The Best Video Game...Ever

[Acrux]

Any genre; any platform; any era.

Fight down below. Thanks!!!!

[methoxetamine]

Final Fantasy 9

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Shadow of the Colossus.

I know, it became somewhat mythologically overrated in the 2000s and was used as the chief example of "but games are ackshually art!" by people who sought approval from Roger Ebert and then became disgruntled when he said games weren't art. But I think it is truly a great game.

• Great art direction. The original game still looks better than many modern games and the remake which have higher visual fidelity. From the handsome and heroic wander to his pitiable state at the end, the beautiful desolation, the oceans, the ornate and monstrous colossi, etc. The animations feel weighty. Has very convincing horse galloping. The camera also sells it.
• Simple controls. You just have a horse, a sword, and a bow. And your wits. Wander is not a master swordsman. He's just a young fool. There are no sword combos to memorize, no abilities to unlock, no stacks of items to hoard, no nothing. It is easy to control your character, you are not overloaded with options that you forget what you can do like in a lot of modern games, and the bosses do not have ridiculously complex mechanics. The action and what you need to do is coherent and intuitive.
• It is a good videogame plot, in that you get some cutscenes at the beginning to **** you in and dress up what you are doing, and then you get several hours of near uninterrupted gameplay until the end. The plot serves as a vehicle to move you from setpiece to setpiece. I like JRPGs and VNs that have a "plot" throughout with cutscenes and stuff, but that stuff complicates the game holistically and often has issues when like the writing or execution or pacing and etc which also overall damages the game. SotC sidesteps this completely. And what little plot there is competent. The atypical ending still sticks with me to this day.
• Strong atmosphere and gameplay loop as you get some orders from the demon in the ceiling, you set off riding on your horse with no music playing, only the sound of your hooves and the wind. Same feel as early Minecraft where you are the only man in this vast, empty world. You several minutes to just think, think about what you are doing, or what these evil people did that led to their demise, or to just admire the scenary. You stop by a forest or take a detour to nearby empty plains because you want to and because they are beautiful, not because there is a marker on your compass or map. And then the colossi battles are well executed in creating tension without traditional video game combat where your HP bar is going down and you are running out of items and such. And then this whole gameplay loop takes place within about a 15 to 30 minute timeframe. You can beat the game in one day, and be so engaged that you start a second playthrough immediately.

Final Fantasy 9

Another fantastic game. It is the strongest of the Playstation era FFs. The story moves you from setpiece to setpiece at a swift pace for the first two discs and first few hours of disc 3. You constant visiting kingdoms stunningly rendered with baroque backgrounds and then flee shortly after as they explode. Constant compelling character drama. Never a boring moment. Also great music. I also liked how the hero actually hits on girls but wasn't over the top about it. Gotta admire a man for putting himself out there. Unfortunately the story loses steam after you return to Lindblum a few hours into disc 3. I was not a fan of the death cult messaging about how all of the mother crystals and lifestreams in the universe die out, there is no heaven or true God in that universe, you're gonna cease to exist and that's supposed to be okay, and the "people don't truly die if we remember them in our hearts!" crap. I found the battle gameplay to be dull. The overworld is also barren and devoid of stuff, though that's an issue with the other Playstation FFs too.

[rusty_shackleford]

If we're including the long-term impact it had and not just the game in isolation, it's Ultima Underworld and with very little contest.

[logincrash]

If we're including the long-term impact it had and not just the game in isolation, it's Ultima Underworld and with very little contest.

We're not.
More like Ultimate Underwear, amirite?

[rusty_shackleford]

If we're including the long-term impact it had and not just the game in isolation, it's Ultima Underworld and with very little contest.

But if we're including this, then any game that spawned genres get elevated pretty high. It's just UU effectively spawned multiple genres + sub-genres while being the first of a sub-genre that is itself considered difficult to pull off.
UU is one of the few jenga blocks that if you pull out, a large amount of video games just go poof. Barely gets the recognition it deserves.

---

Otherwise, and subjectively, Fallout 2.
Fallout's bigger brother is a bit of a mess, but IMO it makes up for it in plenty of ways.

[Stack of Turtles]

ADVENT

[Manny V]

Monster Hunter Tri

[Jordy]

Little Big Planet for me.

The platforming side of it was great. Especially enjoyed playing it with the wife. A lot of fun memories.
Creation side of it was also great. Bringing that aspect to consoles and seeing what people created with the limitations they had (logic gates etc) was pretty fantastic to witness.

[Tangerine]

Bubsy 3D.

[Kalarion]

Exile 3.

[TKVNC]

All Points Bulletin

[Oyster Sauce]

Space Station 13, but currently it's the worst game every made.

[Lich]

Infra Arcana

[asf]

casuals

[DecadeRiptide]

Vermintide II

[J1M]

Deus Ex, no contest.

[methoxetamine]

Shadow of the Colossus.

Nice choice. I played it on launch but I've never replayed it, curious how it holds up. Does it emulate okay? I didn't know **** about performance when I played it on PS2 but even then I knew the performance was dogshit, easily one of the worst running games I've ever played (outside of trying to play **** my pc couldn't run) but it was still so good

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Shadow of the Colossus.

Nice choice. I played it on launch but I've never replayed it, curious how it holds up. Does it emulate okay? I didn't know **** about performance when I played it on PS2 but even then I knew the performance was dogshit, easily one of the worst running games I've ever played (outside of trying to play **** my pc couldn't run) but it was still so good

I have only ever played it on the PS2, so I don't know about how it runs on emulators.

[MrTwinkls]

I would like to believe the best video game ever is yet to be made.

[GhostCow]

Either the original portal or Sonic 3 + Knuckles. Those are the only two games I can think of that I don't have a single complaint about

[rusty_shackleford]

Either the original portal or Sonic 3 + Knuckles. Those are the only two games I can think of that I don't have a single complaint about

Portal forces you to play as a foid + not an rpg

[GhostCow]

Either the original portal or Sonic 3 + Knuckles. Those are the only two games I can think of that I don't have a single complaint about

Portal forces you to play as a foid + not an rpg

The OP says any genre

[rusty_shackleford]

Either the original portal or Sonic 3 + Knuckles. Those are the only two games I can think of that I don't have a single complaint about

Portal forces you to play as a foid + not an rpg

The OP says any genre

Yeah but the best video game ever is an rpg

[GhostCow]

Portal forces you to play as a foid + not an rpg

The OP says any genre

Yeah but the best video game ever is an rpg

There are RPGs that I have enjoyed a lot more than the games I listed, but I take "best" to mean something like "flawless or as close to it as possible" and RPGs are too complex to be anywhere near flawless

[maidenhaver IV]

Lego Island.

[Bing_xiLim]

Little Big Planet for me.

The platforming side of it was great. Especially enjoyed playing it with the wife. A lot of fun memories.
Creation side of it was also great. Bringing that aspect to consoles and seeing what people created with the limitations they had (logic gates etc) was pretty fantastic to witness.

My favourite game as well. Beautiful aesthetic, beautiful soundtrack, and creation mode was arguably the biggest highlight. Shame Sony let the franchise wither away.

[sheet]

Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
SimCity 4
Unreal / Unreal Tournament
WarCraft III
Half-life (as a game engine that spawned hundreds of mod games)

[Element]

Games build on each other, react to prevailing trends etc. It is impossible to pit each game against all others to discover some make believe 'value' in it relative to others. How do I compare Grim Fandango to Rome Total War to Doom? You can point out genre defining games, games that stood so far apart from others within the same 'genre' as to make the latter appear a cluster. But that's the extent of it.

[Acrux]

Did you all get this sorted out?