Japanese game developers have some definitely interesting taste in games, and the Japanese website 4Gamer asked about 140 of them to name the game that most impressed them in 2004.
Below you can see the results, with the votes received by each game (the list of interviews also includes some pro gamers, but they have been excluded for the list, since they aren't really developers).
- Youkai Watch 2 - 13
- Destiny - 6
- Terra Battle - 6
- GUILTY GEAR Xrd -SIGN- - 5
- Youkai Watch - 5
- Dragon Age: Inquisition - 4
- The Evil Within - 4
- Watch_Dogs - 4
- Ingress - 3
- Grand Theft Auto V - 3
- Threes! - 3
- Monster Strike: - 3
- Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS - 3
- P.T. - 2
- Super Smash Bros. for Wii U - 2
- Min'na de Mamotte Kishi Hime no Tokimeki Rhapsody - 2
- Factorio - 2
- Shironeko Project - 2
- Samurai Warriors 4 - 2
- Titanfall - 2
- Nobunaga's Ambition: Creation - 2
- Dark Souls 2 - 1
- Tropico 5 - 1
- Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag - 1
- Sid Meier's Civilization Beyond Earth - 1
- Sailor zombie ~ AKB48 Arcade Edition - 1
- LINE Pokopoko - 1
- Dragon Quest X - 1
- Saints Row IV - 1
- SEGA 3D Reprint Archives - 1
- The Legend of Heroes: Sen no Kiseki II - 1
- Danganronpa: Another Episode - 1
- Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition - 1
- Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes - 1
- Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare - 1
- Gundam Breaker 2 - 1
- Mini Metro - 1
- League of Legends - 1
- Kantai Collection: Kancolle - 1
- Pro Evolution Soccer 2015 - 1
- Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker - 1
- Hello Project Tap Live - 1
- School Girl Strikers - 1
- The Idolmaster: One For All - 1
- Bayonetta 2 - 1
- World of Warships - 1
- The Sims 4 - 1
- ONE PIECE: Treasure Cruise - 1
- Zero Point - 1
- Alchemists: - 1
- Kirby: Triple Deluxe - 1
- Puzzle & Dragons - 1
- Pazudora Z - 1
- Freedom Wars - 1
- Drift Spirits - 1
- Sunset Overdrive - 1
- Rogue Legacy - 1
- Monument Valley - 1
- Naughty Kitties - 1
- LINE: Disney Tsum Tsum - 1
- Knack - 1
- Framed - 1
- Mario Kart 8 - 1
- The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds - 1
- inFAMOUS: Second Son - 1
- Gegege no Kitaro Specter Alley - 1
- Diablo III: Reaper of Souls - 1
- Ultra Street Fighter IV - 1
- Ken to maho no Logress Inishie no Megami - 1
- How to Train Your Dragon 2 - 1
- Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed - 1
- Dead Rising 3 - 1
- Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2014 - 1
- DIVE IN - 1
- Summer Lesson - 1
- PS4 & Xbox One - 1
- Torne for PS4 - 1
- Project Morpheus - 1
- Project Morpheus & Oculus Rift - 1
- None - 7
Aside a few strange answers (like games not released this year, but apparently many developers have quite the backlog), and things that aren't games at all, Yokai Watch 2 for Nintendo 3DS was the absolute winner, with basically nothing in the same league. Destiny shares the second place with Hironobu Sakaguchi's Terra Battle (which is proving a devilishly addictive game for me as well, I will admit).
Dragon Age: Inquisition, The Evil Within and Watch_Dogs also held up the flag of the AAA games, with four votes each, while the new Smash Bros also performed well with five votes if you sum up the two versions.
There are definitely a few unexpected votes, and a lot of small mobile games. Even P.T, which isn't really a game, managed to grab two votes.