Top 5 games with explanations

Almost the generic fave games topic, but with the stipulation that you give a brief explanation for why each game is in top 5. One game per franchise rule.

1. XCOM 2

The formula of detailed yet fast turn based battles, RNG management and comprehensive strategy layer just can't be found in any other franchise that I know of. It's almost like a genre of its own. MP is awesome too if you can find a game. I'd recommend playing Enemy Unknown/Within first though.

2. Final Fight: Double Impact

In-fighting is perfectly balanced, and is a total riot to play a troll style online. Fantastic netcode and an abundance of players on PSN thanks to PSNow release.

3. Valkyria Chronicles

The best hybrid turn based/real time battle engine around coupled with a charming anime wartime romance story.

4. Chaos: the Battle of Wizards

Like with XCOM, that unique Julian Gollop do-or-die approach to RNG (there are no hit points). Highly nostalgic for me personally.

5. Everybody's Gone to the Rapture

Just so haunting, between the almost photo realistic visuals and sublime music it just generates an unsettling mood all of its own.

1. Sleeping Dogs

I love the Hong Kong setting along with the great characters and excellent combat system.

2. F.E.A.R.

Has the most satisfy fire fights of any game I've ever played.

3. Mirror's Edge

The atmosphere and ambient soundtrack of this game puts me in a zen state.

4. GTAV

This game is my most replayed game on PC this gen because the open world is amazing the variety in it keeps me busy the three protagonist of the game are great and I enjoy the shooting mechanics alot it feels so good to get multiple headshots in this game.

5. Remember Me

A forgotten hidden gem that has a amazing Cyberpunk setting with some solid combat and a excellent soundtrack along with a unique rewind memory puzzle mechanic.

Perhaps a killjoy answer_ not sure I can take part in this, because favorite threads like these make me forget so many amazing games I adore. The scale is just too limited, can't do such a narrow digit_

But am gladly reading the detailed and meaningful suggestions people are posting.

In no particular order because it changes often:

1: Phantasy Star Online

Was the first online game I had played and probably the first RPG I put time into. Had never really been into the top down turn based RPGs of the time so the real time, third person style of the game is something that really enabled me to enjoy the game as something other than what I considered a RPG at the time. The social aspect was my favourite part of it and the way your character progressed is something I still find to be pretty unique and allowed you to change your character build on the fly if you wanted to. I still play the game today on PC. Mostly offline with the Tethealla server/client though.

2: Starbound

I have never been able to get into Terraria. Felt too static and slow paced so I was reluctant to give Starbound a go given its similarities and with it being produced by someone who worked on Terraria. I'm glad I did because it quickly become one of my favourite games. Has a really quirky personality and a lot more emphasis on exploration and a lot more things to do and freedom to go about doing it (granted I never really bothered going far with Terraria). Gorgeous soundtrack and aesthetic with a lot of content to play with. A lot of fun with friends.

3: Command and Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath

I love the C&C franchise but Kane's Wrath is definitely my favourite. The near future sci fi aesthetic is one I've always enjoyed and they really improved upon the gameplay of the base game (C&C 3: Tiberium Wars). Also added a ton of new content, bringing back a lot of fan favourite units and a new world conquest singleplayer game mode. A lot of fun online. Easy to play, not so easy to master and matches don't usually drag on too long. It was the last great C&C game for me.

4: Shenmue

The voice acting is bad. The gameplay is a bit clunky and uneventful but there's just something about wandering around a sleepy little village in winter, talking to people who know you, finding clues and progressing your personal stories is something that just clicked with me. It's something I haven't been able to find in any other game since. I have a tradition where I play it at least once every year around Christmas. Was gutted to find out that Shenmue 3 - after waiting so many years - became a Tencent's Epic Game Store exclusive

5: Fallout: New Vegas

Easily my favourite RPG. I really like how much freedom the game gives you. The number of ways any quest can be tackled and the way that no skill or special stat feels useless. I've played with so many different character builds from a psychopathic mass murderer who wipes out every town after completing their quests to a pacifist, no kill character who uses speech, barter and stealth to complete the game. For a long time I would find something completely new on each playthrough and I've played it so much I could literally run a playthrough in my head.

Well...it's subject to change but here is my top five games at the moment

1. Ace Combat Zero the Belkan war: PS2

Basically a fun air combat arcade shooter with a decent story and multiple endings as well as at least 5 paint schemes per aircraft, albeit you have to earn them. Not necessarily a long game per say, but it does have some pretty fun replay value.

2. Hearts of Iron IV:

Basically a real time strategy game biased off of WWII. Admittedly one of the reasons why I like it is because while it is complex to learn, it is easier to learn than some other real time strategy games and also has some pretty interesting mods for it.

3. Minecraft:

Namely because it's a good and usually fun time waster and has a lot of potential through every play through. Need I say more?

4. Vigilante 8:

Okay...so basically this is kinda like the twisted metal series, but I've always found myself more impressed with the graphics and backstory of the Vigilante 8 series. The cut scenes aren't the best, but it is a blast to play.

5. Sword Art Online, Fatal Bullet:

I'm going to admit something and that is that I love the SAO video games, but fatal bullet is probably my favorite. Probably one reason why is because I get to play as my own unique character, not as Harem-to Kyrigyra. Granted, aside from the lost song and SAO vs Accel world, you can customize your character, but you still play through the eyes and lines of Harem-to.

To be more precise through it is a fairly fun game, and it does have some fairly decent character customization to it. Plus, the sidekick is hilarious in my opinion.

(In case you are wondering, I refer to SAO's main protagonist as Harem-to. )

as @RSM-HQ said it's difficult to list favorites. For me, it really depends on the mood I am in, but as of right now here is my list:

1. Half-Life (series): first off, it really changed the first-person genre. Not just added it or changed it, but redefined it. First-person shooters were fun before Half-Life, but they were limited. Half-Life added in by making them good story-telling devices, incredibly immersive, and just generally improving every aspect of the first person shooter (in addition to any first-person game).

Additionally, what Valve did for the multiplayer world was and is unprecedented. They supported the community to a wonderfully obscene extent, allowing for free, player-made content to be created in their own game engine and supplied to anyone that wanted it.

This was only improved and expanded upon with Half-Life 2, Episode 1, and Episode 2. And let's not forgot Counter-Strike, Team Fortress Classic/Team Fortress 2, and Portal.

2. Deus Ex: to me, it is simply the best first-person RPG game ever made. Yes, RPG...not action. Though it does have action elements, it still comes off as an RPG to me because the world-building, character development, and NPC interaction is second to none.

Deus Ex has still yet to be improved upon, despite dozens of first-person action-RPGs/RPG-action games being released in the same vein as Deus Ex.

I am hoping Cyberpunk 2077 dethrones Deus Ex.

3. Command and Conquer (the whole series up to Red Alert 3, but specifically the original Red Alert): from the now-defunct Westwood Studios, the team that pretty much invented the RTS genre with Dune 2, Command and Conquer was a wonderful mix of near-future/alt-history tech mixed with a great-but-corny story, and complete with cheesy-but-awesome live-action cutscenes.

In an era before RTS games were all about the multiplayer, the C&C games delivered a great experience of epic proportions. And I really miss that in RTS games because they are really light on good story these days. The genre is suffering, and frankly it needs more games like C&C.

4. Diablo 2: pretty much the best example of an isometric action-rpg clickfest. I got so much mileage out of this game, I mean I played it from release up until basically Diablo 3 came out.

Even better, Blizzard still supports the game They even released a patch for it like 10+ years after it was released. That's a testament to h ow much they support their g ames and their players.

5. World of Warcraft: now, I am more or less done with WoW (I will check in on it when expansions come out every couple years, but it's not my daily player), but it was arguably (and might still be) my most-played game. When I was in college, I couldn't afford to buy games every month, but I could afford the 12-dollars per month for WoW. It was especially fun with a lot of my friends that played as well.

@mrbojangles25: Deus Ex really is amazing.

It's had a few sequels, and while I like Human Revolution the bosses and lack of variety prevented it being in the same league as the original.

If anyone is hyped for Cyber Punk and not given Deus Ex a shot? They're really doing themselves a disservice.

Not in order

1. Total War: Warhammer 2 -

I'm a big Warhammer/40k fan (love the lore and the minis) and it's easily one of my fav RTS game since Warcraft 3 and Dawn of War 1 and 2.

2. Red Dead Redemption 2 -

One of the best games I've ever played, honestly though it suffers from having too much at times with the amount of stuff you can do in the game. Plus it's one of the best if not thee best western game since RDR...dunno it just seems really hard to find an awesome western game.

3. Legend of Zelda Botw -

To sum it up, it's the perfect LoZ game that I've always wanted which is an open world Zelda game that meets LoZ and Skyrim into one game.

4. Borderlands 3 -

I know this is a odd one but Borderlands 3 vastly improves the Borderlands formula, at least for me. Yea it doesn't have Jack whom was a damn good villain, I can honestly say this is the first time ever in a Borderlands game I love all of the vault hunters and the humor is still there (I love the BL humor).

5. Mass Effect -

Probably my fav science fiction game ever, I remember following this game since it was first teased.

Honorable mentions (probably if this was a top 10 list)

*Warframe

*Xenoblade Chronicles 2

*Gears of War 3

*Code Vein

*Overwatch

1) Panzer Dragoon Saga
A masterpiece. It's just such an inspired experience, one that is almost perfectly well rounded with an engaging story, interesting characters, fantastic art direction, an innovative and fun combat system, and otherworldly music that complements everything else so well. I have almost no complaints whatsoever with the game. I wish more people could play it.

2) Final Fantasy VI
It's another game where practically all its aspects work together to create such a brilliant work overall. I love the characters, and just how many of them there are. The story is great, especially in how it allows the character dynamics to flourish and in the themes it brings to the forefront. It also takes some big risks with the structure, and I think they pay off. The game has so many classic moments that I doubt I'll forget.

3) Journey
It's a timeless experience that conveys so much through its simplistic presentation. I also consider it one of the most beautiful works, audiovisually, I know of. And while it's not the most "video gamey" out there, I do think it makes use of the medium in a great way, as the act of playing the game and experiencing the story feel more closely connected than in almost every other I've played.

4) The House in Fata Morgana
In my opinion, the best story I've had the pleasure of reading in a video game, with some of the best characters. The way it presents its heavy, serious themes with such tact and emotional resonance is impressive and probably the biggest part of why it sticks with me. It has some excellent artwork and music which, again, complement everything else so nicely.

5) Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
The pinnacle of the CRPG genre, and a thoroughly engrossing game. I love how introspective it is story-wise, I love how engaging the quests are, and I love how much there is to the gameplay. The characters are great and feel practically like family to me, and I just played the game pretty recently. The art direction brings the world to life so well, from a visual perspective, which adds to how well realized it is in all other ways.