Keeping in mind that there are plenty of classics I haven't played, here are my picks. I tried to choose games that did something that no other game (I've played) has been able to replicate.

- Donkey Kong 64 (most creative)
- Elden Ring (most epic, most fulfilling journey)
- Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth (most attachment to characters, best gameplay, best soundtrack)
- Mass Effect Trilogy (best overall story, best choice-driven story)
- The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt (best writing)

These are some of the handful of games that I've completed and then felt that post-game depression where I know I will never experience anything like it again.

- Starfield (100%, 140h) - Played this from the day it released until the end of January with little distraction in between. While I gave it a 75/100, there's something about exploring the hand-made locations that kept me going. Somehow I ended up getting 100% of the achievements and going through every main, faction, and side quest in the game. What can I say, I'm a sucker for sci-fi.

- Kirby Planet Robobot - First mainline Kirby game I've ever played and I loved it! Charming characters, well designed levels, and fun power ups. Tons of bosses and mini bosses too. It was quite easy but that didn't take away from anything. 90/100 would definitely suggest for any platformer fans.

For me it depends on whether you're strictly talking campaign, multiplayer, or the entire package.

For the campaign it has to go to Halo 2, though CE, 3, ODST, and Reach are all phenomenal as well.

For multiplayer I'll give it to Halo CE, with 3 as a close second. Something about the simplicity of CEs combat plus the vehicle physics and maps are always fun to me. Halo MCC having online CE servers has been one of my favorite gaming experiences ever.

For the entire package I'll give it to Halo Reach, simply because of the custom games. I've spent hundreds of hours building maps and modes, playing with friends, inviting randoms, and now playing with MCC servers on Reach custom games. It's never-ending fun.

This is a really tough one for me. I don't usually know what I'm going to play next let alone for the next year.

- Starfield - Still working my way through this one. About 75 hours in and still very much enjoying it. It's slow but I like questing and exploring the more hand-made locations.
- Cyberpunk 2077 - I'm hoping to do a 100% playthrough + DLC for this one.
- I did a project the past few months to get a bunch of emulators working and build a library, so between the Nintendo consoles (NES, SNES, N64, GameCube, Wii), Nintendo handhelds (GB, GBA, DS, 3DS), and Sony consoles (PS1, PS2, PSP), I have over 3,000 new games ready to play. I'm hoping to play through a few dozen of them next year.
- Zelda Tears of the Kingdom - Started this earlier this year but haven't finished it. It's amazing but I need to keep myself from getting distracted with other games.

I'm sure I'll get to others but those are the ones I'm most excited for at this point.

After that you should play the Mass Effect series. I would give a lot to replay the trilogy for the first time again.

- Amnesia Rebirth (8.5/10)
- Amnesia The Bunker (8/10)
- Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart (8/10)
- A Plague Tale Requiem (7/10)
- Starfield (still playing) (9/10 so far)

I thought it was fun, but compared to some of the better animated movies from my childhood (Wall-E, Toy Story, Monsters Inc, etc.) this movie basically doesn't have a story.

I'll take the ones I've played through and rank them from least favorite to favorite.

#30 - Little Nighmares
I just wanted more from this game. It ended up being some fairly simple puzzles with light horror, and I got bored.

#29 - Borderlands 2
On paper I'm totally down for a grindy FPS with tons of weapons and upgrades, but I just hated all the stylistic choices made for this game. The characters are not funny, the cell shaded graphics gave me headaches, and the grind got boring quick.

#28 - Untitled Goose Game
It was okay. Fun for an hour or so, but then it just felt like simple puzzles with no real dynamic interactions.

#27 - Hitman (2016)
I can appreciate these games (considering I've played the entire trilogy), but I just don't find them particularly engaging. My main gripe is a lack of interesting story or characters, though I know that's not what the game was going for necessarily.

#26 - Prey (2017)
Really cool world and environments, but the combat felt very underdeveloped. By the end I was ready to be done.

#25 - Doom (1993)
Great game for its time, and has aged pretty well, but I can't put it higher against games that were more engaging for me.

#24 - Outlast
Decent horror title that had me engaged from beginning to end, though most of the engagements felt too scripted.

#23 - Doom (2016)
Great combat and levels, but just not my cup of tea. I'm not huge on unnecessary gore.

#22 - Hellblade Senua's Sacrifice
Had some interesting levels and mechanics, though felt a little too simple by the end.

#21 - Banjo Kazooie
Donkey Kong 64 > Banjo Kazooie

#20 - Bioshock 2
Good game with fun skills and level design, though it felt inferior to the first.

#19 - Celeste
I'm not generally into side scrollers, but this game was very good. Would be higher on my list if it was more my type of game.

#18 - Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order
Combat was pretty good, but I loved the level design and Worlds. Dark Souls did it first though, and better.

#17 - Bioshock
A masterpiece in some ways, but lacking in others for me. The characters are all interacted with through calls and tapes and the looting is too aggressive.

#16 - Beyond Good and Evil
Hard to describe, but very fun. A surprisingly original puzzle platformer.

#15 - Zelda A Link to the Past
Great dungeons. Overworld was a bit tedious though.

#14 - Fallout 4
Open World RPGs are my favorite type of game and though this one wasn't the best Fallout, it's still a great game.

#13 - Dragon Age Origins
Great characters, writing, and quests. Combat was a little too tedious.

#12 - Lost Odyssey
Surprisingly solid JRPG. Better than many of the Final Fantasy games in my opinion. Very well worth a playthrough.

#11 - A Plague Tale Innocence
Great story, characters and gameplay. No complaints really, I just can't put it in my top 10 against the rest of the games on this list.

#10 - Shadow of the Colossus
No other game like it. Some of the most epic boss battles ever. The game needs something more outside of those bosses though.

#9 - Dead Space
A thrilling horror title that does not let up. Only complaint is enemy variety and overuse of enemies taking away from the horror by the end.

#8 - The Outer Worlds
I love the level design and writing. Not the most polished game, but feels like a classic yet original open world RPG.

#7 - Resident Evil 4
Leon <3

#6 - Zelda Breath of the Wild
The best and most unique sandbox open world RPG out there. I just wish it had more characters, dialog, and story.

#5 - Alan Wake
A thriller title with horror elements that absolutely nails the atmosphere. I can't stop coming back to it.

#4 - The Evil Within
In many ways this and the sequel are better than Resident Evil in my opinion. Each level is unique and changes up the variables so that the game always feels fresh. Great DLC too.

#3 - Alien Isolation
The levels look plucked straight out of the Alien movies. The AI is phenomenal and adds so much to the scare factor. This game is near perfect in my opinion. Where's the sequel?

#2 - Soma
I'm realizing many of these top ones are horror games. I'm generally not biased towards them, I guess that's just how this ranking worked out based on the games in the list. Soma is my favorite horror title with perfect atmosphere, unique enemies, level design, and story. It's everything a horror game should strive to be.

#1 - Elden Ring
One of the most engaging experiences I've had while playing a game. Once you get going there's no stopping. It's hard, but there always feels like something you can do to progress. It feels like 5 games worth of content stuffed into one.

Not very deep for me admittedly. I tend to beat a game and then move on. I'm not big on lore, especially when you have to research outside of the game itself. Really I just like to experience games for what they are in a generally vanilla way.

Call of Duty Advanced Warfare. My Xbox account has achievements for completing all the campaign missions, but I swear I didn't. I know for a fact that no one else completed the game on my account as well.

Maybe the game is just that forgettable.

Great question! I'll go from #5 to #1 to help build suspense :)

#5 - Excerpt from the Ecstasy - Destiny

Destiny has a phenomenal album. Marty did it again, yet it sounds so different than Halo! This track in particular is my favorite because of all the different wind insrutruments fading in and out. The track simply makes you feel hopeful.

#4 - Dearly Beloved - Kingdom Hearts 3

The entire Kingdom Hearts series has scores that radiate this feeling of nostalgia. I say that as someone who didn't play them growing up either! This track feels particularly special with its simple background piano tune, but tons of string and wind instruments in the foreground building and then slowing over time. There are a few iterations of it but I think KH3 is the best of them.

#3 - Ending Theme - Octopath Traveler

Octopath Traveler has one of the most dynamic and fitting soundtracks out there, and the ending theme is the culmination of it all. It would take pages to summarize the whole track. Each character, main battle, and area of the map has its own tune, and this final track puts all that together in one.

#2 - Overture - Halo 3: ODST

There's over 100 Halo tracks I could've picked, but this one stands out for being so unique and by far the most atmospheric track of them all. The rain at the beginning, the saxophone, the flute, the build up halfway through the track, the piano, it all comes together to make you feel like you went on a journey by the end. Marty's best work in my opinion.

#1 - CHIKAI (Instrumental) - Kingdom Hearts 3

This track is simply beautiful. If I'm ever feeling stressed I just listen to this track. I won't even explain this one, just go listen to it!

This thread is for those who don't know what to play next and want someone else to pick for them!

If you want someone else to pick a game for you, post that in this thread.

If you are picking a game for someone else, go to their backlog, find a game, respond to their post in this thread with the selection, and explain why you picked that.

Just a couple rules:
1) if you're asking for someone to pick a game for you, you must play the game that the first responder picks (as long as it's in your backlog).
2) if you complete a game someone picked for you, follow up on this thread explaining how the game was.

Just finished it about a month ago. It's a truly special game. Overall I'd give it a 4.5/5 but I do have some complaints.

- Weapons breaking made me want to challenge enemies less, and therefore explore less.
- Traversal, even with all the climbing gear on, felt a bit slow.
- No great way to find all 120 shrines without looking some up online. They should've had a shrine count by region so you don't have to explore the whole map in the endgame.
- No true endgame at all, just spawns you back at the final area once you beat it.

Just started Ghostwire Tokyo and I really realty don't get this game. The combat feels half-baked, there's little enemy variety, the story makes little sense, and it has absolutely no scare factor.

Also working my way through some random ones. Final Fantasy The 4 Heroes of Light for the DS. It's considered the spiritual predecessor to the Bravely Default games. Kinda simple and I like it. Mario Kart Wii because it's great. Call of Duty Big Red One and Modern Warfare Defiance for the DS as they're 2 of the 3 CoD games I haven't beat.

Really I'm just in waiting mode until Zelda Tears of the Kingdom releases.

I too recently beat Death Stranding. I was confused about how I felt about the game while I was playing it, and to this day am confused about how I feel about it. When the trailer dropped for DS2 I was equal parts excited and in horror of the thought of making more tedious deliveries. Beating the game does feel like a true win, however I didn't walk away from the game feeling good either. Hideo made a game that I can't put a genre categorization on, I can't figure out how I feel about it, I can't believe I took the time to beat, and yet I can't not play the sequel when it comes out.

The more I think about it I'm not sure if beating DS is winning or losing...

So many Resident Evil 6 supporters in here, almost like it's not a hated title XD

How many completions do you have for each of the categories on the Stats page? Each category has 100 games, so all of these would be out of 100.

For example, here are my completion counts:

Most Backlogged --> 25
Most Submitted ----> 34
Most Speedruns ---> 22
Most Retired --------> 9
Most Reviewed ----> 37
Top Now Playing --> 25
Top Rated ----------> 10
Worst Rated -------> 2
Shortest Games --> 0
Longest Games ---> 8

I know this is an old post, but I have to revive it because The Evil Within 2 is a fantastic game. I'm a fan of the first, and this one improves on almost every aspect.

First off, this title feels so unique. The more open sections of the game are very well crafted, and provide for a very different horror experience. Most horror titles confront you with small challenges of sneaking past or killing enemies, and then you are able to find solace in a safe area, knowing you are one checkpoint closer to beating the game. The Evil Within 2 does much more than that. By giving you open areas with much needed loot hidden about, the game gives a lot of incentive to explore. Going into a building that isn't where the main objective is has to be one of the weirdest feelings ever. You don't know what loot you're going to find, or what enemies you'll run into next.

The setting of the game is also very original for a horror title, as it gives off a very twisted sense of familiarity. The game takes place in a small town called Union. The name alone was creepy enough for me because my wife and I both grew up in towns with the word "Union" in them. The small town vibes are initially comforting, but once you start seeing some of the creatures that inhabit it, you'll feel uneasy around every corner.

The story is also fantastic, though I won't get into details. Despite the first title's convoluted story with very one-dimensional characters, this game will have you caring for most of them.

Overall, this is a must-play horror title. I personally enjoyed it more than any Resident Evil game I've played, and I found it to be much scarier as well. I may go back and play through it in first-person mode, but I'll either have to get my TV mounted in the bathroom, or get used to the feeling of soiled pants first.

I wasn't where to post this but there is a new documentary about video game history coming to Netflix in a few days. It will tell the history of the gaming industry through classics like PAC-Man, Doom, Sonic, Madden, etc. The series is narrated by Charles Martinet too, which is nice.

IGN got the exclusivity for the opening credits of the show that I'm sharing here.

My wife and I have watched through the first half of High Score, and I can confirm that it's fantastic. It's designed for those who know very little about gaming history, but I've still learned quite a bit myself. If anything it's very well made.

I've got a few:

- Aliens: Colonial Marines - I won't defend this game or anything, but I had fun with it. Pretty much anything in the Alien franchise is exciting for me.

- Batman Telltale Series (including The Enemy Within) - Both have fairly poor user scores on metacritic, so I'll count that as "hated". I really enjoyed these two titles, and found The Enemy Within to be especially fun to play through.

- Call of Duty Ghosts - One of the poorest rated CoD games, but one of my favorites. The campaign was actually really unique, and I loved the gameplay and setting.

- Donkey Kong 64 - I know many people consider this to be a beloved title, but I've also heard many people barrage this game with hate because of the tedious nature of collecting. It's the collectathon of collectathons. However, I love this game. It's so creative and unique, and everything about it is extremely memorable. I don't care that you have to revisit worlds many times to complete the game when the worlds are so interesting.

- Kingdom Hearts 3 - This title isn't really hated, but it is usually regarded as a disappointment compared to the previous titles. For me, having played KH1, KH2, and KH3 in the past year, I can say that my favorite is by far KH3. It honestly improves on almost every aspect of the gameplay, world design, and story.

- Mass Effect Andromeda - I can agree that this game is the worst in the series, but it's still a fun sci-fi title. I can understand the hate, but I'm having a lot of fun with it (currently playing).

- Metro Exodus - I'm not sure why, but this game has a 68 user score on metacritic. This is by far the best Metro title, and one of the best games of 2019. The semi-open world level design has never been done better, and will encourage you to explore every inch of it. The gameplay and story are also solid.

- Observation - An indie title from 2019 with a user score of 64. I thought it had really fun and unique gameplay of interfacing with tons of modules throughout the space stations, and the story was fantastic. The zero gravity cameras were disorienting, but didn't ruin the experience or anything.

- Resident Evil 6 - Simply a very fun title. Easily one of the most hated in the series for being very action oriented, but I had a blast playing through it. Don't get me wrong, I love the more horror oriented titles in the series, but I also enjoyed the action.

- Star Wars Battlefront 2 (2017) - This game has a 13 user score on metacritic. I understand much of that is the backlash from the games old pay-to-win mechanics, but it's still hated by most. For me, the campaign was pretty fun, if not a little predictable and corny. The multiplayer is really good though. Much better than Battlefront (2015).

- World War Z - Has a 55 user score. Not sure why, I thought it was really fun, and the hoards were genuinely overwhelming, in a good way.

This is frustrating. How can they show the game off in July, and then push the release date back in August? Unless this all boils down to improving graphics, they would've known the game wasn't ready beforehand.

As a data engineer, I completely understand that developing technical solutions is difficult. Video games are just different kinds of technical solutions, especially when a new engine is involved. These things take time, and most consumers understand that nowadays.

That being said, I personally don't care how long it takes to make a game. Tease it whenever to let people know it's being developed, and then wait until it's almost ready to start showing gameplay/trailers. I get that the backlash would've been insane had Microsoft not showed any Halo gameplay during the showcase, but at least don't give a release date until you're sure you can meet it.

I'm gonna list them off in order of completions. You could say I'm somewhat of a rebel.

S - 54
C - 51
T - 32
H - 29
M - 26
A - 25
B - 24
D - 19
F - 19
G - 12
R - 12
P - 10
L - 9
W - 9
K - 5
O - 4
Z - 3
I - 2
N - 2
E - 1
J - 1
U - 1
Y - 1
Q - 0
V - 0
X - 0

The gameplay in Kingdom Hearts 3 is the best it has ever been and it is crazy amounts of fun.
But the game kind of expects you to have done your homework, meaning having played all the other games first and it won´t explain anything about the story, because you´re expected to know already.

To be honest I'm not sure how you'd summarize a story like KH though. I've watched plenty of "Kingdom Hearts Explained" videos on YouTube, only to find that the games make literally no sense.

Most explanations I've seen give a lot of WHATs about the plot, but not a lot of WHYs.

Interesting. I haven't played the third one myself but that's something I like to hear. What exactly makes it better?

- Matt

They simply improve on almost every aspect of the game. I have a theory that much of people's hype for KH1 & KH2 is based on nostalgia.

First, the worlds are more open, and don't require loading screens every 5 feet. The Pirates of the Caribbean world is even an open world area in KH3. I just played through that same world in KH2, and it was very linear and closed off. The worlds in KH3 really do capture the feeling of being in a Disney world, and the improved graphics over time do nothing but help that fact.

Second, the stories of the originals are not better. When KH3 launched, I kept hearing people complain that the game lacked story, and progression in the main plot. However, having played KH1 & KH2 this year, I can say that they are the same way. Most of the time spent in each Disney world is for that world's subplot. If anything, KH3's subplots are longer and more fleshed out. People complained that some of the Disney world subplots simply follow the same plot as the movie as well, but KH1 & KH2 both do the same thing. I'm not a huge fan of KH's convoluted mess of a story, but I can say that KH3 focuses on it just as much as the old ones.

Third, the gameplay is nearly the same as before. There is more emphasis on the special abilities in KH3, but KH2 focuses almost just as much on them. The rest is essentially the same.

All in all, I truly think that people have nostalgia for the old ones making them feel better than they truly were. Being someone who's played them for the first time in 2019 and 2020, I don't have the nostalgia filter, and can say that KH3 tops the originals by a long shot.

My entire library currently contains 602 games, and 6,303 hours of gameplay (not counting any multiplayer only games). Out of that, 2,831 hours are for completed games, and 3,472 hours are for backlogged games. This year, in 7 months, I have completed 749 hours of games. Putting aside the fact that this year's number is alarmingly high, if I keep the pace, it will take me ~2.7 years to complete the rest of the games.

This is, if I don't purchase any more video games...