What games do you actually like?

[Li Mu]

90% of the threads and comments on The Escapist are RAAAAGEEEE threads.
Mass Effect 3 sucks because...
Blizzard sucks because...
I'll never buy Diablo 3 because...
They've ruined this game because...

It has me wondering whether the posters in the Escapist forums actually enjoy any games at all.


So if you do enjoy the occasional game and find that you can refrain from hating it for a day or two, what do you like? Lets see if we can get some positives out there to counter all the negativity.
Oh and guys, please try and refrain from turning this into another RAAAGEEEfest with your "That game sucks, how can you like that game?" replies.


Personally I am currently loving,

1. Skyrim. I'm loving the depth, the visuals, the music, the everything. I was never a huge fan of Oblivion, preferring the expansiveness of Morrowind. For me, Skyrim comes close to recapturing the feeling I had when I first played Morrowind. Although I do miss the old Dunmer voices which for some reason never made it into Skyrim.

2. Dawn of War 2 (plus Addons). While I do miss base building and feel that the skirmish maps are worse for it, I love the main campaigns.

3. Empire: Total War. My Russian Empire has finally broken into India! Soon all will be mine. Canister Shot wins wars. There is something extremely satisfying seeming entire rows of my enemy dropping to the ground from a single canister shot. I know there was some dislike of the sea battles, but I do enjoy them (possibly because I appear to be quite good at them).


Edit;

Just to clarify, it doesn't need to be a new game. It can be as old as playing X-Wing on Dosbox.
Also, it would be cool if you explained why you like the game so much. What does it have which appeals to you?

 

[TheCommanders]

Just started playing minecraft again! Yay.
Also, I'm quite liking Star Wars: The Old Republic.

 

[Glover09]

Does it need to be a recent game?

If so, DiRT 3 and both Arkham games.

DiRT 3 is great fun for racing, and both Arkham Asylum and Arkham City keep me captivated and dead to the world throughout my playthroughs.

 

[TephlonPrice]

Just Cause 2, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Unreal Tournament 2K4, GRAW 2, Crysis 2, Alpha Protocol, The Bourne Conspiracy, Midnight Club: LA, The Saboteur, Assassin's Creed 1,2, & Brotherhood...

 

[Andy Shandy]

Recently, I've been enjoying Mass Effect 3 (although I'm giving it a break at the moment since it's the only game I've played since it came out, and I'm waiting for my friends to get it so we can do mulitplayer). I'm also quite enjoying Spider-Man: Web Of Shadows, whenever the camera doesn't endeavour to shit all over itself.

 

[Li Mu]

Just to clarify, it doesn't need to be a new game. It can be as old as playing X-Wing on Dosbox.
Also, it would be cool if you explained why you like the game so much. What does it have which appeals to you?

 

[putowtin]

inFAMOUS series, I like the characters and consider it a new approach to a super hero game.

Assassins Creed series, I like the atmosphere and think the combat is fluid and unclunky.

Mass Effect series, just finished 3 last night, agree with others over "you know what" but loved the characters and the epic feel of the whole series.

Skyrim, could never get into oblivion, but loved every moment of Skyrim.

Those are the first that spring to mind, but there's many, many more!

 

[Ultress]

Persona 3: I love everything about this game. The characters feel like real people and react as such.It's story and themes are excellent and the combat while a little off is still very good.It comes together to form a damn good game.

Wow I seem to keep bringing up Persona,so to offset that:

Tales of Vesperia:despite following the Tales tradition of shiting itself in the third act,the gameplay is the best it''s every been,the characters are fun and likable and the sheer amount of sidequests are baffling.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

I don't know what game the others have been playing, but bloody hell, Mass Effect 3 is fucking brilliant!

I've never had such an emotional attachment to so many characters in one game before. I haven't finished it yet, but I can't imagine the ending being as terrible as everyone seems to making out either.

I've gotten misty eyed several times already.

 

[ChupathingyX]

I just finished Muv-Luv: Alternative[footnote]Okay so it's not really a game, it's a visual novel but who cares?[/footnote] last week and damn was that one hell of a ride! Great characters, character development, animations, story, one of the most interesting alien species I've ever encountered and not to mention it made me cry more than anything else I've experienced in fiction.

Not to mention the most kickass opening song I've ever heard!

My life feels more complete now that I've finished it.

*sigh of happiness*

Also, if something bad seems to be happening in the gaming industry I just remind myself of Pandemic Studios during the PS2 era and all hate goes away...

 

[BathorysGraveland]

Unlike, to my knowledge, most other people here, my taste in games is very much limited to only several dozen. Most of them being western RPG's. Gothic series (I, II, 3), Risen, Witcher (Both of them), Two Worlds, Morrowind and Skyrim are among my favourites. I also like a few RTS such as Age of Empires (I, II), Stronghold (I, Crusader), Rise of Nations and Total War (Rome, Medieval). Beyond that, I really love Mount & Blade: Warband, but I have no idea what genre that game would be counted as.

I'm now currently expanding my video game taste to include the older isometric RPGs, starting off with Baldur's Gate. I plan on getting into Neverwinter Nights, Icewind Dale and Planescape: Torment after this, as well.

 

[Glover09]

Cool, Alright then.

I have a game that i have trumpeted...a lot. I believe it is the only good Koei game. It is a naval "sim" called Warship Gunner 2. It has little voice acting, a story that takes a turn on crackpot avenue, and an excessive research system that alone will take up hours of time. The thing is, I don't care. The lack of voice acting means the above average music is always audible, the story may be a WWII buffs worst nightmare but it's for that reason I get into it, and while the r&d is tedious you must remember one thing. Koei is based in Japan, and what happens in Japanese games with weapon upgrades? Yes, massive lasers, ships that defy logic, bosses that make sense and yet don't at the same time, and many,many,MANY different ways to make shit go BOOM.

There are difficulty settings, but even the lowest setting will give you a satisfying challenge to start out with, especially since you run through the story again after you have defeated the final boss. Then the game gives you an incentive to bump up the difficulty as you play and learn, and that's not even including the extras that can give you helpful bonus items. I believe this game is great, because 100 people could play a mission, starting on the dock and finishing at the sdebrief screen, and not one would have an identical experience. Similar, yes, but not identical.

I mentioned the dock there, and the R&D, for a reason. The biggest factor in my fondness for this game. Yes, you have pre-fab hulls and parts, but essentially you can build a ship to you own liking, down to how many pixels you want between your bridge and your guns. Want a battleship with 100cm guns on it? Have at it. A destroyer covered in machine guns? What size guns would you like? Want to have your own nuclear submarine? It takes some time, but it can be done.

 

[ChupathingyX]

Cool, Alright then.

I have a game that i have trumpeted...a lot. I believe it is the only good Koei game. It is a naval "sim" called Warship Gunner 2.

*gasp*

An obscure Koei game?

I have heard of this game but I don't think I've ever seen someone mention it before.

Have you played Dynasty Tactics 2?

 

[Cranky]

Tetris is fun.


In all seriousness, I am enjoying ME3 despite the godawful endings. And the only other game I am playing now is Tetris so yes, I do enjoy it.

 

[|Sith|Eldarion]

Jedi Knight:Jedi Academy. It's more than a decade old, yet it's the best star wars game on the market. Seriously. It's ten bucks on steam.
Skyrim:200 hours, and I still love it.
Halo Reach:I know that Halo fanboys are second only to nintendo fanboys in shame, but Halo Reach is the best shooter on the market, in my opinion. I personally like the floaty nature of the run gun jump fun that defines the franchise, and the armor abilities add some nice variety(although I speak from the bottom of my heart when I say that armor lock is a flow breaking middle finger in multiplayer, and it never should have made it into the game).
RTW:Creative Assembly's best work. It's as unbalanced as all hell, but it's great fun and doesn't melt my laptop.
SSBB:The only game worth getting for the Wii. Ever. Because you can use gamecube controllers.

 

[Smithburg]

Loved Mass Effect 3, yeah the ending was bad but the game is glorious. Skyrim is wonderful, especially with the mods. Other than that I've been consuming MW3 (it's a good game, sue me )

 

[Glover09]

Cool, Alright then.

I have a game that i have trumpeted...a lot. I believe it is the only good Koei game. It is a naval "sim" called Warship Gunner 2.

*gasp*

An obscure Koei game?

I have heard of this game but I don't think I've ever seen someone mention it before.

Have you played Dynasty Tactics 2?

I've heard of it, but I've never seen it. Heard it's much better than the various Koei Warriors games.

 

[ChupathingyX]

*gasp*

An obscure Koei game?

I have heard of this game but I don't think I've ever seen someone mention it before.

Have you played Dynasty Tactics 2?

I've heard of it, but I've never seen it. Heard it's much better than the various Koei Warriors games.

Well that depends on whether you like turn-based gameplay.

The most simplistic way to describe it would be Dynasty Warriors meets Chess.

I've never had so much fun recruiting officers in a game before, I don't know why, but it;s just so fun to send out spies and contact civilians to join you and then organising them into armies.

 

[Zeema]

i finely got really immersed into Skyrim, my first playthrough was boring because i kept dying to the easiest guys. but now im awesome