Tales of Symphonia
Nintendo Gamecube - 2003

I picked this one up at another rental store sell. I had no idea what the Tales of series was, but this one had an anime cover, so that's what attracted me to it. Boy, was I in for a ride! This was the first video game I officially beat and it took me 8 months. It was so hard for me, and this was also my first encounter with a game walkthrough. The story of ToS is hands down one of my favorites, and to this day, Zelos Wilder is one of my favorite fictional characters!

Dishonored
Playstation 4 - 2012

Once I got into college I wasn't really into video games anymore. Not that I wasn't into them, I just didn't get pleasure out of a lot of things anymore. However, after I met my husband, he made me play this game saying that he thought it would get me back into gaming... And he was right! I had never in my life seen or played a game like this before and I was amazed! I have now played it twice and still can't manage to do a low chaos run, but it doesn't matter, the game is so awesome. It's a shame that the development studio doesn't exist anymore.

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Playstation 4 - 2011

I'd had friends in college that had mentioned Skyrim, but not being into games at the time, I didn't care to know what it was. My husband introduced me to this game as well, and to this day, I still haven't beaten the entire story line! I do have many, many hours in it though, and I'm on my third character. The first one I screwed up by not having alternate saves. I got stuck in a place where like 100 dragons glitched onto the map and insta-killed me every time. The second play through I lost interest in. And the third one was interrupted when BG3 came out, but I'll go back to it eventually... I do really love this game!

Fallout 4
Playstation 4 - 2015

I had, admittedly, been shown Fallout 3 during college, and I had no idea what the hell I was looking at. I wasn't aware of the story, or the gameplay, and I didn't want to play it. But after getting back into games, when Fallout 4 was released I remembered Fallout 3 and said I wanted to play it. I was instantly hooked, and realized I had to play the other titles to really get a full appreciation of the series! I have since played around with New Vegas and 3, although I haven't beat either of them. But I have beat Fallout 4. I want to replay it again one day, since it takes place in one of my favorite places in real life ever, Boston! Plus I love that in the Nuka-World DLC you can be a raider. That is so much fun!

Far Cry 5
Playstation 4 - 2018

This game was announced when my husband and I were working in Montana, so of course we were intrigued. He had played both 3 and 4 previously, and I had only watched part of 4 and thought it was beautiful. My husband bought me Far Cry 5 on release day and I played it for hours! I was fully immersed back in Montana (I wasn't living there anymore at the time) and the game made me pretty emotional because of how much I missed that place. The villains are super freakin' cool, and the soundtrack is one of my favorites of all time. I haven't had the heart to play the game again, but I know I'll go back to it one day.

Persona 5 Royal
[Original] Playstation 4 - 2016; [Royal] Playstation 4 - 2019

Since I'd tried playing Persona 3 FES back in high school and had no idea what I was doing or what was going on, and I never got the chance to play Persona 4 (until after I played P5), I didn't know if I wanted to play this game. I was talked into buying it by a coworker at the school I was teaching at in China who said based off my personality, he thought I'd like it. And boy... He was right! I got it one weekend after class and played it for literally 16 hours straight. I have never done that before in my life! I beat it very quickly, and then as soon as Royal came out, I bought that and played it too. Because I don't want the story to end, I have yet to play Strikers, Q2, or Tactica (although I own all three of them), but I will one day!

Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair
Nintendo Switch - 2021 [Originally 2012]

I had heard of Danganronpa for years and had no idea what these games were. I (SHH don't tell on me!) illegally downloaded a version of this game on my PC years ago, but had no clue what the hell was going on, so I gave up rather quickly. When Danganronpa Decadence came out on the Nintendo Switch in '21 I bought it and played all 3 back to back. The second was my most favorite of the 3, because I love the tropical aesthetic and all the characters (except TeruTeru). The music is also so much fun, and so was Monomi!

Resident Evil VIII: Village
Playstation 4 - 2021

This was another game my husband bought for me on release day. While we collaboratively played 7 together (admittedly I made him play more of it because it scared the hell out of me), I wanted to play 8 on my own. The dark fairy tale aesthetic had me hooked ever since the trailer had come out years prior when we were still living in China (I still remember sitting in the classroom watching E3 during my break!). This game was AWESOME! There were only two sections I had issues and had to ask my husband for help again. But my god, I was so happy to play as Ethan (and not Leon or Chris) and I hope that, even though the DLC focused on her, they continue on with Rose's story in 9.

Jenny LeClue: DetectiveU
Nintendo Switch - 2020 [Originally 2019]

I bought this on some super big Switch sale for like $5. I didn't know what it was, but it looked cute. At first I wasn't really into it, but after the first like 30 minutes of gameplay, I was hooked...! I loved the art style, the voice acting was superb, the main character was a little brat but all the characters were compelling, and the story line is great! I hate that the ending is a cliff-hanger and we have yet to hear anything from Mografi about a sequel, so I really hope one gets made!

Little Misfortune
Nintendo Switch - 2020 [Originally 2019]

I had seen maybe 5 minutes of gameplay of this from... Pewdipie maybe? I wasn't paying much attention, but I thought it looked funny so I said, "I'll buy that one day". It took a while, but I finally did in 2023 and played the game two times in a row in one day! That's how much I loved it! I even downloaded the soundtrack, I picked up on the funny lines that Misfortune says throughout the game and my husband and I quote them to each other now... I didn't expect to like this game so much, but really, I think it's a gem. I hope to see more from Killmonday Games in the future!

Baldur's Gate 3
Playstation 5 - 2023

Another game I bought on release day. I can't even remember what was going on when it came out. I think I was stressed from classes, or I was trying to play another game and just wasn't into it... So my husband said, "Just get BG3!" so I did and wow. While I love all the other games listed on this page, this game blew me away in ways I've never been blown away before. I just don't even know how to describe how amazing this game really is! I beat it within a few months (I do work full time and was in graduate school full time at the same time so it took me longer than most), and I promptly began a Durge run, but had to pause that. I'll go back to it soon though!

The Sims 4
PC - 2014

Can I even say that The Sims 4 is a favorite of mine? It is the longest running Sims game between releases of the other prequels. I started with the original The Sims, went to The Sims 2, loved The Sims 3, but I have been playing The Sims 4 for 10 years now, and I don't see myself buying any future iterations since I've sank so much money into this one, so I guess I have to say that I like this one the best (even though we all know it has it's many flaws). I do like my virtual dolls though, and story telling with them, so I don't see myself giving this game up any time soon!