Answering Big Questions #005: A Lifetime of Games

Usually I would say it’s not very polite to ask a woman her age, due to current social constructs and the like. But I really don’t care if you all know I’m going to be 30 this year. So, when The Well-Red Mage asked his fifth big question about sharing one’s favorite game from each year of one’s life, I decided that it would be a fun question to answer. So, as a certain Italian plumber would say, let’sa go!

Here are my favorite games for each year I’ve been alive:

1988 – Mega Man 2

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Excuse me as I start singing every single theme from every single level…

1989 – Tetris

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Excuse me while I stack blocks and whistle music from “Carmen”…

1990 – Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (probably, if I played it)

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1991 – Mario Teaches Typing The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

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*insert Zelda chime here*

1992 – Mario Paint

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1993 – Kirby’s Adventure

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Aw, my favorite little pink puffball.

1994 – Sim City 2000

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I was a boss at this game.

1995 – Chrono Trigger

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Playing it for the first time waay after its release, but it still counts!!

1996 – Super Mario 64

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1997 – Star Fox 64

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Use the Force Trust your instincts…

1998 – The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time/Metal Gear Solid (yes, I picked two)

Because I played Ocarina of Time when it came out, and MGS many years later, so it’s hard to choose…

1999 – Roller Coaster Tycoon

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2000 – Star Wars Episode 1: Jedi Power Battles

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I still love this game.

2001 – Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

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Kept you waiting, huh?

2002 – Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

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I mean, it was super original having an Italian be a mobster/criminal, but the game was cool and I loved seeing the “real” Vice City when I lived in Miami (yes, there really is that much neon).

2003 – Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (probably)

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It’s coming

2004 – Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

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I give my life, not for honor, but for yooouu….

2005 – Shadow of the Colossus

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2006 – The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

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See how good I was? I didn’t just plaster a huge picture of Midna for this one.

2007 – Mass Effect

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Is anyone surprised?

2008 – Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

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2009 – Dragon Age: Origins

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Omg is anyone surprised for this one? There is no jpg large enough to contain my love.

2010 – Mass Effect 2

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2011 – Dragon Age 2 (no hard feelings, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword)

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2012 – Mass Effect  3

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I’m so predicable it hurts.

2013 – Gone Home

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2014 – Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor/Dragon Age: Inquisition (yep)

I mean, for a Dragon Age game to tie with something else, it has to be good.

2015 – The Witcher III: Wild Hunt (probably)/Until Dawn (probably)

2016 – The Last Guardian (probably)

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I heard it has some issues, but maybe the bird-dog-cat animal makes up for it…?

2017 – You really expect me to choose one out of Horizon: Zero Dawn, Mass Effect: Andromeda, RiME, and Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice??? 

…it’s either Hellblade or RiME, let’s be real.

2018 – TBD…? But Kingdom Come: Deliverance, The Inpatient, Anthem, and Yoshi are top contenders

And Kingdom Come is part of the Year of the RPG, so we’ll find out together how good it is!

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Whew! It was a lot of fun going through these games, and amazing to see some years had some pretty average games (in my eyes) and some had a number of stellar ones that I found myself waffling around on before picking.

What about you? What is your “life in games”? Are some of your favorites up here? Let me know in the comments, or leave a link to your answer so we can all come visit!

Thanks for stopping by, and I’ll see you soon!
~ Athena

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26 comments

  1. Metal Gear Solid 3 is the only logical choice for 2004. A lot of people probably would’ve picked Half-Life, but Metal Gear Solid 3 wins for actually feeling like a completed story.

    I think this is an interesting idea, and I’ve seen other people do it about two years ago. The main reason why I don’t think I could do it is because my picks would be the games I would award the highest scores of that year. In addition to spoiling what I think of them, complications would arise if I were to be confronted with a game that overrides my first opinion. After all, I wouldn’t have thought Planescape: Torment was the best game of 1999 (and by extension, the nineties) until I played it in 2010.

    As for this decade, I think my tentative picks would be Super Mario Galaxy 2 (2010), Dark Souls (2011), Fire Emblem: Awakening (2012), A Link Between Worlds (2013), Shovel Knight (2014), Undertale (2015), Fire Emblem: Fates (2016), and Breath of the Wild (2017). As I said, I’m more sure-footed on some picks than others.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I think those are solid choices. I understand what you mean.. some of these games I played a long time after they were released, as was the case with MGS, and some I played when released, like OoT, so… yeah some years just had great games that wound up not being played until later.

      MGS3 is such an amazing game, and I’m glad I don’t just sound like a fangirl for thinking so!

      Liked by 1 person

  2. Well, I like to think 30 is the new 20, and that all the cool lists start in 1988 😛

    Great choices! I haven’t played a lot of these, unfortunately for me. And 2009 was quite a gaming year, eh? ⚡🐉

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Obviously. haha

      Well, I have weird tastes in games sometimes. And it was! Infamous was released, and Dragon Age: Origins, and Demon’s Souls, and Arkham Asylum, and… that Final Fantasy game with the girl with the pink hair, I think. 😉 I jest, of course. Final Fantasy 13 deserves a top spot on the 2009 list, in my opinion.

      Liked by 1 person

  3. Haha, I love 2009, 2011 and 2014’s choices.

    A quick search tells me my birth year was a great one for games (1987, youch!): Final Fantasy, Metal Gear, Megaman, Faxanadu, Castlevania II, Double Dragon, Street Fighter and the first game in the Megami Tensei series. On the downside, it was also the year Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out and Leisure Suit Larry came out 😐

    Also, since you guys mentioned you’d be doing Kingdom Come as part of the Year of RPG project, I have been on the lookout for news about it. It looks fantastic and I cannot wait to try it (months from now, probably, as I am buried under my reading and playing backlog :P).

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Holy Maker, how did I miss this comment?!

      Those are some solid games. All I think of now when I see Megami Tensei is an article Aether wrote called “Megami Boobei,” and I’m so sorry. Did you play any of those games?

      I hear you with the backlog. I apparently need to add “comments” to my list of things that I miss when they come up. Very sorry again!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Goodness, for some reason WordPress keeps eating my replies (so, I am super sorry if this double/triple-posted). Anyway, I have played some of them, but thankfully I have not played Punch-Out or Leisure Suit Larry, hah!

        I was under the impression that the Megami Tensei series was well liked and respected so, Aether’s title means new information for me. Now I am terribly curious about the article though, I have to look it up.

        Liked by 1 person

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