My list would be
Minecraft: I don't think this game needs much of an intro. Cooperative survival games are just such a fun way for me to hang out with people when I'm not feeling particularly social but still feel bad I'm not being social enough. I like the different atmospheres and the clever mechanics. (Like the fast travel region being hell). I honestly couldn't care less about creating big majestic things. All I care about is efficiency and completing the tasks. Also great to play and veg out listening to podcasts or something. Shoutout to when me/Meme/Menno/Pants/Chev/Xof/Randomidget all died playing on a hardcore world together except Menno who soloed the game after we all got wrecked. (And I think Chev and Xof survived too and lived out their life as farmers)
Crusader Kings 2: I love everything about this game. (I haven't played CK3 yet, and I've still got 100+ hours of playtime to keep me interested in CK2 that I'm content not switching over lol.) It's a Game of Thrones simulator made really well. I love this time period's political historically, I love family trees and lineages and tracking dynasties. The world is just such an interesting place, and how the cultures interact and how you can use that to your advantage politically. It's surprisingly versatile in what you can do politically to get ahead. I recently conquered the Holy Roman Empire in one fell swoop as the Byzantium emperor by forcing everyone to accept the HRE as emperor through bribery, stepping down by manipulating people into revolting against me. This made the HRE to inherit Byzantium, but because he was deeply unpopular and an outsider, the guy I was controlling retook the throne in another coup, and inherited the HRE with it. Felt so good.
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time / Majoras Mask/ Twilight Princess
Ocarina of Time is a great swashbuckling adventure. You'll play through it and be like "dope". (I might have nostalgia goggles for it)
The sequel is what made the games legendary to me. Majoras Mask is such an interesting and artistic game all about the fear of death/growing up/dangers of nostalgia (a lot of good essays about the game) and it really spoke to me as a kid, and the contrast to Ocarina of time was really interesting and represented how much of a contrast between being a kid and adult is. And how important it is to become an adult. You need to play both games to fully appreciate the other imo.
Twilight Princess is the only one I don't have the nostalgia goggles. I played this one relatively recently. It's awesome too.
(LttP is overrated though
)Banjo Kazooie/Tooie: If I had to pick one videogame that defined my childhood it was these two. They aren't particularly deep, but they are the most pure unadulterated good time fun. The music by GrantKirkhope is so fun. It was technically a collectathon, but it never felt like it, because you just explore the world and collect things on the way. The collecting never felt like the main point of the game. A bunch of super unique worlds and it was a ton of fun growing up exploring the worlds with friends and getting excited whenever we unlocked a new secret location.
It was the game that brought me to the internet trying to solve Stop'N'Swap and the outlandish theories we'd all create trying to solve it were so funny in hindsight. Literally everything in the game was part of a deeper secret relating to Stop'N'Swap. A picture of Blackbeard in the mansion - must be related to the mystery of stop'n'swap. The music is quieter in this region - maybe it's a clue to stop'n'swap. Images of beta version of development were released - must be a secret world unlocked through stop'n'swap. Lol.
It didn't help that the creators actively egged the mystery on. By the end, it could have been a cure for cancer and people in the banjo kazooie community online would still been disappointed with what stop'n'swap ended up being. But it was a fun ride.
Chrono Trigger: Another game I don't have nostalgia goggles for because I played it well into my teens. I normally hate JRPGs because the random encounters destroy me. I hate it. I can't get through any Final Fantasy game. Chrono Trigger is not like that. No random encounters, each encounter is a pretty beatiful custom fight related to the terrain you're on, and when it's over it's done! You're free to explore without the fear that every step you get sidetracked. That alone isn't what makes the game so good though. It's time travel, and the variety of terrain you go through is interesting. It's pacing is great and short. It's not a long game at all. There's some great twists and it's hard to know where the game will take you next.
Super Smash Bros: Not much to say about this other than it's a ton of fun and best fighter game.
Fire Emblem 4,5,6,7,8,9,10
All the rest with the possible exception of 1,2,3, and 3houses can die. (I haven't played 1,2,3, 3houses lol)
The story and characters are so fun and interesting, the strategy is fun. The king/queen of turn based strategy games. I could go more in depth on each game, but that's getting too long.