Board 8 > Leonhart Ranks 124 User Nominated Games: Part 2

(+) Yeah! (+)

Mobilezoid posted...

Ashley is the obvious best

???
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10. Super Mario Bros. 3 (NFUN)


This was probably my original favorite game. It's considered an all-time classic by many people, and for good reason. Super Mario Bros. 3 was a huge step up for the series in terms of level design, powerups, secrets, bosses, and practically everything else. It was good at throwing unexpected stuff at you, too. I think everyone remembers freaking out when the friggin' sun started trying to kill them for the first time. It just goes to show how memorable that was because Angry Sun only shows up in two levels, but it's one of the things everyone remembers about Mario 3. The game has stood the test of time because it focused on stuff people value in platformers no matter what the era. Mario 3 can be challenging while at the same time being really accessible due to its secrets and shortcuts. The title screen even did a good job of showing you one of its tricks by having Mario duck through the white platform, which then enabled him to go behind the background elements. When I was a kid, I would always try to get all the warp whistles and P-Wings I could and skip as close to the end as possible. I don't remember if I ever beat the game legitimately as a kid since it was one of those games you just enjoyed picking up and playing for a little while, and it didn't matter whether you actually finished it or not.

When I played Mario 3 again after I'd gotten older, I made it a goal to beat every single level, and it gave me a newfound appreciation for just how strong of a game it is. Just about every world is great. I think Pipe Land is the only one I don't really like that much, and even then, it's not that bad. My personal favorite is Giant Land because the novelty of every single enemy being humongous, even the Goombas, is great. I really like Sky Land and Ice Land, too. Normally, I'd think the concept of not being able to get good traction in a platformer would be annoying, but in Mario 3, it somehow works out. It's part of the environment, and the levels are designed around that handicap. It doesn't feel any more difficult than the rest of the game as a result. I think the Dark Land is awesome, too, because it's got that definitive final area of the game feel to it, and it doesn't mess around. It throws slow auto-scrolling tank and airship levels at you left and right, and I remember crossing my fingers and hoping I could make it across that one bridge without getting pulled down into one of the levels there. The last boss fight against Bowser is kinda lame, but oh well. It could have been worse (*cough* Super Mario Sunshine *cough*).

I actually really like the airship boss levels a lot. They've got that really tense music, and it scrolls really slowly, so you're forced to go at the pace the game dictates. They throw all sorts of traps and projectiles at you, so it always feels like an accomplishment to survive it. The powers in Mario 3 are really fun, too. I know it was mind-blowing as a kid the first time you got the Leaf and found out Mario could fly now. Some things were only useful in certain situations, like the Frog Suit, but it was cool that they had so many you could choose from, as well as the fact that you could store up powerups for when you needed them. Mario 3 is just endlessly replayable. I could pick it up and play it right now, and have a blast with it, which is exactly what I want from a platformer.

Bonus Question: What is your favorite Nintendo game?

Exact hits for kateee, Janus, and pjbasis!
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LeonhartFour posted...

Mario World is still an amazing game with some awesome level designs and a great aesthetic sense. It's a very colorful and vivid game

this is a lot of why i like World. it still looks good and sprites don't age as bad!

and i don't have the attachment to 3 that a lot of people seem to have since it wasn't a part of my childhood or anything like that. i mean neither was World but i was at least drawn to it because of the aesthetics and all those sprite animations i watched.

yeah i definitely have that fondness for the works that provided the "mind-blowing" feeling of when you experience something completely unknown to you at a young age. i think it happened more so with movies and books for me rather than games at that age though.

9. Skies of Arcadia (Team Rocket Elite)


This is another game I've recently replayed, and it just reminded me why I love it so much. Skies of Arcadia was basically a throwback JRPG during the era when many games in the genre were trying to copy what Final Fantasy VII had done. This game challenged the new status quo with a refreshingly vibrant world, an eternally optimistic protagonist, and the old-fashioned thrill of adventure. I've heard many people talk about the sense of adventure they get from certain games, but only Skies of Arcadia has managed to captivate me like that. It's one of the only games where I want to find stuff just to find them because locating Discoveries, fighting all the wanted bounty fights, recruiting all the crew members, catching all the Moonfish, and getting all the Chams is so much fun. I think part of it is because the game does such a great job of rewarding you in various ways, whether it's with an upgrade to Vyse's title, new equipment you can't get anywhere else, or bonus story content. Very few games can completely suck me into the experience like this one can.

Skies of Arcadia's battle system is simple but flashy, with every character (and several bosses) having S-Moves with unique animations and voice clips that I'll find myself shouting along with them, like, "Behold...Pirates' Wrath!" People complain about the random encounter rate, but I didn't find it extraordinarily high with the Legends port, which reduced it a good bit (and even increased the amount of EXP each enemy gives to compensate for it, which was nice). Battles could be tedious early on until Aika learned Lambda Burst, which is probably the first move you'll learn that lets you hit every enemy, and then it's mostly smooth sailing from there (and it gets even smoother once Vyse learns Rain of Swords). One of the cool touches about battles in the game is the fact that the song reflects the pace of battle, so the music is upbeat if you're winning and is discordant if you're losing. In addition to regular battles, there are also ship battles, which are very fun. One of the most satisfying things in Skies of Arcadia is to watch Vyse's ships gradually grow in power over the course of the game until you're blasting things out of the sky late in the game that you literally could not beat early on. You can really sense the progression in strength.

While I wouldn't call the cast or the plot "deep" or "complex" by any stretch of the imagination, Skies of Arcadia just exudes charm. I couldn't help rooting for Vyse, who never gave up, no matter what, and said the only reason people thought something was impossible was because he hadn't tried yet. It was a brashness that bordered on arrogance but never got to the point of being insufferable. Aika and Fina are both great companions who have very different personalities but complement each other and Vyse really well to the point that there's no official ship and everyone seems okay with it, even the characters in the game! The fourth party member rotates around over the course of the game, but they're all likable. Perhaps the most surprising thing is that the gruff and grumpy old man is the source for the game's most poignant moments. Skies of Arcadia also has one of the best villain ensembles in gaming with the Valuan Armada. They're all good in their own ways (except for Alfonso), and they each have their own unique rivalry with Vyse and crew. The final act of the game is crazy, too. They cram so much goodness into the last part of the game. I don't know if we'll ever get that sequel or not, but hopefully Sega will wise up and port the game to Steam or something so they can finally see what a cult following the game has, and then who knows what could happen!

Bonus Question: What is your favorite cast of villains in a video game?

Another exact hit for kateee, and Roba gets it right, too!
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Foxhound is my favorite villain cast

I havent played SoA in forever. I remember the encounter rate being sky high.
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Out of all the things that make SoA great, I think the exploration and scope of the world is what really elevates it. By modern-day standards it's actually a pretty small world, but the sense of majesty and wonder it gives off is still unmatched. I think only Xenoblade has come close to equalling the standard that SoA set.

And man, that gif just reminded me of how likable the main trio are.

Favorite Nintendo Game: Xenoblade
Favorite Cast of Villains: Probably Skies of Arcadua
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Im starting to feel like kateee was being fed answers
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The Mana Sword posted...

Im starting to feel like kateee was being fed answers

#Rigged
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The Mana Sword posted...

Im starting to feel like kateee was being fed answers

Leonhart got first place in kateee's Persona prize draw too. It's a conspiracy!
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I mean kateee did buy me a swagtastic key chain
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Robazoid posted...

The Mana Sword posted...

Im starting to feel like kateee was being fed answers

Leonhart got first place in kateee's Persona prize draw too. It's a conspiracy!

I got first and second place!
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LeonhartFour posted...

What is your favorite cast of villains in a video game?

Either Metal Gear Solid 3 or Trails of Cold Steel.
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Xenogears is pretty top tier for villains.

pyresword posted...

Trails of Cold Steel

Cold Steel 2 I assume...?
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Mac Arrowny posted...

pyresword posted...

Trails of Cold Steel

Cold Steel 2 I assume...?

Well I think of them as one game in my head, but yes this is 100% due to Cold Steel 2.

(Just to clarify I have not played Cold Steel 3 yet, so this is just based on the first 2 games. You probably knew that already, but yeah.)
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Mario 3 was the first game where I was made aware of speedruns so that's really what i remember it for since again, i don't have that much experience with the game itself.

I feel like I've answered Tales of the Abyss for like half the bonus questions in this ranking, but the God-Generals are by far my favorite villain cast.

Skies had a damn good one, though.
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oh gosh i don't know how this happened but every time i've been seeing Skies of Arcadia, i've been picturing Baten Kaitos. i've never played Baten Kaitos

I have also never played Baten Kaitos.
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8. Persona 4 (Team Rocket Elite)


Persona 4 probably has my favorite playable cast in a video game. They're true companions to each other in every way, and it makes total sense in the context of the story, too. They've all seen themselves and each other at their very worst when they confronted their Shadows, and if you can accept someone as a friend after witnessing something like that, it creates an unbreakable bond. Of course, the Persona games since the third game have all been about the importance of forging bonds, but I feel like the fourth game demonstrated it the best. It's why I've played practically everything these guys are in: Both Arena games and Dancing All night. I tried Persona Q, but that one just wasn't worth it. I did get a pretty sweet DS case as a pre-order bonus, so it wasn't a total waste! I just love seeing the Investigation Team interact with each other and reach out to the truth (you knew I was going to cram that phrase in somewhere).

Speaking of which, the basic conflict of Persona 4 is Truth vs. Lies, which you probably already knew because the game does beat you pretty hard over the head with it. I still really liked it as a premise because I think the line between truth and fiction is often blurred and can be hard to distinguish, and the game tackles that aspect of it really well, especially during its climactic moment which determines whether the game ends prematurely or you get to continue on. Heck, you can even get road blocked just before the final dungeon without realizing it because the plot seems resolved! Persona 4 throws multiple red herrings at you all throughout the story that seem like the right answer, but it challenges you to be discerning and accept some hard truths rather than taking the easy way out. However, part of the problem here is that the journey is more exciting than the destination, because I wasn't a huge fan of the motivations of the culprit (even if he was kinda hilarious with how over the top about it he was). Nevertheless, it was a pretty great route to get there, and that's good enough for me.

In terms of gameplay, Persona 4 (especially the Golden version) was a massive step up from Persona 3 because it gave you so much more control over pretty much everything. They even began incorporating bonuses from your S. Links into the gameplay, like having your party members have the capability to endure a hit that would normally KO the protagonist. The dungeons were still pretty rough most of the way through, but the last few are really good. The Social Links are one of the big draws here, and they make some improvements over the first game in this department as well. All the party members are S. Links now, and you even have the choice to romance or friend zone the girls. Of course, romancing all the girls in Persona 4 Golden will make you feel like the biggest jerk in the world on Valentine's Day, but I still do it anyway. It's too good. Outside of the party member S. Links, my personal favorites were both of the Dojimas, Kou, Hisano, and surprisingly enough, Naoki. The latter is one that's not that great at first, but it gradually grows on you and it becomes unexpectedly touching by the end. I think every Persona game has one of those. I liked the two new S. Links that Golden added, too. They were both really interesting and actually had a direct impact on the main storyline in some minor ways, which was cool. The cast of this game as a whole is just excellent though, as I said at the beginning, and not just the playable characters. I actually like the fact that Inaba is a small town, because it feels like you actually get to know the random NPCs and watch these otherwise meaningless stories develop over the course of the game. I'm big on characterization, no matter how you give it to me, and Persona 4 is one of the best at it.

Bonus Question: What is your favorite playable cast in a video game?
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Kleenex gets an exact hit after accusing kateee and I of fixing the results. Things that make you go "Hmm."

Leaderboard after day 6!

kateee - 49
Janus5k - 62
AxemRedRanger - 64
NBIceman - 64
pjbasis - 66
Mac Arrowny - 74
LordoftheMorons - 76
The Mana Sword - 81
linkhatesganon - 84
Shonen_Bat - 86
SaveEstelle - 87
Eerieka - 90
Robazoid - 100
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LeonhartFour posted...

Bonus Question: What is your favorite playable cast in a video game?

Metal Gear Solid

<_<

Uh, for games with multiple party members... FFVI has a lot of greats? Some duds too though. I dunno if there are any where I'm super into the majority of the cast. FFXII is like half and half great/meh, so that's a pretty decent ratio...
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50/50 is a pretty sad ratio imhotbqh no matter how good Balthier, Ashe, and Basch are (and they're great)

generally speaking 75/25 is what you're shooting for
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Yeah, pretty sure I wouldn't say any game's cast is 75% great, unfortunately.

Maybe Higurashi if we're including main characters from VNs.
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that is unfortunate
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yeah the things each Persona game does best can be argued but i don't think there's any arguing that when it comes to cast chemistry, P4 comes out on top. that really is a strong emphasis of the game even more than in the others and the insular, rural setting makes it stand out more as opposed to the dizzying and hectic backgrounds of the other two.

i would probably go with P4 too. P3 and P5 have a couple of better individuals but P4's probably the strongest when it comes to the entire cast taking into consideration how much each character strays from the meh range (both directions). Maybe Symphonia since I'm pretty attached to certain people in that one too, although Regal kind of sticks out there.

Persona 4 in terms of how well the cast members interact with one another.

Trails in the Sky in terms of sheer amount of good characters.
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Persona 4, for group chemistry

Final Fantasy X, if each characters' individual strength are taken and ranked as a group. The group dynamic there is probably 2nd as well to only P4.

oh yeah, Berseria's a pretty great pick for cast. Would be perfect if I liked Phi as much as everyone else does.

In Sky Estelle kinda towers above the rest of the cast personally. Joshua is cool too, and I like Tita, but the rest don't impress me much.
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Berseria probably my number 2 as far as cast chemistry goes actually. I'm still sort of confused as to why that cast works at all, but it does.
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pyresword posted...

Berseria probably my number 2 as far as cast chemistry goes actually. I'm still sort of confused as to why that cast works at all, but it does.

because atlas shrugged is a timeless classic and any work that emulates it is doomed to success
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Yeah, Berseria is my number two as well behind (surprise surprise) Abyss.
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Favorite cast of villains from a video game would be

MGS1's Fox Hound.

Skies of Arcadia's Valuan Armada and Trails SC's Ouroboros is up there as well.

Ouroboros in Trails of the Sky would be so much better if Weissman didn't suck so much as a leader. Loewe and Renne are top tier characters, but they can't carry the group by themselves.
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I don't find the individual members of Ouroboros all that interesting as characters aside from Loewe and maybe Campanella. The others are interesting as foils to their party member counterparts. Weissmann just sucks.
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Are there people who care about Walter? I can't imagine loving or hating him.

Renne is the best and Campanella is the worst, IMO.

Renne also benefits from having way more screentime than any of the other members though.
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Favorite playable cast is Skies of Arcadia, Tales of Berseria, Dragon Age: Origins, and Persona 4, not necessarily in that order.

Glad you gave Naoki's S. Link a shoutout. It's one of my favorites in the game.
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Campanella was so ****ing vague, I don't know how any one considers him better than Renne, Luciola and Walter. Loewe obviously the best and I thought Weissmann was alright as the main leader. I liked Bleublanc a lot as well but people seem to hate him.

Campanella being obscure was one of the best things about him, actually. I'd rather a bad guy have a little bit of mystery about him instead of being so obviously and stereotypically evil like Weissmann.

Also Renne isn't that great, but I suppose part of it is that I can't feel any sympathy whatsoever for her, and I'm not sure if I'm supposed to, since I can't tell with these psychos who supposedly have good reasons for being psychos. All I know is that I don't like the archetype because "torturing and killing people for the lulz" almost never does anything for me.

actually the best thing about Renne was Estelle slapping her in the face because watching Robazoid back himself into a corner and backpedal super hard about it was worth the game and a half I had to wait for that exact moment to call him on it
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Renne's not the best in SC, no. Gets much better after.
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smb3 is so good! i might be biased since i've actually beaten it, but it feels a lot tighter than smw. smw does have nicer graphics/music, but it feels almost designed to be nice instead of tight.
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I also thought Renne got noticeably better after SC. On the other hand though she was probably in my top 10 or so characters in the Sky series already, so...
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I stopped playing Persona 4 after a certain site spoiled the game for me. ( would It have been that hard to "rank" the character as "Persona 4 killer" >_>) I really wish I could have gone unspoiled.

I really like trying to figure out plots on my own. The same thing happened with FFX, though at least I eventually watched my friend finish.

The fact I was spoiled ruined Persona 4 for me. In a murder mystery, you don't want the murderer spoiled before you watch. I wanted to figure it out on my own. I probably wouldn't have figured it out and got the bad ending... That's how much was ruined for me. I never would have suspected who the true killer was. I was at the point where they go in the 8 bit world and they assumed that guy was the killer.
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LeonhartFour posted...

Kleenex gets an exact hit after accusing kateee and I of fixing the results. Things that make you go "Hmm."

Leaderboard after day 6!

kateee - 49
The Mana Sword - 81

yes I've been playing the long con this whole time
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I figured out who the killer in P4 was a couple hours into the game, as soon as that character was introduced and the first murder happened, partly since I'd recently watched an anime that had a similar twist. Don't really think it ruined it for me, but yeah, I might've liked the game better if I hadn't figured it out so early.
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I didn't figure it out until the game forces you to pick who you think it is, and then my mind realized that it literally couldn't have been anyone else.

Same thing happened with a similar twist in Dual Destinies.
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Also, my internet is acting up right now, so I'm not sure when I'll get to post any writeups today.
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7. Mass Effect 3 (SaveEstelle)


Mass Effect 3 was the culmination of what the first two games were building up to: The Reaper invasion. It does a good job of demonstrating just how overmatched everyone is against this mysterious sentient race of machines from dark space, and it's all-out war from start to finish. There are tons of new enemies that are amalgamations and abominations of the races in the game, with the most frightening of all being the Banshees. That shriek is the stuff of nightmares. Not to mention the fact that Cerberus has its own set of super soldiers to deal with now, too. I love the combat in this game. It's just so much fun, and every storyline mission has weight and feels like it matters. There's virtually no filler here. Of course, there's plenty of filler in the sidequests, but they're usually pretty enjoyable, too, because fighting is just so smooth. I do them all every time I play the game.

Mass Effect 3 isn't all about the Reapers. It also brings to a head several plotlines that have permeated the other games, like the dilemma with the Genophage and the geth/quarian conflict. I mention those two because their resolutions are probably my favorite missions in the game. I love the fact that there isn't just one solution to many of these things. Depending on your decisions in this game and the previous games, the outcomes and consequences of Shepard's actions can play out very differently. As just about everyone here knows, I'm a sucker for heroics and doing what others thought impossible, so my ideal choices are usually the one that do the most good for everyone, but I have played it just about every way to see the various permutations. There are one or two decisions that I absolutely refuse to ever make though, because I can't bring myself to do them.

Commander Shepard's squad here is smaller than the one he had in Mass Effect 2, but they compensate for it by giving crazy amounts of banter on every mission, as well as wherever you happen to be if your other squadmates are there, too, whether it's the Citadel or the Normandy. One of my favorite things in Mass Effect 3 is the fact that the other squadmates move around the ship and interact with each other just for fun instead of always just waiting in the same old location for Shepard to come talk to them. It made the cast feel so much more alive, and it provides a lot of camaraderie and levity in a game that would be pretty bleak and depressing without it. While some of the former squadmates may not fight with Shepard directly here, nearly all of them have an important role at some point during the game, so that was nice. Some of them have more prominence than others, of course, but all my favorites had good roles, so that's all that matters to me!

I can't conclude this writeup without mentioning the Citadel DLC, which was the final one released for Mass Effect 3. It's the single greatest piece of DLC I've seen in anything. If you're a fan of the series, I honestly don't think you can consider your experience complete without playing it. It's the perfect farewell to Shepard and crew. It's a really fun mission with tons of references to other events throughout the series, and the writing is hilarious. It's the true ending of the series!

Bonus Question: What is your favorite DLC?

Exact hit for AxemRedRanger, and a few others only missed it by one spot!
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I guess everyone's still waiting for me to talk about the ending but I avoided that subject on purpose
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Mass Effect 3 as a whole didn't really do it for me, but I'll say that the Tuchanka section of the game was pitch perfect. The conclusion to the Geth/Quarian storyline was really good too.
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