Lurker > transience

43.



Brothers has a moment or sequence that is incredibly powerful. The entire game is built around it, from the narration to the gameplay to the controls. That moment hits like a truck because of how well they manage to bring all of those things together all at once in a truly profound way.

You could interpret that as a negative but I actually find the two brothers/one controller gimmick to this game pretty fun. It ends up bending your brain ever so slightly because it's a mental challenge to keep them straight when they're both running at the same time. Getting your hands backwards is a common and kind of fun thing. And, of course, that moment. Like Inside, Brothers sticks with you for a long time afterwards. It might be the most powerful moment I can think of in a video game.
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xyzzy

44.



I don't play city builders too often but something about Banished really hooked me from the second I first laid eyes on it. Instead of trying to build the most expansive and impressive city across a massive landscape, Banished is more of a survival game, trying to gather resources in order to survive the harsh winters. The biggest you'll get is a small village of 7-800 people, maybe a thousand if you plan really well and have a good terrain. You choose how many people work in each profession and can track them at the individual level as they grow old, have kids and die. Keep your village warm and fed or else you won't make it to Spring.

There's a somber and beautiful tone to Banished, and that careful resource management gives my village a lot of personality. I'm not just zoning a commercial area here. I still remember my first summer where my crop yield dropped due to awful weather and a third of my population died within minutes as the game made this awful popping sound for each person that went hungry. It lasted for about five minutes. It's still probably the most horrifying gameplay moment I've had as I spent about 40 hours on that town. Completely my fault, too - I got greedy trying to expand my population a little too much. I had to pull all of my children out of school to help with the crops the next year in order to make ends meet. It's that stuff that really grabs me with Banished.
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xyzzy

don't call me egg cause you sure ain't my pops
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xyzzy

who what how
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xyzzy

45.



This one's weird because it's not only a fan project but also essentially in early access. They just added new bosses and items the other day.

It's great though, Mario Maker was a great effort that totally missed me because I'm just not that into Mario. I think one of the biggest appeals is how you can make these weird monstrosities that totally subvert 30 years of Mario.

That's where I am with Mega Maker - I made a level with like 500 of those annoying Mega Man 3 fish on one screen and gave the player an unlimited metal blade. I made a true maze level that was like an 8x8 grid with no screen transitions or borders that let you just go wherever, almost metroidvania style. I made a Bomb Man fight with conveyor belts and quick man-esque laser beams that you had to avoid. There's so much fun stuff that you can do within the Mega Man formula, way more than Mario, and given my status as a classic Mega Man superfan, it hits in just the right way.
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xyzzy

46.



Castle Crashers is just the most playable video game. Everyone likes it. I've recently taken to playing this with my kids. My 4 and 10 year old suck but they absolutely love just jamming on buttons and hitting dudes. Even with that weird environment, it's still really fun! It's the only multiplayer game that I can play with my young ones without wanting to kill myself, and it's worth a high spot on this list for that alone. It's also just a really great and accessible beat-em-up, one that pretty much towers over the genre.
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xyzzy

are you starting to like it more?
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xyzzy

47.



Yeah, Ace Attorney games are great and there isn't a lot to say besides 'these are really fun narrative games with fun, quirky characters and enjoyable stories.' The writing and setup in AAI2 is a mile ahead of the first Investigations game and the plot cohesion is honestly the best in the series. There's an inherent limit to what you can do in these investigation scenes as opposed to a true honest day of court but AAI2 gives you a really great overarching narrative that pays off on several levels.
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xyzzy

I spent like 2 days after beating Inside just watching popular streamers see those last 20 minutes over and over. I don't normally do that but there was something about Inside that I just had to see how others responded.
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xyzzy

48.



PS2 JRPGs are in a weird spot because they haven't aged super well. There was a time when i was all in on FFX's world building and story but it feels kind of childish now. The voice acting doesn't help it and the level design, well, yeah. Still, this game crafts a world that made a major impression 17 years ago (?!) and the battle system remains a major bright spot. It's fun to build out your characters and the endgame content is a lot of fun provided you put in a lot of time to get endgame equipment. That stuff is painful. Anyway, that endgame grind kind of defines FFX in a way - you get what you put in. If you invest yourself in the story and the world of Spira, it really rewards you.
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xyzzy

49.



Inside's hard to talk around. It has a craft and care to it that Limbo lacked, and its artistic vision is coherent and consistent throughout. You can see it as a straight puzzle game where weird things happen but that undercuts the oppressive narrative that is woven throughout this silent game. Everything is hand crafted and in the perfect position here. You'll only see each set piece or moment once. I don't have the words to explain it, but this game probably shouldn't exist. The cohesive package and interpreted story that this game tells is mega impressive.

And once you go inside -- oh my god. It's all I thought about for days.
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xyzzy

let's see how far we can get tonight!

50.



There's like a quadrillion things you could complain about in X but the exploration shines through. It's just so much fun to look around this alien world and they give you a ridiculous jump that lets you ascend mountains with ease. It works in its favour because all you really want to do in X is inch your way forward, trying to survive as you get further and further in trying to unlock check points or whatever. The quests and main story and music and hub city are all riddled with flaws but screw that. This game is great.

Also that NLA music is delicious for reasons unknown
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xyzzy

51.



I love terminals and command prompts. I'm a person who lists Zork as one of my 10 most influential games. I love fake-ass hacking because I'm too fake to make it doing that stuff. Hacknet works on me because it's light and Hollywood-y and basically just a real light puzzle game with some great presentation. I wish it was a little more, I don't know, real but I'll take what I can get.

I should talk more about that presentation. I love the screens and how they glow. I love the music that plays during some of the climaxes. A good terminal window and a proper soundtrack goes a long way and Hacknet gets it right.

Also the DLC for this game is pretty great and has mindfucky out-of-world stuff in it that makes pretenders like Undertale look bad. Play it.
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xyzzy

52.



EO5 is classic Etrian Odyssey but with lots of little quality of life changes to make it a more enjoyable play. It moves quicker, maps more conveniently, conveys information better and is overall a better play experience. I just wrote this a few weeks ago but the Etrian Odyssey series isn't great just because you get to draw a map. It's great because there's a slow build from darkness to sight, from the enemies to the skills you learn to the synergy with your team to, yes, the dungeon and its map. EO5 is one of the best ones of those.
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xyzzy

I really hated how Mario Sunshine moved but it's been 15 years so don't expect any supporting details!
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xyzzy

53.



People who follow me closely know that my favourite thing in action-y video games is how I move across an environment, from point a to point b. I need my traversal to flow and feel good.

Mario Odyssey has more enjoyable ways of traversal than just about anything I can think of, and a whole lot of them are really fun. 2d Mario games are very straightforward and Mario 64 always controlled like garbage. Mario Odyssey is an absolute joy to play, whether you're just doing crazy hat tech or taking over all of the crazy creatures. The variety is impressive and their movements feel refined in a way that surprises because there's just so much there. A lot of people put a lot of love into this game and it shows. I didn't expect to like it that much and it ended up being my favourite Mario game.
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xyzzy

54.



A lighthearted and fun little action RPG romp with super addicting music. Crystalis is ahead of its time blah blah blah and also it's just really fun to play. Gameplay is simple and effective in that half Zelda, half Secret of Mana kind of way. Seriously, it might have the best soundtrack on the NES. Maybe the best one without 'Mega Man' in the title.

I go back to this game every 3 or so years and really enjoy it every time.
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xyzzy

55.



I can name pretty much every DW1 enemy, probably in order (https://www.sporcle.com/games/wonderslime/dragonwarriormonsters - 100%, yo). I can walk through that cave where the Green Dragon is to get to the southeastern continent without lighting a torch. There's something about that map and that world that's truly classic. The original Dragon Warrior is a game I can jog through every few years and really enjoy. Others did it better but none felt as essential.

Just don't play the NES version - those exp tables are painful to grind through. Not even I can stomach fighting 42 rogue scorpions in a row.
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xyzzy

there's, like, some cheat mode kinds of speed up options I think? but it's more like put the game at warp speed similar to an emulator would, not fixing the base problem.

I want that Battle 1 but not that 10 second pan between your characters and the enemies every darn time
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xyzzy

56.



You can play 7-8 runs of Super Hexagon in like 3 minutes, sometimes more if you're playing the hardestest levels or just sucking. This isn't a game you can realistically play for 30 minutes straight. It's the perfect phone game - and also is a high skill game that works perfectly on a touch screen. Those two things combined really work in its favor.

The distracting visuals and the great music also work really well together. It's a real experience, but also video games distilled to its purest form - that's basically Super Hexagon. You get in there, you get tortured and maybe you survived an extra two seconds. Love this game.
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xyzzy

57.



Let's be honest - Isaac's core gameplay isn't that great. Circling rooms shooting guys endlessly is not that fun and it's not like any of the game's random levels present particularly interesting challenges.

The fun of Isaac is in the ever-growing numbers of items and modifiers that you bolt on to yourself throughout the course of a run. That "what am I going to get next?" aspect to the game's hundreds of upgrades is super fascinating and makes it feel like a true capital-r roguelike where the possibilities are kind of endless and no two runs are even remotely the same. It's empty calories due to the gameplay not being super appealing but the insane combos that you get more than makes up for it.
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xyzzy

58.



MAN does this game have a cool look. It's the first thing anyone says about it and rightly so. The music plays into it so well. Persona 5 is just cool.

Persona 5 makes smart gameplay changes, especially in regards to leveling up your social links. It'll be hard to go back to 3 and 4 and find links that don't give you some kind of perk. (damn you instant gratification!) This game should be the best one of these but there are pacing issues and the endgame swerve is a bit of a letdown.
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xyzzy

wait, job system? tell me more
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xyzzy

59.



It looks like a goofy NBA Jam-like sports game, but Lethal League is definitely a fighting game at heart. It's got a perfect loop of incredible buildup as the ball goes faster and faster followed by the amazing feeling of completely wrecking your opponent. The animations and colors sell this game really well. This game is great both for couch co-op or just goofing off in an online lobby. I fondly remember a game with me, Dante, Nee and Theo that was way more fun than it had any right to be.
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xyzzy

I've been waiting to replay it because I'm assuming someone is going to do something amazing to the game now that it's on PC. I'm surprised it hasn't happened yet.
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xyzzy

okay, this year I'm just doing pictures! I think it evokes better memories/feelings of games. I hope you haven't turned them off or else this won't be much fun

60.



The posterchild of Final Fantasy. FF9 evokes all of the feelings from the 90s Final Fantasy games (well, except 8) into one distilled package. Despite being a throwback, FF9 has a cohesive theme and plot that comes together really well.

It's unfortunately marred by poor battle load times and slow ATB gauges that get more and more unacceptable each year as games continue to get quicker and more accessible. You'd think a PC port would natively fix that, but nope!
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xyzzy

I like where we're going here
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xyzzy

It's time again for my biennial top xx games list! I'm no Heroic Mario but my games taste does change a bit from year to year and it's fun to refresh as a thought exercise. I rarely have the same #1 two lists in a row. (I haven't finalized my #1 yet so I'm not sure if that will hold true this time around.)

I'm going to be brief this year -- so, let's say, maybe 100 words for each game. I won't be counting words or anything but there's only so many times I can write (and you can read) about Mega Man 2 or Final Fantasy Whatever. I might splurge if I have something significant to say but I'll probably reserve that for games I have real strong feelings about right now. As such, I'll aim to have this completed by the end of the week.

So get those predictions in! I'll start in a little bit!
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xyzzy

Bucks twitter rejoices

Toronto over the last month has been a really different team. they seem transformed from last year but then they play the Cavs in the playoffs and does anyone pick the Raptors? we'll see
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xyzzy

here's a review

http://www.pushsquare.com/reviews/ps4/iconoclasts
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xyzzy

I might. waiting to see some impressions.
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xyzzy

the heat were terrible early too, now that I think of it. yeah, outside of the top 3 in the east (though the cavs may fall out of it at some point, but y'know), nothing is set there. there's a lot of parity but none of those teams are more than decent.
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xyzzy

like 15 years ahead of ya bud

says cool elitist guy
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xyzzy

the east was just weird early on. the magic and the pistons looked like legitimate contenders. giannis looked like he was headed for an all-time season and was going to lift the bucks to the promised land. even the knicks looked good early when KP went on that run before getting worn down by the grind of the regular season. the nets looked okay too. the only one that hasn't fallen back is the pacers, and that's just because oladipo is a legit all-star out of nowhere as opposed to guys like aaron gordon shooting 156% from 3 or Andre Drummond being a top center.

the only other weird one is the bulls but they got mirotic back so at least there's a reason there. oh, and markkanen is legit. that helps.
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xyzzy

episode 1 is all setup. now the fun begins
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xyzzy

you don't have the votes
you don't have the votes

you're gonna need congressional approval and you don't have the votes
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xyzzy

actually Giannis might be #2
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xyzzy

Durant is the undoubted #1, Harden #2 but Curry and Harden doesn't make a lot of sense
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xyzzy

two NO players in the starting five

23-21
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xyzzy

I know who to blame if you end up not liking this game!
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xyzzy

my wife and I agreed that my 4 year old cannot see this video because he would lose his goddamn mind.
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xyzzy

man I've always disliked Paul Pierce and his little ego trip over his jersey retirement pretty much confirms everything that I thought about him
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xyzzy

you'll like it
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xyzzy

pokio shouldn't be in the top 5
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xyzzy

I have some pretty strong opinions on what should be high
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xyzzy

haha, this is so not what you think
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xyzzy

so, uh, I'm going to be on Waypoint in the near future
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xyzzy

f-zero gx is so amazing
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xyzzy

oh I like OT Phoenix more than AA4 Phoenix. I just like AA4 Phoenix more than the neutering they've done to him in AA5 and 6. AA4 is all about doing what needs to be done to win -- basically the opposite of 2-4. it makes sense that Phoenix wouldn't beat Kristoph because Kristoph is straight up a better opponent than anything in AA5 or AA6.
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xyzzy

I'm sure it's because they've done like 8 of these and super metroid gets a little boring to the people putting it on. they like to showcase more games.

I can always watch any of the 8 other super metroid races, or the hundreds of non gdq ones
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xyzzy