Although I have a particular interest in narrative in games, my tastes are by no means limited to games with great stories. To give an idea of games I’ve enjoyed, here’s a list, separated by genre, of my favorite games over the years. You’ll notice it’s pretty PC-heavy, since my first console besides the original gray-brick GameBoy was a PS2 that I bought right before the Xbox 360 came out.
In the case of series I’ll summarize it as such if I’ve enjoyed the whole thing, or I’ll list specific numbers if I either haven’t played the whole series, or there have been one or two stinkers in the bunch.
Action:
- Beyond Good and Evil
- Bully
- Dead Rising
- Grand Theft Auto (3, Vice City, San Andreas, and 4)
- The Legend of Zelda (Link’s Awakening, Ocarina of Time)
- Lego Star Wars
- Shadow of the Colossus
Adventure:
- Day of the Tentacle
- Full Throttle
- Grim Fandango
- The Longest Journey
- Maniac Mansion
- Monkey Island (1-3)
- Myst
- Ripley’s Believe it or Not!: The Riddle of Master Lu
- Sam and Max Hit the Road
- Shivers
Fighting:
- Marvel vs. Capcom 2
- Super Smash Bros. (Original and Melee)
Platformer:
- Donkey Kong Country
- Earthworm Jim
- Psychonauts
- Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island
Rhythm:
- Audiosurf
- Guitar Hero (Series)
- Rock Band
Role-Playing:
- Chrono Trigger
- Diablo 2
- Knights of the Old Republic
- World of Warcraft*
Shooter:
- Dark Forces/Jedi Knight (Series)
- Far Cry
- Half-Life (Series)
- Magic Carpet
- No One Lives Forever (Series)
- Portal
- Serious Sam (First and Second Encounter)
- Team Fortress 2
- They Hunger (Series)**
Strategy:
- Age of Empires 2
- Civilization (2-3)
- Command & Conquer: Red Alert
- SimCity (Series)
- Starcraft
* No, I don’t play anymore, but I did spend a year and a half with it.
** A three-part, single player total conversion for Half-Life, and an excellent horror game in its own right.
