LogFAQs > #977469522

50. Earthbound
It's hard to describe what makes Earthbound good to someone who doesn't get it. The game lives and dies on vibes. 'Quirky' as a descriptor comes to mind, but I think that's actually underselling the completely unique atmosphere that Earthbound exudes. Even the games that it inspired never managed to fully recapture its tone. Earthbound is silly, serious, nostalgic, thought-provoking, banal, whimsical, clever, ridiculous, stupid, and plenty of other adjectives. Thinking about everything really makes me want to replay it, just so I can experience those vibes again.

Notice how I haven't mentioned the gameplay, yet though? I'm a bigger fan of Earthbound's combat than most the rolling HP is a fun gimmick but it's still an old JRPG with all the downsides therein. Inventory management is a chore, battles are too slow, and world traversal is especially too slow. Ness feels like he moves at a snail's pace. Some games benefit from forcing the player to stop and smell the roses, but I'm not sure Earthbound does. This is by far the biggest problem with the game, and is what keeps it from having mainstream appeal to this day.

I can't end the writeup without mentioning its final boss. For a while, I considered it the best final boss I'd ever encountered. Giygas has been dethroned since then, and the things that made that fight special were copied repeatedly by other games, but it's still an incredible feat for an SNES title.

49. CrossCode
CrossCode is a weird game for me, because the first half probably doesn't make this list. It's a solid experience, don't get me wrong. CrossCode deftly combines charming writing, interesting puzzles, and pretty decent combat. The gimmick of having an actual silent protagonist is well-implemented too. However, the story and setting lacked a sense of gravitas, so it has hard for me to get truly invested in the game. I considered dropping it after a solid chunk of time, feeling like I'd seen all it had to offer.

Then I got to the mid-game twist.

Calling it a twist is doing it a disservice, actually. It's more like a series of repeated plot developments and gut punches that radically altered my perception of the game, culminating in one of the most exhilarating sequences in anything I've played. Nothing in CrossCode ever matches this height again, but it couldn't possibly, and it didn't need to. I was extremely invested in everything that happened afterwards.

...Then it stumbles with the very late-game puzzles. Those things are the most ridiculously difficult puzzles I've ever seen. The timing and planning required on them is bonkers. I used a step-by-step youtube guide so I could get past them, and I don't regret it. The ending was great outside of that though!

48. Persona 3: FES
The game that launched gaming's current JRPG darling franchise. I mean, I guess Persona 1 and 2 technically exist, but you get what I mean.

Persona's core loop is extremely addicting. Story feeds into gameplay which feeds into story. Social Links were a genius idea for getting the player invested in the world and dialogue. The calendar system is engaging without being stressful. Its battle system...isn't very interesting, but is balanced out by the other half of the loop, so it never gets outright boring. There's a reason this series has continuously grown in popularity for over a decade.

Persona 3 also has blatant flaws. It lacks the quality-of-life upgrades of its successors, half the Social Links feel underwritten, and its sole dungeon is essentially just a series of hallways. The cast and plot aren't that great either, which is kind of important for an RPG. I fully recognize that my enduring appreciation for P3 partially comes from how it was the first in the series that I played, meaning it felt incredibly fresh and exciting at the time.

With that said, it's time for my favorite buzzword to excuse a game's issues: atmosphere. Persona 3 nails several different atmosphere, which few game are capable of doing. It blends urban city life and existential melancholy in a way that feels special. Much of the heavy lifting there goes to the music, which is excellent. And while Tartarus is repetitive, it's honestly worth it for that moment where you finally reach the top.

The remake looks good, but I'll be probably pass on it. I don't think a replay of P3, even an upgraded P3, will be better than my Memories Of The City.

47. Final Fantasy X
I don't think Square knows how to make a game like FFX anymore. Actually, let me revise that: this is the one time they were firing on all cylinders and managed to make a game like FFX. It's the most balanced, well-paced Final Fantasy experience in the entire series. The plot is always moving forward at a steady pace, yet it avoids feeling like FF13's linear hallways. The battle system is turned based, but never feels slow, and has plenty of intuitive strategies for players to develop. The music is memorable, and the characters are mostly great, with Tidus and Auron as the standouts. FFX kind of does everything right. Except Blitzball, but you can ignore that if you want.

Like, have you seen FFX's sequels and spinoffs? That's what happens when Square tries to draw from this well again. It's embarrassing. The longer Square goes with inconsistent output, the more FFX feels like a happy accident.

The game's biggest issue is honestly its age. FFX suffers from being an early PS2-era release. Character animations in cutscenes look stiff, and the voice acting is inconsistent. Presentation that was revolutionary back in the day no longer is. For a game that focuses so heavily on storytelling, this is a problem when trying to revisit it. The core narrative of FFX is strong enough to overcome that hurdle, but it's definitely an issue.

Lastly...the laughing scene was well-acted, and the internet turning it into a meme is simultaneously funny and annoying.

46. Tales from the Borderlands
Telltale is notorious for none of their games living up to The Walking Dead Season 1. Borderlands is notorious for overly-quirky writing that ages worse with each year. So what happens when you make a Telltale game based off of Borderlands?

You get a miracle, essentially. Tales from the Borderlands has no right to be as good as it is. My personal experience with Borderlands before this were a few sessions of Borderlands 2 co-op with friends, which while fun, were fun mostly because it was co-op with friends. I came out of those sessions with very little respect for the world and writing of Borderlands as a whole. Heck, I'm not even sure why I bothered getting Tales.

But man is it just a blast to experience. The characters are all fantastic, especially the two main leads and a third who I will refrain from mentioning. The quirky humor is toned down to a point where it's actually funny. The story starts out as a more basic (but entertaining) heist thriller, then proceeds to reach emotional heights I didn't think were possible from this franchise. I'm being vague on purpose here, as I care enough about this game to not want to spoil it. I would easily recommend Tales to anyone, including people with zero knowledge of Borderlands.

Then Borderlands 3 re-used some of the Tales characters and it sucked. Then Tales from the Borderlands 2 came out and it sucked even worse. Tales 1 really was a miracle, and I'm happy it exists.