Over the years I've tried to play and enjoy games in all genres, budget ranges, review ratings, because I think all games are art to be appreciated. As they say, Variety is the spice of life..
Here's a list of the imo* best games/series in each genre/category along with their strong points.
*I'm fond of sci-fi, color-/impactful graphics, (classical) music, foreign languages. I don't like puzzle games as much, and I try not to play horror to protect my sanity.

Mass Effect - world-building, characters, environments

Left 4 Dead 2 - characters, horde mode, mods
Halo - enemy AI, guns flexibility, physics, music, insane achievements
Warhammer: Vermintide - wholesome community, fun achievements

Medal of Honor - cinematic
Battlefield - large battles

Section 8 - game parameter customization
Section 8: Prejudice - gameplay customization

Orcs Must Die! - action-packed, epic music
Sanctum - maze strategies

Unrailed! - challenge
Biped - casual fun
We Were Here - coop puzzles
PICO PARK - simple, yet challenging

PlateUp! - automation
Overcooked! - simple, fast
Diner Bros - upgrades
Cannibal Cuisine - diverse
Fast Food Simulator - detailed processes

Empire Earth - epic scale, graphics
Rise of Nations - expansive, intricate gameplay, best soundtrack
Total War - epic battles

Age of Wonders - epic battles, music
Banner of the Maid - artwork, characters

Bridge Constructor: Portal - physics, puzzles

Anno – lively resource management, best soundtracks (plural)
Aven Colony - numbers action
Planetbase - micromanagement

Islanders - no-grid planning

Portal - story, characters, songs
Superliminal - wholesome narrative
Braid - time-bending
Railbound - style, lots of puzzles
Fruit Factory - fun physics
Isles of Cubes - city-building puzzles
Mr Husky - music, humor

Super Meat Boy - smooth
You Have 10 Seconds - short levels
Tales of the Tiny Planet - cute, funny, wholesome

Dirt Rally - physics
WRC 9 - graphics, sound

Muse Dash - flexible gameplay, visuals, music

Life is Strange - story, soundtrack, voice acting, motion capture

Resident Evil - level design, atmospheric
Bioshock - insanity

Stein's;Gate - complex sci-fi story, voice acting, best soundtrack
Fruit of Grisaia - humor, writing
Fluffy Store - cute characters, music

Melancholy Love - story
Make Butter Together - cute music
東周列萌志 Philosophic Love - philosophy
Beyond the Sunset 斜阳下的彼岸 - story, music

Final Fantasy - best soundtracks (plural), story
Hyperdimension Neptunia - memes, jokes

Gujian - fully voiced story, visuals
Sword and Fairy 1 - story, animations, music
Songs of Wuxia - awesome artwork

Trine - fantastic animated backgrounds, characters, music
Mysteria~Occult Shadow~ - fully voiced, great 2D and 3D artwork

Shades of Sakura - very zen
AZUR BEAM - universe girl

Raw Data - raw action
Virtual Virtual Reality - metahumor

Back 4 Blood - gameplay customization
Mirror 2: Project X - meaningful choices, great art and music

Supermarket Together - workers, coop
Battle for Blood - match-3 with battles
MuseSwipr - easy to get into

Demon King Domination - sexy scenarios, voice acting
Mirror - full of content

ANDOR Ladies - illustrations, music
Pum Pum - juicy art

The Last Sovereign - excellent writing
Monster Girl Incursion - challenging

I made a youtube playlist for all my favorite songs from video games, excluding those with asterisks as I couldn't find them. will have to upload them myself. Hope you find something interesting in here.
Tracks will be added if something new catches my ears, of course.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPeOtPgD5TbHeAQr3C2aP8F8-a_cywQVP&si=styzuoKSf1AB9Myn

I hope this playlist lives on long long after I'm gone. Well, that sounds kinda morbid.

-A good soundtrack can sometimes carry a game, or make a good game great. Final Fantasy is a game series that I played mostly for the music. Anno would not be so special without its phenomenal orchestral soundtracks.
-I'm mostly a fan of instrumental music, but there are some really great songs from visual novels in here as well. And even some crazy Cantonese rap songs near the end.
-And yea, I'm a big fan of percussion. Drums can be meditative as they indicate the rhythm, but can also give the melody that extra explosive punch. Some of the most epic moments for me are when the drums play the lead, like in the intro of Age of Wonders.
-I also like music with simple rhythmic melodies. Catch The Rabbit and Neo Industrialist come to mind. The latter also has long sustained notes coming from some dramatic wind instrument that I never heard before. Almost sounds like an Erhu. Please tell me if you know what instrument this is.
-In terms of battle music, my favorite subgenre if you will, I think Orcs Must Die! has the most adrenaline-pumping over-the-top headbanging pieces. Besides those, Anno 1701 's Battleground is my favorite. My God, those upward glissandos. Not to mention the haunting drum & bass line, and, just when you think it has ended, there comes the choir.
-Credit songs are my second favorite category, as they often give that bittersweet feeling of accomplishment with a hint of sadness knowing that you have nothing to strive for anymore. Best credit song for me is M4 Part 2 from Mass Effect, partly because that's my favorite game of all time. I also like that the vocals are not as pronounced as in most vocal songs. Second favorite is easily Another Heaven.
-Game with the most melancholic songs would be Life is Strange . It was hard to put it in a fitting place, but I found a quiet spot between all the bombastic/orchestral stuff.
-The playlist ends with the happiest song of all, Pancake is Love , not to mention that game is an infinite happiness machine.
-For some titles I give translations, but not all because it takes up a lot of space. Also, the ones from GuJian are hard to translate, for me anyway.
-And I'm still reordering things so they flow more naturally into each other. I really like how Trine, OMD, and FF fit together as medieval fantasy. And Medal of Honor signaling the end of the military theme. 彩樓戀曲 serves as a bridge between Sword and Fairy and Sleeping Dogs. Not sure where I had to put Bioshock as that soundtrack and game are out of this world insane. It ended up after MoH, maybe as a reminder of PTSD..

Anno 1602, 1503, 1701, 1404, 2070, 2205 - Ballad of Hope, Daydream, Ocean Trip, Good Harvest, Settlers, A New World, Beggars and Kings, Catch The Rabbit, Rivers And Meadows, Sunny Country, Windmills In Green Fields, Melee, Battleground, When Cultures Meet, The World is Ours, Distant Storm, Bow to the King, What a glorious view, We will carry you, The Diva performs tonight, God smiles, Daydreaming in a parking lot, Modern Times, Confidence, Global Union Anthem, Neo Industrialist, Closing Credits
Age of Empires 1, 2, Mythology, 3 - Main Titles
Rise of Nations - Galleons, Battle At Witch Creek, Eire, Wing And A Prayer, High Strung, Across The Bog, Quartet
Empire Earth - Battle, Arthurian, Rivers, Honor, Siege
Age of Wonders 1, 2 - Title, Content Workforce, March of the Halflings, fire song
Total War: Rome, Shogun 2, Fall of the Samuari - Mayhem, for the daimyo, oyoiyoi, Fudo Myo March
WRC 4 - Total Control
Halo 1, 2, 3, 4 - Main Theme, A Walk in the Woods, Blow Me Away
Mass Effect - Main Theme, M4 Part 2, Suicide Mission, An End Once and For All
Section 8, Prejudice - Main Theme
Battlefield 1942 - Main Theme
Medal of Honor Allied Assault, Rising Sun, European Assault, Pacific Assault - Main Themes
Bioshock 1, 2, Infinite - Welcome to Rapture, Cohens Masterpiece, Pairbond, Lutece, Will The Circle Be Unbroken
Life Is Strange - Golden hour, Santa Monica Dream, Obstacles, Max & Chloe
Trine - Astral Academy, Dragon Graveyard
Orcs Must Die! 1, 2 - Main Menu, Battle 4, Battle 5, Battle 6, Castlemania, Gore Mage, Bar Fight, Ludvig Von Bad Bottom, Womantastic, Ogres in Like, Skull Crush
Final Fantasy 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 - Cornelia Castle, Castle Pandemonium, Hometown of Ur, Eternal Wind, Cloud of Darkness, Troian Beauty, Zeromus, Ending Theme, Ahead on our Way, The Decisive Battle, Kids Run Through The City, The Fierce Battle, Ending, Bombing mission, Cid's Theme, Liberi Fatali, Eyes on Me, Village of Dali, Battle Theme, Melodies of Life
Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1 - Miracle! Portable ☆ Mission, Planeptune's Theme, Lastation's Theme, Nepgear's Theme
Nekopara Vol.3 - My Grandfather's Clock
Steins;Gate - Lyra, Eien no Vector, Another Heaven, Rakuen no Hologram, The Impregnable New Gate, Nyan☆Nyan☆Galaxy!
Tricolour Lovestory - 绘梦画卷 (Dreamlike Painting)
Fluffy Store - Four Friends' Home, Hotcakes, Intersect World, Ordinary Daily Life, Passionate Days, Twilight
NekoMiko - Days Ascending
Make Butter Together - 课后时光, 步履如歌, Walking with her
Lingering Fragrance - Winter*
Beyond The Sunset - 放課後の海辺 (afterschool seaside), 七月の木漏れ日, 夢にお誘い, last-wish, 虹, village, 蛍道
YiYi - Pure Music*
Adolescent Santa Claus - bgm_opening, bgm_santa*
School Years - 初恋日记* (first love's diary)
Re:Destiny - Battle Themes*
Mysteria~Occult Shadows~ - Common Battle
GuJian - 凤鸣瑶山, 雪暖晴岚, 君自兰芳, 清馨戏蝶, 犹记多情
Sword and Fairy 1, 2 - 情願, 蝶舞春園, 比武招親 (marital duel), 戰意昂 (fighting spirit), 朝曦煦風 (morning breeze)
Rainy Port of Keelung - 彩樓戀曲 (puppet theater love song)
Sleeping Dogs - Do You Know Me, Yellow Fever, Hong Kong Kowloon, Dance of the Yi People
Muse Dash - Black Luxury Car, Heart-Pounding Flight, Pancake is Love