Board 8 > KP's Top 100 Games (Win $5 For Guessing Right)

(+) Yeah! (+)

I wish I could like Celeste more. I don't dislike it but it's not my preferred style of hard 2D platformer. I definitely prefer games that throw a lot at you but don't expect perfection, while Celeste really expects you to execute perfectly. I beat it but had no interest in the B and C sides. Do love the story and characters though.

KamikazePotato posted...

Pillars is the kind of game I should like, but it just wasn't very good. Writing was kind of...nonexistent, really. I dropped off after like 8 hours.

*pouts*

I liked Pillars! But IIRC it does start a bit slow/aimless so I can see where you're coming from.

UltimaterializerX posted...

I forget the episode, but Im talking about the red truth where Bern says it was Battler and his family that murdered everyone.

That wasn't a red truth and Bern wasn't part of that. That was a scenario Battler put together for Ange in Episode 8. That was where they used "purple statements."

Now the end of Episode 7 has Bern showing Ange that Rudolf and Kyrie were the main culprits and Eva only survived by dumb luck, which is Ange's timeline.

Lightning Round! This will last 24 hours.

@MacArrowny
@DanKirby
@AxemRedRanger
@Kenri
@Hbthebattle

I keep an embarrassingly exhaustive list of the stuff I've played, but things can always slip through the cracks. Today's theme is 'stuff that probably would've made the list if I remembered it'. Or at least the 101-125 honorable mentions section. The hints will be intentionally harder.

1. Was a popular multiplayer game. Received a sequel one year later, which was also popular. Then the series didn't get any new games after that.
2. My favorite Bomberman game. Released between 1996 and 2003.
3. A glitch made a fan-favorite character like to eat rocks. They were one of the best gifts to give her to raise affection.
4. Had a good run of three games, then got an awful 4th one that took the wind out of the series, although it still continued for a bit afterwards. Choose any of those first three. No, it isn't Ace Attorney.
5. In this strategy game, you control an elite squad - but thanks to the wonders of RNG, it can feel more like a pack of morons. Why are you aiming your rocket launcher at your feet?! There was only a 5% chance of that happening!

I know two and could take decent guesses at the others.

In that case, you might be in a better position than me...

So, how did the lightning round go?

My hot prediction is that we all scored 5/5

Lightning Round Results

--

Hint:
1. Was a popular multiplayer game. Received a sequel one year later, which was also popular. Then the series didn't get any new games after that.

Answers:
Left 4 Dead - 3
Star Wars Battlefront - 1
Snowboard Kids - 1

Left 4 Dead hit right before zombies started saturating the market, and it was one of the first games to do ton of enemies on-screen at once. That combined with stellar map design made for a lot of fun.

Snowboard Kids was an amazing guess considering Snowboard Kids 2 would have been in this category...if I'd remembered it. Played the heck out of that game when I was younger.

--

Hint:
2. My favorite Bomberman game. Released between 1996 and 2003.

Answers:
Bomberman 64: The Second Attack - 2
Bomberman 64 - 2
Saturn Bomberman - 1

The Second Attack rules. It's got unique elemental bombs, great level design, music by the composers of Chrono Trigger/Cross and Shadow Hearts, a plot with actual twists, and a final boss straight out of a JRPG. Shame it flew under the radar.

--

Hint:
3. A glitch made a fan-favorite character like to eat rocks. They were one of the best gifts to give her to raise affection.

Answers:
Stardew Valley - 5

Never change, Abby.

--

Hint:
4. Had a good run of three games, then got an awful 4th one that took the wind out of the series, although it still continued for a bit afterwards. Choose any of those first three. No, it isn't Ace Attorney.

Answers:
Spyro the Dragon - 2
Mega Man Battle Network - 1
Contra - 1
RollerCoaster Tycoon - 1

As a kid, I received MMBN4 as a gift from a close family friend. It made me feel bad that they wasted their money. MMBN2/3 are great, although I'm willing to let my nostalgia do the talking there and not replay them to test that.

--

Hint:
5. In this strategy game, you control an elite squad - but thanks to the wonders of RNG, it can feel more like a pack of morons. Why are you aiming your rocket launcher at your feet?! There was only a 5% chance of that happening!

Answers:
XCOM: Enemy Unknown - 4
XCOM 2 - 1

Have not played XCOM 2, actually. Got my fill from the first game. It's fun...except when it's not.

--

Two people scored a 4/5, which makes AxemRedRanger and DanKirby the winners of this round! Hints for the next round will be posted tomorrow.

I knew the Bomberman one because I remember you talking about it before. Wouldn't have known any of the others though.

mmbn2/3/6 are great

Damn, Bomberman was kind of a coin flip but I would have never thought of MMBN. Congrats to the winners.

Leonhart4 posted...

I knew the Bomberman one because I remember you talking about it before. Wouldn't have known any of the others though.

I'm impressed by that considering I don't think I've talked about it much here. Low-key one of my favorite N64 games.

NFUN posted...

mmbn2/3/6 are great

I heard good things about 6 but 4 really poisoned the well for me, unfortunately.

Well, I'm a huge Bomberman 64 fan, so I take note when I find fellow fans!

I got the Second Attack with my N64 when I bought it but never gave it much consideration. Maybe I will cause your description sounds pretty rad

I think you might've gotten mixed up somewhere, because I only had 3/5.

DanKirby posted...

I think you might've gotten mixed up somewhere, because I only had 3/5.

You're correct - thanks for being honest. This is why you don't tally votes after pulling an all-nighter, folks!

yeah i would have never guessed MMBN because not only did it get 2 well received games afterwards, the Star Force games on the DS are pretty much the same thing and there were 3 of those

Damn, I would have lost all the coin flips on that one. Good thing I wasn't in the running, I guess.

Went 2 for 5 aww yeah. Somehow didn't even think about L4D, I guess because I never played them.

Enemy Unknown's really fun. I've thought about playing Xcom 2 many times, and never got around to it...

Hints will be posted in a bit.

Hbthebattle posted...

yeah i would have never guessed MMBN because not only did it get 2 well received games afterwards, the Star Force games on the DS are pretty much the same thing and there were 3 of those

I never said the games after 4 were bad, just that it took the wind out of the sails for me!

MacArrowny posted...

Enemy Unknown's really fun. I've thought about playing Xcom 2 many times, and never got around to it...

I have one XCOM superfan friend who bounced off of 2. Said it was very similar to 1 except it felt worse, so there was no point. That's the main reason I never bothered.

Round 6 Hints

41. I made a short playthrough topic of it recently. Indie game. Two word title. The first word is 'Crystal'. It's obscure enough that if I don't make the hints this direct, no one will get it.

42. The third game in a series. At the time, this was meant to be its finale. Be careful crossing that bridge...it doesn't look very sturdy.

43. Survival horror...in space!

44. A cooking Visual Novel occasionally broken up by urban fantasy drama and high-octane fight scenes...wait, you mean the cooking wasn't the point? Then why did we spend half of Route 3 in the kitchen?

45. Rhythm May Cry

46. The best Telltale game. Ironically, was based on an existing property that I don't have a very high opinion of.

47. A 3D mainline Final Fantasy game.

48. BABY BABY BABY BABY YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAH

49. An indie game with an actual silent protagonist, although they learn to speak a few words over time, most notably their name.

50. The final boss was based off of an adult movie screening the head developer accidentally walked into an as a child.

Guesses sent

sent! feeling good about this one

Bump.

Aaaand up.

Gonna leave this open for a few more days to see if we can get more submissions. Figure people are busy with Thanksgiving weekend stuff.

Round 6 Results

--

10 people submitted guesses.
The most common score was 6 / 10.
The average score was 5.9 / 10.

This round was all over the place. Pretty even distribution of low, mediums, and highs.

--

Hint:
41. I made a short playthrough topic of it recently. Indie game. Two word title. The first word is 'Crystal'. It's obscure enough that if I don't make the hints this direct, no one will get it.

Answers:
Crystal Project 9

I, uh...forgot a certain website existed.

--

Hint:
42. The third game in a series. At the time, was meant to be its finale. Be careful crossing that bridge...it doesn't look very sturdy.

Answers:
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trials & Tribulations 5
Uncharted 3 1
Dark Souls III 1
Mass Effect 3 1
Metal Gear Solid 3 1
Halo 3 1

Some decent guesses, but AA3 was the right answer. Had to keep it relatively vague due to how well-known the series is here!

--

Hint:
43. Survival horror...in space!

Answers:
Dead Space 8
Returnal 1
Alien: Isolation 1

Figured this one would trip people up, but I'm surprised only one person went for the less obvious guess.

--

Hint:
44. A cooking Visual Novel occasionally broken up by urban fantasy drama and high-octane fight scenes...wait, you mean the cooking wasn't the point? Then why did we spend half of Route 3 in the kitchen?

Answers:
Fate/Stay Night 5
Cooking Companions 2
Dishonored 2 1

This was a real 'if you know, you know' hint, based on an in-fanbase joke. Two people didn't even bother guessing. Half of you still got it right, though.

--

Hint:
45. Rhythm May Cry

Answers:
Hi-Fi Rush 8
Bayonetta 3 1

Intended freebie.

--

Hint:
46. The best Telltale game. Ironically, was based on an existing property that I don't have a very high opinion of.

Answers:
The Walking Dead 5
Tales From the Borderlands 4
The Wolf Among Us 1

The Walking Dead was actually in the opening post honorable mentions. With that in mind, Tales was the clear main choice, unless you thought I disliked Fables or Batman or Game of Thrones.

--

Hint:
47. A 3D mainline Final Fantasy game.

Answers:
Final Fantasy X 5
Final Fantasy VII 1
Final Fantasy VII Remake 1
Final Fantasy VIII 1
Final Fantasy IX 1
Final Fantasy XIV 1

I'm surprised yet not surprised that FFX was the clear favorite despite the vague hint. Guess there's something about it that just fits at #47 on a list, at least compared to the other options.

--

Hint:
48. BABY BABY BABY BABY YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAH

Answers:
Persona 3 8
Control 1
Persona 5 1

Anyone who's played this knows the lyrics. Persona 3's random battle theme is the definition of an earworm.

--

Hint:
49. An indie game with an actual silent protagonist, although they learn to speak a few words over time, most notably their name.

Answers:
Crosscode 6
Undertale 1
Ib 1
Cave Story 1

Lea?...Lea. Lea!

--

Hint:
50. The final boss was based off of an adult movie screening the head developer accidentally walked into an as a child.

Answers:
Earthbound 8
Diablo 4 1

A semi-famous piece of trivia that made the rounds back in the day.

--

Which makes the Mac Arrowny the winner of Round 6! I think that marks his second win. No lightning round necessary this time.

Game writeups will be posted tomorrow.

KamikazePotato posted...

I, uh...forgot a certain website existed.

I mean yeah but also if you type "crystal" into the Steam store it's like the first result after a game just named "Crystal".

KamikazePotato posted...

The Walking Dead was actually in the opening post honorable mentions.

whoops donked it on this one

KamikazePotato posted...

Figured this one would trip people up, but I'm surprised only one person went for the less obvious guess.

Are there even any other (decently known) survival horror games in space besides Dead Space and the Aliens games? I'm surprised no one guessed Dead Space 2, though.

KamikazePotato posted...

Guess there's something about it that just fits at #47 on a list, at least compared to the other options.

46 spots too low imo

Kenri posted...

Are there even any other (decently known) survival horror games in space besides Dead Space and the Aliens games? I'm surprised no one guessed Dead Space 2, though.

i debated sending in Prey, so there's that.

Oooh yeah, Prey's a good one. Don't really think of it as survival horror but it probably counts.

Welp, I got wrecked here. Forgot case 4 of AA3. Knew nothing about F/SN. Knew nothing about P3 (and google pointed me at P5.) And was apparently the only person who didn't know that was Earthbound. I also lost all the toss-ups, after assuming TFTB would be the correct choice.

Guess I should give up hope for snatching one of these after a rout that bad.

Kenri posted...

Oooh yeah, Prey's a good one. Don't really think of it as survival horror but it probably counts.

I would have thought of Prey long before I thought of Alien-anything. Those games are just a blip on my radar whenever I hear about them, and immediately dismissed as "licensed crap." (They're not a genre I'd ever play, so I have no reason to try to disprove that notion.)

Alien Isolation suffered from following up Alien Colonel Marines, which was the definition of licensed crap.

Alien Isolation is so good!

I thought your Crystal Project topic was pretty memorable. Would've gotten that one without lining anything up with even a weak hint.

azuarc posted...

Welp, I got wrecked here. Forgot case 4 of AA3. Knew nothing about F/SN. Knew nothing about P3 (and google pointed me at P5.) And was apparently the only person who didn't know that was Earthbound. I also lost all the toss-ups, after assuming TFTB would be the correct choice.

Guess I should give up hope for snatching one of these after a rout that bad.

Luck's gotta balance out eventually

50. Earthbound
It's hard to describe what makes Earthbound good to someone who doesn't get it. The game lives and dies on vibes. 'Quirky' as a descriptor comes to mind, but I think that's actually underselling the completely unique atmosphere that Earthbound exudes. Even the games that it inspired never managed to fully recapture its tone. Earthbound is silly, serious, nostalgic, thought-provoking, banal, whimsical, clever, ridiculous, stupid, and plenty of other adjectives. Thinking about everything really makes me want to replay it, just so I can experience those vibes again.

Notice how I haven't mentioned the gameplay, yet though? I'm a bigger fan of Earthbound's combat than most the rolling HP is a fun gimmick but it's still an old JRPG with all the downsides therein. Inventory management is a chore, battles are too slow, and world traversal is especially too slow. Ness feels like he moves at a snail's pace. Some games benefit from forcing the player to stop and smell the roses, but I'm not sure Earthbound does. This is by far the biggest problem with the game, and is what keeps it from having mainstream appeal to this day.

I can't end the writeup without mentioning its final boss. For a while, I considered it the best final boss I'd ever encountered. Giygas has been dethroned since then, and the things that made that fight special were copied repeatedly by other games, but it's still an incredible feat for an SNES title.

49. CrossCode
CrossCode is a weird game for me, because the first half probably doesn't make this list. It's a solid experience, don't get me wrong. CrossCode deftly combines charming writing, interesting puzzles, and pretty decent combat. The gimmick of having an actual silent protagonist is well-implemented too. However, the story and setting lacked a sense of gravitas, so it has hard for me to get truly invested in the game. I considered dropping it after a solid chunk of time, feeling like I'd seen all it had to offer.

Then I got to the mid-game twist.

Calling it a twist is doing it a disservice, actually. It's more like a series of repeated plot developments and gut punches that radically altered my perception of the game, culminating in one of the most exhilarating sequences in anything I've played. Nothing in CrossCode ever matches this height again, but it couldn't possibly, and it didn't need to. I was extremely invested in everything that happened afterwards.

...Then it stumbles with the very late-game puzzles. Those things are the most ridiculously difficult puzzles I've ever seen. The timing and planning required on them is bonkers. I used a step-by-step youtube guide so I could get past them, and I don't regret it. The ending was great outside of that though!

48. Persona 3: FES
The game that launched gaming's current JRPG darling franchise. I mean, I guess Persona 1 and 2 technically exist, but you get what I mean.

Persona's core loop is extremely addicting. Story feeds into gameplay which feeds into story. Social Links were a genius idea for getting the player invested in the world and dialogue. The calendar system is engaging without being stressful. Its battle system...isn't very interesting, but is balanced out by the other half of the loop, so it never gets outright boring. There's a reason this series has continuously grown in popularity for over a decade.

Persona 3 also has blatant flaws. It lacks the quality-of-life upgrades of its successors, half the Social Links feel underwritten, and its sole dungeon is essentially just a series of hallways. The cast and plot aren't that great either, which is kind of important for an RPG. I fully recognize that my enduring appreciation for P3 partially comes from how it was the first in the series that I played, meaning it felt incredibly fresh and exciting at the time.

With that said, it's time for my favorite buzzword to excuse a game's issues: atmosphere. Persona 3 nails several different atmosphere, which few game are capable of doing. It blends urban city life and existential melancholy in a way that feels special. Much of the heavy lifting there goes to the music, which is excellent. And while Tartarus is repetitive, it's honestly worth it for that moment where you finally reach the top.

The remake looks good, but I'll be probably pass on it. I don't think a replay of P3, even an upgraded P3, will be better than my Memories Of The City.

47. Final Fantasy X
I don't think Square knows how to make a game like FFX anymore. Actually, let me revise that: this is the one time they were firing on all cylinders and managed to make a game like FFX. It's the most balanced, well-paced Final Fantasy experience in the entire series. The plot is always moving forward at a steady pace, yet it avoids feeling like FF13's linear hallways. The battle system is turned based, but never feels slow, and has plenty of intuitive strategies for players to develop. The music is memorable, and the characters are mostly great, with Tidus and Auron as the standouts. FFX kind of does everything right. Except Blitzball, but you can ignore that if you want.

Like, have you seen FFX's sequels and spinoffs? That's what happens when Square tries to draw from this well again. It's embarrassing. The longer Square goes with inconsistent output, the more FFX feels like a happy accident.

The game's biggest issue is honestly its age. FFX suffers from being an early PS2-era release. Character animations in cutscenes look stiff, and the voice acting is inconsistent. Presentation that was revolutionary back in the day no longer is. For a game that focuses so heavily on storytelling, this is a problem when trying to revisit it. The core narrative of FFX is strong enough to overcome that hurdle, but it's definitely an issue.

Lastly...the laughing scene was well-acted, and the internet turning it into a meme is simultaneously funny and annoying.

46. Tales from the Borderlands
Telltale is notorious for none of their games living up to The Walking Dead Season 1. Borderlands is notorious for overly-quirky writing that ages worse with each year. So what happens when you make a Telltale game based off of Borderlands?

You get a miracle, essentially. Tales from the Borderlands has no right to be as good as it is. My personal experience with Borderlands before this were a few sessions of Borderlands 2 co-op with friends, which while fun, were fun mostly because it was co-op with friends. I came out of those sessions with very little respect for the world and writing of Borderlands as a whole. Heck, I'm not even sure why I bothered getting Tales.

But man is it just a blast to experience. The characters are all fantastic, especially the two main leads and a third who I will refrain from mentioning. The quirky humor is toned down to a point where it's actually funny. The story starts out as a more basic (but entertaining) heist thriller, then proceeds to reach emotional heights I didn't think were possible from this franchise. I'm being vague on purpose here, as I care enough about this game to not want to spoil it. I would easily recommend Tales to anyone, including people with zero knowledge of Borderlands.

Then Borderlands 3 re-used some of the Tales characters and it sucked. Then Tales from the Borderlands 2 came out and it sucked even worse. Tales 1 really was a miracle, and I'm happy it exists.

azuarc posted...

Welp, I got wrecked here. Forgot case 4 of AA3. Knew nothing about F/SN. Knew nothing about P3 (and google pointed me at P5.) And was apparently the only person who didn't know that was Earthbound. I also lost all the toss-ups, after assuming TFTB would be the correct choice.

Guess I should give up hope for snatching one of these after a rout that bad.

For the record, I really do appreciate everyone's participation. This topic has been a lot more popular than I thought it would. I hope no one gets discouraged from not winning because they couldn't decipher my wackadoo hints.

I've never been able to make it through Earthbound, despite trying a couple times. That game is just a chore. And I beat Mother 1 so I'm used to games being chores sometimes...!

Emulator speed-up is a thing of beauty for old games.

KamikazePotato posted...

For the record, I really do appreciate everyone's participation. This topic has been a lot more popular than I thought it would. I hope no one gets discouraged from not winning because they couldn't decipher my wackadoo hints.

idk about anyone else but I'm just in it for the fun of trying to solve the hints, not really too concerned with winning

KamikazePotato posted...

Tales from the Borderlands

The finger guns sequence is one of the best scenes in a game.

I'm not trying to win. I'm not looking anything up. I'm just trying to see if I know them.

As far as the FF one goes, I figured it was too early for a certain other FF, so FFX felt like a solid guess.

KamikazePotato posted...

Emulator speed-up is a thing of beauty for old games.

Works less well in Earthbound than most old RPGs because of the rolling HP system but yeah.

45. Hi-Fi Rush
Rhythm May Cry really is the best way to describe this. I love rhythm games, and I love character action games, so naturally I was immediately interested in Hi-Fi Rush. Shoving two great things together always ends up working out, right?

Thankfully, this time it did. Hi-Fi Rush is a fantastic aesthetic experience. Its visual style is colorful and appealing to look at, the writing is genuinely funny, the voice acting is top notch, and the licensed music was perfectly chosen. This game is the closest you'll get to playing a Saturday Morning Cartoon. There actually are some animated cutscenes in the game to fit the theme, which look great and they still feel like a downgrade, because the in-game art style is just that good.

The gameplay doesn't quite meet the standards of the best character action games, but it's still a lot of fun. You've got your dodges, parries, combos, and enemies that are (mostly) well-designed. Hi-Fi Rush's big gimmick is that buttons need to be pressed on the beat of a rhythm, which takes some getting used to but feels amazing when you get the hang of it.

That isn't to say the game is without flaws. The the platforming feels sub-par, which sucks because there's a surprising amount of platforming. It also took me a while to get immersed in the cast of characters, although I quite liked them by the end. Other than that, though, any complaints I could have would feel like nitpicking. Fingers crossed for a sequel.

44. Fate/Stay Night
Putting this above Umineko feels wrong, but Fate/Stay Night didn't shit the bed in its final act, so here we are.

FSN has retained a surprisingly large spot in my mind ever since I played it...15 years ago? Jesus Christ I'm old. Anyway, there's a lot about the story that feels inherently memorable. The Holy Grail War is such a fantastic framing device that it spawned a major gacha the second the series branched out. Despite being a Visual Novel, the action sequences are legitimately thrilling, moreso than most actual action games. The characters are also nuanced, with flaws and quirks and development and all that good stuff.

Its protagonist Emiya Shirou is the secret sauce that brings everything together, though. He's rarely someone's favorite character after finishing the game he wasn't mine but his warped ideology and how each route affects it differently is what drives most of the story engagement. Unfortunately the anime adaptation didn't do him justice, so his reputation has taken a hit, but at least I still remember OG VN Shirou.

Even if he did spend most of the third route cooking. Is it even worth mentioning FSN's pacing issues? Like, it's a problem, but every damn Visual Novel seems to have pacing issues as well. I legitimately can't think of one that doesn't fumble this outside of the original Phoenix Wright trilogy. I'm used to it by now and in a weird way, the long stretches of buildup make the moments of climax stand out that much more.

43. Alien: Isolation
Tension: the game.

There's not much to talk about here. Alien Isolation's story and characters are excuses for the setting. I don't remember any of its music. The franchise isn't one I'm super attached to.

But goddamn did it deliver in the only way that mattered. Alien Isolation's gameplay amounts to an extended, ~20 hour long horror stealth sequence, and it does that really well. The Alien pursues, and you hide. The Alien adapts, and you adapt as well or die. There's honestly not that much variety to it, but the core mechanics were so perfect that I didn't care. This game hit the ideal balance of scaring the daylights out of me and presenting a challenge that can be overcome. I want to replay it in VR someday.

42. Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations
The 'objective' best Ace Attorney game. If you polled the fanbase, I think maybe 70% of them would choose this as their favorite, which is insane for a series with like 10 games. AA3 is all killer, no filler. Every case is good at minimum, amazing at best, and the its overarching narrative builds up is super memorable. Part of that is thanks to *INSERT SPOILERS*, who is potentially the best villain in the series.

What keeps it below AA1 for me is that I don't like 3-5 nearly as much as most people. When I first played that case, the ending kind of underwhelmed me. Still good, but didn't hit my emotions quite where I wanted it to.

P.S. Since there's no natural place on the list to mention this...if I were to isolate 2-4 and ignore the rest of Justice For All, it might have made my Top 50 on its own. Best case, incredible experience. Nothing else in AA has come anywhere close to eliciting the emotional response that 2-4 did.

41. Crystal Project
I don't think it's possible to make a better 2D JRPG battle system than Crystal Project.

Bold claim, I'm aware, but I believe it. Adding MMORPG-style enmity to turn-based combat was a stroke of genius. It means you can't just do the basic damage->heal->damage->heal; you need to actually pay attention to what characters the enemies are going to target, then manage your threat levels accordingly. It adds a huge layer of strategy, especially on Hard mode, where one mistake can result in defeat.

The job system is also the only job system I've legitimately loved. It's easy to switch things up without endless grinding, and it highly rewards creativity, encouraging you to test different abilities and party formations. After Crystal Project, something like the job system in FF5 or FFT would feel like a massive chore to revisit.

Finally, there's the more contentious aspect of the game: its heavy focus on weird-ass pixel platforming. Personally, I think it significantly adds to the experience. Exploring the world and looking for potential pathways had me canvassing every inch of the map. A lot of people will completely bounce off this element, though, which is understandable. It's simply not what many are looking for in a 2D JRPG.

Overall, this game perfected the genre for me at least its gameplay. The story is largely nonexistent, but who cares when there's fantastic exploration and fascinating combat?...Okay most RPG fans would probably care, but I was too busy sinking 80+ hours into Crystal Project to be particularly upset about its paper-thin writing.

--

Round 7 hints will be posted in a few hours.

MacArrowny posted...

The finger guns sequence is one of the best scenes in a game.

Tales has like 5 memorable sequences that I could potentially call the best scene in the game. That's definitely one of them.

3-5's ending hits me like no other moment in the series, but I am also an unapologetic Phoenix/Iris shipper.

FFX is still an incredible experience for me. It's one of the few games in the series where battling doesn't feel like a chore, and that's a huge achievement, on top of a great story and a great cast featuring my favorite buzzword: Cast chemistry.

"Atmosphere" and "presentation" complete the buzzword medal stand for me, and they're a big reason I love P3 despite its obvious flaws.