Mafia 2

To put it mildly, I like video games; I've been playing them a lot of years and have developed some very specific tastes. Mafia II is one of my all time favorites, easily in my top 5 all time games, I have played it every Christmas since I bought it in the 2011 Steam Holiday sale, and have never gotten sick of it. Its not the best coded game I've ever played, even the updated Definitive version is glitchy as Hell, its not particularly innovative, its pretty much a GTA knock off, and its not nearly as expansive as it could be, but the story grabs me, every, single, time I play it.

Vito Scaletta is very much an anti-hero, to the point that he pretty much defines the trope, but he and his trouble are so well written that I find myself drawn into his world, from the introduction vignette to the final moments. The settings, the cars, the people, the music are all perfectly blended to give the world depth and color. There are lots of guides out there for this game and, truth be told, most aren't needed, other than some of the more esoteric achievements like the wanted poster locations, so this is not a guide like I did for other games, these are more notes on a gaming experience that has helped define the video game experience for me.