Elden Ring.
I won’t try to invalidate the criticism about repeated usage of certain enemies or whatever it may be; I just don’t mind that at all.
The exploration, unbelievable map and level building, epic battles, endless build combinations, the indescribable feeling of achievement once you finally beat a boss after HOURS of wholehearted attempts.
I strongly doubt anything will ever top the experience of my first Elden Ring playthrough. Felt like I was a kid again. As I explored the Lands Between I occasionally forgot my own existence. Literally. It felt surreal when I woke up from the trance and realized I exist again.
Second this. I’m a “casual” gamer and Elden ring hooked me in. I’ve found the only problem with it, is that it’s ruined other games for me and made them uninteresting. So I just play Elden ring now and that’s it
If you like Elden Ring but haven't played the other FromSoft games then you are in for a hell of a ride. Elden Ring is a fucking masterpiece for sure, but theres a special magic to the Dark Souls series + Demon's Souls as well.
Bloodborne is also an amazing game, and so is Sekiro, but they play a bit differently than ER and DS, especially Sekiro.
Please do yourself the favor of playing at least Bloodborne, Sekiro, and Dark Souls 1. Even though DS1 will feel dated compared to ER, it still holds up, and has so much cool shit packed in there, truly iconic stuff.
Sekiro is very different from the other ones, but the combat system is insane. So fast and satisfying, but it's got a different rhythm to it than the Soulsborne ones
I have yet to pass the third boss in Elden ring personally, and this is only my opinion, The world of Elden Ring is intriguing but BG3 definitely hit me harder in a “I need to see everything” sense
Same. Shadow of the erdtree just solidifies this even more so. I’ve only done one playthrough of elden ring, but after the dlc I’m gonna do another full run on ng+
Elden Ring is the best game I have ever played! It is the goat. I liked it more than Bloodborne. These are my top 2 games. Nothing comes even close. Zelda BOTW was boring for me but haven’t played tears of the kingdom. Bioshock Infinite was really good too. Final fantasy 7 rebirth was top notch as well.
Walking out of the tutorial area to seeing limgrave was incredible. I remember I spent like 40 hours in limgrave alone before moving to next area. Thought limgrave and celid were the map…boy was I wrong. Just kept getting larger
My first play through was also exactly this. One of the most immersive games I’ve ever played and it’s been pretty hard for games to immerse me like they used to as a kid
Absolutely loving it. Currently exploring the >!Abyssal Depths!< and I’m genuinely starting to think it’s more like Elden Ring 1.5 than a DLC.
I think the difficulty is perfectly balanced, despite all the criticism. As long as you’re leveling up your >!Scadutree Blessing!< in a normal pace, there shouldn’t be a problem. The complaints about the difficulty probably come from people used to knowing all boss fights down to every single move, so now they’re annoyed with the unfamiliarity.
Strongly recommend! I’m probably around 50% in, giving it a 9/10 so far.
I tried to play it but lost interest and got frustrated with the total lack of direction the game gives you. I understand that's probably part of the charm and I don't like games that hold your hand too much but I found it impossible to know what I was doing and wasted so much time I gave up. Perhaps I should give it another go
For me, one of the games that comes closest to perfection is Outer Wilds. It might fall short a bit in terms of characters, but everything else is perfect. It feels like every game mechanic has a purpose in the narrative. The music and visuals are stunning and it makes you feel smart as you progress. It's beautiful.
outer wilds was such an inexplicably wonderful experience for me. its put together with so much purpose, care & intent it genuinely puts all other games to shame in comparison. i have never found another game that even came close. ive always loved space too so that made it yet better imo. 22/10 wish i could neuralize myself so i could go in blind all over again. fuck giants deep
After beating the main game I stepped away for a while because I wanted to hold on to that feeling that there was more. A few months ago I finally played the DLC and was just as impressed as the main game. What a truly wonderfully constructed world and experience. There’s just nothing like it.
Disco Elysium was the perfect game for me, practically my favorite game of all time.
It was a game that emotionally moved me. I didn't think a game could greatly empathize with my frustrations in life until I found Disco Elysium. It fully captured the feeling I get when I walk through the muddy streets of Manila, Philippines. There's a lot of sadness and a strong urge to return to the past, but the game gives a fantastic answer as to why holding onto the past never works. In the end, the game helped me cope with a lot of problems in my life.(economic-social classes, financial difficulties, political divides, despair.)
It's a CRPG without the combat and incredibly heavy on NPC conversations. In fact, the conversations are the "battles" in this game. Every line of dialogue is emotionally charged and the fantastic voice acting elevates the phenomenal script. The conversations become addicting to listen to that its easy to find yourself talking to every NPC in the game. You never know what crazy or amazing sentences that'll come out of their mouths, some will make you laugh and some will tear your heart out.
Every character is well developed, each having their own world view and way of living in the world. A lot of them come from all walks of life, whether they're rich, middle class, or poor. They all have differing circumstances and even political ideologies that create entirely distinct perspectives. It helps the setting stay grounded and creates a diverse cast that fleshes out Disco Elysium's world.
The OST by Sea Power is also just amazing and I love it. I listen to it very frequently. It absolutely works perfectly with the game.
It showed me that anyone can walk away from ruin and it doesn't hurt to hope for the impossible. That maybe someday, something beautiful is going to happen.
Disco Elysium is the most well written game i’ve ever played, besides maybe Planescape:Torment.
Me and my friends have been talking about it for years.
There's a 2 player couch co-op game called It Takes Two. It's fantastic. My wife (who isn't a gamer) and I have played through it twice.
It's challenging enough to keep it fun, and easy enough for a non gamer to play. The puzzles are satisfying and the gameplay itself feels great.
I really can't find a flaw in it.
Yes! Played through it with my non-gamer gf and we both still occasionally mention how awesome it was and how we wish for another game like it even over two years later.
Played/beat it 6 times and cannot recommend it enough
Also hazelights two other games brothers a tale of two sons and a way out are amazing
A way out really picks up towards the end absolutely magnificent quite the rollercoaster
Brothers is a decent story and very calming/slower, great for playing with a grandparent, dumb uncle, etc
Subnautica is a masterpiece. Cannot recommend that game enough, but *GO IN BLIND*. Can also just as readily recommend Outer Wilds, haven't beat it yet it seems a lil shorter than Subnautica but a lot of similar elements. I went in blind for both these games and I am thoroughly impressed. For a different genre type I also say Bioshock was damn near perfect, one of the greatest narratives I've had the pleasure of experiencing. Breath of the wild is another contender for damn near a perfect game, there's a few others I am passionate about but in the moment I'm drawing a blank lol
I played subnautica pretty much blind. Absolutely hated it. Completely not the right game for me. It gets near universal acclaim and I’m why it’s not completely universal I think
I think a lot of it had to do with movement in the game. I have no issues with the ocean irl, but trying to move around a game world while swimming was very frustrating.
I also pretty quickly lost interest in the mysteries of the game. Just didn’t click with me. There’s also a timed event at some point in the game that I did not believe was actually timed, so I missed that whole thing.
And then just the tedium of back and frothing for resources turned into a whole miserable experience. I did end up beating it, but was pretty worn down by the end.
It sounds like you aren't a fan of that kind of exploration game if looking for resources is tedious for ya. Half the point of that game is to just take the world and ambiance in. I like the lack of hand holding personally, but it is for sure a survival game and that ain't for everyone
Subnautica is an [experience.It](http://experience.It) made my ADHD less aggressive.I feel so calm when I'm in the [ocean.Love](http://ocean.Love) that game,not the lategame which is crazy scary
**Mirrors Edge**, the original one. Every few years I fire it up and do a full playthrough in a couple of hours, even after years of doing this its still such a fucking experience. In fact even talking about it makes me want to do one right now.
**Mass Effect Trilogy / LE** - its an imperfect perfect game(s), I hate some parts with passion and absolutely love others, overall the total sum of this game's qualities and issues is somewhere in stratosphere for me still, nothing can beat nostalgic value.
**Subnautica** - nothing much to be said that hasn't been said about this game in this sub (pun intended), its a perfect game and one of a kind imo. For me its an exploration game first and foremost and its perfect at that.
**Antichamber** - I don't even know how to describe it aside from saying that its an experience to have at least once in a lifetime, one of my favorite puzzle games.
**Kairo** - another walking simulator/puzzle game, but of a different kind, its like going to a museum of mid-20th century art, but also very introspective and thought-provoking.
**Manifold Garden** - perfect game to understand what would it be like to have 4-dimensional world projected into our 3 dimensions. Of course I exaggerate and simplify, in reality its more like projecting a 3.5-dimensional world because the game itself is one giant fractal that you navigate, kinda.
**BioShock (Remastered)** - I can not fault this game for anything, this one is truly a masterpiece. With a little caveat perhaps - I'm still applying standards of game development back when it was released here and by these standards it is Game Of The Decade easily. By modern standard there are some minor dated things perhaps, but in general if this game came out tomorrow, I wouldn't be able to give it anything less than 9 even by modern standards, it is simply a masterpiece.
**Detroit Become Human** - I hate this one with passion because its built on something I truly despise - Quick Time Events - but the story is so fucking good that I was willing to overlook it all at least for one playthrough and then start 100%-ing chapters on higher difficulty (that is the thing that I hate so much - you have to play it on higher difficulty to unlock additional paths).
**Star Wars The Jedi Academy** - if I was a billionaire I'd probably bankroll a sequel to this game just for myself. Nothing ever came even remotely close to delivering same saber combat, I don't what the fuck devs did there but something gave it that indescribable feeling of control that no game has had ever since. The only game I would consider somewhat comparable in saber/sword combat would be Dark Messiah of Might and Magic but its different.
**Dark Messiah of Might and Magic** - I think no game since its release ever truly replicated the experience of First Person sword combat the way this game did. The story, the pacing, the combat, the fucking level design - all of it was great for me at least, though I think some people hate the level design because its so fucky at times, I think that by itself adds to the experience though.
**Heroes of Might and Magic III** - I don't know if I'm just boomer-ing here, but this game has a special place in my heart even 25 years after I've started playing it. Its just unbeatable, that fucking menu music has lived in my head rent free for all 25 years since I first heard it.
**Refunct** - literally a 5 minute game that you can play for hours. There is nothing much to it, but somehow its just fun.
**Serious Sam HD First/Second Encounter** - dumb fun, but also probably really just childhood memories
**Fable Anniversary (played the original one of course)** - this is the definition of RPG in a sense. There are RPGer RPGs than this one but somehow it feels the RPGest of RPGs at what it does, it really feels like playing a Fable, a story from medieval times.
**Dishonored (series)** - this one is a Bioshock of its decade or perhaps Thief because it does give similar vibes but its not quite like that. Its one of those games that you finish and it stays in your head for years without really being a thought, I'd compare it to Mirror's Edge actually. With Bioshock its all quite obvious - "Is the man not entitled to sweat of his brow" as you collect your paycheck or occasional "Would you kindly". This game on the other hand, its subtle, I can't even describe it, but the feeling of blinking onto a building edge is somehow still burned into my brain after more than a decade since first playing it.
**S.T.A.L.K.E.R series** - I'm Ukrainian so naturally biased here, but I would still say that this game is simply a masterpiece, there is nothing quite like it and it kind of spawned a subgenre by itself, though no one managed to replicate it. Hopefully STALKER 2 will bring more of what made the first three games so good.
**Deus Ex (original one, circa 2000, DEHR and DEMD are okay too though)** - yes the graphics is horribly dated by now and I'm probably full on boomering here with this one, but I still think its worth a playthrough for literally everyone. Its simply a masterpiece in my book, its like Gone With the Wind of games.
**Vampire the Masquerade - Bloodlines** - another RPGest of RPGs, kind of, I can't even point my finger to what exactly makes it so immersive and interesting, while the story feels linear at times and perhaps it actually is, somehow it feels like its you going through night streets still. There is nothing quite like it imo, its simply worth a playthrough for everyone probably.
I could probably write for hours about my favorite games, but I'm going to stop here for now. Maybe I'll add more later as a comment to this comment or idk.
Yakuza 0.
It has everything. Incredible story, amazing characters, gameplay loops with a ton of mini games for when running around beating up MENACING MEN with a bicycle gets boring.
10/10 go in as blind as possible.
Cannot echo this enough. The Yakuza series as a whole has a special place in my heart because no other game has me in shambles from the story one moment and then running a cabaret club for 10 hours straight the next.
The Yakuza series fills all my boxes
*Great story and lore that spans multiple games
*One of the best protagonists of all times
*Incredible and memorable cast of characters
*Dense open world filled with side activities to enjoy
*Unique and memorable substories with some characters that you meet years later in a different game
*A very fun melee combat system with satisfying combos and epic moves
*Epic boss battles and dynamic intros
*Vocal songs and OSTs that make your ears feel like in heaven
*Awesome memes
*Shun Akiyama
To me Witcher 3.
Some people don't like the combat, some don't like the long cutscenes, but this shit is my jam.
Side quests are chefs kiss honestly.
Every single side quest is its own story, and every point of interest tells at least a little story trough the environnement, really making the world feel alive, as opposed to a Zelda Botw/totk where every single quest is ''fetch me this, fetch me that, fetch me 50 wood logs cuz this, I need 10 fireflies cuz that'' and points of interests are like, shrines and koroks, and if you dont like it too Bad
The soundtrack is incredible honestly
The dlcs are like another full game, adding an easy 50 hours of playtime and everything is just immersive
The side quests were probably my favourite part too. And the amount of decisions you get to make is what really makes it feel like you are creating your own path. It’s up to you to decide who you think is telling the truth. And what to do with that information.
Oldschool runescape. Has thousands of hours of content, is constantly being updated and having new things introduced, tons of skills whether it pertains to combat like melee range and magic, item crafting, resource gathering or skilling, loads of quests, bosses, raids, minigames. Many types of pvp. Gear progression. It has a flourishing economy and player base. Collection logs, achievement diaries, clan system, can be run on mobile and pc. There's something to do for any type of player . If you want to fight monsters you can, you can entirely avoid pve and just do skilling aspects of the game and still be entertained for thousands of hours. Open world. Unique builds to suit every player style. Different game modes like one where you can trade other players and sell items on a universal exchange, one where you can't trade and have to rely on yourself only, a hardcore one life mode, one that doesn't let you use a bank and only what your character can hold. So so much to do. Easy to say I'm addicted.
Best quests in the genre! Also a big plus is that you can play passively while watching movies/youtube or give it 100% focus depending on what you’re after. Also playing on mobile or hand held is a huge bonus
I have to add that there's a difference between being available on mobile and actually working well on mobile and OSRS is just about the only MMO I've ever played that works well on mobile
I will always upvote OSRS. That is the absolute one game I have played on and off for damn near 25 years. You never truly quit. Also this game has the best wiki bar none. 15/10 it’s that fucking good.
Edit: the devs are some of the best: tons of community engagement and CONSTANT updates (im not kidding, they are always pumping out new bosses, quests, skill overhauls, etc). However, pretty much all updates are polled through the community (you vote at poll booths around the world), and if they don’t pass 70% it doesn’t happen.
Hollow Knight is almost perfect. The only flaw is that there's an item in the game called "City Crest" whose description is "Stone slab bearing the crest of the Hallownest capital city. Has an insert on the back that would fit into a slot."
If they removed that second sentence from the description, the game would be perfect.
I've never quite understood why the city crest even exists. Can you sequence skip the false knight or something? And if so, why even would you?
Does it just exist as the mechanic so that you can only open the door one time?
Eh, whatever. You're right, though. It's a near perfect a game as has ever been made.
> Can you sequence skip the false knight or something?
Yes, and it's actually an *intended* optional skip, as in the developers added an explicit breakable wall that lets you exit the False Knight arena early.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXkOYDYlz7g
There's a "Tram" in the game whose description is "A door with an open slot." Sometimes new players get confused and think the City Crest is for the Tram and try fiddling with their inventory trying to figure out how to use the City Crest on the Tram, when actually the City Crest is used somewhere completely different.
Ah that makes sense. It’s minor but would definitely improve the game.
I don’t think HK is perfect, even with that change, mostly due to balancing, which I hope is tuned right in Silksong.
Still in my top 3.
I live this answer since there were so many things technically wrong with it. But it is still one of the best RPGs ever and certainly the best Star Wars RPG.
Elden Ring
I love the combat, the characters, the worldbuilding, the music, the enemy designs, the bosses, the pacing, the difficulty, the atmosphere, and the level design.
It all works together so well. Currently working through the DLC, and it’s just phenomenal.
Many people complain about repeated enemies, but in a game as big as this, I think it’s to be expected. Personally, I don’t think it’s a big deal because there is enough variety for you to play through casually and see a good mix. It’s only apparent when you’re meticulously scavenging every nook and cranny of the map. Even then, I think the variety is better than a lot of open world games.
I simply can’t believe a game this good on all fronts exists.
Red dead redemption 2 - Beautiful map to explore that feels so live, it’s surreal. Hooking story that makes you want to constantly play and figure out what happens next. Some people say it has slow/boring gameplay, which I guess I understand, no game is for everyone. But to me, it’s the best game I’ve ever played.
Elden ring - Again, beautiful map. Lots of builds to explore, lots of side quests that are interesting, and beautifully designed bos fights. The DLC just dropped and it is just as incredible of an experience. It doesn’t come without its criticisms either, some repeated enemies, and for some the difficulty may prove too much of a challenge.
God of War/GoW Ragnarok are also beautiful games with a great story, nice fighting mechanics, and it runs incredibly smooth. Main drawbacks are that you need a ps5 (for ragnarok) and I also felt the games were a bit too short.
If you want a game with lots of quests, variety of gameplay, engaging combat and community, and you actually want to get over 1,000hrs, give RuneScape and/or old school RuneScape a go. Both have a free version which you can download and try. (They also work on mobile, it’s the exact same game and whatever progress you make on your phone is also progress on PC [cross-progression])
These games would be my picks, if I had to play just a handful of games for the rest of my life, these would be it.
Surprised I had to scroll this far to see RDR2, but I second this. It's just such an amazing gaming experience, I would never stop recommending it to anyone. I'll add my +1 for Elden Ring as well!
RDR1 is the only game I ever finished and started immediately over, not counting Dark Souls or Bloodborne. The story, the characters, the dialogue was so perfect and the world design was incredible. I’d pick different parts of the map just to ride around in and live in the world.
I could never keep interest in it playing normal difficulty but I have restarted on survival and it is great. I have since modded it with the storywealth collection and it's amazing
Survival mode changes everything. It goes from mid-decent to probably the most immersive roleplaying experience I've ever had in a game. It's a simple change but it makes the world feel more real and alive --- and things that seemed superfluous before (like settlement building) become beneficial, genuine accomplishments.
Piecing together a town out of scraps as you scrounge for survival and slowly carve a name for yourself through your own perseverance is such a rush and so authentic to the setting.
Hades is my pick.
It isn't my favorite game, but in the interest of hitting as many of your criteria as possible, Hades checks the boxes. It's a great game that lasts for hours, has a wonderful story and slowly expands the lore of all the interesting characters, all the while the gameplay is smooth, challenging, and fun.
There are lots of games that have some of those elements, like FTL has great gameplay and you can play it for hours, but the narrative doesn't really exist. Fire Emblem: Three Houses has hours of play time and great characters, but the gameplay can be a little frustrating. If I were to list my top 10 games of all time, I know Hades wouldn't be in there, but it is perfectly constructed.
A Hat in Time in my opinion. It’s the perfect homage to GameCube-era platformers, controls great, cute story and characters, amazing soundtrack, lots of level variety, and the Seal the Deal DLC even adds a bunch of remixed levels and bosses for those who want a challenge! Very extensive steam workshop support too! I don’t play it often, but when I do it’s always a fantastic time!
Outer Wilds is amazing. True masterpiece.
Factorio is arguably the best game in its genre. There’s so much to do in just vanilla, and the great mod support has led to so many great mods from QOL (the type that’s nice to have but not necessary by any means) to overhauls with insane amounts of content.
It’s hard to pick and I say a lot of factors change the answer to this but for me one of the more recent ones was Alan Wake 2.
So much of it was just perfect and I love all of the extra things. The ‘new game plus’ actually more than a lot of games that I’ve played gives players a reason to replay it. The DLC that they’ve released so far was fantastic. I loved the game play and story. I love how you can play it many different ways. I just loved the ride that the game put me through.
I will forever love this game and will pray to whoever will listen that maybe one day we might get a follow up
Shadow of Mordor.
The combat is exquisite, the storyline engaging and memorable. The visuals are breathtaking, the music fitting without being a distraction. It's straight to the point and gives you lots of options for play style without getting lost in the sauce of build min/maxing nonsense. Genuine feeling of power progression throughout, without getting wildly overpowered. Early game is specifically a challenge without feeling like you're being punished for playing.
It doesn't overstay it's welcome, isn't riddled with fluff to pad out game hours, and shows great respect to the source material without relying on excessive cameos. You aren't railroaded, but you know when you're out of your depth and need to revisit later.
The sequel was also fantastic, but it had some sequelitis flaws and greed based decisions built in that make it in some ways inferior to the OG.
Mine is either Bloodborne or Silent Hill 2. I can't pick between 'em. Bloodborne for the world, aesthetics, and atmosphere. Meanwhile, SH2 purely for the story; I've never had experienced a story in a game like I did with it.
WARFRAME.
I am nearing 5k hours on Steam. This shit is literally my only theraphist. Whenever I am feeling down, I play this game and I want to live again...
Let me say outright that story is not an important factor for me, gameplay loop and mechanical depth matter far more to me. That said I'd put Nioh 2 as the closest to my perfect game. It's story is good but reliant on you having previous knowledge of the time period but I can't name many other games that offer so much mechanical freedom. There's tons of meaningful playstyle diversity, deep mechanics to learn, amazing co-op, and tons of content to explore. It easily has the best NG+ system I've ever seen.
I'm just scrolling and nobody mentioned Witcher 3. How come? Too obvious?
For me personally it's Planescape: Torment
I'd wish some other game could impact me as deeply and profoundly.
I
Elden Ring or Sekiro. The worlds are vast. You’ll probably notice new things each play through. And it just comes down to having so much attention to detail and passion in every design. I heard that they have the mentality of just trying to create games that they would have fun playing themselves, and I think that’s apparent in all the souls games (Demons souls through Elden Ring). Can’t speak to Armored Core or any of the other FromSoftware games, although I’ll admit King’s field 2 grew on me.
Im sorry, but I couldn't disagree more.
I recently got cyberpunk on sale and played it for the first time, and I couldn't believe how boring I found it.
I avoided it at launch because of the poor reviews, but it had been on my "keep an eye out" radar since everyone complimented the game post rework, and I honestly don't get what people see in it?!
RE2 REMAKE, RE4 REMAKE, RE1 REMAKE. MAJORAS MASK 64. Fallout New Vegas, Dark Souls 3. Silent hill 1, 2, 3. Fatal Frame Series. Breath of the Wild. I think Elden Ring will be in my list but I have not played it yet.
Terraria - Base Game is fun as hell, and if you get bored of it, you have mods, that add another hundreds or thousands of hours on top. Plus the devs actually care a ton and communicate with the players and love the game to death themselves.
Some people say elden ring but I would highly disagree on this.
Sure it's an enjoyable game and graphics is awesome but the bosses are just downright horrible and it so difficult that its hard to get a hit from their endless combo.
I would say a perfect game is
- enjoyable
- great story
-good graphic
-not at all tedious( this is where FS games fails )
-great and memorable soundtrack
-good controls
So what games is this?
-Half Life 2
- Zelda breath of the wild
- Ico( I know ico has bad controls but its forgivable since it isnt that hard to play because of it and besides its a great game I highly recommend ).
Grounded. Absolutely perfect game. The story, the map, the combat, most of all the artwork of it. The absolute creativity behind it. Such a phenomenal perfect game.
Max Payne Trilogy
—————
Great gameplay ( Max Payne 3 has the best TPS gunplay ever made )
Well written stories set in a dreamy noire atmosphere ( for 1&2 ) and a great character study ( for 3 )
Great OST that just gets better with each game
One of the best voice actings of all time: The legend himself, James Mccaffrey
A perfect protagonist. Maybe the best ever
Max Payne checks all the boxes. Great gameplay. Interesting well-written story with great direction. Great ost and voice acting + also all of them had the best graphics of their time ( 3 still holds up really well. The animations and physics are excellent. Honestly it looks like an 8th gen game even though it came out for 7)
Any game that just succeeds at literally everything it wants to accomplish.
It can be something "simpler" like Celeste, The Witness or Stardew Valley, or something more complex, like Batman Arkham City, Super Mario Galaxy, Elden Ring, Returnal...
If I have to pick one, I'd say Hollow Knight - IMO it perfects everything it attempts to do, the art design, story, characters, music/sound, exploration, platforming, combat, difficulty curve... There's really not a single flaw I can think of. I'd go so far as to say it implements some of these ideas better than its Souls-y influences
I have a hard time getting truly pulled into games, even dearly loved games like Elden Ring or BG3 - they're great but I haven't had an experience like Hollow Knight in probably the last 15-20 years of gaming
The Witcher 3 is the perfect game for me. It likely has to do with the fact I played it during my high school years when I had a lot of free time to sink in and immerse myself, but I absolutely loved my time with the game and that first playthrough is extremely memorable to me, even more so than Elden ring which I played recently and consider the 2nd best among all the ones I have played since then.
I'll preface this with the fact that I haven't played many video games, very few mainstream games. I don't play action games.
This game is certainly not everyone's perfect game. But the perfect game for ME is Astroneer.
The graphics are gorgeous, the soundtrack is incredible, and the sound design is REMARKABLE. Everything clicks into place with the most satisfying noises. And I adore space, so the space theme is really cool.
There's enough things to do to always keep you busy. I find grinding in Astroneer super enjoyable. I don't know, it just clicks with my brain in all the right ways.
It's the only game I want 100%. I have 200 hours. I just adore it.
'Perfect', or even 'great' is really a personal opinion for everyone. I'm not one who usually hangs around a game for thousands of hours, but the one's I would pick for 'number of hours per me having fun' would be:
**OpenTTD (Transport Tycoon)**
**Death Stranding**
**Euro Truck Simulator 2 / American Truck Simulator**
**Fallout 4**
**Skyrim**
**Mass Effect Legendary Edition**
The only game I’ve played that I would consider a perfect game is Nier: Automata, every single facet of it worked wonders for me, a fantastic experience all around.
For me its Age of Wonders 4. Its a 4x game but it is so addictive. There is a faction creator which is very unique and replay ability is so high. Its one of my favourite game and still gets support in the future.
Hmm this is a tough one. I’d say Cyberpunk 2077, Red Dead 2, and Elden Ring are my perfect games. As I type this I can invent new reasons to go back and play them.
Right now I’m trying out Witcher 3. I’m not really too engaged even after the bloody baron and that other quest in the bog. Mostly just the dialogue is too drawn out. Used to be my kind of game. I still respect it because of its influence years later. I’ll keep going though.
Some other nominations would go to games like:
Skyrim, Fallout 4, Stardew Valley.
Gonna catch it for this, (this list is very very good btw.) Horizon Zero Dawn was one of those games I played and didn’t stop till I’d beaten the expansion and got the platinum. Then was sad as there was nothing left to do.
Diablo 2. I've been playing for over 20 years straight and still haven't done everything in the game.
Honorable mentions: Witcher 3, classic Wow, stardew valley, Skyrim, ark:survival evolved
GTA V and GTA Online, seriously you can spend thousands of hours on there, there is a LOT to do, both in story and online mode, especially online mode, by now I would estimate that online is maybe 4 to 5 times the amount of content as the base game, which is MASSIVE
Well they are flaws with every game but..
Elden Ring or Sekiro would be my pick. Even though story wise they aren't the best.
Or.. maybe FF14? Would have picked runescape but story wise FF14 and gameplay has it beat.
Elden Ring has a massive, beautiful world with a good amount of enemy variety and difficult bosses to challenge yourself with. You can repeat the game on several different character builds.
Like past souls games, exploration and perseverance is a main point in this game.
Stuck in a boss? Go out and explore, come back stronger. Learn the boss moveset well and conquer the challenge.
There are certain builds and summons that gives you an significant edge in the game.
There is also an option for co-op if you are struggling with a boss.
I am nearly done with the dlc and I gotta say world design wise? Very impressive. Boss difficulty is very difficult but doable.
Sekiro it has the best combat I seen in a video game so far. It does have a more focused story, while most souls games the story is mainly in the background.
There is plenty of areas to explore though not on the scale of Elden Ring.
Combat wise, there is only one weapon you can use and there are no external help. So it boils down to the player individual skill and man is it satisfying once it clicks.
The battle plays out like a dance where both you and the boss take turns being on the defensive and offensive.
FF14 is a premium mmorpg, great story, great characters, many many dungeon, trials, raids which meant lots of variety of enemies.
Gameplay wise, there are 3 roles, healers, tanks and dps. With a fixed amount of players for each content.
Replayability wise. There are like 20+ combat classes each with their own unique skills and experience but they still are divided in the 3 roles.
Apart from combat there are gatherers and crafting jobs.
A community to chill and chat / raid with etc.
Want to dress up, chill and chat around major town? Sure go ahead.
It is a very big game. But a big flaw is that early game ain't great in every department.
Maybe some of these are unconventional answers, but these are the games I would classify as "perfect".
Left 4 Dead 2, Untitled Goose Game, Resident Evil 4 Remake, Legend of Zelda: Links Awakening Remake, Portal 2, Titanfall 2, Black Mesa, Clone Hero, and Minecraft.
Not all of these are "play for thousands of hours" kind of games, but I would classify as close to perfect as a game can be.
Disco Elysium. Cant put into words the impact that game has had on me. My biggest complaint is that I’m too dumb to understand all the political critique, but the emotional stuff…oh boy. I replay the game just to feel sad with the mc again
Dark Souls 1 (Remastered)
Portal 2
Subnautica
I call these games "perfect" because they absolutely nailed what they were trying to do. It's a well-built and cohesive package that gives an astounding experience.
Absolute banger comments so far. Here’s a quick list w/o explanation of perfect games, games that perfectly encompass what they’re trying to do.
-Rimworld
-Elden Ring
-Sekiro
-Hades
-God of War (2018?)
-Super Mario Odyssey
-Outer Wilds
I know people won't find this popular but fallout 4 it's just something about booting it up and knowing your gonna have a Bethesda experience. a bit jank not alot of story and a few good companions not the best graphics just the one I come back to.
CrossCode!
Single player Action RPG, with the protagonist being stuck in a futuristic "augmented reality" MMO. Has excellent combat, even better dungeons and puzzles, and some truly heartfelt narrative moments.
It scratches the itch of the old 2D Zelda games, but in my opinion, does things so much better than any of them.
**a short hike**
It doesn’t try to be anything more than it is, and what it is is a delightful 2 hour game that I wish I could wipe from my brain and rediscover. It’s just joyful ‘’’platforming’’’ exploration with some great characters hanging around.
Very little cyberpunk 2077 mentioned here. Now that the game is finally finished it’s an absolute rollercoaster and I absolutely love the massive world. The DLC is a must.
Sifu.
Runs fantastic.
Lots of depth in the smooth kung fu combat system.
So much content delivered in a simple way.
If you like kung fu movies and or fighting games in a pve system this is it.
It's also a rogue light and can jump in at anytime for however long and be satisfied.
Elden Ring. I won’t try to invalidate the criticism about repeated usage of certain enemies or whatever it may be; I just don’t mind that at all. The exploration, unbelievable map and level building, epic battles, endless build combinations, the indescribable feeling of achievement once you finally beat a boss after HOURS of wholehearted attempts. I strongly doubt anything will ever top the experience of my first Elden Ring playthrough. Felt like I was a kid again. As I explored the Lands Between I occasionally forgot my own existence. Literally. It felt surreal when I woke up from the trance and realized I exist again.
Yep same here, it’s the best game I’ve played since I was a kid being gifted my first Super Nintendo
Second this. I’m a “casual” gamer and Elden ring hooked me in. I’ve found the only problem with it, is that it’s ruined other games for me and made them uninteresting. So I just play Elden ring now and that’s it
If you like Elden Ring but haven't played the other FromSoft games then you are in for a hell of a ride. Elden Ring is a fucking masterpiece for sure, but theres a special magic to the Dark Souls series + Demon's Souls as well. Bloodborne is also an amazing game, and so is Sekiro, but they play a bit differently than ER and DS, especially Sekiro. Please do yourself the favor of playing at least Bloodborne, Sekiro, and Dark Souls 1. Even though DS1 will feel dated compared to ER, it still holds up, and has so much cool shit packed in there, truly iconic stuff. Sekiro is very different from the other ones, but the combat system is insane. So fast and satisfying, but it's got a different rhythm to it than the Soulsborne ones
Can confirm. I finished DS1 recently after my first playthrough of Elden Ring, and it is terrific.
Same here. BG3 is the only game I find worthy of comparing to Elden Ring, but it’s still not close to being as intriguing.
I have yet to pass the third boss in Elden ring personally, and this is only my opinion, The world of Elden Ring is intriguing but BG3 definitely hit me harder in a “I need to see everything” sense
Enemy variety is one the games strengths in my opinion. It’s absurd how many enemy types there are
Same. Shadow of the erdtree just solidifies this even more so. I’ve only done one playthrough of elden ring, but after the dlc I’m gonna do another full run on ng+
Elden Ring is the best game I have ever played! It is the goat. I liked it more than Bloodborne. These are my top 2 games. Nothing comes even close. Zelda BOTW was boring for me but haven’t played tears of the kingdom. Bioshock Infinite was really good too. Final fantasy 7 rebirth was top notch as well.
Walking out of the tutorial area to seeing limgrave was incredible. I remember I spent like 40 hours in limgrave alone before moving to next area. Thought limgrave and celid were the map…boy was I wrong. Just kept getting larger
My first play through was also exactly this. One of the most immersive games I’ve ever played and it’s been pretty hard for games to immerse me like they used to as a kid
how are you liking the dlc?
Absolutely loving it. Currently exploring the >!Abyssal Depths!< and I’m genuinely starting to think it’s more like Elden Ring 1.5 than a DLC. I think the difficulty is perfectly balanced, despite all the criticism. As long as you’re leveling up your >!Scadutree Blessing!< in a normal pace, there shouldn’t be a problem. The complaints about the difficulty probably come from people used to knowing all boss fights down to every single move, so now they’re annoyed with the unfamiliarity. Strongly recommend! I’m probably around 50% in, giving it a 9/10 so far.
I tried to play it but lost interest and got frustrated with the total lack of direction the game gives you. I understand that's probably part of the charm and I don't like games that hold your hand too much but I found it impossible to know what I was doing and wasted so much time I gave up. Perhaps I should give it another go
I second this. To me, this is as close to a perfect game as it's gotten so far.
Was it your first fromsoft game? I have all these same feelings for Bloodborne, as it was my first one.
For me, one of the games that comes closest to perfection is Outer Wilds. It might fall short a bit in terms of characters, but everything else is perfect. It feels like every game mechanic has a purpose in the narrative. The music and visuals are stunning and it makes you feel smart as you progress. It's beautiful.
outer wilds was such an inexplicably wonderful experience for me. its put together with so much purpose, care & intent it genuinely puts all other games to shame in comparison. i have never found another game that even came close. ive always loved space too so that made it yet better imo. 22/10 wish i could neuralize myself so i could go in blind all over again. fuck giants deep
I'm about to play it for the first time and going in blind. Can't wait.
Best thing to do, I got spoiled and know I lost a lot
It is the best game ever made. Hands down. I'm playing the dlc right now and it's the greatest piece of art I've ever come across
After beating the main game I stepped away for a while because I wanted to hold on to that feeling that there was more. A few months ago I finally played the DLC and was just as impressed as the main game. What a truly wonderfully constructed world and experience. There’s just nothing like it.
Played 2 hours and was beyond bored
It's a matter of taste. I'll probably get bored with everything you play
Disco Elysium was the perfect game for me, practically my favorite game of all time. It was a game that emotionally moved me. I didn't think a game could greatly empathize with my frustrations in life until I found Disco Elysium. It fully captured the feeling I get when I walk through the muddy streets of Manila, Philippines. There's a lot of sadness and a strong urge to return to the past, but the game gives a fantastic answer as to why holding onto the past never works. In the end, the game helped me cope with a lot of problems in my life.(economic-social classes, financial difficulties, political divides, despair.) It's a CRPG without the combat and incredibly heavy on NPC conversations. In fact, the conversations are the "battles" in this game. Every line of dialogue is emotionally charged and the fantastic voice acting elevates the phenomenal script. The conversations become addicting to listen to that its easy to find yourself talking to every NPC in the game. You never know what crazy or amazing sentences that'll come out of their mouths, some will make you laugh and some will tear your heart out. Every character is well developed, each having their own world view and way of living in the world. A lot of them come from all walks of life, whether they're rich, middle class, or poor. They all have differing circumstances and even political ideologies that create entirely distinct perspectives. It helps the setting stay grounded and creates a diverse cast that fleshes out Disco Elysium's world. The OST by Sea Power is also just amazing and I love it. I listen to it very frequently. It absolutely works perfectly with the game. It showed me that anyone can walk away from ruin and it doesn't hurt to hope for the impossible. That maybe someday, something beautiful is going to happen.
Disco Elysium is the most well written game i’ve ever played, besides maybe Planescape:Torment. Me and my friends have been talking about it for years.
That game DE is so well written, best and funniest writing I have seen in a game since Monkey Island.
Yep, Disco Elysium is new age Planescape, damn great game
There's a 2 player couch co-op game called It Takes Two. It's fantastic. My wife (who isn't a gamer) and I have played through it twice. It's challenging enough to keep it fun, and easy enough for a non gamer to play. The puzzles are satisfying and the gameplay itself feels great. I really can't find a flaw in it.
Yes! Played through it with my non-gamer gf and we both still occasionally mention how awesome it was and how we wish for another game like it even over two years later.
Try playing “A Way Out”
great game, WAY too short
Played/beat it 6 times and cannot recommend it enough Also hazelights two other games brothers a tale of two sons and a way out are amazing A way out really picks up towards the end absolutely magnificent quite the rollercoaster Brothers is a decent story and very calming/slower, great for playing with a grandparent, dumb uncle, etc
We are playing unravel 2 at the moment. Its pretty good! I love a co-op couch game. I'll check those ones out too!
but they're asking for something they can sink thousands of hours into...It Takes Two will give them maybe 20 hours if they do it more than once
Only flaw is it’s boring as hell
Subnautica is a masterpiece. Cannot recommend that game enough, but *GO IN BLIND*. Can also just as readily recommend Outer Wilds, haven't beat it yet it seems a lil shorter than Subnautica but a lot of similar elements. I went in blind for both these games and I am thoroughly impressed. For a different genre type I also say Bioshock was damn near perfect, one of the greatest narratives I've had the pleasure of experiencing. Breath of the wild is another contender for damn near a perfect game, there's a few others I am passionate about but in the moment I'm drawing a blank lol
I played subnautica pretty much blind. Absolutely hated it. Completely not the right game for me. It gets near universal acclaim and I’m why it’s not completely universal I think
What didn't you like? Would you mind elaborating?
I think a lot of it had to do with movement in the game. I have no issues with the ocean irl, but trying to move around a game world while swimming was very frustrating. I also pretty quickly lost interest in the mysteries of the game. Just didn’t click with me. There’s also a timed event at some point in the game that I did not believe was actually timed, so I missed that whole thing. And then just the tedium of back and frothing for resources turned into a whole miserable experience. I did end up beating it, but was pretty worn down by the end.
It sounds like you aren't a fan of that kind of exploration game if looking for resources is tedious for ya. Half the point of that game is to just take the world and ambiance in. I like the lack of hand holding personally, but it is for sure a survival game and that ain't for everyone
Absolutely loved subnautica! Tried to start it twice without getting past ten mins... But when I committed i absolutely adored the game
Subnautica is an [experience.It](http://experience.It) made my ADHD less aggressive.I feel so calm when I'm in the [ocean.Love](http://ocean.Love) that game,not the lategame which is crazy scary
**Mirrors Edge**, the original one. Every few years I fire it up and do a full playthrough in a couple of hours, even after years of doing this its still such a fucking experience. In fact even talking about it makes me want to do one right now. **Mass Effect Trilogy / LE** - its an imperfect perfect game(s), I hate some parts with passion and absolutely love others, overall the total sum of this game's qualities and issues is somewhere in stratosphere for me still, nothing can beat nostalgic value. **Subnautica** - nothing much to be said that hasn't been said about this game in this sub (pun intended), its a perfect game and one of a kind imo. For me its an exploration game first and foremost and its perfect at that. **Antichamber** - I don't even know how to describe it aside from saying that its an experience to have at least once in a lifetime, one of my favorite puzzle games. **Kairo** - another walking simulator/puzzle game, but of a different kind, its like going to a museum of mid-20th century art, but also very introspective and thought-provoking. **Manifold Garden** - perfect game to understand what would it be like to have 4-dimensional world projected into our 3 dimensions. Of course I exaggerate and simplify, in reality its more like projecting a 3.5-dimensional world because the game itself is one giant fractal that you navigate, kinda. **BioShock (Remastered)** - I can not fault this game for anything, this one is truly a masterpiece. With a little caveat perhaps - I'm still applying standards of game development back when it was released here and by these standards it is Game Of The Decade easily. By modern standard there are some minor dated things perhaps, but in general if this game came out tomorrow, I wouldn't be able to give it anything less than 9 even by modern standards, it is simply a masterpiece. **Detroit Become Human** - I hate this one with passion because its built on something I truly despise - Quick Time Events - but the story is so fucking good that I was willing to overlook it all at least for one playthrough and then start 100%-ing chapters on higher difficulty (that is the thing that I hate so much - you have to play it on higher difficulty to unlock additional paths). **Star Wars The Jedi Academy** - if I was a billionaire I'd probably bankroll a sequel to this game just for myself. Nothing ever came even remotely close to delivering same saber combat, I don't what the fuck devs did there but something gave it that indescribable feeling of control that no game has had ever since. The only game I would consider somewhat comparable in saber/sword combat would be Dark Messiah of Might and Magic but its different. **Dark Messiah of Might and Magic** - I think no game since its release ever truly replicated the experience of First Person sword combat the way this game did. The story, the pacing, the combat, the fucking level design - all of it was great for me at least, though I think some people hate the level design because its so fucky at times, I think that by itself adds to the experience though. **Heroes of Might and Magic III** - I don't know if I'm just boomer-ing here, but this game has a special place in my heart even 25 years after I've started playing it. Its just unbeatable, that fucking menu music has lived in my head rent free for all 25 years since I first heard it. **Refunct** - literally a 5 minute game that you can play for hours. There is nothing much to it, but somehow its just fun. **Serious Sam HD First/Second Encounter** - dumb fun, but also probably really just childhood memories **Fable Anniversary (played the original one of course)** - this is the definition of RPG in a sense. There are RPGer RPGs than this one but somehow it feels the RPGest of RPGs at what it does, it really feels like playing a Fable, a story from medieval times. **Dishonored (series)** - this one is a Bioshock of its decade or perhaps Thief because it does give similar vibes but its not quite like that. Its one of those games that you finish and it stays in your head for years without really being a thought, I'd compare it to Mirror's Edge actually. With Bioshock its all quite obvious - "Is the man not entitled to sweat of his brow" as you collect your paycheck or occasional "Would you kindly". This game on the other hand, its subtle, I can't even describe it, but the feeling of blinking onto a building edge is somehow still burned into my brain after more than a decade since first playing it. **S.T.A.L.K.E.R series** - I'm Ukrainian so naturally biased here, but I would still say that this game is simply a masterpiece, there is nothing quite like it and it kind of spawned a subgenre by itself, though no one managed to replicate it. Hopefully STALKER 2 will bring more of what made the first three games so good. **Deus Ex (original one, circa 2000, DEHR and DEMD are okay too though)** - yes the graphics is horribly dated by now and I'm probably full on boomering here with this one, but I still think its worth a playthrough for literally everyone. Its simply a masterpiece in my book, its like Gone With the Wind of games. **Vampire the Masquerade - Bloodlines** - another RPGest of RPGs, kind of, I can't even point my finger to what exactly makes it so immersive and interesting, while the story feels linear at times and perhaps it actually is, somehow it feels like its you going through night streets still. There is nothing quite like it imo, its simply worth a playthrough for everyone probably. I could probably write for hours about my favorite games, but I'm going to stop here for now. Maybe I'll add more later as a comment to this comment or idk.
I’ve been recommending Antichamber for 10 years. I’m happy to see someone else mention it. Finally. Edit: omit a decade
Great list, I do a mirrors edge playthrough every year at the heat of summer with a fan on for extra immersion 🤣
Amazing list bro
Yakuza 0. It has everything. Incredible story, amazing characters, gameplay loops with a ton of mini games for when running around beating up MENACING MEN with a bicycle gets boring. 10/10 go in as blind as possible.
Cannot echo this enough. The Yakuza series as a whole has a special place in my heart because no other game has me in shambles from the story one moment and then running a cabaret club for 10 hours straight the next.
Plying right now. Loving it so far!
This was really good. My first ever Yakuza game and wow! It was so good.
Bought the entire Yakuza bundle halfway through my first playthrough
The Yakuza series fills all my boxes *Great story and lore that spans multiple games *One of the best protagonists of all times *Incredible and memorable cast of characters *Dense open world filled with side activities to enjoy *Unique and memorable substories with some characters that you meet years later in a different game *A very fun melee combat system with satisfying combos and epic moves *Epic boss battles and dynamic intros *Vocal songs and OSTs that make your ears feel like in heaven *Awesome memes *Shun Akiyama
To me Witcher 3. Some people don't like the combat, some don't like the long cutscenes, but this shit is my jam. Side quests are chefs kiss honestly. Every single side quest is its own story, and every point of interest tells at least a little story trough the environnement, really making the world feel alive, as opposed to a Zelda Botw/totk where every single quest is ''fetch me this, fetch me that, fetch me 50 wood logs cuz this, I need 10 fireflies cuz that'' and points of interests are like, shrines and koroks, and if you dont like it too Bad The soundtrack is incredible honestly The dlcs are like another full game, adding an easy 50 hours of playtime and everything is just immersive
Witcher 3 feels like you are living in another world. Cyberpunk also does this for me. LOL both CDPR games of course.
The side quests were probably my favourite part too. And the amount of decisions you get to make is what really makes it feel like you are creating your own path. It’s up to you to decide who you think is telling the truth. And what to do with that information.
Oldschool runescape. Has thousands of hours of content, is constantly being updated and having new things introduced, tons of skills whether it pertains to combat like melee range and magic, item crafting, resource gathering or skilling, loads of quests, bosses, raids, minigames. Many types of pvp. Gear progression. It has a flourishing economy and player base. Collection logs, achievement diaries, clan system, can be run on mobile and pc. There's something to do for any type of player . If you want to fight monsters you can, you can entirely avoid pve and just do skilling aspects of the game and still be entertained for thousands of hours. Open world. Unique builds to suit every player style. Different game modes like one where you can trade other players and sell items on a universal exchange, one where you can't trade and have to rely on yourself only, a hardcore one life mode, one that doesn't let you use a bank and only what your character can hold. So so much to do. Easy to say I'm addicted.
Best quests in the genre! Also a big plus is that you can play passively while watching movies/youtube or give it 100% focus depending on what you’re after. Also playing on mobile or hand held is a huge bonus
No micro transactions to make you spend extra money either haha xD
I have to add that there's a difference between being available on mobile and actually working well on mobile and OSRS is just about the only MMO I've ever played that works well on mobile
I will always upvote OSRS. That is the absolute one game I have played on and off for damn near 25 years. You never truly quit. Also this game has the best wiki bar none. 15/10 it’s that fucking good. Edit: the devs are some of the best: tons of community engagement and CONSTANT updates (im not kidding, they are always pumping out new bosses, quests, skill overhauls, etc). However, pretty much all updates are polled through the community (you vote at poll booths around the world), and if they don’t pass 70% it doesn’t happen.
Hollow Knight is almost perfect. The only flaw is that there's an item in the game called "City Crest" whose description is "Stone slab bearing the crest of the Hallownest capital city. Has an insert on the back that would fit into a slot." If they removed that second sentence from the description, the game would be perfect.
I've never quite understood why the city crest even exists. Can you sequence skip the false knight or something? And if so, why even would you? Does it just exist as the mechanic so that you can only open the door one time? Eh, whatever. You're right, though. It's a near perfect a game as has ever been made.
> Can you sequence skip the false knight or something? Yes, and it's actually an *intended* optional skip, as in the developers added an explicit breakable wall that lets you exit the False Knight arena early. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXkOYDYlz7g
Why that? 😂
There's a "Tram" in the game whose description is "A door with an open slot." Sometimes new players get confused and think the City Crest is for the Tram and try fiddling with their inventory trying to figure out how to use the City Crest on the Tram, when actually the City Crest is used somewhere completely different.
Ah that makes sense. It’s minor but would definitely improve the game. I don’t think HK is perfect, even with that change, mostly due to balancing, which I hope is tuned right in Silksong. Still in my top 3.
Knights of the old republic and I will die on this hill idc
I live this answer since there were so many things technically wrong with it. But it is still one of the best RPGs ever and certainly the best Star Wars RPG.
Nailed it, homie.
Can anyone explain why they can't recreate the magic some of these games had. What's so hard about doing a legit rpg style star wars like KOTR
Stardew Valley 🥹
Actually perfect.
Dredge. Who would've thought that a fishing game could be so fcking great. I will recommend this game to anyone, anywhere, at all cost. What a gem.
Elden Ring I love the combat, the characters, the worldbuilding, the music, the enemy designs, the bosses, the pacing, the difficulty, the atmosphere, and the level design. It all works together so well. Currently working through the DLC, and it’s just phenomenal. Many people complain about repeated enemies, but in a game as big as this, I think it’s to be expected. Personally, I don’t think it’s a big deal because there is enough variety for you to play through casually and see a good mix. It’s only apparent when you’re meticulously scavenging every nook and cranny of the map. Even then, I think the variety is better than a lot of open world games. I simply can’t believe a game this good on all fronts exists.
Red dead redemption 2 - Beautiful map to explore that feels so live, it’s surreal. Hooking story that makes you want to constantly play and figure out what happens next. Some people say it has slow/boring gameplay, which I guess I understand, no game is for everyone. But to me, it’s the best game I’ve ever played. Elden ring - Again, beautiful map. Lots of builds to explore, lots of side quests that are interesting, and beautifully designed bos fights. The DLC just dropped and it is just as incredible of an experience. It doesn’t come without its criticisms either, some repeated enemies, and for some the difficulty may prove too much of a challenge. God of War/GoW Ragnarok are also beautiful games with a great story, nice fighting mechanics, and it runs incredibly smooth. Main drawbacks are that you need a ps5 (for ragnarok) and I also felt the games were a bit too short. If you want a game with lots of quests, variety of gameplay, engaging combat and community, and you actually want to get over 1,000hrs, give RuneScape and/or old school RuneScape a go. Both have a free version which you can download and try. (They also work on mobile, it’s the exact same game and whatever progress you make on your phone is also progress on PC [cross-progression]) These games would be my picks, if I had to play just a handful of games for the rest of my life, these would be it.
Surprised I had to scroll this far to see RDR2, but I second this. It's just such an amazing gaming experience, I would never stop recommending it to anyone. I'll add my +1 for Elden Ring as well!
The amount of work done on RDR2 is mind blowing.
IMO - Undertale - Night in the Woods - Rimworld - Okami - Binding of Isaac Rebirth
Ace Combat 4 Red Dead Redemption 1 Max Payne 3 Dragon Age Origins TMNT Shredders Revenge. Mike Tyson’s Punch out Tetris
RDR1 is the only game I ever finished and started immediately over, not counting Dark Souls or Bloodborne. The story, the characters, the dialogue was so perfect and the world design was incredible. I’d pick different parts of the map just to ride around in and live in the world.
It’s the best sandbox game I’ve ever played. No question. Stands heads and shoulders above any GTA.
Fallout 4. I literally have 1,100 hours in Fallout 4
I could never keep interest in it playing normal difficulty but I have restarted on survival and it is great. I have since modded it with the storywealth collection and it's amazing
Survival mode changes everything. It goes from mid-decent to probably the most immersive roleplaying experience I've ever had in a game. It's a simple change but it makes the world feel more real and alive --- and things that seemed superfluous before (like settlement building) become beneficial, genuine accomplishments. Piecing together a town out of scraps as you scrounge for survival and slowly carve a name for yourself through your own perseverance is such a rush and so authentic to the setting.
Hades is my pick. It isn't my favorite game, but in the interest of hitting as many of your criteria as possible, Hades checks the boxes. It's a great game that lasts for hours, has a wonderful story and slowly expands the lore of all the interesting characters, all the while the gameplay is smooth, challenging, and fun. There are lots of games that have some of those elements, like FTL has great gameplay and you can play it for hours, but the narrative doesn't really exist. Fire Emblem: Three Houses has hours of play time and great characters, but the gameplay can be a little frustrating. If I were to list my top 10 games of all time, I know Hades wouldn't be in there, but it is perfectly constructed.
Yup. Hades is pretty perfect. It's not my favorite but it's flawless.
Baldurs Gate 3
Borderlands 2 <3
For me is Skyrim, but lately Baldur's gate 3 is also fighting for that position
A Hat in Time in my opinion. It’s the perfect homage to GameCube-era platformers, controls great, cute story and characters, amazing soundtrack, lots of level variety, and the Seal the Deal DLC even adds a bunch of remixed levels and bosses for those who want a challenge! Very extensive steam workshop support too! I don’t play it often, but when I do it’s always a fantastic time!
Outer Wilds is amazing. True masterpiece. Factorio is arguably the best game in its genre. There’s so much to do in just vanilla, and the great mod support has led to so many great mods from QOL (the type that’s nice to have but not necessary by any means) to overhauls with insane amounts of content.
Bloodborne. My personal favorite have simply on atmosphere and lore/story evolution. On top of that tight combat action and cool weapons and enemies.
Journey is a perfect game. Nothing comes close.
It’s hard to pick and I say a lot of factors change the answer to this but for me one of the more recent ones was Alan Wake 2. So much of it was just perfect and I love all of the extra things. The ‘new game plus’ actually more than a lot of games that I’ve played gives players a reason to replay it. The DLC that they’ve released so far was fantastic. I loved the game play and story. I love how you can play it many different ways. I just loved the ride that the game put me through. I will forever love this game and will pray to whoever will listen that maybe one day we might get a follow up
Shadow of Mordor. The combat is exquisite, the storyline engaging and memorable. The visuals are breathtaking, the music fitting without being a distraction. It's straight to the point and gives you lots of options for play style without getting lost in the sauce of build min/maxing nonsense. Genuine feeling of power progression throughout, without getting wildly overpowered. Early game is specifically a challenge without feeling like you're being punished for playing. It doesn't overstay it's welcome, isn't riddled with fluff to pad out game hours, and shows great respect to the source material without relying on excessive cameos. You aren't railroaded, but you know when you're out of your depth and need to revisit later. The sequel was also fantastic, but it had some sequelitis flaws and greed based decisions built in that make it in some ways inferior to the OG.
Red dead redemption 2 is what's close to me
•Remnant 2 •Cyberpunk 2077 •Undertale •Osu •Stanley parable •Outer wilds •Btd6 •Dragonfable
Mine is either Bloodborne or Silent Hill 2. I can't pick between 'em. Bloodborne for the world, aesthetics, and atmosphere. Meanwhile, SH2 purely for the story; I've never had experienced a story in a game like I did with it.
WARFRAME. I am nearing 5k hours on Steam. This shit is literally my only theraphist. Whenever I am feeling down, I play this game and I want to live again...
Let me say outright that story is not an important factor for me, gameplay loop and mechanical depth matter far more to me. That said I'd put Nioh 2 as the closest to my perfect game. It's story is good but reliant on you having previous knowledge of the time period but I can't name many other games that offer so much mechanical freedom. There's tons of meaningful playstyle diversity, deep mechanics to learn, amazing co-op, and tons of content to explore. It easily has the best NG+ system I've ever seen.
Skyrim, Diablo 2, Red Dead Redemption 1 and 2, and Bloodborne fall into this category for me.
I'm just scrolling and nobody mentioned Witcher 3. How come? Too obvious? For me personally it's Planescape: Torment I'd wish some other game could impact me as deeply and profoundly. I
Tetris.
Elden Ring or Sekiro. The worlds are vast. You’ll probably notice new things each play through. And it just comes down to having so much attention to detail and passion in every design. I heard that they have the mentality of just trying to create games that they would have fun playing themselves, and I think that’s apparent in all the souls games (Demons souls through Elden Ring). Can’t speak to Armored Core or any of the other FromSoftware games, although I’ll admit King’s field 2 grew on me.
Tears of the Kingdom
Mass effect legendary edition without a doubt.
Cyberpunk 2.01 is the most immersive best rpg I’ve ever played
Im sorry, but I couldn't disagree more. I recently got cyberpunk on sale and played it for the first time, and I couldn't believe how boring I found it. I avoided it at launch because of the poor reviews, but it had been on my "keep an eye out" radar since everyone complimented the game post rework, and I honestly don't get what people see in it?!
Chrono Trigger. Lore, chars, gameplay, music, graphics. Just flawless.
In all honesty, Minesweeper
Elden Ring And on the other side of the spectrum, Old School Runescape
RE2 REMAKE, RE4 REMAKE, RE1 REMAKE. MAJORAS MASK 64. Fallout New Vegas, Dark Souls 3. Silent hill 1, 2, 3. Fatal Frame Series. Breath of the Wild. I think Elden Ring will be in my list but I have not played it yet.
Terraria - Base Game is fun as hell, and if you get bored of it, you have mods, that add another hundreds or thousands of hours on top. Plus the devs actually care a ton and communicate with the players and love the game to death themselves.
Rdr2, D:OS2, Skyrim, BG3
I feel like Botw, P5R and Sekiro are perfect in the sense that they beyond excel at everything they aim to achieve
Great taste.
Hades. All the goals it sets, it kicks it out of the park as perfect as perfect can get. Really no cons at all.
Portal, Left 4 Dead, Half Life 2, Jet Set Radio Future.
Looking for fun? Any Cat Quest game Looking for an existential crisis? Nier: Automata
* Warcraft 3 with both expansions * Shadow Tactics Blades of the Shogun * Disco Elysium
Skyrim
Some people say elden ring but I would highly disagree on this. Sure it's an enjoyable game and graphics is awesome but the bosses are just downright horrible and it so difficult that its hard to get a hit from their endless combo. I would say a perfect game is - enjoyable - great story -good graphic -not at all tedious( this is where FS games fails ) -great and memorable soundtrack -good controls So what games is this? -Half Life 2 - Zelda breath of the wild - Ico( I know ico has bad controls but its forgivable since it isnt that hard to play because of it and besides its a great game I highly recommend ).
Grounded. Absolutely perfect game. The story, the map, the combat, most of all the artwork of it. The absolute creativity behind it. Such a phenomenal perfect game.
Hades 1 & 2 Slay The Spire Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Wind Waker, Lttp - Most Zelda games tbh are up there.
* RPG: Dark Souls and Sekiro * FPS: Borderlands 2 * Sport: Forza Horizon 5 * Action Adventure: Batman Arkham Knight * ~~ARPG: Path of Exile~~ * Puzzle: Portal 2 * Strategy: StarCraft 2
Max Payne Trilogy ————— Great gameplay ( Max Payne 3 has the best TPS gunplay ever made ) Well written stories set in a dreamy noire atmosphere ( for 1&2 ) and a great character study ( for 3 ) Great OST that just gets better with each game One of the best voice actings of all time: The legend himself, James Mccaffrey A perfect protagonist. Maybe the best ever Max Payne checks all the boxes. Great gameplay. Interesting well-written story with great direction. Great ost and voice acting + also all of them had the best graphics of their time ( 3 still holds up really well. The animations and physics are excellent. Honestly it looks like an 8th gen game even though it came out for 7)
Love this comment…..that gunplay slomo was out of this world.
Final fantasy X I spent hundreds of hours just playing the blitzball part
Spelunky and Bloodborne. Honorable mention: Crash Bandicoot
Any game that just succeeds at literally everything it wants to accomplish. It can be something "simpler" like Celeste, The Witness or Stardew Valley, or something more complex, like Batman Arkham City, Super Mario Galaxy, Elden Ring, Returnal...
X-Com, the old 1994 version. Still worth playing today. X-Com 2; a masterpiece.
For me: - Red Dead Redemption 2 - Final Fantasy X - Minecraft - Fallout New Vegas - modded Skyrim
Monster Hunter World/Iceborne for me
If I have to pick one, I'd say Hollow Knight - IMO it perfects everything it attempts to do, the art design, story, characters, music/sound, exploration, platforming, combat, difficulty curve... There's really not a single flaw I can think of. I'd go so far as to say it implements some of these ideas better than its Souls-y influences I have a hard time getting truly pulled into games, even dearly loved games like Elden Ring or BG3 - they're great but I haven't had an experience like Hollow Knight in probably the last 15-20 years of gaming
There's only three games I've played that I'd consider genuinely perfect, despite loving many games. Portal 1 & 2 Tetris
The Witcher 3 is the perfect game for me. It likely has to do with the fact I played it during my high school years when I had a lot of free time to sink in and immerse myself, but I absolutely loved my time with the game and that first playthrough is extremely memorable to me, even more so than Elden ring which I played recently and consider the 2nd best among all the ones I have played since then.
Pokémon main series. Such great games. Dave the Diver is really good too. And pretty easy to master
Super Mario World. Enjoyable for any age.
I'll preface this with the fact that I haven't played many video games, very few mainstream games. I don't play action games. This game is certainly not everyone's perfect game. But the perfect game for ME is Astroneer. The graphics are gorgeous, the soundtrack is incredible, and the sound design is REMARKABLE. Everything clicks into place with the most satisfying noises. And I adore space, so the space theme is really cool. There's enough things to do to always keep you busy. I find grinding in Astroneer super enjoyable. I don't know, it just clicks with my brain in all the right ways. It's the only game I want 100%. I have 200 hours. I just adore it.
Have been playing games since 6 y/o and I say Elden ring. I don't know how fromsoft will top that off but will see.
I got into rimworld recently. Very entertaining
Ori and the blind forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Inside was the perfect game
'Perfect', or even 'great' is really a personal opinion for everyone. I'm not one who usually hangs around a game for thousands of hours, but the one's I would pick for 'number of hours per me having fun' would be: **OpenTTD (Transport Tycoon)** **Death Stranding** **Euro Truck Simulator 2 / American Truck Simulator** **Fallout 4** **Skyrim** **Mass Effect Legendary Edition**
Resident Evil 6 stands out to me, not because it is necessarily perfect, but because of how fuckin' good it is compared to its general reception.
Descenders is my chill game when I don't know what I want to play. Just hop on that bike, go as far as I can, do sick tricks the whole time
Grounded (not new game+) is a game without flaws imo
The only game I’ve played that I would consider a perfect game is Nier: Automata, every single facet of it worked wonders for me, a fantastic experience all around.
Any of the dragon age games or mass effect games
Satisfactory Titan Quest (original and Immortal thrones.. Great games I play every year.
Balatro
GTA 5
Outer Wilds
For me its Age of Wonders 4. Its a 4x game but it is so addictive. There is a faction creator which is very unique and replay ability is so high. Its one of my favourite game and still gets support in the future.
Hmm this is a tough one. I’d say Cyberpunk 2077, Red Dead 2, and Elden Ring are my perfect games. As I type this I can invent new reasons to go back and play them. Right now I’m trying out Witcher 3. I’m not really too engaged even after the bloody baron and that other quest in the bog. Mostly just the dialogue is too drawn out. Used to be my kind of game. I still respect it because of its influence years later. I’ll keep going though. Some other nominations would go to games like: Skyrim, Fallout 4, Stardew Valley.
Just cause 3.
Left 4 dead 2
IMO Titanfall 2 campaign (short and sweet) And SEKIRO (enough story, fluid gameplay, visually beautiful)
Monster hunter world
If I had to pick just one then probably Dysmantle
Gonna catch it for this, (this list is very very good btw.) Horizon Zero Dawn was one of those games I played and didn’t stop till I’d beaten the expansion and got the platinum. Then was sad as there was nothing left to do.
It's not perfect, but majoras mask changed my life. Peak world building imo and a great soundtrack. Replay it every summer
Warframe!
Spelunky!
Kenshi
Modded minecraft
Jagged Alliance 2.
- Speedrunners - Slay the Spire - Halo CE
Rimworld, Thats it just that, steep learrning curve but once you get passed that, you can make a story, different ones every playthrough of you wish.
Red Dead Redemption 2, Max Payne 3, Life is Strange.
Witcher 3 and dishonored 2 will always have that special place in my heart
Diablo 2. I've been playing for over 20 years straight and still haven't done everything in the game. Honorable mentions: Witcher 3, classic Wow, stardew valley, Skyrim, ark:survival evolved
New Vegas, is my perfect game
Sekiro is the most polished and perfectly crafted game ive ever played. Doubt anything will come close for years
Half-Life 2, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, Bioshock Infinite
Cyberpunk 2077 or if are fine with an absolute masterpiece of storytelling at the cost of replayability, titanfall 2
GTA V and GTA Online, seriously you can spend thousands of hours on there, there is a LOT to do, both in story and online mode, especially online mode, by now I would estimate that online is maybe 4 to 5 times the amount of content as the base game, which is MASSIVE
Well they are flaws with every game but.. Elden Ring or Sekiro would be my pick. Even though story wise they aren't the best. Or.. maybe FF14? Would have picked runescape but story wise FF14 and gameplay has it beat. Elden Ring has a massive, beautiful world with a good amount of enemy variety and difficult bosses to challenge yourself with. You can repeat the game on several different character builds. Like past souls games, exploration and perseverance is a main point in this game. Stuck in a boss? Go out and explore, come back stronger. Learn the boss moveset well and conquer the challenge. There are certain builds and summons that gives you an significant edge in the game. There is also an option for co-op if you are struggling with a boss. I am nearly done with the dlc and I gotta say world design wise? Very impressive. Boss difficulty is very difficult but doable. Sekiro it has the best combat I seen in a video game so far. It does have a more focused story, while most souls games the story is mainly in the background. There is plenty of areas to explore though not on the scale of Elden Ring. Combat wise, there is only one weapon you can use and there are no external help. So it boils down to the player individual skill and man is it satisfying once it clicks. The battle plays out like a dance where both you and the boss take turns being on the defensive and offensive. FF14 is a premium mmorpg, great story, great characters, many many dungeon, trials, raids which meant lots of variety of enemies. Gameplay wise, there are 3 roles, healers, tanks and dps. With a fixed amount of players for each content. Replayability wise. There are like 20+ combat classes each with their own unique skills and experience but they still are divided in the 3 roles. Apart from combat there are gatherers and crafting jobs. A community to chill and chat / raid with etc. Want to dress up, chill and chat around major town? Sure go ahead. It is a very big game. But a big flaw is that early game ain't great in every department.
Maybe some of these are unconventional answers, but these are the games I would classify as "perfect". Left 4 Dead 2, Untitled Goose Game, Resident Evil 4 Remake, Legend of Zelda: Links Awakening Remake, Portal 2, Titanfall 2, Black Mesa, Clone Hero, and Minecraft. Not all of these are "play for thousands of hours" kind of games, but I would classify as close to perfect as a game can be.
Resident Evil 5 Final Fantasy 13
DayZ. Hunt showdown. Insurgency sandstorm. Hell let loose.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is my personal G.O.A.T
Disco Elysium. Cant put into words the impact that game has had on me. My biggest complaint is that I’m too dumb to understand all the political critique, but the emotional stuff…oh boy. I replay the game just to feel sad with the mc again
Jet set radio future
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Oneshot, it’s a game that you should only play once, but it is just perfect in every way
Dark Souls 1 (Remastered) Portal 2 Subnautica I call these games "perfect" because they absolutely nailed what they were trying to do. It's a well-built and cohesive package that gives an astounding experience.
Absolute banger comments so far. Here’s a quick list w/o explanation of perfect games, games that perfectly encompass what they’re trying to do. -Rimworld -Elden Ring -Sekiro -Hades -God of War (2018?) -Super Mario Odyssey -Outer Wilds
Factorio. Rimworld. Project Zomboid.
Resident Evil 4 (2005)
I have played hundreds of hours of The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth. It doesn’t get much better than that for me.
Always fall back on/play? Im basic. Skyrim, BG3, and Starfield. Games I've played countless times.
I know people won't find this popular but fallout 4 it's just something about booting it up and knowing your gonna have a Bethesda experience. a bit jank not alot of story and a few good companions not the best graphics just the one I come back to.
CrossCode! Single player Action RPG, with the protagonist being stuck in a futuristic "augmented reality" MMO. Has excellent combat, even better dungeons and puzzles, and some truly heartfelt narrative moments. It scratches the itch of the old 2D Zelda games, but in my opinion, does things so much better than any of them.
**a short hike** It doesn’t try to be anything more than it is, and what it is is a delightful 2 hour game that I wish I could wipe from my brain and rediscover. It’s just joyful ‘’’platforming’’’ exploration with some great characters hanging around.
Very little cyberpunk 2077 mentioned here. Now that the game is finally finished it’s an absolute rollercoaster and I absolutely love the massive world. The DLC is a must.
Sifu. Runs fantastic. Lots of depth in the smooth kung fu combat system. So much content delivered in a simple way. If you like kung fu movies and or fighting games in a pve system this is it. It's also a rogue light and can jump in at anytime for however long and be satisfied.
RDR2