gkkiller on 14/6/2014 at 14:28
Or, alternatively, your desert island games. Which games hold a special place in your heart, and why?
Right now, the four I can think of are:
Dishonored and Thief Gold do stealth exceptionally right. The former gives you a fair amount of gameplay choice and good exploration. The latter does the same except better, and is definitely a masterpiece of its time.
Hitman: Blood Money because sandbox.
Splinter Cell (the first three, and just maybe Conviction). Despite the flak they get for forcing action on the player in a game that's about stealth and being horribly linear, I love the whole series. And don't believe what they say about Pandora Tomorrow. It's awesome.
Mirror's Edge is a one-of-a-kind game. It's here because it could've screwed up so immensely but it was so good. Despite a few flaws, it's still the only first-person parkour game I know. And it helps that it's pretty.
icemann on 14/6/2014 at 15:34
Games to play atleast once before you die: (Going to be a long list)
Arcade: (from back when arcades were actually worth going to)
Afterburner (in the moving cabinet)
Bubble Bobble
Daytona 2
Ghosts'n'Goblins
Hang On
Double Dragon
Final Fight
Mortal Kombat 2
Pac-Man
Space Harrier
Space Invaders
Street Fighter 2
Time Crisis
Virtua Cop
- That VR game where you shoot pterodactyls
Commodore 64:
Barbarian
Elite
The Last Ninja
Gameboy:
Tetris
Sega Master System:
Alex Kidd in Miracle World
Phantasy Star
NES:
Mario 1
Metroid
Zelda
Sega Mega Drive (+ it's addons):
Snatcher
Sonic the Hedgehog
SNES:
Chronotrigger
Secret of Mana
Shadowrun
Street Fighter 2
Super Castlevania IV
Super Mario World
Super Metroid
N64:
Goldeneye
Mario 64
PS1:
Castlevania - Symphony of The Night
Final Fantasy 7
Gran Turismo
Metal Gear Solid
Resident Evil
Silent Hill
PS2:
.hack series - Including Sign and GU + watch the anime series's that go with those two.
Final Fantasy X
Gran Turismo 3
GTA 3, Vice City & San Andreas
Silent Hill 2
PS3:
Demon Souls
inFamous
Rockband - With atleast 2 other people to play the other instruments
The Darkness
Uncharted
PC:
Aliens vs Predator (the original)
Assassin's Creed 2 - or just play Brotherhood.
Civilization
Command and Conquer 1 & 2
Counterstrike - Played atleast once at an actual LAN party
Crysis
Dark Souls
Dawn of War 1 & 2
Dead Space
Deus Ex & Human Revolution
Diablo
Dishonored
Doom
Duke3D
Dune 2
Eye of the Beholder
Fallout 1,2,3 and New Vegas
Half-Life 1 & 2
Leisure Suit Larry
Mass Effect series
Max Payne
Might and Magic 5 - Darkside of Xeen
Overlord
Plants vs Zombies
Portal
Quake
Red Alert 1 & 2
Sim City
Starcraft
Syndicate (not the remake)
System Shock 1 & 2
Thief 1 & 2
Tie Fighter
The 7th Guest
The Walking Dead - The Telltale game series
The Witcher
Unreal
Unreal Tournament
Warcraft 2
Wingcommander 3
Wolfenstein
World of Warcraft (just play one month of it to experience it)
XCOM 1 - or play the remake
Zork 1
Mobile Phones:
Dungeon Keeper
Dungeon Village
Plants vs Zombies 2
And many more that I can't recall immediately
Sulphur on 14/6/2014 at 15:44
The title makes me question if indeed there could be video games you should play before you die. At least, as an art form, there's an argument to be had there... things to experience before you die are ideally those that have been life-affirming, life-changing, or could have some - maybe even a major - impact on your life. That's the purpose of these lists, right?
I'd say there aren't any that make sense right now as a recommendation to everyone. Not in the sense that someone could say, 'You know what, you should read To Kill a Mockingbird before you die,' and that would be mostly accepted at face value, because everyone knows why that book has its legendary status. It's not that it said something new, but it said something right, with honesty and dignity and keen observation. It resonates with everyone, and it stays long after you've read it.
I don't think I've played a game that I could recommend to anyone without reservation like that. Well, except Photopia, perhaps. Because it's a special story, for some of the above reasons.
Anyway, having said that, my list of games I'm thankful to have played before I died?
Loom - for being a tale of growing up, and discovering it at exactly the moment I needed to
To the Moon - for being poignant yet ludicrous, heartfelt and intimate yet about unbridgeable distances, all at the same time
Homeworld - for inspiring pure awe in younger me, along with a narrative unequalled in epic scale or poignancy to date
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time - this probably makes the least sense, but I'm unreasonably fond of the relationship between its principal pair and their hijinks
Ultima VII: Not necessarily life-affirming or major, but still a huge part of my childhood because it was one of my first RPGs. It is my benchmark for open world design, against which all RPGs will be unreasonably compared to, and fail. Plus it's Ultima, so it already kicks the pants off most other RPGs that aren't Fallout or PS:T in lore, narrative, and dialogue because it's just that good.
Random_Taffer on 14/6/2014 at 16:07
Quote Posted by icemann
SNES:
Chronotrigger
Secret of Mana
Shadowrun
Street Fighter 2
Super Castlevania IV
Super Mario World
Super Metroid
Yoshi's Island
Donkey Kong Country 1, 2, & 3
Zelda: Link to the Past
Super Mario RPG
N64:
Goldeneye
Mario 64
Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Zelda : Majora's Mask
Super Smash Brothers
PS1:
Castlevania - Symphony of The Night
Final Fantasy 7
Gran Turismo
Metal Gear Solid
Resident Evil
Silent Hill
Final Fantasy Tactics
PC:
Aliens vs Predator (the original)
Assassin's Creed 2 - or just play Brotherhood.
Civilization
Command and Conquer 1 & 2
Counterstrike - Played atleast once at an actual LAN party
Crysis
Dark Souls
Dawn of War 1 & 2
Dead Space
Deus Ex & Human Revolution
Diablo
Dishonored
Doom
Duke3D
Dune 2
Eye of the Beholder
Fallout 1,2,3 and New Vegas
Half-Life 1 & 2
Leisure Suit Larry
Mass Effect series
Max Payne
Might and Magic 5 - Darkside of Xeen
Overlord
Plants vs Zombies
Portal
Quake
Red Alert 1 & 2
Sim City
Starcraft
Syndicate (not the remake)
System Shock 1 & 2
Thief 1 & 2
Tie Fighter
The 7th Guest
The Walking Dead - The Telltale game series
The Witcher
Unreal
Unreal Tournament
Warcraft 2
Wingcommander 3
Wolfenstein
World of Warcraft (just play one month of it to experience it)
XCOM 1 - or play the remake
Zork 1
Total Annihilation
Total Annihilation: Kingdoms
Mount & Blade: Warband
Natural Selection 2
Chivalry: Medieval Warfare
Elder Scrolls Series
Good list. Added a few more essentials.
Jason Moyer on 14/6/2014 at 16:38
There are some good games mentioned there, so I'll try not to duplicate any. Also limiting myself to 10 games per category, and not necessarily listing my favorites (who the hell would list Time Traveler as a favorite?).
Arcade:
Mr. Do!
Star Wars (1983 sit-down)
Mario Bros
Yie Ar Kung Fu
Space Ace
Punch-Out!
Gauntlet II
Smash TV
Time Traveler
F355 Challenge
Pinball:
Space Shuttle
Black Knight 2000
The Addams Family
Twilight Zone
Attack From Mars
Theatre Of Magic
Medieval Madness
Cirqus Voltaire
Monster Bash
Revenge From Mars
Console:
Pitfall!
Yars' Revenge
River Raid
Kaboom!
RC Pro Am
Baseball Stars
YS I & II
Kung Fu Chaos
Jet Set Radio Future
Super Paper Mario
Computer:
Star Raiders
Robot Odyssey
A Mind Forever Voyaging
Dragon Wars
Knights Of Legend
Descent II
Planescape: Torment
No One Lives Forever
Operation Flashpoint (i.e. ArmA Cold War Crisis)
Arx Fatalis
Edit: Desert Island Games:
Alpha Protocol
ArmA Cold War Assault
Arx Fatalis
Borderlands
Deus Ex
Dishonored
Mirror's Edge
No One Lives Forever
Richard Burns Rally
Thief Gold
SubJeff on 14/6/2014 at 19:22
This thread just makes me sad because it reminds me of some of our own who have died, those that knew about Thief 4/NuThief but didn't live to see or play it. Not that it's a great game (it shouldn't be on any list itt) but just that they were TTLG members which means they came for LGS games. I won't name names but you know who they are. RIP.
For me I can't get rid of the feeling that I have to play the Metal Gear Solid series before I die, which is why I've started.
As to games everyone should play? There are too many and my taste is mine and mine alone so I just don't know.
bukary on 14/6/2014 at 21:35
Betrayal at Krondor
Stalker
System Shock
Shadowcat on 15/6/2014 at 01:54
Hmm. I think "Games to play before you die" and "Desert island games" are quite different things. The latter implies that you would be content to play nothing else for the rest of your days. The former could include things you'd be thankful that you played, but which you would only want to play one time. (Ah, Jason has the right idea, making the desert island list separate from the rest.)
gkkiller on 15/6/2014 at 06:25
It appears that the title has caused some confusion, so I'm just gonna clarify:
Basically, list your favourite games, as objectively as you can. Games that everyone who wants to be known as a gamer should at least try.
icemann on 15/6/2014 at 06:50
A desert island list is majorly different to a "games to play before you die" list.
One is a simple time waster for until help arrives, the other is a list of games you should play atleast once in your lifetime to experience their awesomeness. Very different things.
