P&B Ranks: The Top 42 Video Games of All-Time

[DA Baracus]

Yaaaaaass, Heroes of Might and Magic (HOMAM) 2! Thinking about it I really should have put HOMAM 3 down, as it's the superior game, but it was HOMAM 2 that I played most in my formative years and with friends. I even recall firing down to Blockbuster with a friend in 5th at lunch time one day so he could buy a copy. He of course loved it, because it's absolutely brilliant. Wizard, Knight or Necromancer were the only correct choices of character, although I can see a case for Warlock simply for the dragons. I downloaded an edition with loads of player created maps and additional wee things like new relic items, new dwelllings and even a new character type (Elemental; worse than all the original ones). So good. I still play it every so often. This was another game that I came across on a demo disk. 

I used to have a great demo of a KKND game that had a full playable mission that was great fun. Halcyon days!

[Gaz]

Should come as absolutely no surprise to anyone that Chrono Trigger was my number two pick.

I was first introduced to it in the mid-90s by a mate from school who had a subscription to Special Reserve (anyone else remember that?) and had a wee gizmo that plugged into his SNES that allowed him to play NTSC games, one of which was Chrono Trigger. I'll confess that at the time I didn't really have a clue what was going on. Fast forward a couple of years and I'd gotten into JRPGs big style and was reintroduced to it by the wonders of emulation.

It, along with FFVI, is the absolute pinnacle of 16-bit JRPG. It hasn't aged a bit. It still looks absolutely beautiful, the sountrack is immense, and, unusually for JRPGs, it's quite short - you can rattle through it in about 15-20 hours first time. It has endless replay value, there are like 16 different endings for it.

I would urge everyone to give it a try.

[NotThePars]

2 hours ago, Baptiste Bourgeois said:

Divinity: Original Sin II - This was my 2nd place vote. I can't believe not one other person has voted for this.  I'm disappointed. For me it's the best RPG of all time. Bar none. 58th place is a tragedy.

I've just not put aside the mind space to connect with it yet. I know I will someday though.

[NotThePars]

I voted for Nier. First played it in 2018 and took a bit of time to connect but loved it in the end. Just looks great, the soundtrack is an all-timer and it's far smarter than the majority of western AAA titles that people w**k themselves off about. It's not Metal Gear in terms of being really stupid but also deep but it's great. Looking forward to the remaster of the PS3 one that's out next month.

Return of the Obra Dinn looks class as well and I'm basically just waiting on a Switch sale to pick it up.

Arkham City is maybe my favourite of the Arkham games on balance. It's the one I put the most time into anyway.

Gears 3 is Gears 3. Unfairly maligned and holds up really well. A lot of good setpieces in it.

 

[SANTAN]

Valhalla was mine.

I'm going to assume nobody else on here has played it considering that low score...

I'm 6 out of 10 already btw. What a shambles. 

 

[NotThePars]

1 minute ago, Stormzy said:

Valhalla was mine.

I'm going to assume nobody else on here has played it considering that low score...

I'm 6 out of 10 already btw. What a shambles. 

 

It hasn't clicked at all for me. I appreciate where they've tried to innovate and so on but it just hasn't worked for me. Do appreciate I am a bit out of the consensus on this as I think Origins is the best in every way but the combat and actual world and Odyssey's is my favourite combat and world.

[Slacker]

21 hours ago, Slacker said:

My top three will all have multiple votes but these were all me only (I regret nothing):

4. Donkey Kong Country
5. Worms Armageddon
6. Sonic the Hedgehog 2
7. Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
8. Call of Duty: Warzone
9. Burnout 3: Takedown
10. NBA Jam

I was wrong.

2. Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back

[BFTD]

8 hours ago, Gaz said:

Should come as absolutely no surprise to anyone that Chrono Trigger was my number two pick.

I was first introduced to it in the mid-90s by a mate from school who had a subscription to Special Reserve (anyone else remember that?) and had a wee gizmo that plugged into his SNES that allowed him to play NTSC games, one of which was Chrono Trigger. I'll confess that at the time I didn't really have a clue what was going on. Fast forward a couple of years and I'd gotten into JRPGs big style and was reintroduced to it by the wonders of emulation.

It, along with FFVI, is the absolute pinnacle of 16-bit JRPG. It hasn't aged a bit. It still looks absolutely beautiful, the sountrack is immense, and, unusually for JRPGs, it's quite short - you can rattle through it in about 15-20 hours first time. It has endless replay value, there are like 16 different endings for it.

I would urge everyone to give it a try.

I remember them. Mail order company that put adverts in all the magazines with big lists of games at high prices, including games that didn't even exist, then would sit on the money until people demanded to get it back. The dawn of pre-ordering, only even more of a scam. I used to look at their adverts and wonder how they got any business, considering you could just walk down to your nearest Smiths/Menzies/Boots and buy the same games for less.

Must have done well for them, though, as they were kicking around for ages.

[Gaz]

1 hour ago, BFTD said:

I remember them. Mail order company that put adverts in all the magazines with big lists of games at high prices, including games that didn't even exist, then would sit on the money until people demanded to get it back. The dawn of pre-ordering, only even more of a scam. I used to look at their adverts and wonder how they got any business, considering you could just walk down to your nearest Smiths/Menzies/Boots and buy the same games for less.

Must have done well for them, though, as they were kicking around for ages.

That's them. My mate was a big fan of JRPGs and at that time a lot of them were unavailable here, so had to be gotten on mail order.

[SANTAN]

10 hours ago, NotThePars said:

It hasn't clicked at all for me. I appreciate where they've tried to innovate and so on but it just hasn't worked for me. Do appreciate I am a bit out of the consensus on this as I think Origins is the best in every way but the combat and actual world and Odyssey's is my favourite combat and world.

I think the fact I had just finished Vikings made me way more into it, also first game I got on PS5 so could be a placebo effect but I feel in love with the graphics straight away, did you make it to England? That's where it properly gets going imo. 

I couldn't get I to Odyssey at all, the way the regions changed up and the fact you'd fight for one group and win the battle then go speak to the opps like it was nothing was a bit silly to me, I also found the map very samey, huge map but it all felt the same to me. Funnily enough though after playing so much Valhalla I'm considering going back and at least doing the main story. 

[Miguel Sanchez]

IN JOINT 56TH, WITH 10 POINTS FROM 3 VOTES

Game: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Platform: PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC
Release date: 2004
Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvPem5XYBrU
User comments: "Had to pick one and this one gave me so much fun for such a long time, my muscle memory will never forget the weapons cheat code."
Poll-maker comments: I never played this at the time of release. I bought it on PS3 on a whim when I was in getting something else and even in ~2017 or so when I played it I could see why it was so revered at the time. I have a review of it from that time sitting around but I'm not going to post it.
Poll-maker backlog status: I'm not going to post it because the game's on here along with III and Vice City, so I'll get to it some day.
Lasting cultural impact outside of video games:

 

Game: Football Manager
Platform: PC, Xbox 360; One
Release date: Yearly
Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcZJVyk89eI
User comments (on 2012): "didnt want to include a football game, but seeing as I've played over 3,000 hours of this, and still play it occasionally to this day, it deserves a mention"
Poll-maker comments: Of all the football series included in this poll, I decided to combine these votes. There was one vote for 2012 and two votes for the series in general. In comparison, the Championship Manager votes and the Pro Evolution Soccer votes have all been very specifically for one game. It feels a bit cheap treating the franchises differently, but in terms of the voting patterns I saw differences distinct enough to make this a valid way of dealing with it.

What can you say about Football Manager? It's the only time I've ever thought I was genuinely addicted to a game. Go and read the FM forum on here and be captivated by oneteaminglasgow's attempts to take over the whole of Europe, of RandomGuy finally managing a save where he didn't get St. Johnstone relegated, or Smurph ruling the world with Pro Vercelli. 

In the meantime, I'll leave you with some screenshots of my time with my only ever FM game, 2007:

 

[NotThePars]

39 minutes ago, Stormzy said:

I think the fact I had just finished Vikings made me way more into it, also first game I got on PS5 so could be a placebo effect but I feel in love with the graphics straight away, did you make it to England? That's where it properly gets going imo. 

I couldn't get I to Odyssey at all, the way the regions changed up and the fact you'd fight for one group and win the battle then go speak to the opps like it was nothing was a bit silly to me, I also found the map very samey, huge map but it all felt the same to me. Funnily enough though after playing so much Valhalla I'm considering going back and at least doing the main story. 

Aye I've finished one or two of the sections of England and my interest just petered out a bit. It was Valhalla I was thinking of when I said that Nier Automata felt like a game that was multiple seasons of a TV show with its 5 canon ending sequences. I had seen someone saying Valhalla was the first game that felt like a television show and I can see it even if I don't think it's the first. 

I will finish it someday I just cba committing to it for some reason. Maybe the new DLC will be a good springboard.

Aye Odyssey was the one where a lot of the systems felt surface deep or clashed with each other really stupidly. I lost count of the number of times I was doing an important story mission and it would all go to shit as 5 bounties would turn to murder me right at the same time I'd also discover a Cultist surrounded by his guards... All of whom were like 10 levels above me. It was a lot of stupid fun. The sailing was the daddy tho. So much fun. The story is split into like 3 endings as well and is really finished through the overly long DLC. I played it at the start of lockdown to completion and it's probably why I never got far into Valhalla or Tsushima. Just cba with that kind of a checkmark open world game.

[Miguel Sanchez]

IN 55TH PLACE, WITH 10 POINTS FROM 2 VOTES

Game: World of Warcraft
Platform: PC
Release year: 2004
Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d26Kl98_qo8
Poll-maker comments: Can I say anything about this? I'm not sure. I'm not a huge fantasy fan and I'm definitely not a MMORPG fan, or a PC gamer, so it would never really have had a chance to resonate with me. I'm sure someone with more knowledge of the phenomenon than me could make a decent documentary about the rise in its popularity and the effect it had on people who played it.

[Miguel Sanchez]

My number 1 is the game I'm saying I've actively played the most in my life, but FM 2007 probably beats it if you added all my save files together, purely because of how easy it is to just have it on constantly.

[SANTAN]

GTASA was one of mine. 56th is shocking. I'm guessing people couldn't shoot the guys on the train...

 

[yoda]

The problem with AC games is that other games do the same thing but a lot better (Horizon Zero Dawn for one). I tried to play Origins recently and chucked it because it was just so boring. 

Arkham City was my number two pick. I've been tempted to pick up the PS4 "remaster" rather than digging out the Xbox 360.

[Miguel Sanchez]

1 minute ago, yoda said:

The problem with AC games is that other games do the same thing but a lot better (Horizon Zero Dawn for one). I tried to play Origins recently and chucked it because it was just so boring. 

Arkham City was my number two pick. I've been tempted to pick up the PS4 "remaster" rather than digging out the Xbox 360.

If you wait two years I might be able to tell you if it's any good.

[NotThePars]

4 minutes ago, yoda said:

The problem with AC games is that other games do the same thing but a lot better (Horizon Zero Dawn for one). I tried to play Origins recently and chucked it because it was just so boring. 

Arkham City was my number two pick. I've been tempted to pick up the PS4 "remaster" rather than digging out the Xbox 360.

I'd go for it. The remasters are just graphical upgrades from my limited memory of both.

[NotThePars]

I'm glad I never made the step up to get FM so I've not played too much of it. I can just sit and look in regret at the 4000+ hours I've put into Crusader Kings and Europa Universalis....

[senorsoupe]

34 minutes ago, Baptiste Bourgeois said:

I'm not proud of the amount of time I've spent playing Football Manager games. (I voted for 2012)

 

Almost 6000 hours. 242 days.  And thats not even including the pre-Steam illegal download says. Lord have mercy.

Yup, I can relate