Lurker > MrSmartGuy

Holy shit I wasn't expecting to see actual games.

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

yee

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

Last one?

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

One more, I guess

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

I'm sure that wasn't suspicious at all.

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/79323228

I'm running that sports discord ranks our top 100 games project, and we've made it to the top 10. I just posted a few DR games on this first page, so I figured I'd drop a link in case anyone felt like reading my thoughts on them.

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

probably the second-to-last post for me. what a ride.

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

man this lasted a while huh

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

My full list so far:

HM. Nintendo World Cup
HM. Tecmo Super Bowl
HM. Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec
HM. Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour
HM. Burnout 3: Takedown
HM. The Urbz: Sims in the City
HM. Winning Eleven 9
HM. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
HM. Hitman: Blood Money
HM. Deadly Premonition
HM. Ratchet & Clank (PS4)
HM. NHL Hitz 20-02
HM. Hades
100. Earthbound
99. Rush 2: Extreme Racing USA
98. Mario Golf: Advance Tour
97. Sonic Adventure 2 Battle
96. FTL: Faster Than Light
95. Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
94. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
93. Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time
92. Beat Saber
91. Pocket Card Jockey
90. WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2006
89. Persona 5
88. Trauma Team
87. HITMAN
86. The World Ends With You
85. Professor Layton and the Unwound Future
84. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
83. Pokemon Stadium 2
82. Mass Effect 3
81. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
80. NES Open Tournament Golf
79. Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2
78. Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate
77. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
76. Mario Party 2
75. The Lost Mind of Dr. Brain
74. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies
73. Saints Row: The Third
72. SSX3
71. Doki Doki Literature Club
70. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4
69. Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride
68. Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds
67. WarioWare: Twisted!
66. TimeSplitters 2
65. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
64. Chrono Trigger
63. Tetris Effect
62. Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow Version
61. Dark Souls
60. Hot Shots Golf Fore!
59. Mario Kart 8
58. Return of the Obra Dinn
57. Mario Golf (N64)
56. Hotel Dusk: Room 215
55. Dark Souls III
54. Advance Wars: Dual Strike
53. Last Window: Secret of Cape West
52. Borderlands 2
51. the jackbox PARTY PACKs
50. Batman: Arkham Asylum
49. Pokemon Black/White Version
48. Fire Emblem
47. Paper Mario
46. Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor's Path
45. SOCOM II: U.S. Navy SEALs
44. Shadow of the Colossus
43. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
42. Rock Band 2
41. Mario Golf
40. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
39. Skate 3
38. Snowboard Kids 2
37. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
36. Mario Tennis
35. Diddy Kong Racing
34. Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising
33. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice
32. Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal
31. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
30. Mario Tennis
29. SNATCHER
28. Pokemon Puzzle League
27. Horizon: Zero Dawn
26. Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward
25. Pokemon Gold/Silver Version
24. Elite Beat Agents
23. Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational
22. Super Smash Bros. Melee
21. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
20. Fallout 3
19. Banjo-Kazooie
18. Inazuma Eleven
17. Super Mario Odyssey
16. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
15. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations
14. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
13. Final Fantasy X
12. Mass Effect 2
11. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Oh boy oh boy, time for the reeeeeeally good stuff.

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

#11 - Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3, my GotY for 2009)


I really do wish I could bother to give this game a proper once-over, because I still consider it action-game perfection, but I dont really have a choice but to place it with its perfect sequel brethren in Mass Effect 2, because theyre both what I consider best-of-genre games. However, its been a few handfuls of years since Ive played either, and several details about both are foggy. You may have noticed that my ME2 write-up read a lot like a review, and thats no coincidence; I literally had to read a review to get ideas, but Id be doing a disservice to both of these games if I didnt at least try to do something original here.

On that note, what I can relay to you is that Nathan Drake is a perfect protagonist for this kind of game, the action sequences are second-to-none to anything else in the industry, the game plays like an absolute dream (the level design is sooo much better than UC1 and probably 3 and 4 as well), and oh yeah, it had one of the most fun multiplayer modes Ive ever played. I cant believe this game is almost old enough to make its own GameFAQs account. This was so ahead of its time, its insane.

The supporting cast is awesome, too, and I dont recall there being anything out of left field, character development-wise. Like, there were plenty of twists and double-crossing to be had in the game, but everyones motives always made sense. Except the end of the game had a major twist that drastically changed up the gameplay and uh, pretty sure no one was really feeling that one, but it is what it is.

Still, given that UC2 single-player alone is a 9.5/10 game, and the multiplayer alone is a 9.5/10 game, this would rate the highest of my list as a 19/10 overall. Good on you, Uncharted 2.

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

Star Fox 64 was on my list for a while and ended up being a last-minute cut. It's a game that I kinda enjoyed back in the day, but somehow has gotten slightly better over time, which is one of the only games I've ever played that I can say that about.

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

#12 - Mass Effect 2 (360, 2010)


I legitimately cant think of any other trilogy where the middle entry has blown the other two out of the water quite as hard as Mass Effect 2 did. Not to say that the other two entries are bad; Mass Effect 3 is my #82, and 1 just barely missed the cut. Each of the 3 titles has distinct strengths and weaknesses. Mass Effect 1 built one of the most unique and detailed video game universes the human race has ever seen, but the gameplay is really rough around the edges, and that save point system really couldve used a massive overhaul. Mass Effect 3 went above and beyond with all of its set pieces, and the game may play even better than 2, but it had a few writing miscues, its new characters are mostly throwaways, and the ending couldve been handled a lot better.

I believe Mass Effect 2s only flaw is that it was in fact the middle entry, thus stuck between its world-building prequel, and its story-concluding sequel. Thats really it. The writing is by far the best of the three, the characters are the most fun of the three, the gameplay compared to 1 is a fucking godsend. Build yourself as a Vanguard and Shepard feels like a goddamn panzer tank. Build yourself as anything else and youll still feel awesome, but for real why would you not want to be a panzer tank?

I dont think it can be understated how all the relatively small things that BioWare made better from Mass Effect 1 that people tend not to remember years later translated into a near-perfect action game. The level design from Mass Effect 1 was so bland and monotonous, whereas 2s is so lively and fluid. Running around a room in ME1 never felt like the right move, and it led to a lot of waiting around for a tech or biotic power to come back online. Staying totally still in one spot in ME2 will get you killed faster than just about everything else, and it makes combat a much more engaging experience.

That and the weapon and inventory system in 2 are the two key aspects that brought Mass Effect from a C- action RPG to an A+ one. No longer do you have to spend 10 minutes between planets trying to figure out which numbers you want on your armor and guns. Theres still customization, but its streamlined so much better, and still holds that feel of importance. And no longer gatekeeping guns behind an overheat system is perhaps the most overlooked critical change. In ME1, again, you were incentivized to just hang out in one place until your gun cooled down, so you could go back to shooting. In ME2, youre going to run out of ammo if you stay still, so lets say your assault rifle runs out. Time to go in, shotgun-a-blazing, and try to pick off the stragglers, so you can pick up their assault rifle ammo for the next gunfight. I cant emphasize enough how these two somewhat small design changes led to such a more thrilling game.

All that talking up the gameplay, and yet the star of the show is still the story and its cast. Everyone is so goddamn cool. Jack is a badass, Miranda is neat, Thane is great, Legion is awesome, Grunt is fun, Mordin is an all-timer. There isnt a whole lot of overlap in character dialogue and such, but getting to know the cast and building rapport with them individually is more fun in ME2 than any other game Ive ever played. And it all builds to an ending that, for a game where you kinda ultimately accomplish absolutely nothing, is as satisfying as it gets. ME2 is the ultimate package for a video game, and Im legitimately bummed its somehow not in my top 10. Its an outrage, is what it is.

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

yessir

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

yup

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

Yeah, definitely Kazuichi, which makes me sad.

Unless it's Akane, which would be super low, but...... I wouldn't be all that against it tbqh

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

#13 - Final Fantasy X (PS2, my GotY for 2001)


If wed have begun this project as recently as 7 years ago, I wouldve told you that Final Fantasy X is in my unassailable top 3 with Resident Evil 4/Metal Gear Solid 3. Over the coming two weeks you will see if time has treated those other two games much better, but this write-up will specifically address FFXs fall from grace.

Lets cut back to the summer of 2001 for a bit. I am 13, and persistent in holding out on my Nintendo fandom, because I am only allowed one new console every generation, and not quite old enough to really understand how to save up several hundred dollars yet. Sony gets the jump on Nintendo and releases the PS2 a year earlier than Nintendo can get their Cube out the door. I dont really quite have a pulse on whats big in the gaming world at this point; my only source on this kind of info is through the issues of Nintendo Power at my local library.

But my friend has a new PS2 and wants me to try out this game he got with it. I head over to his house and he pops in Final Fantasy X. I start a new game, and the first thing Im treated to is this fucking badass shot of a city getting destroyed accompanied by heavy metal. If that isnt a direct hook to a couple of 13 year olds, I dont know what is. I was floored. How were these graphics even possible in a video game? I had only ever seen polygons before, and this scrawny sports man is so realistic? I dont understand, but I must own this.

I would end up asking for a PS2 as a junior high graduation gift the following May, saving up enough to get a used copy of FFX, and blasting through the game in a month. I had no clue this idea of turn-based combat games even existed until Paper Mario. I actually skipped over the SNES when I was little, which was the heyday of the genre, and the N64 was severely lacking in that department, so FFX was opening an entire new world for me.

Unfortunately, now we must fast-forward to late-2016. I had been aware of the remaster coming out years earlier, but Im not too into the idea, because turn-based RPGs are not what I consider great targets for remasters in general. Looking better doesnt contribute much to its overall quality. But oh my god, someone has remade the entire soundtrack into Tidus laughs and Ill be damned if Im not going to experience the game in this way. I buy it, download the mod, and get to work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOzM4ClFG1o

and the magic just isnt there for me at all anymore. I get to Djose and the game is just so boring. Having enemies weaknesses tied directly to your characters stats and weapons doesnt detract much from an initial playthrough but boy does it make combat ridiculously stale super fast on a second or third time through. I still really enjoy the story, the characters, even Tidus cheesy voice acting, but its easily the highest-ranked game on my list that I would actively refuse to play anymore. It also opened my eyes on turn-based RPGs, which my list has been chock full of. By the time I finish, 15 of the 17 RPGs on my full list will be turn-based, and ultimately, that is all thanks to FFX.

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

#14 - Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Switch, my GotY for 2018)


When I initially played the Switchs huge 3 titles (this, Mario Odyssey, and Breath of the Wild), Smash Ultimate was actually the game I was the least into. I loved all of them dearly, but the other two I instantly knew were going to be classics. But then, as I was trying to fine-tune my list, I had to decide where to put the three, and Im actually a bit surprised myself that Smash Bros. Ultimate beat out the other two. I can look at the Zelda and Mario series, and while their Switch games are both far and away my favorite games of their respective series, I have the utmost faith that they will eventually be able to recapture that magic. I dont know how Sakurai can ever top Smash Ultimate. I honestly dont think its possible.

The amount of love poured into this game is second-to-none. Every characters moveset is a blatant love letter to their games and their stories. Final Smashes are such a fun moment to see as your favorite characters pull off something ridiculously powerful. Sometimes its not even possible for them to do that stuff in their own games. Watching Captain Falcon run over people with his car, Ridley blow Samus ship up, or a bunch of Yoshis stampede over some poor sap are all things youll never see in another game. And yet the Final Smashes that mimic the game they come from are all so perfect, too, especially in the DLC characters. Banjo invoking the Jinjonator, Sephiroth turning into his Safer form, and Joker busting out an All-Out Attack are three of my personal favorites (get out of here Byleth, with your jpeg).

Another thing Ultimate has over all its predecessors is the balance of the game. Just about every character is perfectly viable, especially in casual play. Good luck playing as Luigi in 64, Bowser in Melee, or Ganondorf in Brawl or 4. Ultimate has a few characters that are extraordinary, and others that are pretty bad in 1v1 matchups, but you can still legitimately win as every single one of them, especially in FFAs. My two favorite characters to play as are Byleth and Incineroar, who are bottom tier, but theyre still a force to be reckoned with, and I have great track records with both.

Beyond just feeling great to play, theres an absurd amount of content in the game. I legitimately dont know how it all fits in here. More than 100 stages, 900 songs, modes for days, boss battles, almost 100 items, over 50 Pokemon and almost that many Assist Trophies. And then beyond all that, theres still a 30-hour single-player story mode paying homage to video games from all over, from Cubivore to Fatal Frame to Undertale to Rayman to Wave Race to Wii Music to Baten Kaitos to Warframe to Bomberman to Cuphead to Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru, and they all have gimmick battles that invoke great memories of every one of those characters. I cant imagine theres someone out there who can look at the content contained in this single game and think that more couldve been done to pay homage to video game history. Its basically single-handedly a video game museum.

Byleth > Incineroar > Roy > Joker > Ike > Captain Falcon > Pokemon Trainer > Chrom > Banjo Kazooie > Cloud > Mii Brawler > Lucina > Ganondorf > Shulk > Min Min > Marth > Zelda > Toon Link > Richter > Hero > Dark Samus > Link > Robin > Ridley > Game & Watch > Mii Gunner > Terry > Dark Pit > Falco > Pikachu > Isabelle > Luigi > others Im not fond of playing (but holy shit thats a whopping 32 characters I really enjoy playing as).

Ultimate > Melee > 3DS > Brawl > Wii U > 64

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

Alright, cool, anyway, man this game was bad for a good 3/4 of it. I think the only deaths I legitimately enjoyed solving were Reginald's, Clay/Trinity's, and Tequila Belle's. The rest were just kinda going through video game bullshit to get you there. Like, the steps you had to take to prevent Willow's death were as follows:

1. Find a magic amulet.
2. Take it to some fish to feed it.
3. Hold amulet in front of door.
4. Pour water on ghost candle to prevent a talking ghost fish from using voodoo on her.

Like...... what?! I know we just had a massive spider in a room, and my whole rewind time superpowers themselves aren't exactly grounded in reality, but man that made no fucking sense.

A lot of the later puzzles felt like they were completely out of ideas. Yeah, just have a ghost tell him where to find the hidden circuit breaker, it'll be fine.

And GOD DAMN did the ending drag on for waaaaay too fucking long. There was a lot of symbolism in there, but it really wasn't necessary. I get it. It's a metaphor for Lucas's guilt. I don't need to literally see the entire building on fire and have to run through it again.

This game gives me some real To The Moon vibes, though slightly different. The overall ideas behind both games are really fucking cool, but the guy behind To The Moon just couldn't write to save his life, and the team behind Sexy Brutale just really didn't know how to make a fun video game.

It's gonna be hard to tell immediately whether I'm going to look back on this game and think "wow, I should really learn to forgive myself more, thanks Sexy Brutale" or whether it's gonna be another To The Moon situation, where I just hate the game because I have to remember how frustrated I was playing it.

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

I've been watching supergreatfriend play Ghost Trick over the past few weeks, and I've been reminded how amazing that game is.

Before today's stream, someone had told him to try Sexy Brutale, because it has a similar concept.

With the whole repeatedly going back in time and trying to save people thing.

He did not enjoy it in the slightest, but I actually already had it installed from a long time ago.

Cuz I thought it looked neat a while ago.

Or maybe it was a Humble Bundle game or something, I don't remember.

Anyway, I thought what the hell, I'll give it a shot.

I...... don't really know how to feel about it.

It has a few good puzzles, and the overall moral of the story is a really cool idea.

But wow this game is super flawed in so many ways.

I think if I had to give it a score, I'd probably go with something like a 5/10.

But it's still a game I think I would recommend, oddly enough.

I think the overall message the game tries to convey is worth trudging through some inane bullshit along the way.

Hopefully, we're getting close to enough room taken up by this message....

....... that I can push the unmarked spoilers later off the screen.

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

#15 - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations (DS, 2004)


Ayy, its the B8 mascot game. If youve played it, you know why its here. If you havent, and somehow have managed to avoid the ridiculous hype the board throws at it so far, Id guess your ship has probably sailed by now.

Yeah, T&T is the best AA game. It likely has my favorite characters, plot, and cases, the all-important Ace Attorney trifecta. If it doesnt, all three of those categories are for sure in my top 2 in the series.

FULL SERIES CASE RANKINGS:
6-5 > 2-4 > 3-5 > 1-5 > 5-DLC > 3-2 > E2-5 > E2-4 > 1-4 > 5-2 > E2-3 > 1-3 > 3-4 > 5-5 > E2-1 > 6-3 > 4-1 > 5-3 > 3-1 > 6-2 > 2-2 > 3-3 > 5-4 > E2-2 > 1-2 > E-1 > E-3 > 4-2 > 6-DLC > E-2 > E-5 > 6-1 > 5-1 > 1-1 > 6-4 > E-4 > 2-1 > 4-4 > 2-3 > 4-3

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

Kenri posted...

Tom Petty - Free Fallin'

half_silver28 posted...

Lynyrd Skynyrd - Free Bird

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

How does MGS1 Revolver Ocelot even have a vote? Did they mistake it for MGS3 Ocelot?

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

And for characters, the post I deleted on the second page because of potential future spoilers was complaining about Hajime's negativity and that he's such a better character than fuckin' Makoto, but figured that might open Pandora's box in the topic, so I just got rid of it.

Here's where I sit on the first two games' characters:
Nagito
Hajime
Gundham
Sonia
Aoi
Chiaki
Sakura
Ibuki
Fuyuhiko
Impostor
Kyoko
Peko
Sayaka
Kazuichi
Nekomaru
Byakuya
Peko
Mukuro
Chihiro
Mahiru
Leon
Genocide Jack
Makoto
Mondo
Taka
Celeste
Hifumi
Hiro
Teruteru
Mikan
Toko
Hiyoko

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

Man, I went to the new page and saw that, and for a second, I thought that was Chris's rankings and was about to throw a shitfit, but nah, just Inviso's, so we're good.

DoomTheGyarados posted...

2-5 and 2-6 skullfucked everything else in this series so far I don't even know how to rank cases anymore.

Hellll yeah. 2-5 > 2-6 > 1-4 > 2-1 > 2-4 > 2-2 > 1-6 > 1-1 > 1-2 > 2-3 > 1-5 > 1-3

Um. As far as what to do next, you're welcome to try and check out the DR3 anime or UDG. That said, I have never even experienced UDG by osmosis and have found both the anime and DRV3 perfectly entertaining regardless. I hear UDG is really bad and I can say from experience that DR3 is pretty meh, with some pretty high and very low points. If you are dying for more DR goodness, hopping right into DRV3 is a fine line to take.

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

2-5 is my favorite murder mystery in any video game. Nagito is the GOAT.

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

Fuck yeah, fellow Last Window fan!

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

#16 - Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2, 2004)


When I first tried out Grand Theft Auto 3 nearly 20 years ago, I thought it was pretty good. Maybe not the revolutionary title that many others thought it to be, but it was a solid, fun game that set the groundwork for something that could be truly special. Vice City was a slight step in the right direction. It went harder on the Scarface parallel, which was neat, and it dabbled in some weird stuff not involving driving or shooting, but I felt like it wasnt quite what I was hoping for.

San Andreas was absolutely what I thought Grand Theft Auto could ultimately be. CJ is my favorite protagonist in the series, Officer Tenpenny is my favorite villain in the series, the map is my favorite in the series; just about everything about the game is my favorite GTA has to offer.

But the real reason San Andreas is unequivocally my favorite Grand Theft Auto game is because of just how much they packed into this single game. The map size is enormous, and its all unique and fun to explore. Los Santos, San Fierro, and Las Venturas are very much like their real life counterparts and are so different, it almost feels like they each encompass a different game. And thats before even getting into all the country roads in between.

Also, the mission variety is unmatched. A lot of the time, youre driving somewhere and shooting someone, sure, but theres a mission where you have to torch a big marijuana field, and the more you burn, the crazier the camera gets. Theres a mission where you have to pilot an RC plane strapped with bombs and take out a bunch of cars before they blow up key sections of the map. Theres a mission where you have to infiltrate the San Andreas equivalent of Area 51 and steal a jetpack.

And this isnt even touching upon all the sidestuff you can do thats completely optional. Theres blackjack, theres pimping, theres organized stealing, theres dancing, theres lowrider battles, theres graffiti-tagging, theres triathlons, theres horse betting, theres stunt jumping, theres driving school, there are gang wars, theres roulette, theres taxi driving, theres dating, there are gym workouts, theres video poker, you can play basketball, there are arcade games, theres the shooting range. There is a fleshed-out 8-ball pool minigame with decent physics.

AND YOU CAN DO MOST OF THIS WITH 2 PLAYERS. Did you remember you could find the little icons around the map that would let a second player join in on the madness? Cuz I only vaguely do, but now that Ive been reminded, I remember doing all kinds of dumb shit with friends. One of my fondest gaming memories of the time was getting out on the freeway and causing all kinds of mayhem and watching as the oncoming traffic would get out of their cars and fight each other instead of us.

Man, those were good times. So is GTA5, btw. Looking back, I think I mustve overlooked it, because it wouldve easily made my list somewhere, probably in the upper 40s somewhere. Whoops. Not much I can do about it now, though.

San Andreas > 5 > 4 > Vice City > 3 > Chinatown Wars

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

1-2 was the only case in the first game I didn't completely solve before the trial. Really thought that one was Byakuya.

Meanwhile, 2-3 is the only case in the second game I even got the culprit right before the trial.

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

#17 - Super Mario Odyssey (Switch, 2017)


OK, first off, how the fuck is this a real screenshot of a mainline Mario game? How did we get so lucky to live in a world where this exists? Could you imagine sending this picture back in time 10 years and seeing what people living in 2011 would think of this?

Anyway, I digress. While Banjo Kazooie is 64-bit collectathon platforming perfection, Super Mario Odyssey is modern-day collectathon platforming perfection. In most Mario games, looking around an out-of-the-way corner might reward you with a 1-up or some extra health. Odyssey rewards your exploration with Power Moons. Some can think this saturates the game or whatever. Theyre entitled to that opinion, and I can definitely see how you could come to it.

But I absolutely love it. If you like the big, sprawling levels, those still exist. You just have way more to keep you busy in the meantime. Gimme more Nintendo, inject this shit directly into my fucking veins. Come up with more new, creative ways to let me control Mario. The hat-jumping mechanics are a perfect middle ground between how Mario usually controls (Galaxy included) and Sunshines way-too-forgiving hover nozzle. Honestly, just make a big ol game with a floating hat with a bunch of collectibles and Im already on board.

But no, we can take control of our enemies and pop in and out at will. Maybe weve just gotten used to it over the last 3+ years of knowing this, but Im gonna say it again, just in case everyones forgotten. Thats so rad. You can be a little Cheep Cheep, or a Charging Chuck. You can take over something stupid like a manhole or a chunk of meat, or something absurdly cool like a Bullet Bill, or a Chain Chomp, or the aforementioned T. Rex. And they all feel so good to maneuver around.

Ive played through the game three times already: twice to 100% it, and once to beat it at the minimum Moons to then do this:
https://twitter.com/MrSmartGuyB8/status/934745897442746368

I had a lot of fun doing a bunch of dumb shit in this game, just to have it reward me for being so dumb, and thats the main reason I love it so much.
https://twitter.com/MrSmartGuyB8/status/933915441017143297
https://twitter.com/MrSmartGuyB8/status/931759888224493568
https://twitter.com/MrSmartGuyB8/status/926915007585009664

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
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Aoi
Sakura
Junko
Kyoko
Sayaka
Byakuya
Mukuro
Chihiro
Leon
Genocide Jack
Makoto
Mondo
Taka
Celeste
Hifumi
Hiro
Toko

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Tenko has several of the series' best faces, and that is one of the best, yes.

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Sorry, about borderline broke my own rule in post 4. I will behave.

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So I obviously was holding back by calling DR1 a 3/10 VA crew earlier, because I didn't want to allude to this. Junko bumps it up to a 4 or a 5.

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(By the way, Professor Layton is in this game)



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Speaking of which, Im going to use two of my final paragraphs of this write-up to go over some final selling points to the story. When its time to play Royal Academy again in the regional finals, its revealed that your coach has been a spy for them the entire time, and is then ordered to drain the brake fluid from the teams bus in an attempt to kill the entire team on its way to the match. His plan is discovered and foiled, so in one final attempt to get out of playing Raimon, Royal Academy has some technicians poised and ready to drop a bunch of steel girders on the Raimon side of the field, hoping to kill their players and force them to forfeit. However, the star player of Royal Academy has become aware of his coachs deceit by this point and warns Mark to have his team evacuate the field when the first whistle blows, saving everyones life.

In a plot dump right before the game begins, it turns out that the reason Royal Academy rose to power in the first place was because they pulled the exact same shit 40 years ago on the #1 team in the nation at that point. It happened to be the team that Marks grandfather coached, nicknamed the Inazuma Eleven. In fact, Grandpa Evans and some of his players died in a bus crash on the way to their match against Royal Academy. Now that Mark has been a victim of their attempted murder himself, he now knows that he has even more reason to get revenge on the team that literally fucking murdered his grandfather. And Axels sister? Yeah, they were actually the ones behind her getting hit by a truck and putting her into a coma.



I swear to God that I havent even covered some of the craziest plot devices this game has to offer. The Royal Academy match is only the end of the first half of the game because thats just the regionals. The second half of the game is the Future Frontier nationals, where it only gets crazier from there. If this sounds like your kind of shit, just like it was 100% mine, go check out the game on the 3DS eShop. I promise you wont be disappointed with the story, at the very least.

I am aware that there are several more Inazuma Eleven games that exist, but none of them ever made it to the US, and Im too lazy to bother figuring out how to play them otherwise. Im actually kinda scared that theyll ruin the first game for me, because it has a massive story arc that spans all kinds of things, and I cant imagine that they figured out a way to top this. But given that I just wrote a full essay on this game, Im really feeling the itch again, and I could very well be doing myself a massive disservice by not at least checking them out. You should all do the same, because this game is fuckin' bonkers.

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Storywise, after the tournament begins, the game becomes all about trying to find your next opponents specific weaknesses. One of the teams is a defensive powerhouse, and has a special ability where they can create a massive wall in front of their goal, making it impossible to score on them, thus eventually winning every match when they are eventually first able to score. You learn to beat them, by catapulting one of your players several feet into the air so you can clear the wall and put the ball in the net.

Another team is basically Metal Gear Solid 4: The Team, where their players are all linked up wirelessly (well, some of them not so wirelessly) to a single computer, and their coach is able to input all their commands for the players, giving the team perfect chemistry. Once youre able to take out the computer, the kids come to their senses and realize its more fun to play with their own merits, albeit with much worse soccer skills, making it much easier to beat them.


One of the later teams lures your team into a maid cafe with pretty girls, where theyre able to poison your entire teams food the day before the game and you have to play with a whole team full of really shitty players with all their stats stuck at 1 because they are all sick. Except for Mark and Axel, who are all soccer, all the time, and are oblivious to anything else, so they arent tempted by the cafe. So winning that game is all about trying to somehow get the ball forward to Axel, who can then rampage all over the other team because of his bloated stats.


A lot of the matches are really weird gimmicks like this, and theyre pretty fun to figure out. Then some of the later matches are just against really good teams, where its even more fun, because its just two teams seeing who can out-soccer-superpower the other team more efficiently.

Theres also a nifty stat-boosting training area you can go through that is a lot like Pokemon Black/White 2s post-game White Treehollow or Black Tower. You pay to enter the facility, where you go from square room to square room, fighting repeated minor battles against smaller teams as you make your way to the finale. Over the course of this, you have to swap your players out when they get tired or run out of TP to use their special moves, or ration out your use of your accumulated recovery items, because theres no healing with Prestige once you begin. If you can make it to the end, you play a full-length match, 11v11 against a team you have formerly beaten already. If you can manage to pull this all off without losing once, your entire team gets a boost to a stat. If you lose, you are out a bunch of Prestige. This is the most fun I have with the game, but it isnt very lucrative until the endgame, unfortunately.


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After the first Royal Academy match, the game begins to really open up. After news of their win over the unbeatable academy spreads, Raimon gets invited to the Future Frontier tournament, and Mark gets super motivated to try and win it all. You are able to run around Raimon Academy now, but the headmasters daughter says youre too soft to win any matches legitimately and has riled up all the other clubs at the school into fighting you. If you do run around, there are now random encounters against the tennis club and the sumo club and such, and you have to score on them to win.

You can recruit players from those other clubs at Raimon Academy that have different, and sometimes strictly better stats. Theres a really weird recruiting system, where you have to funnel a Prestige currency you earn over the course of the game through the aforementioned random battles into your manager who can then scout players all over campus. Then you get their location, run into them, and battle them to get them to join your team. There are over 600 fully unique players and you can recruit all but about 30 of them to your own team. Once the headmasters daughter joins your club as the manager, she can even recruit players of teams you have beaten before for you. You can also find old pages that detail Marks grandfathers old soccer superpowers from 40 years ago that you can then teach to your own players.


This is when Inazuma Eleven really pivots from being primarily a soccer game into being primarily a full-on RPG. Managing when to use your special moves is the key to success. You really dont want to have to expend precious TP using high-cost moves if you dont have to, and thats especially true for random battles. The currency you win from these battles, Prestige, is the lone currency in the game, and it can be spent on equipment, items, special moves, training, and recovering TP. The more TP you waste unnecessarily, the more Prestige you have to spend replenishing it, that can otherwise be spent making your team better by buying equipment or paying for stat increases.


Even during important tournament games, you need to save that TP for the moments that really matter, because theres no recovering it mid-game. If an opposing defender is dribbling the ball up toward midfield and a confrontation occurs with your midfielder, winning that contest really doesnt mean anything, because the ball will still be stuck at midfield. Theres a slim chance a regular defense will still beat a super move, so if it happens, thats golden for you. If you lose, who really cares; he still has to get the ball to his forwards to be a threat. However, if their best shooter has a breakaway and your one defender in his way is barely able to stop him, thats when you have to break out your best defensive super move to prevent a shot on goal.


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Come the day of the big game, Mark has gotten his full team together and is hoping his top-notch goalkeeper work is enough to hang with this Royal Academy. But when they show up, it turns out they are soccer nazis with supernatural soccer powers and they lay waste to Marks entire team for fun, on their way to a 19-0 rout by halftime.


Mark, however, refuses to give up, and takes the field for the second half, despite the fact that his teammates can no longer stand. As Royal Academy continues to assault Mark in the second half, Axel decides he can no longer sit there and watch, grabs a jersey, and enters himself into the game. Newly motivated, Mark awakens his own superpower, the legendary God Hand, and is finally able to stop one of Royal Academys shots.


He clears the ball forward to Axel, who has his own distinctive supershot and is able to score a goal for Raimon with it. It turns out Royal Academy had only requested the friendly in the first place to lure out Axel, and now that they have that scouting report on him and the surprising abilities of Mark, they forfeit the match and leave, sparing Raimon Academy (by the way, it turns out that any team Royal Academy beats, they tear down their entire school, not just the soccer club).


And the story doesnt stop being crazy from there. Oh no, you naive little child, this is literally just the beginning. Remember how Axel didnt want to join your team initially? Well, its because on the way to his tournament final match at another school, his little sister was late and tried crossing the street to the arena, but she was hit by a truck and is now in a coma. Axel blamed his love of soccer for this, swore off the sport altogether and moved to a new school, but Marks determination drove him back to the game.

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
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#18 - Inazuma Eleven (3DS, 2014)


This is the last game on my list that is gonna be a complete outlier from the rest of you guys, because the rest of my list is pretty cookie-cutter, but this is a game that is basically targeted directly at me and my specific tastes. Its super niche, but its easily one of my favorite games of all-time. Get ready for a massive fucking info dump as I nerdgasm all over everything this game has to offer.


Inazuma Eleven is an anime soccer game for the DS, made by Level-5, the team that created the Professor Layton series. But the soccer part is honestly just kind of a ruse, and its primarily a turn-based RPG, if you can believe that. You control your player with the stylus on the bottom screen, so you can dribble the ball, or position your defense in front of the opponent. If there is a point when someone on defense touches the player with the ball, the game will stop briefly and both sides will be given a choice. Will the ball carrier avoid the tackle or take on contact? Will the defender choose to slide or steal the ball outright? Afterward, the players stats will determine what happens and the game will continue in real-time. Its actually very similar to Blitzball, to make a comparison most of board 8 will understand.


At this point, Im sure a lot of you are now rolling your eyes, wondering how I could have a Blitzball simulator in my top 20. Please allow me to officially start selling this game to you now, by regaling you with some of the games story.

You play as Mark Evans, a middle schooler who is really passionate about soccer, and the head of Raimon Academys modest soccer club, which has a meager 6 members, where he plays goalkeeper. The head of the school then tells him that this other school that hasnt lost a match in 40 years, called Royal Academy, has requested a friendly with them, and that if they lose, they have to disband the club. Mark has to round up 5 new ragtag members in a day or else they cant even field a full team and will have to forfeit. In doing so, he comes across some bullies that pick on him, and a transfer student named Axel kicks a nearby ball into a bullys face so hard that it leaves a scorch mark. He asks him to join his team, but he refuses, for a reason I will discuss later.


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Celeste's voice breaking down into a generic American-sounding voice is the best voice acting you're going to get out of the first game, sadly. Both future games are much, MUCH better in this regard. Like, I'd give DR1's voice acting crew a 3/10, but DR2 and DRV3 are both easy 9/10's.

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
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DoomTheGyarados posted...

Also waifu rankings

Aoi
Kyoko
No one else who cares

Wow, one chapter in and he's already got it exactly right.

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Alright team, reminders that if you absolutely can't help but talk about a part of the game that Chris hasn't made it to yet, there is a dedicated Danganronpa spoiler topic to post in.

Let's keep this clean and spoiler-free, people!

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What part of her whining wasn't justified? Because they pulled all kinds of shit on her on Namek.

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Joe Walsh - Life's Been Good
Weird Al - Don't Download This Song

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
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Seriously, just thinking about To The Moon makes me legitimately angry, because it could've been a truly memorable game that stuck with me for years, but every time someone brings it up, I just get upset at how much potential it utterly wasted.

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To the Moon is the result of someone coming up with an amazing concept for a story, but not having even the slightest bit of writing talent to supplement it.

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#19 - Banjo-Kazooie (N64, my GotY for 1998)


As you can probably tell from the general makeup of my list, Im really not a big fan of platformers. This is the only one thats even shown up. Not a single mainline Mario, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, or Sonic game to be seen (OK so SA2B barely hung on, but the platforming is absolutely not why thats on my list). No indie games like Super Meat Boy, Shovel Knight, or VVVVVV on here, either. There are a few that ended up pretty close, like Mario Galaxy and Hat in Time, but in general, I just never really enjoyed the genre at all.

But Banjo Kazooie is 64-bit collectathon platforming perfection. The characters are goofy and their jokes land pretty well. The levels are beautiful and full of things to find (something the sequel had a lot of trouble with). And it just feels awesome to play. Banjo and Kazooie have dozens of moves to keep from ever feeling stale, and just in case it was, you have Mumbo Jumbo turning them into an alligator or a honeybee to really switch things up. The missions are tons of fun, and totally varied from level to level, and unlike a certain other game of its kind in this era, it doesnt rip you from the stage if you manage to get one of its collectibles!

I used to casually speedrun this game back in the 2010s on XBLA. It keeps track of your best times for you and has a leaderboard to push more competition. I think my best time ever for a 100% run was just shy of 3 hours, but its been a few years since Ive hopped on to see, so I may well be exaggerating on that.

Treasure Trove Cove > Click Clock Wood > Freezeezy Peak > Mumbo's Mountain > Gobis Valley > Bubblegloop Swamp > Mad Monster Mansion > Rusty Bucket Bay > Clankers Cavern

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#20 - Fallout 3 (360, 2008)


I didnt like Dead Space very much. I really thought it would be RE4 but in space and thatd be right up my alley, but nah, not really. I guess it just isnt the same without a wise-cracking protagonist. I regretted my purchase of it.

But then my friend gave me an out. Hey, Ill trade you my copy of Fallout 3 for Dead Space. Now that was pretty exciting. I tried Morrowind a few years after it came out and it was OK. Oblivion came out the year after I tried Morrowind, and I liked that even more. It came pretty close to making my list. But I had heard Fallout 3 was dubbed as Oblivions + Guns, and the idea was pretty enticing, just not really enough for me to jump onto trying it. But if the only price I had to pay was a game I didnt really like, then what was there for me to lose?

Turns out that was the best trade of my entire life. From the very beginning, I was super hooked. The opening hour or so, where you grow up in a vault underground was incredibly gripping, and the circumstances for having to leave were alluring. The first time the game loads the open world, and the protagonists eyes have to adjust to the sun he is seeing for the very first time is one of my most vivid gaming memories. Its such a powerful moment.

From there, I was off. It was time to kill stuff, talk to people, blow up some cities, gain some new, hilarious perks, and just have me a grand ol time. The story is alluring, the quests are neat, the writing is superb, the shooting and VATS system are both intuitive; everything in this game is just fun. Even if theres nothing immediate to do, just running around and finding new things is just fun.

I would be remiss in not mentioning the games DLC, which is some of the best video games have ever had to offer. All of them have strengths and weaknesses, but theyre all well worth the cost of entry.

Broken Steel > Operation: Anchorage > The Pitt > Mothership Zeta > Point Lookout

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Hades

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