After playing a game you think is your all time favorite, do you wait before calling it your #1?

[Mekanos]

As a teenager, it felt like every 1-2 years, some new hotness came along and I instantly latched onto it as my "all time favorite."

First it was Super Mario 64, that was a sure thing.
Then Twilight Princess came out and was so dark and cool and epic. Surely that was it!
Nah, maybe not. But I just played Final Fantasy IX with this incredible storyline and cast... I think this is it!
Actually, replaying SMB3, this really is the GOAT.

etc.

It wasn't until a little bit later I did settle pretty strongly on an all time favorite (Metal Gear Solid) a few months after playing it, due to its atmosphere, lead character, storyline, replayability, setting, etc. Everything just "clicked." I rest assured for many years that it would remain #1 unseated from its throne for a long time.

Then in December 2018 I played two games: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Persona 5.

Smash Ultimate spoke to my life playing games from childhood to adulthood, featuring characters from virtually every favorite title of mine. Everyone Is Here. Some of my most-wanted characters ever, K. Rool and Ridley, finally made it into the roster. It was packed with content and felt like the epic culmination of 20 years of Smash, a series I love dearly. The inclusion of Banjo-Kazooie only intensified that and for now I consider it my #1.

Persona 5 I've gushed enough about and I think anyone else who loves it knows why I do too; characters, style, themes, gameplay, soundtrack, and so on. It sucked up my life for the four weeks I've played it, and I can't remember the last time I played a game where the credits finished and I simply sat there, staring at the screen, contemplating it all. It lasted 100 hours and I wanted more. It's probably the closest to a contender for the #1 spot, easily top 5.

Anyway.

I'm wondering if for other people, when playing games that are really special and connect to them, they wait a while before evaluating. A month?A year? Immediately? Recency bias is obviously very much a thing, but I'm wondering if there is a threshold of time people consider to pass before the idea of it being a favorite still rings true.

 

[diablogg]

Like 2 days for me, I'm skewed immediately afterwards, but after a couple nights sleep I can make a pretty damn good judgement about where it ranks for me.

 

[overcast]

I don't think I claim a game to be my favorite after playing it. I collect thoughts over the years and reflections. I tend to just call it one of my favorites.

 

[Phendrana]

I give games/movies/tv shows a decent amount of time to settle before deciding if they're in my top 10.

I could tell that Breath of the Wild was something special while playing it at launch, but I didn't want to be too hasty in deciding whether or not it was my favourite. It wasn't until the DLC came out at the end of the year that I accepted it had definitely knocked Metroid Prime off the podium.

 

[Burt]

I usually consult my nearest religious counselor before I initiate the Sacred Rite of Best Game Ever

 

[Hella]

When you play a game that's special to you, you know immediately. It's not really an objective thing, so it may shift over time, but y'know what? That's OK. It's your favourite game and that's all that matters.

It's also possible for someone not to have found that game yet. I think that would actually make it a lot harder to decide, because then it does become this calculation of "what game is the best I've ever played?" And I dunno that "best" and "favourite" need to correlate at all.

 

[Deleted member 10629]

Super Mario 64 will always be my number 1, despite other better games existing

 

[Lunchbox]

Yes, I thought Dragon Quest XI was better than VIII initially but to me besides the crafting I prefer the latter.

 

[RecRoulette]

Talking top 10 all time? Maybe a few months, I know immediately if a game is a contender though.

I don't think anything's gonna come close to my top 3 though

 

[Deleted member 59126]

Yes, I learned this lesson the hard way when I was publicly made fun of for declaring my love for The Last Guardian after just finishing it. The person who insulted me was a low tier celebrity within the gaming industry and a personal hero of mine. It crushed me to have them use my opinion as the butt of their joke.

My advice, give yourself a few months of reflection before you declare your undying love and don't meet your heroes, they'll disappoint you.

 

[xmonkeyofevil]

Anything that gets into my "favorite games" list has to leave me wanting to play it again. Not right away necessarily, but definitely has to be on the mind. When I do play it again, I have to be open for another eventual playthrough. Could take years to really solidify it as one of my all-time favorites.

Like, right now, my absolute favorite game is "Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords." Not only did I do two playthroughs in the course of two weeks when it came out, not only have I revisited it time and time again, but at one point I did three playthroughs back-to-back-to-back over a two week period.

 

[BizzyBum]

I usually know right away once I beat it. It's one of those things you just "know", ya know?

Right now my GOAT is Witcher 3. I actually knew way before the ending that it was going to be my new #1, and then I played both DLC's in Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine and was just absolutely floored at the quality and pretty firmly cemented the #1 spot for me, easily.

I always say this, but it's going to take one hell of a game to knock it off my GOAT status. The only things that can possibly come close in the near future I think would either be CDPR's follow-up Cyberpunk 2077 or Death Stranding.

 

[Deleted member 17643]

I generally know when I'm playing something special and can make that call pretty fast. Yakuza 0 is a good example of this... Within the first 10 hours it was cemented as one of my favorite games of all time.

 

[KernelC]

it doesn't happen often, but when it does, I think about it a lot. I had this very thought when I beat Persona 5 in 2017. It was clear that is was far and above anything else I had ever played, even rivaling the mighty FF VI. But then that same year I played Divinity Original Sin 2 and I was again, at odds. Ultimately I decided it was Persona 5 > FF VI > Divnity OS 2.

 

[Jeb]

I wait.

I need to see if the experience will last in my mind long enough after the honeymoon period and how much of a lasting impact it has to deserve the top spot in defining my taste in gaming.

Having said that, I usually get a good sense on if it's a contender in the early to mid sections of the game.

 

[Mekanos]

And I dunno that "best" and "favourite" need to correlate at all.

Click to shrink...

Not at all. Games resonate with us for very specific reasons, regardless of objective quality.

Having said that, I usually get a good sense on if it's a contender in the early to mid sections of the game.

Click to shrink...

Definitely. With Persona 5, I knew after the Kamoshida arc I was playing something very special, but it was after the fourth dungeon when I realized how much it was personally affecting me.

 

[Skel1ingt0n]

Pac Man GameBoy -> Pokemon Red ->Mario Kart 64 -> Ocarina of Time -> Majora's Mask ... .... .... to KOTOR.

And 16+ years later, it's still KOTOR. Nothing has come close to toppling it.

The only game to even hit my Top Ten this gen is Bloodborne.

 

[Fliesen]

I generally know when I'm playing something special and can make that call pretty fast. Yakuza 0 is a good example of this... Within the first 10 hours it was cemented as one of my favorite games of all time.

Click to shrink...

Yup, same for me with Obra Dinn.

It's perfectly possible to know that a game is going to rest among your favourite games right after completing it - or even while you're still playing.

The only complicating factor is the whole "all time favourite" thing. Why bother? I couldn't, for the life of me, decide if BotW is better than Obra Dinn or Super Mario Galaxy or Stardew Valley or ...
But why should i? What's to gain from forcing yourself to crown that one GOAT game?

 

[Deleted member 59126]

Definitely. With Persona 5, I knew after the Kamoshida arc I was playing something very special, but it was after the fourth dungeon when I realized how much it was personally affecting me.

Click to shrink...

I wish the game had ended after the 7th palace. The last 15 hours took too much away from such an amazing journey. Still one of the best JRPG's I've ever played though.

 

[Kneefoil]

Yes.

I still say that Majora's Mask is my favourite game of all-time, even though in many ways I enjoyed Breath of the Wild more. It's going to take another playthrough of BotW to really determine if I like it more, especially because so much of my enjoyment of BotW came from all the discoveries I made and everything being so new and different.

It has now been a long enough time for me to actually consider a second playthrough of the game, but I've got too many other games on my plate at the moment.

 

[Unknownlight]

I've only ever had one definitive "all time favorite" game, and it's never changed, so I imagine I'd have to think about it for a long, long time if another game somehow managed to topple it from the top.

If we expand that to favorites, though? Nah, I know if a game's one of my favorites immediately.

 

[Crayon]

Oh yeah. You got to let it cook. It took me a year to decide botw was it.

 

[Th0rnhead]

With stuff like games, music, and movies, I really can never pick a favorite. I have favorites, but nothing at number 1 (or any number)

 

[Mekanos]

I wish the game had ended after the 7th palace. The last 15 hours took too much away from such an amazing journey. Still one of the best JRPG's I've ever played though.

Click to shrink...

I feel like the 5th and 7th palaces are a little long for their own good, but I definitely wouldn't want it to end after the 7th palace. The 8th palace provides important thematic closure for the story, although some more checkpoints wouldn't have hurt.

 

[J_ToSaveTheDay]

Usually, yes.

The two exceptions that I've made INSTANT declaration on after beating were Dark Souls and Breath of the Wild. BotW still holding on, and Dark Souls held it for me until BotW.

But, I had such strongly positive reactions "recently" to Bloodborne, Witcher 3, Doom 2016, Final Fantasy XIV, and the Resident Evil 2 Remake that I pondered on their actual strengths as games and their overall impact on me as an enthusiast of the medium, and while they're some of the best games within their genres to me, most weren't as impactful to me as standing favorites.

For example, I do personally think that Bloodborne is my favorite execution of many of the concepts of Dark Souls, but Dark Souls takes the higher rank to me because it opened me to the genre and made me pay attention to my own gameplay habits in a way that I now apply to all games that I play, which to be is a bit more profound and impactful than recognizing how most of Souls concepts feel so much more expertly conveyed in Bloodborne. So yeah, I enjoyed playing Bloodborne more than Dark Souls but I rank Dark Souls higher because it fundamentally changed the way that I play all videogames since I finished it.

 

[Deleted member 59126]

I feel like the 5th and 7th palaces are a little long for their own good, but I definitely wouldn't want it to end after the 7th palace. The 8th palace provides important thematic closure for the story, although some more checkpoints wouldn't have hurt.

Click to shrink...

Hmm, I'm completely disagree with you, but I respect your opinion.

 

[Plasma]

I just knew after finishing them, happened with Metal Gear Solid and Mass Effect 2.

 

[Musubi]

I usually tend to see how I feel about games 6 months out before I go making "All time" declarations. I'll probably instantly know if its in the running to be in my top 10 for the year pretty quickly though.

 

[Snowfruit]

Persona 4 has been my #1 for like 10 years now and nothing has topped that.
I can't remember even having an all time favorite game before Persona 4 though, that's just how good the game was to make me even consider having one.

My top 10 on the other hand changes pretty much every year and I know if a game is good enough for that immediately after finishing it.

 

[Hilarious_Bearious]

Yes, I learned this lesson the hard way when I was publicly made fun of for declaring my love for The Last Guardian after just finishing it. The person who insulted me was a low tier celebrity within the gaming industry and a personal hero of mine. It crushed me to have them use my opinion as the butt of their joke.

My advice, give yourself a few months of reflection before you declare your undying love and don't meet your heroes, they'll disappoint you.

Click to shrink...

Honestly, fuck that person for doing that to you and making you feel that way. And for what it's worth, The Last Guardian is an amazing game. It may have it's technical issues, but everything else about it is top shelf IMO.

I gave Bloodborne a few playthroughs over 12 months before locking it in as GOAT.

 

[Version 3.0]

Considering I've changed my #1 game only 3 times in 40 years of gaming, I'd say I hold out a bit.

If anything, I'm too stubborn in admitting a new game is better than some of my favorites.

 

[Miles Davis]

I don't ever call any game my number one. I hate lists and people thinking objectively that lists somehow validate their opinions as facts.

 

[Samanosuke Akechi]

I have way too many. There's no way I can even make a top ten. There are just too many games I love.

I'll simply say I have many favorites. Spider-Man and re2 remake have recently entered my favorites list.

 

[Pottuvoi]

Time will tell.
If I think something is good after 10 years, it usually has some redeeming features.

 

[Deleted member 59126]

Honestly, fuck that person for doing that to you and making you feel that way. And for what it's worth, The Last Guardian is an amazing game. It may have it's technical issues, but everything else about it is top shelf IMO.

I gave Bloodborne a few playthroughs over 12 months before locking it in as GOAT.

Click to shrink...

Thank you. Writing about my experience and reading your reply has helped me.

Bloodborne is one of those few games that no matter how much hype you hear about it, it still manages to surpass expectations.

 

[Jake_brake]

Typically I knew fairly soon thereafter, but I find it hard to place it after my top 3 or so. And even then I say to myself, "well TLoU is my favorite game of all-time, but I don't really wanna go back and play it. Same with some others. But it's an experience I will NEVER forget.

Maybe playing it like 10 times within a year, something I never do, had something to do with it.

Speaking of P5, I myself started it during last Thanksgiving. It's currently slotted 4th for.me

 

[Deleted member 37928]

I've never had one single game that was better than everything else I played. Games are for different moods and needs. What is the number one very much depends on your state of mind at the time, so it's constantly changing.

That being said you usually know quite early if something really clicks with you or not; on that extra level where your emotions are somewhat overwhelming. The last time I felt this was when I played Undertale, and the game before that was Bioshock Infinite. It doesn't happen very often, which I feel is part of the greatness of these experiences.

 

[Milk]

I knew Persona 5 was my favorite game while I was just halfway through. I had such a pure joy playing that game.

 

[Tibarn]

When I played my first 3-4 days of BotW, I knew the game was top 10 material. I played the game for about 125 hours during one month, and by then it was already a top 5. As during the following months I've been thinking a lot about the game, discussing it with all my work colleagues that have bought it later, it became clear to me tha the game is top 1, top 2 is not even close.

It sucked up my life for the four weeks I've played it, and I can't remember the last time I played a game where the credits finished and I simply sat there, staring at the screen, contemplating it all. It lasted 100 hours and I wanted more.

Click to shrink...

This was my case as well, I remember working for 8 hours, playing 8 hours and sleepling like 5 hours during the month the game was released. But for the same reason, I don't exactly remember how good the game really was, I kind of rushed it. I prefer P4 though, as the characters and story are better, and I fear that I'll never re-experience P5 in order to evaluate it, as if I ever play the full thing again it will be the Royal.

 

[theusedversion]

I do this for all media. I have a loose 5 year rule. Nothing enters the top 10 until around 5 years have passed.

 

[Rafako]

I place my all time favourites based on the impact they had on me at the time I've played them, apart from the game quality of course.
So I usually wait a bit to see it with perspective.

 

[tommy7154]

Just a little maybe. I know what I like though so I feel it pretty immediately. After playing the Destiny beta for example I was immediately in love. Cant think of much else recently. Journey and 999 were both that way as well for me. Basically instant.

 

[TacoSupreme]

Final Fantasy VI was the first time I had a #1 game. It's probably still #1 for me.

However, today I tend to view games as being in my top 5, rather than a #1. If really pressed on it it's hard for me to say that any of my top 5 are better than the others. At this point I'd rather just gradually expand it into a top 10, instead of booting a beloved game out of a top spot :P

 

[Remo Williams]

There's no game that I consider #1, and I couldn't even tell you my top 20 games of all time, I simply don't rank games that way. There are just games that I like a lot, games that I like a bit less, and so on.

That said, If I did care about those things, why would I wait? It's not like my personal opinion has any bearing on, well, anything. If I change my mind, I'll change my mind.

 

[Flon]

For the longest time I never really considered what my favourite game was. I was just moving from franchise to franchise catching up with whatever.

It's funny. While I left with amazing impressions, I didn't realize Mana Khemia was my all-time favourite game until a few years after I finished it. There was definitely a hint of nostalgia to it, but it made me think to myself "there has never been a game I attached to nearly as much as that game". It still rings true to this day.

Because of that, it's only been these last 2 years that I heavily got back into the franchise (Atelier) and got up to date. Also got to finish its sequel, which proved to me it wasn't just nostalgia, but that those games are genuinely just exactly what I've ever wanted in an RPG.

So I suppose my answer is that I had to wait about 5 years before I realized what my actual favourite game was. And then after that the floodgates opened about how I considered games.

 

[Chivalry]

Nah. I usually know if it's going to be my #1 like half-way through the game.

 

[Jonneh]

All of my favourite games have some kind of lasting appeal and that's always tricky to judge after playing a game for the first time. I think games can absolutely be one and done experiences but even then you don't know how long that experience with resonate with you

So yeah I do have to wait to be sure. I can tell you that a game is oustanding within moments of finishing but there are a lot of other factors to consider

 

[G_O]

Link to the Past was my favourite game for many many years. I don't remember when I decided it was it was always my number 1.

Then Last of Us came along. And it wasn't until I replayed the game a 2nd time that I decided it was then my all time favourite. But then BOTW came along, and I was barely 10 hours into the game and already I decided this was now number 1.

So I guess there is no rule to the question OP, but when you know....you know

 

[Digital Savior]

I stopped having favorite games a long time ago. Resident Evil 4 was maybe the last time I even thought about it. I'm always looking forward to the next experience for the most part.

 

[Giga Man]

Kirby Super Star has been my #1 since I was a wee lad, and that shows no signs of changing. If anything, I constantly have to re-assign what I consider to be my #2 or #3.