Board 8 > Leonhart Ranks 124 User Nominated Games: The Top Five

(+) Yeah! (+)

Yep, it worked and the game has been purchased. Thanks!
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You're welcome and congratulations. Hope you enjoy it!
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you can't gift on PSN. they're definitely behind the times.

Yeah, I don't get why you still can't do that.
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Favourite game is Resident Evil 4, then Wind Waker and Ocarina of Time round out my top three. After that things get hazy.
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all this talk about Final Fantasy VIII got me in the mood to look for some old fan sites I used to read and they're all gone as far as I can tell

I suppose Wikis and Tumblr and stuff have displaced fan sites

man FFVIII used to have some great ones

there was one in particular that was actually designed to look like the Garden Message Board in the game, which was really neat

maybe I should talk about FFVIII some more
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Im willing to listen!
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To this day the only real fanfiction story I read from start to finish was an FFVIII. I think it even turned out that was a sequel to another sequel I didn't read, but whatever.
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I've read a bunch of FFVIII fanfiction and some FFVII fanfiction. Never really dabbled in anything else. There was one guy in particular I liked to read because all of his FFVIII stories were interconnected and featured different characters, and that's what gave me the idea to do my own set of stories where the featured character would be different in each one. I also read one that had alternating first-person perspectives, and I thought that was a really neat concept. I think it's what showed me how much I enjoy first-person as a whole in writing. There was even this pretty hilarious FFVIII Outtakes parody that I enjoyed a lot. My personal favorite single story was this humongous one-off sequel (I just looked it up and it clocked in at 90,000 words).

also if you really want to read any of my stuff (I don't know that I recommend it) it's findable
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actually I guess I could take requests if anyone has something they want to ask about a game

doesn't matter if it's on the list or not
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Favorite game and favorite on the list is Tales of the Abyss, surprising everyone I'm sure.

Favorite game not on the list is tough. I want to say Celeste, but there may be some recency bias there. It's probably actually The Last Story.
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Have you played any Supergiant games? If so, which would have placed highest?
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I don't think I've even heard of Supergiant before.
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The Bastion dudes
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Where would dkc1 and 3 be on this list
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Oh, I've played a little bit of Bastion. Digi gifted it to me and made me swear I'd play it. I suppose I need to go back and try to finish it. I wasn't super digging it that much, but I can't comment on it beyond that because I don't remember much of what I played beyond the narrator having a super deep voice. I'd have to start over if I played it again.

pjbasis posted...

Where would dkc1 and 3 be on this list

Looking at the list, DKC1 would probably be 60ish. It's a really fun game with good visuals and a really distinct style for each world. I remember that Nintendo Power video they sent out to everyone about this game which was basically a behind the scenes look at the making of the game, which made me want to be a video game tester as a kid because it looked cool just getting to play video games all the time. There was a really cool level they showed off (Snow Barrel Blast) where you could get a bonus 5-Up balloon if you could traverse the entire level through barrels without screwing up, and I made it my goal that I would one day achieve that. Still remember that swelling feeling of pride when I finally pulled it off. Also, last boss against K. Rool is great. I think nearly everyone got fooled by the fake out ending as a kid.

DKC3 would be a good bit lower. I actually might rank it around the same area as I did Donkey Kong Country returns. The game has some good stuff in it, but this was the beginning of Rare's obsession with collectibles, and I can't forgive it for that.
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LeonhartFour posted...

also if you really want to read any of my stuff (I don't know that I recommend it) it's findable

Like just searching for some author named Leonhart or something? I feel I couldn't be sure it's you in that case!
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my profile on fanfiction.net still exists

I looked at it today to make sure!

like I said I don't know that I'd totally recommend it because most of those stories were written when I was a teenager

I never published the original one I wrote that I mentioned. I think I'd be too embarrassed to let anyone see what that looked like.
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also you might think today's POTD might be an impetus for me to talk about Mass Effect 3's endings

you would be wrong
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I'm not really interested in fanfiction, but it would be fun to look at.
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Obligatory I should play ME2.

Thinking about replaying 1 as a femshep renegade though, but then started thinking I could just start the series over like that after getting through the rest first.
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i have also most definitely written fanfiction

none of which i will be sharing but are all still online

pjbasis posted...

I'm not really interested in fanfiction, but it would be fun to look at.

LeonhartFour posted...

I've been some form of Leonhart4 on virtually every website I've ever had an account on for nearly twenty years for a reason!

that's the only hint you're getting
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Actually I should admit I started an FFX novelization once and even published it. Quickly realized I didn't have the inclination to see that through.
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I read some oddly compelling Harvest Moon romance fanfiction sixteen or so years ago. It would be neat to find that again and see which girl the dude finally settled on but I doubt I'd recognize it was the right one even if I did stumble across it somehow.

Anyway that's my contribution to this conversation.
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I've had ideas for other fanfictions that never got out of my head, like doing a Metal Gear Solid reimagining with Final Fantasy VIII characters (entitled Metal Gear Squallid: The Twin Scars; yes, yes, it's a terrible double pun). I've also always wanted to write an Ace Attorney fanfiction crossover with some universe since AA has unlimited potential for stories. The one I've thought about the most is Metal Gear Solid, although I don't know if I trust my skill enough to be able to do proper foreshadowing and such.
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Ace Attorney stories sound challenging to write
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I mostly just think about the type of banter I could come up with, which would be great.

I don't know that I could even decide who to be the defendant, the victim, the culprit, and all that. I guess Snake is the obvious choice for defendant, but who knows.

I'd also thought about some weird multiverse crossover with Ace Attorney, Persona, and Haruhi Suzumiya, maybe others. Ace Attorney already has supernatural elements, so it could work, maybe?
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Bump for more questions...?
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LeonhartFour posted...

Bump for more questions...?

oh hey I spent like 20 minutes yesterday looking for the first picture in your sig, so, uh, Justice for All?
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NFUN posted...

oh hey I spent like 20 minutes yesterday looking for the first picture in your sig, so, uh, Justice for All?

I love that pic so much. I like to believe that's how it really happened (even if Spirit of Justice kind of negates it).

Justice for All might be the most underappreciated Ace Attorney game. 2-4 gets plenty of love (and deservedly so; it's the best), but I think the other three cases get largely overlooked. 2-1 is kind of whatever, admittedly (and Wellington sucks), but the final piece of evidence there is really great. 2-2 is a really strong second case and definitely Franziska's best appearance as a prosecutor. I like locked room mysteries in general though. I'm one of the weirdos who actually likes 2-3 and most of the cast. Moe on day 1 is awful, but he's great on day 2. I think Acro is an excellent character. Trilo is unironically hilarious.

Now I could go on and on about 2-4 (and I have; I've got basically two years' worth of Ace Attorney content saved on a file that I could produce at a moment's notice if required), but to sum it up: It's Phoenix and Edgeworth at the peak of their powers going at it for two full days, and it's glorious.
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Where would Chrono Trigger have ranked?
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AxemRedRanger posted...

Where would Chrono Trigger have ranked?

Chrono Trigger, huh? Probably around 50ish, I suppose. I recognize its strengths, but I'm not as big on it as most people are. It's one of those games that doesn't do anything the best, but it does everything well. It's a fun time all the way through, but I haven't tried to get all the endings or anything like that.
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LeonhartFour posted...

Metal Gear Squallid: The Twin Scars

yessss

i wrote one DBZ fanfic when i was a kid, but it only reused the species and concepts from DBZ, none of the same characters. never made its way to the interwebs, though.

i read like 3-4 DBZ fanfics and like one harry potter one, but never really got beyond that. thankfully that was in the earlier days of the interwebs.
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My favorite game is probably The Last of Us or The Witcher III. They seem like such generic answers now given how much reddit gushes over them, but oh well, it's the truth. The characterization and writing in TLOU hit a strong chord. Some of the scenes were just so raw, I'd never seen such emotional impact in a game (particularly the farmhouse argument in Fall). Also the switch to playing as Ellie was soooo good.

But Witcher just has so much and I'm constantly impressed with every passing hour in the game. I recently (finally) beat Blood & Wine, the second expansion, and it was so well done. And there's so much I didn't do despite finally putting the controller down. It almost felt like a privilege to be able to play it.

My favorite FF is probably the first, just because I don't have much experience with the series. The first mainline game I picked up was XII, didn't like it much, quit. Tried XIII, didn't like it all, quit. I've played some of FFTA but it was a while ago. FF1 is the only one I've beaten (outside of FFCC with friends... somehow). From the reports of XV, I'm sure I'd dislike it. I tried FFXIV and it felt like a less-polished WoW. Maybe I'll get the new FFVII when it releases.

Enjoyed the list!
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That said we do share a love for Super Mario Galaxy 2 (never played 1). I think I prefer it to SMO even. It's also probably my #4 favorite game.

1. The Last of Us
2. The Witcher III
3. Dark Souls
4. Super Mario Galaxy 2
5. Red Dead Redemption
6. Portal 2
7. BioShock Infinite
8. Ori and the Blind Forest
9. Breath of the Wild
10. Half-Life 2
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I haven't even played half of those.
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Anything else?
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Last bump if nobody has anything.
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How about FFV?
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LordoftheMorons posted...

How about FFV?

Final Fantasy V is one of those games I probably need to give another chance because I played the Final Fantasy Chronicles version (although it does have the superior X-Death rendition; it boggles the mind that people defend something as nonsensical as "ExDeath" and even more that Square continues to perpetuate it. If you're not going back to X-Death, just call him "Exodus" because that's what the name was probably supposed to be). I've heard Final Fantasy V Advance has a great localization, and I'll take people's word for it.

That being said, I don't think I'll ever become an avid fan of the game because the big draw is the job system, and I can't get worked up for that. I don't like to experiment with it or do anything like that. I just find what works and stick with it. I beat the last boss by just having one person use Gil Toss and having two other people mime it (with the other person set aside to be a dedicated healer). I don't get more complicated than that.

Another thing against FFV is the fact that most of the playable cast is uninteresting. Galuf is the only great one. Faris is decent but kinda overrated. We talked about playable character good/bad ratio, and FFV's is low. Even if I count both of them, that's only 40%. Bartz being a rather generic and bland JRPG '90s protagonist hurts, too, because I'm big on heroes. Also, fun fact: FFV and FFVI had a couple of FMVs on the PS1 port, and they used the Amano art for Bartz in those FMVs for whatever the reason, so I kept waiting for this chick with white hair and black lipstick to show up. I was very confused when that never happened until I learned about the existence of that Amano art. Final Fantasy V might have the best villain in the series though, because I really like the aforementioned X-Death for whatever the reason. Dude's always one step ahead of the party and has a pretty high success rate for his schemes. Plus, he has a cool design and theme. Great boss fights, too.

Final Fantasy V might have the most underappreciated soundtrack in the series, too. Great world map themes, great dungeon themes, great battle themes. That's what you'll spend most of your time in an RPG listening to anyway, so they nailed it. The main theme is excellent as well. Anyway, FFV tends to value the aspects of JRPGs that I don't value as much, so it'll probably always be a lower tier entry for the series for me.

whoa I didn't expect to rant about it but hey FF does this to me
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On that note, I think I would like to hear your thoughts on FFIV
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Janus5k posted...

On that note, I think I would like to hear your thoughts on FFIV

Final Fantasy IV is a weird game to gauge. I feel like I should like it more than I do. I'd like to play the DS version someday to see if it improves my opinion of it. It's got some great pieces. I really like FFIV's world. It has a bunch of interesting and memorable locations. There are some fun boss fights here, too. There are a couple of characters you might be seeing in Save My Favorite Final Fantasy Character Special Edition. I give Square some credit for trying some interesting ideas, even if it doesn't go all the way through with it most of the time (like all of the fake deaths; although props to them for going through on permanent death with the absolute worst playable character in the series).

Now of course, FFIV shows its age in some areas with the battle system and the dialogue. They're both pretty basic. Serviceable, but basic. That's why I think I might enjoy the DS version a lot more. I don't know how much they improve those things, but I assume they're better. Maybe it actually made Cecil an interesting character after he transformed into a Paladin, but I won't hold my breath!
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I couldn't get far into the SNES (or Chronicles) version of FF4 because it was so primitive-feeling. It shocked me considering how timeless FF6 feels, from only four years later.

I did grind through the DS version and enjoyed it, but you could still see how drastically story complexity increased since FF4.
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Well, Final Fantasy IV is a prototype, so I'm willing to be a little lenient in that regard. I don't know that I'd give the "timeless" designation to Final Fantasy VI, although I'm not sure which games I'd give that to.
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well if anyone else wants me to give more hot takes go ahead
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Whoa a favorite Chrono Trigger character poll and the right character is winning

also this poll has 48 votes and I'm pretty sure there were not 48 unique users who nominated and posted in the topics

who are these losers who refused to participate
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Well I had to catch up on reading the final few entries. Final Fantasy VIII at #1 is awesome since it is my #2 game of all time behind only FFVII.

I'm curious how the 3 Xenosaga games would rank here, if you have played those that is. I am replaying the series after a long time and Episode I and II has not aged well at all.

this poll of the day is insulting I say
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Me and my best friend Arria first bonded over FFVIII. When we first met, she asked me if I'd ever played FFVIII and I (being an arrogant teenager at the time) proudly remarked "Of course! I have ALL the Final Fantasies!" (To be fair, I had all the numbered games that were in America at the time and a few spin-offs like Tactics). She had only played Kingdom Hearts, but was in love with "Leon" and wanted to play the game that he originated from. First time I went to her house was to let her play my copy of FFVIII.

The first time I played FFVIII I had no idea wtf I was doing and ended up grinding to level 100 because that had always been a good idea in previous games.
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