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This is something that's been on my mind for a while now. When you think of fandoms/fanbases, it's usually for a game series or franchise, and that's true for me as well--among other games, I'm a big fan of Megaten and Kirby, for example; and yet, I don't think there's any singular game in either franchise, or indeed any others that I love, that I would call my all-time favourite.

It was a strange epiphany, but it got me curious about what's it like with other people. What's your all-time favourite video game? Is it part of a series that you're a fan of? If so, what puts it above the other installments? If not, what's different about it?

I'll start: it took a bit of time and some thought, but I've pinpointed exactly what my all-time favourite is: Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime on the DS.

I do enjoy Dragon Quest, but I'm not that big of a fan of it--I will say, though, that it's probably my second favourite JRPG franchise, right after Megaten--but the Rocket Slime trilogy is..not a Dragon Quest game. It has Dragon Quest monsters, yes, but it's very unique in the franchise, and possibly even the industry as a whole.

One half of the game is an action-adventure across a vibrant land to save the population of your village of slimes that has been abducted and stuffed into treasure chests. It's a wholesome experience not quite like anything else I've seen to watch as the village gradually recovers from a craggy, cannonball-littered ruins into the charming slime community it was before. In fact, it becomes more than it was ever before, because throughout the journey you can recruit enemy monsters who, upon first recruiting, immediately become new residents of the village.

If you've watched the trailer above you've probably already guessed what the other half is; that's right, it's GIANT TANK BATTLES. One thing I find noteworthy about these battles, and something that I wish more giant-mechanical-battle-units in games did more, is that you still control Rocket in the tank's interior, and not the tank directly; you need to run around (or…slime around) the tank to pick up ammunition that you then need to throw into the cannons to launch at the enemy. Simple premise, but the variety lies in…well, everything else. For one, the ammunition isn't just ammunition, they're actual items that you found and sent back to the village during your adventure, and each one is different from the rest, to varying degrees: of course there are regular ballistics like iron balls, missiles, swords, etc, but there are also things like shields that can deflect enemy projectiles, healing items that can recover the tank's HP, and a fire potion that can set the enemy tank's interior ablaze, making it difficult for them to reach their cannons--you can even hop inside a cannon and fire yourself at the enemy tank, if simply exiting your tank and walking down the lane isn't a flashy enough infiltration method for you, because yes, you and the enemy can infiltrate each other's tank and steal ammunition--or knock everyone out. On top of that, remember those enemies you've recruited, as well as the slimes you've rescued? They(and only some of the slimes) function as crew members for your tank, and again, each one has different abilities; some are fast and perfect for loading ammunition, some are tough and great for taking on enemy units, etc.

I should mention that I have a great fondness for round blobby slime creatures. Now I don't know if this game is at fault for that, but it's certainly a factor for why I love it. Each resident of the village is a unique slime with a unique design, and I've always loved that; sadly, no other game(or indeed person) seems to share this passion for slimes, except for maybe Slime Rancher, but that game isn't focused enough on the slimes in my opinion.

So yes, a super happy fun adventure + hella cool giant tank battles + SLIMES = my favourite game of all time

As an end note, here's a great review of it I just found

For me it's easier to answer what my favorite game SERIES of all time is since picking a single favorite is a bit harder.

Specifically my favorite games series is The Legend of Zelda. Played A Link to the Past for the first time around age 5 when I was beginning to learn how to read and the game's open ended nature (while still making it crystal clear where critical progression is on the map), combined with a sense of adventure I hadn't experienced in any other games I played at that age really hooked me hard. Now unfortunately I don't have as high of an opinion for the first two Zelda games (Zelda 1 is good but I always need a guide to help remember where dungeons are since the game lacks a map akin to what ALTTP uses, and I'll just admit I'm not a very big fan of Zelda 2, it really needs a remake that fixes things like the bullshit difficulty), but every game from A Link to the Past and onward? Always manage to be some of my favorite games of the generation, and they still hold up extremely well even decades later. They're just so expertly well crafted with worlds I get immersed in, characters I come to love, and superb soundtracks. There are also some games from other developers that manage to capture the feel of Zelda just as well as Nintendo (for example I've said Okami "is the best Zelda game to not be made by Nintendo"), but Zelda itself is just so hard to top.

I don't have any 1 favorite game of all time, but I do have favorites for every genre or series I am fond of.

Single-player action/adventure: Resident Evil 4. literally beaten it over a dozen times since its release. If I had to call any game the GOAT, I suppose it would be this.

Multi-player: Team Fortress 2, although I have not played it since it went free-to-play.

Action rpg's: Toss up between Dark Souls 1 or 3 and Fallout New Vegas.

Crpg: Expeditions: Conquistador, the mechanics are a little rough, but I absolutely adore the setting. Pre-Columbian Meso-America is seldomly seen in video games, especially when so richly detailed here.

Strategy: Total War Shogun 2, not trying to be a weeb, but I sincerely think this was the most refined TW game in franchise. I particularly love the expansion pack for taking the series into the late 19th century. I don't care for the Warhammer spin-offs at all, regardless of how popular they have become.

Narrative driven: Spec Ops The Line, I know the game is polarizing, but I'm a sucker for tragic storytelling. I appreciate how utterly bleak the game is if that makes any sense. Silent Hill 2 would be a close 2nd, but due to multiple endings, including a good one, it's slightly loses out.

Half-Life 2, a game I once dismissed as looking like a generic shooter. Some of my favorite aspects are the atmosphere of the whole thing, the amazing soundtrack, and the feeling the entire way through the game that you've gone through – and are continuing to go through – a real journey through the game's world; that sense of uninterrupted progression is something I just haven't felt any game match.

Music, ambience, gigantic levels, boss fights, variety of weapons (some more wicked than others), side quests like the building of the Nuke in the flesh eaters' lairs, AI of enemies that react to pain accordingly and also the possibility to lure them to fight among each other, exquisite gore levels, an alternate ending, and a story, simple but effective, that could be summed as a cosmic voyage. That and more, how could I say no to the greatest of all time?

For me? It's Undertale.

Despite growing some dislikes over the years, I still hold the game dear to my heart. I won't repeat what others have already said about their favorites here, but I will say that Undertale inspired me to make my own music, stories, characters, and I hope to make a game just as successful one day.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky

It has everything from Explorers of Time/Darkness and more (more dungeons, items, Shaymin, bonus special episodes, and more qol features those games didn’t have), all in a single cartridge.

And it’s got a hell of a beautiful story, great characters, and an amazing ost

Minecraft for me. The limitless possibilities, consistent updates, and endless moddability keep the game fresh even 11 years after I started playing. Content is still being added and the best part is, if you don't like the way the game works it's trivial to modify it yourself. Also, it's free from predatory monetization (the Java version, at least), can be played completely offline if need be, and does not rely on centralized multiplayer servers. It's a game you can always come back to and have fun with and I really appreciate it for that. Is this a cliché answer? A bit, yeah. But I honestly can't say any other game has kept my attention for this long before.

Ripping this off since I'm on a similar boat.

Multi-Player: Unreal Tournament 2004. Too young to play it back then because I didn't know much or focused on PC gaming but despite playing only against bots I had a good share of fun with it.

FPS: Postal 2. Hated it years ago when I played it back in like 2008 but since the mid-2010's on Steam, I actually appreciate the game. I like how it can let me be a pacifist in the most jerkass sense of kicking people to shorten the line at a grocery store when buying milk. It's Paradise Lost DLC was also a good one.

Turn-Based RPG: Wizardry 8. GOAT among all the turn-based games since I could make my own party down to their voice and personality and the fact that my ultimate goal was to be GODS OF THE UNIVERSE.

Real Time RPG: Morrowind. First taste of the Elder Scrolls and despite how ugly it looks and how it ain't a living world like its successor nor does like 90% of its dungeons respawn (no respawning bandits to kill in that sense) and no radiant quest or repeatable quest like Daggerfall, I had an enjoyment for its setting and how it handled its story. Plus it had more depth to its system than Oblivion and Skyrim did.

I think Bioshock one for me, the story, mechanics, characters, the fact the game has great variety by being a combination of like rpg mechanics, a shooter, a survival game and a stealth game, the little sisters, and all the plasmids and the cool powers they have all combine to create one of the best things I have ever seen at least to me.

My only problem with the game is that some parts of the game are obnoxious and I dont like replaying them but otherwise Bioshock one is a masterpiece, even the graphics and art style are still pretty cool looking, rapture looks amazing (if old obviously).

The deconstruction of Objectivism is also flawless, like it did a completely perfect job at it, it was amazing in its satire.

Seconded. Incredible game that fires on all cylinders from the gameplay, story, music and replayability. When I think of an immersive Pokemon game, hands down this one.

The original Dead Space.
I spent countless hours playing and replaying it in middle school. I loved the atmosphere. I loved the gameplay. I loved the setting. I loved the enemy design. I loved it all and still do to this day. Dead Space 2 was a close second. It was the first and so far only game I've ever preordered. Isaac's character was great, and I loved Gunner's performance as him. Those two games still hold a special place in my heart.