Any Button Gaming

Games tend to subjectively appeal to different players for a variety of reasons. We (at Any Button Gaming) thought It’d be fun to make a short list of some of our favorite games over the years and share it with you, the community. Maybe they were simply outstanding games, maybe they left an imprint on our childhood. Either way, here’s 3 picks per person (and some extra mentions) of our favorite and most memorable games at Any Button Games, let’s get into it.

Mike – Editor/Reviewer

1. Starcraft: Broodwar – The greatest RTS game of all time, what’s not to like? Starcraft was a large part of my childhood growing up, I’d played every mission over and over again. It was also my first online experience with Battle.net back in the day with dial-up internet. A fantastic package with a great story and a multiplayer perfectly balanced, as all things should be.
2. The Last of Us – Honestly, I was bored one day in an electronics shop and picked up a completely random new release that looked decent. The Last of Us absolutely blew me away. From Troy Baker’s outstanding performance as Joel and the relationships formed, to the fluidity of movement and the savagery of combat, it’s all an incredible experience from beginning to end.
3. Bioshock Infinite – At first I was a little adverse of Infinite’s non-rapture take on a Bioshock setting. These doubts were quickly dissuaded by Ken Levine’s phenomenal vision, another amazing Troy Baker vocal delivery for Booker DeWitt, and both an improvement on gunplay and an introduction of new characters and ideas. The story is outstanding, Comstock is the new Andrew Ryan and it’s glorious. There’s always a lighthouse. There’s always a man. There’s always a city.

Honorable Mentions: Borderlands 2, Rainbow Six: Siege, Darksouls 3, Warcraft 3, God of War, Mass Effect 2, Warframe

Darren – Community & PR Assistant Manager

1. Dark Souls 3 – From the moment the cinematics begin Dark Souls 3 is beautiful and engaging. I am on my 7th playthrough of DS3 in 3 years and own it on both console and PC. I love the lore and boss battles so much that I will respec characters especially geared towards a single boss battle. I think I’m currently at about 700+ hours spent playing DS3 and I will still be playing it in a years time.
2. Fallout New Vegas – To this date its the only fallout game I’ve finished. I put so much time into doing side quests and going through wiki’s looking for unique items and quests. The moment I finished it I started it again and tried different specs for my character making it almost a completely new experience.
3. Vanquish – My first experience with studio platinum games was a doozy . I remember seeing the trailer on YouTube after E3 when it was announced and I was instantly hooked. I pre-ordered it like a year in advance and in the first week I must of completed it at least 3 times. Best movement I have ever experienced in an action game, everything moves like poetry and gives you that absolute bad ass feeling when you complete the cinematic finishing moves.

Honorable Mentions: Mass effect 2, Red Dead Redemption 2, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and Ryse: Son of Rome

Matthew – Editor/Reviewer

1. Red Dead Redemption 2 – Red Dead 2 because there is nearly always plenty to do around the map e.g. side quests, story missions etc, online is immersive, you have roles such as bounty Hunter, trader and collector which you can get some pretty good loot from.
2. Dissidia Final Fantasy – Dissidia because it’s basically a PvP but the roster is pretty big as it brings together a lot of fan favourite characters from pretty much all Final Fantasy games, also there’s always room for you to improve. If you think you’ve mastered one character, there’s plenty more to choose from to try out.
3. Apex Legends – Apex because it’s the only battle royale game I actually enjoy. Although I may not be very good at it, I can feel myself improving each day as you learn from your mistakes a lot in the game, much like other battle royales. I enjoy playing as the wide range of characters too. If you get bored of one, you can just move to a different one etc. Now it’s reached season 3 and the map has changed, it provides a new challenge for all players of apex as people are learning every nook and cranny of the map, trying to figure out the best spots for engagements etc.

Honorable Mentions: Skyrim, Nioh, Call of Duty: Black Ops 3

David – Editor/Reviewer

1. Dragons Dogma Dark Arisen – Though the story isn’t great, the world feels fantastic to explore and the combat is one of the best in any game I’ve ever played. Being able to stealth around as an assassin, climb mythical beats to slash at their vital organs or call a meteor strike makes you feel so powerful, with a true sense of character growth. Forcing you to fill in your map whilst you play and explore, gives you that sense of danger when the sun goes down and you have no idea how to get to safety. The game is an absolute secret classic and well overdue for a sequel.
2. Dark Souls 3 – As much as I love the original Dark Souls, Dark Souls 3 really hit home for me, in terms of story, gameplay and graphics. The game has so much replayability in regards to character builds, covenants and even the degree of completion percentage. I love that to find out more of the story and world, you have to read items and talk to NPC’s. There’s not many game that could pull it off, but Dark Souls 3 make it seem natural and is reminiscent of older generation games.
3. Mass Effect 2 – Mass Effect 2 was the pinnacle of Biowares story telling, putting you fully in control of the way you play the story. The combat was upgraded from the first game to make the controls simpler, teammates easier to direct and the shooting felt no matter which weapon you used. Depending on how you play, paragon or renegade; you can really come to care for the amazing cast of differing characters. Even the DLC was fantastic, with the Lair of the Shadowbroker a real highlight of the game for me.

Honorable Mentions: Bioshock, FF IX, Pro Evolution Soccer 6, Mario Kart Double Dash, Zelda: Wind Waker, Metal Gear Solid 3, GTA: San Andreas, Quake, Elder Scrolls: Oblivion

Jamie – Editor/Reviewer

1. Crash Bandicoot Trilogy – It’s a bit of a cheat this one as I prefer the original 3 back on PS1, I don’t like how Activision changed the landing platforms making the game much, much harder to play lol. However the original trilogy was my favourite set of games. If I had to pick just one though it would have to be the original Crash Bandicoot on PS1. So many memories.
2. Metal Gear Solid – Again harking back to my PS1 days. I played this game over and over. The gameplay was brilliant and intuitive at the time. The voice acting was second to none and the story was so gripping. It had me laughing, crying and outraged. Brilliant game and my introduction into one of my favourite series of all time.
3. Splinter Cell Chaos Theory – PS2/Xbox/HD remaster on PS3/360I LOVE well built stealth games and Splinter Cell was one of the first where it really mattered to be quiet. You weren’t a gun toting machine built like a tank. You were one man with some gadgets. I’ve played the full series and loved every one of them (yes even the more modern action oriented ones) and although I love the original, Chaos Theory stands as my favourite for all of the new gameplay elements it introduced. Like they say 3rd times the charm!

Honorable Mentions: Spyro the Dragon, Final Fantasy 7, NFS:Most Wanted, AC2, Brotherhood & Black Flag, DOOM, Dishonored, Rainbow Six Siege, Portal 1&2.

James – Editor/Reviewer

1. Sonic Adventure 2 – From the absolute earliest gaming memories I have, I remember Sonic having a massive impact on me. The cool dude aura and general 90s ‘raditude’ that Sonic owned fuelled a prepubescent me. And so, growing up, the Blue Blur could do no wrong (well, not until 2006, anyway). However, whilst Sonic was my initial hero, it was Shadow who really spoke to me. An anti-hero with a mopey, emo-like outlook on the world (don’t judge me!), Shadow was everything Sonic was, only better. And the while play the Hero or Villain trope really worked for me. I loved seeing the same story have two interlinking narratives play out at the same time. Plus, it was one of the main reasons to own a SEGA Dreamcast, aka, the greatest games console in history. FIGHT ME! I love that game so much, I’ve bought it on every console it’s been available on since. I’ve had no fewer than 7 playthroughs in the games near 20-year existence. Oh, and the Chao’s were an absolute MUST for anybody wanting to scratch that Pokémon-sized itch!
2. WWE Smackdown! Here Comes the Pain! – As many of my ABG compatriots will attest, I’m a big wrestling nerd. And, back in a time when the WWE games were actually fun, THQ’s Smackdown! series was the pinnacle of wrestling-based gaming fun. Ask many a wrestling game fan and they’ll often point to HCTP as the series pinnacle. And there’s plenty of great reasons for that. It boasts (one of) the best storylines in the series history. Allowing you and your chosen wrestler to act out many famous (and some infamous) storylines from the company’s history. You could take any wrestler from the mid-card to the main event if you wanted. Or, live out any number of your personal fantasy bookings. Sure, the graphics were never the most impressive in the PlayStation 2’s catalogue. But, for anyone who’s seen footage of this year’s WWE 2K20, you know things could be worse. In terms of genuinely having a good time in a wrestling game before they started taking themselves too seriously, you can’t get much better than this!
3. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – There are hundreds of gaming journalists who have often cited Rockstar’s GTA series as the open-world game. And there’s a good reason for that. The GTA series allowed players to take to the streets, mountains, air, or, for the first time the sea. I argue that San Andreas was the best game on the PS2, and perhaps one of the best games ever. For me, it had everything I needed at the time. Plenty of content, amazing music, funny dialogue with Rockstar’s typical brand of humour. Oh, and one of the best storylines in the series history. And all of that without the need of DLC or an Online mode. The state of San Andreas was somewhere I would visit frequently in the mid-nineties. The Los Santos ghettos to the streets of San Fierro and neon-drenched strip of Las Venturas; it felt real to me. Side note, Mike Toreno’s quote of “Nobody is watching anybody watching nobody” ranks up there with “Would you kindly?” as a personal favorite gaming quote.

Honorable Mentions: The Simpsons: Hit & Run, Skyrim, Crash Tag Team Racing, Spyro 1, Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker

Alex – Editor/Reviewer

1. World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King – World of Warcraft has had its ups and downs over the years, but it remains my favourite game ever made. Specifically, the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. Warcraft was a massive part of my childhood, with Warcraft 2 being what really got me into gaming and Warcraft 3 pushing the story and lore of the franchise I’d grown to love. By the time I was finally able to play WoW, it was during the Wrath of the Lich King era and while this was my first foray into MMO-esque class design and mechanics, which I loved,  I can never forget the feeling of being able to immerse myself in the world that I’d only ever seen from above and interact with characters and locations from the lore first-hand. 
2. Halo 3 – While I would say that I love Halo 2 as much as Halo 3 and this choice could change on any given day, today I give this position to Halo 3. While I believe Halo 2 to be Bungie’s crowning achievement, in story and in multiplayer, I cannot discount how much I LOVED Halo 3 custom games. Countless hours spent with my mates playing split screen after school, playing modes like Fatkid, Halo or Jenga and whenever I think of Halo, these are the times I reminisce about. Apart from that, the music of the entire Halo series will forever be burned into my brain, and for that I am grateful.
3. Uncharted 4 – I came to Uncharted late, only playing the original trilogy of games when one of my friends lent me the Uncharted Collection. After burning through those in a week, I immediately had to crack on with Uncharted 4 and I really just loved it. The game felt fantastic mechanically, with the shooting feeling the best it ever had and traversal feeling responsive and fresh due in no small part to the addition of the grappling hook. Environmentally the game was incredibly diverse too and graphically it looked phenomenal. This was all rounded out by some of my favourite performances by Nolan North and Troy Baker and even thinking of the Uncharted theme now makes me well up a bit.

Honorable Mentions: God of War (2018), Red Dead Redemption 2, Destiny, Warcraft 3, Mass Effect 2. 

Teresa – Editor/Reviewer

1. Super Mario Galaxy – I’m a big Nintendo fan and this game had an innovative way of using the controllers. I loved how your world could go upside down but it still had a similar feel to the early Mario’s
2. Forza Horizon 3 – I love a good racing game and especially one where I get to crash through things and still get points. Driving off road in an expensive car holds such joy for me. The graphics, competitions and the ability to earn nice cars in game are a plus but my favorite part is finding the old cars in the barns.
3. World of Warcraft. It’s such an expansive world that there is so much to do all the time. I’m primarily an RPG player love the MMO versions. WOW gives me both the ability to team up or play solo. I’m also impressed by it’s longevity

Honorable Mentions: The Diablo series. Diablo was one of the first PC games I really got into. I have played all and have enjoyed the stories, adventures and generally fighting demons from hell. I am very much looking forward to #4.

Andrew – Content/Event & PR Manger/Editor

1. DOOM 1993
2. Fallout series
3. Fable series

Thanks for stopping by Any Button Gaming and allowing us to share some of our favorite games with you. We’d love to hear what your favorite games of all time were, and the stories behind them.

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Mike Allen

Just a Canadian dude who’s passionate about gaming, and the industry as a whole.