Top 20, 100, etc List of Games

[Antimatter]

This week, GQ Magazine published a list of the best 100 games of all time, ranked by "the world's greatest game developers, streamers, directors, writers, and more". You can see the authors of that list below the #1 game.

https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/best-video-games-all-time

I personally have a lot of questions about this list and disagree with many choices there. But it wasn't created by one expert or even a team of experts. 300 individuals participated, and all of them are respected game developers or journalists.

However, I think the topic of creating an "ultimate" list is very fun, but I am not ready to list one hundred games for such a list probably. I wouldn't be able to even create a list of my favourite games of all time, because my views constantly evolve and change based on what I see, try, and play. E.g. what I would have picked 10 years ago, might have been different to my picks today. I also can't name the "most influential" games as that would require a lot more research, knowledge, and, again, my own experience with these games.

Feel free to use this thread to share any of your personal lists by whatever criteria you want. I will start with my personal top-20 list by the following criteria: games that affected my personality aka games that influenced me the most (from my childhood days to today). I also wouldn't include games from the same series more than once (or it'll be not a top-20 but a top-40 list), but would put a number to a game from a series so that I could share which game from X series influenced me the most.

1. Baldur's Gate 2
2. The Witcher 3
3. Diablo 2
4. Heroes of Might & Magic 3
5. Cyberpunk 2077
6. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
7. Age of Empires 2
8. Dragon Age: Origins
9. Mass Effect 3
10. Divinity: Original Sin 2
11. Portal 2
12. Disco Elysium
13. Death Stranding
14. Wolfenstein 2: New Colossus
15. RimWorld
16. Yakuza: Like a Dragon
17. My Time At Portia
18. It Takes Two
19. Elder Scrolls Online
20. Might & Magic VI

What do you think of these choices? What would your list be? You can explain your choices or just put the games without any other commentary. What do you think about the GQ Magazine list?

 

[alice_ashpool]

It's really just a personal favourite list in somewhat descending order:
WotR
BG1
BG2
IWD1
Kingmaker
IWD2
Morrowind
Dark souls 2
Dishonoured
Thief 2
DA:O
D2
HoMM3
Painkiller

 

[Cahir]

Here's my personal best list. Initially, I included games from the same franchise, but decided to follow @Antimatter's rule to list only the game that influences me the most from the whole franchise. The only deviation from this rule is Fallout, because Interplay and Bethesda/Obsidian titles are completely different games to me. Also. I treat the whole Mass Effect Trilogy as one game, even if not every part impacted me the same. But to me, it's a coherent story.

So, without further ado, here's my top 20.

1. Red Dead Redemption 2
2. Planescape: Torment
3. Mass Effect Trilogy
4. Dragon Age: Origins
5. Cyberpunk 2077
6. The Witcher 3
7. Baldur's Gate 2
8. Heroes of Might and Magic 3
9. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2
10. Ghost of Tsushima
11. Fallout 2
12. Fallout: New Vegas
13. Vampire Masquerade: Bloodlines
14. Assassin's Creed 2
15. The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind
16. Diablo 1
17. Arcanum
18. Mortal Kombat 2
19. Might and Magic VI: Mandate of Heaven
20. Detroit: Become Human

Honorary mentions (Amiga era):

• Ishar Trilogy
• Gunship 2000
• Sid Meier's: Colonization
• Desert Strike
• Cannon Fodder
• Wings

Honorary mentions (Atari era):

• Boulder Dash (this game taught me logical thinking in computer gaming)
• Miecze Valdgira (an old Polish platformer game with fantasy elements, that lit a spark in me for fantasy/rpg games)
• Bruce Lee (the game that taught me reflexes and dexterity)
• International Karate (probably the first game I played together with someone on one screen)
• Hyper Olympic (destroyed at least 3 joysticks playing this game)

 

[m7600]

My favorites are:

1) Planescape: Torment
2) Baldur's Gate 2
3) The Temple of Elemental Evil
4) Arcanum
5) Heroes of Might and Magic 3
6) Battle for Wesnoth
7) Quest for Glory 3
8) Moonstone: A Hard Day's Knight
9) Veil of Darkness
10) Diablo 2

 

[m7600]

What do you think about the GQ Magazine list?

It's... odd. For example, I find it particularly odd that no Infinity Engine made it to the list. There's no game from the Baldur's Gate series, for example. Also, there's no game from the Diablo series either... I would have thought that Diablo 1 or 2 would be in a list like this one. There's no game from the Mortal Kombat franchise either. Now that is just ridiculous. Street Fighter 2 made it to the list, but Mortal Kombat didn't? How does that make any sense? And I say that as a Street Fighter fan!

I could mention more examples, but I think those are enough for my case. It's an odd list.

 

[Nimran]

I have my favorites. Ranking them is hard, as they have all played a crucial role in my development, both as a player of games and as a person. So instead of ranking them, I will list them, and give a brief explanation of why.

In no particular order, my top 10:

Jagged Alliance 2— “Time to take out the trash!” The character creator was the best of all time. That IMP psyche profile/questionnaire was filled with hilarious, if dated, references and jokes that made it VERY difficult to select the ‘normal’ options. Most of my created characters were psychos because of them. It also has one of the most heavily quoted lines in my household growing up, usually spoken (with the same tone and emphasis, mind you) when it was time to take out the actual trash.

MechCommander— I’ve seen the intro to this game so many times that I can recite the whole thing from memory, decades after I had last played it. That accursed Hollander in the second mission kicked my ass so many times until I finally figured out how to deal with it.

Baldur’s Gate— Heya, it’s Baldur’s Gate! I can’t make a top 10 list without putting Baldur’s Gate in it. Top 10 brands of tooth paste? Baldur’s Gate is one of ‘em. This game got me interested in RPGs, and it always puts a smile on my face when I hear people talking about it. I don’t even care that sometimes people who see me smile out of nowhere give me a look like I’m the crazy one.

Lords of Magic— My first strategy game experience came from this absolute gem. Despite the dated graphics, I still play it today from time to time. It’s really quite simple for a strategy game, which made it an easier time for my 4-year-old mind to figure out.

Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic— Arguably the best fantasy strategy game I’ve ever played, it’s the first game I’ve played that came with its own scenario creator/editor. I’ve spent countless hours just making new maps and playing around with them.

Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn— Okay, I know what you’re (probably) thinking. You’re (probably) thinking that putting both Baldur’s Gates in my list is a bit of a copout. Well, you’d be wrong (probably). There’s a reason why both of these BGs are on this list, and it isn’t to fill up space (believe me, there’s plenty of competition). From the small, minor NPC dialogues that have caused many a spit-take, to the epic overarching story, to the badass villains and engaging side quests… I need not go on. HUGE games, and they will always have a place in my heart (definitely).

And now, the jRPGs:

Pokémon Red: Back in the days of yore, when there were only 151 Pokémon, before Dark and Steel types even existed, before Ghost types had any moves, when Psychic types were king, and Pete’s dragon (Dragonite) was the only Dragon type, my journey as a Pokémon trainer had started. When the time came to choose my starter, did I pick Charmander? No. Squirtle Squad for life!

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance— The only Final Fantasy game that I have ever enjoyed playing was this little gem, and boy was it fun. The job system was so unique at the time, and frankly, no other game does it better. It’s an absolute masterpiece, and it’s a handheld game.

Tales of Vesperia— The Tales of series, to me, was my ‘Final Fantasy’. I thought the side-scrolling battle camera was so unique and fresh. Little did I know that the Tales of franchise would become a bastardized, bland and generic shadow of its former self, but hey, I still have my old games that I can still play. Tales of Vesperia was, and still is, one of the best jRPGs of all time. It is definitely worth a complete playthrough.

Persona 4: the Golden— The only game worth playing on the PS Vita when that was a thing, Persona 4 is the best Persona game imo. Yes, I’ve played 3, and yes, I’ve played 5, but I just for the life of me could not get into those games. I still haven’t finished a single playthrough of them. Persona 4, on the other hand, is a game that I have beaten at least ten times. Trust me, you’re gonna want to play this one if you haven’t already.

 

[Antimatter]

PC Gamer updated their Top 100 list. BG3 is not included as the list takes into consideration games released up until July.

The top 100 PC games

PC Gamer's annual list of the best games you can play on PC.

www.pcgamer.com

It's one of the "better" Top 100 lists. However: Diablo 4 is there, but Diablo 2 is not. HoMM 3 is not there. Age of Empires games are not present. No Cyberpunk 2077 is a crime as well.

Also, the list uses the Neverwinter Nights image, not the Baldur's Gate 2 one (beholders are present in both).