Age of Empires 2 /w The Conquers expansion pack.

Roller Coaster Tycoon 1. (2 was weaker without OpenRCT2, the real masterpiece, but idk if unfinished projects should count or not)

Quake 3 Arena, Unreal Tournament 1999 GOTY, Worms Armageddon, SimCity 3000 Unlimited, Forza Horizon 2 / Motorsport 3, Need for Speed Underground 1, Clonk! Rage, Metal Gear Solid 1/2/3, Ace Combat 4, Okami, Tokyo Jungle, Zelda BOTW, Mario Odyssey, Sven Co-Op, Killing Floor 1, Final Fantasy 7, LISA: The Painful, Everhood 1, Deus Ex 1, Left 4 Dead 1/2, Portal 2, Battlefield Bad Company 2... Champions of Norrath and Return to Arms, Diablo 1, Baldur's Gate 3 makes the list...NIER both games. Planet MiniGolf.

I could go on and on.

Video:
Doom

Tetris

Chrono Trigger

Table top: Chess

Magic: the Gathering

Everdell

Azul

Psychonauts 1 and 2.

Some of the most imaginative big budget games in existence, from themes to art style to level design

Well, none because favorites are super subjective, but I'll shout out my favorites because no one else did:

1. The Wonderful 101
2. Bayonetta
3. Ninja Gaiden II
4. God Hand
5. Viewtiful Joe
6. Catherine
7. Gravity Rush
8. Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R
9. Under Night In-Birth II Sys:Celes
10. Persona 4 Arena Ultimax
11. Crimzon Clover: World EXplosion
12. Ketsui: Kizuna Jigoku Tachi

Red Alert 2

Heroes of Might and Magic 3

Super Mario Brothers 3

There hasnt been yet a game that could replicate the experience I ld had when I played Planescape: Torment

Factorio.

"Abzû". That's a hill I'm willing to die on. Got to me even more than Journey or Jusant.

Also, thought very differently, "Senua Hellblade" because it perfectly displayed a condition that I could never fit into words.

Elden Ring

Hades. Transcends the rogue-like genre through incredible writing, art direction, and music. The gameplay is some of the most addictive I’ve ever played. I’m at over 200 hours logged and I still get lost in it.

Heres a list of some favorites:

Imperfect perfection: Morrowind

Perfect perfection: Starcraft Brood War

Objective perfection: Plants vs Zombies

Subjective perfection: Knights of the Old Republic

Perfect for its time: Gauntlet IV

Perfect timeless: Sonic 2

Perfect for its genre: LOZ Minish Cap

Perfect All-in-one: Shenmue II

I'm taking this to mean games that stand out in or define their genre, are widely considered to be excellent, are timeless, and there's very little if any fat to trim.

• Super Mario Brothers - NES
• Super Mario 64
• Dark Souls - maybe Elden Ring takes over?
• Return of the Obra Dinn
• Half Life 2 - honorable mention: Left 4 Dead 2
• Diablo 2
• Doom
• Tetris
• Chrono Trigger
• Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
• Portal 2
• Little Nightmares - honorable mention: INSIDE
• GTA SA
• Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2

These aren't necessarily my favorite games, but games I think are well respected. I probably missed a bunch.

• dark souls
• elden ring
• bloodborne
• sekiro
• outer wilds
• doom 2016
• binding of isaac

Zelda Breath of the wild for me. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed Tears of the Kingdom but breath of the wild scratched a perfect itch for me. Especially master mode. Well over 1000 hours played.

RimWorld

MAD MAX from 2015, while not tied directly to the new movies it scratches an itch I haven’t found in any other game. It’s dark and bleak and brutal. The combat on foot and behind the wheel are both incredible. Nothing quite like being in the middle of ripping a convoy 7 new assholes and being hit with a dust storm. It can be repetitive if you want to complete everything but BY THE GODS OF VALHALLA is it a fucking blast.