Close to two years ago, I started making various console top 10 lists in the hopes of segmenting games I’ve loved over the years a bit so that it would be a bit easier to actually put together a list of my favorite games of all time.
Despite how much I love ranking, and how often I think about where a game might rank for me all time, it has always been a bit too daunting to actually put a favorite games of all time list together in a way where I feel like I’m actually getting it right. I have finally reached the point where I have this list done and feel pretty damn good about how it came together.
I intend for this to be a “living list” going forward. So, in the rare event that I play a game that deserves to be here, I will update it accordingly.
I have already written about these games in past lists, so I’m going to do something a bit different for this one. In the end, all of these games are here because they are great and because they are the types of games that I will remember forever. So I thought it would be fun this time to list a memory I have with each game. Be forewarned, this means the writeups might have slight spoilers, though I won’t go full-blown spoiler on anything.
Today, we kick things off with games #25-#16. The rest of the list will be up next week Tuesday. Enjoy!
25. Slay the Spire
My wife loves it when I’m into a portable game. We try to hang out most evenings when we can, and often what game I am playing dictates where we end up hanging out. If I’m playing a console game, she will come hang out in my main gaming area, and if I’m playing a portable game, I’ll sit more in our living room area.
My wife ended up being a huge fan of Slay the Spire because this game probably produced the longest stretch of me gaming portably as an adult ever. It was something I played every night for multiple months in a row.
This was my first real exposure to the roguelike deckbuilding genre, and man, what an introduction it was. It was definitely a challenge, but through trial and error, I started figuring out all of the skills I needed to excel in this genre, and I haven’t stopped loving it since. But also, no game that I have played since Slay the Spire has scratched that itch quite the same way. Luckily, a little something called Slay the Spire 2 is on the way to hopefully knock this game off of this list. I cannot wait (but I must remain disciplined, as I don’t play early access games).
24. Mass Effect 2
I was active on a few gaming message boards when Mass Effect 2 came out, so I knew that the game didn’t pull any punches when it came to actually being a “suicide mission.” Almost everyone I knew had lost at least one person on the last mission of the game.
So, when I kicked off the end of the game, I was pretty damn nervous. I am pretty anti-guide unless it’s absolutely needed, so while I had done everything that I could, I had no idea who was going to make it out of the mission.
Much to my surprise and delight, I managed to get through with everyone alive. I was absolutely amped, and it was the perfect way to cap off a very special experience.
23. Hades II
This is the most recent game that I’ve played that is on this list. Despite that, I weirdly don’t have many specific moments from this game that really stuck with me, especially since nothing in the story really moved me all that much.
But I do remember coming to a realization at some point that this game was truly amazing when I ended up on my sixth or seventh run in a row early in the game, where I suddenly had a build that was absolutely amazing. All of these builds were very different, yet they all felt badass as hell and satisfying to play.
Usually, when I play roguelikes, there’s some inevitable disappointment when I get to the point where I have to let go of a build that I loved, and I have to hope that it comes around again. In Hades 2, I reached the point where when a run ended, I was just excited to see what would happen on my next one, because it would inevitably also be something awesome. This is why Hades 2 is the greatest roguelike of all time.
22. Ogre Battle 64
First off, this game and the next are part of my favorite Christmas of all time (for myself). I have been fortunate to have many amazing Christmases in my life. I have gotten several “bigger” gifts over the years, including the original Xbox and the Xbox 360. But getting both Ogre Battle 64 and Harvest Moon 64 on the same day will always be a life altering event for me.
I always loved RPGs from the second I played Super Mario RPG. And I had explored plenty of other turn-based options on SNES emulators. But Ogre Battle 64 was the first time I had ever played an RPG exactly like this, with both turn-based and real-time strategy elements, and I’ve been chasing that high ever since. The recent Unicorn Overlord did fill the void a little bit, but it also doesn’t have the story that Ogre Battle 64 had.
I think my other biggest memory from this game was the story and how political it was. Magnus deciding to join the rebellion always hit for me. God damn I need another game like this so badly.
21. Harvest Moon 64
As I said in my previous writeup, this was the other part of perhaps my most legendary Christmas ever. Receiving two games that are literal all-timers for me on the same day is not something that I will ever forget.
There are a few things that I will always take away from Harvest Moon 64. First off, as it was my first cozy game, it showed me how I want progression to work in pretty much every RPG. I want to actually see the difference as I grow. I want to feel how much I’m improving. Obviously, this setup makes that extremely easy. Every bit of progress in Harvest Moon 64 was tangible, and I loved that.
But more than anything, I still remember the festivals. The festivals were such a huge highlight of the game, and I still judge every farming sim based on what was in this game. It’s crazy how many new games I play that still don’t have festivals that you can actually work towards winning during the year, and that are fun to participate in.
Honestly, if Stardew Valley were my first ever farming sim, it might be here instead, but this list is all about the impact a game had on me at the time it was released, and Harvest Moon 64 was unlike anything else back in the N64 era.
20. Celeste
Celeste is truly an unbelievable platformer from start to finish. Its art, responsive controls, and level design are all so elite. But the secret sauce to the game is its story and exploration of mental health.
I just remember it truly hitting me how great this game was during the Chapter 3 “boss fight” with Mr. Oshiro. This is a chase sequence with excellent design and some very interesting story beats, and it’s when I really realized that this wasn’t quite like other platformers. Celeste continues to evolve and get better as you go, but this is the moment that truly put me on notice.
19. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
KOTOR was one of my first Western RPGs ever, after only playing JRPGs for years. The freedom that KOTOR offered and the way the story could branch in different directions blew my mind, as I hadn’t seen anything like it to that point. Interacting with this world and all of the characters in it was a dream come true. Literally everything about this game was awe-inspiring for me.
But of course, my other biggest memory is *the* plot twist, which absolutely blew my mind at the moment. In retrospect, I’ve grown to love the twist even more, because depending on how you play the game, you can take equally valid messages from both. How much of who we are is inherently within us compared to us being the byproduct of the world around us? KOTOR lets us decide the answer to that ourselves.
18. Super Mario World
This is a living list, so over the years, games near the bottom of this list will slowly drop off. Such is life. I’m not one to hold things up or be in denial about something because of nostalgia.
But honestly, if the day ever comes where Super Mario World gets demoted to #25, I’m not sure if I’d ever have the heart to actually knock it off the list. #24 might be the one that has to go in that situation.
That may not make sense, but in the end, this list really is a collection of memories, and there is no memory like your first time falling in love. This is true for the first time you have a child, your first love with a romantic partner, and also for the first time falling in love with video games.
I had played some games growing up, like Duck Hunt and Super Mario Bros. 3, but Super Mario World was the first game that truly engrossed me. This is the game that made me “all in” on this art form, and I’ve never let go since.
I have too many memories to count, but just randomly playing this game with my dad will always be the biggest thing that I remember. This, in turn, makes me realize that as a father myself now, my children will likely remember a lot of little things I do with them, and you never know what will stick. My goal in life is for my children to have good memories of doing something with me, the same way that I have fond memories of playing this game with my dad.
17. Chained Echoes
I went into Chained Echoes not knowing all that much about the game, other than that it had really high review scores and that it was made by one man.
I have loved several solo-developed games over the years, so I’m more than aware of how capable one person can be when making a game. But even then, Chained Echoes left me in awe for almost my entire time playing it.
I just could not believe that one man managed to make a battle and level-up system unlike anything else out there. In my view, Chained Echoes is the best turn-based system that I have ever played.
One person developing such an interesting system isn’t that crazy by itself, but it becomes pretty wild when that same person also has a lot of lovely pixel art that they made themselves and also somehow crafts one of the best stories that I have ever experienced in a JRPG as well.
I have plenty of memories of some of those story moments, in particular when I think about this game, but more than anything else, that constant feeling of wonder is something that I will never forget.
16. Overwatch
I played Overwatch for something like 800+ hours over the course of one year. This is an absolutely insane number for me. It’s extremely rare for me to pass the 30-hour mark with any multiplayer game. But Overwatch sunk its hooks deep into me. I loved the mix of heroes, and most of all, the need for teamwork. Most first-person shooters that I had gotten into over the years involved pretty minimal amounts of teamwork between most people playing them, but Overwatch absolutely demanded that you work with others, and that led to a very different experience from anything else that I had ever played to that point.
I have countless memories playing this game. I happened to find a group of three other guys that was my usual crew, and then we generally linked up with a rotating cast of people from there.
As was inevitable, everyone eventually drifted from the game. I have no idea how or why it happened. It just kind of did. Suddenly, we went from playing every day to pretty much not at all.
Maybe two or three years after we were done playing, the guy who was the youngest in our group randomly messaged me out of the blue to let me know how much playing with our crew had helped him at that point in his life. He apparently had a tougher home situation, and Overwatch was his escape from that for a long time.
This led to some party invites, and eventually the crew ended up together one last time for a few rounds. One guy in the group was literally going to be getting married the next day. It was surreal. That random meeting was the last time I have talked to any of those guys.
So often, internet friendships end with a whimper of sorts. They just slowly fade away. It will always mean something to me that I was able to get true closure with a group of guys that I literally spent 800 hours with. Knowing that I helped one of them get through a tough time in a small way means that all of those hours were more than worth it.
15. Portal 2
While I have plenty of individual memories of Portal 2, I really think that my biggest memory from the game was how constantly in awe of it I was. The writing is so good, the plot develops in a really satisfying way, and the puzzles are that perfect difficulty balance. The game continuously finds creative new mechanics from start to finish. It also has very fun co-op puzzles.
I understand why you never hear that Portal 2 is someone’s favorite game of all time, despite it being one of the best rated games of all time. It’s a shorter puzzle experience with a comedic story. That’s just not the kind of game that really gets to the top of these sorts of lists compared to more serious and longer experiences, but I think Portal 2 might genuinely be the most flawless game of all time. I suppose I am part of the problem since this isn’t higher on here, but this is still an experience that I will never forget.
14. Pokémon Red/Blue
I understand that there are “better” Pokémon games than this one. But to me, a list like this is all about impact in the moment. I don’t assess these things by thinking about how I’d feel if I played all of these games today. I assess them by thinking about how they made me feel in the moment.
The amount of memories I have with this game is unreal. I played at school with friends all the time. I played with my brother. I explored every inch of this world and did everything there was to do. I didn’t finish the game more than a few times, but I probably started it 8-10 times at the very least. If I picked it up today, I’d probably know exactly where to go without looking, despite the fact that I haven’t played it in a few decades.
Despite all of that, my defining moment with the game was a slightly sour one, but it ended up being very valuable for me. Those who read the blog know that I am not a completionist in the slightest. However, that wasn’t always the case. When I played Pokémon as a kid, I was definitely someone who loved to truly dive deep into a game and try to get every little thing out of it.
So naturally, my goal was to get all 150 Pokémon. I had a guide that I bought at GameStop and I utilized GameFAQs to make it happen. I grinded and did everything possible, and finally caught all 150. I was so excited to go back to Professor Oak. I was imagining a cutscene where Gary would be bragging about how he was only a few Pokémon away from catching them all, and then I’d walk in and shatter his dreams.
Instead, what happens is that you talk to Professor Oak, he says congratulations, and that’s about it. I couldn’t believe how bad this was. I can’t say that this completely turned me off 100%ing games, but it was definitely a huge first lesson in the potential downsides of doing so.
13. Final Fantasy VII
I don’t think it’d be an exaggeration to say that I had played something like 50 JRPGs before touching Final Fantasy VII. Once I discovered emulation, I would literally download any JRPG that I could. I dropped plenty of them after 30 minutes, but I probably touched every SNES RPG there was, as well as a few on the NES and Genesis.
Despite all of that, I just was not ready for how Final Fantasy VII was going to start. There really was nothing like it when it came out. The characters, the style, and the pacing all absolutely blew my mind. I knew I was all in for this ride within 10 minutes, and sure enough, I couldn’t stop playing the game until I reached the very end. Final Fantasy VII is a phenomenal experience in so many ways. But while I’ve only played the game in full once, I have replayed that intro something like four or five times. The Midgar section of the game hits like little else for me. I will always remember when that timer hit my screen for the first time during the opening mission.
12. Halo: Combat Evolved
The internet has been a great thing for gaming in many ways. We can now get amazing games from literally one person. People can learn to develop games all on their own. This is leading to more great games than ever before.
But there have been occasional downsides, and I think the biggest is that we are all so disincentivized from actually gaming in the same house now. On the rare occasions that I find a multiplayer game that I love, I will remember how I felt while playing the game, but I rarely have any specific memories from those games. I put several hundred hours into Halo Infinite, and I thought it was great, but there isn’t one match that was so epic that I can never forget it.
Halo: Combat Evolved came out just a bit before consoles had online play, which meant the only way to play multiplayer was in the same house as others. And if you really wanted an actual 4v4 match or more, you needed to have a LAN party. These weren’t easy to put together, but I remember each time this happened so vividly. Nothing hit like the first one I did in a friend’s basement. It was 4v4 capture the flag, with each team playing on a TV on a different side of the room. The feeling when we got a flag and took it back to the base was electric. Everyone was cheering and high-fiving. We were sipping Mountain Dew. The vibes were off the charts.
I also spent countless hours playing the campaign, co-op, and deathmatch with my brother and dad, but I genuinely feel bad for the youths that they will likely never have a memory like that in their childhood.
11. God of War (2018)
I came into God of War (2018) with no connection to Kratos. I thought the original games were fine, but they never really wowed me. Within 30 minutes, everything changed and I was absolutely all in on both this world and these characters. The opening goes from incredibly heartbreaking to delivering one of the most intense and over-the-top boss fights I had ever seen at that point. And all of those different feelings never stopped.
My other biggest memory from the game came at the very end. God of War has one of the more understated and moving endings in gaming history. Its low-key nature somehow makes it even more powerful. I love everything about this game.
10. Final Fantasy VI
While I think a different SNES RPG pushed the genre forward a bit more, Final Fantasy VI remains an integral piece of what the JRPG genre would grow into over time. Its cast, characters, world, and cinematic elements were all a sign of what was to come in the future.
As innovative as this game was in so many ways, nothing blew my mind like The World of Ruin. It was unbelievable that they went ahead and ended the world in their game, which is generally the thing that you end up stopping in these games. The entire structure of the game suddenly changing also made this entire section feel like an FF6-2. It ends up being a touching journey to reunite a cast that you grew quite fond of during the first part of the game. I’ll never forget it, and the more I write about it, the more I realize that I really want to experience it all over again soon.
9. Xenogears
I played Xenogears at a time of great turbulence in my life. I was in high school and dealing with tons of anxiety about several things happening in life.
I have no idea why, but a simple and innocuous statement from Citan that he says multiple times really resonated with me: “Things have a way of working out.” It’s not revolutionary, but it is genuinely his mindset no matter the situation. It’s literally something I have tried to carry with me to this day. Now admittedly, I don’t think it’s a great statement to live by in a vacuum, but in a broader context, I’ve found it to be the best mindset for me to have in life. Things don’t work out on their own. You aren’t going to get a good job or find the love of your life by just sitting around and thinking that things will work out. But if you genuinely try, things do have a way of working out.
There will also be plenty of hard times in life. There will always be things that don’t “work out” when you are in the moment. But overall, most events in life end up shaping us into who we are. Even the bad times often work out for us if we have the right mindset. I always wanted to be a journalist for most of my life. Sometimes I see people doing big things with writing, and it feels disappointing that I didn’t take a similar life path. But if I had, I wouldn’t have met my wife. Also, writing jobs have gotten less and less stable, and the career path I’ve found instead has been good to me.
Xenogears also shaped my life because it was one of the first video games I had ever played that was pretty clearly anti-religion. I played it at a time when I was questioning religion in a lot of ways, and it was definitely an eye-opening experience for me to see a take so different from the norm. I said in a different list that Xenogears is the game that affected my life the most, and there are many good reasons for that.
8. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
I’ve had over a year now to sit with my experience with Expedition 33. After I played it, I wondered if it was the best video game story of all time. I also thought it might have had the best video game ending of all time, but I had a hard time outright declaring that.
My friend Hana has something called the “recency bias blast zone,” and it’s something I greatly respect and appreciate. I’m not quite as guarded with anointing a newer game if I truly think it’s great, but if I’m going to put it at the very top of an all-time list, I do think it requires genuine reflection and a bit of time.
So now, with a year gone, I can safely say that Expedition 33 has my favorite video game ending and story of all time. This world is incredible. There are so many big and little moments that moved me throughout the experience. And both of the game’s endings are so powerful in completely different ways. I also think the Expedition 33 ending debate is deeper and more fun than the ending debate around The Last of Us.
I will never forget how I felt when I experienced the Maelle ending for the first time. My mouth was wide open the entire time. And then I immediately went and watched the Verso ending and felt the same way all over again. Expedition 33 isn’t higher because I have a few small gameplay issues with it, but this story is special. I usually don’t care about video game movies, but I really can’t wait for this one so that more people can experience this story.
7. Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth
This was such a tough one for me to place. Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth might have more flaws that I can name than any other game in this top 10 (within the context of when it was released). But also, I think this game gave me more feelings of joy than any other game on this list. There’s just always something going on with the crew that would make me smile. There might be more chemistry here than any other JRPG cast ever.
I feel like nothing encapsulates the entire FF7: Rebirth experience quite like the “Loveless” performance. There’s a beautiful dance scene, a few emotional and well-played shout-outs to members of the crew who had died in the first game, a goofy and fun QTE segment, and then one of the best songs in a video game you’ll ever hear. That same segment eventually can end with Cloud kissing someone, and it’s somehow maddening, touching, and hilarious all at the same time.
Barrett’s random rants about how much he loves his daughter always made me smile. But the moment when he comes face to face with his daughter’s “real” father is one of the saddest video game moments ever. Red XIII’s shifting personas are always funny to me, but he also is part of one of the most moving moments in video game history.
There’s a reason I was able to very easily give out my top 25 moments from this game in a list. Because this game is just a collection of amazing memories. As someone who is often criticized for hating fun, this is my ultimate retort. I love Rebirth. If you don’t like it as well, maybe it’s YOU who hates fun. HA.
6. Persona 5
The funniest thing about Persona 5 being on this list is that I wrote a whole blog post about all the ways that Metaphor: ReFantazio is better than it (well before I had beaten Metaphor). I do stand by most of what I wrote there, despite Metaphor not making this list.
But Persona 5 has a few magic x-factors that put it above almost any other JRPG of all time for me. First off, there’s just the general structure of the gameplay and the battle system. I flamed out on Persona 3 pretty early back in the day, so this was my first true exposure to the calendar/social link system, and goddamn it is so fun. We are slowly seeing this system invade other genres and series, and there’s a good reason for it. It’s just such a nice, consistent change of pace from the action, and it makes character development feel productive from a gameplay perspective. The timed limit for dungeons is also so great, as the challenge becomes not only getting through dungeons, but getting through them efficiently. Whichever Persona or Persona-esque game that I experienced in full with this setup for the first time was going to be a big winner for me, and that just so happens to be Persona 5 for me.
But Persona 5 does bring other things to the table that are literally all-time type stuff throughout the genre. The cast is one of the greatest examples of an “ensemble” in gaming history for me. Not one character here would come even close to being one of my favorites ever. I don’t have strong connections to any of them. But if you treat the entire crew as one entity, they are so special. There’s just a chemistry here that works, and even with my opinions on everyone individually, this is easily one of the most special parties in gaming history.
I would also argue that Persona 5 likely has the best level design in JRPG history. The way each level corresponds with a different villain is so cool, and they are all so massive and involved. It’s a big accomplishment.
I played this game in full twice, topping 90 hours on my first playthrough and topping 100 on my second (which was my Royal playthrough). That never happens, especially since I became an adult with a pretty involved full-time job. Despite all that, the intro probably remains my defining memory. It is so flashy and fun. I usually don’t love when games, movies, or TV shows start you somewhere in the middle of the story before going back to the very beginning, but they pulled it off flawlessly here. What a journey. What a game.
5. Metal Gear Solid
I’m not sure if people will fully appreciate this game being on the list. The Metal Gear Solid series evolved greatly since this game, and I fully understand why most people’s favorite Metal Gear Solid seems to be 2, 3, or 5.
But once again, to me, the greatest games of all time come down to impact “in the moment.” And god damn, in an era where 3D games were in their infancy and very awkward in a million ways, Metal Gear Solid was truly special and unlike anything else. From the opening codex conversation, it was clear to me that this game was going to be cinematic in a way that very few games in this era were. Especially when you take out JRPGs, Metal Gear Solid was in a league of its own for storytelling in this era.
But as much as I love the characters and the story, the boss fights still stand as my defining memory in this game. The care and willingness to make every fight so incredibly different, and to just try really weird stuff (hi Psycho Mantis) will always stand out to me. Everything that people love about Kojima was very present here. But low-key, I kind of like that he also wasn’t quite proven enough yet to get as weird as he probably wanted to here. The weirdness is there, but it’s kept just enough in check to not become a distraction the way that it kind of could be in his future games. As much as I love pretty much every game from Kojima, including the Death Stranding games, I feel like this will always be his magnum opus.
4. BioShock
I wrote about this previously, but the ending to BioShock will always be my most defining moment with this game, as it was strangely one of the most important gaming related moments in my life. The fact that I ended up having two daughters after one of the things that made me more open to having kids was the way the game handles the “little sisters” always remains very cool to me.
Beyond that, the other main memory that stands out to me is, of course, the “would you kindly” moment.
I think this moment was so important beyond how much I just loved it as a plot twist. Back when BioShock came out, there were still many obnoxious arguments about whether games were art or not. I always thought this was silly, but BioShock more than ended that debate. Not only was this world and story something more than worthy of standing with any other medium, but this was a plot moment that was literally enhanced greatly by the fact that BioShock is a video game. “Would you kindly” would be a very cool moment if it were part of a movie or TV show, but it hits significantly harder because you have been playing as this character the entire time. Interactivity can really enhance storytelling, and BioShock was a very strong argument for that.
Also, even two decades later, this remains one of the most incredible worlds in gaming history. This was an immersive storytelling experience that no one could even touch for a long time, and remembering my first time with this game will always give me chills.
3. The Last of Us
What is my defining memory from The Last of Us? I don’t know, how about the beginning, the ending, and everything in the middle?
This is storytelling mastery. Everything that happens in this game is so iconic that it almost feels boring to talk about my favorite memories from this game because we’ve all talked about them so many times, especially with the release of the HBO show a few years ago. Despite there being so much zombie media out there that has done a lot of these things, it just executes on a higher level than anyone else. This will likely always be the greatest zombie-adjacent story ever told, in my view.
The one other thing I always like to mention about this game is that it’s not just about how amazing the story is. This also has some of the best third-person shooting gameplay ever. The level design and enemy AI truly stood out at the time, and still do today. So many cover shooters in this era had you just picking away at enemies from afar. The Last of Us actually forced you to flank and move around, all while being very careful with your ammo and other resources. Then the zombie sections have completely different gameplay that reaches another level of tension. Yes, the story will always be the shining star of this series, but don’t underestimate the gameplay either.
2. Chrono Trigger
It’s finally becoming less weird to me that Chrono Trigger isn’t considered my favorite game of all time. It stood tall for multiple decades, but eventually, time passes and things change. Chrono Trigger’s epic time-traveling tale encapsulates that well.
Chrono Trigger had tons of hype behind it simply because it featured “the dream team,” which was a collection of developers that had been part of the most iconic JRPGs to that point. It’s crazy that they actually lived up to the hype and then some. The fact that this game still stands so tall after so long is a testament to their bravery and vision.
If you played a lot of SNES JRPGs like me, it really is crazy how much this game stands out among the crowd for its gameplay and structure. The game dared to do away with random battles. It had several interesting twists in its battle system, and it had multiple endings. This was all pretty wild stuff in this era. I don’t think there will ever be a JRPG that pushes the genre forward more than Chrono Trigger did.
I’ve talked about great ensemble casts in several previous write-ups, and I’d say this is probably my second favorite behind Rebirth. It’s impossible not to love this crew. Frog, in particular, will always be my boy, but the way the party all comes together will always be special. It’s especially impressive since there is no voice acting here.
As a kid, sitting on a computer and emulating this (and then replaying it God knows how many times), Chrono Trigger made me fall in love with this medium all over again, when I was already deeply in love as it was. I think more than anything else, this game showed me that anything was possible, and that things were only going to get better with video games. And sure enough, I was right.
I’m honestly not sure how I’d feel if I played Chrono Trigger today. I haven’t dared to touch it in something like 15 years. I’m not sure how my kids will feel if I get them into the genre and they eventually try it. Surely, several elements that were special then are no big deal now. But the way I felt when I played this game the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth time will never be forgotten.
1. Cyberpunk 2077
I loved Cyberpunk 2077 at a time when the game didn’t even want me to love it.
I picked it up day one for my Xbox One. I saw a few shaky reviews about the performance, but this had been my most anticipated game for a long time. I didn’t care. I needed to see it.
Because reviewers only got the PC copy of the game, things were even worse than I could have ever imagined. Cyberpunk 2077 was damn near unplayable on the Xbox One. I cannot tell you how often I reset my game to fix some glitch. If the game had too much action going on, the performance would tank badly (I mostly played with stealth and hacking, which helped keep things in check). My car’s camera perspective would get locked in first-person all the time, which I hated. It was ROUGH.
And yet, I loved it. Despite shaky draw distances and all sorts of other issues, I was immediately in love with Night City. I still remember driving in for the first time and being completely in awe of it. I remember an early scene where you sit at an outside bar with Jackie, and the game just lets you look around, which is a feature literally every game needs to have because it makes every conversation in the game feel so real. I loved talking to someone at one of the game’s iconic bars and just taking in all the sights. Even through all the glitches, the magic was always so obvious to me.
I was having an amazing time with Cyberpunk 2077 from the start, but I think I fully realized that I might have the true greatest game of all time on my hands during a very simple side quest. About one-third of the way through the game, you have the opportunity to go to a funeral. The entire side quest is just you going through another character’s belongings, learning more about them, talking to their ex-girlfriend, managing family drama, and then giving a eulogy at this funeral. That’s it. But every moment is incredible. There is tons of character development, and not even one hint of combat. And that’s just one of dozens of side quests that are literally among the best in gaming history.
Upon replays on the Xbox Series X, Cyberpunk 2077 only solidified itself as the greatest ever. The world hits on another level when it isn’t constantly blurry, and it’s so cool that you can play the game in so many different ways, and they are all equally fun.
After two decades of having the same game at the top of my list, I’m not sure if Cyberpunk 2077 will ever be taken down. It will take a truly monumental experience to do it. I can’t wait to see where it ranks in 2040, or maybe even in 2077. But for now, it clearly stands as the greatest game of all time for me.
Past Lists:
My Top 10 SNES Games
My Top 10 GB/GBC Games
My Top 10 PS1 Games
My Top 10 N64 Games
My Top 10 Original Xbox Games
My Top 10 Playstation 2 Games
My Top 10 Game Boy Advance Games
My Top 10 Xbox Live Arcade Games
My Top 10 Xbox 360 Games
My Top 10 Nintendo Switch Games
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