What is your favorite game of all time and why?

[TheLoneTerran]

For me it was Final Fantasy 9. The characters were a welcome break from the more 'gritty' or to borrow a word that Yahtzee tends to use, angsty, crowd that populated the FF7/FF8 universe. I liked FF8 pretty well but damn I loved FF9. I felt that Zidane was a welcome break from Cloud or Squall by having a complete reversal of personality. Sure, he was lonely and somewhat angsty but instead of being a jerk about it, he covered it up with playfulness and skirt chasing. The development of the other characters such as Vivi, Dagger, and Steiner were highlights for me as well.
I felt that the music was the best of the ones I've played. To this day, I still hum the normal battle theme or the boss battle themes as I go about my day.
The game just resonates beautifully as the pinnacle of my Final Fantasy days and FF9 is the only one I go back and play ever year or so.

 

[scorptatious]

For me it was Final Fantasy 9. The characters were a welcome break from the more 'gritty' or to borrow a word that Yahtzee tends to use, angsty, crowd that populated the FF7/FF8 universe. I liked FF8 pretty well but damn I loved FF9. I felt that Zidane was a welcome break from Cloud or Squall by having a complete reversal of personality. Sure, he was lonely and somewhat angsty but instead of being a jerk about it, he covered it up with playfulness and skirt chasing. The development of the other characters such as Vivi, Dagger, and Steiner were highlights for me as well.
I felt that the music was the best of the ones I've played. To this day, I still hum the normal battle theme or the boss battle themes as I go about my day.
The game just resonates beautifully as the pinnacle of my Final Fantasy days and FF9 is the only one I go back and play ever year or so.

I also love Final Fantasy IX. (As you can probably tell by my avatar.)

I've played it for the first time about a year ago, right after I played VII, and I found it to be a fantastic game.

 

[Pirakahunter788]

I would say either Republic Commando, Battlefront 2, or Galactic Battlegrounds.

 

[joshperry94]

I agree that the quicksave feature was a handy tool, but I didn't like Exodus anywhere near as much as oddysee. It felt as if they had run out of ideas, and there weren't any new interesting enemies, however it still had the original formula of: being fun + simple + gimicky, and well presented.

 

[Slash Dementia]

I'm thinking that it's Morrowind. During most of my teen years, that game got me through everything and gave me the best escape that a game has given me with over 700 hours of play and countless characters--and that was just on the Xbox. I always found something new to do there, and I only completed the main story once, but everything in between was amazing to me. I only wish that I hadn't played Oblivion because it ruined the ease of simply switching back to Morrowind.

I think that I should also mention The Legend of Mana, which I still play today. It's a great game and I love everything about it, save for the cheesiness that the stories can sometimes have. When we had PS1, that game wouldn't come out of the console for days at a time. I feel like playing it now until Skyrim comes out.

Edit:

For me it was Final Fantasy 9. The characters were a welcome break from the more 'gritty' or to borrow a word that Yahtzee tends to use, angsty, crowd that populated the FF7/FF8 universe. I liked FF8 pretty well but damn I loved FF9. I felt that Zidane was a welcome break from Cloud or Squall by having a complete reversal of personality. Sure, he was lonely and somewhat angsty but instead of being a jerk about it, he covered it up with playfulness and skirt chasing. The development of the other characters such as Vivi, Dagger, and Steiner were highlights for me as well.
I felt that the music was the best of the ones I've played. To this day, I still hum the normal battle theme or the boss battle themes as I go about my day.
The game just resonates beautifully as the pinnacle of my Final Fantasy days and FF9 is the only one I go back and play ever year or so.

And this. I love Final Fantasy IX--it's the only Final Fantasy game that I actually like. It's just so fun and the story places and characters are very interesting.

 

[nukethetuna]

Vagrant Story on the PSone (God, i feel old.)

One of the best playable introductions of all time IMO, which nails a cinematic feel that i've not seen for a long time since. Interesting characters (practically NO-ONE in the game could be seen as good or bad, all shades of grey in this game.) A beautiful game world (Ivalice, also appearing in FF12.) and an interseting story of Labarynthian depths and dialogue that blew me away at the time.

loveitloveitloveit.
[/gush]

GAH. That's the game I was trying to think of when they had that thread about "do you think older graphics are ugly when compared to modern games". Vagrant Story is possibly the best looking 3D PS1 game to me. An all around great game, too. Good pick, good pick.

Anyways, my favorite game is Alundra.
Great music:
[youtube]youtube=Hfim9FGIu5s[/youtube]

A mix of bright and colorful, as well as dark and twisted areas and freaky bosses:

Add that in to some rather difficult puzzles, and interesting level design. Then mix in a dark (but solid) story about a village being killed off by their nightmares because of a forgotten god. Its weakest point is probably its characterization and writing, but it's nothing horrible, and the translation is better than something like FFVII, it's just a bit stiff.

A lot of people see it and immediately write it off as a Zelda clone, but the level design and puzzles (if you can believe it) are loads better, the story actually has substance. Basically if you REALLY want to look at it from a Zelda point of view, it's an upgraded "Link to the Past".
Or if you're familiar with Landstalker from the Genesis, it's the spiritual successor to that, so it's probably a better comparison.

 

[Ti0k0]

Fallout 3
Bioshock
Secret of Mana

All three games suck you right into their world, I loved it!

 

[The Heavy Metal Nerd]

For me: Bioshock. There are only a handful of games out there that know how to do atmosphere. Bioshock is one. It's not so much a game as it is an experence.

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

Easily Morrowind for me. Fallout 2 and Doom 2 get honourable mentions, but these days I only play those games occasionally, maybe once a month. Morrowind I still play regularly, at least twice a week. The otherworldly, alien flora and fauna made the game much more engaging than the other, more generic, 'goblin-fest' RPGs that were out at the time; and that are still out to this day.

 

[Char12]

Persona 4, to me this is the pinnacle of JRPG and I cannot wait until a 5th one comes out(Golden seems good but dunno about buying a Vita yet)

 

[Exius Xavarus]

I'm gonna go with Tales of Symphonia as my game of choice. I'm a major fan of RPGs, and Tales of Symphonia is definitely one of the best I've played. It's bright and colorful, with a hint of darkness thrown in for good measure. Each different character is fun and unique in their own way(even Zelos/Kratos), the story is long, interesting, fun to watch, and has a lot of Wtf?! moments. The music and the scenery with the art style all come together so well, and even after like, ~5 years, after beating the game again and again and again, I still have a ton of fun picking the game up and playing it some more.

 

[TheLastSamurai14]

Half-Life 2. It just did everything perfectly. The story was magnificent and engaging. The storytelling made you feel as if you were actually in the world. The AI was smart and responsive. The soundtrack was appropriate for the setting and most songs were distinct. The graphics still hold up to this very day, and I can see the Source engine being used for many years to come. The gameplay, start to finish, was absolutely brilliant, and that includes level design, weapons, enemies, everything. It is, in my opinion, the best game ever made.

When (or if) Episode Three is released, I will rejoice like the HL fanboy that I am.

Runners-up: Final Fantasy IX, Half-Life 1.

 

[Methis]

Riven, or possibly Myst III: Exile.
No other game ever has drawn me in as much as the Myst universe has. It's been a while since I last played any of them, but they haunt me still. Admittedly, not very special in terms of gameplay and such, but atmospheric beyond words.

 

[AnarchistFish]

I got into gaming 2003/2004 so I haven't played many games from before that.

Halo: CE truly got me into gaming and since it was pretty much the only one I had for a while I'd play it over and over again (although I only actually completed it around 2006/2007 because I somehow could never get past the level where you first meet the flood and I eventually gave up until some friends showed me what way to go).
Pokemon Diamond (the classic Pokemon generations were, again, before my time) was probably the most addictive game I'd ever played. The older ones seem ok but maybe to appreciate them as much as people do you would have had to have been there when they first came out. Diamond had more in it on a basic level.
Fallout 3, AC:II and Mass Effect 2 are probably my favourite games for my 360. Probably for the immersion.

I can't really narrow it down more than that.

Quite mainstream games then.

 

[Jak LesStrange]

I'm gonna be a bit out there, but I have to say Brutal Legend. I love everything that Tim Schafer does, but this really took the biscuit, the cake and the whole frikkin desert table. Nothing quite like driving off of a Ramp and smashing facefirst into General Lionwhyte's face during the siege of his city... I'm gonna go play it now.

EDIT: I forgot to mention Beyond Good and Evil. I got it a few days ago and its definitely up there with my favorite games of the last generation.

 

[Fanfic_warper]

I wouldn't say the game individually, but the Pokemon series as a whole basically is my best game of all time. The catch'em all, train'em kind, not like the newer colleseum, ranger, trozei and all the other spin-offs that have come since then.

There's just something to me about personally raising my own pokemon with the same amount of care and affection that most people do with real animals that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

 

[BLAHwhatever]

Dungeon Keeper
Evil, immersive, lovable minions, addicting, plain fun setting up the perfect dungeons with traps and rooms, converting shiny heroes to your side by torture (not by offering cookies), possibility to take direct control over minions, dark humor, brilliant "voice acting"

Though slowly replaced by Dwarf Fortress!

 

[jacobythehedgehog]

Shadow of the Colossus was my personal favorite game of all time. I just loved it

 

[Puddleknock]

Even after many years Baldur's Gate 2 is still my favourite game of all time. It was the first game that could made me roar with laughter, get lost in the richness of the characters and make me savour the victory over a particularly difficult fight. Indeed every boss fight had weight and importance, from fighting Irenicus in hell to the final battle for the Throne of Bhaal I loved the way that combat and story were woven together.

This game started my love for RPGs and as such has a strong nostalgic element that its more contemporary counterparts can't match. But also I have a long list of memoires from my time in the game years after I actually did them. Aerie giving birth during the final battle still goes down as my single most memorable gaming moment (gave birth, put the baby in her inventory, then carried on the good fight....still amazes me to this day).

Just a fantastic game, if you are yet to play it I recommend you do, required education for any RPG fan in my eyes.

 

[Michael Hirst]

Deus Ex, it's ugly as hell to look at and the voice acting leaves a lot to be desired BUT it has some great immersive gameplay and a damn good storyline. For me it struck the perfect balance between freedom and focus. Too often a game with "TOTAL FREEDOM" has a very unfocusesed half assed story and a game that has no freedom feels constricting. Allowing the player multiple routes through set stage is my bag and I love the RPG aspects to it, especially being rewarded for exploration and not killing.

I also loved references to philosophy and conspiracy, it's great when you can litter a game world with these optional bits for people to find.