Favorite Video Game

[Revelation]

Hrm, my favorite game shifts and changes so often that I don't know if I have an answer to this! I guess I could say Heroes of Might and Magic 3, if only because it holds a very dear place in my heart and I still play the game somewhat regularly 25+ years later which I can't say for many other games.

[LostInTheMist]

I've only ever played one Fire Emblem game, but I really enjoy story-heavy games like that with characters who might die, and tactical RPG elements.

I don't remember the name of the game, but I remember that "Leo" was a character and he was a swordsman, and the RNG level-up made him into an S-tier character, to the point where, when I used a special power to level him up a final time (which always, ALWAYS raises three of your eight stats by one point) only two of his stats went up, because the other 6 were at their maximum possible level. Unfortunately, I ran out of time to beat the game, because the school year ended and the guy whose system I was playing on dropped out and I never saw him again.

[Im So Tired]

I've only ever played one Fire Emblem game, but I really enjoy story-heavy games like that with characters who might die, and tactical RPG elements.

I don't remember the name of the game, but I remember that "Leo" was a character and he was a swordsman, and the RNG level-up made him into an S-tier character, to the point where, when I used a special power to level him up a final time (which always, ALWAYS raises three of your eight stats by one point) only two of his stats went up, because the other 6 were at their maximum possible level. Unfortunately, I ran out of time to beat the game, because the school year ended and the guy whose system I was playing on dropped out and I never saw him again.

Damn, that's a real villain origin story! With how much I adore Fire Emblem, I'm pretty sure that unfinished game would haunt me forever. 
I'm going to guess it was "Fire Emblem: Fates", which is one I've been desperately trying to track down, but I haven't found a version that's in working condition. I think it's discontinued or something, so there's only second-hand versions of it floating around the internet.
I'm honestly trying to get my hands on as many Fire Emblem games as possible, though I've only found three so far.

[LostInTheMist]

Damn, that's a real villain origin story! With how much I adore Fire Emblem, I'm pretty sure that unfinished game would haunt me forever.
I'm going to guess it was "Fire Emblem: Fates", which is one I've been desperately trying to track down, but I haven't found a version that's in working condition. I think it's discontinued or something, so there's only second-hand versions of it floating around the internet.
I'm honestly trying to get my hands on as many Fire Emblem games as possible, though I've only found three so far.

I found them to be a lot of fun. It balances who's useful against who isn't with who can be improved and who can't. You have to put time and effort into increasing the usefulness of the less useful characters early on, or else you're kind of helpless later. The really useful early characters can accomplish a lot but they're what my friend and I referred to as "experience point black holes," because they just eat up experience points and never level up. Leo became an experience point black hole, but it was near the end of the game, so it didn't really matter.

[Im So Tired]

I found them to be a lot of fun. It balances who's useful against who isn't with who can be improved and who can't. You have to put time and effort into increasing the usefulness of the less useful characters early on, or else you're kind of helpless later. The really useful early characters can accomplish a lot but they're what my friend and I referred to as "experience point black holes," because they just eat up experience points and never level up. Leo became an experience point black hole, but it was near the end of the game, so it didn't really matter.

Wow, it's so interesting to hear what the older games were like. I hope I get to play it one day.
In the newer games, there are still certain characters that are easier to build into strong characters than others, but every character has their unique fighting style and traits that make it so if you wanted, you could solo the game with them. This seems to contrast a lot of other fighting games I've encountered, where certain characters are, and will always be, much better than others. There's no difference in rarity or other systems that create divides between them, though it sounds like it's been slightly modified over the years, as I haven't noticed any "experience point black holes". Though I mostly play story-mode, so perhaps there are such characters when playing the hardest difficulty.

[LostInTheMist]

Wow, it's so interesting to hear what the older games were like. I hope I get to play it one day.
In the newer games, there are still certain characters that are easier to build into strong characters than others, but every character has their unique fighting style and traits that make it so if you wanted, you could solo the game with them. This seems to contrast a lot of other fighting games I've encountered, where certain characters are, and will always be, much better than others. There's no difference in rarity or other systems that create divides between them, though it sounds like it's been slightly modified over the years, as I haven't noticed any "experience point black holes". Though I mostly play story-mode, so perhaps there are such characters when playing the hardest difficulty.

IIRC, every character in this game had three "tiers" they could ascend to. Once you hit tier three, you were an extremely powerful character and you required astonishing amounts of experience to gain any levels. The experience needed to move a "beginning" character halfway to tier two wouldn't be enough to gain a single level for a tier three character.

I don't remember what difficulty level I played it on, but I really enjoyed the tactical RPG elements, and the fact that if the characters died, I could miss some of the story, so I would sometimes make less-than-ideal tactical choices to keep a critically wounded character alive.

[RperSeeker69]

This tends to alternate. I suppose the one I play the most right now is Marvel Rivals. I wouldn't say it is perfect but it is quite addicting to play and all the characters available so you don't have to spend money to unlock them. I'm certainly curious to see what the new lineup of heroes will be for this year as there is quite a lot of speculation going on there.

[Im So Tired]

IIRC, every character in this game had three "tiers" they could ascend to. Once you hit tier three, you were an extremely powerful character and you required astonishing amounts of experience to gain any levels. The experience needed to move a "beginning" character halfway to tier two wouldn't be enough to gain a single level for a tier three character.

I don't remember what difficulty level I played it on, but I really enjoyed the tactical RPG elements, and the fact that if the characters died, I could miss some of the story, so I would sometimes make less-than-ideal tactical choices to keep a critically wounded character alive.

Then it seems like the games have changed quite a bit over the years. As far as I've noticed, there aren't really "tiers" to the characters, but they rather get more powerful as they level up, in a similar way to a lot of other games. The more experience the character gets, how often they're involved in battle, what friendship level they have with the characters they're fighting together with, and personal lessons between the player and the character is mostly what affects levels, and I think those levels can go on forever (at least to 60+, which is the level I've achieved before finishing the games). Of course, it takes longer to level up the higher level one achieves, but I never felt like it was an impossible amount.
I also really enjoy the tactical RPG elements, which are ideal to more chill gamers, like me. I've also tried my best to keep every character alive, I'm almost devistated at the thought of leading some of them to their deaths. It's a really cool game mechanic, that the characters are so central to the story.

[Samael]

This is a tough one.

While I absolutely love RPGs, like Dragonage, Might & Magic, Ultima, Baldurs Gate and co, I feel like strategy games are under-represent, therefore I shall go with Command and Conquer.

I even liked the sequels from a few years ago, thanks to Kane being center piece of them, but then they tried to make a live service out of the games and it destroyed their popularity.

Still, "From God, to Kane, to Seth."

[Sara Nilsson]

Planescape Torment.

The characters, the story, the atmosphere... all just.. *chefs kiss*

[Steel Woman]

right now? Nuclear Throne. Very chaotic and addictive action rogue-like.

[Samael]

Planescape Torment.

The characters, the story, the atmosphere... all just.. *chefs kiss*

I played through that so many times.
I agree, it's probably one of the top 5 best games ever made.

[Faceless Tragedian]

Pathologic 2. Not only is the writing and atmosphere 10/10, but it's also the most consistently tense horror game I've ever played.

[AndThatGuy]

Digimon World. I don't know why this particular monster game spoke to me, but I enjoyed digimon so much more than Pokémon. The show had a heavy feel to it. It wasn't always just cheerful and had some intense moments that children probably wouldn't have understood but could relate with. That apparently stuck with me and then I found they had a game for PlayStation. Bought it, loved it. Couldn't understand any of it. It was unique and still with the sequal-ish Digimon World - Next Order, I can't find anything that plays like these two. There is a good bit of reason to also mention Digimon World 2, 3, and 4 are all vastly different games then those before them. Like a series who's gimmick is being turned 180 from the previous instalment. 

[Mnemosyne]

I'm not sure I have a precise title... but I have a series...? The Nancy Drew game series by Her Interactive... I grew up with it and I still cherish it now despite how outdated it is. Point and click mysteries were ever my favorite. Was I constantly scared despite it being mostly one singular frame that wasn't moving at all? Yes. I loved the puzzles so, and the little educational bits they tucked in there. Did I also love making random food in the middle of a serious case that was possibly related to murder? Yes. Did I alsooooo maybe love 'accidentally' having Nancy Drew.... die? Maybe.

[LostInTheMist]

I'm back on Stardew Valley. My tracker doesn't show how many hours I have, because in the last four years it has recorded only 36 minutes of gameplay. (After the update from 1.5 to 1.6.) It shows me at only 430 hours, but I'd have to bet it's over 1000 hours by this point.

[Mnemosyne]

I'm back on Stardew Valley. My tracker doesn't show how many hours I have, because in the last four years it has recorded only 36 minutes of gameplay. (After the update from 1.5 to 1.6.) It shows me at only 430 hours, but I'd have to bet it's over 1000 hours by this point.

Eeeeeeh where is your tracker? I've got it on steam and... it is an embarassing number very close to 1000 hours.... since the time it came out.

If we went by hours of gameplay, people on my steam would think my favorite game was very very different... and even more embarrassing... Since it isn't stardew valley. It's an even more silly pixel game, and it isn't terraria either... It was a social game so maybe I shouldn't feel too bad?

[LostInTheMist]

Eeeeeeh where is your tracker? I've got it on steam and... it is an embarassing number very close to 1000 hours.... since the time it came out.

If we went by hours of gameplay, people on my steam would think my favorite game was very very different... and even more embarrassing... Since it isn't stardew valley. It's an even more silly pixel game, and it isn't terraria either... It was a social game so maybe I shouldn't feel too bad?

I've got it via GOG Galaxy. (Generally, I get any game I can via GOG as opposed to Steam, but that's neither here nor there) I suspect that the reason it's not tracking is the mods I have. When I launch the program, SMAPI, the "Stardew Modding Application Programming Interface" uses the console (I'm on a Mac) to launch the game and load in my mods. I use one that changes the way Scarecrows work (so that they now show their coverage radius and you can walk through them.) I use one that shows an experience bar in your ten skills so you can tell whether you are one tree away from leveling up your foraging skill or forever away. I use the "Canon Friendly Dialogue Expansion" that adds 4200 lines of dialogue across all the NPCs with hearts value, aiming to keep them as close to CA's original dialogue as possible. (IE, none of the lines change who the characters are, or their personalties, nor do they establish any lore contrary to anything CA wrote.) I also have the Skull Cavern elevator, that adds an elevator to the Skull Cavern, because I suck at the Skull Cavern, and I didn't want Iridium to become an impossible to retrieve resource.

I actually no longer use GOG to launch the program since GOG uses up a fair amount of memory, and it's not tracking my progress anyway, so why waste the time and energy?

[Mnemosyne]

I've got it via GOG Galaxy. (Generally, I get any game I can via GOG as opposed to Steam, but that's neither here nor there) I suspect that the reason it's not tracking is the mods I have. When I launch the program, SMAPI, the "Stardew Modding Application Programming Interface" uses the console (I'm on a Mac) to launch the game and load in my mods. I use one that changes the way Scarecrows work (so that they now show their coverage radius and you can walk through them.) I use one that shows an experience bar in your ten skills so you can tell whether you are one tree away from leveling up your foraging skill or forever away. I use the "Canon Friendly Dialogue Expansion" that adds 4200 lines of dialogue across all the NPCs with hearts value, aiming to keep them as close to CA's original dialogue as possible. (IE, none of the lines change who the characters are, or their personalties, nor do they establish any lore contrary to anything CA wrote.) I also have the Skull Cavern elevator, that adds an elevator to the Skull Cavern, because I suck at the Skull Cavern, and I didn't want Iridium to become an impossible to retrieve resource.

I actually no longer use GOG to launch the program since GOG uses up a fair amount of memory, and it's not tracking my progress anyway, so why waste the time and energy?

Oh fancy pants.... I saw about mods ages and ages ago but, I never dared try them? Even with sims I never dared try mods for the longest time... or 'cheat codes' ... I'm a very silly timid thing who worries too much that I will get in trouble for doing altercations to games. Iridium was ever difficult to acquire but having one of those cloning gem dohiggen usually helped out after the matter I think? Perhaps it was something else... but... hmm.... I am glad you were able to enhance the game for better enjoyment whatever way you decided on!