1. Batman Arkham city ; The best Batman video-game ever. the game was addicting, loved the riddler challenges, this game reminds if zelda, the size of the world is just right, where you can explore everything and find all the secrets with out it being to large.
2. The Last Of Us ; The game grabbed me from the beginning and never let go.
3. Red dead redemption ; just a beautiful, and amazing world to explore
4. Resident Evil 5 ; sequel to resident evil 4, just not as good cause of the poor pacing.
1. Demon's Souls ; Created a whole new genre.
2. Fallout 3 ; the main story sucked but everything else was great. Loved wandering the wasteland listening to Three Dog radio.
3. Bioshock ; Not alot is better than Rapture and it's crazy inhabitants.
4. Mass Effect ; Great world and characters including my boy Saren.
5. Motorstorm ; Bought a PS3 for this game, no regrets.
6. Dark Souls ; Besides a few terrible levels, this game is greatness.
7. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves ; Pinnacle Nathan Drake.
8. Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl ; The best atmosphere in any game ever.
9. Wipeout HD ; aww yeah
10. Dead Space ; great sound design and inventive UI
x. Call of Duty: Black Ops ; played a TON of multiplayer
1. Mass Effect 2 ; A lot of people seem to have soured on the way this game deemphasized the larger story and the exploration aspect of Mass Effect 1, but I think that streamlining let BioWare focus on what they were best at: characters. The spotlight was entirely on the crew of the Normandy, and managed to bring depth to all of them. The ending suicide mission only worked because your affection for the characters left you genuinely tense at the thought of losing any, and in a game that spends its entirely meditating on the possible deaths of all of these characters, it still finds room to inject humor and life into all of them. Plus, the combat was actually fun, unlike Mass Effect 1.
2. Red Dead Redemption ; Probably the best game to just walk through the environment I've ever played, with a surprisingly good story compared to Rockstar's other work in GTA, and one of the best endings ever.
3. Portal 2 ; Ok, this might be the game that beats RDR's ending. It's consistently funny and the puzzles are always fantastic.
4. The Last of Us ; Ok, nevermind, this is best game ending! It also has easily the best graphics of the generation, and is much sharper playing than anything else Naughty Dog has done with Uncharted.
5. Halo 3 ; I think I have played through Halo 3's single player campaign more times than any other game's. It's so over-the-top fully featured, and has great multiplayer.
6. Call of Duty 4 ; The first Modern Warfare rewrote multiplayer shooters, but I've always liked it best for its campaign, which is the only one in the series I've ever really loved.
7. Assassin's Creed 2 ; The sense of setting and character in this game is so good, and for its time, it was the strongest open-world experience available.
8. Dead Space ; I'm not usually into horror, but this game plays so well, and has such a great sci-to ambiance to it.
9. The Witcher 2 ; A fantastic RPG that takes pretty bold risks with how it handles player choice, locking away whole chapters and characters based on one critical choice.
10. Super Mario Galaxy ; The best 3D platformer ever made
x. Uncharted 2 ;
x. Skyrim
x. Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney
x. Professor Layton and the Curious Village
x. Braid
x. Rayman Legends
Wipeout HD and Wipeout HD Fury, they're going to be counted as one game (Wipeout HD Fury), right?
I'm fuckin' tickled pink that it's showing up as often as it is here. Bring on Omega
1. Bayonetta ; Hideki Kamiya has always been one of the better directors in the industry with works like Devil May Cry and Viewtiful Joe, but Bayonetta is his masterpiece. He returns to the genre he helped to create with DMC, and shows everyone it's still his creation. He takes many concepts from it and Viewtiful Joe and made something very special here. The combat is incredibly smooth and fluid, and the genius Dodge Offset system turns every fight into a show once you get used to it. No great action game is complete without strong enemies either, and Bayonetta has plenty of instantly memorable enemies and fights throughout. To top it all off, there's a TON of content to play and unlock after the game. What really cemented the game as a masterpiece to me is when I started the final difficulty, Non-Stop Infinite Climax, and you see the game's most prominent mechanic, Witch Time, is completely absent. You then realize it was nothing more than a set of training wheels for what the game is really all about. Platinum's finest and my favorite game of all time.
2. Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus ; I played Guilty Gear in the past with #Reload, but AC is where I really fell in love with the series. The rebalancing and new additions like Force Breaks really turned the game I played on its side. Guilty Gear has a fantastically strong art direction and sense of style, and it's really a fighter where you see people express themselves with who they play. It's as fun to watch as it is to play, and the zany and creative cast is really a joy to see in motion. AC was actually my favorite fighting game until Xrd came along as it's less stressful on my hands, but it's still a game that is very much worth trying due to how cool it is. Now Arcsys needs to bring back my boy Order Sol so I can do some dust loops again.
3. Demon's Souls ; I was very down on this generation for a long time. Being primarily a fan of Japanese games, it was a shame to see them struggling. I saw the Import thread for this game, and decided to pre-order it when it was announced for a Western release. This was the biggest and most pleasant surprise for me even with all of the hype. The atmosphere and mood of Boletaria was nothing short of breathtaking during my first playthrough. Walking through the dark Tower of Latria trying to avoid pitfalls with terrifying monsters all around is probably the most memorable single player experience last gen. I normally prefer faster games, but I really enjoyed the more methodical approach this game took and I enjoyed every moment of it. I liked Dark Souls too, but in the end, Demon's is the one I prefer. The level design is incredible strong without any weak points and I think the segmented level structure worked out much better for the brilliant online component.
4. Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme VS Full Boost ; The best fighting game you haven't played. It's a legitimately great game that goes beyond the typical "good for a licensed game" deal. The core mechanics are very simple and easy to grasp, and you can focus on the real fun of the game: spacing, and positioning. The suits all feel similar enough that it's easy to jump between them, yet they all have their quirks that really make them stand out. The 2v2 style of the game adds another layer to the strategy and gameplay since you aren't just playing for yourself in typical fighting game fashion. It's very addicting and I cannot recommend it enough.
5. Vanquish ; I've always enjoyed Third Person Shooters, and I love stylish action games. This game was basically a perfect combination for me. The game feels super snappy and smooth, even at 30FPS on consoles, and it made every encounter a blast to play. The high speed sliding combined with the slo-mo mechanics completely changed the dynamics you would expect from a cover-based shooter. There's all kinds of neat tricks in the game, like shooting your own grenades to detonate them, or using a melee attack to slo-mo in the air to finish someone off, that keep it exciting throughout. I loved replaying the campaign to try things out in different fashions, like doing no slo-mo runs, so the short length was actually perfect for me. Very glad to see a Steam version coming to keep the love alive.
6. Super Mario Galaxy ; I still can't decide on a favorite 3D Mario game, but Galaxy is absolutely a fantastic and magnificent game. The move to outer space really let the team do all sorts of crazy levels and play with gravity in a very cool way for a 3D title. It is a bit on the easy side, but it's just such a fun game to play, and as always, Mario is the best controlling 3D Platformer out there. The sequel never grabbed me the same way, but it's also a great game.
7. Team Fortress 2 ; While I don't really care for the game in its current state, Vanilla TF2 was my absolute favorite multiplayer game for a while and made class-based FPS some of my favorite games. TF2's strong art style and sense of community made it a staple in my rotation for years. I met several of my best friends in life through it, and I do really appreciate that.
8. Tekken Tag Tournament 2 ; 2D fighters were always more my style, but with TTT2 I decided to give Tekken a more serious shot. I went online, got my ass kicked, and didn't really get it. I then spent about two weeks trying to find my characters and learning the game for real, like movement and proper punishes, and it clicked. Tekken Tag 2 is a fantastic 3D fighter and one of the most rewarding games I've learned.
9. Batman Arkham City ; As a life-long fan of Batman, this and Arkham Asylum were such great experiences. I chose City because I actually did really enjoy the open world and the various side quests offered. The combat's a bit basic, but it's still really satisfying and almost rhythmic to how it plays. The stealth stuff and puzzles are also integrated very well into it, and it's perfect for fans of the series like me.
10. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 ; I wanted to put 4, but I spent an unholy amount of time playing this game. The campaign is like a big dumb blockbuster, but it was still really fun with some iconic scenes. The co-op mode was also a really pleasant surprise. The multiplayer though, was the big draw for me. Everything was broken as hell, but I couldn't stop playing. Seeing the bullshit people would come up with, along with the various glitches (care package glitch, javelin glitch) was pretty amazing. I really enjoyed my time with this stupid game though, I played it just about every night with a group of friends. Only reason I stopped was after matchmaking put me in a hacked game where my stats got screwed up. Oh well.
Honorable mentions:
x. Melty Blood
x. Anarchy Reigns - Better than Metal Gear Rising TBH
x. Catherine
x. Binary Domain
x. Donkey Kong Country Returns
x. Sin and Punishment: Star Successor
x. Devil May Cry 4
x. Portal
x. Dead Space 1 and 2
x. Uncharted 2
x. Gears of War 1-3
x. Halo 3
1. The Last of Us ; It's the first game that I really care about the character, who looks like real people, who I smiled together, who I suffered together, who I hated together, The Last of Us changed the way I viewed the games, I changed as a gamer and person, not only my favorite game of the generation but also of all time.It is the kind of game that only appears once every decade. 2. Bioshock Infinite ; I love this game, I started playing the Bioshock franchise very late,I bought the first two games along with Infinite, the first two were good games but nothing incredible, in fact I did not expect much of this, but I fell in love, I finished several times. 3. God of War 3 ; I'm a big fan of God of War and this game was the biggest reason I bought a PS3, and it was worth every penny. Even 7 years later I can play and it still amazes me how beautiful this game is, in 2010 it was simply unbelievable, closed the trilogy with a golden key. 4. Uncharted 2 Among Thieves ; This game is a roller coaster from start to finish, non-stop action, with great cast and a big set piece after another, the game that definitely put Naughty Dog among the best in the world. 5. Red Dead Redemption ; This game is one of the best open world games ever made, not only because old west is one of the coolest themes out there, or because old west games are so few and low quality in the vast majority, but because everything in this game is top notch, the world, storytelling ,gameplay,remarkable characters, the soundtrack, the incredible ending and a very fun multiplayer, a complete package. 6. Mass Effect 2 ; The apex of the franchise, a remarkable adventure,a masterpiece. 7. Heavy Rain ; This game has a special place in my heart, the first game of the style I played, and I have since become a fan of the genre and especially of David Cage for his audacity, I have played many since then, but this one remains the best of all. 8. Beyond two Souls ; One of my most antecipated games of 2013 and I was not disappointed, I love the story, the characters and all their endings, the game with the best graphics of the seventh generation, came very close to Heavy Rain. 9. Metal Gear Solid 4 Guns of the Patriots ; A few years ago it was a little above, but after finishing 10x recently just to get the platinum I saw some problems that I did not saw before, I still love like this game. 10. Grand Theft Auto V ; I'm a big fan of GTA, my most anticipated game of 2013, but after the big disappointment I had with GTA IV, I was more cautious, not as good as the GTA San Andreas, but I'm not disappointed, it's a technical marvel,still impress me, when it comes to open world,they are way ahead of everyone.
1. Super Mario Galaxy 2 ; one of the best platformers ever made
2. Xenoblade Chronicles ; Monolith Soft world design gods
3. Super Mario Galaxy ; very good platformer
4. Counter Strike: Global Offensive ; at the end of the day it's still counter strike
5. NieR ; cool rpg
6. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword ; a good zelda game
7. Portal ; good game
8. Bayonetta ; good action game
9. Mirror's Edge ; good first person platformer
10. Donkey Kong Country Returns ; good 2d platformer
Should we count cross-gen games that we played on a gen 8 console? Seems like it would go against the spirit of the thread. Things like Persona 5 (PS3/PS4) and Steins;Gate (PS3/Vita).
Should we count cross-gen games that we played on a gen 8 console? Seems like it would go against the spirit of the thread. Things like Persona 5 (PS3/PS4) and Steins;Gate (PS3/Vita).
only vote for it if you played it on a gen 7 system. i'm putting in metal gear solid v and life is strange on my honorable mentions because i played them on ps3 and think of them as ps3 games.
also, this thread was kept off so long because i had p5 in mind, specifically.
- Since this is essentially the first gen with preexisting GaaS titles, how do we handle votes for expansions or a particular patch series of a game released prior? In particular I'm thinking of FFXI, where the initial launch was 2002, the "high point" expansion was released for sale in 2004 but not completely implemented into the game until 2006, and the generally-accepted best patch period and peak of popularity was 2008-2010; can I not vote for it at all/can only vote for an expansion/can only vote for expansions first sold 2006-2011/can only vote for expansions competed 2006-2011?
- How is regioning handled (honestly, what's the relevance of region given that the rules are by platform rather than release date) in cases where one's primary region changed/isn't residence region/etc?
I know these gens are hard to quantify but being able to include Persona 5, a 2017 game, and not Crusader Kings II, an early 2012 PC game, seems kind of restrictive. Plus all the other PC games that were released after 2011. Skews my list for sure.
1. New Super Mario Bross Wii; having a blast playing co-op with my wife and my brother back in the day, the most fun games ever, even to this day i'm still playing it from time to time with my 5 year son
2. The Last of Us; i wish i played this game earlier, i finished it last year, bought it cheap as used game, the hype around this game never convince me because i was so sick about zombie game/TV shows, really zombie ?, there are too many of them, fortunately i was curious enough when someone sold it at $8 in my country ecommerce site, oh boy how i'm suprised by it, the scarcity resources made the gameplay really good, the story was so compelling i love Ellie and Joel, or even Tess, i never forget the opening, that ninja cutting onions, i never forget having fun killing clicker or ran from it fear for my life and i never forget that conflicted ending, damn
3. Demon's Souls; initially frustrated with it, countless rage and whatnot, thank God i didn't quit, that satisfying feeling when i managed to kill the boss, probably i never feel something like that before
4. Fortune Street; underrated game, addicted gameplay, i used to play this game 7 hours straight with my brother, it's monopoly on steroid, stock buying/selling mechanic is quite genius, too bad it didn't get a lot of recognition in the west, one of the game that i hope they would release the sequel for current generation (PS4 / 3DS)
5. Wii Fit Plus; this game was so personal to me and my wife, i don't care if people didn't call it as "true game", after i married i don't have child for 6 years, however when me and my wife started to play Wii Fit Plus, after 2 months she was getting pregnant ... it was probably just coincidence or probably not, but one thing we was sure, we were happy about this event and never forget for the rest of my life
6.Heavy Rain; this game defined Interactive genre for me, the best walking simulator ever, i was so drawn with the story i even dreamed about it, the gameplay was so unique for me because i experienced something like this for the 1st time (later i found out, actually there were many games with this genre, i was just never exposed to it), the replayability also was quite good, curious enough for me to unravel different endings
7. Fire Emblem : Radiant Dawn; i bought it just because my friend recommended it, i never thought i would fall in love with tactic/strategy genre on console, this game introduce me to FE, while it's not the best FE games (that thing belongs to Fates), i really enjoyed the mechanic particularly about permadeath, although i usually cheated, when someone die i just restarted the WII and reload from the last save, also the story was quite intriguing and complicated enough for me
8. FInal Fantasy : The 4 Heroes of Light; the music in this game was really good, i also adored the turn based mechanic, make me feel nostalgia about old FF, the job system also addicted i wanted to play all of it, although the graphic wasn't aged well (i played it on 3DS just 2 years ago), it's such a nice introduction into Bravely series
9. Deus Ex : Human Revolution; i'm fan of original Deus Ex, so when Square-Enix announced to publish this game, i was really really happy, i bought it day one, played first on PC and when finally i got PS3, i bought it again, it wasn't as good as original, but this game fill the thirsty feeling about Deus Ex i had for years
10. Resident Evil 6; i honestly didn't understand the people's hate towards this game, i played it co-op with my wife and having a blast, love the non-stop action, love the characters (Ada Wong, Jack & Sherly), although i admitted it, the story was kinda all over the place, it's allright i guess, i even put it as Theme in my PS3
Honorable Mention
x. Mario Kart Wii ; countless hours of fun playing co-op with family
x. Lumines Supernova ; love the concept, it's like Tetris but so much better
x. Dragon Age Inquisition ; better than DA 2, but weaker than Origins, love the lore and the story
x. Wii Sport Resort ; yeah Wi Motion Plus are gimmicks, but i fall in love with it particularly if played together with family and friends
x. Life is Strange ; the story was wowser, although i kinda disappointed with ending
x. Assassin's Creed IV : Black Flag; i like the mechanic while on the ships, also the graphic was so gorgeous, the only AC game that i liked other than original
x. Tomb Raider; it's Lara Croft, enough said
x. South Park : The Stick of Truth; while the game was so funny, i also enjoyed the gameplay
- Since this is essentially the first gen with preexisting GaaS titles, how do we handle votes for expansions or a particular patch series of a game released prior? In particular I'm thinking of FFXI, where the initial launch was 2002, the "high point" expansion was released for sale in 2004 but not completely implemented into the game until 2006, and the generally-accepted best patch period and peak of popularity was 2008-2010; can I not vote for it at all/can only vote for an expansion/can only vote for expansions first sold 2006-2011/can only vote for expansions competed 2006-2011?
- How is regioning handled (honestly, what's the relevance of region given that the rules are by platform rather than release date) in cases where one's primary region changed/isn't residence region/etc?
region is basically a holdover of the goty threads i used to run. it really has no power here since everything is determined by the generation. i guess it would be like danganronpa - you would have needed to play it on psp and not vita or ps4.
for the online games, ffxi's versions would count if they were expansion packs on pc and if they were the releases on 360.
Yeah wtf is with the PC cutoff? So we can include the console versions of Dishonored, XCOM, or Far Cry 3, but not the PC versions, even though they came out at the same time?
I know these gens are hard to quantify but being able to include Persona 5, a 2017 game, and not Crusader Kings II, an early 2012 PC game, seems kind of restrictive. Plus all the other PC games that were released after 2011. Skews my list for sure.
yeah it's a bit weird, but i had to make it function consistently somehow. ps2 was the same way with sakura wars v being eligible for two generations in 2010.
Yeah wtf is with the PC cutoff? So we can include the console versions of Dishonored, XCOM, or Far Cry 3, but not the PC versions, even though they came out at the same time?
yeah it's a bit weird, but i had to make it function consistently somehow. ps2 was the same way with sakura wars v being eligible for two generations in 2010.
That means I'm going to have to re-do my list, knocking off one of my favorite games, XCOM: Enemy Unknown (October 2012), because I played that game on PC, the week it came out. Ultimately, that particular case doesn't feel fair to me, because XCOM was purportedly much more successful on PCs than on consoles. I think that consistency in this case might impact our opportunity to vote for the games we like moreso than in some previous generations - however, that would still only impact a small handful of games. And so I guess it's not a terrible decision to remain consistent, but have you considered making exceptions for specific titles? And where would that policy leave other lauded games that were only playable (or best played) on PC at the time, like Counter-Strike GO, Planetside 2, Guild Wars 2, Diablo 3, etc.?
1. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky - this one had it all. Great writing, great characters, great game play. All the feels of 'The Whereabouts of Light' https://youtu.be/P3VZBlmVWFM and humour to boot! Can't go past it.
2. Mass Effect 3 - possibly a controversial choice, but in light of the game play imrpovements from ME2 and the top-notch co-op multiplayer, this gets the nod. The ending didn't bother me too much, especially after the release of the Citadel DLC.
3. Mass Effect 2 - A sci-fi version of The Dirty Dozen. The story and character interactions elevated this for me. The game play was solid, if nothing special. Also, the Shadow Broker DLC - WOW! I just loved Liara's transformation into a badass.
4. Borderlands 2 - Zany, looty, satisfying. Handsome Jack's character along with Claptrap made this a fantastic experience. Awesome FPS (although enemy AI was a bit stiff) and co-op was real fun. Soundtrack (that intro!) was top-notch as well.
5. Enslaved: Odyssey to the West - So the platforming was even more constricted than that in the Uncharted games, but the combat had enough variety and nuance (especially enemy variety) to make this game good. What made it special to me was the writing and the art direction. The environments of post-apocalyptic US were vividly imagined. Andy Serkis was a classy Monkey, and the interaction between the duo of Trip and Monkey, along with Pigsy (play the DLC for more feels!) was awesomely executed.
6. Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F 2nd - Okay, so I mostly played this on Vita, which is not a platform included in 'Gen 7' but it released on PS3 simultaneously and I double-dipped, playing it on PS3 as well. This is probably my favourite rhythm game. I love the characters of Miku and friends, and the music included in the title is varied and plentiful. DLC makes it even better, with my favourite Miku track "Rolling Girl" releasing for this title.
7. Journey - a bite-sized gourmet game. All the feels. All the art direction. An ingenious co-op set-up with the 'whistle' communication. This is a game that I always show my friends. Beautiful and touching.
8. The Last of Us - Included more for the writing, sound design and art direction than game play. This title made me care about the protagonists and their interaction in the post-apocalyptic US was both touching and realistic. One of the best-looking games on PS3.
9. Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Loved the black and gold colour tint. Stealth game play was well-executed. Level design allowed for a great deal of choice in approaching objectives. Great characters. Malik and Fly Boy ~~~ feels!
10. Mirror's Edge - still got a soft spot for this, one of my first PS3 experiences. DICE did something special and outside the box with this. Faith was a believable character and the game play was exciting, heart-in-your-mouth, stuff. I (unlike some) loved the 2D cut scenes. Lisa Miskovsky's 'Still Alive' and Solar Fields made this an unforgettable experience.
Honourable Mentions:
Remember Me - loved the game play, memory mixing, combo system, environments. Story could have been improved a bit.
Demon's Souls - my first maso-core game. Loved the atmosphere and enemies. Level design was really clever. 'So the world might be mended' ~~~ <3
Final Fantasy XIII - can understand the hate but for me I fell in love with Lightning's character and stoicism. The music and cut scenes were fantastic and the dynamic turn-based combat was interesting and remained fun for over 100 hours.
The Saboteur - the cars, the music and the black & white / colour transitions made this a really cool game. Sean Devlin was such an Irish badass!
Sleeping Dogs - best martial art melee combat I've seen. I did play the PS4 'definitive' version as well but I maintain that the story, characters, rendering of Hong Kong and the general atmosphere made this game a must-play.
Yakuza 3 - my first Yakuza game. The Japanese wackiness is really special and somehow doesn't detract from what is a really touching story. Haruka and Uncle Kaz ~~~ <3
Valkyria Chronicles - art direction and cell shading, great characters and innovative turn-based combat system. Still got a thing for Selvaria and Alicia.
1. League of Legends (PC, 2009) - In 2009, an F2P indie borrowing heavily from a popular Warcraft 3 custom map. In 2014, filled the Seoul World Cup Stadium. Its combination of DotA's streamlined RPG and strategy mechanics with a traditional fighter's footsies and combo-based sparring hit a sweet point of arcade-with-depth gameplay, creating a social phenomenon that regularly sees one out of every thousand human beings alive logged in and playing simultaneously. Its impact is only due to grow in the future, as well, as one of the first Chinese-owned and China-as-primary-market titles to begin choking out smaller Western competitors on the strength of higher budgets and a larger userbase just like Western AAA choked out Japan.
My only regret for listing this as my top game for gen 7 is that in a few years I'm going to have a hard time finding excuses (probably calling the map update or new client "close enough" to an expansion) to list it as #1 for gen 8.
2. Ridge Racer 7 (PS3, 2006) - If my first pick is the glimmer of an era just dawning now, my second has to be the twilight of the old. 1080p 60fps at PS3 launch, our first look into the only "modern" free online play for consoles, the last glorious swan song of consoles as a playing field for Japanese arcade developers and a peek into a better future which never was.
3. Final Fantasy XI: Wings of the Goddess (PC, 2007) - Promathia was a better expansion, and wasn't completed until 2006 which arguably qualifies it on its own, but WotG was the true "full package" experience of golden age 75cap FFXI.
4. Left 4 Dead 2 (PC, 2009) - Entirely a personal history pick. There were many good team shooters in the gen, this was the one my group played incessantly.
5. Terraria (PC, 2011) - One of the more gamist approaches, both in aesthetic and play, to the world simulation genre, its ever-forward pace where one rarely, if ever, has to gather supplies from lower tiers makes it exceptionally appealing.
6. Mountain of Faith (PC, 2007) - Another personal impact pick; the "why don't I try this" casual-friendly release that got me both to play the earlier titles in its series and to branch out across the shmup genre.
7. Monster Hunter Portable 3rd (PSP, 2010) - Still easily the best lunch break game ever.
8. Final Fantasy XIV (PC, 2010) - It's never been quite what it should have been. 1.0 carried some amazing, innovative sandbox-MMO concepts, but was tonedeaf in its execution and messaging (viz. the constant rage about gaining half exp when "exhausted", compared to competing games giving double exp when "rested", even though these are exactly the same mechanic) and shipped with an engine that should still have been in alpha. 2.0 gave us a top-tier themepark with meme trappings, and replaced the engine that had finally been beaten into release quality (and that consumer hardware had finally caught up with) with one hamstrung to run on the PS3. But the relaunch was an impossibility made real through exceptional faith in one's product and teams, and I have to respect that.
9. Picross 3D (NDS, 2009) - It's hard to update winning puzzle game formulas. This is probably the closest anyone's ever come.
10. Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword (PC, 2007) - Still probably the best Civ, brought to its logical conclusion of features, options, and variety, and in addition some great memories of playing with people who are gone now.
x. Bayonetta (X360, 2009)
x. Deathsmiles (X360, 2009)
x. Demon's Souls (PS3, 2009)
x. Dodonpachi Resurrection (X360, 2010)
x. Groove Coaster (iOS, 2011)
x. SaGa 2 Goddess of Destiny (NDS, 2009)
x. Street Fighter IV (arcade, 2008)
x. Team Fortress 2 (PC, 2007)
x. World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King (PC, 2008) - all incredible deep games I enjoyed but didn't have time or focus to git gud at and truly appreciate.
This is a hard gen to come up with 10 for; PS2 didn't really peak for me until well into it, and so many PC and mobile options are clustered just before or just after.
1. Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch ; This game is an amazing journey. It has the best sidekick in video game, purple dragon, tons of puns and a dedicated jump button, if you upgraded the required skill.
2. Valkyria Chronicles ; This game put a spin on the usual tactics RPG formula and it succeded. I also adore the artstyle and the characters in the game.
3. Xenoblade Chronicles ; Graphic was already outdated as I played it last year, but the vistas can sometimes still be breath taking. The main draw of the game is its exploration. There is just so much things to do.
4. Trails in the Sky ; Played the game early this year. This is a traditional JRPG from PS1 days, but with modern QoL improvements. The game kept me hooked throughout and I finished the first and second chapters in like three weeks.
5. Yakuza 3 ; I keep changing my mind on which is better between 3 and 4, as Yakuza 4 has a higher highs, but lower lows. At the end of the day, I chose to place Yakuza 3 on this list, because I like the smaller setting and its focus on Kiryu.
6. Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2 ; I like the second one better than the first one, especially regarding the story and characters.
7. Sid Meier's Civilization V ; Spent like over 100 hours already in this game. It's a classic.
8. NieR ; Oddly exceptional story coupled with probably the best soundtracks of the gen.
9. 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors ; Best visual novel as far as I'm concerned.
10. Catherine ; Who knew that Atlus could make a good non RPG game.
x. Dark Souls
x. Digimon World DS
x. Pokemon Heart Gold/ Soul Silver
x. Dragon Age 2
x. Heavy Rain
x. Yakuza 4
x. Sleeping Dogs
That means I'm going to have to re-do my list, knocking off one of my favorite games, XCOM: Enemy Unknown (October 2012), because I played that game on PC, the week it came out. Ultimately, that particular case doesn't feel fair to me, because XCOM was purportedly much more successful on PCs than on consoles. I think that consistency in this case might impact our opportunity to vote for the games we like moreso than in some previous generations - however, that would still only impact a small handful of games. And so I guess it's not a terrible decision to remain consistent, but have you considered making exceptions for specific titles? And where would that policy leave other lauded games that were only playable (or best played) on PC at the time, like Counter-Strike GO, Planetside 2, Guild Wars 2, Diablo 3, etc.?
it's not much different from something like twilight princess, which many consider a wii game more than a gamecube game, but won't get its full recognition in one of these threads (which is what the goty threads are for).
1. Super Mario Galaxy; The game that completely renewed my interest in video games.
2. Metroid: Other M; Fusion done right with a control scheme that absolutely sings once you get the nuances down. Ruined me for aiming in 3rd person shooters
3. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword; The culmination of everything the wii had been building to and the pinnacle of 3d Zelda in that format
4. Dead Rising; most refreshing zombie game in years and one of the games that truly felt next gen
5. Ghost Trick; the writing, characters, and gameplay are just a perfect match for the ds
6. No More Heroes; suda's last great game, great protagonist, amazing array of bosses, and possibly the best ost of the gen
7. The Last Story; finest jrpg of the gen from some of the genre's greatest artists. A little easy but the rest of the package is just superbly designed.
8. Fragile Dreams - Farewell Ruins of the Moon; Gameplay is so so but the emotional punch the game packs is unmatched.
9. Bayonetta; Amazing gameplay, music, super stylish, packed with content, and Bayonetta is just an amazing character
10. 999; That twist is enough to give it a spot
Honorable mention :
x.The Witch and the Hundred Knight
x.Deadly Premonition
x.Zero: Lunar Eclipse of the Moon
I returned to video games as one of my main hobbies in this era after several years of not really playing or paying attention to them. The PS3 is one of my all time favorite consoles. I'm still working my way through a lot of games from the era, but here's my favorite of what I've played so far. This era marks the beginning of me playing games other than JRPGs as well.
1. Dragon Age: Origins; This game was instrumental in finally turning me on to WRPGs. I was so impressed with the characters and dialog and the options available in creating a backstory for myself. This game opened an entirely new side of the genre to me and gave me fresh perspective on narrative, characters and world building after years and years of nothing but JRPGs. I enjoy some of the below more and think others are technically better games, but this one had the biggest impact on me by far. 2. Uncharted 2; Mass murdering and the arguably unnecessary supernatural elements aside, this game really delivered on the promise of Uncharted 1. For its time ,it was a graphical masterpiece and I always enjoyed seeing what gorgeous vista the game would treat me to next. 3. Tales of Vesperia; Note: I played the PS3 version. This game finally delivered on the "Tales of" promise of being able to play an anime. I don't know if it's because the game was originally on the 360, but it featured a notably darker tenor than previous installments (except for maybe Rebirth) and a great cast of characters. I also enjoyed the villain very much. 4. Mass Effect 2; I loved the whole trilogy, but like most, I think 2 was the best and I certainly had the most fun with it. The odds were certainly stacked against me with this game: it was sci-fi (a setting I'm generally not fond of) and a real-time shooter. Playing it though, just like with DA:O above, the story, characters and world-building really drew me in. 5. Ys: The Oath in Felghana; This is probably the pinnacle of the series of what I've played. This is exactly what an Ys game should be, tight, fast combat, strong but non-intrusive narrative and tough battles. 6. God of War III; What can I say? I'm a sucker for gorgeous set pieces. Few games feel as epic as God of War and the gameplay is very enjoyable to boot. 7. Diablo III; Although I had given Diablo II a try in college, it just wasn't for me. I couldn't find the fun in mindlessly clicking to kill the same enemies in the same dark areas over and over again just to do it again. Diablo III worked for me because I could play it on console (and it was a glorious conversion) and (for a while at least) the environments were varied and interesting. I never did get into the endless cycle of loot drops and I think the narrative is laughably bad, but for a good 2 weeks this game was all I could think about, which is no small feat for married person who works about 60+ hours a week. x. Tales of Graces F; Another winner from Tales of team. I love the game, but the tropes feel out in full force here in comparison to Vesperia and that makes for a slightly lesser experience even if the battle system is superior. x. Suikoden Tierkreis; As a hardcore Suikoden fan, as happy as I was to receive a new installment, I was sad they decided to move the game into a new world. Playing the game, aside from a very few nods, it became apparent that this was Suikoden in name only. That said, what Konami did manage to create was a fine RPG with an intriguing story. x. Heavy Rain; While this game ended up as a complete train wreck from a story perspective, I was really fascinated by what it attempted to do.
1. Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen. - PS3. This game's story was stupid, the world unbelievable, and the romances like crapping your pants without realizing it. Oh and the crafting system was goddawful. But the combat, customization, and pawns made up for it. My favorite game of the last fifteen years.
2. Muramasa - Wii. Beautiful. The depth was lacking, but this is a fun beat em up that is beautiful and manages to reuse assets in such a way that I just don't care. Happily repurchased for the Vita.
3. Pixeljunk: Eden - PS3. Simple but possibly the best timefiller I had in the last few years.
4. Elite Beat Agents - DS. The only rhythm game I have ever got into. Good music selection and just the right ridiculous tone.
5. The World Ends With You - DS. The great monster fusing system. A different setting. A game with a very strong sense of style.
6. Infamous 2 - PS3. I agree with Zero Punctuation: open world games live and die on their traversal system. Infamous 2 did it right. The story really clicked for me. Zeke was the perfect benchmark against Cole's growing power. The morality system though... godawful.
7. Red Dead Redemption - PS3. A great world to explore full of interesting characters and fun activities. It had a real sense of place. The online is what made the game shine for me, especially the co-op.
8. Saint's Row 2 - PS3. This was the second best game I played in 15 years. It didn't take itself seriously. It didn't even try to be sophomorically satirical. It was just fun. My character was a red headed dreadlocked weighlifter with a cockney accent and a handlebar moustache. It was a blast to play with friends.
9. Borderlands 2 - PS3. Dated viral memes aside, this game hit the perfect balance of risk and reward. One that I hadn't seen since Diablo 2. It even had the builds and runs to match. Also a blast co-op.
10. House of the Dead: Overkill - Wii. A howling hellcat humping a hot steel hog! A seductive she-devil leading a pair of pigs on a roaring rampage of revenge!
Okay, deadline is June 17th so I still have some time. Now to figure out which of the following to focus on:
999
Batman Arkham Asylum/City
Catherine
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Dishonored
Radiant Historia
Valkyria Chronicles
Super Mario Galaxy 2
With the amount of gaming time I have I should be able to clear out two or three of those games. It seems like I'm in for some tough choices but good gaming atleast. Anyone want to champion one of the games in order to influence my list?
Also, question for AniHawk: Is The Orange Box a valid game for this list, or is it to be counted as separate titles?
1. Fallout : New Vegas (Xbox 360, PS3) - This game overthrew KOTOR II for the role of being my favorite Western RPG. All of the quests do an amazing job building the world of New Vegas. All of the characters are brimming with personality. Survival mode is also a nice touch for serious roleplaying. Come Fly With Me is also my all time favorite quest in any RPG.
2. Pokemon Black and White (DS) - I love everything about this game. I love the music, I love the high quality sprites, I love the story, and I love almost all of the new Pokemon. What I love most is that the game makes you become acquainted with the new 150 Pokemon by not letting you catch older gen pokemon. You feel this wonderful sense of discovery with every new area.
3. Dark Souls (Xbox 360, PS3) - Amazing game that challenged me, broke me, and also built me back up as a smarter more patient player.
4. Pokemon Heartgold/Soul Silver (DS) - Excellent remake of one of the best regions of Pokemon. Also having your Pokemon follow you in the overworld is the fucking shit.
5. Tales of Vesperia (Xbox 360) - Its a shame this was released on the wrong platform. Vesperia has amazing combat that is very rewarding to master. I adore its world and the many characters that populate it. The game's visuals have actually aged really well.
6. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) - Just totally solid all around. Levels are tightly designed and Mario controls incredibly well. Soundtrack is fucking great too.
7. Halo 3 (Xbox 360) - Along with a really enjoyable multiplayer, the campaign of Halo 3 was an incredibly satisfying conclusion to the story. I also probably put 200hrs into playing online with friends.
8. Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia - My first foray into Castlevania. Fun but challenging gameplay that made me want to try out the rest of the series which led me to Symphony of the Night and Aria of Sorrow. Music is also fucking great.
9. Elite Beat Agents (DS) - Refreshingly wacky and over the top. The game has so much fucking style and personality that its impossible to play it without a goofy grin on your face.
10. Super Paper Mario (Wii) - Gameplay is shit but the story and the writing are fucking incredible and made actually playing it worthwhile. BLECK
1. The Beatles: Rock Band - This game gave me a brand new love and appreciation for the band and their music and is one of the key examples I'd show to proclaim that games are art.
2. Portal 2 - Gave me everything I loved about the first one and multiplied it by 10. Great puzzles, new mechanics, fantastic humor and writing and fun co-op multiplayer.
3. Rock Band 3 - I debated whether or not I wanted 2 or 3 on this list but 3 won out simply because it had Keys, Harmonies, Pro Instruments and a boat load of challenges that actually gave me the feeling I had playing Rock Band 1 when learning new instruments.
4. The Last of Us - Well crafted, well made game that has a level of polish that is impressive to say the least
5. Super Mario Galaxy - First 3D Mario game I completed 100% and made the Wii worth it for me.
6. Minecraft - I mean what else can I say, it's a whole phenomenon
7. Mario Kart DS - the best handheld racer in my opinion
8. Burnout Legends - I had too much fun with this game not to put it on the list.
9. 999 - VLR would be #1 on this list but that's considered 8th gen
10. Halo 3 - the only FPS series I truly enjoyed
X. Warhawk
X. God of war 3
X. Uncharted 1-3
X. Call of Duty 4
X. LittleBigPlanet
X. GTA V
X. Catherine
X. Eternal Sonata
X. Sonic All Stars Racing Transformed
X. Rayman Origins
X. Super Smash Bros. Brawl
X. Guitar Hero 3
X. New Super Mario Bros.
1. Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward - This game left an impact on me that has yet to be rivaled in terms of storytelling, character development, and the blending of story and gameplay. This is one of the few games I consider a masterpiece. Too bad we never got a sequel. -_-
Okay, deadline is June 17th so I still have some time. Now to figure out which of the following to focus on:
999
Batman Arkham Asylum/City
Catherine
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Dishonored
Radiant Historia
Valkyria Chronicles
Super Mario Galaxy 2
With the amount of gaming time I have I should be able to clear out two or three of those games. It seems like I'm in for some tough choices but good gaming atleast. Anyone want to champion one of the games in order to influence my list?
Also, question for AniHawk: Is The Orange Box a valid game for this list, or is it to be counted as separate titles?
i think it's valid to do it either way. i won't be putting votes for tf2 into an orange box collective though. i'll count the other titles as part of their genre and orange box as 'compilation'
1. Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess ; If this came out before OoT it would be considered the greatest game ever made. It has everything that makes zelda the perfect formula in gaming. The best dungeons, the best items, the best bosses and at the time the best combat in the series. This has everything I want in a video game.
2. Metal Gear Solid 4 ; Kojima's Magnum opus, this is the ultimate MGS game. It has by far the best gameplay until 5 hit. The presentation was unmatched at the time with some of the most exciting action sequences ever put in a game. The last half of the game is an homage to the entire series, while saying good bye to every character and ending ever storyline. It's masterful.
3. Mass Effect 2 ; As a huge sci if fan and action fan this is a perfect mix. ME2 strikes a beautiful balance between an epic story while keeping a sort of Star Trek episodic feel where every planet and teammate gets their own monent. The combat is a blast and I grew incredibly attached to all the characters. This is biowares best game.
4. Super Mario Galaxy ; both this and the sequel are basically equal but the first one blew me away a little more. This is everything 3D Mario should be, the excellent gameplay only 3D can offer while having the spirit and level design of the 2D Mario games. Greatest platformer ever.
5. Super Mario Galaxy 2 ; same as above. More variety, probably the better game but a little safe.
6. LittleBigPlanet ; This is more about a point in time than the game itself. You can't play the game now and experience what I experienced back in 98. This game felt so magical, like I was in the cutting edge of a brand new world of gaming. Playing what other players were creating, mind blowing stuff that awed in ways most games never do. Every night I would play with friends and we never knew what we would play. It was amazing.
7. Dark Souls ; The best souls game, it takes all the great aspects of the first game and puts it into a metroid like structure which is still the best level design the series has seen.
8. Metroid Prime 3 ; a return to form after the hiccup with MP2. The controls were vastly improved with the wiimote. The planet hoping kind of took away from the experience but its close to the masterpiece of the first.
9. Uncharted 2 ; A perfect cinematic action game. It feels like the video game version of Raiders of the lost ark. The best setpieces in a game ever.
10. Fallout New Vegas ; I have to put a bethesda game in this list. I love all their games, but I like guns more than swords so Fallout was more my style. The scale of these games are unmatched, I love being able to just lose myself in a world for over a hundred hours Even though this game was a buggy mess it's the most interesting of the two fallout games. The choices really matter, the amount of options to approach some missions is staggering.
Honorable Mentions:
X. The Last of Us
X. GTAV and 4
X. Batman Arkham City and Asylum
X. Smash Bros. Brawl
X. TES Skyrim and Oblivion and Fallout 3
X. Zelda Skyward Sword
X. Demon's Souls
X. Bayonetta
X. DMC4
X. Resident Evil 5
X. Bioshock
X. Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow
X. LBP2
X. Red Dead Redemption
X. God of War 3
X. Mass Effect 3
X. Donkey King Country Returns
X. Dragon Age Origins
X. Virtua Fighter 5
If you do this next time, I do think we'll need a different handling of service games - LoL in particular is still going to be huge, will be very alien from the incarnation I voted for this time, but as fundamentally F2P will still be "LoL" and not "LoL: Verb of the Adjective Noun". For that matter, F2P with hats TF2 is essentially a different game from Orange Box TF2 to the point where some PC players have settled for no-dedis 360 pad console TF2 just to get back to the game they like, and it's just barely scraping the line this time.
It's probably a bridge to cross in at soonest 2020, sure, but still something to start thinking about now!
If you decide to make the change now based on seasons or named patches, the way someone could vote for Madden 20xx, I'll update my vote.
If you do this next time, I do think we'll need a different handling of service games - LoL in particular is still going to be huge, will be very alien from the incarnation I voted for this time, but as fundamentally F2P will still be "LoL" and not "LoL: Verb of the Adjective Noun". For that matter, F2P with hats TF2 is essentially a different game from Orange Box TF2 to the point where some PC players have settled for no-dedis 360 pad console TF2 just to get back to the game they like, and it's just barely scraping the line this time.
It's probably a bridge to cross in at soonest 2020, sure, but still something to start thinking about now!
If you decide to make the change now based on seasons or named patches, the way someone could vote for Madden 20xx, I'll update my vote.
to be fair, i think this is kind of a tricky spot, especially with games like tf2. considering how weird the 8th gen is, i might consider a split for these long-lived games.
1. The World Ends With You: Unique gameplay, amazing soundtrack, stylish artstyle, everytime someone brings up the teaser image of TWEWY2 a bit of me dies inside.
2. Hotel Dusk: great atmosphere and art, lovable characters, saddes me to see Nintendo burying this IP and Cing gone bankrupt.
3. 999: mindblowing ending
4.Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together: great enhances port
5. Pokemon Black2/White2: packed with content, the proper third version we need.
6. Kirby Super Star Ultra: my first time playing super star, loved it.
7. Last Window: although it lacked the charm of its predecessor, still a wonderful game, shame it was only released in Europe.
8. Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales: charming pop-up style, had huge fun with the minigames with my friends.
9. DQ Heroes: Rocket Slime: cute and enjoyable.
10. Picross DS: lots of content and great controls.
Strangely most of PSP games failed to click with me.
1. Super Mario Galaxy 2 ; Nothing less than the best games company of all time at its peak. An astonishing achievement in gameplay, soundtrack, and presentation. My second favourite game of all time.
2. Super Mario Galaxy ; Super Mario Galaxy 2 just edges ahead due to trimming some fat of this, but this game is still a 10/10 platforming masterpiece
with a better soundtrack than 2.
.
3. Braid ; This game is probably one of the most important in gaming history. While it didn't start the indie gaming scene, it was the game that made it explode. Here was a game that shook the gaming industry the fuck up, with existing gameplay, presentation, and narrative norms either subverted or thrown out of the window. Yet, I didn't put this game here because of its influence or impact. I put it here because it's probably one of the best designed puzzle games ever made. Honestly, I don't think any indie game made since tops this for me, though a few come close
4. Portal 2 ; So let's get this out of the way, while I think the original is a great game, I prefer this one despite it being less "perfect". The gels are great mechanics, the campaign is nice and meaty, the co-op is great, but what really puts this game so high is the custom maps. Being able to just have a near-infinite supply of portal levels to download from the internet is sooo goood.
5. Xenoblade Chronicles ; The JRPG is a genre that is bound by traditions for the better or for the worst. Xenoblade Chronicles is the defining JRPG of the 7th generation because it expels a lot of the bad traditions, while keeping the stuff that works. Despite the hardware limitations, this probably has some of the best landscapes of that generation. The soundtrack for it is a thing of beauty.
6. Nier ; This is a weird time to be talking about the original Nier. The game is finally getting the cult following it deserves, but it is also in the shadow of its sequel, which goes even further on the creative ideas presented in this while also giving the formula the polish it deserves. Honestly, why is it even on my list? I mean, the soundtrack for this is still the GOAT.
7. Dark Souls ; I don't worship this game as a flawless classic like some people do. It has a rushed 3rd act, and in all honesty isn't 100% fair like some people claim it is. Those first 2 thirds are fantastic, though.
8. Team Fortress 2 ; What a rise and fall this game has had. It was once the greatest online game of all time. It is now an unoptimised mess of conflicting game design philosophies. Despite its flaws, I have an intimate attachment to it. I can probably go on for hours about specific patches and how they changed the game. I can describe the maps of this game using prose previously reserved for lovers. I want this game to return to its glory, so that I don't have such a gaping hole in my life.
9. Journey ; Probably the most perfect game of the generation. Every aspect is top of the line. A true work of art.
10. Mario And Luigi: Bowsers Inside Story ; A funny, creative piece of gaming that makes me wonder why the Mario RPGs have become so bland.
1. Team Fortress 2 (2007) - Vanilla TF2 is still the best online multiplayer game I've ever played. In its prime (2007 - circa 2011) I must have put in many hours per night.
2. Dark Souls (2011) - Amazing level design that the sequels never managed to quite match. I even enjoy the second half of the game, but do admit that the first half (up to Anor Lando) is better.
3. Bioshock (2006) - One of the most atmospheric games ever created. Rapture is still one of the best video game locations
4. Mario Kart DS (2005) - Its still my favorite mario kart. Introduced the 16 tracks and customization thats still in place today
1. Bayonetta ; Platinum's strongest title (which is really saying a lot). A rich, deep, complex masterpiece in action gaming.
2. Ninja Gaiden II ; Hard to choose between this and Bayonetta, but I tend to give the edge to Bayonetta due to liking its theme more. NG2's raw challenge, intensity, and visceral, tactile combat (the best gore in gaming, perhaps) keep it standing toe-to-toe with Bayonetta even if it's a bit unpolished.
3. Dark Souls ; Fantastic combat tied together by a brilliantly realized and intricately interlocking dark fantasy world. Not much to say here that others haven't said already.
4. Hard Corps: Uprising ; The best game in the Contra series, and maybe the best 2D platformer of all time - no other has such a large toolset, or levels that encourage its mastery.
5. Vanquish ; One of the most fluid first-person shooters. Challenge mode is fantastic, and the final boss is one of the best in video games.
6. Serious Sam 3: BFE ; A ludicrously chaotic and intense first-person shooter. Learning to manage the immense hordes this game throws at you is one of the most satisfying things in the genre. For maximum fun, don't use manual saves.
7. Sin and Punishment: Star Successor ; A fantastic game in a sadly underserved genre. Trades in the compact structure of the first games for loads and loads of fantastic boss fights.
8. Demon's Souls ; Improved upon in virtually all ways by Dark Souls, but still an amazing game.
9. Dead Rising ; The time and resource management in this game is unmatched. Nailing down a best ending, all survivors run feels like juggling chainsaws.
10. Mega Man 9 ; The best game in the Mega Man franchise. The first one in the classic series that gives you plenty of boss weapons that are legitimately worth using, and the bosses are all excellent too.
x. Ys Origin ; Some of the best boss fights in any game. A small step down from its predecessor, Oath in Felghana (mainly in its relatively weak stage design, and neither game excelled in that to begin with) but those bosses... (I like Felghana more, but the PSP version isn't its original incarnation (and is a downgraded port, anyway), so I'd only consider it a sixth-gen game.)
x. Goku Makaimura Kai ; Fantastic revision of the already-solid Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins. A bit imbalanced with regards to how many overpowering abilities you get if you explore well, but the classic GnG difficulty ensures things work out. Would easily be the best in the series were it not for the untouchable Ghouls 'n Ghosts.
x. Devil May Cry 4 ; After DMC1, the best game in the series. The level reuse is extremely unfortunate, and even at its best the game isn't a patch on Bayonetta or NG2 (after 1, I don't think the series ever nailed an good balance between survival play and score play, something which Bayonetta landed beautifully) but it's still great.
x. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance ; Overall fantastic, but not as refined as the genre's best entries. Great last boss though.
x. Resident Evil 5 ; It's RE4, but co-op. A little watered down in comparison, but it's only a bit less amazing than its predecessor.
x. Resident Evil 6 ; Deeply flawed (but still enjoyable) campaigns, but mechanically this is one of the coolest third-person shooters.
x. Dark Souls II
x. Catherine
x. 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors
x. Punch-Out!!
I really like Metal Gear Solid V and The Evil Within (both would crack my top ten), and I played both on PS3, but I can't really consider them seventh-gen games.
Need to play Valkyria Chronicles, Binary Domain, Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem, Nier, and Earth Defense Force 2025. All exciting-looking games.
1. Umineko no Naku Koro Ni ; The best 2D thing I ever met. Sublime OST, characters, story, concept, atmosphere. Everything is spot on for me, really. Could have been Chiru, decided for the first half due to the "main theory".
2. 999: Nine Hours Nine Persons Nine Doors ; The best atmosphere I ever met. It doesn't have enjoyable rooms like the sequels, but overall is the best of the trio. Plus: Shinji Hosoe on steroids.
3. Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Trials & Tribulations ; The pinnacle for the series. Amazing journey with a beautiful conclusion.
4. Disaster Day of Crisis ; It's sometimes broken (driving phases)...but it's SO GOOD with all its ideas and concepts, a sequel with a proper budget could do it proper justice.
5. Ghost Trick Phantom Detective ; Another great entry from Takumi. Nailed gameplay and great story. Music too. So sad he's now stuck on unlocalized spinoffs of AA.
6. Xenoblade Chronicles ; Yes, it's below Disaster. Thinking back, it did not leave me much, but it was also extremely pleasant during play, and it introduced me to the Xenogames which is an accomplishment on itself.
7. Animal Crossing Wild World ;Countless hours spent in its magical world. It reminds me of the last years in which I could simply pick up a game and play for the sake of enjoying it. Special experience, New Leaf was not able to give me the same feelings.
8. Picross 3D ; As above, the sequel did not live up to my expectations, but that's probably simply because I've changed since then. Tons of puzzle, weekly ones too, a simple yet engaging concept and simple presentation = 100 hours sucked in.
9. World of Goo ; Actually finished last year after dropping it two times because reasons. Perfect concept and stunning presentation. And music, again.
10. Super Mario Galaxy ; The final spot is occupied by one title which many are probably putting on top. Platform are not my genre anymore, but Galaxy was able to move me like only Yoshi's Island did in the same vein. And obviously great to play.
x. Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn ; The last real fire emblem.
x. The World Ends With You ; A true jrpg in the age of jrpgs+1.
x. Wii Sports Resort ; Best party game of the gen.
1. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess ; Ocarina of Time is probably the most praised game of all-time, and for good reason. It's a masterpiece in game design and elevated the medium to places it had never been before. Twilight Princess, for better or worse, feels like an epic, long, unabridged version of Ocarina of Time. That comes with all of the strength people praise OoT for. The dungeon design, bosses, and game balance are all top notch. But in addition to this, it's one of the few linear, narrative-driven games that truly feels like an adventure due to the sheer amount of content here. Some parts of it are slow, maybe even monotonous, but those moments give the game room to breathe. They make moments like swinging around like Spider-Man in City in the Sky for the first time all the more incredible, because they come after dozens of hours of game that's varying levels of interesting. Every dungeon here, from Snowpeak Ruins, to Temple of Time, to Lakebed Temple, is absolutely great. For me personally, this was a special game; it made me fall in love with Zelda as a series, and even though it was kind of a gimmick in this game specifically, playing it with motion controls in 2007 just felt like something truly special. 10 years later and I don't think I've played a new release that surpasses it. What a game to launch a console with.
2. SoulCalibur IV ; Up until a few years ago, I was a pretty casual fighting game player. I went to EVO last year and I regularly attend Smash locals, but for the majority of my life fighting games to me were playing against the CPUs or a friend from middle school on a Friday night. SC4 is apparently an absolutely terrible game from a balance perspective, and it was never very popular from the FGC. That being said, it's pretty much the epitome of the fun I had in my casual fighting game player days. Something about it just FELT right to play. The movement felt fluid. It's not based around juggles like Tekken, it's more complicated then DOA but probably less complex than VF. I love all of the SC games but this was the most impressive one from a casual perspective. There was a pretty diverse cast of characters and I had fun playing every single one. A slew of modes and a lot of options available. I never got super into 3, so the character creator here was really novel to me. I was also pretty evenly matched with my group of friends, so it was something we could all consistently play and not get bored due to one of us dominating.
3. Pokemon Platinum ; Pokemon is gonna take up a few entries here, so I'll use this entry to explain why I like the series so much. Basically, I love turn-based JRPGs for their gameplay and their battle systems, and I think Pokemon is easily the highest point the genre has reached in that respect. You have essentially infinite freedom in terms how to approach these games; you have hundreds of Pokemon to choose from to compose your team, all of which can learn different moves, and every single individual Pokemon has different stats. There are so many different ways to play through the same game, to approach the same situation, so much to micromanage, and the battles themselves have to actually be thought through. As for why Platinum is my favorite in the series on the DS (and probably in general), I think Sinnoh is easily the best region. Pretty much every other post-Kanto region has felt like it's had something missing in some way; Johto felt small so that they could have Kanto, Hoenn really did have too much water, Unova felt too linear, and Kalos felt straight-up incomplete. Alola will probably be the next region to be this way, but the third version hasn't come out yet so it doesn't have as much of a post-game. And speaking of post-game, that's one area in which Platinum excels, with a quantity of content that pretty much puts everything else in the series to shame. Battle Frontier alone is pretty fantastic.
4. Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver ; The original gen 2 games are some of my most played of all-time, so this was pretty special to me. This remake modernizes them in every way I could hope. Yeah, Johto isn't as big of a region and Kanto isn't that long, but the feeling of going to Kanto after your first eight badges is simply unforgettable. Something about this game just captures the rural Japanese atmosphere like nothing else. I imported this and played it in Japanese before it came out in the US with a then-very rudimentary knowledge of the language and it was absolutely, 100% worth it. Fan service like having your Pokemon follow behind you was the icing on the cake.
5. Fire Emblem: Shin Monshou no Nazo Hikari to Kage no Eiyuu ; It's a huge shame this game never came out in English, because it's fantastic. If you liked the game originally called "Fire Emblem," in the US, this is probably the game most similar to it that's since been released. No overworld or romance options like the Awakening-and-on games, which is either good or bad depending on your view (personally I'm fine with or without). However, it did employ some things before those games did, such as an avatar character and an optional casual mode, both of which are welcome here. The map design is great here as well. Decently difficult at times, but never too difficult. Much like Pokemon I love Fire Emblem for the variety of ways you can approach situations, and Shin Monshou isn't a disappointment in that respect either. Just a great Fire Emblem.
6. Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn ; This is pretty much the continuation of Path of Radiance, which is great because that game was phenomenal. It continues the story and brings it to a very satisfying ending. Radiant Dawn feels very.....big. You're controlling different groups of units and it all comes together in a way that make you feel accomplished. Like for similar reasons to Shin Monshou otherwise.
7. Mario Kart DS ; This was my first online experience and it'll be something that I don't think I'll ever forget. I'd wake up pretty much every day and hop online in the Summer of 2006. It would take a while to find a match and there were connection issues, but I still yearn to experience the feeling of beating people in a close race online for the first time. Ah, youth.....As for the actual game itself, it's typical wacky Mario Kart fare, but something about this one just felt special and unique. The movement and snaking allows for a lot more freedom and technicality that other games in the series. The tracks are consistently interesting. The battle and mission modes give the game a lot more content. I know 8 Deluxe is the total hotness right now, but DS is probably eternally my favorite.
8. Rock Band 3 ; These days, people probably look at these Rock Band and Guitar Hero games as dated remnants of a fad, but that just shows how easy it is to forget how much fun they were. After years of being supported and hundreds of dollars spent on games, DLC, and plastic instruments led to an embarrassment of riches in terms of sheer content here. RB3 is the epitome of everything Harmonix ever tried to do with the series; it's an interactive jukebox, it's a competitive skill-based execution game, it's a tool to teach you how to play music, and it's wish fulfillment for those who want to imagine themselves an uber popular rockstar. Few games make time disappear like this one did. Drumming specifically just puts me into a trance. The Rock Band series was consistent fun to me over an entire generation that helped ignite my love of music, and RB3 was the best thing that happened to the series.
9. Elite Beat Agents ; On paper, EBA is kind of terrible. It's a rhythm game with 19 tracks, all of which are covers (of varying degrees of quality). The skill cap isn't very high at all here; I've met people who aren't good at rhythm games who can play this on the highest difficulty. And yet.....there's just something about it. Something that I can't put into words. It's heartfelt, touching, funny, and addicting. The story to "You're the Inspiration," is the most "feels"-inducing thing in all of gaming. Despite the lack of content I still put a considerable amount of time into this, somehow. It's just an ineffable game. You need to play it to believe it.
10. Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii: Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2 ; The (second) Japanese equivalent of EBA. I guess everything I said about that game you can say about this one and the first. They're all just as special, really. This game features some QoL improvements from EBA (and Ouendan 1 is a noticeable step back in that regard; main reason it's not on here), and the songs are better. However, the storylines and "charm," here are a little less special, which is why it's one spot lower.
x. Super Smash Bros. Brawl ; After two years of the most insane hype campaign to ever hit the industry, Brawl arrived and the gaming world was torn. I was originally on the pro-side; more characters, more stages, FUCKING SSE?! It seemed to be the better game in every way to me. I didn't notice any of the supposedly "janky," physics everyone was talking about. That being said....it never had the longevity Melee had for me, and it went from being something I'd play nearly every day to something I'd pull out once every few months about a couple months after release. I chalked it up to my Smash friends having busy lives, which was honestly probably true. Fast forward years later, Melee as a competitive game blows up in 2013-2014, I start watching and eventually get into it with my roommates. I fall in love with that game all over again, along with Project M, which is a Brawl mod and would probably be my actual number 1 if mods counted (though the fact that it was made with Brawl at least means something for this game, I think). I decide to go back to Brawl one day, and it's.....terrible. The physics are all slow, floaty, and wrong. In fact, I think wrong would be the word I'd use to describe this game. Something about moving your character around just FEELS wrong. That being said, the huge modding scene this game has makes me think it's worth an honorable mention, and almost made me give it the number 1 spot, though went back on it when I decided that something that the developers made this many mistakes with shouldn't be number 1. What fans have done with this is nothing short of incredible. Additionally, I still think SSE is really damn dope, and maybe the best example of fan service in the medium.
x. Rock Band 2 ; Like RB3, a ton of fun. I played this one about as much, maybe a little less. RB3 is an improvement in just about every way though, aside from a few minor UI things. Though this game did have band world tour mode, which was a ton of fun.
x. Super Mario Galaxy ; This is one of the most well-designed video games ever made. Every level is practically bursting with originality, and the developers are constantly making things interesting and fun. Something about moving in this game is just a joy. From Gusty Garden Galaxy to Honeyclimb Galaxy, just an immensely memorable number of stages. Nothing in this game ever feels cheap or unfair. All this being said....this game just wasn't as special as anything on my top 10, and there are some minor annoyances (the way lives work in this game is essentially pointless, and some of the motion controlled stages should have probably been cut entirely). I prefer it over the sequel for the hub world, the Rosalina storybook segments, and
because I honestly thought the second game was kinda too hard at certain parts don't kill me GAF.
x. Final Fantasy Tactics A2 ; The brilliant FFTA returns! While I prefer Fire Emblem for the difficulty and RPS-esque mechanics like the weapon triangle, this game is still bursting with content and also gives the player an immense amount of freedom in ways to approach situations.
x. Marble Blast Ultra ; One of my biggest disappointments this gen was how far the Super Monkey Ball franchise fell, and MBU sort of filled that void, though it was noticeably different in certain ways. Actually like Galaxy, all of the levels here felt really well-designed, and never did I find myself getting frustrated at them. This set the bar for early XBLA and indie games, and I still find myself wishing for something similar.
x. Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 ; This game is pure adrenaline. Nothing else really meets the feeling of managing to dodge dozens of shapes coming at you or narrowly managing to beat your high score. This game took the classic first game and added an immense amount of content for a small XBLA game like this one. It all culminated in a very impressive package.
x. 999: Nine Persons, Nine Hours, Nine Doors ; One of the finest stories told in the medium; Uchikoshi schools pretty much the entire industry in writing plot twists and characters here. It's compelling enough to replay six times to fully understand the story (though admittedly this would be WAY higher if it had the skip improvements from VLR). The puzzles are pretty fun to solve, especially the later ones. June is still probably my favorite character in a video game.
x. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations ; One of the best trilogies in gaming comes to an end in one of the best games on the DS. A zany cast of characters, and that rush you get when you expose a contradiction, nothing else is like Ace Attorney. Every case in this game is consistently great, and the last case wraps up seemingly every single loose end from all three games you could think of.
x.Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate ; I mentioned DoA being simple compared to SC way earlier. Well, it's still really deep, and this game is the high point of the series. When I played it the netcode was pretty damn solid as well, from what I remember. Balanced and just feels fun.
x. Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2 ; From a pure gameplay perspective this actually surpasses Persona 4 by a fair bit. It melds SMT and SRPGs really well, and the learning curve here is immensely rewarding. Demon fusing and negotiating is just so damn satisfying here.
x. Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved ; Not as much content as the sequel, but more....pure. I played this game a lot in store kiosks before owning a 360 and it played a big part in convincing me to get the console. Like 2, pure adrenaline.
x. Dragon Quest IX ; Eat your heart out, Xenoblade, DQ9 melds Japanese and Western RPG sensibilities in the best way possible. The quantity and more gameplay of western RPGs with a very traditional JRPG battle system. DQ9 feels very DQ and traditional despite managing to evolve the series.
x. Blue Dragon ; A Dragon Quest-esque game on an HD console with a class system clearly inspired by FF5, beautiful looking art, and a solid soundtrack complete with the most what-the-fuck boss theme ever? Why didn't people like this, again? Oh, yeah, the pacing could be better and the story isn't very good, but it's still my favorite traditional RPG on an HD console.
x. jubeat copious ; A really fun rhythm game that only came out in arcades. It's actually a little similar to EBA/Ouendan, with you having to be precise with your fingers. Addicting and satisfying in ways that can't really be put into words.
x. Tetris DS ; Not my favorite Tetris game, but it deserves a mention for getting me into the series. There's a ton of modes here, and they're of varying degrees of quality, but they're all at least unique. I really dig the Nintendo aesthetic here too.
x. Halo 3: ODST ; I'm not an FPS guy, but this is definitely the best FPS game I've ever played. The campaign is short and sweet, and basically everything that happened in it is meaningful. The real selling point here might be the multiplayer disc, though, which contains every Halo 3 multiplayer map. That's just an immense amount of content, and it kept me busy for a very long time. Whether getting destroyed by my friends or randoms online, Halo 3 mutliplayer was always a good time, and Valhalla is the GOAT map. Something about the way this game plays and feels just clicked with me in a way other FPS games don't for the most part.
x. Mushihimesama Futari Ver 1.5 ; I'm not a shmup fan, but I decided to import this game on a whim since I wanted the novelty of an import 360 game and everyone always praised it. I'm still not a shmup fan, but I still thought it was worth a mention because it's an absolute masterclass in game design. This game is immensely hard, but it never, ever feels unfair. Your hitbox is just small enough to avoid all of the shit on screen, and everything is positioned just well enough that it feels feasible for anyone to avoid it.
There were other honorable mentions I kind of want to include but I think I'll stop here. Great gen.
1. Super Mario Galaxy 2 ; the best 3D game ever created. So creative, so tight, so well layed-out. I have nothing but appreciation for this incredible master piece. There was not a single moment on this game I did not enjoy immensely. It may be a close successor to Galaxy, but with its greater emphasis on just pure gameplay and even more creative (and challenging) platforming, it is a very easy number 1 of this generation or any, really.
2. Super Mario Galaxy ; Had it not been for the ever so slightly improvede successor, I would have to call Galaxy the best 3D game ever created. It is filled to the brim with fresh ideas and can allow for the luxury of under exploring several great concepts just because the team had so many amazing ideas.
3. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword ; What a generation this was, having the two best 3D Marios and also the best Zelda game ever made. It is amazing how tight the new overworld design is, how intricate the new overworld puzzles are, how well the motion controls work. Skyward Sword offers brilliant dungeons, the best overworld areas of all Zeldas and impresses in particular with its carefully planned reuse of areas for totally new challenges. As a stealth-hater I have to particularly highlight the stealth section on the fire mountain close to the end which really demonstrated how masterfully the areas awere planned, making each element in the world not only matter for a single, but sometimes even multiple gameplay purposes.
4. Sonic Generations (PS360) ; Sonic Unleashed finally found the perfect formula for 3D Sonic and Sonic Generations perfected it. An amazing sense of speed, varied level design, super tightly optimised to high performance play. Also, the game offers two playstyles for Sonic which both play incredibly well, after years of Sonic Adventure type games shoving shit gameplay types into the game, this in itself is already a fantastic thing
5. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess ; It may look a bit bland and have a really rough overworld, but Twilight Princess has such an amazing dungeon design - the best in the series in fact - that this is easily forgotten. There are so many fantastic dungeons, items and puzzles in this game, that it is just a joy to play.
6. New Super Mario Bros. Wii ; NSMB brought back 2D Mario, but NSMBW brought it to a new level. The developers have incorporated Mario's new agility gained from the 3D space into 2D so well that it is sometimes difficult to go back to classic Mario games. NSMBW also has the level design to really show off how fantastic the formula is.
7. Yoshi's Island DS ; Artoon took the best game ever created and made a much more challenging successor to it, reusing the base gameplay, but innovating with the baby swap mechanic just enough to stand on its own rather than making the impression of a level pack (like New Island does, which I still like a lot). I really love the level design in this one, starting simple but then really ramping up to be one of the most challenging platformers I know, which is particulaly amazing considering it is of the collectathon type, which are often a bit on the easy side with their platforming.
8. Metroid Prime 3 ; It definitely has the worst sequence in any Metroid Prime, the escort mission, but outside of this, it still is an amazing combination of exploration, puzzle solving and action, made possible only by sublime level designers that cannot be found at many studios. Metroid Prime 3 lives off its outstandingly well-crafted world in a way that few games could.
9. Kameo ; Rare's greatest game under Microsoft. It truly is a great combination of Zelda-like action-adventure and design concepts from Rare platformers. The transformations lead to a very varied adventure and some very clever puzzle design, making it, in my eyes, the best Xbox exclusive so far.
10. Sonic Unleashed PS360 ; though Sonic Colours and Rush are the better games overall, at its best, Unleashed is such an incredible adrenaline rush that it is unparalled. In fact, its heights are the heights of the entire series and the challenging level design, paired with a tremendous speed is just amazing.
Honorable mentions:
x. Sonic Colours Wii ; Ditching the Werehog and going for a slightly less arcady experience, Sonic Colours in many ways is one of the best Sonic games ever made. Though I personally prefer the pure speed of Unleashed and Generations, in terms of exploration and platforming, this is probably the stronges Sonic
x. Donkey Kong Country Returns ; Retro proved that the are not a one trick pony and that they can craft incredibly tight 2d platformers with some of the best level design ever as well. It is particularly amazing how tightly the levels are created around the time attack, without sacrificing the exploration aspect of the game.
x. Portal 2 ; Specificaly, the multiplayer, is awesome. I did not like the outside areas in the singleplayer much, but the multiplayer is some of the best gaming time I have had with my wife ever
x. Portal ; The bestter single player experience than 2, it proves that one simple idea can lead to a ton of amazing puzzle opportunities
x. Sonic Rush / Rush Adventure / Colours DS ; Introducing boost gameplay, with some really great level design and a great adrenaline rush, these are the finest works of Dimps and absolute must haves for platforming fans
x. New Super Mario Bros. ; While it is the weakest of the NSMB series, it is notably how well it combined classic Mario with modern movesets and dynamics.
x. Zelda Phantom Hourglass / Spirit Tracks ; Zelda can totall be Zelda without any buttons, offering really nice dungeons and intuitive controls. Not as great as the two console games or ALBW this gen, they are still close to the top of their genre.
x. Prince of Persia Forgotten Sands Wii ; It starts out horibly, giving the impression of an Uncharted game, but soon enough it starts shining with its outstandingly creative use of the Wii-Remote for level and puzzle design. This is the very definition of a hidden gem that is required playing for everyone who has access to a Wii. It truly is the best Prince of Persia game
x. Rayman Origins ; Fantastic comeback of Ubis best franchise. I especially love the nice speed of the game, reminding a bit of Mega Drive Sonic.
x. Rabbids Go Home ; A strange game, certainly, but one that is just thoroughly enjoyable, especially when played with two players.
x. Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz ; Probably the most natural, but also punishing use of the Wii-Remote. Banana Blitz succeeded in bringing the formula to the era of motion controls exceptionally well. While I prefer the analog stick controls of the two predecessors, Banana Blitz changed the level design in a way that the game could retain its extremely challenging design, without sacrificing playability.
x. Ace Attorney series ; funny story, great courtroom drama and surprisingly addicting gameplay.
x. Wario Land Shake Dimension ; Another hidden gem, Shake Dimension did not get much attention, but it is a really well-made successor to Wario Land 4 with some really challenging bonus missions. Good-Feel proved themselves with this game as a great 2D platformer studio
x. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story ; Actually one of my favourite RPGs, combining a super funny story, great puzzles, a tight game design without any boring areas and varied gameplay in 2D and 3D to an incredibly charming and enjoyable game experience. A true RPG masterpiece.
x. Fire Emblem. Radiant Dawn ; Probably one of the most punishing, tightly designed Fire Emblems I have yet played. I especially appreciate the part of the game where one has to split the team in two, making for some hard decisions.
x. Picross 3D ; Such a brilliant puzzle game, bringing Picross to the third dimension in a spectacular way.
x. Mario Kart DS ; Thanks to the story mode, it is the best Mario Kart in my eyes (tied with 8).
x. Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing ; Probably the best Mario Kart clone outside of Diddy Kong Racing.
I'll stop here, but I may add some more games later on. Really a fantastic generation.
I honestly have trouble placing some of these in any kind of order, so I ordered them strategically.
1. Demon's Souls ; Umbasa.
2. Dark Souls ; Praise the sun.
3. The Last of Us ; You know, Ellie, we really are the last of us.
4. Dark Souls 2 ; Invaded by dark spirit Forlorn.
5. Super Mario Galaxy ; Waggle.
6. Uncharted 2 ; You're gonna miss this arse.
7. Metal Gear Solid 4 ; Behold ... guns of the patriots!
8. Red Dead Redemption ; Mi nombre es John Marston.
9. Mass Effect ; Secrets are like herpes: If you got 'em, might as well spread 'em around!
10. Katamari Forever ; Na-naaaaaaaaa — oh, you know how this goes.
1. Kororinpa (Wii) ; Kororinpa summarize what I like about videogames. The game is an accessible marble rolling game which is elevated by tight motion controls, sweet music and a overall charmy presentation (reminds me of japanese arcade/'90s gaming). 2. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) ; SMG2 has a more refined gameplaybut I choose SMG cause it was the first. 3. Dragon Quest V (DS) ; DQV is rightly considered among the best JRPG ever made and the DS remake was the first time the game was available outside Japan. 4. Excite Truck (Wii) ; Sort of spiritual successor of the San Francisco Rush series. This phenomenal arcade racing game by Monster Games is based on the concept of huge jumps, deformable track and multiple routes.
The smart score system based on points instead of strictly position ecourage you to do the most crazy and excting actions possible. 5. Sin & Punishment Successor of the skies (Wii) ; An action/shooting masterpiece by Treasure. This game is relentless in how action packed and thrilling it is. 6. Ghost Trick (DS) ; Fantastic puzzle adventure game by Takumi with impressive presentation and gameplay. 7. Silent Hill Shattered Memories (Wii) ; More than a game an experience.
Took me about 7 hours to complete the game and did so in just one sitting (first time to happen to me).
The game is more a walking simulator before the walking simulator was a thing with great motion controls and a gripping story in fact the game has one of the best ending ever made for the medium. 8. No More Heroes (Wii) ; The last game directed by Suda51.
At a glance it might seem just an over the top hack and slash but in reality the game is filled to the brim with creativity and bold decisions.
It's up there with Killer7 as the best game ever made by Suda51. 9. Little King Story (Wii) ; LKS was directed by Yoshiro Kimura LKS and it has the typical strangeness of Kimura games.
Part strategy game, part resource management and part RPG the game really deliver because it has a strong soul. 10. Sakura Wars So long my love (Wii) ; Fifth and last mainline Sakura Wars game. The game was actually released on PS2 but only 5 years later it was brought to the west on Wii (Europe).
It's a very interesting mix between adventure/visual novel and strategy RPG with good anime design and music.
x. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii) ;
x. Deus Ex Human Revolution ;
x. Alice in Wonderland (DS) ;
x. Donkey Kong Country Returns (Wii);
x. Xenoblade Chronicles ;
x. Radiant Historia (DS) ;
x. Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow (DS) ;
x. 999 (DS) ;
x. Outrun 2006 (PSP) ; Great conversion for PSP by Sumo Digital of a fantastic arcade racing game
x. Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii) ;
x. Metroid Prime 3 (Wii) ;
x. Punchout !! (Wii) ;
x. Elite Beat Agents (Wii) ;
x. House of the Dead Overkill (Wii) ;
x. Mario Kart DS (DS); the episode where the MK series began to hit its stride and which culminated in MK8D.
x. Mega Man 9 ;
x. Wii Sports ;
x. Wii Sports Resort ;
x. Elite Beat Agents (DS) ;
We had a test run thread late last gen, and they did well. But, I predicted that they would split the vote (even though one is clearly superior), and ultimately lose to Naughty Dog fans rallying behind The Last of Us.
