What is objectively the best video game ever made?

[Pissmaster]

Okay so despite the shitpost poll, this is a real thread. What is the objectively the best game of all time?

It's a weird question, but it's been floating around in my head for a while. How do you even manifest this question into something feasible? Well, let's say you met someone new, who happened to be a person that somehow has absolutely zero experience with video games overall - as far as never even holding a controller, let alone even trying Solitare on their computer or downloading some flavor-of-the-week mobile game. But, since you're wearing this shirt:


They're willing to try one out. They're well off enough to just buy a new computer on a lark, so money's not an issue. But since they have no established tastes on what they like, and prodding questions like "What kind of movies/TV/music/sports/activities do you like" aren't getting you anywhere, what do you recommend they try? What would be the best go-to game, where you could safely say "If you don't like this one at all, maybe gaming isn't for you"?

 

[The Luigi Player]

August: Pacman
September: Megaman (11th)
October: Desert bus
November: Gex
December: hell I know

 

[SSj_Ness (Yiffed)]

There's no way to pick imo. Even breaking it down by genre would result in a very debatable list.

If I had to pick though, I'd say Super Mario Bros. 3. Is there anybody who doesn't think it's at least decent?

 

[Jason Wynn]

I think it would depend on the genre. For me it goes

Platformer: Super Mario World
Adventure: Link to the Past
RPG: Planescape Torment
FPS: TimeSplitters Future Perfect
Sports: NBA Jam Tournament Edition
Fighting: Marvel vs Capcom 2

 

[Lobotomite Hot Gaming]

Fallout: New Vegas

 

[batterybee]

when 5 nites at KF comes out it will be number 1

 

[Tism the Return]

Party Babyz, closely followed by Shrek Super Slam.

 

[Shamino]

Jagged Alliance 2

 

[Epic Fail Man]

Super Mario World is not my favorite but is, in a lot of ways, a "perfect" video game. There may be things you can nitpick and say needs improvement if you squint enough but you cant really see any design flaws or mistakes made in the game.

 

[Ultrapenguin]

But the best game of all time and the most beginner friendly are in many cases going to lie on opposite ends of the spectrum.

If you're talking objectively the single best game, then the answer would be whichever games are the most moddable, so genuinely probably something like Minecraft, because then it can be whatever you want it to be including multiplayer and PvP (which is important since beating up people who regularly play videogames is one of the most satisfying things you can do, even in a videogame) so if you don't like it to start with it's no big deal.

If I had to pick though, I'd say Super Mario Bros. 3

For a beginner probably at least something from that era, since that was a time when games were less ubiquitous and the internet wasn't around, so they were built for total naivety.

 

[Super Hans]

With the conditions you put down, I'd say Half Life 2. The design is very newbie-friendly, with mechanics being being introduced by showing the player an example, then being given a semi-safe space to do it themself, and then the player showing understanding by having to implement it in a section with they can fail at. Everything from the crowbar to the suped-up gravity gun are done this way.

But in my heart, it's Morrowind.

 

[Grub]

Super Mario World is not my favorite but is, in a lot of ways, a "perfect" video game. There may be things you can nitpick and say needs improvement if you squint enough but you cant really see any design flaws or mistakes made in the game.

Super Mario world was one of the few games I remember where the moms of kids with snes's would play when I was kid and that was back when most parents didn't really play video games or even understand what they were.

 

[Gary the Cryptofascist]

With the conditions you put down, I'd say Half Life 2. The design is very newbie-friendly, with mechanics being being introduced by showing the player an example, then being given a semi-safe space to do it themself, and then the player showing understanding by having to implement it in a section with they can fail at. Everything from the crowbar to the suped-up gravity gun are done this way.

But in my heart, it's Morrowind.

I agree with Half Life 2 being the best by those standards. (Would be in my all time top 10 anyway)

But for me, based on how often I played it, it's Baldur's Gate 2. Greatest game ever made.

 

[Tor Lugosi]

I'd actually say the first Half-Life. It's about as newbie friendly as HL2 but doesn't have the ton of unskippable, dull story sections where people talk and you either have to stand there staring at them or you nonsensically fuck around while they talk, plus no driving sections.

 

[Table Country]

Objectively, probably Desert Bus.

 

[Jack Awful]

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2

 

[Nasty Habits]

Gotta agree with my fellow Half-Life enjoyers. Game is easy to pick up, has an interesting story not bogged down by complexity or bullshit, and can run on almost any electronic with a bit of gumption.

 

[Whatevermancer]

Tetris.

 

[Iron Jaguar]

Best game ever.
Fight me, niggers.

 

[cybertoaster]

So many games I liked have aged horribly, no amount of nostalgia can counter the feeling of obsolescence I get after playing it again today.

Its funny, I used to think that the gameplay options that came with the 7th gen were ruining gaming but I can't deny some of the new ideas of that era are better than what came before.

On the other hand I hate modern games and besides VR I can't stand playing more than a couple hours before I decide to just drop it out of boredom.

Anyway, here are my nominations

Before that: not old enough to have played them or remember what I played
Fourth gen: Sonic 3 & Knuckles
Fifth gen: VirtualON / Conker BFD
In-between: Sim City 3000
Sixth gen: Max Payne / GTA Vice City
In-between: HL2 on PC
Seventh gen: Dead Space /New Vegas
Eighth gen: nothing, it was all shit