I've been thinking about this for a while, but I've finally came up with a definitive, top 10 list of games that I can comfortably call my favorite. I've put this off long enough, time to get it going.

10) Tales of Symphonia

I dunno why I put off putting this game on my list for so long, but recently replaying this game, I realized, yup, it definitely belongs here. My introduction, along with many others, to the "Tales Of" franchise of Action RPGs(more or less serving as the Tales equivalent of FFVII, as it was the first real big success story for the franchise in the West), this game follows the adventures of Lloyd Irving and his friends on a quest to reunite two divided worlds whole again. This game had a big impact on my childhood, loved the cast, surprisingly solid voice cast both for a JRPG and a 6th gen title(featuring several prominent Voice actors like Cam Clarke, Scott Menville, Jennifer Hale, Tara Strong, etc.). It was the game that introduced me to the world of shipping(being a pleb, I shipped the predictable Lloyd/Colette and Zelos/Sheena) and I'd be lying if I said I didn't waifu one of the characters. The soundtrack is fantastic and really adds to the game's atmosphere whether it be the small towns, the different battles or even when exploring the Angel comet floating above the two worlds. One of Motoi Sakubara's best. It was a game where I loved it's world so much I replayed it an unhealthy number of times just to get and see everything I could, and I'm talking 25+ times for a 30+ hour game(one of my friends was actually worse about this, doubling my plays). It's a game that every time I see it get a rerelease, I go out of my way to get it, even with the recent Switch version having issues, I still went and bought The Chosen" edition steelbook, I guess I'm part of the problem. One of my favorite JRPGs, but not the top, there's one game that's just that much better

9) Persona 4 Golden

More or less an updated version of the PS2 release, Golden is basically a better version of the original game with it's own assortment of improvements such as extra social links, extra story content, an extra dungeon, etc. The game is part social, high school dating sim and part demon summoning, dungeon crawling JRPG, where your character is sent to a small town for the year to live with his uncle and befriends several fellow school kids who wind up in the middle of a series of grisly murder mysteries involving a shadow world behind TV. Believe it or not, the actual JRPG is the weaker part of the game, as real appeal of the game is building your friendships with the different citizens of the town of Inaba, Japan, as well as romancing the many characters you come across(Chie and Naoto are best girls don't @ me). Despite being a small town, the cast is fun and brimming with personality, the storylines you follow range from legitimately hilarious, to creepy to downright heartbreaking, and the story changes a lot on how you approach these situations whether it's the decisions you make regarding the story's progression and how your relationships with your friends go. And it shouldn't go without saying that the music is fantastic, who knew that demon summoning and Japanese pop music would make for a killer combo?

8) Bioshock

Taking a break from JRPGs to go shoot some stuff.

Actually the shooting part of Bioshock is the least interesting part of the game. This game is about your character being trapped in the underwater city of Rapture, that wanted to break away from government control to live their own lives only for everything to go straight to Hell, with a majority of it's citizens becoming addicted to a type of genetically enhancing drug known as plasmids, and generally just becoming psychos. Game is generally just incredibly creepy and disturbing, and you must fight through everything to escape to the surface, from the drugged up splicers to the various Big Daddy enemies that'll wreck you if you're not careful. You can use everything you find to fight your way through with the various weapons you'll find, but what really makes the game shine are the plasmids you'll come across that'll give you special powers like telekinisis, fire, and shooting lightning and you can use them along with the environments to make your escape easier. Despite the lack of cutscenes, the story is easy to follow yet still engaging, and the creepy atmosphere really caries it all the way through. Admittedly this was a game I didn't think much of despite all the huge praise it got(game came out during the whole Brown and Gray shooter craze of the 7th gen), so I held off playing it for the longest time, but, man I'm glad I gave it a chance when I did

7) DOOM 2016

Using the Nintendo Switch cover, and not the garbo PS4/Xbone cover

I mean, what is there to say about this game? It's the FPS genre in it's purest form. No squads, no ADS, no reloading, just one angry guy, tons of guns, and tons of demons to blow up. As simple as it does sound, the story is pretty cool, and what you expect from Doom. A company wants to make money, and risks opening the Gates of Hell to do it, and now one angry fellow needs to clean up their mess. But where the game really shines is in it's gameplay, it's violent, it's hectic, it's fun. Between all the shotguns and machine guns, to the chainsaw, to the glory kills and power ups, mixed in with fun platforming challenges and hidden goodies throughout the levels, all to some of the raddest music you'll hear. Really, you can never go wrong with Doom

6) Metroid Prime

Well this one is perfectly timed. Probably one of the best examples of going from 2D to 3D with a huge genre change I can think of, all while keeping the spirit of the franchise there. Tons of new gameplay enhancements along with all the staples we're familiar with, Metroid Prime does something new by prioritizing exploration and collection over completion time. The most fun thing about the game is the new scan feature, just going around Tallon IV and scanning everything to learn more about the world of not just Tallon IV but the world of Metroid as a world.