Souls/FF IX/Wind Waker/Persona 4 (6 votes each)
Mass Effect 2/Demon's Souls/Shadow of the Colossus/Deus Ex 1 (5 votes each)
FF 7/Kingdom Hearts 2 (4 votes each)
Resident Evil 4/Silent Hill 2/Portal 1/Team Fortress 2/Planescape Torment/Smash Bros Melee/Mass Effect 1/Mass Effect 3/Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines/Fallout: New Vegas/Psychonauts/Majora's Mask/Chrono Trigger/Tales of Symphonia (3 votes each) (I need more data)

For the greatest game of this generation...

Spoiler

Dark Souls with 11 votes!

2-5:
Fallout: New Vegas (10 votes)
Skyrim (9 votes)
Mass Effect 2 (8 votes)
Red Dead Redemption/Minecraft/Fallout 3 (6 votes each)

For the most hours played on Steam (as if you don't know this...)

Spoiler

Team Fortress 2 with 5,343 hours!

2-5:
Counter Strike: Source (1,917 hours)
Borderlands 2 (783 hours)
Fallout: New Vegas (651 hours)
Dragon Age: Origins (607 hours)

Remember this is only the intermission, to show that I'm serious before the thread dies. I want to thank everyone who was taken the time to share their favorite games so far. Feel free to discuss how the numbers turned out, and participate if you haven't already : )

I'll be updating the OP with this post. When the thread dies, I'll post the master list I have (though there's a whole lot of "1"s right now...). Strangely enough, I had fun adding these up. Thanks again!

 

[Nouw]

Since I only started gaming in this gen, to be fair it's been really long, I'm going to skip the first list.

This Gen:
Dawn of War: Dark Crusade.
Team Fortress 2.
Castle Crashers.
Spec Ops: The Line.
Mario Kart NDS.

Steam Time:
Team Fortress 2: 117 hours.
Skyrim: 53 hours.
Dawn of War 2: 21 hours.
Bioshock: 19 hours.
Batman Arkham City: 17 hours.

I've played Dark Crusade for way longer than 2 so don't let those statistics fool 'ya.

 

[Guffe]

I only have 1 game on steam so I'll do the best of this gen and all time favorites.

This gen:
(mind me, I only have a Wii / WiiU and I'll only put in games I've played through myself, otherwise this list would look very different I believe)
Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Xenoblade Chronicles
Okami
Darksiders II
MetroidPrime Corruption

All time Favorites:
Warcraft III
Pokemon (Red/Blue/Green and/or Silver/Gold)
Smash Bros Melee
Tales of Symphonia (GameCube)
The Legend of Zelda: Majoras Mask

And on Steam I Have:
Alien vs Predator (play time no idea)

 

[Dr.Panties]

Sigh...kinda sounds like a whole lotta extra busy work. Sigh...

Oh, hey...a funny gif featuring a cat and a goat...sigh. Oh, no...I'm all outta M&M's...sigh...

EDIT: Vanquish, FTL, Mark of the Ninja, Bayonetta, Dark Souls. For all lists.

 

[IllumInaTIma]

All time:
Persona 3 FES
Persona 4 Golden
Front Mission 3
Mass Effect 2
Portal

Steam:
Dota 2
Team Fortress 2
Dragon age 2
Mass effect 2
Torchlight 2
lots of 2s here

 

[Exius Xavarus]

Dark Souls - 93 hours

Only 93 hours? Psh.

Spoiler: Derp.

Apollo Justice Ace Attorney
Dark Souls
Demon's Souls
Dishonored
Dragon Age: Origins
Dragon's Dogma (Dark Arisen)
Final Fantasy IX
Final Fantasy XII
Golden Sun
Golden Sun: The Lost Age
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask/Wind Waker/Oracle of Seasons/Oracle of Ages
Megaman Battle Network
Megaman Battle Network 2
Megaman Battle Network 3: White
Megaman Battle Network 4: Red Sun
Megaman Battle Network 5: Team Protoman
Megaman Battle Network 6: Cyberbeast Falzar
Miles Edgeworth Ace Attorney: Investigations
Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney
Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice for All
Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time/Forgotten Sands/Warrior Within/The Two Thrones
Resident Evil 4
Resident Evil 6
Shadow the Hedgehog
Skies of Arcadia Legends
Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus
Sly 2: Band of Thieves
Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves
Sonic Adventure DX Director's Cut
Sonic Adventure 2 Battle
Sonic Heroes
Theatrythm Final Fantasy
Tales of the Abyss
Tales of Destiny
Tales of Graces f
Tales of Symphonia
Tales of Vesperia
White Knight Chronicles (II)

No particular order, I'm just listing off a bunch of favorites. There are definitely more, those are just what I came up with off the top of my head.

 

[DrunkOnEstus]

Snip

Hey, that isn't counting all of the PS3 hours that I put in before the PC release came out. I'm sure that was at least another 75-80. I wouldn't give myself a name like "DrunkonEstus" if Dark Souls was a casual interest of mine: )

Oh, and you kinda broke the system I've got going, so I'm taking the first five that popped into your head and considering them your top 5 favorite games of all time. A small price to pay for questioning my faith in the Sun.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I don't have a Steam and indeed, don't generally keep time when it comes to gameplay. Luckily I do have some times recorded thanks to the Wii, Wii U, 3DS and, PSX Memory card (The last of which seem to record play time on certain games) Anyway;

2005 - 2013 (current/next gen)

5: Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage - My favorite anime of all time is Fist of the North Star and as a Dynasty Warriors clone, it works. It really works and is one of the few anime series that would work in this format. DW Gundam was fun but you don't punch people until they explode in that one. Ken's Rage goes through the entire series from Zeed to Raoh faithfully to the anime and adds on several 'dream modes' showing what could have happened if various factors had changed. I'll pop this on sometimes for cathartic fun from time to time and this is another where I've unlocked every achievement. I'm at 98% completion too which is unprecedented for me.

4: JUMP Ultimate Stars - This is a Japanese exclusive game for the DS. If you're into anime then you will know of Jump Magazine which features titles such as One Piece, Bleach, Deathnote, Prince of Tennis and Dragon Ball Z. Ultimate Stars is the sequel to Super Stars and while it apparently has a deeper panel system, what drew me to it was the opportunity to use Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star to murder characters across a dozen-plus different and, recognizable series. This game is most reminiscent of Super Smash Brothers and while starting up may be a bit difficult since it's a Japanese game, once you get into the game things get more self explanatory and Awesome. Also it should be able to work on the 3DS if you're curious about importing. Not sure about European or Australian consoles though...sorry.

3: Fallout 3: - It's a FPS and a Western-RPG that takes place where I live. That alone is worth it for me but the mechanics, the over-the-top violence, the customization...I absolutely love this thing. This is another game I've bought more than once and one which I've unlocked all of the achievements for. On days when I just need a little bit of cathartic glee to brighten my bleak, bleak outlook and disposition I boot this up long enough to shotgun-blast an old-person in his stupid, wrinkled face...then reload and do it again with a Fat-Man.

2: Pokemon Soul Silver - I talk about it more below.

1: Saint's Row 2: - It's Grand Theft Auto if it was made by the criminally insane. You can go through the entire game as a naked, genderless, albino with a sassy lady's voice. You can steal jets and, boats and, tanks at just about any time if you know where to go/ how to find them. The best part though is pacing: You start at the bottom and work your way to the top, which gives you plenty of time to appreciate where you are, where you've been and give you a goal to work towards in between throwing old women into wind-turbines and, splattering million-dollar homes in shit. If you've never played this game before FIX. THAT. NOW.

All Time

5: Doom - Wherein you run around on Mars and in Hell murdering anything that gets in your way. There were huge bosses, the enemies could fight among themselves, there were some imaginative weapons and even today, it's a ton of fun to get into and play. While I have played Doom 2, I found the original easier to get into and play around with.

4: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker - Starting out as a humble boy in a fishing village, this entry in the Zelda time-lines seemed really huge to me. The Sea is expansive and unlike Skyloft, each island had something to do or find as opposed to just being pebbles at sea. There were also Giant-Squid fights which were a ton of fun and the art design was absolutely beautiful. This is all before the actual boss encounters, dungeons, etc.

3: Pokemon Soul Silver - An A+ remake of an A+ sequel to an A-ranked JRPG. This is a faithful recreation of the original Silver/Gold version from the Game Boy Color which takes you through the Jhoto Region of the Pokemon universe. The original games introduced 100 new Pokemon and that remains here but you are able to trade between Pokemon Diamond/Pearl in this version. The only other significant differences between this and the original is how your lead Pokemon follows you around and new copies of the game are shipped with a Pokewalker (think Tamagatchi only you can put in your own Pokemon).

2: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - The voice acting is on par with the dubbing found in the film The Room. Otherwise it's my all-time favorite Castlevania game. You start out strong, have your powers striped from you by Death and rebuild those powers, even climbing to new heights, as you explore The Castle. The powers Alucard can attain range from cool to downright lethal (poison mist form!?). There are also dozens-upon-dozens of enemies to face and tons of different boss monsters to fight against on your adventure. I love me some boss fights!

1: Final Fantasy VI - It's official: IX has been dethroned as my favorite ever since I beat Final Fantasy VI. While I still love the junction system of VIII, the plot set-pieces of VII and, the characters of IX, Final Fantasy VI just blows them all away. In addition to teaching characters magic spells, keeping on certain Espers grants buffs to different skills upon leveling up. Almost every character has a significant moment or two (Cyan, Locke and, Gau's moments damn near bringing me to tears towards the end). I loved every minute of this game and plan on going back in for 100% completion. Additionally, I plan on going in and comparing the various releases (currently I have beaten the Anthology version). I've bought some games more than once on various platforms but not with the same level of reverence and devotion.

 

[Casual Shinji]

All time:

Resident Evil 4
Okami
God of War
Half-Life 2
Metal Gear Solid 3

Honourable mention goes to Metal Gear Solid 1, Shadow of the Colossus, Ratchet and Clank 3, and Wind Waker.

This gen:

Portal
Dark Souls
Mass Effect 2
Fallout: New Vegas
Dragon Age: Origins

Apart from Portal and Dark Souls this list is kind of interchangable to what I'm in the mood for though.

As for Steam, I ain't got it.

 

[Tom_green_day]

All Time (which is also This Gen list)

Fallout 3
Mass Effect 3
Skyrim
Fallout New Vegas
Call of Duty: Black Ops

Steam Time
Team Fortress 2 (35 Hours)
Binding of Isaac (35 Hours)
Garry's Mod (12 Hours)
Fallout (8 Hours)
Terraria (50 minutes)

I'm a console dude.

 

[Lt._nefarious]

All time:

1)Alien Trilogy
2)Halo: CE
3)GTA: Vice City
4)Manhunt
5)Half Life


This Gen:

1)Halo 4
2)Dark Souls
3)Far Cry 3
4)CoD: World at War
5)Silent Hill HD


Steam Hours:

1)FTL
2)The Walking Dead
3)Borderlands
4)Hotline Miami
5)The Binding of Isaac

 

[King of Asgaard]

Favourites of all time:
Metal Gear Solid 3
Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep
Red Dead Redemption
Final Fantasy X
Mass Effect 2

Favourites this gen:
Red Dead Redemption
Dark Souls
Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep
Mass Effect 2
Bioshock

I don't have Steam, so yeah...

 

[Tazzman]

All time Favourites:
Fallout 3
Kingdom hearts 2
Any total war game (let's just say medieval for good measure)
Pokemon Saphire
Legend of zelda: have a guess which one? Haa just kiddin none other than ocurina of time

This Gen:
Red dead Redemption
Dragon age: origins
Dark souls
Halo reach
Elder scrolls IV Oblivion

Steam
TF2 - 71 hours
Empire total war - 50 hours
Faster than light - 33 hours (and I still haven't won yet)
Dota 2 - 24 hours
Kotor - 18 hours (Surprisingly I've been very disappointed by this game)

 

[The Wykydtron]

Lists? I don't know any lists.

Well as for favourite games

[HEADING=1]PERSONA 4[/HEADING]

Yeah. That's about right. Best mystery story EU.

I'm also fond of League of Legends because the plays! The ruffneck plays! The savage jukes! It's so fun!

Best Ezreal EU strikes again.

Annnnnd BlazBlue. All the BlazBlue. Hazama is the most fun villain ever written, every line that comes out of his mouth is gold.

"Oh man, this is TOO good! It goes straight past tragedy and right into COMEDY! *evil laugh*"

Mu-12 is my main though. Guns, arrows, more guns, mix up lasers, all the pushback moves, more guns and most importantly extreme legendary swag.

I'm liking Blood Dragon at the moment because there's a neon bow. Neon. Bow. GOTY for sure.

 

[Exius Xavarus]

Snip

Hey, that isn't counting all of the PS3 hours that I put in before the PC release came out. I'm sure that was at least another 75-80. I wouldn't give myself a name like "DrunkonEstus" if Dark Souls was a casual interest of mine: )

Oh, and you kinda broke the system I've got going, so I'm taking the first five that popped into your head and considering them your top 5 favorite games of all time. A small price to pay for questioning my faith in the Sun.

Only 168-173? Psh.

I guess I didn't see the "only 5." Oops.

Dark Souls
Demon's Souls
Golden Sun
Tales of Symphonia
White Knight Chronicles

New, shorter list!

 

[Andy Shandy]

I'm purposely not including any of my "this gen" top 5 in my all time top 5, not because they don't deserve to be there, but because there are soooooooooo many choices that picking any that I've already picked makes a tough job even harder

This gen:
Bayonetta
Mirror's Edge
Spec Ops: The Line
Viva Pinata: Trouble In Paradise
The Walking Dead

All time:
Sonic The Hedgehog 1
Legend Of Zelda: Wind Waker
Persona 4
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Manchester United 3 Pokemon Crystal

 

[MajorTomServo]

All time:
1. Fallout New Vegas
2. Mega Man 2
3. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
4. Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
5. Super Smash Bros Melee

This gen:
1. Fallout New Vegas
2. Saints Row 2/3
3. Far Cry 3 (Might surpass SR2/3, but I JUST got it, so I'm docking it a place to make up for the honeymoon effect...)
4. Skyrim
5. Dead Rising 2: Off the Record
(I love me some sandboxes...)

Steam hours:
1. Team Fortress 2 - 1038 hours (you read that right...)
2. Left 4 Dead 2 - 124 hours
3. Garry's Mod - 57 hours
4. Killing Floor - 34 hours
5. Hitman Blood Money - 10 hours
Bit of a curve there...

 

[nomzy]

Not going to include current gen games in all time list.

Now in no particular order my all time favourites:
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Warcraft III: Frozen Throne
Halo: CE
Knights of The Old Republic 1 & 2
Call of Duty (plus United Offensive)

This Gen:
Dragon Age: Origins (my favourite game of all time)
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
World of Warcraft - Vanilla and The Burning Crusade. - Is that even this gen? I can't remember.
Dark Souls
Grand Theft Auto: IV

Steam:
Counter-Strike: Source - 1917.3 Hours
Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead - 243.8 Hours - This should be like 500-600 hours though. I played for a long while using the beta CMD thing so steam never logged the hours.
Call of Duty: Black Ops (multiplayer) - 181.8 Hours
APB: Reloaded - 106.4 Hours - I have ~500 combined hours on my characters though (I played it before it was on steam)
Dark Souls - 100.0 Hours

Looking at the list I kind of wonder how many hours I racked up on Runescape, World of Warcraft and Warcraft III: Frozen Throne.
I know it'd be somewhere in the thousands but now I'm really, really curious. D:

 

[Alcaste]

All time:
Deus Ex
Baldur's Gate II
Dark Souls
Dungeons of Dredmor
Megaman Legends

This Gen (Without repeating above):
Minecraft
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Red Dead Redemption
Elite Beat Agents (Does DS still count..? Imma say yes.)
Guild Wars 2


Steam Time:
Dungeons of Dredmor: 304.5 hours on record.

Everything else is inconsequential, if you ask me.