Board 8 > Board 8 #sports Discord Ranks Their Top 100 Video Games Finale: THE TOP 10

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MrSmartGuy
02/28/21 10:57:25 PM
#1:


If you missed the first three topics, they're still there, so go give 'em a looksee here! We've worked pretty hard on all the write-ups and I'm sure everyone would be glad to have all the more people read about the games they're most passionate about.

Topic 1: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/79208627
Topic 2: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/79241274
Topic 3: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/79281225

Me, Nick, Bartz, Wigs, Naye, Nee, Arti, Cokes, Eddv, and now KCF are all sharing our favorite video games of all-time! Alas, it is almost time for it to come to an end, but that only means we're getting to the best part!

For this topic, those of us ready to begin our top 10 will begin posting one game a day, starting tomorrow, for a countdown that will conclude on March 10. Let's strap in and finish this thing with a bang!

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MajinZidane
02/28/21 10:59:47 PM
#2:


hey this seems like a really cool topic series that I completely missed!

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MrSmartGuy
02/28/21 11:00:01 PM
#3:


My list so far:

HM. Nintendo World Cup
HM. Tecmo Super Bowl
HM. Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec
HM. Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour
HM. Burnout 3: Takedown
HM. The Urbz: Sims in the City
HM. Winning Eleven 9
HM. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
HM. Hitman: Blood Money
HM. Deadly Premonition
HM. Ratchet & Clank (PS4)
HM. Hades
HM. NHL Hitz 20-02
100. Earthbound
99. Rush 2: Extreme Racing USA
98. Mario Golf: Advance Tour
97. Sonic Adventure 2 Battle
96. FTL: Faster Than Light
95. Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
94. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
93. Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time
92. Beat Saber
91. Pocket Card Jockey
90. WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2006
89. Persona 5
88. Trauma Team
87. HITMAN
86. The World Ends With You
85. Professor Layton and the Unwound Future
84. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
83. Pokemon Stadium 2
82. Mass Effect 3
81. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
80. NES Open Tournament Golf
79. Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2
78. Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate
77. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
76. Mario Party 2
75. The Lost Mind of Dr. Brain
74. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies
73. Saints Row: The Third
72. SSX3
71. Doki Doki Literature Club
70. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4
69. Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride
68. Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds
67. WarioWare: Twisted!
66. TimeSplitters 2
65. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
64. Chrono Trigger
63. Tetris Effect
62. Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow Version
61. Dark Souls
60. Hot Shots Golf Fore!
59. Mario Kart 8
58. Return of the Obra Dinn
57. Mario Golf (N64)
56. Hotel Dusk: Room 215
55. Dark Souls III
54. Advance Wars: Dual Strike
53. Last Window: Secret of Cape West
52. Borderlands 2
51. the jackbox PARTY PACKs
50. Batman: Arkham Asylum
49. Pokemon Black/White Version
48. Fire Emblem
47. Paper Mario
46. Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor's Path
45. SOCOM II: U.S. Navy SEALs
44. Shadow of the Colossus
43. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
42. Rock Band 2
41. Mario Golf
40. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
39. Skate 3
38. Snowboard Kids 2
37. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
36. Mario Tennis
35. Diddy Kong Racing
34. Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising
33. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice
32. Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal
31. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
30. Mario Tennis
29. SNATCHER
28. Pokemon Puzzle League
27. Horizon: Zero Dawn
26. Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward
25. Pokemon Gold/Silver Version
24. Elite Beat Agents
23. Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational
22. Super Smash Bros. Melee
21. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
20. Fallout 3
19. Banjo-Kazooie
18. Inazuma Eleven
17. Super Mario Odyssey
16. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
15. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations
14. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
13. Final Fantasy X
12. Mass Effect 2
11. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

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Arti
02/28/21 11:15:22 PM
#4:


List so far

100. Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc (Vita, 2014)
99. Style Savvy: Trendsetters (3DS, 2012)
98. Diablo II (PC, 2000)
97. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies (3DS, 2013)
96. Cosmic Star Heroine (Vita, 2017)
95. Fate/Extella Link (PS4, 2019)
94. Animal Crossing: New Leaf (3DS, 2013)
93. South Park: The Stick of Truth (PS3, 2014)
92. Letter Quest: Grimm's Journey (PC, 2014)
91. Dynasty Warriors 8 (PS3, 2013)
90. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (DS, 2011)
89. Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX (3DS, 2015)
88. The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker (GameCube, 2003)
87. Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney (3DS, 2014)
86. Pokemon Heart Gold/Soul Silver (DS, 2010)
85. Taiko no Tatsujin: V Version (Vita, 2015 JP)
84. Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland (PS3, 2012)
83. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky FC (PSP, 2011)
82. Kirby Super Star (SNES, 1996 / DS, 2008)
81. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (DS, 2001)
80. The World Ends With You (DS, 2008)
79. Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Hacker's Memory (Vita, 2018)
78. The Walking Dead: Season One (Vita, 2012)
77. Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale (PC, 2010)
76. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (SNES, 1996)
75. Super Smash Bros. Melee (GameCube, 2001)
74. Professor Layton and the Unwound Future (DS, 2010)
73. Pokemon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum (DS, 2007)
72. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel (Vita, 2015)
71. Super Mario Odyssey (Switch, 2017)
70. DJMAX Respect (PS4, 2015)
69. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (PC, 2000 / GBA, 2001)
68. Chrono Trigger (SNES, 1995)
67. Tales of Xillia (PS3, 2013)
66. Final Fantasy VII (PS1, 1997)
65. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii, 2007)
64. EarthBound (SNES, 1995)
63. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Switch, 2018)
62. Final Fantasy VI (SNES, 1994)
61. Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland (PS3, 2011)
60. Fire Emblem Awakening (3DS, 2013)
59. Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F (PS3, 2013)
58. Lost Dimension (Vita, 2015)
57. Yakuza Kiwami (PS4, 2017)
56. Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors (DS, 2010)
55. Z.H.P. Unlosing Ranger vs. Darkdeath Evilman (PSP, 2010)
54. Until Dawn (PS4, 2015)
53. Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn (Wii, 2007)
52. Tales of Graces f (PS3, 2012)
51. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (GameCube, 2004)
50. Picross 3D: Round 2 (3DS, 2016)
49. Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F 2nd (Vita, 2014)
48. Elite Beat Agents (DS, 2006)
47. Pocket Card Jockey (3DS, 2016)
46. Ys: Memories of Celceta (Vita, 2013)
45. Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Future Tone (PS4, 2017)
44. Root Double -Before Crime * After Days- Xtend Edition (Vita, 2018)
43. Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk (PS3, 2013)
42. Pokemon Black/White (DS, 2011)
41. Pokemon Black 2/White 2 (DS, 2012)
40. Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals (SNES, 1996)
39. Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth (Vita, 2016)
38. Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky (PS3, 2014)
37. Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age (PS4, 2018)
36. Yakuza Kiwami 2 (PS4, 2018)
35. Steins;Gate 0 (Vita, 2016)
34. Animal Crossing (GameCube, 2002)
33. Fate grand/order (Android, 2017)
32. Love Live! School idol festival (Android, 2014)
31. Advance Wars: Dual Strike (DS, 2005)
30. Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising (GBA, 2003)
29. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC (PSP, 2015)
28. Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair (Vita, 2014)
27. AI: The Somnium Files (PS4, 2019)
26. Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony (Vita, 2017)
25. SSX (PS3, 2012)
24. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice (3DS, 2016)
23. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations (DS, 2007)
22. Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward (3DS, 2012 / Vita, 2012)
21. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 (PS2, 2006 / PSP, 2009)
20. Ever17 -the out of infinity- (PC, 2005)
19. Valkyria Chronicles (PS3, 2008)
18. Fate/stay night (PC, 2004 JP)
17. Yakuza 0 (PS4, 2017)
16. Guild Wars (PC, 2005)
15. Radiant Historia (DS, 2011)
14. SSX 3 (GameCube, 2003)
13. Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor (DS, 2009 / 3DS, 2011)
12. Muv-Luv Alternative (Vita, 2017)
11. Tales of Vesperia (Xbox 360, 2008)

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Bartzyx
02/28/21 11:43:05 PM
#5:


My list so far:

#100 Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
#99 Flower
#98 Plants vs. Zombies
#97 Duke Nukem II
#96 Heavy Rain
#95 The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
#94 Shadow of the Colossus
#93 Pokemon RBY
#92 The Wolf Among Us
#91 God of War: Ghost of Sparta
#90 Darksiders
#89 Resident Evil 1
#88 The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
#87 Mordor: The Depths of Dejenol
#86 Awesomenauts
#85 Wolfenstein: The New Order
#84 Binary Domain
#83 Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
#82 Capture the Flag
#81 Loom
#80 Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Bse
#79 Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
#78 Gladiator
#77 Dead by Daylight
#76 SkyRoads
#75 Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
#74 Total Annihilation
#73 Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
#72 Bully
#71 The Walking Dead: Season 1
#70 Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
#69 The Aethra Chronicles - Volume One: Celystra's Bane
#68 The Lost Vikings
#67 Chrono Trigger
#66 Resident Evil 4
#65 Halo: Combat Evolved
#64 Super Mario 64
#63 Secret of Evermore
#62 Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht
#61 Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
#60 Pinball Dreams
#59 Fez
#58 Dead Space
#57 Rock Band 2
#56 God of War III
#55 Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
#54 Operation Neptune
#53 The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
#52 Excelsior Phase One: Lysandia
#51 Final Fantasy VI
#50 Command & Conquer
#49 Batman: Arkham Asylum
#48 Jak II
#47 Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines
#46 God of War II
#45 Dead Space 2
#44 Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume
#43 Wing Commander: Privateer
#42 Metroid: Zero Mission
#41 Super Meat Boy
#40 Super Mario Bros.
#39 Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
#38 Jazz Jackrabbit
#37 Super Mario Galaxy 2
#36 Final Fantasy IV
#35 Cannon Fodder
#34 Borderlands 2
#33 Hotline Miami
#32 Metroid Fusion
#31 Bioshock
#30 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
#29 Battlefield 2
#28 Journey
#27 Final Fantasy X
#26 Commander Keen in "Goodbye, Galaxy!"
#25 The Legend of Kyrandia: Book Two - The Hand of Fate
#24 Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels
#23 Command & Conquer: Red Alert
#22 Bioshock 2
#21 Fantasy General
#20 Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
#19 Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
#18 Bioshock Infinite
#17 Wing Commander
#16 The Last of Us
#15 Star Fox 64
#14 SimCity 2000
#13 Final Fantasy Tactics
#12 Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
#11 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2

Here's a hint for my top 10 if anyone wants to guess:

1990
1992
1994
1995
2000
2000
2005
2006
2009
2012

And if you want another hint, I will give it to you if you can go through my 90 previous write-ups and find the one that is complete bullshit. Yeah, I gave a completely fake write-up for one of my games, and I'll reward whoever can find it!

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Eddv
03/01/21 1:49:51 AM
#6:


100 SimTown PC
99 Bang Dream! Girls Band Party phone
98 Phantasy Star III Genesis
97 North vs South NES
96 Scooby Doo Genesis game Genesis
95 MechWarrior: Living Legends Arcade
94 You Don't Know Jack PC
93 General Chaos Genesis
92 Cannon Fodder PC
91 Kirby's Dream Course SNES
90 Hexzyz Force PSP
89 NHL Hockey 94 Genesis
88 Long Live the Queen PC
87 Dungeons and Dragons: Warriors of the Eternal Sun Genesis
86 NCAA Football 2014 PS3
85 Pokemon RedGBC
84 Ms Pac Man Arcade
83 Donkey Kong Country 2 SNES
82 Knights and Merchants PC
81 King's Quest V PC
80" No More Heroes Wii"
79 Dishonored 2 PS4
78 Dark Souls 2 PS3
77 Simpsons Arcade Game Arcade
76 Sonic 2 Genesis
75 Rock Band PS3
74 Dynamite Headdy SNES
73 Hitman (2018) PS4
72 Double Dragon Neon PS3
71 Mega Man Maverick Hunter X Vita
70 Bloodstained Curse of the Moon 2 Switch
69 Thousand Arms PSX
68 Deja Vu NES
67 Snowboard Kids 2 N64
66 Pokemon Stadium 2 N64
65 Fallout 3PS3
64 Warcraft 2 PC
63 Castlevania Order of Ecclesia DS
62 Yakuza 4 PS3
61 Mutant League Football Genesis
60 Red Dead Redemption PS3
59 Shadowrun Dragonfall PC
58 Shining in the Darkness Genesis
57 LA Noire PS3
56 Beyond Oasis Genesis
55 Victoria 2 PC
54 Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance Gamecube
53 Arcade America PC
52 Disgaea PS2
51 Mischief Makers N64
50 Virtue's Last Rewards Vita
49 Live a Live SNES
48 Ar Tonelico 1+2 PS2
47 Civilization 2 PC
46 Secret of Evermore SNES
45 Dragon Warrior III GBC
44 Breath of Fire III PSX
43 Seiken Densetsu 3 SNES
42 Grim Fandango PC
41 Final Fantasy XIII PS3
40 Outpost 2 PC
39 inFamous Second Son PS4
38 Bucky O'Hare NES
37 Robotrek SNES
36 Dragon Age Origins PC
35 Pokemon X 3DS
34 Mother 3 GBA
33 Links Awakening GBC
32 Persona 3 FES PS2
31 Kirbys Adventure NES
30 Harvest Moon 64 N64
29 Valkyria Chronicles PS3
28 Broken Sword PSX/PC
27 Threads of Fate PSX
26 Thimbleweed Park Switch
25 Dokapon Kingdom Wii
24 Legend of Mana PSX
23 Super Smash Bros Brawl Wii
22 Uncharted 2 PS3
21 Muramasa Wii/Vita
20 Age of Rifles PC
19 Atelier Totori Vita
18 Castlevania 3 NES
17 Shadowrun (Genesis) Genesis
16 Earthbound SNES
15 Rune Factory 3 3DS
14 Trails in the Sky PSP
13 Sengoku Basara 3 PS3
12 Gemfire Genesis
11 Final Fantasy X PS2

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Whiskey_Nick
03/01/21 4:53:12 PM
#7:


List

HM1Vectorman
HM2 Crash Commando
HM3 Dungeons and Dragons: Shadows over Mystara
HM4 WWF Smackdown Just Bring It
HM5 Fat Princess
HM6 Simpsons Arcade
HM7 Gauntlet Legends
HM8 Mario Party
HM9 Octopath Traveler
HM10 Radiant Historia
HM11 Castle Crashers
100 Riviera: The Promised Land
99 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time
98 Metroid Fusion
97 I Am Setsuna
96 DBZ: Kakarot
95 Metal Gear Solid 4
94 Metal Gear Solid 2
93 Portal 2
92 SSX
91 Golden Sun
90 God of War (2018)
89 Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth
88 Sonic the Hedgehog 2
87 Sonic Generations
86 Mega Man 9
85 Super Monkey Ball 2
84 Tomb Raider (2013)
83 Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
82 The Last of Us
81 Guitar Hero/RB Series
80 NFL Blitz
79 Super Mario World
78 Tales of Symphonia
77 Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
76 Super Blood Hockey
75 Darksiders
74 Mario Kart Wii
73 Punch-Out!!
72 Perfect Dark
71 Yoshi's Island
70 Dark Cloud
69 Kirby Canvas Curse
68 Jackbox Party Packs
67 World of Final Fantasy
66 Fall Guys
65 Tales from the Borderlands
64 The Walking Dead Season 1
63 Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call
62 Ogre Battle 64
61 NHL '94
60 Grandia 2
59 Pokemon HG/SS
58 Super Mario Galaxy/2
57 WWF: No Mercy
56 The Legend of Zelda II: Link's Adventure
55 Kingdom Hearts
54 Kingdom Hearts 2
53 Blitz the League 2
52 Dynasty Warriors 7
51 Tetris Effect
50 Disgaea 4
49 Final Fantasy 4
48 Mega Man 3
47 Final Fantasy X
46 NHL 07
45 Grandia
44 Mega Man X
43 Disgaea 5
42 Cosmic Star Heroine
41 Final Fantasy 13-2
40 Final Fantasy 13
39 Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
38 Tecmo Super Bowl
37 Kirby Air Ride
36 Horizon Zero Dawn
35 Uncharted 2
34 Uncharted 4
33 Super Smash Bros Melee
32 Super Mario 3D Land
31 Final Fantasy 6
30 Borderlands
29 Xenoblade
28 Kirby's Pinball Land
27 Final Fantasy Tactics
26 Super Mario Odyssey
25 Disgaea D2
24 Pokemon RBY (Blue)
23 Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
22 Ken Griffey Jr presents MLB
21 Final Fantasy Record Keeper
20 Super Mario 3D World
19 Chrono Cross
18 Final Fantasy 7 Remake
17 Kirby SuperStar Ultra
16 Final Fantasy 9
15 Super Mario Bros. 3
14 Super Mario Kart
13 Dissidia: Final Fantasy/Duodecim
12 Super Mario RPG
11 Borderlands 2

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MrSmartGuy
03/01/21 4:57:31 PM
#8:


#10 - Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair (VITA, my GotY for 2014)


It suuuuuuuure is! And for those of you keeping track at home, this marks the second VITA game to appear on my list out of four. VITA has somehow managed 3 of my top 10 games, and the one that wasnt was #23. It may not have quantity, but it sure has quality.

Anyway, Danganronpa is such a cool concept. In every single game, a weird, evil bear named Monokuma traps 15 or 16 high school students in a closed environment, and will only allow them to escape if they are able to murder one of their classmates and get away with it in the subsequent class trial. If the murderer gets caught, they will be executed, but if they get away with it, they alone will be allowed to escape, while everyone else is then executed. The player takes the role of one of the students, and has to do their best to try and survive the ordeal to the end, by solving all the murders, complete with a comic book-style ending to each one.


If only the team behind the series had the slightest idea how to make a game fun, Danganronpa could have been a truly ascendent franchise. The groundwork for something outrageously engrossing is set in place, but every time any of the games attempts to actually engage with the player, it fails in just about every way imaginable. If they ever stumble upon a game mechanic that isnt a pain in the ass in one game, just wait until the next game, and theyll ruin it somehow. Even the main mechanic of finding holes in classmates testimonies is tarnished by having to aim your Truth Bullets at the statements in real time, and if you miss, you have to start the testimony from the fucking beginning, wasting several seconds of your valuable time.


List of minigames in the series that are actively fun to play:
Logic Dive

. thats it, thats the list. There are several minigames that I consider inoffensive, but these games came out in the 2010s and we should really hold a higher standard for minigames than well I didnt hate it.

But for real, fuck all that, lets talk about the goooood shit, and Danganronpas concept is just way too fucking strong for it to be held down by simply not being a fun game. Its about so much more than that. By that I mean having all your favorite waifus fall into despair and kill their friends. Thats really what everyone wants to see, and Danganronpa 2 pulls that off better than anything else. Before we get to that, lets talk a bit about the elephants in the room, namely the other two games.

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MrSmartGuy
03/01/21 4:57:45 PM
#9:


Danganronpa 1 is a fucking mess. No aspect of the game is fun. Every character in the game treats the player like a 7-year old, and the trials themselves do so as well. While Ace Attorney trusts the player with their full inventory of evidence for every testimony in the game, Danganronpa 1 will trust you with 1 piece. Not even joking, just one. If you play on the hardest logic difficulty, it will begin to let you have 3 at a time, just a little more, as a treat. Its absurd how dumb DR1 thinks you are. It will play the exact same goddamn flashback 7 times in a matter of 15 in-game minutes. I KNOW WHO MUKURO IKUSABA IS SHUT THE FUCK UP ALREADY

And in general, DR1s plot gets in its own way too often. Case 1 is pretty neat, but ruined for English-speaking audiences. Case 2 is very contrived for no reason. Case 3 is abhorrent for every reason. Case 4 is about the only bright spot in the game, and then the ride tumbles off the rails toward the finish. Just a little bit, though. And the ending is necessary to prepare the player for what to expect in future titles. Unfortunately, understanding DR1 is a 100% prerequisite for continuing the series, despite being a 4/10 game on a good day.

Then we have Danganronpa V3. V3 was heading some very exciting places for a while. Then in one of the trials, I spent over an hour just mashing through text, rotating my hand in the air, trying to signal to the game that I get what its doing and Id just like to get on with it please. And it wouldnt let me. I only wanted it to be over, and DRV3 refused, mocking me for daring to enjoy the story it was relaying to me. After that session of playing the game, I was so upset that I turned off my VITA and I refused to even think about the game for a while.

But smack in the middle of the two, we have Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair. Somehow, the team was able to make a game that only majorly fucked up the Hangman minigame. Everything else could loosely be described as fun! Thats a plus!


But as is the case with most of the games in my top 20, it isnt primarily here for that. Its here because it weaves the most memorable tale in any video game Ive ever played. And the cases are oh so good. If theres one thing Danganronpa can hold over Ace Attorney as a series, its that it knows how to start off each game with a bang, as every games first case is just stellar. Then Case 2 plays at your heartstrings before the mild dumpster fire Case 3. But thats just the first half, and from there, the game goes at a pace that every Ace Attorney game can only dream of, as Case 4, 5, and 6 are nothing short of exemplary.

Gonna give this its own paragraph because its just that important. Case 5 is my favorite murder mystery in all of fiction. I cant even begin to go into why without spoiling the very basis of it, but fuck it is awesome.

And goddamn does this game's music slap. I have roughly 8 of this game's tracks on my main Spotify playlist. Speaking of its incredible Case 5, listen to this song in particular, and just try to not feel all pumped up to do some murder investigating:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjbgj2V6-o0

With its ridiculous premise, its expertly-crafted murder mysteries, and crazy twists and turns, Danganronpa has become easily my favorite series to watch other people experience for the first time. Even Danganronpa 1, despite being an objectively bad game, is wildly entertaining, and still has this weird kind of charm to it that makes you want to see how others react to being put through the same gamut that you did. Its very hard to explain what I mean if you havent experienced it yourself. I have second-handedly experienced Danganronpa 2 a whopping fourteen times, and I could recall to you every playthrough Ive watched or read right now, because everyone has a fairly unique experience, whether its through getting attached to different characters, or being especially surprised by different plot twists. To me, the game is infinitely replayable in this way. Every few months, Ill get a new urge to check YouTube and see if anyone with any kind of following has decided to start up the series, so I can check it out.


And hey. If you havent yet, and youre up for something kinda weird, give the series a shot! If you do, make sure you hit me up on Discord, because I love love loooooove talking people through their time with it. Just dont do the same with the general internet, because Danganronpa is the single series that people love to spoil the most, and its not even a close race. Do not google Danganronpa, do not look up voice actors for Danganronpa, if you make the decision to start playing Danganronpa, you must basically swear off the internet until you are done because the fans just do not fucking know how to not ruin it for everyone else. I kinda hate that I consider myself part of its fandom sometimes.

Sometimes.

CHARACTER RANKING:
Nagito > Hajime > Gundham > Sonia > Chiaki > Ibuki > Fuyuhiko > Peko > Byakuya > Nekomaru > Kazuichi > Mahiru > Akane > Mikan > Teruteru > Hiyoko

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XIII_rocks
03/01/21 4:59:13 PM
#10:


I'll check this out
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Whiskey_Nick
03/01/21 5:02:44 PM
#11:


#10. Bubble Bobble (NES, 1986)

The oldest game on my list. I simply adore those two little dinosaurs. Bub and Bob are on my top 3 list for Smash Bros characters we need. Make them in an Ice Climbers style duo. Bubble Bobble is a mix of platforming and puzzles with some bullet hell in a few stages. The game is pretty basic, shoot bubbles, jump and thats about it. There are a variety of power ups and cool super items. Stuff like a flood, or lightning or a potion that makes the stage turn into an acid trip. Also spell the word EXTRA and you do go to a magical song land where you bounce on the word extra. The basic game is 100 stages, but stage 99 has a special exit that leads to 20 bonus stages and the true ending. Like many old games the characters have some names that have since changed. Drunk and Big Drunk being chief among them. Skel is now Baron Von Blubba. Speaking of him. All time nightmare fuel for me. Skel is the scariest thing in any video game ever. When those 5 notes play and he appears, I am beside myself with fear. That ghost will not give up until you finish the stage or he kills you. In some stages you get stuck in a pit and frantically try to jump and time a bubble shot to bounce out. Skel just slowly moves in, not fast no no no. He comes at you, little by little, knowing you are doomed. The terror consumes your soul. Wild screaming in terror. Aside from that the main song that plays almost non stop is very catchy and I love it. All the sequels to this game really fail to capture the same magic. The most recent one on PS4/Switch was decent, but not amazing.



---
I am Nick. Go Sens, Bills, Blue Jays!
UotY 2015, You should listen to The Show w/ Ngamer and Yoblazer
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Eddv
03/01/21 5:29:48 PM
#12:


10.) Final Fantasy IV (SNES, 1991)





Time for my first favorite game of all time - we all have to start somewhere, with that game that blows all the others away and show you what gaming really could be to you. And for me there is just nothing better than the story that Final Fantasy IV takes you on in the first 10 or so hours of the game.

Introducing your character and Baron and from the beginning you can sense something is off. Despite wanting to be on the side of Cecil and Kain, the music is pretty sinister. Imperial march-y. As you execute a couple quick missions it becomes startlingly clear - we are the bad guys. This is driven home with our bombing of mist, a village whose sin appears to be their descendance from summoners, which thus makes them a threat to Baron. But, Rydia survives and Cecil has a change of heart. He cannot kill Rydia. Which means he cannot continue to work for Baron. This begins his slow campaign of redemption - and the first of many betrayals from the un-relentingly jealous Kain. Mt Ordeals is just the best sequence in a JRPG I can think of because you climb the mountain and easily dispatch all the enemies with Cecils broken Dark Knight powers and then in inverse where Palom and Porom bail you out as your dark knight powers are suddenly useless against the undead Elemental Lord, Scormiglione. And then you come down Mt Ordeal, having to level back up from one, the choice to become good making you so weak in the short term, having to rely on the twins to save yourself and go confront Baron...and augh its so fucking good

Unlike most people, there is not a single character I dislike in FFIV. I like the twins, I like Tellah and Edward and their little story (which in a lot of odd ways is mirrored in the Hope/Snow dynamic I like so much in FFXIII), I think Cid P rules and that Yang is a bad ass the way he jumps off that airship. The game uses dynamic situations to keep the party changed up and fresh throughout the game, which I think is an underratedly cool way to handle having a cast larger than 4 characters and it does so in ways that make more sense narratively than the ways used in Final Fantasy 2.

The game also features really cool plot beats with the hollow world, Rubicantes big ass tower, the 4 elemental lords of evil and their bad ass song. It also spawned some of my favorite meme-y youtube videos and songs from hyadain, like this masterpiece:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UoyjKK8CoY

Sure its also famous for the bait and switch final boss thing, but it basically INVENTED it, so I can forgive it more in this case. FFIV was my #1 favorite game for a good long time, only 9 ever have surpassed it for me. Stay tuned to see which ones.

---
Board 8's Voice of Reason
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TheKnightOfNee
03/01/21 6:08:55 PM
#13:


Hi everyone! Here is my list so far!

100. Ninja Gaiden
99. Dragon Ball FighterZ
98. Outland
97. Out of the Park Baseball 21
96. The Binding of Isaac
95. Kirby's Dream Land 3
94. RollerCoaster Tycoon
93. Shadows of the Damned
92. The King of Fighters XIII
91. Strider (2014)
90. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
89. Kamui
88. Gain Ground
87. Resident Evil (2002 REmake)
86. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3
85. Solstice
84. Raiden (series)
83. Ori and the Blind Forest
82. Ogre Battle 64
81. Mega Man Legends

80. Rez
79. Punch-Out!!
78. G-Darius
77. Pop'n Music (series)
76. Shovel Knight
75. Thunder Force V
74. Final Fantasy Tactics
73. Under Night In-Birth Exe: Late
72. VA-11 Hall-A
71. Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
70. Spelunky 2
69. The Legend of Zelda
68. Brave Fencer Musashi
67. Lumines
66. Final Fantasy VII
65. Metroid Fusion
64. The Witness
63. Street Fighter V
62. Hotline Miami
61. Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse

60. F-Zero GX
59. Undertale
58. Everybody's Golf
57. Tecmo Super Bowl
56. Donkey Kong (1994)
55. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
54. Mega Man X
53. Super Smash Bros. Melee
52. The World Ends With You
51. Metroid Prime
50. Windjammers
49. VVVVVV
48. Samurai Shodown (2019)
47. Groove Coaster
46. Space Invaders Extreme
45. Shinobi 3
44. Mega Man 3
43. Mega Man X4
42. Street Fighter 2
41. Deadly Premonition

40. Cave Story
39. Bioshock
38. We Love Katamari
37. Chrono Trigger
36. Street Fighter 3: Third Strike
35. Silent Hill 2
34. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
33. Steins;Gate
32. Wild Arms 3
31. Dragon Quest V
30. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
29. Sleeping Dogs
28. Dance Dance Revolution (series)
27. Cuphead
26. Ys 1
25. La-Mulana
24. Final Fantasy V
23. Guilty Gear Xrd
22. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
21. Elevator Action Returns

20. Silent Hill
19. Eastside Hockey Manager
18. Super Castlevania IV
17. Lunar 2: Eternal Blue
16. Mega Man 9
15. Persona 4 Arena
14. La-Mulana 2
13. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
12. Mother 3
11. Super Mario RPG

---
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WiggumFan267
03/01/21 10:53:31 PM
#14:


Here's my list so far

100. The Stanley Parable
99. Death Stranding
98. Kirby's Block Ball
97. Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?
96. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
95. Borderlands 2
94. Twisted Metal 2
93. Cuphead
92. Ratchet & Clank (PS4)
91. Mega Man 2
90. Ghosts 'n Goblins
89. Super Mario Maker 2
88. Final Fantasy VII
87. Donkey Kong Country
86. Mega Man 9
85. Pokemon Puzzle League
84. Marvel's Spider-Man
83. Adventures of Lolo
82. Braid
81. Donkey Kong Country 2
80. Into the Breach
79. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
78. Elite Beat Agents
77. Shovel Knight
76. Back to the Future (Telltale)
75. Mega Man 5
74. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
73. Mario Kart 64
72. Zombies Ate My Neighbors
71. Professor Layton and the Unwound Future
70. Metal Gear Solid 2
69. Skies of Arcadia Legends
68. Super Mario 64
67. Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land
66. Hexcells
65. Mega Man 3
64. Heroes of Might and Magic III
63. Mario Party 2
62. Punch-Out!! (Wii)
61. Dark Souls: Remastered
60. Out of the Park Baseball 17
59. Papers, Please
58. Final Fantasy VII Remake
57. Slay the Spire
56. Mario Kart 8
55. Wario Land 3
54. Portal
53. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
52. Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
51. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
50. The Simpsons: Hit & Run
49. Picross 3D: Round 2
48. Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
47. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
46. Apex Legends
45. Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
44. The Witness
43. Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow
42. Pokemon Gold/Silver
41. Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice
40. Jackbox Party Packs
39. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
38. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
37. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
36. Bloodborne
35. Hitman 2
34. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
33. Chrono Cross
32. Guitar Hero 2
31. 3D Dot Game Heroes
30. Mega Man X
29. Crypt of the Necrodancer
28. Sonic CD
27. Super Mario World
26. Super Monkey Ball 2
25. Portal 2
24. Rock Band 2
23. Rogue Legacy
22. Sonic Spinball
21. Super Mario Odyssey
20. Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time
19. Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando
18. Spelunky
17. The Last of Us
16. Sonic Adventure 2: Battle
15. Metroid: Zero Mission
14. Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal
13. Metroid Prime
12. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (& Knuckles)
11. Return of the Obra Dinn

I will keep giving hints as I go for my next game. My previous hint was
Next up: A game that I am in the minority of liking more than its much more popular sequel.

---
~Wigs~ 3-Time Consecutive Fantasy B8 Baseball Champion
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Bartzyx
03/01/21 11:04:42 PM
#15:


Bartzyx posted...


Here's a hint for my top 10 if anyone wants to guess:

1990
1992
1994
1995
2000
2000
2005
2006
2009
2012


So I'm really embarrassed. My 1990 game actually came out in 1991. Not sure how I got the release date confused like that.

Needed to correct that for the record.

---
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Bartzyx
03/01/21 11:35:28 PM
#16:


Guessing Nick's top 9

9 Mega Man 2
8 Disgaea Complete
7 Bowser's Inside Story
6 Paper Mario TTYD
5 Final Fantasy V
4 Ocarina of Time
3 Final Fantasy VII
2 Chrono Trigger
1 Final Fantasy XI

Maybe guess some more top 10s tomorrow.

---
At least your mother tipped well
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Naye745
03/02/21 4:11:10 AM
#17:


Pre-Top 10 Roundup:
HM01: Metroid: Samus Returns (3DS, 2017)
HM02: Alpine Racer (Arcade, 1995)
HM03: WarioWare: Twisted (GBA, 2004)
HM04: Halo: Combat Evolved (XBox, 2001)
HM05: SimTower (PC, 1994)
HM06: Kirby Air Ride (GameCube, 2003)
HM07: jubeat [series] (Arcade, 2008-present)
HM08: Meteos (DS, 2005)
100. WarioWare: Smooth Moves (Wii, 2007)
99. Unreal Tournament (PC, 1999)
98. Pikmin 2 (GameCube, 2004)
97. Crypt of the Necrodancer (PC, 2015)
96. Kirby & the Amazing Mirror (GBA, 2004)
95. Final Fantasy Tactics (PS1, 1998)
94. Time Crisis II (Arcade, 1998)
93. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (GBA, 2003)
92. DJ Max Portable (PSP, 2006)
91. Zany Golf (PC, 1988)
90. Super Mario Maker 2 (Switch, 2019)
89. Contra 4 (DS, 2007)
88. Mega Man 5 (NES, 1992)
87. Super Castlevania IV (SNES, 1991)
86. The Oregon Trail (PC, 1993)
85. TimeSplitters 2 (Multiplatform, 2002)
84. Fat Princess (PS3, 2009)
83. Hotel Dusk: Room 215 (DS, 2007)
82. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (Multiplatform, 2000)
81. Pokmon Go (Mobile, 2016)
80. Final Fantasy IV (SNES, 1991)
79. The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (GameCube, 2004)
78. Super Mario Bros. (NES, 1985)
77. Mario Tennis (N64, 2000)
76. Chip's Challenge (PC, 1990)
75. Elite Beat Agents (DS, 2006)
74. Bust-A-Move (Arcade, 1994)
73. Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (DS, 2006)
72. Crystalis (NES, 1990)
71. StepMania (PC, 2001)
70. Tetris & Dr. Mario (SNES, 1994)
69. Minesweeper (PC, 1992)
68. Mario Kart 64 (N64, 1997)
67. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii, 2010)
66. Pokmon Picross (3DS, 2015)
65. F-Zero: Maximum Velocity (GBA, 2001)
64. Metroid Fusion (GBA, 2002)
63. Pikmin 3 Deluxe (Switch, 2020)
62. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (3DS, 2013)
61. FIFA 98: Road to World Cup (PC, 1997)
60. Resident Evil 4 (GameCube, 2005)
59. Celeste (Multiplatform, 2018)
58. Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (GameCube, 2003)
57. Pikmin (GameCube, 2001)
56. The Sims (PC, 2000)
55. Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Switch, 2020)
54. Sound Voltex [series] (Arcade, 2012-present)
53. Tecmo Bowl (NES, 1989)
52. Q*Bert (Arcade, 1982)
51. Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout (PC, 2020)
50. Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (DS, 2005)
49. Mario Kart 8 (Wii U, 2014)
48. Super Smash Bros. Melee (GameCube, 2001)
47. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Switch, 2018)
46. RollerCoaster Tycoon (PC, 1999)
45. Everybody's Golf (PS4, 2017)
44. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64, 1998)
43. Okami (PS2, 2006)
42. Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole (Genesis, 1993)
41. The Jackbox Party Pack [series] (Multiplatform, 2014-present)
40. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (GameCube, 2004)
39. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Wii, 2007)
38. Mega Man 2 (NES, 1989)
37. Sonic 3 & Knuckles (Genesis, 1994)
36. WarioWare Gold (3DS, 2018)
35. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (SNES, 1995)
34. Pokmon Platinum (DS, 2009)
33. Harvest Moon: Back to Nature (PS1, 1999)
32. Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour (GameCube, 2003)
31. Pokmon Trading Card Game (GBC, 2000)
& Pokmon Card GB2 [JP] (GBC, 2001)
30. The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker (GameCube, 2003)
29. Super Mario Odyssey (Switch, 2017)
28. Final Fantasy VI (SNES, 1994)
27. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2, 2004)
26. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy (DS, 2005-2007)
25. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (GameCube, 2004)
24. Mario Party 2 (N64, 2000)
23. Dance Dance Revolution [series] (Arcade, 1998-present)
22. Chrono Trigger (SNES, 1995)
21. Reflec Beat [series] (Arcade, 2010-present?)
20. Kirby Super Star (SNES, 1996)
19. Super Mario 64 (N64, 1996)
18. F-Zero X (N64, 1998)
17. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PS1, 1997)
16. Pop'n Music [series] (Arcade, 1998-present)
15. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (GB, 1993)
14. Metroid: Zero Mission (GBA, 2004)
13. Pokmon Puzzle League (N64, 2000)
12. Super Mario 3D World (Wii U, 2013)
11. Pokmon Red/Blue (GB, 1998)

-Breakdown by Decade-
1980s: 5
1990s: 30
2000s: 36
2010s+: 19

---
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Arti
03/02/21 7:56:11 AM
#18:


#10 - Judgment (PS4, 2019)

While I still haven't caught up on the full Yakuza series and am still stuck in Yakuza 3 somewhere, since it's a whole new protagonist and perspective with Takayuki Yagami as the protagonist for this game, I decided to skip ahead and play this one anyway. I'm glad I did, since it's one of my favorite games of all time now.



As said above, Takayuki Yagami is the main character of Judgment, a private investigator in Kamurocho. Yagami was originally a young defense attorney who managed to get a not guilty verdict for one of his clients, but then said client went on to murder his girlfriend and burn down her house. As such, Yagami resigned from his job. Judgment's story revolves around a serial killer that Yagami calls the Mole, who is killing various people in Kamurocho and gouging out their eyes. The story and characters in this, I think, is the most interesting of the series as it breaks out of the Yakuza crime scene (though it still involves them somewhat) and tells an all-new story, one that gets even darker than most of the Yakuza titles I've played. I was very impressed with how great this game got as I kept playing through it, so much that I went through the last few chapters in the game in a few hours just because I had to see what happened next.

Judgment returns to the multiple styles of fighting first started in Yakuza 0, as Yagami has two fighting styles to choose from; the Crane style which is more effective against groups of enemies, and the Tiger style that is more effective at one-on-one combat. Yagami can also utilize walls in his attacks by doing various attacks through wall jumping. I felt the combat was more fluid than the more recent Yakuza titles, such as Kiwami 2 which only has Kiryu using a single style. Though the annoyance of battles are when fighting certain bosses, Yagami gets inflicted with Mortal Wounds from the more powerful attacks utilized, which can't be healed through normally and require a separate (and expensive) item to recover. It does make the game a bit more challenging overall though, which is a nice plus to it.

Judgment also continues the recent trend of upgrading the better minigames available in the series (though the loss of karaoke is annoying, it makes sense given Yagami's Japanese VA). Most of the mainstays return, some with even more areas than before (three different mahjong ares to win at!). The bowling alley is repurposed as a VR board game where you chase after a king cat while also trying to reach the end. It's as ridiculous as it sounds sometimes. Yagami also has a drone he uses during some of his main story investigations, and he's able to use this drone in races around Kamurocho as well. Some of the races have really tight timing requirements so much that I still haven't finished all of them yet! Judgment also has side cases which usually focus more on Yagami's detective work, such as tailing enemies, taking pictures, lockpicking, and other such activities. There's also friend events for various people in Kamurocho that also have certain tasks available to complete.

Like all Yakuza titles, Judgment is crammed full of amazing content but the story and characters of this spinoff places it higher than the other titles in the Yakuza series, as well as a high spot on my overall games list. I still haven't finished some parts of it yet, though, and I still have to go through Legend mode for the platinum anyway!

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Bartzyx
03/02/21 1:26:05 PM
#19:


#10 Final Fantasy XII (Playstation 2, 2006)

Final Fantasy XII is the latest mainline Final Fantasy that I have played. It was a bit of a departure for the series, going from what had always been somewhat turn-based to something close to real-time combat. And although Final Fantasy X had dispatched with the overworld map, XII took that a bit further with the interconnected open world. Or at least as open a world as anything that the series had seen to that point.



It's a very divisive title. I think most people who tried it out either love it or hate it. Not a secret then where I fall on that divide. I love almost everything about it. The setting goes for something more "normal" than what you usually see in the series, and that makes the story and characters much more grounded (Vaan's cartoon six pack aside). For the first time since VI, it feels like a true ensemble, with no true focal character, although Penelo becomes invisible partway through. I hear a lot of griping about all the focus on political machinations, but I could say the same about the typical Final Fantasy tropes; different strokes, blah blah blah. Like Tactics, regrettably, the climax of the story veers again towards the world-ending crisis that the series can't get away from, but I have accepted that. It's probably the weakest aspect of the game, but still pretty good, all things considered.

Where Final Fantasy XII really shines is how it plays. The designers ditched the random encounter system that had been used up to that point, so combat and exploration are seamless in transition. Not revolutionary even for its time, but a stark change to the series formula. You can choose to avoid most enemies in the world, which is nice. The areas are pretty non-linear, and often the only thing stopping you from going anywhere you want is the strength of your party. That's a really nice throwback to the first few games in the series, where you could just explore and then "whoops" you're getting killed in one hit in an area you're not supposed to be in yet. I really like those moments. Feels "old-school" like a lot of games from my childhood.



Another change is that you control just one character at a time, and basically program your allies using a series of priorities. You can still assume control at any time, but it's fun to be able to set some routines and watch them play out. Makes the grind a bit less of a grind, not that you really need to grind in this game, at least not until the post-game. Speaking of which, Final Fantasy XII delivers post-game content in spades. There are several extra dungeons to explore, superbosses to fight, and so on. It's probably the most that the series had delivered up to that point in terms of this kind of content.

The game looked good enough, but the voice samples were compressed which was very unfortunate. The soundtrack was not compressed though, and remains one of my favorite video game soundtracks of all time. But I've said before that I prefer Sakimoto to Uematsu, so this is not a surprise. I really like all his Final Fantasy scores.



I first played this game I think four or five years after it first came out, on a tiny CRT in an apartment that I lived in by myself for a few weeks. I had moved to a new city for work and my then-fiance had yet to follow me out there. So I would go to work, come home, and just engross myself in the game. It was a fun few weeks and one of my favorite video game experiences, just something really magical. So, Final Fantasy XII has its place in my top ten through a combination of nostalgia for that sweet time, and also its outstanding merits.

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At least your mother tipped well
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Mega Mana
03/02/21 1:48:40 PM
#20:


Tag

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MrSmartGuy
03/02/21 5:06:37 PM
#21:


#9 - Undertale (PC, 2015)


There is a very short list of games I would personally consider perfect. In fact, that list may include just a single game on it. And thats Undertale. Every other video game Ive ever played, whether on this list or otherwise, I could come up with some facet of the game I would like to change, and I believe it would be an objectively better game. I dont know what I could ever change about Undertale to improve it. It identifies its target audience and barrages them with such a focused experience tailored to exactly them superbly. I would say Im part of that audience. Not quite the bullseye of that target audience dartboard, but somewhere in the outskirts (maybe like a double 18) to the point that most of its merits are still a solid hit with me.

On the surface, Undertale is just a fun, little RPG Maker game with a unique battle system, made almost entirely by a single person. You play as a human child who has fallen into monster territory, after the human race banished them to live in the underground as the result of a huge race war. As you might expect, most monsters arent terribly excited to see you there and will start fights with you. Random battles will pop up, and when they attack, they summon little white damage areas that you have to dodge. Its kinda reminiscent of Paper Mario, in that you have a lot of control over how much damage you take while on the defensive, though Undertale is a bit more engaging.



Then when its your turn, you have several options. No matter who youre up against, you can always just FIGHT them, take them out, and gain EXP and LV, become stronger and move on. But thats not what the game really wants you to do. It is specifically advertised as the RPG game where you don't have to destroy anyone. Thats where your other battle options come in. One of them is ACT, wherein you have a few courses of action, depending on what monster you are fighting. These can range from petting the monster, to singing with them, to trying to eat them. There will typically be some combination of actions that will then allow you to use one of your final options, MERCY, to spare their life, and move on without growing stronger.

It helps when the story and cast of characters are so god damn strong. Every character may not click with you personally, but all of them have the potential to. They all lean pretty hard into being sorta awkward and cheesy that a lot of people the game is specifically targeted to can relate to personally. Theres an anthropomorphic goat who loves awful jokes that is desperate to help anyone whos in trouble, but gets a bit too overbearing about it a lot of the time. Theres a skeleton in the game whose defining personality trait is trying to look cool and make friends, when really hes just a big silly goofball who just wants some company. Theres a lizard scientist who is a massive nerd who gets obsessed with anime and is desperate to have someone to talk to about them without feeling ashamed about it. They all are extremely endearing and have clear flaws that really speak to who the game is trying to tell its OK to have flaws as long as you are trying to be a good person. The story twists and turns, never really having a dull moment, and ultimately delivers an extremely powerful ending. Even if this was all there was to the game, I think it would be pretty unique and charming.



But I give basically all of the credit to Toby Foxs ingenuity for why Undertale is elevated to excellent status. There are several corners he couldve cut when developing this game, but he never did. I swear he thought of everything. He has his finger on the pulse of gaming tendencies and put in tons of shit rewarding players for trying something outside the box. At any point, if youre playing this game, and come up with some funny thing out of the norm to try and see if something different happens, theres a 99% chance it will. I would say that Undertale is the game most chock-full of alternate dialogue of anything out there, AAA or otherwise. It is absolutely absurd the amount of content this little indie game is packed with, just waiting for you to discover. People were still finding things years after its release that no one had ever seen before.

On top of everything else, the music is phenomenal. Every area has its own track, which are all great. The generic battle theme is catchy af. And every boss in the game has a special theme, too, which are most of the best tracks in the game. Spider Dance, Asgore, Death By Glamour, and of course, the infamous Megalovania are all A+ songs Ive got in playlists on Spotify.

To this point, I actually cant think of anything I would change about the game. There are a few story moments that I personally dont have great feelings for, but I know others that really enjoyed them. And those are few and far between. I had a big dumb smile on my face for 96% of the game. And even after having beaten it once, theres a decent amount of replayability for an RPG. I notice something new every time I experience it, whether it's through playing it again or watching someone else try it. And after its initial release, there were no bugs, no updates, no DLC, no nothing. Toby Fox spent multiple years trying to develop a masterpiece, and he knocked it out of the park first try.

CHARACTER RANKING:
Sans > Papyrus > Toriel > Undyne > Asgore > Flowey > Alphys

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Whiskey_Nick
03/02/21 5:12:59 PM
#22:


#9. Mega Man 2 (NES, 1989)

The perfect Mega Man game. All the music is amazing. Wily stage 1 is a top 5 track all time. This is the only game I ever sped run. I was best clocked at 31 minutes. The record at the time was 28 minutes. I replay this game more than most. Not really sure what else to say here. It's Mega Man. People are aware of him. It is one of the first games I ever beat. I have beaten every possible order of Robot Master or close to it.

Music:

Wood > Bubble > Air > Metal > Flash > Quick > Heat > Crash



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I am Nick. Go Sens, Bills, Blue Jays!
UotY 2015, You should listen to The Show w/ Ngamer and Yoblazer
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KingButz
03/02/21 6:38:55 PM
#23:


Today I learned that Nick has beaten Mega Man 2 40,000 times.
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Arti
03/02/21 6:40:32 PM
#24:


KingButz posted...
Today I learned that Nick has beaten Mega Man 2 40,000 times.
that's a lot of times

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Whiskey_Nick
03/02/21 7:08:17 PM
#25:


Curse B8 and its advanced metrics. Its closer to 100. I meant in the scope of starting with different masters, not going weakness routes etc. Obv not each thing. Foolish of me to say so. Eat me alive B8

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Naye745
03/02/21 7:09:51 PM
#26:


"every possible order"

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WiggumFan267
03/02/21 7:55:03 PM
#27:


#10. Sonic the Hedgehog (Sega Genesis, 1991)
The first video game I ever played! Ive talked about Sonic a bunch already obviously, and a lot I say would just be redundant. But clearly it had an impact because were here 30 years later and it has never not been my favorite series. I was into all the Sonic media. The TV Shows, the comics, the toys, the Tiger games, a mini pinball machine, I was Sonic for Halloween at least once, shirts and stuff, all the way to these days where I use screencaps in my Zoom backgrounds at work.

Everything just perfectly clicked in this game. The way Sonic controls, the platforming, jumping on enemies, beating bosses, running past the goalposts, jumping into that big special stage ring if you got 50, the oft overlooked ring mechanic of always being able to survive as long as you have one ring (short of getting crushed or falling down a pit) really this was a fantastic mechanic that never gets credit for working and still sticking through. As I said in my other review, Sonic is not a game about going fast. So many people deride these games for this, saying well they let me do it in Green Hill and then took it away in every other stage and thats why I dont like it oh well Im sorry a game introducing different ways to utilize Sonics movement isnt the exact same just run fast every single level. Sega eventually kowtowed to fans and made these games in 3D. Some are ok. Most of them are bad. But if its what you like, I guess more power to you, but I feel like youve deluded yourself out of what makes Sonic Sonic based on a fallacy you had 30 years ago. Sonic is not about speed.



Sonic is about momentum. Yes, sometimes going fast plays a part in this, but it doesnt have to. Its momentum and how it interacts with slopes, bouncing off of enemies, going through loops, the pacing between going slow and going fast, and taking care to avoid obstacles. If you just plow forward, yes you will get punished and probably deserve it. Speed still plays a part here because there are sections spaced properly through out the game where you CAN fly through fast, and that is fun too. Look at the level progression. Green Hill- fast, Marble- slow, Spring Yard- Mostly fast except for those crushy elevators, Labyrinth- Slow, Star Light- FAST (I love the super steep slopes and double loops in this level, it provides a stark contrast to Labyrinth before it), Scrap Brain- can play pretty fast if youre good with timing and obstacles. But again, in each of these, your momentum uniquely affects you in each level. Marble has the lava geysers. Green Hill has the snaky pipe things that you spin down. Spring Yard has the big U-shaped halfpipe things, that you can spinroll out of (by the way, the down spinroll is an underappreciated thing about Sonic because spindash in Sonic 2 outshined it by most people, but pressing down to spinroll is a very effective thing to do in how you take out enemies and how it completely changes how you move around). Labyrinth throws you for a loop with controlling yourself in water plus the GODDAMN DROWNING tension, which is heart-pumping adrenaline, not to mention the unique boss where you just have to outclimb the water level, avoiding fireballs and spears. Star Light has steep slopes and the see saws that launch differently depending on how you land on them. And Scrap Brain has the conveyor belts and spinny-do platforms.



Plus, more I didnt mention in each of these levels but my point is Sonic 1 was interesting and fun because of how varied and interesting it was in how it incorporated this MOMENTUM. Oh, not to mention the trippy as fuck special stages where youre just falling endlessly in gravity and controlling a maze around sonic while like birds, fish, and bubbles take over the background what the fuck is even happening



Anyway, I Love this game. Its fantastically underappreciated by most people who like 2 more, but for me, this one is better, just a bit. I personally think the level design is better, the music is much better (Star Light and the Boss music stands out for me a lot), and the visual design is much better- I like the way it looks more than Sonic 2, its more smooth and less sharp- its still colorful, but more subtle than Sonic 2s color. The bosses are classic (Decapitation!!!).



Its also a much more important game both to me and in the Sonic pantheon. Im glad this one came first because it really solidified the importance of momentum in 2D platformers and that persisted well throughout most of Sonics 2D life. I knew as I went through my first loop-de-loop, when I went through that first snake pipe in Green Hill and hit the slope and launched through the air, even to when I outraced the lava floe in the little obstacle course in Marble (the one blocked by spikes and raised platforms)- I knew these games felt amazing and were perfect for me.



COPE

Next up: A successor that I am in the minority of liking more than its much more popular original game.


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Eddv
03/02/21 8:01:58 PM
#28:


9.) Mega Man 3 (1990)

The perfect Mega Man game. All the music is amazing. The opening theme is one of the top 5 VGM tracks of all time.
it. I built myself an NES just to play Mega Man 3 the way god intended after only having experienced the game via emulation. The game fucking rules - you have proto man, you have the weird fucking things they tried in the music. You have the shadow bosses.

Everything about this game is designed to be about topping what they did in Mega Man 2 and they fucking succeeded. I've played this game a shit load. No boss power ups. Power ups only. Less than ideal orders of operation.

Everyone know about Mega Man, but what's amazing to me about Mega Man 3's sound track is it actually is two different composers and you can like barely tell.

Gemini Man>Top Man>Snake Man>Shadow Man>Hard Man>Spark Man> Needle Man> Magnet Man




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MrSmartGuy
03/02/21 8:03:14 PM
#29:


WiggumFan267 posted...
The bosses are classic (Decapitation!!!).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJsRAcAhnNw

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TheKnightOfNee
03/02/21 11:21:33 PM
#30:


#10. Beatmania IIDX (series) (Arcade, 1999)





This writeup pretty much needs to pick up at the end of my Dance Dance Revolution writeup. DDR was so influential for me, both as a competitive game, and in leading me to a group of new friends. As I also mentioned before, I would get together with that group of friends to play a whole bunch of other video games beyond DDR. One of these friends owned a game called Beatmania IIDX 6th Style. It was one of those oh we've heard of this game but never seen it things. One evening of trying the game, and I was hooked.

Beatmania IIDX is another music game series from Konami. It's supposed to be a DJ simulation game, with 7 keys arranged with slightly inconvenient positioning and a turntable. It simulates DJing as much any other music game simulates its instrument, but you get the idea. Each note is keysounded, meaning pushing the buttons plays the song.

IIDX is a notoriously difficult game. The buttons are arranged in a way that at least one of them will always be awkward for your fingers to hit, and the turntable needs to be scratched both up and down, meaning there is a whole learning curve just to get used to the controller. The timing window for the most accurate judgment on a note is just 2 frames, I believe, in a 60 fps game. Easy songs will still have hundreds of notes, hard songs can get up around 1,500 to 2,000 notes in a 2 minute period. You can get goods with a much more generous window, but it won't count towards your score for your grade, just merely keep you alive for passing. The game designers recognized how narrow the timing window was, because you can get a AAA, the highest grade, with just 88.89% of the max score (8/9ths). And yet still, it is very common for people to be getting C's and D's on songs when they first start (4/9ths and 3/9ths of the max score, respectively). As for clearing songs, there is a bar that fills as you hit notes and depletes as you miss, and it needs to be 80% full at the end of the song. It definitely fills up slower than it clears out, and a handful of missed notes in the final stretch of a song can lead to a failure. Hitting extra buttons can also be penalized, depleting your bar more, meaning mashing in a panic can go terribly wrong. Konami has a good laugh sometimes, as they often fill songs with the most dense bullshit at the very end of songs. It's common for high level players to earn a AAA, but still fail a song. It sounds like IIDX can be a very masochistic game, and it kind of is at times, but it can also be very rewarding when things go well. Hitting a long string of notes gives a big rush of adrenaline.

There is a fair amount of crossover between IIDX music and DDR. A lot of popular Konami songs in DDR actually originated in IIDX, mostly instrumental/electronic stuff. Songs like Holic, V, Sync, Absolute, Burning Heat, Spin the Disc, A, Sakura, and a lot more all originated in IIDX. When I first saw these songs in IIDX, I was really excited, because many of them were among my favorites in DDR. There is a bunch of original music too, and the more I heard, the more I loved IIDX's soundtracks.

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TheKnightOfNee
03/02/21 11:22:11 PM
#31:


Anyways, after playing the game with friends a couple times, I decided to take the deep plunge. I imported a Japanese PS2 and a copy of Beatmania IIDX 7th Style, which was the newest game in the series at the time. I started playing it almost daily, or at least a couple times a week. I also ended up getting as many of the home versions as I could. I don't have the most recent couple that came out, but as of today, my set of IIDX games looks like the below picture:



I talked about the extreme difficulty of IIDX earlier. Songs were originally rated on a 1-7 scale (and then a 1-8 scale), with harder songs that were unrated. It eventually became 1-12, with the previously unrated songs now included on that scale too. Over time, I was able to clear 6's, 7's, 8's, but it was over quite a long time. The jump to each level is actually pretty large, so there can be a lot of progress in skill without much to show. It really helped to own all the different games, because I could play through all the 8's in one game, then swap to another game and play those, and so on, to keep from ever feeling stuck or stale. Eventually, I was able to clear some 12's. It wasn't a ton, and there are some that to this day are still way beyond me, but I at least know I could hit that level.

Because I took so long to clear the harder songs, I began to realize that my strength was in timing the game. On easier songs, I could hit the notes very accurately. Once the charts got harder, I fell apart and struggled to read them, but what I could hit was still pretty spot on. There's a big online score tracking site that anyone in the english-speaking IIDX community who is even halfway serious about the game used for home versions. As I put more of my scores on there, I decided to focus on getting high scores on easier songs, since that was my strength, and the nature of the game still means there will always be room for improvement at any difficulty of song. I ended up getting some of the community kind of mad at me because of this. Top players who could pass anything and get top scores on the hard songs were getting beaten by me on the easy songs, when I couldn't even clear the hard songs. It's kind of funny to look now at 3rd Style, the oldest (and easiest) game in the series, and see the overall rankings on the right side of the below picture. dj DAN is me, and I haven't even touched this version of the game in years. I really did put so much work into the easy songs lol



My top achievement in IIDX involved the song GAMBOL.

Gambol is a super special song, in that the chart is kind of easy, and should be no problem at all. It was one of the earliest songs made for IIDX though, and somehow, due to weird programming mistakes, Konami made the timing windows for this one song obscenely small, down to 1 frame, with the other timings tightened as well. You can feel like you hit a note spot on, and still come away with a good.

Anyways, I worked on this song for a bit to get the timing down. I know I wasn't the first person in the world to do this, but I was the first person on the site to have a recorded AAA on Gambol, which felt like kind of a big deal to get. Yeah, it was the stupid joke easy song with impossible timing, but that was my main skillset at IIDX, and I pulled it off. I also inspired a handful of other people to put in work and get their own AAAs on it, which was pretty cool to see.

After several years, I really toned down how much I played IIDX. Konami stopped releasing home versions, so the excitement for new ones kind of faded away. I also got into some other games competitively, which took away from my time here. I do still play the arcade version every now and then, like if I go to a Round 1 arcade, or if I go to anime cons/fighting game events that happen to have a IIDX cabinet set up. I've also met a handful of people from the IIDX community playing on these arcade cabinets, which is cool. The arcade versions of IIDX are up to the 28th version by now (Beatmania IIDX BISTROVER; they started giving them all goofy names instead of numbers after a point) so there has been an insane number of songs across all the games to where I can pretty much always play something new in the arcades.

A couple years ago, some musicians who worked on IIDX music came to the US to do shows over 2 days. The show was in Michigan, due to whatever wild circumstances, so I made it out to see them perform. I ended up getting a picture with Kors K, who has made a ton of great IIDX music, and also a picture with Slake, who is my favorite musician from IIDX. Slake is the wonderful musician who created the song Gambol, for the record, so it seemed very fitting to meet him in person. In addition to making music for IIDX games, Slake also served as sound director for IIDX 9th Style and 10th Style, and that weekend I got his autograph on my copies of those two games.

IIDX is a series where I feel like I could play it forever and there will always be room to improvement and discover new things. It's possible I've played IIDX more than any other game? (there are a couple things that come close, we may get into those later) But it still feels just as fun to play IIDX now. If for whatever I hit a point where I don't play IIDX anymore, I think I'm at a point where I can say I got enough out of the game to be completely satisfied with the journey, the results, and the memories.

Here's some good songs that I like!

Slake Gambol (Beatmania IIDX)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYbFNBeHHcM

DJ Setup Nemesis (Beatmania IIDX 6th Style)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-t6v7TDB_M

Sampling Masters AYA one or eight (Beatmania IIDX 9th Style)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFmbml3ACLg

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TheKnightOfNee
03/02/21 11:22:59 PM
#32:


More songs/videos related to IIDX as I stretch this into a third post:

Asletics No Doubt Get Loud (Beatmania IIDX 10th Style)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RinJzzFk8F4

Slake Texture (Beatmania IIDX RED)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MITCgmgda-U

Elektel Moon Race (Beatmania IIDX Happy Sky)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODCrgKvwE_k

Seiya Murai Trigger of Innocence (Beatmania IIDX DJ Troopers)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzcVUPzF7-k

People who used to participate in the UCA may recognize this song:
DJ Mass Mad Izm* vs. DJ Yoshitaka Watch Out Pt. 2 (Beatmania IIDX Resort Anthem)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TNMPgOBTlA

Dirty Androids Midnight Lady (Beatmania IIDX Cannon Ballers)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHVJrubwwsQ

Finally, (we're at the end of my post!) this guy is very very very good at IIDX and I feel this video should be watched, even if you skipped all the songs above. This song is the dumbest thing to combo or score on, and he just steamrolls through so much of it with crazy accuracy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOu08CbC87U

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Arti
03/02/21 11:24:56 PM
#33:


#9 - Mother 3 (GBA, 2006 JP)

Strange, funny and heartrending.

It's amazing to see a slogan that can really sum up as great a game as Mother 3 is in such a small amount of words, but Mother 3's slogan really does it justice. Mother 3 is the 3rd game in the Mother series, which includes EarthBound Beginnings and EarthBound. Never released outside of Japan, it got a very high quality fan translation that brings it very close with EarthBound's humorous translation, as well as the more serious parts of Mother 3's excellent story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qUJdZC39VE

Mother 3 doesn't lead off with Lucas as you might think of from Smash - rather, it follows a number of other characters for the first few chapters before settling in with a party, allowing you to experience how life in Tazmily Village and the Nowhere Islands is before the Pigmasks arrive. While the maps are much smaller than either of the two previous titles in the series, the quality of the maps are packed to make it as interesting as possible moving through the different environments of the Nowhere Islands.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tv5Y8dV-zu0

EarthBound introduced the rolling HP bar mechanic that was a nice addition to the battle system, but Mother 3 takes it a step further with its battles. Mother 3 introduced a combo system in battle, where you can deal additional damage by pressing the attack button to the beat of the battle theme. This is hard to do on an emulator, though, so I never had much luck getting very far. (And when I played this, I wasn't the rhythm game fanatic I am now).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiVyjq0bvf4

One of Mother 3's biggest strengths, and why I keep posting videos throughout this writeup, is the amazing soundtrack that accompanies the game. It takes not only remixed versions of some of the best songs in the previous games, but also adds its own great songs to the mix. Some are available in Smash but I think the Smash remix of the Mother 3 Love Theme ruins the purpose of the original song, but some of the others are good choices for the game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfCA4qAitNU

My only complaint with Mother 3 is the absolute brain-dead portion of Chapter 7 where it seems like the entire party simply loses their minds for the entire scene, and if you have played the game, you know exactly what scene I am talking about here. I get it's for plot reasons but there surely needed to be a script rework here that would make it at least somewhat believable in the moment. The rest of the game, however, is still an excellent work overall.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHSu_K6WHb0

Itoi has been very insistent on not working on any more video games in the Mother series after this one, but I am fine with that decision as it would be incredibly hard to top this game. It's also the highest Nintendo game on my list. Will we ever see an official English release of the game? Probably not, but it's definitely deserving of one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pSe2XhlsMw

No crying until the end.

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Naye745
03/03/21 12:22:35 AM
#34:


10. Pokmon Gold/Silver/Crystal (GBC, 2000)
Strong Pokmon. Weak Pokmon. That is only the selfish perception of people. Truly skilled trainers should try to win with their favorites.

I don't know if there's any game with a weight of expectations upon it greater than that on the first Pokmon sequels. Gold and Silver had the burden of carrying the franchise forward, of proving that it was more than a passing fad, and of establishing Pokmon as a gargantuan franchise for Nintendo, along with Mario and Zelda, for the rest of time. And holy heck, did they deliver. I'm not sure if there's any game in the series that has fully realized its potential as much as Gold and Silver, which was one of the few games to really tackle just about any little thing that the fans were clamoring for and go for it completely.
Gold and Silver bumps up the number of monsters, adds new moves and types, and gives players a whole new region to explore and discover. But it also builds upon a ton of the concepts set out from the first game: the game is canonically a sequel to the events and characters from Red and Blue, so you have things such as recurring Gym Leaders and Elite Four members, characters like Bill and Professor Oak who play a role in the story, and of course Kanto itself is accessible after reaching the Hall of Fame for the first time. But I also love the way that the new Pokmon are handled - some of the earliest monsters like Hoothoots and Sentrets are pretty common, but a ton of the new monsters are hidden in odd locations, or via new mechanics like Headbutting trees or smashing rocks. This gives the Johto dex a feeling of an evolving understanding of the Pokmon universe, one that runs parallel to the way the storyline is presented in-game. Even now-common creatures like Marill and Snubbull were confined to extremely rare encounters in Gold and Silver.
And there's just a ton of extra added stuff to the mix. There's an in-game cell phone (PokGear) that you can use to dial up trainers for rematches and for hints to rare monsters. It's the first game in the series with a built-in internal clock, which allows for Pokmon spawns, evolutions, and events to vary by time of day or day of the week (and drained the heck out of the internal save battery, which is why it's basically impossible to find a working Gold/Silver cart now). There's a ton of optional side-dungeons, with varying challenges and rewards, and two big ol' hideouts for the game's main legendaries (both of which can be caught in either of the two games, as well). The amount of stuff packed into the cartridge is famously known for Satoru Iwata doing some mad genius programming to find a way to squeeze Kanto into the game. (And seems sadly impossible now, given the relative dearth of content in modern Pokmon games.) Crystal version also adds the first version of the Battle Tower, to add a little extra content to the single-player experience. I'm including Crystal here because it's my favorite version of the three, though its differences from Gold/Silver are far too sparse to demand a separate entry.
And then there's just the personal stuff. Johto is one of my favorite game regions: I still find it impressive the way they sold the area's traditional Japanese architecture through basic 8-bit graphics, but it works. Gold/Silver has many of my favorite monster designs, of course including my perpetual namesake, and a lot of really neat evolutions and ideas that expanded upon the potential of the original games. And it's the first Pokmon game I got the chance to get super hyped up over; while I had known some about what Red and Blue were before I played them, Gold/Silver were games I agonized over for as long as some bare-bones screenshots and monster reveals were out there. (Remember Pikablu?) I played a ROM of the Japanese release all the way to the Elite Four, where I accidentally talked to the Abra guy who teleports you back to the first town for some reason (which is absolutely hilarious in retrospect). I pored over every detail of the new creatures, the new areas, and the new Pokmon card sets, before the US release finally happened and I played it every day for months. When Pokmon Crystal dropped on 3DS Virtual Console a few years back, I played that for the first time - and actually went through with completing the game's in-game Pokdex (via trades with the Red/Blue VC releases, using some wild glitches to get a 'legal' Mew and completing everything else legit).


And as much as I'll defend what Sword/Shield did right, as much as I still do love the Pokmon series despite its problems, that was my favorite experience with the franchise in the past decade.
For me, Gold and Silver are the games that not only define my formative experience with Pokmon and video games, but still stand out on their own as just awesome and thoroughly replayable adventures. I'll point to the prior writeup of Red/Blue for all the ways I think the games are still eminently playable in 2021, with the added caveat that Gold/Silver fixed a lot of the terrible issues with balance and broken/useless moves and mechanics. I also think that HeartGold and SoulSilver are the best remakes they've ever put out, too, owing to the high quality of the source material but also the amount of effort they put into lovingly recreating the Johto region and all the crazy stuff they added there as well. (Battle Frontier! Pokathlon! Follower Pokmon! Safari Zone! A fully-fledged Kanto! The Pokwalker!) If you don't count it as cheating, you can sort of lump those in there with this entry, since a lot of the same great stuff about original G/S/C, plus more, goes with that.
That being said, this is a top-ten game regardless and felt like the perfect way to kick off this section of the list. I think this whole project is about a combination of games we adore but also an encapsulation of our personal experiences through games, and Gold/Silver seems essential for me in capturing a certain part of my life that will always stick with me.
Top 5 Favorite Johto Pokmon: Slugma - Lanturn - Lugia - Wooper - Murkrow

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Whiskey_Nick
03/03/21 4:09:26 PM
#35:


#8. Disgaea: Hour of Darkness (Complete) (PS2, 2004 and PS4, 2018)

Numbers go up!

The best Disgaea game and the best sRPG ever. The complete edition really is excellent and adds quite of bit of extra content, but its the same best in the series story with that lovable cast. Laharl, Etna, Flonne, Mid-Boss, Gordon and others all hit. What a great cast. The humor is now fairly normal but in 2004 it was crazy to me for entire chapters to be about breasts. I love Laharl's laugh. The combat is so quick and beautifully animated. This is one of only 2 games to break me away from my MMO addiction of the mid 2000's when my backlog became a thing. Tales of Symphonia was the other. Everything else from 2004 to 2010ish I pretty much skipped and played later or not at all.



I found out about this game from a friend who said he had heard about some new game called Disagea. Not Disgaea. Disagea.

I own Disgaea 1 on PS2, PSP, DS and PS4. Beat it on all of them. Maxed myself out on PS2.

Part of the fun of this series is naming the random party members you have. I have always used my friends for this. I have been a Warrior in every game. Wigs has been an Ice Mage for some years now. Bartz is a Ninja. MSG a Fire Mage. Cokes a Gunner. Various real world friends have well established characters over 6 games now. And many more.



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UotY 2015, You should listen to The Show w/ Ngamer and Yoblazer
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MrSmartGuy
03/03/21 4:48:57 PM
#36:


#8 - Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony (VITA, my GotY for 2017)


PSYCH, Danganronpa V3s here too. I did not lie in my DR2 write-up. At one point, I actually did get so mad that I had to just forget about the game for a bit. Those who have played DRV3 could have probably guessed that it was because of the games final trial. But then over the next few days, I had some time to dwell on it, and I came around on it, hard. It is such a scathing commentary on video games in general, and I have a feeling its going to have a Metal Gear Solid 2 effect, where everyone looks back on it years down the road, and thinks man, they really called this shit years ago, huh? Not that the world is going to end up doing literally what happens in the game, obviously. Its just that I believe the overall sentiment is spot-on, and DRV3s ending has since become one of my favorites of all-time. You could probably fit the last hour and a half of it into about 45 minutes of a more succinct script, but hey. If theres one thing Danganronpa is good it, its making its dialogue last waaaaaaay too fucking long.

Anyway, for the overview, Danganronpa V3 has the arduous task of following up a sequel that carried the franchise up from really cool premise, but actually dogshit to still a really cool premise, but now it has an awesome story with amazing cases and decent writing, except the gameplay still cant seem to get out of its own way sometimes. V3 succeeded in delivering an even more gripping story with a much more cohesive cast and way better writing. And for the first time in the series, there isnt a single bad minigame! None of them are terribly fun on their own (RIP Logic Dive), but theyre all somehow not a total waste of time! Also, the Nonstop Debates are by far at their best in this game. The previous games just kinda had regular old text, and sometimes they float across the screen.. and thats about it. V3 has text animations. Riveting! But seriously, the style in V3 is very cool, and really gives the game a much needed make-over.



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MrSmartGuy
03/03/21 4:50:12 PM
#37:


Lets go over the various ways V3 improves on DR2. The cast is a more cohesive unit. In DR1, there were a select few who drove every class trial, and they all had a set role to play. The characters themselves arent good, but they all at least played off each other fairly well. DR2 had better characters, but they all just kinda existed in their own universe. Again, two or three characters drove the story and everyone else just kinda interjected with their own gimmick every now and then. For the first time in the series, V3 is able to both deliver some very well-written characters, AND make every single one of them important to the overall game. Plus, they all actively contribute to the trials, which is honestly really cool to see. All 16 students have their own time to shine over the course of the game. I couldnt point to a single cast member and say with conviction, this game couldve done better than them. Like, yeah, obviously I like some characters more than others, but they all fill a specific role that is hard to improve on.



The game is streamlined better, and much more fun to play. Coins are handed out en masse, so theres no need to try and cherry pick items to give to classmates. Theres a casino to play DRs minigames whenever you want to make even more money. Speaking of which, the minigames tutorials actually make a slight bit of sense this time. Anyone whos played DR2 knows that the tutorials are completely fucking useless in that game.

Then, once youre done with the main game, they actually have other game modes that are worth your time. Instead of arbitrarily playing a dumb resource-gathering minigame in order to keep spending time with the students, theres a dating reality show-style game where the interactions between students are front-and-center. Which is cool, but the real meat of the post-game lies in the Ultimate Talent Development Plan and the Despair Dungeon.

The Development Plan lets you select a character from any of the three games, and play a board game where you have 3 years to accrue as many stats and useful abilities as you can. Through these 3 years, you get to see several interactions between characters that never wouldve met in the canon series timeline that make up a lot of memorable scenes. Once you finish the board game, you take your built-up characters, create a party of 4 Ultimates, and then go through the Despair Dungeon, a 2D dungeon crawler with turn-based RPG battles and bosses every 10 floors. The further you can get in Despair Dungeon, the better base characters you get access to for the Development Plan mode. Then you take the new, better characters back into the board game, accrue better stats and abilities, and go back into the dungeon to try and go even further and get all the best units. Its a very addictive game loop, and Im a bit embarrassed to say that Ive spent an absurd amount of time 100%ing this mode twice over.



But I digress. The real reason this game is up here is because of the story. I fucking loooooved going through this game for the first time. Danganronpa has some killer starting cases, but 3-1 manages to still blow the other two completely out of the water. I dropped everything I was holding. 3-2 is pretty solid, and kept me guessing for most of the trial, which is something half the cases in the series dont manage to do. 3-3 has perhaps the greatest buildup to a mid-game case in the entire series. It doesnt capitalize on literally anything it builds up, but at least the pre-trial is fun. As is the case with the other games, the 4th case is where the game ramps everything up, and I will admit that 3-4 made me cry my first time through. 3-5 is also stellar, but 3-6 is when everything comes to a head. As I said in my intro, I actually hated this trial my first time through, but its become one of my favorite parts of the series over time. Its also one of my favorite sections to watch other people experience for the first time. I just wish it didnt drag on so long.

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MrSmartGuy
03/03/21 4:50:19 PM
#38:


Its strange to say that it is both better than DR2 as a story and a game, and yet its only 2 spots higher, but thats kind of the nature of my top 10. They are all very near and dear to my heart. Anyway, I cant think of any way to segue into this fluidly, but I have to post this screenshot because its my favorite line in the game.



Very relatable, Monosuke, thank you.

CASE RANKINGS:
2-5 > 3-1 > 2-6 > 3-5 > 1-4 > 3-4 > 2-4 > 3-6 > 2-1 > 3-2 > 1-1 > 2-2 > 1-6 > 1-2 > 1-5 > 3-3 > 2-3 > 1-3

CHARACTER RANKINGS:
Maki > Kaede > Shuichi > Kaito > Keebo > Kirumi > Kokichi > Gonta > Miu > Kiyo > Rantaro > Himiko > Ryoma > Tenko > Angie > Tsumugi

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Arti
03/03/21 6:35:02 PM
#39:


that is indeed the best line in the series

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NeatoAnAccount
03/03/21 6:53:54 PM
#40:


heh I hated case 3-6 in the beginning too. I had to re-acquaint myself with Danganronopa as a different thing than what I thought it was. Now I'm fine with it but it's still not really what I signed up for lol

I'm sad that Angie is so unpopular. She's such an in interesting character but so many people get turned off by the Atua thing. Her auditory hallucinations are a real part of her character, not just a dumb speech gimmick. Atua's voice is why she's so absolutely confident in all of her actions, and why she doesn't care what anyone else thinks, and why she's so ready to accept whatever happens.

She's a great antagonist in chapter 3 because she has pure intentions and acts completely honestly, but her values are incompatible with Shuichi's. Shuichi is willing to risk death in order to escape the school, but Angie values survival over freedom.
Also because of Angie we get some insight into the other characters. It's interesting that for Gonta, God is a gentle grandmother but for Himiko it's some hot guy. Every character either joins the student council or chooses to reject them. The robot finds religion. That's interesting.
She did achieve a happier ending than most of the cast. 3 survived, 1 went out on their own terms, and almost everyone else had unpleasant final moments. But Angie lived a stress-free life and died painlessly in the middle of an art project. Maybe she had a point.

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Bartzyx
03/03/21 9:20:54 PM
#41:


#9 Super Metroid (SNES, 1994)

I am very surprised that I am the first one to rank this one. Either this really isn't the Metroid crowd, or everyone else who is ranking it is also saving it for the top. The latter would make sense, as it is a top game.



Super Metroid is the inspiration for an entire genre and then some, and yet, is still somehow better than pretty much all the games it inspired. I don't know how Nintendo got it so right on the first go (yes I know it's not the first Metroid game but it's the first "Metroidvania"). The length is perfect. It will take hours and hours the first time, and yet can be beaten in around an hour with some practice. Even subsequent casual playthroughs will still only clock in at a few hours if you just play straight through. The game lets you explore the world, but subtly guides you on where to go next. The design leaves you always with a new area to go back to and explore once you run into a dead end, and the first time through it all feels very organic.

The atmosphere is another stand-out part of Super Metroid. Planet Zebes is dark and mysterious, and the music reflects that mysterious and wondrous feeling of exploration perfectly. Each area of the world feels unlike the others, and finding the secrets within each area and filling out the map/inventory is a lot of fun.

Of course, it's also a great game mechanically. Samus has a lot of options for how to dispatch enemies and traverse the environment, and like the map, her abilities are all surfaced very naturally. Just through using her items you get a feel for their potential and how you can use them to your advantage. It was very empowering and made me feel like a genius.

Super Metroid is also one of the most classic speedrunning experiences, and maybe the definitive one. The Super Metroid race is I think still the headlining event at GDQ gatherings. It's probably my favorite to watch of the most-run games.

Writing this is making me want to play it againIt's actually been over a decade since I last did it. I should find some totally legal way to play it and see how well I do after all this time.

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Naye745
03/03/21 11:49:34 PM
#42:


9. WarioWare, Inc.: Mega MicroGame$! (GBA, 2003)
There are all types of games in this Wario collection, and they're the best in the world!

WarioWare was definitely one of those games that I (and possibly the public at large) didn't quite know what to make of when it was released right in the middle of the GC/GBA era. Off the heels of compilation games like Game & Watch Gallery and mini-game extravaganzas in the Mario Party series, WarioWare boasted "microgames" and a really bizarre aesthetic that combined...Nintendo nostalgia and gross humor? It seemed like a game that didn't really know what it wanted to be. Funnily enough, though, I think WarioWare always had that part nailed, and it was the public that just hadn't seen anything quite like it before. Five (or more, depending on what you're counting) main games later, and WarioWare still is absolutely the same as it's ever been - innovative and energetic and absurd and brilliant, and there's nothing like it at all - and despite my love for the series in its entirety, the original is the one I'm always coming back to, year after year, to best my high scores just one more time.
The game's internal premise is that Wario, watching TV on the couch, catches a news report of a hot video game selling mad numbers, and schemes up his own game as a means of making big bucks. Of course, he's too lazy to do any of the work himself, so he offloads it onto his "friends", the motley crew of characters that comprise most of the game's stages. (Wario heads the introductory and final levels.) Externally, the game is about clearing series of "microgames", three-second challenges that give a quick command (Jump! Run! Dodge!) and the user has to complete a simple task, which will demand no more than the D-Pad and/or the A button. In the story levels, you've got about 15 or 25 per level, culminating in a slightly more complex boss mini-game. Clear all 11 story stages, and you beat the game, hooray! Of course, that's not really where it ends, because WarioWare is, for the most part, an oldschool arcade "high score" game in disguise. After clearing any stage, you can replay it, but it will last infinitely (well, scores do cap out at 999), and the goal is just to keep going as it gets faster and more difficult. There are also a handful of extra unlockable challenge stages, and a few endless versions of some of the microgames. There's even several actual arcade-style games, such as remade versions of Sheriff and the Mario Paint Fly Swatter mini-game, along with original games like Pyoro and a full playable version of NES Dr. Mario (retitled Dr. Wario, of course) that add a lot of depth and replayability.
But it's the main stages that are the real winner - the merging of the aforementioned high score-game sensibility with the unique (and constantly randomized) microgames builds a challenge equal parts execution and reaction time. And as a player gets more intimately familiar with every detail of the microgames, and is able to progress farther and farther into a stage, their ability to remain focused and anticipate is as keenly tested as it was at the beginning. The concept here isn't that any of the individual games are very deep or even particularly interesting, but they encompass such a broad range of challenges that the possibility of the next moment is always going to keep you on your toes, physically and mentally.
And I think it's lovely that a game that can absolutely get stressful or overwhelming, in theory, doesn't take itself seriously in any capacity; the game's lead is Wario, for goodness' sake. All of the story missions are varying degrees of absurd and silly - Mona's stage has a monkey throwing banana peels using a VR headset to keep chasing cop cars at bay so she can speed off to work on time. And while I adore the character designs (even if some of the in-game art is downright ugly, which is of course fitting anyway somehow) I have even greater reverence for the inside-jokes that span both the game itself and the entire series, ranging from an abundance of stages about picking noses to a doofy little sit-up guy who appears when you successfully saw a log in half.
WarioWare is one of those games that I don't expect everyone to really love, and it probably seems a little out of place in an all-time top 10, but I still have yet to play a game that does anything quite like it. While it has the same vague structure as a classic arcade game, what I love about it is that it doesn't feel like you lose at the end of a stage when it's simply gotten too fast to do anymore (this excludes the "play a single game over and over until you fail four times" mode, which is by far my least favorite part of any of the WarioWare games). Your game overs feel fair, but also tantalizing in a "I know I can absolutely do better" kind of way. And the original game just seems to have the perfect balance in its stages (okay, Orbulon's is too easy and I have gotten 999 on it, but the rest of the game...) that makes me return to this one more than the more novel Touched, Twisted, or Smooth Moves, or even the outstanding compilation of Gold. I've put in hundreds (possibly even a thousand) hours into the original, and hey, I have some pretty good scores that at least rate well enough with some of the leaderboards I've found online. WarioWare's portability and the ability to jump in and out of games quickly makes it something perfectly suited to my gaming tastes, and undoubtedly, there's gonna be a time when I get lost into it all over again.

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Eddv
03/04/21 12:15:34 AM
#43:


8.) Odinsphere (PS2, 2007)




A good story told in an interesting way is basically at the bedrock of every good game or really every good piece of media ever. And with Odinsphere we got exactly that. The game just oozes style. It was the first Vanillaware game I was exposed to and its art style is just completely intoxicating. Everything is so stylish and big. It just builds and builds on itself with ideas of scale played with to create feelings of dread or moments of "oh god what". The unique gameplay that shows the battle in shadow-relief is not only a stylish way of doing a HUD map, but also gives you the sense of scale that the game uses to tell its stories.

The game is told somewhat out of order and through the perspectives of a half dozen characters in a norse-mythology inspired setting and timeline. Each character plays differently, has different goals and is interweaved with the stories of the others in unexpected and satisfying ways.

The original game was a bit too ambitious for the PS2 to handle well - but the remake completely smooths away those problems and leaves one of my favorite gaming experiences of all time.

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Eddv
03/04/21 12:18:36 AM
#44:


My remaining game years for those playing the home game
2019
2014
2007
2004
1995
1995
1994

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CherryCokes
03/04/21 4:49:19 AM
#45:


have not posted here yet

whoops

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Arti
03/04/21 8:02:12 AM
#46:


#8 - Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy Curtain Call (3DS, 2014)

There's been a good amount of rhythm games all over my top 100, and I tend to buy a good few every year. Theatrhythm though is what I've found to be the best out of all the rhythm games I've played, for various reasons.

Curtain Call is a follow-up sequel to the original Theathrhythm: Final Fantasy, which was a decent game, but had a very low amount of songs included on its cartridge. Curtain Call remedies this problem by having the base game contain well over 200 songs from the entire series, with another 100 songs as DLC. The game still breaks it up between Field (traverse through a map based on the game it's from), Battle (a battle between various enemies, with a boss from the game it's from), and Event (a map based on a cutscene from the game itself) stages depending on the song. Not only does it have songs from the main games in the series, but it also brings together tracks from many spinoff games as well, such as Dissidia, Tactics, Crystal Chronicles, Mystic Quest, Type-0, and others. Also unlike the original game (and the Kingdom Hearts rhythm game released this year), almost all of the songs are available at the very beginning, with only a few exceptions. Instead, the game mostly has you unlock different characters spanning the entire series. You start with a choice between the 14 main characters of the main series at the time (XV was not released yet) and unlock all of the others through collecting crystal shards. Each character has certain abilities that they receive from leveling up through quests, each one having a different loadout. Some might have abilities that benefit the different stages the game has.

The main way to unlock more characters with shards is the Quest Medley mode, a new mode introduced in this game. These can range from short to long depending on how many songs the game will have you playing throughout the quest. In each medley, your party traverses through a map or dungeon with a boss at the end. There's usually multiple paths to the boss, and several random events that can happen as you go through the map. Songs are hidden until played through once, and the quest can be repeated as many times as needed for EXP and drops (but not crystal shards). It's a nice addition to the game, and was much better when StreetPass was a big thing as it allowed people to trade quest medley maps with each other. I have quite a few of them myself that I've received from others.

The versus mode is an interesting concept, but bad in practice. It allows you to face off with another player (or CPU opponent) by playing the same song, but the game is made more difficult by having you use various attacks on the other player by changing the trigger speed, trigger size, monster strength, timing, or other things. I never did much in this mode because I absolutely hated it, and mostly just ignored it entirely after a while. (They brought it back in Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory and it had a trophy for finishing it, which really annoyed me.)

Anyway, with over 300 songs including DLC, every game from the main series has at least ten songs to play through and chances are your favorite song from the series is in here somewhere. There are a few other songs from the series are also used as menu songs that didn't get bumped up to being playable. The DLC is also nice that it not only limits itself to Final Fantasy tracks, but also manages to pull in tracks from other Square-Enix games. The DLC includes tracks from Chrono Trigger, NieR, Bravely Default, The World Ends With You, the SaGa series, and others. Having Corridors of Time, Hills of Radiant Winds, Calling and all my favorite Final Fantasy tracks was an amazing combination. The DLC tracks will also sometimes appear in quest medleys after being purchased as well, a nice addition to the game.

I still go back to Curtain Call every so often and lose myself for a few hours. I have all the characters and songs, but one day I might actually unlock all the collectacards in the game (I don't think so though, some are extremely rare drops). It's definitely a game I keep revisiting and enjoying myself, and that's why it holds such a high rank on this list.

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RPGlord95
03/04/21 9:48:45 AM
#47:


Yeah I still play Curtain Call years later

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Bartzyx
03/04/21 11:50:51 AM
#48:


#8 Seiken Densetsu 3 (Super Famicom, 1995)

One of the best games of its generation came out very late, and did not make it to North America at all for over 20 years. Luckily, through the power of emulation (and a decent fan translation), I was able to play it only a few years after its Japanese release. To this day I still think it's best-in-class.



Seiken Densetsu 3 (later localized in English as Trials of Mana) was the "sequel" to Secret of Mana. It plays a lot like its predecessor, but eschews a lot of the gimmicky stuff for more traditional RPG mechanics. This results in a more simple and refined action RPG gameplay that is really addictive and fun. Like Secret of Mana, you can play cooperatively with a friend, which was a huge part of the appeal for me. My brother and I played through the game together several times with different charactersthere are six to choose from in total, each with his or her own individual story to be told within the main narrative.

It was one of the best-looking games when it came out. Very few SNES games can compare with it. The characters, enemies, and environments are all gorgeously animated and incredibly detailed. The boss enemies in particular are very well designed and drawn and are one of the highlights of the experience. The soundtrack also is one of my favorites of the 16-bit era.



I can't speak to the remake, although it is on my list of games to do someday. The lack of multiplayer in the remake is a pretty big bummer though. Like I said, the cooperative experience was a huge part of my love and nostalgia for the game. But if the gameplay holds up, I think I will still have a great time.

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MrSmartGuy
03/04/21 4:53:58 PM
#51:


#7 - Persona 4 Golden (VITA, my GotY for 2012 [sorry VLR, switched to Golden so your 2012 GotY has been rescinded] and 2008)


Back in the early 2000s, I had heard faint rumblings about this transformative JRPG called Persona 3. I didnt really know the first thing about Japanese culture back then, but the gameplay loop seemed neat. One day, I found a used PS2 copy at the local Gamestop, and figured Id take the risk. A few months into the game, being unable to control my squadmates drove them to do something really stupid, every died, and I lost like an hour of progress. This was the third time it happened, and I just wasnt invested enough to deal with that bullshit time after time, so I gave up for good and havent touched the game since.

A few years later, the new Persona comes out and lets you control everyone you want. Im a bit unconvinced though, because it sounds like culture shock for 2008 me. The most weeb thing Id done at that age was watch Adult Swim on Saturdays occasionally. I just decided to pass on it for quite a while.

Then a few years later, Giant Bomb picked the game up for their Endurance Run series. The escapades of Charlie Tunoku and Co. really sold the game on me, and I quit watching a bit into the first dungeon so I could play it myself. Coincidentally, Punny was having a big game sale on eBay right around there, and Persona 4 was on the docket. As soon as it arrived over Christmas Break of 2011, I started it up, and flew through the entire game in a matter of a month.

Less than half a year later, a new version was out on VITA with bonus content and a lot of quality of life upgrades that sounded great. Except I didnt have a VITA. But shortly after, I learned of the existence of CowBoom, a Best Buy subsidiary that sells closeout and refurbished stuff, and they had a slightly used VITA for sale for under $100 back in late 2013. That is a more-than-acceptable price of admission for this and the recently-announced localization of Danganronpa. Given the content of my top 10 so far, I would say thats one of the best $100 Ive ever spent.



Persona 4 was already an incredible game. You play as a transfer student that has to move out to a small town called Inaba, to stay with your uncle for a year for.. reasons. There, you start school, meet a bunch of friends, and have a wonderful time, talking about rumors around town about a channel that comes on the TV if you leave it off at midnight on a rainy night and whatnot.

Well, for two whole days, before some random person ends up murdered in town, and the police carry out a big investigation to try and catch the culprit. Later, you figure out that the Midnight Channel rumors are steeped in truth, and beyond the screen lies a foggy world full of shadowy monsters. Fairly quickly, you deduce that the people you find in that world have been thrown in against their will and are murdered if they arent rescued after a few weeks. Throughout the rest of the game, you persuade several of your classmates to accept themselves, so they can join you in battling the shadows in your quest to get to the bottom of the origin of the TV world and solve the mystery behind Inabas attempted murder spree.



Its a solid, if bizarre, setup for a game, but it primarily works because of its exceptionally strong cast of characters. Every single Investigation Team member has a lot of charm to them, and they interact super well together. They are all incredibly realistic, have relatable issues, and react to goings-on in ways that make perfect sense. Everyone has high stakes in teaming up together, and while theyre all just hanging out, their banter back in forth is hilarious. I would go as far as to say Persona 4s cast is the strongest in any video game Ive ever played. Even the supporting cast is super great, especially the close ones like Dojima, Nanako, Adachi, and most importantly, the fox.

The gameplay is right up my alley, too. Trying to take as few runs at the dungeon as possible, by limiting the magic you use as you navigate floors is a great mechanic. In most RPGs, the only limit to how much you grind is the amount of time youre willing to spend doing it. If you misuse your resources, you can just go back to a town and sleep in an inn or stock back up on items. In Persona, if youre too wasteful, thats going to cost you a precious day that could be spent raising stats elsewhere. It leads to some crucial decisions that otherwise wouldnt hold any weight whatsoever. I know these enemies are all weak to wind, and I could just cast Magarula and be done with this battle instantly, but I could also probably just do regular attacks for most of this and heal up later, which would cost me less SP in the long run. I wouldnt consider myself a JRPG expert, but I dont think Ive ever come across another game where nuke all of your opponents with a medium-sized spell isnt necessarily the correct choice.

Then youve got your personas. The main concept of the game is going through dungeons, acquiring new personas, using those, and then when they become obsolete, you fuse together two lackluster ones into a better one with better moves, and you can inherit the old moves, so they have a nice mix of relevance and strength, and then maybe that persona gets used in a triple fusion and becomes a mega persona. It gets addictive trying to find out paths to get personas that would be very useful that can resist as many elements as possible. The personas are pretty cool, too. Every time I go through, I kinda have a set list of my favorite, most useful ones: Sarasvati -> Rakshasa -> Parvati -> Black Frost -> Kikuri Hime -> Hariti -> Thor -> Sraosha -> Futsunushi -> Zaou Gongen/Lucifer (Priestess is OP). Also, one of them is a dick chariot.



Persona 4 Golden is definitely the way to play this game nowadays. There are new areas to explore, new scenes to view, new minigames to play, new social links to max out, and a brand new ending to get. You can choose what skills your personas inherit when fusing (what a fucking godsend, I spent at least 10 hours wasting my time with this bullshit in the base game). You can see what everyone else who played the game decided to do every day. There are tag team attacks, chariot attacks, all-out attacks that are boosted by Rise, more voice-overs, more music, all kinds of stuff. And on top of that, you get to tweak the difficulty to your choosing. Do you want tougher enemies, but for them to still give you lots of exp and money so you dont have to grind? You can tweak all of those completely separately, to get the experience you want.

INVESTIGATION TEAM RANKING:
Yosuke > Rise > Kanji > Naoto > Chie > Marie > Teddie > Yukiko

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Whiskey_Nick
03/04/21 4:55:37 PM
#52:


#7. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Switch, 2018)

This is a position that has been held by various Smash games over the years. Melee, Brawl, U. Ultimate as the newest and best has taken this spot. Made Brawl and U pointless to ever go back to, and Melee is still on my top 100 but much lower than Ultimate. I love this series. They are magical mixes of party game, fighting game, collectathon and jukebox. With 1000 songs now, this game makes the Switch a fun gaming MP3 player too. I love playing this with the current group. We don't have any try hards or people that only play 1 or 2 characters and whine about items or stages or anything. We all agreed on which stages to turn off and if anyone wants one on, we allow it. We have most items on but on low, which is a tad too low for me, but still good. Cokes, Wigs, MSG and sometimes Arti shows up, and on rare occasions Han. Who if you ask nicely will show you his moves. This group suits me perfectly. We all get along great, can trash talk and don't get upset. And omg the one liners. There is something magical about a kick kill and just hearing silence then "Show feet". The aforementioned Han moment is maybe the funniest thing I have ever experienced in gaming. Right up there with some Jackbox moments for nearly killing me laughing. When Han landed a Falcon Punch perfectly and I dumbfounded asked what happened. Without even a second of pause. "I showed you my moves." Literally almost died laughing. Many other occasions in this group have brought me to tears.

I am a Kirby main. Bowser second. Samus is my I wanna try and win a match character. I love doing randoms or whatever gimmick we pick for the night. Rows. Columns. Color schemes.

All the DLC and everything here is just I love it.

Need to update that a bit with recent DLC, but you get the idea.

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