Bast game ever assessment problem

[MengJiao]

 
Hmmm...by "bast" I mean "best". 

It's odd, but whatever my current favorite game is...I'm just sure it is the best game ever.  Seems irrational.  For example in the past few months I've been convinced that each of the following were the best game ever:

Graviteam...something in Angola (I have no idea what I liked about this game now)
RoF ( I'm thinking it really was a great game and so I'm looking forward to Battle of Stalingrad)
ARMAIII (okay, the early days of the alpha on the little island were very cool)
CLOD (I guess I still think this is the best WWII fighter simulator of all time or at least until battle of stalingrad comes out)
Skyrim (totally awesome until you have seen most of the scenery a few times)
And now I'm sure DCS world is the best game of all time.  At least I know this assessment is irrational.  On the other hand, a few of my recent unsuccessful bomb runs in the Su-25T were definitely some great gaming experiences.

[Rayfer]

For me, at this time, it is Flashpoint Campaign: Red Storm. Remarkable game. Before that it was all Skyrim.

[Gusington]

Everyone knows the best PC game ever is Bioshock: Infinite. And its made by Irrational Games, noted in your OP :)

[sandman2575]

It's possible to think that the games you love are all freakin' amazing and awesome without having to slap the "Best Game Ever" label on them, no?  Best X Ever for anything is a meaningless category.  At most it's just a way of saying, "I really, really, really love this game, and you should too."

[Sir Slash]

If I HAD to pick one, it'd be either Skyrim or the Combat Mission series with a very close second to Medieval Total War 2. The one I most enjoyed I think would be a tie between the 2 Baldur's Gates and Planescape Torment. I know, that's 3 actually. The one enemy I was most afraid of in any PC game would easily be the Huns in Barbarian Invasion.

[BanzaiCat]

Thus far my current favorite is Skyrim, and I only say that because it's the only Elder Scrolls game that I've been interested in finishing. All the others, I'd get maybe 1/3 of the way through it and get bored and forget it.

I just rediscovered some old favorites in Dosbox, including Covert Action and Life & Death. Like Sandman, I can't say X game is the best EVAR because I like different things - I like hex-based strategy games, more freeform stuff like Wargame: EE, I enjoy Need for Speed on occasion, and Civ V at times. It all depends on my mood at the moment.

[GJK]

I've been searching for that perfect wargame since I was 13yrs old.  You know the game; THE ONE that will be the ONLY game you ever play again because it is so awesome and it is THE BEST GAME OF ALL TIME.  Sort of like when you meet the woman of your dreams and you never, ever, ever want to be with another woman again.  It works just like that, right?

[LongBlade]

Somewhere along the line I read a quote attributed to Picasso. Someone asked him which of his paintings was his favorite. His reply: the next one.

In many ways that is how I feel about games. I may be a sucker but the next game that comes along, even if it's mostly a rehash of the last one, is still something I relish.

There are perhaps a few games that deserve consideration of "best game ever" but I'm not sure we've reached a point where we can honestly say that - especially with regard to digital gaming.

Before "multi-media" games were available there were some classics. Steel Panthers still resides on many hard drives and it's 20 years old. In 20 years will we still be playing Skyrim?

Longevity, of course, isn't the only measurement of greatness. But it is an indicator. There have been, are, and will be games that break new ground in ways that are significant. Thief introduced us to the miracle of stereoscopic sound. For its time it may have been one of the greatest ever. Great today? Yes. Greatest evah? Probably not.

So I don't wish to demean this discussion, but rather point out that, for the most part, we're referencing games from the immediate past. That suggests to me that the greatest game ever may yet be to come. What happens when, instead of a projector on the wall, instead we can broadcast a 3D holographic battlefield (nevermind that minis games effectively provide that environment today)?

All this gets back to Ming's original point. He's finding that he's enjoying a lot of great games but can't place his finger on why.

Perhaps it's because he's qualified his great games with "ever." That suggest a timelessness that may prove elusive to, say, Bioshock or Skyrim in a way that Steel Panthers or Close Combat haven't experienced.

[BanzaiCat]

Sort of like when you meet the woman of your dreams and you never, ever, ever want to be with another woman again.  It works just like that, right?

Why, I'm detecting sarcasm, sir! ;D

Thing is about games like Skyrim and Bioshock, once you play through it, there's no surprises left. You might play through it again of course to see if you missed any secrets, sort of like licking your bowl to get the last beautiful tastes of ice cream, but once that's done, you've pretty much wrenched it dry. If it was a good game, you'll come back to it, wanting to relive those moments of glory again (such as in the first KOTOR, for example), but a game that offers twists and turns and gives you the joy of discovery, not to mention that feeling of having NO idea what's coming next and having a great time doing it, that's the magic fix most of us crave.

[GJK]

Sort of like when you meet the woman of your dreams and you never, ever, ever want to be with another woman again.  It works just like that, right?

Why, I'm detecting sarcasm, sir! ;D

?  Twice divorced me that recently had his long time girlfriend leave him...you mean me????  Nah.

[republic]

I've always gone through phases.  My "favorite" game changes often and often repeats.

Though probably Transport Tycoon/Locomotion are the types of games I've returned to the most often.  Sandbox builders.

[Gusington]

How dare you say that Thief is not the greatest game ever when I clearly proved above that Bioshock: Infinite is!

What?

[LongBlade]

How dare you say that Thief is not the greatest game ever when I clearly proved above that Bioshock: Infinite is!

What?

Ok. Now I feel things are right in the universe again.

[BanzaiCat]

Sort of like when you meet the woman of your dreams and you never, ever, ever want to be with another woman again.  It works just like that, right?

Why, I'm detecting sarcasm, sir! ;D

?  Twice divorced me that recently had his long time girlfriend leave him...you mean me????  Nah.

Sorry, GJK. That sucks, man.

I always told myself that if my wife and I break up for whatever reason (wife 1), there would never be a wife 2. Sound familiar, perhaps? Guess I might have gone down that same path too. Who knows what the future holds now.

[Gusington]

~fin~

The above is just me trying to show that these discussions are pure opinion, as you mentioned.

It's like trying to compare crimes against humanity, but in better taste.