There is literally no consistency to what I like in games, or in any media for that matter. The only thing I can pinpoint is that I can't stand MMOs or games with MMO controls, such as the Dragon Age games. It's a horrible situation, though, because I desperately want to get into the series, specifically for the Iron Bull in Inquisition, but I absolutely hate the controls. It's probably because I'm used to first- and third-person shooters, but it's weird trying to adapt, especially since I'm playing on my laptop, not a console. Look, I don't even have a real mouse; I'm using my trackpad. I'm broke, okay?
I'm also not a huge fan of open-world games like The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim; there's just too much to do and not nearly enough time for me to do it. It's basically endless. But even that's up in the air; it could change tomorrow. I could, on a whim, open up Skyrim again, really start playing with my Dragonborn (her name is Dahlia and she's adorable, by the way) and get hooked by the game. We just don't know.
Anyways, here are my ten favorite games that I've played so far. I've counted the series I've completed as one entry, mainly because otherwise the list would literally be made of three different series. Oh, and a disclaimer: by no means am I a serious gamer, nor have I ever pretended to be. Like I said, I'm playing everything on my laptop, I don't buy anything full price (all my games have either come from Steam sales, freebies, gifts or they're old enough to be discounted even outside of Steam sale season), I haven't even delved into the world of indie gaming. These are just ones I've completed or played substantially enough that they should be completed, and that I love.
Let's go backwards; I like the suspense.
10. The Sims
What can I say, there's something appealing about being in charge of your own world and the people in it. That's one of my Sims, by the way; it's Will Graham as seen in NBC's Hannibal with six of his (canonically seven) dogs (The Sims 2 only lets you have eight household members, boo). I mainly use it to make Sims of my favorite fictional characters and dictate their lives; I have a whole city dedicated to movie characters with faces from Guardians of the Galaxy and Pacific Rim, among others.
I love watching the little guys and gals go about their days. Sometimes it goes according to plan (my Mason Verger, for example, looks eerily like Michael Pitt and has a burning desire to become a criminal mastermind) and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it devolves into pure chaos. Sometimes that chaos nearly turns your favorite Sim into a zombie, or improperly renders a vacation destination so that instead of a beautiful mountain getaway your Sims are stuck in a hellish void. Ask me how I know.
Anyways, it's a total time sink. I often say that "you don't play The Sims, you binge on The Sims for hours and hours nonstop for a week and then don't touch it for months." It's still fun, though, and it can be nostalgic for those who grew up with it (which wasn't me; I was more a Nancy Drew girl).
9. Hatoful Boyfriend
Fight me.
I found out about this game during my freshman year of college, when my best friend sent me a link to a liveblog of the game, and it was hilarious. Back then (in ye olden times of 2011) the only version in English was the demo, which was free. You could buy the full version but I think it was only in Japanese. The demo wouldn't run on my computer, so all we had was the liveblog thread in all its avian glory.
Everything changed in late summer 2014, when Hatoful Boyfriend was finally released on Steam. And you better believe I preordered that bad boy (still not full price! 10% off!) and downloaded it the minute it was available.
In case you don't know, Hatoful Boyfriend is a dating simulator/visual novel where you play the only human student at St. PidgeoNation's Institute, an elite school for birds. Yes, you date pigeons. No, it's not perverted. It's actually really freakin' cute; get your mind out of the gutter.
There are several different paths you can go down, most the standard "pursue a relationship with this character" path, but one is significantly darker. I'm not going to spoil it, mainly because I haven't gotten there myself, but suffice it to say it just adds to the weirdness of this game. Hatoful Boyfriend is such a bizarre, hilarious concept, but it's executed flawlessly.
8. Portal
Portal has a sharp wit tinged with a tiny bit of black humor, which I love. While not as extreme as the shifts in other series I can and will name later on, it's a pretty great contrast. At its core, the game is lighthearted and cheerful, and it's definitely left its mark. I have yet to get around to Portal 2, but it expands further on the story, which I'm really looking forward to.
7. The Stanley Parable
The love I have for The Stanley Parable is virtually endless. It's a game about games, specifically choices in games. When we're playing a video game, we go along with what the narrative is telling us to do because we pretty much don't have a choice. I mean, it's either go with it or stop playing. Even in massive, open-world games like Skyrim you're still going along with it, even if you're spending hours into specifically avoiding the main plot. You're eventually going to have no choice but to do what someone says.
The Stanley Parable gives us a choice to disobey. Every time the game's narrator gives you a direction, you can choose to not listen to him and go your own way. This has consequences, of course, and each path will take you back to the beginning of the game in the end so you can start over and maybe, just maybe listen to the narrator this time, because seriously, Stanley, it's getting old.
The game has several different endings, my favorite of which is the Confusion Ending. I don't want to say anything that would spoil it, but it definitely lives up to its name. You can choose to do what the narrator says, sure, but unlike most games, it's more fun and you get more places by doing the opposite. There's a ton of hidden Easter eggs throughout the game (Broom Closet Ending, anyone?) and a few Steam achievements, including one I swear is impossible but some people have gotten it somehow and they better share their secrets because I'm jealous. It's definitely worth a shot.
6. Left 4 Dead 2
Sometimes you just need a game you can play with friends and not care what level someone is or whether they have a certain weapon, and Left 4 Dead 2 is my go-to game. I'm not an elitist by any means; if you come into a Borderlands game with regular weapons and almost no experience I'll happily look out for you and do my best to help you out, but Left 4 Dead is easy to get into for everyone.
It's also just straight-up fun. There's no convoluted plot, no complex backstories, anyone can get into it at any time. It's mindless zombie havoc; what's not to love? And with the Steam community, there's an endless supply of maps and mods to shake up the game and make it more exciting. If you're like me and my friends, who've played pretty much every map already in the game multiple times, the community is a huge, wonderful resource.
It's also a great way for me to hang out with two of my best friends. All three of us live in different states and we're all broke, so we don't get to travel and see each other often, if at all. But we can fire up Left 4 Dead and catch up while we play a few rounds. Sometimes one will find a new map and get the other two to download it and it's like a big event because no one knows what's coming. Sometimes it turns out well, like the Disney World map, and sometimes you couldn't pay us to do it again, like the Dniepr map (play at your own risk, seriously).
5. Borderlands
Where do I even start with Borderlands? Probably with what sold me on it in the first place: its humor. The series blends the bizarre with a heavy dose of gallows humor, leading to some very weird, very funny moments. The picture I included for this entry is part of one of my favorite examples: a mission given to you by a character named Face McShooty called "Shoot This Guy In The Face." I recommend standing around and listening for a little while after you accept this mission, by the way; the dialogue really makes it gold.
Borderlands also has a gorgeous art style. It's not the hyperrealism of, say, The Last of Us or Far Cry 4, even with the series' newest installments, but that's what makes it stand out (and probably what lets it get away with a lot of stuff). It's a cartoonish, comic-book like style that meshes perfectly with the games' offbeat humor. Combine those with a solid story, colorful side characters and a bad guy who's devilishly charming and distractingly handsome and you've got a winner in my book.
The two newest entries in the franchise are two very different games. The first, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel!, fills in the five-year gap in the story between its older siblings. It fits with the other two in terms of gameplay, and it gives players some pretty valuable information about characters previously featured. The other newbie, Tales from the Borderlands, is wildly different.
Tales takes place after Borderlands 2, and instead of following the adventures of the vault hunters it focuses on two ordinary citizens on Pandora. It's also a Telltale game, which means the emphasis is more on the story and character development and almost nonexistent in relation to combat. Telltale has said that they'll incorporate Borderlands' trademark combat later on, though, which will be interesting to see.
4. Telltale's The Walking Dead
The first season follows Lee Everett as he tries to survive the zombie plague that's hit Georgia. He encounters and teams up with several others to survive, like Kenny, a hot-tempered man who's trying to get home to Florida with his wife and son, Lilly, a woman who just wants to keep her father safe but won't take any nonsense, and Clementine, a young girl searching for her parents. The second season changes the lead to Clementine just a short time after the first season ends.
Like with Tales from the Borderlands, The Walking Dead places a heavy emphasis on storytelling. A Telltale game is more like an interactive comic book or movie that gives players almost complete control over their character's actions and dialogue. The Walking Dead often gives the player a difficult decision to make in a short amount of time, forcing them to react almost just like they were actually in the situation.
Telltale does a fantastic job of making you love or hate their characters within minutes of meeting them, so when someone dies it hits you hard. At this point, I would trust the company to make a great story out of almost anything. Season three is supposed to be in development, which means more heart-wrenching moments and impossible decisions to make, and I can't wait.
3. Dishonored
I affectionately nicknamed this game "Death Simulator 2012," which should give you an idea of how good I am at it. Admittedly I got better as I played, but stealth is not my strong suit. We'll see just how much of the stealth I did learn stuck when I get around to playing Outlast (hint: it's not much).
In Dishonored, you play as Corvo Attano, Lord Protector and bodyguard to the Empress Jessamine Kaldwin and her young daughter Emily. Unfortunately your skills as bodyguard don't extend to the supernatural, as you soon find out when magic-wielding assassins ambush the three of you, kill the Empress and kidnap Emily. The murder is pinned on Corvo, he's sent to prison and sentenced to death but escapes with the assistance of some of the empire's military and richest citizens. They want to get rid of the evil Lord Regent who took over after Jessamine's death and put Emily in her rightful place on the throne.
The rest of the game follows a path, but how events go down is up to you. You can choose to get revenge on those who killed the Empress, who framed and imprisoned you, or you can choose to have mercy and work to better the empire for Emily. Helping (questionably speaking) is the Outsider, a mysterious deity who gives Corvo supernatural abilities to best his enemies and complete his mission.
Dishonored is fantastically fun to play, especially when you start upgrading your powers and really using them the way they're supposed to be used. I love the setting, the aesthetics, and how the actions you take have an effect on your environment. You'll be able to see a visible effect on the city streets depending on how many people you kill or don't kill.
A huge reason I like Dishonored is because of the lore. There's so much to know about this universe; I read every in-game book I could get my hands on and I still want more information. If a piece of media can leave me this hungry for more, that's a great sign. The game also has some room for a sequel, or at least a companion game, which I would love to see. I have the DLC campaigns, The Knife of Dunwall and The Witches of Brigmore, but I have a feeling I'll still need more after completing them. I absolutely love this universe.
2. Bioshock
It took me a year and a half to actually get into these games after I initially started the first one (I was terrified of the splicers and wouldn't touch it) but once I did, it was so worth it. For some reason I absolutely adore Jack Ryan, the main character in the first game, despite him having zero characterization at all, but he's great. I guess I have a thing for silent protagonists, because I love Subject Delta from Bioshock 2 and Corvo Attano, too.
Bioshock, of course, is a classic, and you can't top it. The very first time you see Rapture is breathtaking, and the rest of its visuals hold up very, very well. Bioshock 2 is often criticized for being more or less the same game as the first, but it's an entirely new story and you explore different parts of the city. The gameplay and setting is the same, but it's a different Rapture than you saw before. Infinite is drastically different (the gameplay is the same system but everything else seems like it came completely from left field), and its setting wasn't as instantly captivating as Rapture was, but its story is so rich and so complex that it's worth the headache you'll get after the ending.
The writing in this series is excellent. The "would you kindly" scene in the first game still gives me chills just thinking about it. I also love that each game acts as a sort of critique of different sociopolitical views. Bioshock looks at how a purely libertarian government can fail, Bioshock 2 takes on communism and Bioshock Infinite finds the flaws with both extreme right-wing and extreme left-wing views.
I love the first game for its simplicity: escape Rapture alive by whatever means necessary, and I love Infinite for its complexity: time travel, alternate universes, the works! Bioshock 2 is my least favorite of the three, certainly, but by no means is it a bad game.
Andif there's anything I love more than Jack Ryan, it's Rapture itself, so of course I love the Burial At Sea DLC for Infinite. It's super spoilery if you haven't already played the rest of the series, but what I can say is that it brings you back to Rapture and fills in the blanks between the ending of Infinite and the beginning of Bioshock. "Will the circle be unbroken," indeed.
1. Mass Effect
Mass Effect was my introduction to games beyond Team Fortress 2, and the trilogy will forever hold a special place in my heart. It was love at first sight, technically even before first sight; my old computer wouldn't run the games so when I got a new one literally my only requirement was that the machine would run Mass Effect.
I don't think my jaw closed the entire first time I played; everything was so fascinating and so captivating. I'm on my third playthrough of the whole trilogy right now and I still love it just as much as I did when I started with my first Shepard. The combat is fun, the story is great and the characters are vividly memorable.
Part of why I like it is the creativity you can have with your main character. You have so much freedom with your Shepard not only in how they look but how they act and why they do what they do. There's no two Shepards that are alike, not even among the six of mine. The one up there is my second; her name is Seamus and she's a very, very bad woman. In fact that screencap is from the second worst moment I've ever had while playing the trilogy. Still, she was kind of fun to play, in a weird and somewhat uncomfortable way.
I can't pinpoint one specific thing that made or makes me love Mass Effect as much as I do; it's really a combination of everything, even its flaws. Sure some things get a little tedious at times, and the ending could have used more work, but I love it all the same. I actually teared up watching the trailer for the next game in the series, even though all it said was basically "yep we're making a fourth game." Mass Effect ruined my life and made it better all at the same time.
