Want to do a 3x3 thread?

Still love that Sonic 2 cover.
- it's so good right?
Gaymes:
Shining Force II
Dragon's Dogma
Dragon's Dogma - Linux (Wine)
Ace Combat Squadron Leader
Phantasy Star - Original
Phantasy Star - Switch (recommended)
Stardew Valley - Linux
Stardew Valley - Windows
Digimon World
Legend of Dragoon
Sonic 2
Dragon Age Origins - Windows
Dragon Age Origins - Linux (Wine)
Got some excellent taste on display here
omg I loved legend of dragoon, i gotta replay that shit

In no particular order. Also possible I'm forgetting some; I'm old.

Was honestly kinda hard to limit myself to just 9, there's a few others I considered adding like Halo 2 or Umineko.

SCII!!!! During WoL I beat a pro once, got published on a starcraft blog, started making my own builds, got burned out from it all, came back to it many times since, but mostly doing cheese, including a new cheese build I am almost certain I invented: Double Gas Before Supply Depot Double Battlecruiser Rush. It's the fastest possible 2 BC's and it hits before queens have energy lmao. The build includes 1 bunker, 2-4 marines and 0-1 hellions, and does not die to as many things as you'd think.
I also almost added Halo 2 but I played Halo 1-3 so much I can't play any of them anymore.
Hell yeah ZeroRanger. Have you played Void Stranger?
- Playing it right now actually, really enjoying it but I'm still quite early.

SH 2 my favorite SH game, pretty basic opinion I know but it's so good.
- It was so goddamn scary I never actually did a second playthrough before getting rid of my PS2

Sure!

Scarlet/Violet defender gang

Not making an image, but in no particular order:

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Terraria
Disco Elysium
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
The Magnificent Trufflepigs
Enter the Gungeon
Paradise Killer
Boneraisers Minions

in no particular order, but I love that my list is coincidentally all different gameplay genres

Based House of the Dying Sun enjoyer
- I couldn't handle the strategy side and kept losing. Fantastic flavor though.
- I've tried a few explicitly battlestar galactica themed dogfighters but they didn't scratch the itch like House of the Dying Sun, i think its the deep drums in the soundtrack that I crave
Hylics looks like a cool game, never got around to playing it.
- need Hylics emotes asap. :somsnosa:
forgot Night in the Woods even though its my usernamesake smh
You are the only person other than me who has played Hylics

This was tough. Like FF6, 10, or Tactics could take 12:ZA's place and for Castlevania, I had trouble between choosing this, Portrait of Ruin or Order of Ecclessia.

Aria Of Sorrow is cool, I just wish it was longer, but it is a gba game.
- I feel like it being short and snappy is part of the appeal!

An entirely text-based MMORPG in Swedish played via telnet connection in the 1990s that no one else has ever heard of.
Final Fantasy 7
Kerbal Space Program
Disco Elysium
Hades
Wordfeud
Heroes of Might and Magic III
The Witcher 3
Ecco the Dolphin

Ecco the Dolphin is the kind of game I rented because I was super attracted to the box art (a friggin' dolphin!) and then got super frustrated with over a weekend.

dont feel like making a picture cause i am lazy, but in no particular order: -subnautica -satisfactory -minecraft -deep rock galactic -breath of the wild -beat saber -borderlands 2 -civ 6 -btd 6

Oh shit is that Mind Maze from the Encarta CD-ROM? That game slaps. I loved how one room would be figuring out cell structure and then you gotta identify a David Bowie song

Here's 9 games that aren't my favorite games but games that I have strong memories of and are significant one way or another:

Sonic 3&K: This is a stand-in for other Genesis games of my childhood like Sonic 2, Rocket Knight Adventure, Contra: Hard Corps, and Ecco the Dolphin. The prototypical nostalgia game of my childhood.
Doom 1: Everything that has been said about Doom has already been said. But personally, this is a stand-in for all those DOS shareware games way back in the day. Doom was really really really good. Doom was also everywhere. I somehow got Doom 3 times, once as a compliation of shareware games, once as part of its own CD called Doom Fever, and once as three floppies that came with a guide.
Diablo II: This is a stand-in for Blizzard games when Blizzard didn't suck (Warcraft 2, Starcraft, Warcraft 3) as well as ARPGs. Diablo II is one of those games that I revisit over and over. It's also a game that I've modded. I remember spending hours on a DII modding forum trying to change how the game worked.
Shining Force II: This is a stand-in for emulation in general. SFII wasn't the first game I've emulated, but it was definitely the one that I remember the most by far and also one that I revisit every once in a while. It helps that the game is good.
Spider Soltaire: I don't think anyone was expecting this on the list, but hey, there were plenty of times in high school where I played Spider Soltaire, Minesweeper, and all those other games that came packaged with XP during high school, so it deserves to be on the list. This is also a stand-in for those Flash games that proliferated during the early 00s.
Arcanum: This is a stand-in for isometric CRPGs (Fallout 1, Fallout 2, Baldur's Gate, Shadowrun Returns: Dragonfall, Divinity: Original Sin) as well as Troika's CRPG (Vampire: The Masquerade). I mostly picked Arcanum because everyone else have already chosen Fallout 2. The entire genre defined my college years.
La-Mulana: This is a stand-in for Metroidvanias and indie games in general. I picked La-Mulana because when you tried to play it without a guide at all, it's really not a game but an experience^TM.
Stardew Valley: There's a period in my life where I did nothing but played Stardew Valley. There's a whole bunch of mods that I messed around with.
Minetest: This is an open-source clone of Minecraft that I've associated with Linux in general even though it wasn't the first Linux game that I've installed. This was the first game that I've tried to create my own mod, and there was a period of time where I would play this game while listening to Parenti's speeches, so there's that memory association as well.

There's also GTA:VC which is the defining high school game for me. And as for the dishonorable mention, there's Lague for entirely negative reasons. Fuck Lague.

There really is nothing else like Doom. It's not just that the game itself is still great after 30 years or that it was like a flash of lightning in the industry. It's a representation of community too. You don't just play Doom anymore, there's decades of wads out there made by people simply passionate about making good times. The scope of how many Doom maps are out there is awe inspiring and no one was paid a cent to do it.
And it keeps going. People keep finding ways to innovate in the scene. I hope it keeps going another 30 years.
- I love Doom. I love the game itself, I love the music, I love the aesthetic, I love its place in gaming history, I love how it's simultaneously a product of its time and timeless, I love how its source code was released, I love how it's one of the earliest Linux ports, I love how it birthed modern speedrunning, I love how WADs had kept the game alive decades later.
  The hype and accolades thrown at Doom are 100% warranted.

shadowbane?!?!?!?!?!?! oh hell yah
NWN2
Mask of the Betrayer was too damn cool
Haven't seen shadowbane in ages. Didnt play too much but did when they shut it down.

Thanks for reminding me that I need someday to play Mother 1 and 3, only ever played and beat Earthbound.
- Mother 3 is an excellent game, currently in the process on my 2nd play through right now and I am enjoying it a lot :pigmask-parodied:

Honorable Mentions:

You Don't Know Jack 4: The Ride

Dragon Quest VII

Battletech

The Shadowrun series by Harebrained Schemes

F-Zero X

FFT is the best game and is one of the things that helped radicalize me so I'll just do a 3x3 grid of that game.

REMAKE WHEN come on it's like the last thing from the NVIDIA leaks that hasn't actually happened yet.

I still love the original's pixel art.
The PSP version's already the remake, really.
- I think people are holding out hope for a Tactics Ogre Reborn treatment lol

In no order:

Monster Hunter Freedom Unite
Portal: Reloaded
Celeste
Dark Souls
Beat Saber
Factorio
Minecraft
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Witcher 3

Monster Hunter Freedom Unite
Probably the best of classic Mon Hun imo
- I have an unorthodox pick for that but it's based on not knowing Japanese.
  I imported MHXX from Japan on switch and never learned about weapon arts so my first playthrough was entirely guild style with only ever unlocking the swift dodge or whatever it's called.
  GU is honestly probably my favorite old mh because of this and I did another "No weapon arts guild style only" playthrough with a friend a year ago and it also became his favorite.
  Since this really isn't the intended way to play I'd say FU is better, but if you've never tried that challenge in GU I'd really recommend it.

Sekiro (most loved and hated)
Metro 2033
Stalker SoC
Battlefield 1943
Nier Replicant
Metal Gear Rising
Disco Elysium
007 nightfire
Silent Hill 1

Hard to pick a top 9 there's just so many i love

Runners up would be Omori, dragons dogma, men of war, alien isolation, resi 8, oddworld abes odyssey

Love Stalker SoC, the first game is the best in the series, imo
- Agreed I never got on well with clear sky and CoP as much. SoC in my mind was perfect. Here's hoping stalker 2 is good.

You enjoy the original Monster Hunter you sick son of a bitch . . .

It's a mix of nostalgia and masochism lol

graphic design is my passion

Still meaning to try out UO someday and I love me some Diablo

Another Monster Hunter fan!
- Not sure if I qualify since so far I've only really gelled with World, and fell off of Iceborne and Rise.
Ghost goggles

Oh he'll yeah, fellow Cook Serve Delicious player spotted
- I'm a sicko and 100%'d 3. Love the clicky clacky keyboard games with pretty food pictures!

Metroid Prime 2 or Fusion, can't decide
FFX
Guild Wars 1
Kotor 2
Subnautica
Tiberian Sun
Warcraft 3
Civilization 4
Roller Coaster Tycoon

Still haven't played Disco Elysium, pretty sure I bought it day one just haven't played it for whatever reason.

honestly struggled to think of a ninth one. Middle row are my top 3, with DE as my number one. Played lots of games but looking on it I have some pretty basic redditor tastes when it comes to some of my faves.

Lost Technology, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy X

Hell Let Loose, Yakuza: Like A Dragon, Ogre Battle 64

Gundam Battle Operation 2, Fear and Hunger, Total War series0

Ogre Battle 64
Hell yeah
- Lost technology is.my personal hidden gem game i wish ppl would try it

Tetris
Mario 3
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
Devil May Cry 5
Guilty Gear: Strive
Super Mario Odyssey

Nostalgia picks

Super Smash Brothers: Ultimate
League of Legends
Pokemon White

Also not going to make an image, sorry, but:

Final Fantasy 7 (original),

Metal Gear Solid,

Rome: Total War,

GTA: Vice City,

Team Fortress Classic,

Day of Defeat

ROME TOTAL WAR! Also in my top 9. Back in 2007 I used to fall asleep seeing infantry formations in my vision. The Rome Total Realism mod was incredible
- Ah, I fucking loved Total Realism!! I played vanilla once and then went RTR and never looked back.
  I got it when it came out and easily logged the most hours for an offline game on it. I still play sometimes, it runs easily on laptops now but I had it running on an Alienware at the time. Haha
  Shogun 2 was made by the same team and was incredibly beautiful.

It's just Banished nine times

a few of these are core and unchanging (tekken 3, ctr, uncharted 2, bloodborne), some are recency bias (bayonetta, celeste). There are a lot I would include that didnt make the cut but that I love no less eg wind waker, super mario sunshine, super mario galaxy, shadow of the colossus, return of the obra dinn, vtmb. DS2 i think is controversial, but it was the first soulsborne I played and it holds a special place, warts and all

Favourites:

Fallout: New Vegas
Hollow Knight
Dark Souls 2
Wasteland 2
Prey (2017)
Resident Evil: Revelations 2
Homeworld: Cataclysm/Emergence
System Shock 2
Binding of Isaac (Repentance)

Least favourites:

Halo 4
Homefront
Door kickers
How to Survive
Dead Island: Riptide
Warhammer: Vermintide 2
Dead Space 3
Salt and Sanctuary
Middle Earth: Shadow of War

Honourable mentions (games that aren't quite my top 9):

Disco Elysium
Half-life 2: Episode 2
Rimworld
Kenshi
Divinity: Original sin 2
Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines
Barotrauma
Dead Cells
NieR: Automata
Dragon's Dogma

I think Hexbear doesn't accept media hosted on other instances (?)

Muh favorites in order:

Omori
Final Fantasy VII
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Hollow Knight
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
NieR Automata
Silent Hill
Dragon Age 2
Batbarian: Testament of the Primordials

Old

Someday you will join the old ranks.
- I am already there, because as is written in the ancient prophesies: "It takes one to know one"

My top 9 games that I think are most influential on me, in no particular order:

Dishonored
Fallout: New Vegas
Portal 2
Disco Elysium
Metal Gear Solid 3
Dragon Age: Origins
Minecraft
Mirror's Edge
Persona 5

Some additional games that I wanted to include but didn't make the cut:

Stardew Valley
Katamari Damacy
Divinity Original Sin
Yakuza 0
Prey (2017)

Undertale
Outer Wilds
Warframe
Mother 3
Teamfight Tactics
Pokemon Diamond
Hearthstone
League of Legends
Bioshock

Can't put Disco Elysium up there because as much as I think it's one of the best written games of all time, the game itself is such a drag to play through that I could never finish an entire playthrough myself. I genuinely think it would be better as a full-on Visual Novel instead of a 2.5D Point 'n Click adventure. The running is slow, the pathing is super finnicky, the skill checks just make me groan and roll my eyes.

In text:

    
Starcraft,         Metal Gear Solid 2,  Super Mario World  
Castlevania SotN,  Diablo II,           Dota II  
Prince of Persia,  Unreal Tournament,   Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (+ Knuckles)

I don't know if this list is true to my soul (considering it doesn't even have Dark Souls in it), but I'm tired and wanted to contribute a grid anyway. There is an underrepresentation of modern games because MGS 5:TPP killed gaming for me. Also modern games tend to suck. If I want a forced walking section through a terrible story, I will play a game made from 2016 on. If I want a good story I will read a book, not play a game.

Real sloppy editing and now that I stand back and look at this, there is a real sharp contrast between all of these but fuck it, this is the final product:

OTHER NOTABLE PICKS:

Project Zomboid
Tropico (any, really)
Cook Serve Delicious 2
Rebuild 3
Egypt: Old Kingdom
Night in the Woods
Battle Brothers
7 days to die
Fallout: New Vegas
Sid Meier's Pirates

hell yeah civ 4 bts
highest point in the genre imo
- If there was a single game I could pick, I'd pick Civ 4. It's in the center for a reason (unlike the others)

9 honorable mentions:

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
Grim Fandango
Kenshi
Dark Souls
VTM: Bloodlines
Heroes of Might and Magic III
Arcanum
Geneforge
Satisfactory

Legend of mana hit diffrent. I remember years later hearing about entire storylines I missed and it blowing my mind. I just found they did an anime for it and thr nostalgia is wild.

Mega Man Battle Network 3, Dungeons of Dreadmore, Monday Night Combat

Pokken, pokemon battle revolution, Streetfighter 6

Mario Sunshine, Nidhog, Nuclear Throne.

I'll make a cute jpeg of everything later.