Civilization III

No other game i have ever played has stolen so many days of my life

Even though Parasite Eve comes as a close second, Lufia II is pretty much the epitome of gaming (and RPG's) to me

As for the reasons why, it's because to me, it had the best overall package in any game i've ever played. Sure, some other games have done some individual aspects better than Lufia II, but in the overall panorama, no other has pulled all aspects together in such an epic way.

It had some of the best set of characters ever created. Maxim, Selan, Dekar, Guy (these two especially are pretty awesome, their antics are hilarious), Artea, Lexis and Tia 

It had some of the best villains (if you could call them that) ever in a video game. Even though in the surface they look like your old run-of-the-mill destroy the world villains, they have a much deeper purpose. The Sinistrals are an order to be respected, not by fear, but by comprehension.

It had one of the best world stories ever created, and you really need to play Lufia II to understand the whole stance on the universe as why the Sinistrals are needed as a balancing force.

And it had the best puzzle and hardest puzzle ever created for a video game. Heck even the title given inside the game hints to that "The World Hardest Puzzle"  It really is. Even with a faq and a youtube video on how to do it, you'll screw up the first, the second, the third, the fourth and possibly the fifth time Imagine doing it without any help back in those days  

Metroid Prime. It's not merely a case fo the game making the transition to 3D well, it surpassed the 2D metroids, all of them. It took the excellence of Super Metroid (and its layout was the closest to Super anyway), but enhanced it. Memorable enemies and puzzles and item collecting, but what put it over the top was the lore. Everything had a back-story to it, across every single enemy as well as just random nooks and crannies that had nothing to do with anything, but it had a story to tell. The more you play that game, the more you discover about it, in a way that no game before or since has been able to do.

Also Meta Ridley. King God of the Badasses.

It's gotta be Final Fantasy 2, well it's technically 4 but when I was 14 years old and popped it into my SNES, it was 2.

KotOR is awful damn close though.

Civilization IV!!

*No respect for people who say Civ III*

*JK*

Civilization is the most awesome game series ever. It has sucked thousands of hours of my life and its always an instant day one buy from someone who tries to avoid such things.

MGS4, all day every day.

Do Mods count CGI?

Generic Response : Zelda OoT

but a close second and third are MGS and Final Fantasy 9.

CommonMan said: It's gotta be Final Fantasy 2, well it's technically 4 but when I was 14 years old and popped it into my SNES, it was 2. KotOR is awful damn close though.

Much, much respect to you sir

Both are amongst the best games i've ever played as well. FFIV has the best characters ever created for an RPG to me, Rydia, Cecil, Golbez and Kain. 

Eurhm...

Kingdom Hearts 2.