Off the top of my head? Alan Wake 2, Max Payne 2, Silent Hill2, Mario Kart 64, and Assassin’s Creed Unity.

Some of them are nostalgia, some of them come from a genuine love and appreciation for the game

In the order I played them,

Metroid Prime, WoW, Subnautica, Satisfactory, Hollow Knight

Elden Ring

Baldurs Gate 3

VtolVr

Borderlands 2 (based on when I played it years ago, it was peak as a middle schooler)

Beamng (once I got a wheel, it got bumped up)

Prob not super accurate, just the first 5 that come to mind.

I literally spent the entire night thinking about this lol. Don’t judge me but here we go. In no particular order:

1. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim [PS3,PS4,PC]
2. Super Mario 64 [N64]
3. Yu-Gi-Oh Forbidden Memories [PS1]
4. Pokémon Trading Card Game [GB Color]
5. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 [Xbox360]

Outer Wilds

UNBEATABLE

Portal 2

Rhythm Doctor

Peaks of Yore

• Wizball on the C64. I cannot even begin to explain how much fun I had with that game.
• Wing Commander III on the Amiga. Ginger Lynn Allen in all her pixellated glory? AND Tim Curry? What more can you ask?
• Ratchet & Clank (all of them) on the PS2. Shout-out for Jak & Daxter though.
• Silent Hill III on the PS2. Not necessarily the best SH game, but the first one I played, and that amusement park was the first time I was ever genuinely scared by a video game.
• Half Life 2 on PC. I mean, nuff said.

I love loads of games, old and new - I feel really bad that Uncharted, MGS, Alan Wake, Control, Death Stranding, and a load of other brilliant games aren't on that list, but I feel like those 5 are the ones that were most epoch-defining for me for the kind of games I love.

There’s a lot of people with good taste in this thread. Will edit when I think of mine

Chrono Trigger

Outer Wilds

Subnautica

Deus Ex

Ocarina of Time

Half-life 2

Full Throttle

Day of the Tentacle

Broforce

Assassin's Creed 2

• Galaxian (5200, 1982)
• The Dungeons of Moria (DOS, 1983)
• The Legend of Zelda (NES, 1987)
• King's Quest IV (DOS, 1988)
• Microsoft Solitaire (Win 3, 1990)

Honorable mentions:

• Centipede (1981)
• Shinobi (1987)
• Doom (1993)
• Day of the Tentacle (1993)
• Myst (1993)
• Tie Fighter (1994)
• Minecraft (2011)

1. Dark Souls
2. BioShock
3. The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim
4. Metal Gear Solid 4
5. Disco Elysium

Arma 3 Sonic 3 and Knuckles Resident Evil 4 Dark Souls 2 Metal Gear Solid 1

Lucky for me, I already had to make a top 25 when topsters lists went around earlier this year.

I can hardly believe it, but trimming this down to 5 now seems to be just as hard as building it up to 25 back then... uh, you pick 5?

For me, it’s the following:

• The Sims 2
• Fallout New Vegas
• A Short Hike
• GTA San Andreas
• Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations

Honourable mentions include Skyrim, Undertale, Assassin’s Creed II, Breath of the Wild, and Pokémon Emerald.

resident evil 4

portal

Metroid prime

metal gear solid

god of war (ps2)

Pokemon crystal

1. Dance Dance Revolution 8th Mix - Extreme

2. Deus Ex HR

3. Fallout NV

4. Fallout 4

5. Deus Ex

(6. Deus Ex MD)

1. The Lord of the rings online
2. Guild Wars 2
3. Valheim
4. Civilization 5
5. Ascendency

The order would probably change each time I need to think of this:

• Stalker GAMMA
• System Shock 2
• Prey (2016)
• Call of Duty : Modern Warfare 2 (2009)
• Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Other ones up there:

• Final Fantasy X
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
• Balatro
• Resident Evil 2 (1998)
• The shareware version of Commander Keen on my grandfather's PC when I was a child

• Half-Life 2 and Half-Life + Portal
• Earthbound and Mother 3
• Mario Kart 7 (+ 8 and World)
• Daxter
• Fable on the OG Xbox

Dwarf fortress

Valhiem

Factorio

Starsector

Half life 1+2

1. GTA VI
2. GTA V
3. GTA IV
4. GTA San Andreas
5. GTA Vice City

In no particular order, here's some games I absolutely adore, some of which absolutely have deep flaws.

Undertale

Gotcha Force

Dragon's Dogma

Kenshi

F-Zero GX

I feel like I'm deeply undercutting some loves, especially story driven games (such as the popular in this thread disco elysium) because I simply haven't poured dozens of hours of them individually and they don't spring to mind as easily. Devil May Cry 5, World War Z, Death Road to Canada, Mass Effect (yes, one), there are so many greats, and I want to enjoy them all. But when I think facorites, I end up thinking of games that let me go fast and explore a cool world

Mass Effect 2, Baldur's Gate 3, Starcraft: Brood War, Witcher 3, Natural Selection 2

I don't have the mental capacity right now to put together a list, but one that I haven't seen listed that would definitely be in my top 5 would be Star Control 2.

The game has a lot of "really good...for its time" to it but it's still one of my favorites.