LogFAQs > #971061595

#60. Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin

This has been my favorite Castlevania game since the day it was released. It's the perfect mix between classic Castlevania and the more modern (not so modern anymore) Castlevania - the sprawling maze-y goodness that people associate it with today. It even has a whip and a sword. The second half of the game especially shines from a traversal perspective.

#59. Shadow Hearts: Covenant

This game hasn't aged especially well but I'm on a big Shadow Hearts kick right now with Pennyblood having been announced. SH2's humor has certainly not held up -- a gay vampire wrestler isn't the hilarious zing that it used to be, and maybe never was? -- but the storyline of Yuri and his demons works really well, and this game ends as strong as any JRPG ever has.

#58. Xenoblade Chronicles

The more Xenoblade that I play, the more exhausted I am of the combat system. Yeah, they add tweaks to it but there's only so many hours I can stand there and let the skills pop off. In reality it's not that different from your classic ATB system but something about it, the characters yelling attacks while I circle around and wait for meters to fill, just doesn't do it for me like it did in 2011.

It doesn't help that Xenoblade 3 is anime to the extreme, a style that I just can't get into. Xeno games have always been anime but Xenoblade 2 and 3 have been anime in that Tales kind of way that irks me, and drags the original down in the process. It's a great game to explore but this used to be in my top 10 and I wouldn't consider it now.

#57. Portal

I figured that this game wouldn't hold up, so I played it last week and, yeah, it totally does. Okay, the cake is a lie is anti-funny these days, but the simple puzzle nature of Portal, along with its relative brevity just really works for me. The game feels good to explore and I much prefer this game's simplicity to what they did in Portal 2, another game I've been playing with my youngest in co-op. That game is fun but the original is where it's at.

#56. Castle Crashers

This is the only classic beat em up that I really like. It's exceedingly simple in all aspects but I don't know, something about it keeps it fun despite it being really mashy. I like building out my characters with the most simple of RPG mechanics and I like fighting the goofy bosses. I love this thing. Its lowest common denominator design really works because it's so ubiquitous and everyone can pick it up and play it competently. It's a great couch co-op game and always will be.