LogFAQs > #977476000

45. Hi-Fi Rush
Rhythm May Cry really is the best way to describe this. I love rhythm games, and I love character action games, so naturally I was immediately interested in Hi-Fi Rush. Shoving two great things together always ends up working out, right?

Thankfully, this time it did. Hi-Fi Rush is a fantastic aesthetic experience. Its visual style is colorful and appealing to look at, the writing is genuinely funny, the voice acting is top notch, and the licensed music was perfectly chosen. This game is the closest you'll get to playing a Saturday Morning Cartoon. There actually are some animated cutscenes in the game to fit the theme, which look great and they still feel like a downgrade, because the in-game art style is just that good.

The gameplay doesn't quite meet the standards of the best character action games, but it's still a lot of fun. You've got your dodges, parries, combos, and enemies that are (mostly) well-designed. Hi-Fi Rush's big gimmick is that buttons need to be pressed on the beat of a rhythm, which takes some getting used to but feels amazing when you get the hang of it.

That isn't to say the game is without flaws. The the platforming feels sub-par, which sucks because there's a surprising amount of platforming. It also took me a while to get immersed in the cast of characters, although I quite liked them by the end. Other than that, though, any complaints I could have would feel like nitpicking. Fingers crossed for a sequel.

44. Fate/Stay Night
Putting this above Umineko feels wrong, but Fate/Stay Night didn't shit the bed in its final act, so here we are.

FSN has retained a surprisingly large spot in my mind ever since I played it...15 years ago? Jesus Christ I'm old. Anyway, there's a lot about the story that feels inherently memorable. The Holy Grail War is such a fantastic framing device that it spawned a major gacha the second the series branched out. Despite being a Visual Novel, the action sequences are legitimately thrilling, moreso than most actual action games. The characters are also nuanced, with flaws and quirks and development and all that good stuff.

Its protagonist Emiya Shirou is the secret sauce that brings everything together, though. He's rarely someone's favorite character after finishing the game he wasn't mine but his warped ideology and how each route affects it differently is what drives most of the story engagement. Unfortunately the anime adaptation didn't do him justice, so his reputation has taken a hit, but at least I still remember OG VN Shirou.

Even if he did spend most of the third route cooking. Is it even worth mentioning FSN's pacing issues? Like, it's a problem, but every damn Visual Novel seems to have pacing issues as well. I legitimately can't think of one that doesn't fumble this outside of the original Phoenix Wright trilogy. I'm used to it by now and in a weird way, the long stretches of buildup make the moments of climax stand out that much more.

43. Alien: Isolation
Tension: the game.

There's not much to talk about here. Alien Isolation's story and characters are excuses for the setting. I don't remember any of its music. The franchise isn't one I'm super attached to.

But goddamn did it deliver in the only way that mattered. Alien Isolation's gameplay amounts to an extended, ~20 hour long horror stealth sequence, and it does that really well. The Alien pursues, and you hide. The Alien adapts, and you adapt as well or die. There's honestly not that much variety to it, but the core mechanics were so perfect that I didn't care. This game hit the ideal balance of scaring the daylights out of me and presenting a challenge that can be overcome. I want to replay it in VR someday.

42. Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations
The 'objective' best Ace Attorney game. If you polled the fanbase, I think maybe 70% of them would choose this as their favorite, which is insane for a series with like 10 games. AA3 is all killer, no filler. Every case is good at minimum, amazing at best, and the its overarching narrative builds up is super memorable. Part of that is thanks to *INSERT SPOILERS*, who is potentially the best villain in the series.

What keeps it below AA1 for me is that I don't like 3-5 nearly as much as most people. When I first played that case, the ending kind of underwhelmed me. Still good, but didn't hit my emotions quite where I wanted it to.

P.S. Since there's no natural place on the list to mention this...if I were to isolate 2-4 and ignore the rest of Justice For All, it might have made my Top 50 on its own. Best case, incredible experience. Nothing else in AA has come anywhere close to eliciting the emotional response that 2-4 did.

41. Crystal Project
I don't think it's possible to make a better 2D JRPG battle system than Crystal Project.

Bold claim, I'm aware, but I believe it. Adding MMORPG-style enmity to turn-based combat was a stroke of genius. It means you can't just do the basic damage->heal->damage->heal; you need to actually pay attention to what characters the enemies are going to target, then manage your threat levels accordingly. It adds a huge layer of strategy, especially on Hard mode, where one mistake can result in defeat.

The job system is also the only job system I've legitimately loved. It's easy to switch things up without endless grinding, and it highly rewards creativity, encouraging you to test different abilities and party formations. After Crystal Project, something like the job system in FF5 or FFT would feel like a massive chore to revisit.

Finally, there's the more contentious aspect of the game: its heavy focus on weird-ass pixel platforming. Personally, I think it significantly adds to the experience. Exploring the world and looking for potential pathways had me canvassing every inch of the map. A lot of people will completely bounce off this element, though, which is understandable. It's simply not what many are looking for in a 2D JRPG.

Overall, this game perfected the genre for me at least its gameplay. The story is largely nonexistent, but who cares when there's fantastic exploration and fascinating combat?...Okay most RPG fans would probably care, but I was too busy sinking 80+ hours into Crystal Project to be particularly upset about its paper-thin writing.

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Round 7 hints will be posted in a few hours.