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

Welcome to the 2024 edition of the PC Gamer Top 100—our annual list of the best PC games around.

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).

 

[Antimatter]

Another attempt at a Top 100 list, this time by Eurogamer. Double standards are strong in this one as well. Eurogamer gave BG3 a 4 (from 5) but this list shows it as the #6 overall...

The Eurogamer 100

To celebrate Eurogamer's anniversary, our list of the 100 best video games to play right now.

www.eurogamer.net

No Witcher 3 on the list. No TES or Fallout games... No D:OS 2. No HoMM games, no Diablo 2 either. No Infinity Engine games.

 

[O_Bruce]

According to them, you would rather play Tetris instead of any of the games mentioned by @Antimatter

 

[mlnevese]

According to them, you would rather play Tetris instead of any of the games mentioned by @Antimatter

Who wouldn't?

 

[BelgarathMTH]

I don't want to rank my games, because they all change constantly in how much I favor them purely depending on my mood or what phase I'm going through. What I will do is list every favorite I can think of in rough (very rough) order of release, the main criterion for inclusion being, I still play them present day. (Not all at once, of course. I have a kind of rotation that's formed over the years.)

I'm maybe a little more spread out in sub-genres of rpg's I like. There will be more arpg's, strategy rpg's, and mmo's than I've seen on other lists so far.

Dark Wizard (Sega CD, 1997)
Heroes of Might and Magic 1
Might and Magic 6
Baldur's Gate
Heroes of Might and Magic 2
Heroes of Might and Magic 3
Might and Magic 7
Might and Magic 8
Icewind Dale
Baldur's Gate 2
Heroes of Might and Magic 4
Divine Divinity
Dungeon Siege
Neverwinter Nights
Sacred 1
Dungeon Siege 2
Titan Quest
Sacred 2
Fate
Torchlight
Neverwinter Nights 2
Dragon Age: Origins
Diablo 2 (Plug Y version briefly, then not again until more recent re-release. Sacred 1 was my first 1:1 Diablo clone - I somehow completely missed Diablo 1 & 2 on release.)
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 1 & 2
World of Warcraft
Might and Magic: Heroes 5
Grim Dawn
Elder Scrolls: Online
Lord of the Rings Online

I didn't follow a rule about not listing sequels, because if it's on the list, in has a unique place in it, especially with all the HoMM games. I've almost surely left one or more games off the list. I've tried some others, and I won't replay a lot of them. If it's on the list, it is permanently in the rotation.

 

[Antimatter]

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

Almost 2 years passed (time flies!), and what a difference that makes. I've been thinking of updating my list for a few weeks already, but I decided to exclude recency bias first properly. That's why I took my time.

That said, I've completed several games over these 2 years. Some of them turned out to be masterpieces that I will fondly remember for many years.

So, without further ado, here is my new Top 20 list as of the end of Feb, 2025 (and yes, I expect many would be surprised about the takes):

1. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
2. Baldur's Gate 3
3. Baldur's Gate 2
4. The Witcher 3
5. Diablo 2
6. Heroes of Might & Magic 3
7. Cyberpunk 2077
8. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
9. Alan Wake 2
10. NieR: Automata
11. Age of Empires II
12. Dragon Age: Origins
13. Mass Effect 3
14. Divinity: Original Sin 2
15. Portal 2
16. Disco Elysium
17. Death Stranding
18. Wolfenstein 2: New Colossus
19. Elder Scrolls Online
20. Yakuza: Infinite Wealth

 

[Alesia_BH]

Interesting. I'm not sure that I've even played 20 games, so I definitely can't offer a top 20.

I'd be curious to hear about your placement of Mass Effect 3. Putting ME3 on the list, and not ME 1 or 2, is an uncommon take. I like the ME3 ending more than most people, but I still wouldn't view ME3 as the standout within the series.

 

[Antimatter]

Probably even the better option would be to put something like the whole Legendary Edition (remaster) there instead of one particular game. But I picked ME3 because I consider it best from the gameplay and party relationship perspectives. ME2 is regarded as the best of them overall (by critics) but I think ME3 beats ME2 in terms of those 2 aspects. The Citadel DLC is the best part of the whole trilogy for me. ME3 also, one way or another (depending on what the player thinks about the ending) provides a conclusion to the story, so it's the biggest story beat.

 

[Alesia_BH]

Probably even the better option would be to put something like the whole Legendary Edition (remaster) there instead of one particular game. But I picked ME3 because I consider it best from the gameplay and party relationship perspectives.

Makes sense. ME3 faced the most substantial challenges narrative wise, and it met those challenges reasonably well. I respect that.

As for gameplay, I, personally, was disappointed with 2 & 3, since I regretted the movement away from the more RPG-like dynamic of 1. I appreciate that I’m in the minority here, though, and acknowledge the enhanced fun factor of the 2 & 3 approach.

Were I to rank the three installments in isolation, I’d feel compelled to go 2>1>3, but I’d prefer to group them all together in the LE edition. I’d probably end up putting ME LE third on my short, idiosyncratic list, behind BG2 and Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri.

 

[JustKneller]

I've never been good at rank ordering things, but I can probably finagle a top 20 in no real particular order list.

1. Terraria
2. Final Fantasy IX
3. Half-Life
4. Fallout 2
5. Planescape: Torment
6. Thief: The Dark Project
7. System Shock 2
8. Deus Ex
9. Don't Starve Together
10. Final Fantasy VI
11. Fallout: New Vegas
12. Portal (I liked GLaDOS a little bit more than the other guy)
13. Super Metroid
14. Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
15. Guardian Legend
16. Icewind Dale
17. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
18. Metal Gear Solid (the first PS game)
19. Shadowrun (SNES)
20. Diablo 2

 

[OrlonKronsteen]

Hmmm... I don't even know if I have 20 games in total to contemplate. But here is an off of the top of my head list. My ranking is based on two main criteria: how good I thought the game was (relative by era), and on the amount of impact the game had on me - or how much fun I had.

1. BG1
2. BG2
3. Intellevision Hockey
4. Resident Evil 2
5. Civilization 2
6. Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
7. EA Sports NHL '94
8. Dungeons & Dragons: Warriors of the Eternal Sun
9. Metal Gear Solid
10. BG3
11. Resident Evil: Code Veronica
12. Resident Evil HD Remake
13. Resident Evil 0
14. KotOR
15. KotOR2
16. Jade Empire
17. Pillars of Eternity 2

 

[Enuhal]

All right, I'm trying myself at a ranking. It is sort of difficult for me to put games of different genres into the same ranking as they are somewhat hard to compare. Aside from RPGs, there will mostly be RTS games, and some turn-based strategy. Obviously, there are a ton of great games that I simply have never played and that won't be able to make the list because of that. I am also implementing a "only 1 game per series" rule.

1. Baldur's Gate 2: SoA (kind of shares the spot with BG1)
2. World of Warcraft Classic (sharing the spot with WoW: The Burning Crusade)
3. Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition (especially the Dawn of the Dukes DLC and the Chronicles: Battle for Greece DLC)
4. Diablo II: LoD
5. Warcraft 3: TFT
6. Dragon Age: Origins
7. Pillars of Eternity II (hard to say if I like the first or second game more at this point)
8. Heroes of Might and Magic 3
9. Master of Orion II
10. Planescape: Torment
11. Pentiment
12. Star Craft: Brood War
13. Knights of the Old Republic II
14. Jade Empire
15. Drakensang: The River of Time (imo quite a bit better than the first game, if you discount the pointless addon; Also based on the German RPG system "The Dark Eye" which I play in real life with my friends)
16. Neverwinter Nights II (If I had to pick an addon, propably Mask of the Betrayer)
17. Mass Effect I (the second game might be better for a lot of people, but I like RPG elements in my games, what can I say)
18. Dota 2
19. Memoria (another "The Dark Eye" game, this time in the adventure genre, the successor to the also great "Chains of Satinav")
20. Age of Mythology

Honorable mentions to Battle Realms, Stronghold I, Icewind Dale I, Torchlight II, Jedi Knight III, Ignition and Portal I - all of them could, depending on my feelings at the time, get a place in the last 10 spots of the list.

 

[Cahir]

All right, time to refresh the list a bit. Quite entry into top 3!

1. Red Dead Redemption 2
2. Baldur's Gate 3
3. Planescape: Torment
4. Mass Effect: Legendary Edition
5. Dragon Age: Origins
6. Cyberpunk 2077
7. The Witcher 3
8. Balatro
9. Baldur's Gate 2
10. Heroes of Might and Magic 3
11. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2
12. Ghost of Tsushima
13. Fallout 2
14. Fallout: New Vegas
15. Vampire Masquerade: Bloodlines
16. Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader
17. Assassin's Creed 2
18. The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind
19. Starfield
20. Diablo 1

 

[Black Elk]

Ok I think I can list 100, if including the arcade too, and restricting myself only to stuff I still have a very clear and distinct memory of playing/enjoying. Going vaguely chronologically if I grouped by system I remember more readily some of the randoms from earliest memories to when things are a bit more focused.

1. Frogger - intellivision

2. Arcade Star Wars the sit down one, with like saw dust and peanuts on the floor

Atari 2600 Era - shag carpet
3 .Lode Runner
4. Missile Command
5. Joust

6. The Oregon Trail - Must have been at school

NES Era-
7. Kung Fu
8. Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt same cartridge hehe
9. Punch Out
10. Contra
11. Excite Bike
12. Kid Icarus
13. Paperboy
14. Donkey Kong - flip open
15. Tetris - Game Boy
16. Metroid - Game boy
17. The Legend of Zelda
18. Mega Man 2
19. Castlevania
20. Ninja Gaiden
21. Double Dragon
22. Super Mario Bros 2
23. Super Mario Bros 3

Genesis Era -
24. Shinobi
25. Altered Beast
26. Ecco
27. Sonic
28. Madden 92

L2ish Era -
29. Sim City
30. Civilization
31. Might and Magic III
32. Monkey Island
33. Loom
34. Prince of Persia
35. Unlimited Adventures

Super Nintendo Era -
36. Mario All Stars
37. Mario World
38. Link to the Past
39. F Zero
40. Act Raiser
41. Super Star Wars
42. Mystical Ninja
43. Yoshi's Island
44. Super Metroid
45. Mario Kart

Arcade Eras -
46. Ms. Pacman
47. Centipede
48. 720
49. Street Fighter 2
50. Bust a Move
51. Area 51
52. Terminator 2
53. Mortal Kombat
54. Ninja Turtles
55. Blitz
56. NBA Jams

Playstation Era-
57. Twisted Metal 2
58. Gran Turismo
59. Resident Evil
60. X Games

Nintendo 64 Era-
61. Mario Kart
62. Zelda Ocarina of Time
63. Turok
64. Star Fox
65. Golden Eye

PC Era-
66. Wolfenstein
67. Doom
68. Warcraft
69. Dune II
70. Might and Magic V
71. Age of Empires
72. Master of Orion II
73. Diablo
74. Iron Blitz
75. Rainbow Six
76. RISK II
77. Baldur's Gate
78. Planescape
79. Unreal
80. Starcraft
81. Shogun Total War
82. Icewind Dale
83. Baldur's Gate 2
84. Medieval Total War
85. Neverwinter Nights

Xbox-
86. 1080
87. Halo
88. Kotor

PS2-
89. Battlefront 2

PS3-
90. Dragon Age
91. Lego Clone Wars III
92. Skyrim
93. Black Ops II
94. Red Dead Redemption

PC again-
95. Portal
96. Bioshock
97. Pillars of Eternity
98. Pathfinder
99. Axis and Allies Online
100. SWTOR

And the sorta caught up back to like BG3 and whatever I've been playing lately lol

What surprised me, when thinking about it in terms of the hardware, was how some systems loomed really large in my memory and nostalgia, but even there mostly it was commanded by just a couple titles. Games where I must have just put in hours and hours and hours probably, cause I get a flash for all of those. If I had to go desert island I could probably play those titles in the sand, in my head, till I went insane heheh. Sorta etched right in there, deep grooves. Not sure if they were all that great, but a couple of 'em for sure, and the ones I'm still remembering, must have made some sort of impression haha.