Your top 10 games of all time - not just Sierra.

[Datadog]

How is that not some Hentai Anime p0rn thing?
Sounds like it...

It probably is somewhere, but as long as the top Google result still points to a great game, I'll be happy.

[DeadPoolX]

d. The Monkey Island series... and again. I simply cannot fault any of the MI series; yes, I know that Ron Gilbert was not involved in MI3 or MI4. Then again, were it not for those two, fans of the Monkey Island series wouldn't have had the pleasure of the almost-iconic-by-now talents of Dominic Armato, Alexandra Boyd and Earl Boen (not to mention Murray the eeeevil skull).

j. Age of Empires series. I know! I know - a Microsoft game (boo!) But hey, after I played AoE2 for a while, I started wondering about how real all this was, and I started reading into the history - first, I started reading the accompanying history in the game itself, and later in books. 15 years later, I own a fairly considerable history library, and have written (and published) a few short biographies and historical stories. Since it was my dream, when I finished high school, to be published... well, yay. *waves a little flag*

I could have swore one of the rules was you can't name a SERIES, but specific games of the series...

This is the Internet. Unless you write your instructions in brightly colored 32-point font, people will ignore it. Even then you'll be lucky if they notice it and realize they're reading directions, not suggestions.

Day of the Tentacle:

How is that not some Hentai Anime p0rn thing?
Sounds like it...

To be honest, I always thought Torin's Passage sounded like a really demented p0rn flick.

[Tawmis]

To be honest, I always thought Torin's Passage sounded like a really demented p0rn flick.

Well it did come from the mind of Al Lowe, soooo...

[MusicallyInspired]

It's been a while, but I can't stay away from a good top ten thread! This was quite hard to narrow down, and after some gruelling judging the list I ended up with seems wrong, but I judged the games based on how much fun I had, how they made me feel, and how long the experience was. I may have forgotten a handful as well. These are in no particular order as I was trying to include something from every era and genre I enjoy.

Half-Life 2 - it was hard to decide between this and HL1. Both were fantastic experiences (I count HL1's expansions part of the game as well as HL2's episodes part of HL2). In the end HL2 was just more immersive and attractive. Something about the post-apocalypticness of it was fun. Exploring abandoned coastal houses, driving through the forest in a jurry-rigged Impala, and exploring the Combine constructions. Ravenholm was also a memorable experience. Overall the game carried a lot of emotion and delivered it well.

Riven - the first three Myst games were fantastic (the latter ones, while good, strayed too far from what I liked about the series), but Riven is the clear masterpiece. The last Myst game that the Miller brothers worked on together. The manual says they poured blood sweat and tears into this game and it shows. An epic experience. Beautifil scenery, haunting soundtrack, great seductive gameplay that doesn't hold your hand in any way (some would say to a fault but I don't). It had it all. Loved every minute of it.

Space Quest IV - I've droned on many times about why I love this game. It was emotional and funny at the same time, had an amazing soundtrack, the last SQ game worked on by both Guys, and time travel. Geekness factor satisfied.

Indiana Jones & the Fate of Atlantis - ironically the LA game that made the list was one of the non-comedy ones. This is the best Indy story ever (including the movies). Such powerful emotions and another great soundtrack. The Indy formula really works well for this game, tons of different locales, challenging puzzles, distinctly memorable characters, and a nice long playtime.

Minecraft - just a fantastic sandbox game. Loads of fun. And with the random world generation, mods, and tier system there are endless creative possibilities. Love it.

Portal 2 - another hard choice between the sequel and its predecessor. The sequel won out because it was longer and had a great sense of exploration along with puzzles. Exploring the different eras of Aperture Science's laboratories was great fun and there was a nice plot twist. The first game had some more creative puzzles but the second's co-op mode made up for that.

Batman Arkham Asylum - love this game. Fun action, great puzzles, level up system, collectibles, Metroid-like layout and exploration, authenticity to the lore and respect for the fanbase for having the same (best) voice actors for Batman and the Joker. Arkham City didn't have the same feel as Asylum. It was more of a large open world game like Elder Scrolls than the simpleness of Metroid, which I prefer. Asylum seemed more powerful and effective in its storytelling as well. City was good, though.

Metroid Prime - so hard to pick just one Metroid game. It was a hard toss up between this and Super Metroid. Prime won out because, again, exploration seemed bigger (though it was close). Ultimately I chose Prime because I spent more time on it and had more experience with it. It tied Super in almost every other way.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles - there seem to be two camps of classic Sonic fans. Those who prefer Sonic 1/2 and those who prefer Sonic 3/K. I happen to be in the latter. By far the best Sonic game ever, in my opinion. Combined with the joined Knuckles cart, this game is huge and offers so much. Fast, exciting, so many fun Zones to play, great bosses to fight, and very effective cutscenes expressed with no dialogue at all. Awesome soundtrack, too! Great memories here.

The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess - everyone calls this a copy of Ocarina of Time. Well, Ocarina is just a LTTP clone as well, but I believe it is moreso a copy than Twilight ever was. I love the realistic look and the much larger and explorable open 3D world that Wind Waker, Ocarina, Skyward, and Phantom hourglass never had. Possibly Spirit Tracks too, but I've never played it. This game was so different from other Zelda games (except for Majora I guess). It didn't feel like the same thing all the time. The experience nce was always changing from what came before. In between dungeons there were these neat action and arcade sequences that were very well designed. Characters and locations were all very memorable. Loved every minute of this game. Had everything I wanted in a Zelda game. Including a sword to sword battle with Ganondorf himself.

[stuntology]

Over the past few months, I've actually been thinking about my favourite games, so I'm prepared for this thread! Reading over your guys' posts, I've got quite a few similar choices as you, so forgive me for peppering my list with your quotes and frantically agreeing with you! Also, most of the games I've played have been Nintendo games, so they do fill up about half of my list. Anyways, here we go!

10. Warioware DIY Now this isn't something I'd have expected anybody to predict being on ANYONE's top 10 list! If you're not familiar with the warioware seires, they're basically microgame collections (minigames that are second in length). In this title, though, one creates their own games, from the art to the programming to the music. I love just fooling around with it, or coming in with a game idea and trying to work with the programming options to make it come to life! To me, it's the ultimate in game creativity.
(As a side note, I've created a few Sierra-themed games that I should show you guys in the near future!)

9. Gunman Clive Another (well, slightly less) odd choice. This is a mega-man inspired platformer that's about 40 minutes in length. What sets it apart is the beautiful sepia art and music. The two complement each other perfectly, nailing the wild west atmosphere. In addition, I've played through it dozens of times already. It's just plain fun.

8. Wii Sports Resort Okay, I swear this is my last 'unconventional' pick on the list! This is basically a collection of a dozen or so sports-based motion control games, and every single one (maybe except for wake boarding...) is awesome. They all make beautiful use of the motion controls, and I can seriously get so absorbed into this game that I spend up to an hour playing golf on it!

7. Fire Emblem Awakening The most recent game on my list. The addictive turn-based strategy gameplay in this would probably be enough for me to include it, but what sets it apart are its characters. There are about 20 or so, and every single one is overflowing with personality and absolutely memorable. I really feel like I have been through a war with all of them.

6. Super Metroid I love the creepy, lonely atmosphere in this game. Exploring the caverns and gradually finding power-ups to open up more of the world just felt awesome as well. This is probably the most fun I've had getting to know all of the nooks and crannies of a game world.

Metroid Prime - so hard to pick just one Metroid game. It was a hard toss up between this and Super Metroid. Prime won out because, again, exploration seemed bigger (though it was close). Ultimately I chose Prime because I spent more time on it and had more experience with it. It tied Super in almost every other way.

I've only played the third Prime game, I guess I've got to check out the first as well!

5. Quest for Glory 4 The only Sierra game on my list. (And I only just finished it about a week ago!)

Quest for Glory 4: Shadows of Darkness. Oh, my goodness... the memories. Oh dear... it's nearly 20 years later, and I still remember the voice-acting (Jennifer Hale and John Rhys-Davies are particular standouts, but everyone did a superb job), the story, the characters, the atmosphere - oh my, the atmosphere! Oh, and of course - the three bantering farmers, and those avocado-and-garlic sandwiches! Then again, of course... error 52. (Commence boos and hisses at your leisure!)

You couldn't have summed it up better (minus the bugs, which I luckily didn't have). The voice acting was incredible (especially those farmers! ) and I loved every time I let myself get sucked into Mordavia.

4.Age of Empires 2 The game that ate up most of my middle-school free time.

Age of Empires series. I know! I know - a Microsoft game (boo!) But hey, after I played AoE2 for a while, I started wondering about how real all this was, and I started reading into the history - first, I started reading the accompanying history in the game itself, and later in books. 15 years later, I own a fairly considerable history library, and have written (and published) a few short biographies and historical stories. Since it was my dream, when I finished high school, to be published... well, yay. *waves a little flag*

I can totally relate- I swear that I learned more history from that game than I did in school until grade 11!

3. Shadow of the Colossus The music. (I've posted some in the music thread). It is by far my favourite video game soundtrack; it perfectly fits the epic, but melancholy feeling of hunting giant (and I mean GIANT) stone creatures and murdering them to bring your love back from the dead. The fights themselves are awesome as well: climbing up a colossus' arm as it flails around truly feels like you, the player, are hanging on for dear life.

2.Metal Gear Solid 3 This game has a really interesting story and tense, immersive stealth gameplay, but the real reason it's on my list is because it has the best boss fight in any game I've played: The End. The fight pits you against an expert sniper in a massive jungle area sprawling 3 in-game rooms. I have never felt so paranoid in my life. You use camouflage to blend in to the jungle. You track The End's breathing, footprints, or whatever you can to find him, all the while hunting for food to survive and praying that he doesn't find you first. The fight lasted around an hour for me, and I swear that my heart rate was half what it normally is the whole time. It's the most exhilarating experience I've had playing a video game.

And...
1. Portal I'd call Portal pretty much perfect. The puzzles are a blast, and the dialogue from GLaDOS throughout the game is top-notch, making me laugh and die a little inside every time I was graced with her presence.

Portal 2 - another hard choice between the sequel and its predecessor. The sequel won out because it was longer and had a great sense of exploration along with puzzles. Exploring the different eras of Aperture Science's laboratories was great fun and there was a nice plot twist. The first game had some more creative puzzles but the second's co-op mode made up for that.

I've yet to play the sequel, but definitely plan on it. It'll probably replace this when I do.

[MusicallyInspired]

...great seductive gameplay that doesn't hold your hand in any way (some would say to a fault but I don't). It had it all. Loved every minute of it.

Lol I was typing on my phone. I meant "great deductive gameplay"!