Ryan M. Patrick

Like my post a few months ago with my top 10 books, without further ado, here’s my 10 favorite video games (and yes, I’m using series in a few spots so I’m cheating!). No particular order other than #1.

Mass Effect Trilogy

I yap about them a lot on Twitter, but the Mass Effect trilogy (even the subpar third game) is really my favorite game of all time. It does so much right in terms of player agency, character development, worldbuilding, and so much more. I’ve played through it at least a dozen times and I’m still finding new dialog or new ways to solve challenges. There is no better sci-fi series in my opinion and it’s been a huge influence on both my writing and professional lives.

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

The Elder Scrolls series is getting a lot of attention recently due to the Oblivion remaster being released, and don’t get me wrong – I love that game (and all of the others in the series, including ESO) too! But Morrowind was the first one that I played and it’s still my favorite. The island of Vvardenfell (didn’t have to look up the spelling!) is delightfully alien, the main quest a masterpiece, and there’s just so much to do in the handcrafted world. Plus, it’s got two decades+ of mods – my favorite are Tamriel Rebuilt and Ultimate Galleon. Nothing like sailing the Sea of Ghosts while listening to the Elder Scrolls theme! I don’t think many games from 2002 hold up anywhere near as well.

Rome: Total War

I got into the Total War games shockingly late for someone into strategy games and history. I traditionally was more of an Age of Empires player (more on that later). But I picked up Rome: Total War on a Steam sale in 2010 after I built my third computer and it kind of ruined most RTS and turn-based games for me. In the same game, I could maneuver my Roman legions around the map while also engaging in giant battles with thousands of troops on either side. I haven’t played a historical Total War game that I haven’t enjoyed but Rome is the best – plus, there’s tons of mods!

Star Wars: Jedi Knight II Jedi Outcast

I got all of the parts for my first computer for Christmas in 2001 and built it over break, but most of the games I played on it were older and didn’t really test my GeForce 2 MX graphics card (yes, I’m old!). That all changed when my brother got Jedi Knight II Jedi Outcast for his birthday that May. I was reading the EU novels at the time and this felt like you were actually playing through one – Kyle Katarn has a lightsaber, force powers, and an arsenal of other weapons to fight off the Imperial Remnant full of Dark Jedi. The sequel Jedi Academy gets more love on the Internet but Jedi Outcast holds a special place in my heart.

Elden Ring

I played and beat Dark Souls on the Xbox 360, but never got the sequels and didn’t really get into the hype train for this game in 2022 prior to its release. But I was wrong – it’s amazing, it’s one of the greatest games ever made, and every corner of the open world tells a story. It’s one of the greatest examples of “show, don’t tell” in video games. I don’t have the reflexes to be a true Soulsborne player but I’ve beaten it multiple times with different characters – nearly every build is viable.

Halo (Series)

As a “forgotten” single-player FPS fan, these – especially the original 1-3 – are some of the greatest shooter campaigns of all time. The gunplay is on point and you actually feel like you’re Master Chief cutting through the Covenant hordes, especially on higher difficulty levels. Oh, and the multiplayer is pretty good too – I’m pretty sure I spent more than one Friday or Saturday night in high school with a case of Bud Light in someone’s basement playing Team Slayer on a pair of networked Xbox 360s!

Deus Ex

One of the many series that I played hilariously out of order. I started with Human Revolution in 2012 (I think it was the last game I played at USAFA before I graduated) and then played the first game years later after we moved to Albuquerque, right before Mankind Divided came out. And I can’t believe I waited that long – it’s amazing, full of open levels with multiple ways to solve them. The story is top-notch as well, full of conspiracies and hidden plots and all of the things I like to read and watch too. And it’s all too real – the prices at the gas station outside of Vandenberg AFB were supposed to be a joke!

Age of Empires II

It’s my favorite RTS, both for singleplayer and multiplayer, and it’s been remastered multiple times and still has an active community today. As a history buff, I loved the campaigns, but also played a lot of LAN games with my brother and with some of my childhood friends. I haven’t played past the first “new” expansion (The Forgotten) but I hear good things about the newer ones!

Destiny

This is a weird one for me, because it’s the one game on the list that I wouldn’t recommend to someone playing it today in 2025. But, in its heyday, Destiny was a blast to play with friends. My core video game group played it pretty much nonstop from 2014 when it was released until 2017 when Destiny 2 (a far inferior game) came out. The gunplay is classic Bungie, the raids are a capstone exercise for veteran FPS players, and there was plenty to do both alone and with friends. Nothing before or after will capture the experience of running a 6-man raid or getting to the Lighthouse in Trials of Osiris.

The Witcher III: Wild Hunt

Last but not least, The Witcher III: Wild Hunt. It’s one of the few games where the collective Internet and I agree – a nearly perfect open-world RPG. I recommend playing through 1 and 2 first though!