Thought this would be a cool list to do. Here is a VERY rough draft, which is nothing more than a starting point for discussion.

Criteria: Acclaim, Influence, Cultural Impact, Popularity

1. Metal Gear Solid
2. Chrono Trigger
3. Silent Hill 2
4. Final Fantasy VII
5. Mass Effect 2
6. BioShock
7. Star Wars: Nights of the Old Republic
8. Deus Ex
9. Heavy Rain
10. Half-Life

11. Final Fantasy VI
12. Mass Effect
13. Planescape: Torment
14. Resident Evil IV
15. Shadow of the Colossus
16. Chrono Cross
17. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
18. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
19. Baldur's Gate II: shadows of Amn
20. Grim Fandango

21. God of War
22. Red Dead Redemption
23. Half-Life 2
24. Final Fantasy X
25. Silent Hill
26. System Shock 2
27. Xenogears
28. L.A. Noir
29. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
30. Persona 4

31. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
32. Earthbound
34. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
35. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
36. Resident Evil 2
37. Grand Theft Auto IV
38. Kingdom Hearts
39. Max Payne
40. Batman: Arkham Asylum

41. Okami
42. Psychonauts
43. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
44. Final Fantasy Tactics
45. Fallout 3
46. Ico
47. Silent Hill 3
48. Deus Ex: Human Revolution
49. Alan Wake
50. Dragon Age: Origins

Great idea. Hard fucking list though. First thought, as awesome as everyone agrees CT is, I can't see it above the two Final Fantasies in this area.

The reason I put CT at #2 was because it popularized the usage of multiple endings, so its one of the few games which has huge influence on storytelling in video games.

But yeah, it was a hard list to do, but would be an awesome one to do I thought.

I believe that has more to do with design, since it has very little bearing on the overall storyline itself, it just adds a little something to it.

I'd like to see some more lists here, now that it seems there's a good amount of knowledgable contributors.

I know it depends on when you fight the boss for most endings rather than the actions in game, but there are a few different endings based on what you've done in game (e.g. whether you kill Magus or rescue Crono or not). Was there also a game which changed scenes depending on your previous actions, such as the trial scene, before CT either?

And I agree, would be great to get a few more lists going, maybe some by genre (JRPG, FPS, Horror etc.)?

FFVI

Really awesome list!!!!! The only game so far i can think of thats missing is Halo. For me, the #1 spot would be Final Fantasy VII for its story, characters, environments, plot-twists, and the ending, but Im glad to see it near the top. Also, I think Ico and Kingdom Hearts should be bumped up.

(Also, *Knights of the Old Republic has a typo...)

Haha. For some reason I always thought CT came out before FF VI.

Cheers and thanks for Pointing out the typo. Yeah FF VII is defo a contender for #1. Aeris' death is probably the most iconic scene in gaming.

It's not as emphasized in VI as in CT, to be fair, nor does it have the spiffy multi-endings, but the storytelling is far tighter and characters infinitely more dimensioned.

VII as #1 or 2 sounds like a fine proposition to me.

I never found this until recently, but apparently there was this joke ending to Silent Hill 2 as an easter egg you could get on subsequent playthroughs where it turns out it's all a dog manipulating the game with levers.

I love that game even more now. Takayoshi Sato and Hiroyuki Owaku can clearly write well. The same cannot be said for Hideo Kojima, particularly after the original Metal Gear Solid.

Silent Hill 2 is just an incredible game all round. Though I never played 1 or 3 for some reason, though I plan to rectify that in the near future.

Silent Hill 2 and Final Fantasy VII can probly be flip-flopped now that ive looked at it again.

Also, I could see Ocarina of Time in the top ten

Final Fantasy VII shouldn't be #1 because the ending is too ambiguous.

Also, I feel like I'm in the hip-hop section trying to beat it into everyone's head that Melle Mel's stuff was the best ever with no one listening, only in this case its Xenoblade Chronicles.

Fuck you Nintendo for spreading so much bad will that as a result everybody ignores them when they put out something good, therefore nobody else I know has this game memorized.

And I'm not saying Xenoblade Chronicles should be top 10 (too soon for that) but it should certainly be on the list.