Red Dead Redemption 1 & 2

I first played Red Dead Redemption around the time of its release. This was over ten years ago. I grew up on cowboy movies and TV shows, so I have a soft spot for the genre. I absolutely adored my time with the original RDR. To this day, it's still my favorite gaming experience. I was so enthralled by the tale of John Marston and his family. It was, of course, only a shell of what the sequel would eventually become. RDR2 is bigger and, technically speaking, better than the first. However, nothing will ever come close to my time with the original RDR. I have yet to go back and play it again, for fear of my memories being better than reality. I'll probably play it again eventually, but for now, I'm good living off of the fumes of a perfect experience.

Hades

Number one gaming fact that you MUST know about me: I love a good roguelike. Hades is a good roguelike. I'm put hundreds upon hundreds of hours into this game, both on the Switch and the PS4. My PS4 save has unlocked and completed pretty much everything there is to do in the game. For months of my life, I have eaten, slept, and breathed Hades. Easily the most accessible roguelike in existence, it's (if you'll pardon the cliche) punishing but fair. Play it enough, and you WILL learn and grow and adapt. I think my longest win streak was 70-something, and I'm bad at games. If I can do it, so can you! Play Hades!

Earthworm Jim 2

The creator of Earthworm Jim is a piss-head. Let's get that out of the way immediately. I do not endorse him. I do, however, endorse Earthworm Jim 2, one of the weirdest, most brilliant games I've ever played. As with most games from this era, it's hard as balls and suffers for it. But if you can manage to make it through the game (cough cough save states cough cough) you'll see some of the most delightfully weird, absurd level concepts in gaming history.

Mass Effect Trilogy

Yeah, yeah, everybody loves the Mass Effect trilogy, I know. It's not exactly a groundbreaking opinion. But I love sci-fi, and I love RPGs. And these games are both good sci-fi and good RPGs. Truth be told, I've yet to play any of the DLC (expensive much?) and I haven't even finished the third one, but I've experienced enough to know that whatever shortcomings the trilogy's climax might have, there's still enough great content in these games to get them on this list.

Fallout: New Vegas

For the longest time, I considered myself a fan of the Fallout series. Honestly, though? I think I'm just a fan of New Vegas. Fallout 3 bores me and Fallout 4 is unsatisfying. New Vegas, on the other hand, feels tailor-made for me. As I said above, I love the Western genre, and this is probably as close to a Western RPG as we're ever likely to get. It's got great characters, great quests, slightly less jank than its brethren... What's not to like?

Saints Row Series

If you want to know a little bit more about me in specific areas, feel free to click the links on the left side of the screen. They'll take you to pages where I'll ramble about my favorite pieces of media, if that's the sort of thing that gets you going, you freak.