I believe The Beatles: Rock Band came the closest to being perfect. Eveything about that game was just beautifully done and the only things missing was Pro Drums, an option for Keys, and a few more Beatle songs (Hey Jude, Strawberry Fields Forever, Yesterday etc. etc.)
My answer to this is always Portal, the first one. It was so unexpected and so, so good. Nothing in gaming before or since has been that magical of an experience for me. Maybe early Pokemon, when my little kid eyes were opening to what gaming could be. But there’s just something special about Portal. Such a concise, perfect little game.
Portal’s beauty is in it’s shortness. Perfectly paced, it takes the basic idea, plays with it, twists it, and finishes before it can overstay its welcome. In and out in an afternoon.
Maybe Tetris? Such a simple concept, and it’s one of the most popular games of all time.
Minecraft for similar reasons. Even if it has become more complex in recent years, the core of it is just…you can break everything and build anything. It’s hard to say that isn’t a perfect sandbox.
More personal opinion though, maybe Super Mario Odyssey. Just incredibly polished and varied with an amazing movement system.
Tetris is an interesting one because you’ve got 3+ decades of variations on the original, but the original is still the best. I’d argue it’s a perfect game.
I personally disagree that the original is best. It’s high up there, but I think some of the later titles have improvements that eek out the #1 spot.
I’m a fan of the “piece swap” feature, and later games have polished the piece lock over the original. Tetris 99 was the sweet spot for games that I’ve played.
Hades. I don’t think I’ve come across a game so carefully paced as Hades, both plot-wise and in the gradual introduction of game mechanics. Which is bloody impressive considering that it’s a roguelite.
Chrono Trigger: every aspect (graphics, gameplay, story, music, replayability…) has such level of polishness that it’s still outstanding almost 30 years later.
No other JRPG has come even close and, as a Final Fantasy fan, that’s hard to admitFata Morgana.
Listen, whether you like Visual Novels or not doesn’t matter. But Fata Morgana is just somehow…perfect. Everything is resolved and I don’t feel any need to complain about any aspect of it. It was an experience to play a game that left me with no questions afterwards. It was just a really good story.
Undertale, for me. I have 0 problems with the game. Art style is great. Controls are great. Story is likely the most compelling I personally have seen. Not to mention the very appropriate humour.
A big one for me is Fallout 1. I only played it for the first time a few years ago and it is one of the only games where as soon as I finished it I wanted to start it again. The only reason I didn’t was to play Fallout 2. There is an extremely valid argument that Fallout 2 is better, but the pacing of 1 is so good. It opened up a whole (niche) genre of games I thought I didn’t like, isometric crpgs, especially ones with turn based combat, relatively low player power, and serious consequences.
The other game I could replay over and over again was Metal Gear Solid 1. In my opinion it is the best in the series relative to its time of release, if that makes sense.
Also obviously Halo CE.
Outer Wilds
Agreed. There is something very special about Outer Wilds
Dragon Age. I literally fell in love with Alistair while studying for my masters, so it must have been an excellent storyline for an RPG. I also played it through in full twice because it turned out my initial character choice made my perfect ending impossible…
The two games I wish I could play for the first time again are Dragon Age and Bioshock.
The events that transpired at Ostagar, man, got you into that game REAL quick.
Bioshock I think, loved it so much. Excellent writing and graphic design. Wish the remaster had improved the visuals more tho
Yesssss loved this game. Played all three and nothing hits like the first one.
Truth. I still love Infinite, though. I may be in the minority for that, but it’s such a bizarre atmosphere and the imagery and soundtrack really stuck with me. Welcome to the circus of VALUE!
Oh geez, I’d forgotten about the circus of VALUE! Gotta emphasize it like that 😂. I think I found Infinite to be more of a mixed bag. Creepy but in a different way. All I remember is being killed by George Washington 😂
Outer Wilds. I consider it the best video game ever made and I’ve spent quite some time thinking about if there’s something I could add, change or remove that would improve it and so far I’ve yet to come up with anything of substance (beyond tiny QoL changes or reeeally nitpicky stuff).
For me, probably Half-Life 2. Especially at the time? It was such a leap ahead in both technology and overall world immersion. I still revisit it sometimes and get sucked right back in.
I’ll agree with you on Beatles Rock Band too, though. It’s a work of art.
ive never played a half life game before. maybe i should start
The original Half Life is pretty fun, but I’d recommend checking out Black Mesa. It’s a remake of the original game in the same engine that Half-Life 2 uses, and changes some things for the better.
Guild Wars, especially for the PvP mode. I loved the visual feeling of the game, it felt sharper and less cartoony than a WoW.
Some classes were kind of novel too at the time.
And the feature I loved was the limited skillset you had to chose : you could be lvl 20 (max) and know 30 spells but you could only pick 5 in your active bar. It made for so many interesting builds and combinations !
Guild Wars
Aaah, that game really left a hole in my heart that was never really filled again. Build crafting during school, playing in the evenings – those were the days. I also loved how the game forced team play much more than other MMORPG’s. And then there’s the lore, the beautiful zones… Truly pretty close to perfect!
I have to agree with you there. The music, the scenery, the plot, just the general aesthetic of the game was incredible. It created an experience in play. I can’t tell you how many times I restarted characters and classes to play through in a slightly different experience. I still pick it up and play occasionally, even though I’m the only one from my guild who has logged in for the past 3 years, it’s nice to just see and experience the game again.
Perfection is overrated. Most of my favorite gaming experiences are with games of which I would be able to cite plenty of flaws.
I like games with sharp edges.
That said, there are a lot of good games being mentioned in these comments.
What’s a favorite example of a game you love in spite of genuinely painful sharp edges?