What Are Your Favorite Video Games?

[Shulk]

Xenoblade Chronicles - Best JRPG protagonist, most unpredictable plot, amazing setting, combat that stays fun 100 hours in, characters that are well-written and empathetic. I gush about it enough in the chat.

Gears of War 3 - I love the entire series, but the third entry holds a special place in my heart for the sheer amount of polish it has. There is nothing more viscerally satisfying than getting into a shotgun duel with someone online, winning, and watching pieces of them fly everywhere. It was surprisingly good at encouraging teamwork too, and I've met plenty of great people online over the two years that I've played this.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - This probably would have been occupied by MGS5, but it's not out yet. To this day, I consider this the best Metal Gear game. You got to play as Snake (kind of) and get a story that's the least batshit insane out of all the others. It's just about Big Boss as a naive soldier struggling to come to grips with having to kill his mentor and mother figure out of duty to his country. It introduced some incredibly indepth mechanics like the camo system and CQC, and it marked the first time the series started to go into more "open-ended" territory with the huge (at the time) Russia wilderness that was full of animals and soldiers to mess with.

Beyond Good & Evil - This is a forgotten gem for sure. Made by one of the few non-scumbags in UbiSoft, Michael Ancel, Beyond Good & Evil is a classic example of a great game that failed financially due to executive incompetence. It's a mish-mash of a bunch of different mechanics, leading to a varied playtime. When you're not collecting pearls to upgrade your vehicle, you're being a female Solid Snake, taking photos to overthrow a corrupt government. Or you're just photographing animals for a scientist, or maybe you're fighting with a bo-staff and beating up a bunch of monsters, or maybe you're racing, or platforming, or flying a space ship. Either way, you're doing all of those things in a setting with characters that I think are sorely underrated in gaming history. Jade, in my opinion, is one of the best female characters in video games just in terms of how "normal" she is. She's a badass because she's doing extraordinary things despite being just one woman with a camera and a stick.

Majora's Mask - Does this really need an introduction? It's the most unique (and polarizing) Zelda game ever made. The time mechanic added a layer of strategy not seen in any other Zelda to date, and the dark and oppressing atmosphere is still unmatched.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Probably one of my favorite RPGs this year. It handles difficult choices well, with Geralt's personality and profession adding some complexity to how you handle his dealings with the bigoted citizens of the Northern Realms. Combine that with a truly unique fantasy setting and oodles of well-written dialogue that handle tough issues like racism and facism with more grace than most games, and you've got a potential game of the year for 2015.

Fallout: New Vegas - It's not Fallout 3. Your choices actually matter. The writing is better. Gameplay is better. Enough said.

Knights of the Old Republic 2 - Imagine KoToR, but actually good. That's KoToR 2. You get more choices, more combat options, interesting companions, and one of the best mentors ever, Kreia.