What makes a favourite game favourite (and deciding mine)

[GenDenelith]

Could this be in the gaming section of the forum?  Sure.  But this is more about the general thought process of what makes a favourite game a favourite game, and honestly could extend to books/music/whatever.

I never could nail down a set of "favourite games of all time" because I like too many things and keep changing what I'm in the mood for often.  Some days I'll be in the mood to grind in Diablo 2 or Path of Exile.  Other days I want to progress in Final Fantasy XI or XIV, or run another randomizer seed in Symphony of the Night.

However, I've noticed that some games stick with me and I keep thinking back on them a lot even if I don't feel like playing them, like they haunt me.  Just keep coming back to the general feeling of the environments and setting, and not even in a "oh I should go play that again" type way.

For me that would be Lunacid and Dread Delusion.  I think back to those games all the damn time, and desperately want more games that give that same feeling.  I enjoy the gameplay of these games, but I think it's more that the settings/characters/writing/vibes of the games just etch themselves onto my soul and kinda just live in the back of my subconscious.  Another game that's lately joined this list is Caves of Qud.  I don't know if it's just recency bias, but the setting just clicks really well with me and the writing helps a lot.  It's just a great world to explore and think about, to the point where if I weren't still trying to avoid spoilers I'd spend so many hours reading lore in wikis.

...Looking back, I guess I just really like wandering around in fallen worlds.  There's something about just having to keep going forward, even when you don't know if there's a light at the end of the tunnel, just to learn more about the world you live in.

I guess these qualifies as favourite games?  I can only imagine that games that have permanently parked themselves in my mind count as such.  I love a bunch of other games and absolutely love playing them over and over.  Games like FFXIV, FFXI, Path of Exile, Last Epoch, SotN, and Rabi-Ribi.  But I realize now I don't just constantly think about them.  Fun, yes, but temporary.  But my favourites?  Even if I never play them again I'll still remember them vividly.