Board 8 > transience's top 100 games -- 2020 edition.

(+) Yeah! (+)

I dont think Celeste is the kind of thing Im talking about here at all - Im speaking more to games that are dedicated to that one message. Celeste is a whole gameplay experience unto itself, not a walking simulator type of thing.

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iiicon posted...

i wouldn't say most first person narrative adventure games are about grief and loss. gone home, the witness and paratropic are all wildly different games

Gone Home is so good. There is a top 50 game.

oh ya go my Bleed

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heroicmario posted...

Gone Home is so good. There is a top 50 game.

yeah it's an all-timer for sure. it's a game you can tell took a lot of care and thought went into the ways it told a story.

also bonus points for a killer soundtrack. i mean it's just riot grrrl but riot grrrl was awesome

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On the subject of 'depression' games being popular - I think that on average gamers are probably more likely to have depression or at least exhibit symptoms of depression, but the amount and visibility of 'depression' games has more to do with the way games are distributed and consumed. It's really easy to find stuff on Steam.

There's definitely some sort of trend there though, like how the number of games that put you in a protective father role spiked significantly once gamers started reaching that age. I'll never forget the weird experience of playing two 'dad' games voiced by Troy Baker back to back that released in the same year.

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45.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jp4W5iyRAQA

2016
PC, PS4, XB1, Switch

Inside is fucking terrifying. Everything about this game is so supremely uncomfortable. This feels like a silent horror movie as everything just feels so dreadful. It's not a game about jump scares or anything like that, but you won't feel at ease playing it.

The puzzles that you solve are equally offputting, like pulling tails off of pigs so they stop chasing you which allows you to drag their lifeless bodies around. This lets you use them as a platform to get to a mind control device that attaches to your head and lets you control some lifeless zombies that can open doors and gates for you. Nothing in this game makes sense or feels good or feels right. Everyone is trying to kill you. Theyre not just trying to stop you or capture you. Theyre trying to squeeze the life from your lifeless child body.

Theres no real explanation or point to anything that happens in Inside, just a sequence of increasingly uncomfortable situations that make you feel on edge and wonder just what the heck is going on. You craft narratives in your head because the feelings that the game gives you are so intriguing.

And then, when you finally go inside, everything changes and you will never forget the next fifteen minutes for the rest of your life.

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inside is one of the most impressive and visually overwhelming games i've ever played

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I wish I'd played Inside before I was spoiled about the plot twists.

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another tier down. I'm super high on everything from here on, to the point that I feel like the next 25ish games belong in the 20s.

100. hacknet
99. braid
98. batman: arkham asylum
97. super meat boy
96. portal
95. world of goo
94. hollow knight
93. super mario world
92. mega man maker
91. ace attorney 2
90. zelda: majora's mask
89. xenoblade chronicles x

88. monument valley
87. dragon warrior
86. mega man 3
85. castlevania: dawn of sorrow
84. nier: automata
83. we love katamari
82. zelda: link to the past
81. lethal league
80. half-minute hero 2
79. mike tyson's punch out!!
78. god of war 2
77. wolfenstein 2: the new colossus
76. super smash bros ultimate

75. binding of isaac
74. final fantasy 7
73. super hexagon
72. crystalis
71. suikoden
70. ace attorney 5
69. etrian odyssey 5
68. dragon warrior monsters 2
67. crypt of the necrodancer
66. dragon quest 3
65. final fantasy 4
64. actraiser
63. shadow hearts 2

62. persona 4 golden
61. metroid fusion
60. mega man 11
59. castle crashers
58. ace attorney investigations 2
57. street fighter 2
56. shadow complex
55. persona 5
54. zelda 1
53. holedown

52. final fantasy 9
51. final fantasy 6
50. castlevania: portrait of ruin
49. final fantasy 10
48. bleed
47. brothers: a tale of two sons
46. geometry wars 2
45. inside

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Once you've been playing games for decades, the level of quality of a Top 20 back in the early 2000s is equal to your Top 50 in 2019

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44.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SZUtyYSOjQ

2019
PC, Switch, PS4, XB1

Slay the Spire is ostensibly a deck builder but it ends up feeling more like Binding of Isaac thanks to the seemingly infinite number of possible builds. Youre collecting randomized cards and building a deck but youre also collecting randomized relics that modify your character abilities in a hundred different ways. This game is all about taking in a ton of information and figuring out how to use those variables to their maximum advantage.

For example, you might be playing the Silent, a rogue/mage hybrid class that really thrives on poison damage and damage multipliers. Halfway through the run, though, you might gain some relics that do extra damage when you throw daggers at the enemy, forcing you to course correct your build to focus on a different kind of card. Your ability to be flexible and adjust on the fly is key to being good at this game. Its so easy to get bogged down trying to build one specific way and getting screwed in the process.

There are so many cool deck combinations in this game. Its kind of like Etrian Odyssey, where your class gets a handful of ability options and your job is to figure out how to synergize them together. There are three classes in STS (soon to be 4) and each of them has multiple reliable builds that you can aim for depending on what you get. Each run gets more and more addicting until youve suddenly lost 10 hours screwing around trying to get the perfect run.

And every time that finish a well-played or lucky run, the game ups the difficulty the next time out and screws with you just a little bit more. Bosses get more HP, you get less potion slots, you start with less than max HP, etc. Theres no beating Slay the Spire without a ton of struggle, and when you do it just gets worse. You can lose yourself playing this dumb little deck game and its super fun doing so.

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So, Im looking at these recaps, and Im thinking, how would I rank these tiers. Turns out thats harder than I thought, but I did it. I did the inequality thing.

Hacknet > Monument Valley > Persona 4 Golden > Final Fantasy 9 > Binding of Isaac

ha, unexpected! I guess you're not on team Final Fantasy these days!

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Youre not wrong! I kind of feel like we have similar thoughts about FF as a whole these days, maybe a little difference of order preference, but the real elite section (1-20) might have one FF game? Two at most? Im curious how you feel about this, actually. When you rank games, does it ever factor in how much you would want to revisit the game? Or, like, how nice it sounds to play it again, even if you dont?

well, I played all of 'em this year so it's just how much I like each at this point in time. I try not to make it too complicated. I do think replayability is a big factor since what's the point of thinking highly of a game if it's not fun to pick up and play again? I don't worry about objective quality that much.

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hm play ff14

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43.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGQHQc_3ycE

2017
Switch

This game is just pure unadulterated joy. Its so colorful and happy and feels like magic. I wish this game came out when I was a kid because wow. My kids take to this game like moths to a flame. I always watch their reactions to Odyssey and imagine what I was like as a wide-eyed child who was just introduced to what would go on to be my first favourite games, because that's what this will be to them.

Each monster that you can capture adds a new wrinkle to the gameplay. You could do a whole ranking of the Odyssey captures because each one brings so much new to the world. My favourites, without putting a ton of thought into this, are the leggy dudes from the Wooded Kingdom and the Goomba just because stacking a crapload of goombas on top of each other is always amazing. The unique worlds are really unique and add a lot too.

3d Mario isnt typically my thing -- Mario 64 singlehandedly turned me off to the n64 -- because Im only so-so at 3d platforming. Odyssey, though, feels more like an open world adventure game with how much fun it is to explore the areas and see all the secrets they shoved into every corner. If you poke at the edges of this game world, youll find things that feel rewarding all over the place. Each world is bursting with hundreds of secrets. Sometimes you get a moon, sometimes you find some purple coins and sometimes its nothing. What a cool game this is.

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Odyssey is fantastic. Easily my favorite 3D Mario. I'd need to replay SMW to see if it's my favorite overall.

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Odyssey is a ton of fun. New Donk City for life.

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yeah my kids love odyssey. it's one of the few games they both love equally.

i think it's a step back in quality from the last 4 3d mario games but still solid

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Lmao I just realized icon has me blocked to the point where I can't even see his posts? I did not know that was even an option here. How pathetic.

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Nelson_Mandela posted...

Lmao I just realized icon has me blocked to the point where I can't even see his posts? I did not know that was even an option here. How pathetic.

yep they added that feature fairly recently

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Both ulti and cyclo have me blocked!

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iiicon posted...

hm play ff14

Austin Walkers FF14 journey is about as close as I could get to delving into that monster. It sounds fascinating, but that 100 hour until good content commitment!
transience posted...

well, I played all of 'em this year so it's just how much I like each at this point in time. I try not to make it too complicated. I do think replayability is a big factor since what's the point of thinking highly of a game if it's not fun to pick up and play again? I don't worry about objective quality that much.

No, totally, Im with youobjective quality is irrelevant in a personal top 100 list. Its just, like, when you know you used to like a game, but you have no real desire to play it again, or maybe you do and it hasnt held up, but the memories are still good. Or vice versa. It can be a tough one for me!

In my case, there are a lot of games I haven't played in years that I think I would still rank highly just based on my nostalgic memories of them because I still remember how great those games made me feel in the moment (like tran mentioned earlier with something like Shadow Hearts 2).

maybe I need to make a top 100 list of my own

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do it!

HM the next one on the list is one of those for me. its super hard to place. you could argue for it to not place at all or be top 10.

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Mario Odyssey is a gift. It might lack some of the direction of a Galaxy or 3D World, but talk about a game where its just fun to run around and do jumps and flips. Still probably a top 10 game for me.

I haven't made a games list in like 4 years now so I'm not even sure what it would look like myself at this point!

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heroicmario posted...

Austin Walkers FF14 journey is about as close as I could get to delving into that monster. It sounds fascinating, but that 100 hour until good content commitment!

nah, it gets good pretty early, lulls for a long time after you beat a realm reborn and get into the patch content, then two of the next three expansions are top three final fantasy games

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i did a top 20 in response to hm doing one last year. i think his was top 25 maybe? here's where i landed

20. Half-Life 2: Episode 2
19. Metroid Prime 2
18. Spelunky
17. Planescape Torment
16. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
15. Demon's Souls
14. Dark Souls 2
13. Dark Souls
12. Dragon Quest V
11. Super Mario Galaxy 2
10. Gone Home
9. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC
8. Animal Crossing: A New Leaf
7. Fallout: New Vegas
6. Super Mario Maker
5. Nier
4. Mother 3
3. Shadow of the Colossus
2. Nier: Automata
1. ICO

i think the top 5 are still the top 5 but i'd probably add a couple different games to my top 10. dunno how a top 100 would look

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Shadow Hearts 2 is a perfect example. I loved it to pieces a decade ago, but now? Mmm, tough, its tough. I just know if I played it today I wouldnt enjoy it or see it through in the same way, but what memories! I feel like that can be half the battle when making a list is where you land on this stuff.

Ive heard so many good things about the story content in FF14that sentiment that it is a top FF game is enticing. I wish it were distilled down into a consumable single player experience separate of the MMO trappings.

iiicon posted...

i did a top 20 in response to hm doing one last year. i think his was top 25 maybe? here's where i landed

Your gaming list has always been weirdly aspirational for me. Its like, I admire how diverse yet cohesive it all is? You can see the through line of how all these games connect back to tell a story of your taste in games. I always try to start this way and end up falling way short in my own top lists in that regard. It just looks so good laid out, haha.

heroicmario posted...

Ive heard so many good things about the story content in FF14that sentiment that it is a top FF game is enticing. I wish it were distilled down into a consumable single player experience separate of the MMO trappings.

i think in particular the aesthetics and setting are your brand of FF, and then when shadowbringers hits it plays with the formula and expectations in ways you'd really be into

just gotta stop playing other games for a couple months to get there!

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yeah Ill never play ff14

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42.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAMq3RaUNrg

2009
PS3, 360, PC, PS4

Street Fighter 4 was a damn revelation when it came out. 4 isnt *that* fundamentally different from SF2, and that familiarity is what made 4 such a huge hit. However, they came out in totally different gaming environments. SF2 hit and caused a full-on arcade boom whereas SF4 hit right when online multiplayer was cresting.
I can remember watching high level SF4 arcade videos in 2008 and it blew my mind. Livestreaming was just starting to hit in 2009, the days of ustream and justin.tv. The convergence of online multiplayer, youtube and live streaming made SF4 an absolute juggernaut.

I bring all of this up because SF4 just isnt what it used to be because the game is old news. SF4 died the day SF5 hit and that sucks because SF5 kinda sucks.

I really loved SF4 from 2009-2015 or so and a lot of that was its online presence, following the scene and trying (and failing) to live up to what pros could do. Playing this game online with friends was a real joy because so many people came up with SF2 and this felt like a great way to socialize and try to measure up. The game got consistent updates that largely worked. It felt like the glory days of Street Fighter, and honestly fighting games in general.

I went along with that big-time - this is one of only five games that have topped my games lists over the last 15 years. I would happily play this game with friends if people still played it, though theres a skill barrier that you have to push through and I simply dont have the dedication or time to grind like Id need to in order to get the right amount of satisfaction out of SF4. Id much rather play lots of different games than be monogamous with one ultra-competitive game. But when all that competitive and social capital built up by SF4 up and disappears as people move on to the next big fighting game (or, more accurately, just away from fighting games completely), whats actually left to enjoy?

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transcience posted...

yeah Ill never play ff14

Also, I loved SFIV. I'm sad SFV was such a disappointment by comparison. I've never been an online gamer, but I made an exception for SF.

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i kinda hate sf5 for finally putting in characters i actually like well after anyone i'd want to play with dropped the game

now it's too late in the game's life to boot it up now and join a discord to get my ass kicked as sakura

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Yeah, SFV actually added content I would have wanted long after I stopped caring about it. I think I played the story mode they added like 4 months after launch and haven't touched it since.

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I wonder how good SFIV would be now if they had just gone the League of Legends route and kept updating instead of making SFV.
SFIV was good, but by the end with all the updates it was maybe the best fighting game I've ever played.

Tekken seems to be doing good with its content updates, but I'll never get into Tekken games the same way.

Really interested to see if the League fighting game will affect the FGC in a major way.

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voltch posted...

I wonder how good SFIV would be now if they had just gone the League of Legends route and kept updating instead of making SFV.

it'd probably be dead because the economics of those two games are complete opposites. capcom needs those couple million people up front paying $60 to justify making a game, not the tens (or hundreds) of thousands maybe paying $10 for a character every couple months

maybe the economics of fighting games changes in the future because so much of how companies release games now has changed, and i could see riot's fighting game doing something interesting there, but there's no way a conservative company like capcom would make the leap

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Well I was just thinking that had they kept going, the roster would be huge with a ton of popular characters available so the skin selling could be pretty profitable.

My issue with fighting games online, is that after a bit, the playerbase dwindles and you're left with just guys who will body you every time. I just wish they'd find some method of keeping a large pool of players who suck engaged.

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SF5 is probably on my shortlist for most disappointing follow up ever. I sunk hundreds of hours into SF4 in a way that I have with few others, and to know they just totally goofed what should have been an easy shot with SF5 is just so upsetting. On the other hand, what a way to validate the significance of SF4. I see what you mean about where it could land anywhere on the list.

iiicon posted...

i think in particular the aesthetics and setting are your brand of FF, and then when shadowbringers hits it plays with the formula and expectations in ways you'd really be into

just gotta stop playing other games for a couple months to get there!

See, this sounds so good. Let these guys work on FF16!

Catching up on the last two days of this topic, and I have to say, the best thing about Gris is the fucking gorgeous art

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SgtSphynx posted...

the best thing about Gris is the fucking gorgeous art

i think the last 30 minutes are really cool too when you've finally got a handle on the controls and can really challenge yourself with some of the platforming

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LeonhartFour posted...

I haven't made a games list in like 4 years now so I'm not even sure what it would look like myself at this point!

you made one in early 2018.

you gave me money for Persona 5 for predicting it better than anyone else so I remember! (also, thanks.)

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I took screen shots of some parts of Gris and they are in my rotation of desktop backgrounds

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A Yoshi P x Yoko Taro collab to make FFXVI would probably get even the more cynical fans of the series somewhat interested.
It doesn't even feel all that unlikely anymore that at least one of the two could be involved in the next mainline title.

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41.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L9Os_2nnEY

2016
3DS, Mobile

Ace Attorney 6s storyline and atmosphere hit some of the highest highs in the series. The different setting really helps to turn the page on some series staples and that change freshens things up considerably. The music takes on a different tone as AA6 goes much more mystical than its predecessors. Theyre all welcome changes.

In particular, the Khurain revolution plotline is smartly written and has layers that unfold across several cases and dozens of hours. AA6 is much longer than other games in the series and stretches across two countries, eventually culminating in a monster final case thats bigger in scope than any case in series history. That final case truly changes the direction the series will go in the future for the first time since the tragedy that is AA4.

And yet, half of the game feels largely throwaway as a way to keep all of the previously established main characters involved. The Khurain arc is the core of the game and the other cases just dont feel as consequential as a result. These two isolated halves are hard to reconcile and ultimately keep this game from sitting near the top of my AA rankings.


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A lot of the cases in SOJ feel weirdly rushed, but it's still the third best AA game