LogFAQs > #977304021

60. Deus Ex
Much like Half-Life 1, Deux Ex set a standard for immersive sims that feels like it should have been exceeded by now, but kinda hasn't. Every game in the genre still lives under its decades-long shadow.

That's not to say it's perfect. Age hasn't been kind to Deus Ex's graphics, and the voice acting is straight-up bad. However, the overall quality of its gameplay and writing is frankly astounding. You're given true freedom to explore its world and tackle missions in the way you want, but the game also never loses sight of its core narrative, which tackles heavy, nuanced themes that are more relevant nowadays than they were in 2000. If you were to make a list of the most 'intelligent' games, Deux Ex would easily make the shortlist its writers were clearly keyed into real-world issues and politics.

Granted, the stellar writing can be hard to take seriously when paired with the laughable voice acting, but at least we got some memes out of that.

59. Golden Sun / Golden Sun: The Lost Age
Propped up by nostalgia more than most other games on this list. Us Nintendo-systems-only people took what we could get before branching out! Golden Sun probably isn't worth playing to a modern RPG enthusiast, mostly because the writing...isn't so good. The plot and characters are somehow more boring than a random SNES game, while simultaneously being expressed in 20 times as many words. An editor was sorely needed here.

With that said, Golden Sun still does a lot else right. Its GBA graphics and music hold up shockingly well, and are undoubtedly the best on the system. Combat is simple on the surface but gets far more interesting when combined with the Djinn system especially during boss battles, where you're temporarily sacrificing stats in order to invoke unique effects and prepare for big summons.

And where the developers skimped on writing quality, then went all-out on dungeon design. Golden Sun 1 and 2 give you a variety of special abilities to use outside of combat, making dungeon puzzles actually fun to navigate and solve. I can't fully express how unusual it is for a game in this genre to have fun dungeon puzzles. Off the top of my head, I can't think of an RPG that does it better.

58. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
My experience with Bloodstained was extremely different from most other people's. I played it on PC, which means I didn't get the brutal input lag that going by a sales breakdown the majority of players experienced by choosing the Switch version. Additionally, most people who played Bloodstained probably started the game on Normal mode and breezed through a Metroidvania best described as Pretty Good.

I used a cheat code to start on Hard mode after a couple hours of being bored with Normal, because I have a problem. Suddenly, the game went from power fantasy to soulslike. I had to pay close attention to normal enemies, and bosses just plain fucked me up. It turned combat from mindless to thrilling. Wouldn't have worked out that way if the enemies weren't well-designed, but they thankfully are, with clear patterns you can get around with timing and skill.

Adding to that, the difficulty spike made exploration very rewarding. The variety of different abilities you learned from killing enemies actually felt important, and not just like bonus set dressing. You never knew what might help you gain an edge in the next battle. My favorite was when I discovered a tiny shield ability that seemed underwhelming at first due to high MP costs, then realized the shield got bigger as I upgraded it, blocked everything it hit, and could be immediately toggled on/off. Just like that, I'd found the game's secret Parry ability.

I already tended to start games on higher difficulties before Bloodstained, but this game cemented that practice.

57. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (modded)
I didn't enjoy base Skyrim very much. It felt like Oblivion with all the whimsy sucked out of it. Where's the Acrobatics stat, Bethesda???

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/56478

Never mind, I found it.

Skyrim is the closest thing that gaming has to a build-your-own game experience. You can modify it to be...so many different things. Want psuedo-Dark Souls combat? There's mods for that. Want it to be a true stealth game instead? There's mods for that. Disappointed with the base game's list of spells?...You get the idea. As long as you enjoy the fantasy world aesthetic, and you're willing to put up with some jank, you can make Skyrim into anything your heart desires.

I'm exaggerating, but not by much. What Skyrim's community has done for it is ridiculously impressive, giving the game a significantly longer shelf life than it would've normally had. Like, Skyrim modders have gotten so good that one mod spun off into its game that won awards. I'm not even remotely interested in trying Starfield until 2-3 years of mods are out for it.

56. Final Fantasy XII
The Zodiac Age version is the best version, but I was a big fan even before it came out. FF12 just happens to hit a lot of sweet spots I really love. Medieval fantasy world, music from the FFT guy, big areas to explore, pseudo-MMORPG combat, and a more grounded anime art style are all huge selling points for me. Engrossing gameplay (when you turn off gambits) combined with amazing aesthetics goes a long way. I've replayed FF12 four times and wouldn't mind going for a fifth sometime in the future.

It's also worth noting that I've only finished FF12 once. My playthroughs always end whenever I get my fill of hunts, and side content, because...

Well, there's no two ways around it: the plot and character suck. I don't actually disagree with people who dislike this game, because it fails at the fundamental reason why people are drawn to RPGs in the first place. It's also super obvious when the developers ran out of time/budget, because the frequency of cutscenes falls off a cliff halfway through. No amount of updated re-releases can fix that.