[Mongoose]

Random shower idea for a thread: if you had to choose, what would be your personal favorite game series when taking all of its entries into account? (Besides FS, obviously.)

For me, it has to be The Legend of Zelda. I never had an NES or SNES growing up, so I got into the series somewhat later in the game, with my first entries being Oracle of Ages/Seasons on the Game Boy Color. I picked up a used N64 to play Ocarina of Time a couple of years later, and the rest is history.  I'm not sure what I like the most about them, whether it's the solid basic gameplay loop used for most of the series that still allows for unique variations, or the vaguely-defined overarching time of an endless cycle of destined heroes being called to fight against an ancient spirit of evil. It certainly helps that almost every entry in the franchise is one of the best releases for its particular console, and at least four or five of them belong on any short list of the greatest games of all time. I've played and beaten every main-line singleplayer title in the franchise, and even after all of that, Breath of the Wild still managed to be one of my all-time favorite single games. I don't know what form the sequel will take, but it's a safe bet I'll love the hell out of it.

(It doesn't hurt that both Zelda and Metroid started out the same year I did. Good year to be born.)

[Scourge of Ages]

Interesting question... much more answerable than "Favorite Game" would be.

I'm trying to think of a series that I've played every or almost every one of, and enjoyed every one I did, and it's harder than you'd expect...

Would Supergiant Games games count as a series? If so, then that, definitely.

Otherwise... I've played a lot of Total War and while I haven't finished many campaigns, I always have a good time.

I like every Fire Emblem game I've played, though I haven't played I think even half of them.

XCOM is generally excellent, but unfortunately includes Interceptor, Enforcer, and Declassified (which was not bad but not exactly gooood.

[MP-Ryan]

Dishonored is utterly fantastic.

Half-Life is a classic.

[The E]

* Ace Combat. No other series I've been playing has been this consistently my jam.

* Red Dead Redemption. Both of these games are amazing

* Saint's Row. Sure, SR1 was a bit dodgy, but everything else has been interesting at the very least.

* Metal Gear Solíd. Yes, even Phantom Pain with all its dodginess was still pretty good.

* Uncharted and the Tomb Raider reboot: These are practically the same, but I quite like these rollercoaster rides so...

* Homeworld. Yes.

* HBS' Shadowrun games. As a long time fan of the Shadowrun TTRPG, these did hit the spot.

[Novachen]

• Star Cruiser
- Get known to it only a few years ago. It was actually mind-blowing for me. Even the first one was released in 1988, it was a better space game than Elite, and better first person shooter than the later released Hovertank 3D, that say enough. Sure, the sequel did not set any new standards, and its graphics was not even good anymore. But apart from it, it was also a good game. This series played itself right into my heart ❤️, over 30 years after its release .

• Airforce Delta
- I like all three titles of Konamis take on with the Ace Combat series. Have to admit, that i did not need the Anime visual novel plot with countless branches and endings in the third game. But hell, Airforce Delta Strike becomes a space combat game in the end.
How a Freespace fan can not like that? 🚀

• Star Trek Bridge Series (Starfleet Academy, Klingon Academy, Bridge Commander & Bridge Crew)
- Well, Klingon Academy is by far my favorite game in this series. I had many fun hours in Bridge Crew aswell, even it is a game with massive wasted potential. 🖖

• Colony Wars
- Yes, Red Sun misses all of this originality of the first two games. But i liked the Plot, too. Even it was the weakest title in this trilogy...

• StarCraft
- I simple like all five games. Enough said.

• Star Wars: X-Wing/TIE-Fighter
- Good standard. Even if you count Squadron to it, there is no game in this series i actually disliked.

• Xenus
- Unfortunately this game series could never show its true glory in the west. It is actually a quite decent russian RPG series. However my favorite is "The Precursors" which was actually some kind of Sci-Fi/Space version of Xenus: Boiling Point.

• StarWraith
- Space Combat quality for over 20 years, now. I do not like it from a technical perspective... but i am most impressed nevertheless as most of the series is an One-Person dream. I had fun with every one of them after they got released. Of course, the older ones have not aged well. That was one of the things i actually also like, every game adapted to the corresponding zeitgeist.  🛸

• Uncharted
- As said above. A good and fun series of playable adventure movies.

• The Secret of Monkey Island
- I love all five of them. The fourth one was a pain in the ass due to its controls (back then, only years later i realized that this game is good playable with a game pad ). But i loved all these flashbacks to the previous titles and most of all other references in the fourth nevertheless. 🏴‍☠️

• I-War
- What i had fun with all three games. Well, especially the first two games were hard and tough cookies because of a big simulation impact. But I-War is always a great time to spend. My favorite is actually its last entry. Edge of Chaos: Independence War 2 ❤️.

EDIT:
Some further additions. There are some series i like actually...

[spart_n]

i have an unhealthy emotional attachment to the halo franchise and that sort of attachment hasnt quite replicated with any other vidya franchise

[Colonol Dekker]

Oooh tough,  I love me some (in no particular order).
+C&C (inclusive of all universes RA, generals, etc)
+Wing commander
+Homeworld (since the demo on the half life CD, through to cataclysm)
+Battlefield series
+I-war ("clear the bridge" makes my eyes leak)
+90's Lucasarts as a whole
+Freespizzle
+SNES killer instinct / mortal combat/SF Alpha 2
+Metal Gear up to 5 (peacewalker included)
+some sweet marvel vs capcom
+Dead or alive (Jan Lee is my spirit animal, but Tina is my original waifu)

@Novachen.... 5 starcraft games??  Are you including the terrible terrible expansion packs for the first game? (no not brood war, the other onesl

[Scourge of Ages]

@Novachen.... 5 starcraft games??  Are you including the terrible terrible expansion packs for the first game? (no not brood war, the other onesl

WHAT? Other expansion packs?

[TopAce]

Maybe he means Warcrafts I through III and the two StarCrafts?

[0rph3u5]

@Novachen.... 5 starcraft games??  Are you including the terrible terrible expansion packs for the first game? (no not brood war, the other onesl

WHAT? Other expansion packs?

I'd guess...

- StarCraft (vanilla)
- StarCraft: Brood War
- StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty
- StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm
- StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void

considering each of the expansions' single player content is roughtly in keeping with the first outing, you can make it 5 games. Also, with the exception of Brood War, I am sure each is stand-alone.
That count begs the question why the Nova Ops DLC didn't make the count - it's good even if the story is a rehash of the SC vanilla's terran campaign.

And there were thrid party mission disks to SC1 vanilla that were sold commerically - anthology stuff of rather poor quality.

[Novachen]

Yes, i mean both StarCraft and the three StarCraft II titles.

I do not forgot Nova Covert Ops... but that is only a DLC, but not a full fledged out expansion pack... so i do not count that as an own game.
If i do, then i would need to count the Enslavers campaigns for StarCraft also... as they were official free campaigns by Blizzard... so to speak free DLCs.

Never digged in too much in unofficial stuff unfortunately. Sure, StarCraft: Mass Recall is great (so much better than the official remaster). Legacy of the Confederation was also quite good... but that is everything i remember to have played 

[Colonol Dekker]

Starcraft had three expansions,
Brood war, needs no further explanations.

Insurrection, and retribution...both were simply terrible.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/StarCraft:_Insurrection

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/StarCraft#Retribution

[starlord]

Ok, my turn. Time to go for some lesser known stuff maybe:

-Archimedean dynasty/aquanox series, with my absolute adoration of the first. In my opinion, an almost perfect blend of story, immersion and innovative gameplay back in 1996. Germans know the first as schleichfahrt. While the recent deep descent has been somewhat of a departure, i wonder what thq Nordic will do with the series now.

The epic/inferno series by digital image design. Epic was to be the answer to origin’s wing commander, and the very first title to propose both space and planetary battles. While it could have been much more than it turned out to be, it was still notable. Inferno corrected the situation by proposing much more and being one of the first space sim to propose a dynamic campaign.

-echelon/echelon: wind warriors: a definite go to for immersive planetary combat. The first one looked beautiful back in 2000.

-virus/virus 2000: David braben games. Because despite calling myself an absolute masochist for playing those games (the camera in those games is infuriating) I still thoroughly enjoy their quirks. V2000 in particular took this to a new level and mercifully knocked down the difficulty a peg (the game still remains murderously hard).

That’s all I can think of for now. No doubt there’s lots more.

[CP5670]

C&C, Dishonored, Deus Ex and Freespace all come to mind, but I would say the best series of all is Mass Effect 1-3. The individual games were not flawless, but the way they all tied together and the story carried over across games was unmatched anywhere else.

[manwiththemachinegun]

Really a toss up between Metal Gear, Ace Combat, Final Fantasy and Fallout. Those are the games that meant the most to me growing up, and games I still get excited about playing and replaying.

Freespace is up there, but I don't quite have those same kind of feels.

[Novachen]

Ok, my turn. Time to go for some lesser known stuff maybe:

-Archimedean dynasty/aquanox series, with my absolute adoration of the first. In my opinion, an almost perfect blend of story, immersion and innovative gameplay back in 1996. Germans know the first as schleichfahrt. While the recent deep descent has been somewhat of a departure, i wonder what thq Nordic will do with the series now.

So you actually liked Deep Descent?

I not, that is the reason I could not list that :-(.
I mean as a fan of a series in a whole I have to like all games in a way 

C&C come to mind.

Really?

You are fan of Tiberian Twillight?
I am surprised by the Deep Descent statement... But here I am totally in shock 

[X3N0-Life-Form]

Well, this is about game series as a whole, I think you're allowed to dislike single entries (C&C is what, 8 games ?)

[starlord]

@novachen: technically I thought aquanox inferior to AD. Does it mean I shouldn’t list the series? Deep descent is unfortunately flawed in many many ways, but at least it’s an attempt to do something with the franchise. That alone is notable. Now if only thq Nordic could do something more, perhaps more in the setting of AD, I’d be all aboard.

[Novachen]

Well, i do not know if you should list it.

Maybe i misunderstand this thread, as i only listed the series, where i liked all official games in a way... as the entries of a whole series.

But for sure it interpretable... as you could also say, that you count several series within a universe. Did not thought through that actually, as C&C could also mean Red Alert, which can be count as a game series on its own... 

I mean, i do not listed Aqua because of Deep Descent, i do not listed Metroid because of Other M, Tomb Raider because of the Reboot etc. pp.
But again, maybe i simple see it the wrong way .


At least it was better to see it that way for myself, as i listed more than enough series already

[0rph3u5]

Well, this is about game series as a whole, I think you're allowed to dislike single entries (C&C is what, 8 games ?)

Seconded. I think it would be next to impossible to like a series with any kind of history without taking a stand both pro and con some of the entries; e.g. I am a fan of the Warhammer 40.000 - Dawn of War-series* but only Dawn of War: Dark Crusade and Dawn of War II including Chaos Rising were good (multi-balancing not withstanding).

* full listing of stand-alone entires:
- Dawn of War
- Dawn of War: Winter Assault (originally not stand-alone)
- Dawn of War: Dark Crusade
- Dawn of War: Soulstrom
- Dawn of War II
- Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising (originally not stand-alone)
- Dawn of War II: Retribution
- Dawn of War III