Wow, with so many to choose from, you'd think I were spoiled for choice. Yeah, so it turns out that I am, but then it's not that much of a shortlist that I have, when it all boils down to it.
1) Discworld. I have been a fan of the books since I was introduced to them by my cousin and by dint of chance, when he acquired a PC, he also acquired this game. Cue a lot of evenings spent over with them and trying to find a computer that would run it (We still had an Archimedes back then!), so I could steal it for myself. The early point and click games were fun, but limited, though this one does stick in my mind, particularly for thre vocal talents of Eric Idle, Tony Robinson and the late, great Jon Pertwee. The other game that was a very close second in this genre of adventure / point and click games would be Planescape Torment. Running around with a man who can't die, trying to remember just who you are. Brilliant.
2) Dynasty Warriors. Pick any of the main titles from 3 onwards and you'll be onto a winner with me. Though it hasn't caused me to invest in a PS3 yet, I can certainly see it being one of the first titles that I purchase for said format, if ever I upgrade. War, Huh! What is it good for? Taking over feudal China, of course. The story behind the Romance of the Three kingdoms is told ad infinitum in this series and with DW6, they finally seem to have been more faithful to the story itself (The one where Cao Cao's dreams of conquering China are realised by his son, Cao Pi), plus some of the characters are more believable, as opposed to having different weapons for the sake of variation. Sure, it was really fun in earlier games to see Xiahou Dun running around with a sabre and now he just has a mace, but Sun Ce looking less effeminate with his sword is always a plus. Multiplayer is fun and I can easily spend a lot of time at my friend's house playing alongside him until he inevitably has to kick me out, but he enjoys it so much, that he invites me back.
3) If ever there were a games franchise that I would sell my soul to, it would be Legacy of Kain. A unique storyline, that drags the player into a fantasy realm and teaches them about the corruption of the guardians. How the main protagonist is a guardian of balance and to kill himself would be to stop everything just makes the tale more juicy. This game spawned 4 sequels and as such was really enjoyable in every form of the game. I wish that Eidos would drop Lara Croft and... oh, they're owned by Square Enix, so until Final Fantasy breathes its last, we won't be seeing any more of Kain
I'm a hardcore fan of that series, so without wanting to sound so pissy, the story is not complete until balance has been restored! Chop chop!
Of course, there is another series of games, that has a unique storyline and has surfaced relatively recently. The idea of running around in the past and finding out what you ancestors did from the comfort of one's own armchair is strangely appealing. Unfortunately, since I am such a colourful character, my ancestors were probably boring. However, we shall counter this, with Desmond "Beige" Miles and his infinitely more interesting ancestors, Altair and Ezio Auditore. Three games in and I'm still saying "Ow, my brain hurts", with the promise of yet more to come. Where will they take this next? Will Desmond discover a third assassin ancestor (Someone who Lee Harvey Oswald played the fall guy for?), or will it be a game that my girlfriend has been banging on about and running around modern Earth as Desmond trying to capitalise on what has been taught to him by his ancestors and the equally mysterious Subject 16? I'm sold on this franchise and while certain critics will laud parts of the game, while outright condemning others, I quite like the puzzles and the mind fucks. Especially when you're trying to fight for your life in the middle of Renaissance Rome, while working out these things.
Legacy of Kain has the edge, because it seems to be a closed series at present, though Creed will have to work a little harder to supplant that in my psyche as the better series of games.
