Factorio.
Dwarf fortress but I haven’t played that in a long time. It will outlast most other games however.
Portal
Breath of the Wild
Alan Wake 2
Either Chrono Trigger or Pokemon White
Team Fortress 2
Valheim and Prey (2017)
Slay The Spire. Really excited for the sequel.
Mother 3
it feels like it was made for my brain specifically to enjoy it lol
Minecraft. Even with all the shitty updates there is so much to be done in Minecraft that it’s honestly mind boggling. Almost anything is possible especially with mods. Only downside is Microsoft’s greedy ass owns it
Last of Us part 2.
No idea. Too many to pick from.
Tomb Raider 1.
I’m replaying the remastered trilogy for the first time since I was a teenager. The level design is outstanding. Very clever re-use of the same areas, just at different heights.
It’s inspiration from side-scroller prince of persia (also played this obsessively as a young child) is palpable. The movement system is revolutionary.
And the enemy progression is hilarious. First you fight some bats, then you fight some wolves, then you fight motherfucking Velociraptors, then a goddamned T-Rex. And thats not even close to the weirdest enemy you’ll fight. Boss battles are evenly spaced until they aren’t. when you have two boss battles immediately one after the other.
And then eventiually, you get to the pulsating flesh caves…
Deus Ex
I’ll probably always think that Tetris is the greatest video game ever. The inherent dramatic arc that comes with watching the blocks stack up is tension directly within you the player, not you watching tension unfold for characters on the screen. It’s different every time, even if the shape of the arc is similar, because you improve as a player. It’s the kind of emergent involvement the most designers could only aspire to create.
That said of course Shadow of the Colossus is also a favorite. That one probably feels a little more obvious, but I’m okay with that.
Detroit: Become Human
It was the only story ever that has pulled me in completely. I wasn’t just playing it, I was living it. It took me 2 more days to come down to earth after finishing it.
I’d say Baldur’s Gate 3.
With Demons’ Souls a close second. For those of us who got to play that game before Dark Souls became a thing, when we knew next to nothing about what to expect, it was an almost revelatory experience.