LogFAQs > #977980369

20. Fallout: New Vegas
There's a lot that could be said about Fallout New Vegas. It's the only Bethesda game to combine their unique style of exploration gameplay with actual strong writing, and shocker of shocker, the end result is really damn good. The Mojave desert feels like a fully-realized society without sacrificing the wacky novelty that categorizes Fallout. You get your faction intrigue in some quests and 'what the heck did I just see' in others best of both worlds.

I've talked about multiple Bethesda games on this list, so I won't rehash what makes those kinds of games fun. Instead, I'd like to focus on the one part of New Vegas that has stood out to me even years later: the Yes Man ending. Modern WRPGs that offer branching choices have a habit of tying your choices to pre-existing factions. You can be a Specter or an Inquisitor or a Witcher, but in the end you're still just furthering the interests of whoever you happen to agree with the most. Is it realistic? Sure, but these are video games, damnit. Why am I letting myself be led around by the nose when I'm the most important person in the universe?

Then there's New Vegas. In a game that has probably the best-written factions out of any WRPG I've played, in a game where I'd actually be fine with being forced to pick one...you're given an out. Yes Man comes rolling in and offers you the option that I always hope a game has, but almost never does: betray everyone and take over.

It's the best. So what if you don't know the first thing about governance? So what if Mr. House or the NCR would do a better job at leading the Mojave than you? Screw them. You're the one with quicksave and reload, so you get to make the rules. This desert belonged to you the moment you survived a gunshot to the head and woke up with a (platinum) chip on your shoulder.

19. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
In the tutorial stage of Metal Gear Rising, you will:

-Jump on top of missiles flying through the air
-Parry a Metal Gear and toss it up while RULES OF NATURE's vocals kick in
-Get monologued at by a Brazilian samurai who cuts off your arm
-Fail to avert a presidential assassination, leading to major geopolitical ramifications

And that's honestly a good summary of the tonal experience you'll get from then on. MGR is an insane fusion of character action gameplay and Metal Gear batshit political writing, and it somehow works. One minute you're pulling someone's spine out to heal; the next you're learning about how the world is struggling to recover from the events of MGS4. Actually, I like Rising's codec conversations more than some numbered Metal Gear games. Turns out you can have some of the best combat in the business AND still tell a decent story! All the other action games were just fucking it up.

Outside of combat and the general story, Rising has three things worth pointing out as noteworthy. The first is the music, which is fantastic, especially in-game where the vocals are timed to kick in at the hypest possible moments. The second is Senator Armstrong, who would probably top a Best Bosses list if I felt like making one. Genuinely uses his limited screentime better than any other character I've ever seen.

The third is a bit more of a 'me' thing, but despite Raiden being one of my favorite characters after MGS2, I didn't like him much in MGS4. He came across like Kojima trying too hard to make him cool after the MGS2 backlash. Rising manages to reconcile Raiden's MGS2 and MGS4 portrayals while simultaneously advancing his character arc and giving it a fitting conclusion. Legitimately impressed at how they handled that.