Tell GR: What Is The Greatest Video Game Universe?

Mass Effect hands down for me. Since I played the first game I've been engrossed in the universe from everything in the books to the games with multiple replays.

Great choice, if its not my favourite it's up there for me

Yeah it stole all the good parts from Star Trek and Babylon 5

I've always really liked jrpg worlds because of how magical and futuristic they are. Well, for final fantasy at least. Say what you will about FFXIII, but that's one universe I would love to visit

I really liked the Elder Scrolls universe until Oblivion kind of kickstarted the downward spiral of canon ****ery, and then Skyrim almost made it not even worth following. I guess I can still just play Morrowind and pretend none of the other silliness happened, and Oblivion still had some interesting stuff in it aside from the silliness.

Ultima doesn't have the most original world but it is extremely cohesive up until 8, but it's pretty debateable whether 8 and 9 are even canon since they don't make much sense.

I like Zelda but I never thought Hyrule was that interesting because it's clearly a video game setting first and a piece of canon second.

I agree completely about Elder Scrolls. The big thing about Oblivion for me was that they had to find a way to justify turning Cyrodiil from a jungle-like area into generic England forestry, so they had a wizard do it and no one mentioned it again. And stuff they did in Skyrim with dragons was just kinda... a lot along the same line.

Though it's a pretty cool world. Like how there isn't actually a sun, it's just a gigantic hole in the sky that magic shoots out of. Seriously.

Yeah no the world itself is great, and I don't have a problem with the setting of Oblivion, it's just the fact that it directly contradicts a lot of the stuff in previous games. Apart from that it did add a lot of canon I liked, but yeah as far as Skyrim goes there's very little there that I really think is interesting. I think the Red Mountain eruption and Argonian occupation is interesting, but it comes at the cost of numerous other contradictions and poor decisions. I wish Kirkbride still worked there.

Yeah, for sure. And it looks like Elder Scrolls online is gonna rewrite everything to make it more Tolkien, which is disappointing.

Never played much Morrowwind but it seems to be the one hardcore ES fans are most into.

Yeah. There's a fragmented fanbase if ever there was one. People who like Morrowind tend to not be very fond of Oblivion and Skyrim (mainly due to presentation - IV and V are prettier but less imaginative) and Daggerfall fans are like people who think Egyptian sculpture is superior to Greek sculpture. They can only appreciate magnitude and magnitude is the one thing the game has on later entries. It's unbelievably huge but constructed in such a way that some parts of it are not worth seeing at all and others can be skipped to no noticeable loss.

Mass Effect or Elder Scrolls for me.

No matter what some people say: Elder Scrolls all the way.

In the words of Towlie:

"I choose... I choose... Both!"

Good topic... there's a lot to choose from!

I can't pick one. I love the universe of Mass Effect. The worlds, the cultures and races, the histories and the great unknown. It's awesome.

I love the Batman "Arkhamverse" too. Yeah, it's drawn most of its inspiration from the comics and canon sources, but the Arkhamverse is in its own right, it's own parralel universe of Batman, one that's done superbly well.

The futuristic cyberpunk world of Deus Ex: Human Revolution was awesome too. The cybernetics, the fashion, the architecture and how the cybernetics and controversies link to possibilities in the real world.

Final Fantasy X was a great universe/world too. I think the world of Spira is my favourite setting of all Final Fantasy games.

Spira is great

I loved everything about the worlds in MGS 3 and 4. Also, I really dig Arkham City.

I love how detailed and nuanced the Mass Effect universe is. There is just oodles of history there, and you can see how that universe came to be with all of the subtleties of how races view each other, etc.

I think the first MGS is incredible, but the story really jumped the shark after that (excepting 3). Too much conspiracy theory. Same for Deus Ex. Fallout has an interesting world, but there just isn't too much to it - the world is gone! Arkham does a great job with its world, and is incredibly dense with batman lore, but there isn't much we know about the world outside Arkham.

I have to give RDR an honorable mention because I absolutely love the crap outta that game world, even though it doesn't have nearly the history or depth of Mass Effect. It captures the sense of isolation and open space of the Old West in a way no other game ever has.

Borderlands. I like a world that doesn't take itself too seriously.

I'm probably in the minority here, but I actually really enjoyed the present setting and the conspiracies in the Assassin's Creed games up through Brotherhood. When they got rid of The Truth puzzles in Revelations and III (despite saying that they would return in III, unless I'm missing something), that's when things took a nosedive.

One of my favorites is Strangereal from Ace Combat, if not just because I'm a sucker for alternate histories like that.

And yeah, of course Fallout has a great one, though not so much Fallout 3 since it doesn't fit in with the rest of the universe. I mean, the entire western US managed to rebuild the basic fundamentals of society, agriculture, and government a full 80 years before Fallout 3 takes place, which is part of what makes Fallout such a great universe. It's not post-apocalyptic in the sense that people are struggling to survive. The struggle in Fallout is rebuilding order and society within a chaotic world. And it's amazing. So that gets my vote.

Also, I love the Witcher's deconstruction of a Tolkien universe, but it's a book universe first and a video game one second, so it is an honorable mention. Others include: the cyberpunk of Deus Ex and STALKER's The Zone. Also, just about every strategy game in space has a good universe (SoaSE, SotS, etc).

Greatest video game universe?

Tetris. The answer is always Tetris.

That thumbs down was from me but I didn't meant it, my fingers aren't meant for iPhones

The iPhone touch screen is the Berlin Wall of your fingers' unified Germany.

I'm sorry, Alex. I would be like Wreck-It Ralph and jump to different video game universes. I have no favorites, but each one has something unique I would like.

Bioshock? What a great feel, Dark, Eerie, Steampunk. You really wanted to be there before Rapture went to ****.
How has no one said WoW? That game is legit and universe great.
I spilt my vote between those two.
I'll add Raccoon City because that spawned everyone's fansination with zombies.
Also my spell checker wasn't working, and here you can see how much I suck.

Kingdom Hearts for me I reckon, where else can you hang with goofy and then then fly a Gummyship to a distant world where you hit Sephiroth with a key?

Fallout for me. I'm a sucker for post apocalyptic worlds. And sci-fi.

But younger me would probably go for the Pokemon universe.

There is no way I could pick just one game universe...
so ill just mention some i love... Choices are in no particular order...

MASS EFFECT
HALO
WITCHER
DRAGON AGE
MORTAL KOMBAT
BIOSHOCK
ALAN WAKE
SPLINTER CELL

Xenoblade Chronicles! Who wouldn't want to live on two goliaths who are frozen in battle?

Mass Effect. Yup

For me it'd have to be Fallout. The original was one of the most influential and engrossing games of my youth. And with each incarnation of the series it has done nothing but expand and explore a already rich universe. It is a wonderful cautionary tale of a alternate timeline where **** goes belly up and radioactive in a hurry. A all time favorite until they make a Dark Tower game and it doesn't suck ass.

This. Tho i'm not sure how they'd pull off a Dark Tower game. Here's to hoping the movie will be good.

Right? I have no idea how it'd work, although I have flashes of cutting down crowds of baddies in the fashion of 'Dead Eye' from Red Dead and this makes me happy. Just because Roland is John Marston without any sort of moral guilt (because chaotic neutral is a viable alignment). That said I agree. The movie/tv series (?) better not suck or else!!!

Ultima Online will always be the most memorable for me.

Gonna do a multi pick too:

Sonic Unleashed
Chrono Trigger
Final Fantasy 6
Dragon Age Origins
GTA: Vice City
Forza Horizon

I know Forza is the "real" world, but I wish I could drive 160 mph, crash, and just shrug it off and go on driving in real life.

Props to DA:O.

Mass Effect
And as crappy of a game as it is, the WoW universe is pretty awesome.

Minecraft!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
make the universe into whatever you want... as long as it is made of blocks...

Ocarina of Time.

Psychonauts!
I win.

Homeworld
Chrono Trigger
Zelda
Off-world Resource Base (known as O.R.B.)
Shadowrun

Mass Effect or Bioshock would be worthy contenders for best universes - both have incredible compelling, universes that are rich and detailed (although I love ME's gameplay a whole lot more).

But if I had to pick my own personal favorite, I would go with a game no one seems to even be mentioning...

The Half-Life (and Portal) Series. There's just no other universe that feels the same.

I had my favourites as i have grown up with games . like the one mentioned above .elder scrolls is up there along with zelda etc but the two that have stood out among the rest that have left fond memorys are Bioshock and banjo kazooi two of my favourite games of all time .

Baldurs Gate! and Plancescape!....and Fallout!!! (not Fallout 3)
But if I had to choose it would be Baldurs gate :)

For console games it would be Terranigma!

Baldur's Gate is part of the Dungeons and Dragons Forgotten Realms Campaign setting, though. It didn't originate from the game.

Also, Diablo's universe would be in my top 10, most likely. I don't know if anyone has thought of it.

Ivalice, featured in FF Tactics and FF12 (also apparently Vagrant Story, which just got added to my to play list). Part of why I love the later FF is their combination of tech and fantasy. It usually makes sense if you don't think too hard, but Ivalice out of all of them did it best. And the intrigue, orders, and races were masterfully crafted.

de_rats. Enough said.

Easily the Humongous Entertainment universe. Then probably LEGO Island.

Mass Effect makes too little sense to me, and The Elder Scrolls has a lot of potential that is ruined by lack of imagination and coherence.

Also, no one has said Halo. Everyone earns a gold star.

Wrong! inferno003 did.

Halo universe

Maybe its because I'm a sick person...but I say the "Manhunt" universe. One of my fav PS2 Tittles and I always pictured myself in that situation. How far would you go to survive?

Or if you wanna do a complete 180, what about the MEGA MAN LEGENDS Universe? I had alot of fun kicking the soda can and skating my way through town!

Dragon Age (based on Origins, never bothered with the second one)

To visit in a protective bubble? The infamous Capital Wasteland of Fallout 3. To possibly live? Panau of Just Cause 2...sans military dictatorship and homicidal American agents running about.

The GTA trio from the last gen - Liberty, Vice and San Andreas. The fact that you go back to Lib Cit in San An simply ties the whole thing together for me. Plus of course, the checkered career path of DJ Lazlow on the radio :)

The world of Resident Evil. You can shoot zombies, open hidden doors by solving music puzzles, read researchers notes on how they got infected. What's not to love. Well besides the last two games in the series.

The Warcraft universe, for sheer size and epic. I must have played Warcraft 3 half a dozen times before I could finally piece it all together. Your average WoW player has no clue all this lore exists, but it spans across 25 thousand years of insanely fleshed out and epic storytelling. It's mind blowing how much there is. I read no less than 13 of the novels, spent hours on the wiki, and still probably don't know the half of it. These are some serious D&D nerds did the genre justice.

Many great talented people making immersive and detailed worlds for us to enjoy, so many. A couple favorites would have to be Mass Effect, Elder Scrolls, and Yakuza.

Has anyone mentioned the Thief universe? Thief: The Dark Project and Thief 2:The Metal Age had a very well realized world which was kinda medieval but with magic and steampunk thrown in. It also had horror elements blended in effectively. And it had one of the more realistic religions that I've seen in a video game (the Order of the Hammer).

I was always very easily immersed in the history and the details of that world.

Grim Fandango was another cool universe as well.