About me: My favorite games

I love video games. I play a game for a little bit almost every day. I have a huge collection of vintage games going back to Atari 2600 that I still play pretty regularly, and I play nearly every major game that comes out though I do have a tendency to stay away from multiplayer games - I prefer solo stories. 

To me, my love for video games has always come in two categories - those that test your skill in a fun way and those that tell an engrossing story. Sometimes these two categories actually mix, and I love that. 

Alright, with that said, I'm just going to tell you my top 10 games of all time. 

10. The Binding of Isaac: Any time I just feel like chilling and playing a game for a bit and I don't know what to play, this is my go-to. I've done almost everything there is to do on this game, but it's still fun every single time I pick it up. As far as rogue-like games go (which I'm a big fan of most) this is my absolute favorite and probably always will be. 

9. X-Com 2: Oh man, the combat in this game. Grid-based, turn-based combat takes me to the D&D table. I truly enjoy strategic combat like this, and X-Com has a fun story, endless customization, and some punishing randomness that I truly love as well. I haven't found a strategic combat game that I love quite as much as X-Com 2.

8. Red Dead Redemption: I don't enjoy open world games as much as I used to. When there's SO much stuff to do, I just get bored by it, as it all just feels like filler and I want to get to the real action. However, Red Dead Redemption (and it's sequel) are different. I love the setting. I love Marsters (and Morgan) and the story in both of these games is incredible. Both of them are up there with the best western stories in all of entertainment, in any medium. I'm kind of a fan of westerns as well, so this scratches that itch whenever it comes up. It's also the best open world game, in my opinion. 

7. The Last of Us: As for great stories in video games, it's hard to surpass Naughty Dog. I've played through all the Uncharted games and love them as well, but The Last of Us just blew me away the first time I played it. I don't think I've ever cared about a video game character as much as I care about Ellie and Joel. I haven't played the sequel yet. Honestly, I've been very hesitant to, as I feel like the game had a perfect ending, and I'm a little disappointed that they decided to make a sequel. I'm scared that they'll do something that makes me like these characters less and I don't want to. The first game is just perfect.

6. Half-Life 2: This game was the first game that I've ever played that I just sunk into the character and felt like every movement of my mouse was just natural and I was just Gordon. I loved Alyx and her dad, and all the other characters that showed up. I love the setting and the physics based puzzles. I LOVE DOG - he's the best. I actually have a framed poster of him on my wall in my bedroom. I love that robot. I was extremely disappointed when Episode 3 never came out, as I was deeply invested in the story, but after some time I sort of just gave up on it. This was my absolute favorite game for a long time, but I really think they dropped the ball with it. I can't believe Valve just sat on this property for so long before releasing Alyx, which is VR, so I can't even play it (VR games make me super sick). 

5. Castlevania 3: And now we get into my favorite old-school games. I didn't mean for it to work out this way, but these next few are all older games. I guess I'm still a NES-baby at heart. I got a NES for my 5th birthday (along with Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt for me and Mike Tyson's Punch Out that was mostly dad's, but I think I played it more.) The NES is absolutely the reason why I love video games. I would rent a game every weekend, or buy one used, then play the crap out of it. I almost never beat games as a kid, but man it was fun to try. 

Castlevania 3 is a game I didn't play until I was older, but to me it is the perfect game of this style. I love the slow methodical way you make your way through the level, dodging or killing enemies. I love being able to change into different people to accomplish the different tasks. I love the 8bit graphics. I love, love, LOVE the music - best music in any NES game, I think. It's just an amazing game. And hard as fuck. 

4. Mega Man 2: I first played this at my cousin's house - he had a bunch more games than I did, because his family was way better off than mine. As soon as I played it, I was in love. I've played every Mega Man game since then - the main series, the X series, Zero series, Battle Network. So many games, and I really like most of them (even the ones that most consider bad). They're just fun platform shooters with a mostly cheesy story and corny dialogue. I'll take that any day of the week. I got into speedrunning for a little bit, and this was one of the first games I tried, so I feel like I know it inside and out now. It's just a great game. Also - amazing music!

3. Super Metroid - This game still sucks me in every time I play it. I love exploring this world, finding all the secrets (most of which I forget by the time I feel like playing through the game again.) Samus is just a fun character to play as well. Once again, amazing music - I think that's one thing that makes me really love a game. Even after I finish the game, the music sticks with me and is what makes me want to come back and play it again.

2. Super Mario Bros 3: I've probably played this game more than any other game ever made. It's just fun. Everything about it is fun. It's the perfect Mario game, I think. I love pretty much every other Mario game as well. I almost put Mario Odyssey here, because that game is the most fun I've had playing a video game in years, but Mario 3 is just my go-to if I want to play a FUN game. I could speed through this game in less than half an hour, or I could sit and play through every level - either way, it's gonna be a good time.

1. Dark Souls - I'm going to use this to just represent the entire series, including Bloodborne and Demon Souls, but Dark Souls IS my favorite of that series as well. If I wasn't just putting them all here, Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3 would  likely end up in other places on the Top 10 list. 

Dark Souls is just this amazing bit of skillful gameplay with an interesting story told through very subtle means. The level design is incredible as well, with the way you're always finding shortcuts and unlocking doors that make it easier to get around, since there's no fast travel. And the combat was a gamechanger for me. I can no longer be happy just running up to an enemy and pressing buttons until it's dead. The combat in this game just ruined all other combat systems for me. It's so good. 

If at this point, you still haven't tried out this series, I highly recommend it. You can start with just about any of them, but I would suggest the first Dark Souls. There's a remake of it out now too (though I haven't played that version). 

There's so many other games I love that didn't even make it on here. There's not even a Zelda game on the list! What the fuck? I love Zelda, Final Fantasy, The Witcher, Ratchet and Clank, Bioshock, and on and on and on.

Okay, I could gush about games for hours, or days, or years, but I actually need to get some work done, so I'll stop. Hope you guys enjoyed. What's some of your favorite games? I'd love to hear from you. As always, thanks for reading.