Games you have to play before you die?

[Prpl_Mage]

People have a lot of opinions and from time to time there's some sort of self-pronounced expert or guru that tells other people how things should be. I'm talking about all those "places you have to visit" / "Food you need to eat" / "Activities you need to do" / "Movies you have to see" - Before you die. Usually started with a number such as "100 plays you have to see before you die".

So I was thinking. What games would you force future generations to play? What should any gamer need to play before getting to a hospital to die with no regrets?

I remember playing chrono trigger for the first time, it was released like when I was born so I got it way later. I think i was like 10 or 11 or so. And then I realised that FFX was released 10 years ago or so. Would a ten year old today pick up FFX and play it (if it isn't a HD remake)?

So far I've only come up with a few games, games that I think people should play for one or another reason. Games I enjoyed of course. And like anything, it's a matter of opinions and taste (taste as in: my taste is obviously better than yours y'know?).

I got:
Final fantasy 6-10
Devil may cry 3 (let's face it, 3 was the best)
Super mario world 3.
Ocarina of time (not so much majoras mask)
Kirby superstar (it's basically everything that kirby is and was but times 100)
World of warcraft (deny it all you want, wow is a great game and had a huge impact on gamers and games)
Diablo 1-3
Worms armageddon
Super smash triology
Tekken series
Soul calibur series
Tales of [anything]
resident evil series (2 was awesome)
mario kart series (especially N64 and double dash)
Tetris
Pokemon (any pokemon will do. I don't expect people to pick up red and blue 20 years from now)
Fire emblem 7
Mario party ( the more uneven game - the better)


So what would you make other people play? Maybe your own kids? Future kids? Younger siblings or your nephews/nieces?

Let's all list games and then shake our heads when we realise how few of us have played them all!

[Archem]

Metal Gear Solid series
Zelda series (specifically A Link to the Past)
Advance Wars series
Diablo series
Duke Nukem 3D
Super Mario series (including spin-offs)
Tetris
Worms (Armageddon preferred)
Tales of series
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series
Psychonauts
Monkey Island series
Half-Life series
Quake II
Portal series
Deus Ex series (but it's ok if you skip Invisible War)
Serious Sam series
Final Fantasy series (III through VII recommended. I and II were simplistic, and I didn't like any of them from VIII on)
Chrono Trigger

Yeah, I think that's a good enough list.

[Archem]

Never played it, and I wasn't a fan of Earthbound. It's as simple as that.

[fruckert]

Super Metroid
Metroid Zero Mission
Super Mario RPG
Dark Cloud 2
Morrowind (Marvel at the bugs, my student!)
Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal
Baldur's Gate
Fallout (entire series)
Arcanum

Yeah, a little random, buut whatever.

[zuhane]

Tekken 3 / Tekken Tag
Metroid Zero Mission / Fusion
All DS Castlevania games
Zelda franchise (LTTP and WW mainly)
Mario franchise
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
Disgaea 1 + 2
Command and Conquer: Red Alert 2
Everything by Valve
Ratchet & Clank 2+
Final Fantasy X
Super Smash Bros: Brawl

Wii Sports (TROLOLOLOLOL)

[Meiscool]

Your lists are too long. Try to limit it to a few titles that had an exceptionally strong impact on you.

For example, someone listed FF8. Seriously?

[fruckert]

but that's what i did

[Meiscool]

:/

Well, from a certain stand point, I absolutely cannot recommend a FF or Mario game as a "must play before you die". Why? Well, though they defined their series (RPG and Platformer respectively), they really are nothing special. FF is just a few simple commands with no niffty additions made. What it does allow is a great deal of player character customization (job classes, materia, GF skills, etc), but other games do this too while also having more refined gameplay and often times plot (tactics ogre, Mana Khemia, etc). Mario is also insanely simple, and IMO is totally blown away by other platformers like Castlevania and Metroid. Some people like the simplistic play style though. I'm surprised no one said FFT over the other FFs.

I wouldn't recommend any game that has online either, simply because player interactions can be so varied. I had a good experience in diablo 2, but I can't say the same will happen now ~10 years later. It really isn't that great of a solo game, say what you will.

There are a lot of games that I would also never recommend purely from the stand point that they borrow from outside sources (for example, WoW/Elder Scrolls borrows Orcs, Dwarfs, Elves, Goblin, Troll, etc from previously made fantasy literature AND are highly overused in video games. These races are HUGE parts of the game's culture). Plenty of games make their own races/deities/creatures (Mario, Ivalice of FF, Fallout, etc.) and make an entirely unique world without relying on outside sources to such a degree.

I would say the best game of all time is Chrono Trigger (pun intended). If I had to say a new-age game that is 'best', I would vote for Heavy Rain.

[Archem]

Mario is also insanely simple, and IMO is totally blown away by other platformers like Castlevania and Metroid.

This right here is why your opinions don't impact my list. Mario is platforming in its purest, most refined form, and I don't think any series beats it in that respect. Castlevania (which I should put on my list) is combat platforming, something totally different. I don't play Castlevania for the jumping, but for the action. The Metroidvania ones (Metroid included) are more about exploration, with that action platforming coming along for the ride. They're all very different, and I could never say one is better than the others simply because they're not the same in any way other than having a jump button.

Yeah, I'll use this opportunity to add to my list with things I can't believe I forgot.

Final Fantasy Tactics (the PS one, not the GBA/DS ones)
Metroid series (specifically Super Metroid, Zero Mission, and Prime)
Castlevania series (especially Super Castlevania IV and Symphony of the Night)
Grand Theft Auto series (specifically III, Vice City, and San Andreas, and I recommend PC to deal with the aging controls issue)
Saints Row 2 (one open-world crime game isn't enough. Eat me. The other two games in the series are good, but not SR2 good)
Ace Attorney series

No, my list is not too long, because they're all required gaming. You really should have played most of these already anyway, so no excuses. I included as few multiplayer-reliant games as possible, but given the hypothetical nature of the topic, I assumed that the games are at their peak of popularity, or at least have enough people to play the game with.

[Meiscool]

Then why not list Sonic if you are going for pure platforming? Arguably, it is more pure-platforming than even mario, which has powerups to shoot fire, swallow enemies, etc. It also has potential for 1-up grinding, point grinding, and world map where you choose which path you take to things. Sonic is just jumping level after jumping level with a boss at the end of each.

I'm not saying that the games recommended here aren't worth playing or anything, but if there was a man in front of you dying (quickly) and he really wanted to experience gaming before passing, it isn't practical to suggest so much. There are two paths to take; the classics (Mario, Tetris, Zelda, Etc) or the near 10/10s (Chrono Trigger, OoT, FF7/10, GTA3). The real gems are the ones that overlap.

Now that I think about it, OoT is probably the game I would recommend to anyone over anything (even Chrono Trigger, my personal favorite).

[Archem]

Because:

• Sonic has an emphasis on speed
• Sonic didn't transition into 3D very well
• Sonic doesn't control as well as Mario (always felt clunkier)
• I don't like Sonic as a character as much as Mario

I grew up a Nintendo kid, so familiarity also affects my opinion, but I just don't like Sonic nearly as much as Mario.

As for the 10/10 games, that's hard, too. The games I consider "perfect" aren't usually the games I'd suggest, anyway. I like imperfections in games, and feel that they're better because of their faults. I couldn't offer a short list simply because "must play" games, to me, shouldn't be a rushed decision. It's got a lot to do with a person's tastes, considering a handful of games from a massive library of games, and making sure to be varied enough that, regardless of personal opinions, at least one game on my list will shine on for each person that plays through the list.

Long story short, I hate short lists because it handicaps the idea of picking essential games.

[Meiscool]

Mkay, I see your point. I understand and respect it.

I guess what I'm looking for; is if you had to recommend one first (rather than all at once), which would you pick first, not knowing anything about the person's preferences?

[fruckert]

I'm ammending my list to include Sly 2: A Band of Thieves.

I ****ing love Sly Cooper, and the second one was the best of the bunch.

[Archem]

One first? Mario, I suppose. Simple enough to be a good starter game, regardless of skill level.

[Meiscool]

Probably World.