Board 8 > David ranks his top 100 games of all time, with write-ups

(+) Yeah! (+)

74. Dragon Age: Inquisition (PS4)

I mentioned in an earlier write up how the Lord of The Rings medieval fantasy is one of my favourite genres to explore, so the Dragon Age games have always been some of my favourites. Inquisition was the most polished, open, and fun of the three games, and was actually the only game in the series I finished after getting to the last boss in both of the previous games and being too underleveled to beat it.

Other than the story and characters, which were both fantastic, and things I could go on and on about, the open world portion of this game is what really hooked me in. I had to force myself to leave The Hinterlands after spending a good fifteen hours attempting to do every sidequest and uncover every portion of the map, and this was a trend that continued with every map after that. There was so much to explore and find in each area, even if they started to feel a bit empty after awhile, and having a dragon as the "final boss" of each map was a nice touch, and gave me more reasons to progress in everything but the main story in this game.

73. Red Dead Redemption (PS3)

Westerns are fun and Rockstar makes good games, so it was hard to see this ever being anything other than great. I actually spent a lot less time with this game that I should have, and secretly hope that I get either a remaster or a chance to play this on my PS4 before the sequel comes out.

I beat the game, but that was essentially it. I didn't spend much time in the multiplayer, and I didn't do too much exploring or take on many optional activities, and yet somehow despite all that I still feel extremely good about this game. The setting, the story, the characters, the ending, all great, and all things that I fondly remember years after playing it.

I'll also never forget the mission where you finally go to Mexico, where the music played and I realized that there was a whole other portion of the map to ride my horse through.
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New Page Rankings:

These are "A+" Games

73. Red Dead Redemption
74. Dragon Age: Inquisition

These are "A" Games

75. Sonic The Hedgehog
76. Burnout Paradise
77. Borderlands 2
78. WWE Smackdown! Here Comes The Pain
79. Fallout 4
80. Grand Theft Auto V
81. Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time
82. Resident Evil: Director's Cut
83. Streets of Rage 2
84. Sleeping Dogs
85. Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters GX: Tag Force
86. Mega Man Legends
87. Mario Kart DS
88. Final Fantasy XIII-2
89. Ratchet & Clank (PS4)
90. Super Mario Bros. 2
91. Assassin's Creed II
92. Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor
93. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
94. Wario Land 3
95. Rogue Legacy
96. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
97. Saints Row: The Third
98. World of Final Fantasy
99. Far Cry 4
100. Pokemon Omega Ruby

We start to see the first jump in personal enjoyment with some of the games today. The division names are a work in progress.
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Red Dead Redemption is one of those games I'm sad I couldn't play more because my brother owned the PS3 and RDR came out right when he moved across the country. What I did play was great, though! I'd love a Steam release someday but I doubt it'll ever happen
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72. WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2007 (PS2)

I enjoy wrestling, which is evidenced by my previous wrestling game write up, and I might be in the minority here, but I think that the least enjoyable part of wrestling is the actual wrestling. I watch it for the story, which is the weirdest thing to say about professional wrestling. I also watch it for the booking. I want to see who wins, and I want to see the rise and fall of these superstars. I feel the same about wrestling video games. The actual wrestling part is not fun in most cases for a variety of reasons, but, if done right, the story and booking side of it can be a lot of fun, and that is why this random wrestling game is on this list.

For a few years, the SvR wrestling games had a "GM Mode", with 2007 having what I believe was the best version of it. Essentially, you could choose to become the General Manager of one of WWE's wrestling brands, draft a roster of wrestlers who each had their own popularity rating, and then book them in feuds and matches against each other, where popularity would rise or fall based on outcomes. You would compete against the other brand in ratings, and at the end of the year start the process over.

Some of the newer games have a similar take on this mode, but none are as in-depth as the GM mode in this game. Creating stars out of my favourite wrestlers and being able to control all aspects of this real life thing that I loved was all I needed to keep me in this mode for a long time.

Every few months I get the urge to somehow find a way to play this game's GM mode. It was that good.

71. Counter-Strike 1.6 (PC)

I've always been bad at competitive shooters, but I was especially bad at Counter-Strike at the height of my enjoyment with it, which was over a decade ago. I specifically remember being around ten years old, begging my dad to buy this for me after playing it at a friend's house, and ensuring him that the internet and this unknown website "Steam Powered" were not going to steal his credit card information. Fun fact, this was the first and only game I've ever owned on Steam, and my account has long since been lost to the abyss.

I never really played with friends, so my nights with this game consisted of me joining random public servers and being near the bottom of the leaderboard every game, but I didn't care because I was having so much fun. For the first few months, I mostly stuck to Dust 2 and Assault, but I have extremely fond memories of an experience on nearly every map in the game.

The game reached another level, though, when I discovered servers like Surf and Zombie which were almost different games altogether, and significantly extended my time with Counter-Strike overall. My fondest memory overall came from a zombie plague game, in which I somehow managed to be the last player who had not been turned. I found myself alone in a dark room cornered, and went through all my ammo before finally getting hit. It's not really a significant moment, but it always sticks out to me when I reminisce about by time with this game.
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70. Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes (PS1)

I've never been particularly good at or enjoyed fighting games in general, so this game being this high is definitely due to an "experience" reasoning. In high school I was pretty good at being friends with anyone, and could go from hanging out with the "popular" people one day to spending lunch in the library the next. There was about a six month period in grade eleven where every day I would head to the computer lab at lunch and join a group of people who I didn't hang out with outside of school, and we would play this game.

As I said, I'm bad at fighting games, so I lost a solid 75% of the time, but over time I slowly got better and had a lot of fun lunches with those guys, and this game was the reason for that. We played in the least optimal way possible, cramped next to each other sharing the same keyboard as a controller, but it didn't matter because we were having fun.

I mostly played Gambit and Wolverine, and eventually got to the point where I was probably the best Gambit player in the group. I can't even say much else about the game because we played it muted and only in versus mode, and theoretically, any fighting game could have been in this spot, but because of my experiences, this is the one that's here.

69. Super Mario Bros. (NES)

This is going to be a short write up because there isn't really much to say about a game as classic as this. It still holds up over thirty years later, and has been something I've played and gone back to my entire life.

The NES was before my time, so my introduction to this game came from Super Mario All-Stars, and it was likely one of the first games I ever beat. Any of the first four main Mario games are going to be special to me both because I played them when I was very young and because I've continued to play them throughout my life.
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Good old SMB. It isn't my favorite game but it's hard not to appreciate what it meant for gaming history!
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68. Rocket League (PS4)

This is the quintessential sports game for me. I'm very competitive, and enjoy playing against and beating other people (or losing and getting extremely salty) in games, but I don't like MOBAs, competitive shooters, or fighting games online, so sports games have scratched that itch for me my whole life.

Rocket League is perfect for what I want. I can set aside ten minutes and play one match and be fine with that, or I can play for hours and usually get increasingly angry after I start losing a few games. With Madden and NHL, I often have to set aside half an hour to get one game in, and so I always end up dropping them a month or two into the current cycle.

Rocket League, on the other hand, is the oldest game I have installed on my PS4, and I still find a way to play a few games a week. I'm not very good at it, and never will be, but I'm good enough that I can win a few games and not get overly salty like I do with some other games (Looking at you, Hearthstone). I played a bunch of 2v2 with a friend when the game first came out, but I've settled into solo's now.

This is the perfect game to turn on a podcast or playlist and just play for a few hours, and is something that I don't see myself ever dropping for good.

67. Super Mario Galaxy (WII)

I'll start by saying I sold my WII shortly after playing this game and because of that, I never got to experience Galaxy 2, and if I did, it more than likely would have shown up on this list.

I never was a fan of the 3D Mario's, specifically 64 and Sunshine. Something about the open world style and revisiting levels turned me off, and wasn't what I liked about Mario. Somehow, I felt this game did a much better job of handling that. Admittedly, my memory is a bit foggy on the details about levels, and I'll admit that when I played it I only did the bare minimum to complete the game and so I might have just glossed over the parts of the game that were similar to 64 and Sunshine, but regardless, I seriously enjoyed all aspects of this game that I played.

The setting was interesting and different, the WII motes were actually fun to use, and the way the small planets and gravity played a role in each level was a lot of fun. There are not a lot of Nintendo games on this list, but there is a bunch of Mario, and there is a good reason for that.
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66. The Walking Dead (PS3)

I didn't play this game, or any Telltale game for that matter, until last year, and even though I had spoiled myself on the ending before playing, it still ended up being an emotional rollercoaster. This is the only game that I have ever played that gave me the feeling of dread when I decided to play the next chapter. I became so invested in the story and some of the characters that it took me over two weeks to finish the game because, as much as the game itself was great, I found myself not wanting to play it due to how emotionally tough it was on me, and I feel like any game that does that deserves some recognition.

At the end of the day, though, it's a Telltale adventure game. I'm not saying that it being that disqualifies it from being any higher on the list, but when you take away the 10/10 story and the way it was presented, the game itself isn't the greatest to play. After beating this game I binged through nearly the entire post Walking Dead Telltale library, and I still play each new one that comes out, but my least favourite part of any of the games is when I have to take control of and move my character.

65. Far Cry 3 (PS3)

The Far Cry 4 write up from the first day of this ranking already mentions most of the reasons why I find all of the Far Cry games I've played to be extremely enjoyable, satisfying experiences, so I won't mention those again.

Instead, I'll talk about the aspect of Far Cry 3 that set it apart from anything else in the series, and why I like it so much. The game is not on this list without Vaas. The protagonist of the game and his friends are generally unlikeable people, but Vaas is what really makes the game shine. "Jokeresque" would kind of be a way to describe his character, and I think the voice actor did great in the role. When it came to the story, I found myself advancing in it just to hear more of him, which is a sign that you have a great character.

Far Cry 3 was also the first game in the series I played, and while I did say that "more Far Cry" wasn't an issue for me with 4, the gameplay obviously felt more fresh in 3, simply because it was my first time playing something like it, so that factors in as well.
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I almost forgot to post today's games, despite the fact that I've been on the board all day.
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Bump, new write-ups in a little bit.
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64. L.A. Noire (PS3)

This game was so much fun. The big thing surrounding L.A. Noire has always been the facial technology and how great it all looks, and while I do think it's great, it does not factor at all into why I like this game. I've mentioned numerous times that I love open world, "GTA" style games, and while this game doesn't exactly fit that model, being able to drive around and interact with a late '40s Los Angeles was an interesting experience.

The progression in this game is outstanding. You slowly work your way up the police force, and because of that, get to tackle multiple different types of cases, effectively getting a taste of it all. Detective stories are always a great time, and this game has the perfect noir setting and backdrop for that.

This is one of the first games I actively grinded out and replayed large portions of to get a platinum trophy for, just to see more, and that was after I played all of the DLC, which was fantastic in its own right, and not something I do very often.

Give me L.A. Noire 2, please.

63. Dragon Ball Z: Budokai (PS2)

This is definitely a nostalgia game, however I did buy and thoroughly enjoy the remastered version on the PS3 a few years ago, so I think its placement is warranted.

I've gone on about how I hate fighting games because I'm not very good at them, but that sentiment is mostly towards the online aspects of the games, and so there are a bunch of fighting games from my childhood that I only played with friends or against the AI that I hold dearly.

This game was pretty simple, with the story being a standard Dragon Ball Z retelling up to and including the Cell Games, and the roster wasn't very large either, but until the sequels came out, I spent a lot of time playing this game with my brother. We'd set up the largest World Tournament possible and just play through it over and over, and the fact that I was such a big fan of the source material only enhanced my enjoyment of it.

If I had to go back to any Dragon Ball Z game now, it wouldn't be this one, but for its time, it was a great fighting game.
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62. Tales from the Borderlands (PS4)

I laughed out loud multiple times while playing this game. Whenever I talk about the Telltale games, my justification for this being ahead of The Walking Dead on my personal rankings is the same reason why I like The Walking Dead so much. I mentioned not wanting to play The Walking Dead because of how emotionally tense it was, but with Tales I couldn't wait to play the next chapter because of how fun it was. The two games brought two complete opposite emotions out of me, and I'll take a good time over feeling emotional any day of the week.

The fact that I played this game before Borderlands 2 only shows how much I enjoy it. I didn't even know who Handsome Jack was coming into it, and because my introduction to the character came from here, I no doubt missed out some referential humour. The story is good, but not the best story I've ever seen, so it's the characters that lead the way.

It was also cool to see some cameos and references from the Borderlands game I did play, so I probably could have enjoyed this even more if I had played it after Borderlands 2. As it stands, it's still a great game on its own.

61. Roller Coaster Tycoon (PC)

I have a confession: I've played this game for somewhere close to 100 hours throughout my life, and have not once moved on from the first map. The possibilities with that first map felt endless, though, and every time I created a new park it ended up different. This is THE Tycoon game. I've tried the sequels, but nothing compares to the first park in the original Roller Coaster Tycoon.

This is the game that introduced me to the Tycoon genre of game, which I have grown to play a whole lot of over the course of the last 15 years, and nothing has ever compared to it.

I rarely ever attempted to create custom coasters either. I just enjoyed creating my own world and watching it run.

Fun Fact: I got this game out of a cereal box, which is cool.
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Oh whoops I forgot to comment yesterday

-TWD is... fine, but I've never understood the absolute love some people have for it. Maybe I was already jaded about zombie apocalypses and the tragedies they bring by the time it came out because, despite being a total sucker for sad moments, none of it phased me. From the write-up, it seems like you're done with Telltale now, though! You should play Life is Strange!

-Far Cry 3 and Tales from the Borderlands are games I plan to play this year!

-Roller Coaster Tycoon was actually recently pushed out of my top 100 by newer games, but I still have fond memories for it. I can also relate to never moving past that first map. There were... I think three that I ever spent significant time on. It was the first map, the next one in the desert, and another one where there was infinite time/money so I could use landscaping to flatten the entire area. I never enjoyed the maps with crazy geographic features that needed to be built around, I wanted it to be flat so I could throw down more attractions. I still got a lot of mileage out of those three maps I played, though! Like you, I also never really got into creating custom roller coasters or anything, and the fact that I never truly delved into a lot of aspects of RCT hurt my overall ranking of it.
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Robazoid posted...

TWD is... fine, but I've never understood the absolute love some people have for it. Maybe I was already jaded about zombie apocalypses and the tragedies they bring by the time it came out because, despite being a total sucker for sad moments, none of it phased me. From the write-up, it seems like you're done with Telltale now, though! You should play Life is Strange!

I want to say that me being invested in both TWD comics and show drew me to the game, but other than minor cameos and references, the game is a separate entity, so it's almost definitely the storytelling that hooked me.

I play a lot of games for the story. I'd rather play something in the Telltale style of adventure than watch a movie, just because I do like that small amount of interaction. I've never played a Visual Novel, but I feel like I'd like those, as well, based on the things I like about Telltale. I mentioned this in your ranking topic about how I spoiled myself on the Life is Strange ending after watching a playthrough of parts of it, but that didn't stop me from enjoying TWD so I might have to give it a shot!

Robazoid posted...

Far Cry 3 and Tales from the Borderlands are games I plan to play this year!

I know the first Far Cry games left a bad taste for you, but 3 is easily the best in the series so you should enjoy it! Likewise, Tales is my favourite Telltale game, and if you enjoy the Borderlands series I can see you enjoying it as well.

Robazoid posted...

I never enjoyed the maps with crazy geographic features that needed to be built around, I wanted it to be flat so I could throw down more attractions. I still got a lot of mileage out of those three maps I played, though!

This is exactly my reasoning for staying on the first map. I never wanted to have to work around parts of a map, and the flatness of the first park let me do things without worrying about logistics.
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davidponte posted...

I mentioned this in your ranking topic about how I spoiled myself on the Life is Strange ending after watching a playthrough of parts of it, but that didn't stop me from enjoying TWD so I might have to give it a shot!

I posted that before leaving for work and then actually randomly remembered this while on my way to work, so you can disregard that! Recommending LiS is just a thing I automatically do whenever an opportunity presents itself >_>
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Mobilezoid posted...

davidponte posted...

I mentioned this in your ranking topic about how I spoiled myself on the Life is Strange ending after watching a playthrough of parts of it, but that didn't stop me from enjoying TWD so I might have to give it a shot!

I posted that before leaving for work and then actually randomly remembered this while on my way to work, so you can disregard that! Recommending LiS is just a thing I automatically do whenever an opportunity presents itself >_>

Haha it's all good, I feel the same way about a few of the games in my top 10.
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Bump
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60. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (PS3)

The first Uncharted has definitely aged over the years, especially when looked at in comparison to some of the later games in the series, but a combination of it having a very good story with solid gameplay at the time, while also being the first game in the series means that it still holds a fond place in my memories. While some of the others blew me away in different ways, seeing the overall presentation for the first time is something I won't forget.

There's something about the character of Nathan Drake that I love. He's kind of a douchebag, and has some unbelievable plot armour, but he seems like the perfect video game character. He's witty, and above all else, feels human, which is something that Naughty Dog has been able to do well.

The action parts are my least favourite things in Uncharted, but the climbing and puzzles are fun, and the story over the series is some of the best ever, and because of that, this won't be the last time we see this series on this list.

59. Hotline Miami (PS3)

The music in this game is so good, some of my favourite ever from a video game. Even after saying that, I still feel like I'm not giving enough credit to the music in Hotline Miami. The only thing I ever think of when I think of this game is the music, and that isn't because I think the other parts of it are bad, the music is just that good.

Alright, now that that's out of the way, the rest of the game is fun too. The game is obviously nowhere close to this list without the music, but I still had fun actually playing it. I can't really describe the story because I never really understood what exactly the creator of the game was trying to tell me, but the gameplay was punishing, yet fun. After awhile, I found myself really getting into it, essentially getting into a rhythm clearing out rooms while enjoying the soundtrack.

I think the first game is the better of the two, so you won't be seeing the sequel here, but only because I thought the soundtrack was better in the first game.
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58. Mega Man Battle Network 6: Cybeast Gregar (GBA)

After Mega Man Legends, I spent some time failing miserably playing the X games, but got way back into the series with the last Battle Network game. Battle Network and Starforce are what Mega Man is to me. If someone asked me to describe a Mega Man game, it would be one of these both because I have the fondest memories of these games, but also simply because I think they are the best ones.

6 was the first Battle Network game I played, and so it's the most memorable to me. Like a lot of games on this list, I spent a lot of time playing this simultaneously with a friend, which only made the experience more enjoyable.

The puzzle aspects of the Battle Network and Starforce games are kind of hit or miss, but the battle system is perfect. The grid setup and the strategy involved in having the right moves in your deck were surprisingly in-depth, and allowed you to take multiple different approaches when it came to how you wanted to play the game. The boss battles are where this strategy shined the most, and were where most of my fun was had.

57. Disgaea: Hour of Darkness (PS2)

Back in the height of my PSP playing days, I found myself with the ability to try a lot of different games, to the point where I would acquire new ones every day. This is where I stumbled upon Disgaea, a game that I had no knowledge of whatsoever. What resulted was a decade of playing Disgaea games and a new found love for Tactics RPGs.

Other than 4 and the newest one, I've played every game in the series, but the first will always be my favourite. Laharl, Etna, and Flonne are hilarious, and I was extremely excited about being able to see Laharl again in Disgaea D2. This game has my favourite story in the series as well, and I thought the whole subplot with Captain Gordon and crew was great.

There isn't too much to say about the gameplay. It's a Tactics game at the end of the day, and you either enjoy those or you don't. Interestingly enough, I've never been big about the post-game or grinding in the Disgaea games, despite how much I enjoy the gameplay. It might be weird, but I come to Disgaea for the story just as much as I do for the gameplay.
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After writing that Hotline Miami write-up about a week ago, I had the urge to play the game again, and it's just as great as it was when I first played it.
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MMBN6 is the only one of the series that I don't own and will therefore likely never play. I still have fond memories of MMBN3, though! I also played it simultaneously with friends, which helped the experience a lot

I also recently replayed (and finished for the first time) Disgaea (the DS version). Such a good game, but I've never delved too deeply into its mechanics... mostly because I'm not sure I fully understand them. Back in the day my brother was all about reincarnation and item worlds and whatnot, I just grinded until I could beat the game normally
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BN6 just barely beats BN3 in my opinion. Just emulate it!

I've never met anybody in real life who'd even heard of the games, not even when the series was still in progress.
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Robazoid posted...

I also recently replayed (and finished for the first time) Disgaea (the DS version). Such a good game, but I've never delved too deeply into its mechanics... mostly because I'm not sure I fully understand them. Back in the day my brother was all about reincarnation and item worlds and whatnot, I just grinded until I could beat the game normally

This is exactly what I do in those games as well. I've dabbled in some of the item world stuff before, but the post-game in Disgaea games always seems to be super grindy, and I play those games to enjoy the gameplay and the story.

NFUN posted...

I've never met anybody in real life who'd even heard of the games, not even when the series was still in progress.

To be honest if that one friend hadn't told me he was already playing it, I never would have come across it. When I first got that game, I was shocked that it was already the 6th game in the series, and wondered why I had never heard about it before then.

I never seen any marketing for the Star Force games either, but by that point I was already familiar with the series so I was looking out for it and picked up the first game right when it was released.

Other than that one friend though, I've similarly never met anyone who had ever heard of those games.

In the last two years I attempted to find the second Star Force game because I had only ever played the first, and it took me a long time and a lot of visits to random game shops before anyone even knew it was a thing.
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56. Scarface: The World Is Yours (WII)

I spent more time playing this game on the WII than I did any other game, which is kind of indicative both of how I felt about the WII and Nintendo in general as a teenager, as well as the general type of games I like to play.

This is definitely one of the weirdest games on this list, as I don't think I've ever seen anyone mention or play this game other than myself. I'm too young to have enjoyed Scarface during its heyday, but there wasn't much that was off-limits to me as a kid, so I watched the movie when I was pretty young. I was around the age of 14 when I played this game, and thought it was so cool that it took place in an alternate history where Tony Montana survived at the end of the movie. Even now, I still think that it's a great setup for a game.

The gameplay loop in this game was so satisfying to me. Taking control of different turfs, performing drug deals, earning dirty money which then had to be laundered, and generally taking over the city were all incredibly fun to do. Maybe I just wanted to be cool at the age of 14, but I loved this game.

55. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (PS3)

This was the first instrument-based music game I played, and that combined with it having my favourite set list out of any of the Guitar Hero games I've played is the reason it makes this list over any of the others.

I've never been particularly good at these kind of games, and that's mostly because the 5th button has always been the bane of my existence. I was never comfortably or reliably able to hit it, and so I generally peaked at medium difficulty. The newest Guitar Hero actually fixed this for me, and I can play most of the songs on the highest difficulty thanks to the button layout, which confirms that it was never a speed issue that caused my problems.

I played a whole bunch of this game, and being born in the mid '90s, it introduced me to a lot of older music that I still love and listen to today, so I can thank it for that. None of the games I've played since have been able to replicate the magic that was picking up the guitar for the first time and experiencing this whole new genre of game, and because of that, this game is here.
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54. 007: Nightfire (PS2)

This game was my Golden Eye. I've never actually played Golden Eye, but everything I've heard and seen of it only confirms my previous sentence. I never even beat the story mode in Nightfire because I would always get stuck on the same level about 2/3 of the way through, but I put significant time into the local multiplayer with my brother and some of my cousins.

We'd turn on all of the AI bots, and then split them between teams and take separate sides, always playing the same snow map. I could probably still tell you the weapon locations and all of the secret areas on that map, despite the fact that it's been over a decade since I last played this game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz_3xCgWRG4

That video is actually a pretty good representation of where 90% of my time with this game was spent. I've played on that map hundreds of times, and skimming through that video has made me want to jump back in and play a few matches.

53. Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep (PSP)

Despite my love of the series, I never fully completed this game until I played the remastered version last year. On the PSP, I finished one of the three stories, and then moved on, uninterested in playing the same game twice more, and I'm kind of glad I held off on fully completing all stories until recently, so that I could enjoy the experience as if it was new.

I'll defend Kingdom Hearts and this game forever. I don't care that I have to play twelve spin-offs to understand a story that requires me to watch a 30 minute recap video every time a new one comes out to refresh myself, or that it's all kind of cheesy; Kingdom Hearts is great, and Birth By Sleep introduces us to some great characters and some very interesting back story.

Based on the rest of this write-up, you can guess that this won't be the last time we see this series on this list, so I won't go into too much detail about the series as a whole, but I will say that I both enjoyed the story this game told and found the changes to the battle system to be a fun way to change things up.
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davidponte posted...

53. Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep (PSP)

Untagged
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trdl23 posted...

davidponte posted...

53. Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep (PSP)

Untagged

Based on some of your posts about this game in older topics, I figured you wouldn't agree with this ranking.

This won't be the last Kingdom Hearts you'll see on this list, though.
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davidponte posted...

trdl23 posted...

davidponte posted...

53. Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep (PSP)

Untagged

Based on some of your posts about this game in older topics, I figured you wouldn't agree with this ranking.

This won't be the last Kingdom Hearts you'll see on this list, though.

At least you recognize BbS is the worst of the worst.
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I've always wanted to try the Kingdom Hearts games. Maybe someday!
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Mobilezoid posted...

I've always wanted to try the Kingdom Hearts games. Maybe someday!

Knowing our history, you'll think they're the best thing ever.

I'd personally take the FF13 trilogy over the lot of 'em.
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I dunno, I'm not a Disney fan at all. I could see it going either way!
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I enjoy Disney, but the Square Enix side of the games are why I play them. What I mean by that is that visiting the Disney worlds are fun, but the original worlds, characters, and story created specifically for the series is where I think the best content is.

Xehanort, and especially Organization XIII, are great villains, even if their motives are cheesy.
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trdl23 posted...

At least you recognize BbS is the worst of the worst.

I haven't played a Kingdom Hearts game I didn't enjoy, but I think BBS is far from the worst in the series!
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davidponte posted...

Xehanort, and especially Organization XIII, are great villains

I know my position is well established, but how can you write this sentence unironically
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trdl23 posted...

davidponte posted...

Xehanort, and especially Organization XIII, are great villains

I know my position is well established, but how can you write this sentence unironically

My opinions were formed at the age of 10 and I'm too far in now to change my mind. Maybe I'm ahead of myself on that one, and what I mean is that they look like great villains. I can handle the cheesiness because of that.

EDIT: Maybe look isn't even the right word, but I think the idea behind the Organization is a cool one.
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Okay, I can understand that.

Sorry about hijacking the topic, carry on.
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trdl23 posted...

Okay, I can understand that.

Sorry about hijacking the topic, carry on.

Don't apologize! I don't expect everyone to agree with my opinions, and any discussion is great.
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52. Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 (PS2)

Every single thing I said in the Budokai write-up applies to this game, except that this game has a longer, more interesting, and more interactive story, as well as a significant amount of characters, so it only makes sense that it would also be on the list, and in a higher spot.

This is the definitive Dragon Ball Z fighting game for me. I never got into the battling in the Tenkaichi games, and both the Xenoverse's have been great, but something about this game puts it above everything else.

Maybe it's because I found the whole open-world structure to be really cool, or the fact that each character essentially had their own story mode, or that, similar to the original Budokai, I spent a lot of time playing this with my brother. It could also be because I prefer the 2D style in fighting games. It's a combination of all those things, actually, and it's why this is my second favourite fighting game of all time.

51. Borderlands (PS3)

In my Borderlands 2 write-up, I mentioned how I thought that overall it was probably a better game than the original, but that I enjoyed my time with it less because I played it solo. That's why this is my favourite game in the series, essentially.

Something I've learned from writing my thoughts about the games on this list is that the power of playing a game with others is not to be underestimated, with a lot of games only being on the list because of it. This game is good enough that it would have made the list even if I played it solo, but the fact that it's this high on the list is because of my multiplayer experience.

I talked a lot about what I like about Borderlands in the other write-up, so I won't repeat myself here. It's hard to really say what specifically I like better about this game because everything seemed better due to my experience, but I will say that I preferred the characters in the original game, and out of the DLC I did play, the original game provided a much better experience.
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50. Mega Man Star Force: Pegasus (NDS)

The Star Force games brought everything I enjoyed about the Battle Network series to the DS, and I definitely think it benefited from the two screens.

The gameplay mechanics of the two series are very similar, so everything I said about Battle Network 6 applies here (I feel like I've said that a dozen times on this list). It's hard to say the graphics are "better" here, but that's because in general I was never a fan of the bad 3D models that the DS had with many games, but I enjoyed everything else more here than I did with Battle Network 6, and I thought both the story and cover characters were more interesting.

What I really liked about this game was the ability to link with friends, allowing you to use some of their cards and battle them. Similar to Battle Network 6, my friend and I bought separate versions of the game and played through it simultaneously, which proved to be a lot of fun.

49. Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch (PS3)

This game came out of nowhere for me. I had never even heard about it until I seen it on sale for $6 on the Playstation store, and picked it up without even really looking at the game, only knowing that it was an RPG. What resulted was over 40 hours of some of the most fun I've had on the console, and I'm very excited for the sequel.

Some games do the monster catching better than others, but I thought this game handled it very well. Figuring out which familiars were better than others and researching who I wanted on my team was half the fun, and spending the time searching for them in the world actually felt rewarding.

The cast of characters are great, and Drippy is one of my favourite characters ever. I could listen to that accent all day. The battle system was fun, and not being able to control all of your characters at the same time was handled well. Even the story and open-world aspects of it were great.

There is so much about this game that I love, and I feel like it deserves to be higher on this list, but, starting with this game, every game yet to be ranked is one that I either feel very strongly about, or have very strong memories for, so this is as far as it goes.
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I'll wait until the next page to post the updated rankings.
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Out of today's, I've only played a few hours of Borderlands. I didn't really get into the series until BL2.

Still, now we're into the top 50! Good list so far and I'm looking forward to seeing the rest
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Robazoid posted...

Still, now we're into the top 50! Good list so far and I'm looking forward to seeing the rest

Thanks! Our lists have already been very different up to this point, but I think the remaining games will show just how much of a Sony fanboy I've been my whole life.
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48. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (GEN)

A solid 80% of the time I spent playing my Genesis as a kid involved playing this game. I would go over to family's house and play Sonic on their Genesis too. I really liked this game, and still do. I could never get past the Oil Ocean Zone as a kid, and I still can't, although I haven't spent much time playing this game in recent years.

Regardless, it didn't matter, because I'd happily get a game over and play through the same levels over and over again. This is the definitive Sonic game for me. I love the levels, Tails is great, the music is awesome, it's all good.

I've been waiting my whole life for a Sonic game to feel as good as Sonic 2, and I hope Sonic Mania at least scratches the surface of my expectations, however in reality, I know nothing will feel as magical as hearing the "Sega" voiceover when booting up this game on my Genesis.

47. Call of Duty: Black Ops (PS3)

I've bashed Call of Duty in a couple write-ups on this list, but there was a time in high school where I thought it was the greatest thing ever. The first Black Ops was the last Call of Duty game I enjoyed, but it was quite the experience. I think I was in Grade 10 when it was released, but I remember waking up early to pick up my pre-order and staying home all day to play it with some friends who had done the same.

In hindsight, there was signs with this game that my multiplayer shooter fatigue had begun to kick in, as overall I played significantly less Deathmatch in Black Ops than I did with a previous game in the series that has yet to be ranked, but that wasn't what I really liked about this game, anyway.

Firstly, the story here is great. I know a lot of people who don't even play these shooter stories, but I was pleasantly surprised by the single player campaign in Black Ops. Other than that, I lost many hours to Gun Game and One in the Chamber. The former had you start with a specific gun and change weapons every time you got a kill, with the first to 20 being the winner, while the latter seen everyone playing start with one round that was a one hit kill, and after getting a kill, you were granted another round.

Together, these modes provided a much more entertaining experience than the standard team shooter stuff that the other modes contained, and the main reason why I think this highly about this game.
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46. The Last of Us (PS3)

At this point, Naughty Dog can do no wrong by me. They've never made a game that I've outright disliked, and they are easily the most consistent developer I've ever seen when it comes to quality releases. With most games, I generally think the story and gameplay are of equal importance, but I'll take a phenomenal story over phenomenal gameplay any day. The Last of Us plays very well, but as with any modern day Naughty Dog game, I'm here for the story, and it did not disappoint.

I managed to stay away from all of the pre-release stuff, so other than TV commercials, I went in 100% blind, and I'm glad I did. This game had everything: it was emotional, it was exciting, I felt genuinely afraid at certain moments, and I was both profoundly happy and sad at different points in my play through. This is a game that I would be okay with sitting someone down who doesn't enjoy games and just have them watch me play, and I'd be confident that they would enjoy the experience.

I legitimately got a little emotional when I was watching the Playstation Experience a few months ago and seen the trailer for The Last of Us 2. I'm ready for another phenomenal story.

45. South Park: The Stick of Truth (PS3)

I've kind of fallen behind on recent South Park, but I essentially grew up with the series. This game is everything I could have asked for out of a South Park game, and it being an RPG only made it better.

The mechanics were extremely basic overall, and if you're someone who doesn't enjoy the humour of South Park, I can see this game turning you away, however, everything just clicked for me. I enjoyed the simplicity of all the systems. Sometimes, I'm not looking for intense strategy or extreme menuing, and The Stick of Truth provided just enough depth that I was able to enjoy the absurdity of the story while not having to worry about the combat.

The game is constantly throwing references at you, so as someone who has seen almost every classic South Park episode, I had a lot of fun being able to enter this world that I knew so well and interact with these characters and ideas that I spent my childhood with. I spent so much time just walking around the town, interacting with everyone and everything just to see what would happen, which resulted in me finishing every side quest and doing everything possible along the way, earning me the Platinum trophy.

As expected, I'm extremely excited about the new game. It doesn't even need to do much different. Give me the same game, and tell a different story, and it'll make a case for a spot on this list.
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Bump. Tomorrow's games won't be posted until around 11pm EST.
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Our top 100s may be crazily different, but we almost rank The Last of Us in the same spot! It's 47th in my top 100. I'm looking forward to the sequel too, even though I probably won't play it for awhile after it comes out due to not owning any consoles >_>
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Robazoid posted...

Our top 100s may be crazily different, but we almost rank The Last of Us in the same spot! It's 47th in my top 100.

Huh, I hadn't noticed that. That's a pretty crazy coincidence!
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44. La Pucelle: Tactics (PS2)

This was my first tactics game. Despite it being in the name, as a kid I never made the connection, and so it wasn't until I discovered the Disgaea series that I truly understand what the tactics genre even was.

This game is great. When I was younger, my cousin owned all the newest systems and had extensive libraries for each of them, despite the fact that she wasn't much of a gamer. What resulted was me going over and discovering all kinds of games by looking through what she had and borrowing them, and that's how I came across La Pucelle. I was instantly hooked, and despite never really understanding how to take advantage of any advanced strategies, spent a lot of time playing this game. As is tradition with my childhood gaming, I got stuck on a certain chapter, which resulted in me starting over numerous times.

It wasn't until years later when a version of this became available on the PSN store that I was able to fully appreciate how great this game is, and every part of it held up. The story is enjoyable, the characters are great, tactics gameplay is fun, it's all standard Nippon Ichi stuff. I've played a bunch of tactics games since, and only one has been able to beat out La Pucelle: Tactics.

43. Crash Bash (PSX)

This game probably takes the award for weirdest game to make the list, especially when considering its high placement, but you know what, Crash Bash is a great game. What makes it even weirder, though, is that I played this game strictly solo, always against the AI.

The best way to describe this game is a mixture of Mario Party mini-games and the progression of a Crash game. There are a bunch of levels, and to beat the level, you played mini games against other popular Crash series characters. There were boss levels as well, which were also mini-games. I'm a big Crash fan, so I had that going for me going in, but past that, the mini-games themselves were a lot of fun. I "beat" this game many times, going through the same levels over and over, and everything was just as fun the tenth time as it was the first.

I don't even like party games in general, so my love for this game is pretty confusing, but if I had to pick one to play, I'm definitely going with Crash Bash.
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42. Dark Cloud (PS2)

The original Dark Cloud is one of the first games I ever owned on the PS2, so it'll always be special to me because of that. It's still a great game in its own right, though.

The game itself is a standard dungeon crawler, in which you go through levels defeating monsters while dealing with things like thirst and weapon durability, but the biggest draw is the Georama, which after collected in the dungeons, was used to rebuild the towns outside of the dungeon. There were smaller things, like trees, rivers, and roads, but also houses that were inhabited by specific people that had to also be found in the dungeon. Each house was a little bit different, and everyone had their own preferences on the details of their home.

The building aspect was a perfect contrast to the intensity of the dungeon crawling. You could play a few levels, then spend 15 minutes working on your town. It was the perfect balance for me, and it still holds up even today, as I recently replayed it when a version of it was released on the PS4.

The soundtrack was great, too!

41. Shining Force (GEN)

I had to do some research when I put this game on this list. This was originally a Genesis game, but the first time I ever played it was as a part of Sega Smash Pack 2, a computer game that I somehow had on disc that contained other Sega classics, including Comix Zone, Kid Chameleon, and Sonic 2. I spent some time with all of the games, but Shining Force was the one that really drew me in. I first played this game after La Pucelle, so I had some experience with the tactics genre going in (I still had no idea what the genre was, though).

The battle music is ingrained into my brain at this point, I've spent so much time playing this game (and unsurprisingly, have never beaten it). Over the years, I have gotten progressively further, though!

I love the simplicity of this game. In battle, there isn't too much to worry about. There are different units, but other than basic stats, there isn't much going on, and as someone who was terrible at tactics games at the time, I could appreciate that. Walking through the towns was cool, too. The slight puzzle elements reminded me of the old school Final Fantasys, which is always good.

There are 30 battles in this game. I've gotten as far as battle 25, however I can't tell you how many times I've replayed the first 15 or so battles throughout countless playthroughs. I've used the phrase "over a dozen times" in a bunch of my write-ups. That number has not been exaggerated in any of them, and it's not exaggerated here, either.

Despite my love of this game, the time and means in which I played it has meant that I've never actually played any of the sequels, which is something that I always tell myself I need to do. If they're anything like the original, I can see them being on this list.
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next page bump.
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