Board 8 > Leonhart Ranks 124 User Nominated Games

(+) Yeah! (+)

Yeah that was a weird decision, maybe I'll have another go one of these days

95. Animal Crossing (AxemRedRanger)


I actually put a lot of time into this game. I might cross my wires here and talk about stuff that's actually in Wild World because it's been so long since the last time I played either game, and all Animal Crossings are basically the same anyway, so who cares. That's why I haven't played one since Wild World because I got everything I wanted from AC after those two games. I'm not even sure why I got Animal Crossing in the first place. It's not the type of game I normally play, but I guess I was intrigued by the concept because it was pretty neat. I feel like just describing the game doesn't do it justice because you spend a lot of time doing seemingly mundane tasks trying to pay off your house so you can get out from under the thumb of the tyrannical Tom Nook. There's just something fun about interacting with all your neighbors and developing relationships of sorts, including rescuing them from pitfalls that you planted. There's a sense of satisfaction slowly watching your debt dwindle, too, until it's all gone. It's almost like preparing you for adulthood!

Animal Crossing gives you plenty to do and lots of loot to collect, so you can sink a bunch of time into it. It was even the original Virtual Console since you could collect old NES games to play! I always made sure to be there for the K.K. Slider performances whenever I could because I love the fact that they have someone singing songs with that weird sound effect they use to simulate speech. The fact that the game has seasons and special events based on a real calendar is cool, so it gives you stuff to look forward to and a reason to keep playing from time to time. Yet for me, once I had everything paid off and had enough stuff to fill up my house, I was satisfied. I didn't play as much of Wild World because I realized just one time was enough for me, but I still enjoyed the experience.

Bonus Question: What is your favorite aspect of Animal Crossing?
---

Basically same for me but I dropped Wild World much quicker.
---

True story when I played Animal Crossing in like 3rd grade or whatever I started crying when my favorite villager left my town.

R.I.P in peace Samson
---

pyresword posted...

when I played Animal Crossing in like 3rd grade

...That makes me feel old because I was 15 when the first AC came out.

My favorite villager was a tiger, although I forget his name. Might have been Tybalt.

Looking it up, it was indeed Tybalt.
---

94. Bomberman Generation (NBIceman)


Bomberman is always a good time. It's a hard concept to mess up, although based on what I've heard about some of the ones I haven't played, they've somehow managed it! Bomberman was my first exposure to a four controller console setup because the SNES version came with something called the Super Multitap that let you play with four players. It was a mind-blowing experience because that used to be reserved for playing at the arcade. Anyway, after the N64 went 3-D for its Bomberman offerings, Generation went back to the classic flat plane for its multiplayer. Blowing up your friends and trying not to get blown up never gets old, no matter how much you play. There's just something unceasingly satisfying about it. It gets especially crazy when you get down to sudden death and the arena starts shrinking.

Generation had multiple modes, like a coin battle, a dodge battle (where you can't throw bombs but they fall from the sky), and even a reversi battle (where explosions flip panels and the goal is to have the most panels flipped), but nothing beats classic mode. There's a single player mode, too, but I have no idea if it's any good because I never played it. Bomberman is one of the only series out there where I don't care about single player content. I just want to make my friends explode. Let me do that, and I'll be happy. I always play as the White Bomberman, too, mostly because I was the one who owned the game and thus I always got to be player one.

Bonus Question: What is your favorite multiplayer series?
---

Smash Bros or Mario Kart, doubt I could pick one.
---

If I had to pick one series to play for the rest of my life, single or multiplayer, it might be Smash Bros.
---

Smash Bros send like the easy choice

But the most fun I've had playing multiplayer was marathoning the whole way through Castle Crashers or staying up all night at sleepovers as a kid playing Worms Armageddon
---

Bonus Question: What is your favorite Pokemon game?

Pokemon RBY. Pokemon Snap was amazing though, especially as like the first 3D Pokemon game. It was mindblowing at the time.

pjbasis posted...

I was definitely smackdab in the middle of the pokemon demographic.

Probably one of the best examples of a casual. I played Red, loved it, played all the other N64 spin offs, watched some of the first season of the anime, first three movies, played Silver, got into the tcg without really knowing how to play card games.

And then when Gen III came out I stopped and basically never touched new entries in the series.

This, except with more anime up through some of Johto.

Bonus Question: What's the most bizarre decision you've seen a sequel make?

As much as I like the game, SMW2: Yoshi's Island is an even weirder sequel than SMB2. I think the entire game is a bizarre (but wonderful) decision.

Bonus Question: What's the closest you've come to beating a game before dropping it?

Every Trails in the Sky game so far. I stop right before the endgame and pick them back up months later when I don't have the guilt or stressful urge to go back and do everything ever and never leave their world. Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword are another two. The first is like 95% complete in story and collection, and the second my Wii+ remote died (like battery acid explosion died) before I beat the final boss and haven't bothered to pick up a new one.

Bonus Question: What is your favorite aspect of Animal Crossing?

The collectathon. Bugs, fishing, furniture, clothes, fossils. I loved donating to the museum. I loved playing every day to see what new items were in stock or what cool things could be dug up.

Bonus Question: What is your favorite multiplayer series?

Smash Bros. If it were individual games, I might say Team Fortress 2, Perfect Dark, or Heroes of the Storm, but Smash Bros. hasn't done wrong yet.
---

I really don't like Animal Crossing. It's just very, very laid back with no sense of urgency or achievement (debt is a burden unjustly pushed upon the player), the characters are one dimensional, and the very worst thing was how it guilt trips you to play it for your every waking moment or silly talking animals will shake you for neglecting your horribly barren town. Vile.
---

LeonhartFour posted...

Bonus Question: What was the first game you owned on Steam?

Orange Box, so I guess the 3 games it had at the same time. I actually bought the physical PC copy and didn't really know what Steam was at the time other than it being something I blindly registered for.

I didn't buy something off of Steam itself until like 2 years later.

LeonhartFour posted...

Bonus Question: What's the closest you've come to beating a game before dropping it?

While I haven't technically dropped it yet, I'm at the Elite Four in Pokemon FireRed but haven't bothered to beat them yet. I think some of my Pokemon are kinda underleveled.

Another one is Mega Man Z/X, where I'm close to beating it but haven't yet. I wouldn't even know what I'm suppose to be doing if I start it up again.

LeonhartFour posted...

There's a single player mode, too, but I have no idea if it's any good because I never played it.

I've actually beaten the single player mode. It's actually very different than the classic multiplayer style. More like an adventure game so to speak. I would say the single player is closer to the N64 games.
---

Animal Crossing is pretty awful. It's a chore simulator.
---

Raka_Putra posted...

I really don't like Animal Crossing. It's just very, very laid back with no sense of urgency or achievement (debt is a burden unjustly pushed upon the player), the characters are one dimensional, and the very worst thing was how it guilt trips you to play it for your every waking moment or silly talking animals will shake you for neglecting your horribly barren town. Vile.

sounds like a metaphor for real life imhotbqh
---

If I want to suffer I'd rather go on with my life.
---

Virtual suffering is preferable to real suffering
---

LeonhartFour posted...

There's a sense of satisfaction slowly watching your debt dwindle, too, until it's all gone. It's almost like preparing you for adulthood!

lol my debts never going away
---

93. Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney (pjbasis)


What can I say about Ace Attorney that I haven't already said? Seems like I've been talking about it nonstop for the better part of two years! That being said, I never get tired of discussing it. It's one of my absolute favorite series, and it feels like the well never runs dry with it. I'm usually comparing the games between themselves and not with other series though, so it's actually been kind of hard to peg where I want to slot them on this list. Regardless, Apollo Justice is definitely the weakest link in Ace Attorney. If I had to describe it in one word, it'd be "Inconsistent." Even in my least favorite game in the series, I like a lot of things it does, but they're often counterbalanced by some of the lowest moments in the series. For every point I could make about this game, there would almost always be a "Yeah, but" right after.

Apollo Justice is unique in that it gives you its best shot right out of the gate instead of saving it for the end like the rest of the Ace Attorney games do. 4-1 is one of the best intro cases in the series (second only to E2-1, in my opinion, and not by much). It throws a bunch of crazy twists at you and leaves you wanting more. Therein lies the rub. You keep pressing through 4-2 and 4-3, two of the weakest cases in the series, just to get to 4-4 to see how they follow up on the mysteries they left unresolved in 4-1. 4-4 epitomizes this game so well. It's a really unique case. There's truly no other case in the series like it. I absolutely love 4-4's first day, as well as most of the MASON System stuff that follows. However, 4-4's second trial day is utterly disappointing, and 4-0 is bar none the worst thing the series has ever produced. I won't rant on specifics because I'd like for people who haven't played the game to be able to read this, but you see how much AJ makes me vacillate back and forth between what I love and what I dislike.

As far as the characters go, they're a mixed bag. I really like Apollo a lot, even though the game doesn't really do him justice (pun fully intended). He gets the worst batch of defendants imaginable, both in terms of being downright uncooperative and one of them in particular being just plain bad. He gets paired off with one of the weaker prosecutors in the series as well, although Klavier has some good points. The game does have some pretty solid villains though. However, despite Apollo's name being in the title, Phoenix is the one who steals the spotlight whenever he's around. By the end of PW1, Phoenix Wright is a fully realized character. You understand his motivations, and you've witnessed discernible growth. On the other hand, Apollo Justice is essentially the same character at the end of the game as he is at the beginning. We've learned virtually nothing about who he is or what makes him tick. Speaking of Phoenix, I love the concept of Hobonix as a character. He's fascinating. I just wish he weren't Phoenix Wright because I feel like it's an insult to what he accomplished in the first three games in some ways. He's essentially Luke Skywalker in The Last Jedi.

I've already said more than I intended to say (can't help myself), so I'll close with this. Trucy might be the biggest bright spot in the game. Despite possessing Ace Attorney's trademark wackiness, the game's main theme might as well be, "Nobody gets to be happy, ever." Nearly everyone in this game has had their dreams crushed, but Trucy is irrepressibly bright, cheerful, and colorful. She helps keep the game afloat. At one point, Phoenix calls Trucy his light, and I totally understand what he means. I don't even want to imagine what this game would've been like without her. Apollo and Trucy are excellent together, and their rapport makes this game worth playing through all the ups and downs.

Bonus Question: What is your least favorite Ace Attorney game?

That's it for tonight.
---

Least favorite AA game would be AAInvestigations. Holy hell that game was the most boring AA game I've ever played.
The last case in particular dragged on sooooooo much and was by far the least engaging final case in the series.

I just beat case 3 of AAI2 a few days ago and that game is much better, in terms of everything. It does however have its own issues with pacing (case 2 was pretty bad because of it) and I won't quite put it on a pedastal like everyone else does. Case 2 and even 3 kinda overstayed its welcome and a lot of the fat could have been trimmed down to make both cases much better.

I hope case 4 doesn't have the same issues as 2 and 3 (to a lesser extent). And case 5 has already been hyped to the skies by everyone so lets see.

One thing I really do appreciate about AAI2 is the amazing job the translation team has done. Not in any point of the probably 20 hours I've played, has the game felt like a fan translation.

AA4 was the hardest one to guess in placement.

I banked on the series overcoming the least favorite entry, but it could have gone either way.
---

AA4 is pretty easily in last place for me. I'm actually replaying it now!

I actually like 4-4 though
---

AA2 was so forgettable to me that I'm not sure I liked it more than 4.

Maybe though, maybe.
---

Damn I must have missed the nomination topic.

Great write-ups though dude. Trying to get caught up with what you have so far atm. =)
---

Axl_Rose_85 posted...

I just beat case 3 of AAI2 a few days ago and that game is much better, in terms of everything. It does however have its own issues with pacing (case 2 was pretty bad because of it) and I won't quite put it on a pedastal like everyone else does. Case 2 and even 3 kinda overstayed its welcome and a lot of the fat could have been trimmed down to make both cases much better.

AAI2 is a long game. E2-2 is the worst about its pacing though. Definitely my least favorite case in the game. E2-3 might be my favorite non-epic case though!

Axl_Rose_85 posted...

One thing I really do appreciate about AAI2 is the amazing job the translation team has done. Not in any point of the probably 20 hours I've played, has the game felt like a fan translation.

Oh, it's a commendable effort, no doubt, but it does show itself as a fan translation at various points to me. Not often, mind you, and nothing major. Just little things.
---

I played the first Ace attorney and didn't like it, so I guess that one.
---

Just came in to say AAI2's Justine Courtney is one of the worst AA characters and by far the worst rival character in the series. I'm playing the beginning of case 4 and she has been such a terrible all-round character since her introduction that she is actually starting to get under my skin. If the developers were trying to make her a hateable character, then good freaking job but somehow I don't think it was their intention.

Debeste is great though. He's been the funniest thing going on in the game so far.

But seriously. Justine Courtney is just the worst. Such a terrible character.

LeonhartFour posted...

Bonus Question: What is your least favorite Ace Attorney game?

AAI2. The pacing just kills it for me. Every single case is hours longer than it needs to be.
---

Axl_Rose_85 posted...

Just came in to say AAI2's Justine Courtney is one of the worst AA characters and by far the worst rival character in the series. I'm playing the beginning of case 4 and she has been such a terrible all-round character since her introduction that she is actually starting to get under my skin. If the developers were trying to make her a hateable character, then good freaking job but somehow I don't think it was their intention.

Debeste is great though. He's been the funniest thing going on in the game so far.

But seriously. Justine Courtney is just the worst. Such a terrible character.

I wish you wouldn't perpetuate the misconception of 'character I don't like' = 'bad character'. It makes discussion difficult.
---

Axl_Rose_85 posted...

Just came in to say AAI2's Justine Courtney is one of the worst AA characters and by far the worst rival character in the series. I'm playing the beginning of case 4 and she has been such a terrible all-round character since her introduction that she is actually starting to get under my skin. If the developers were trying to make her a hateable character, then good freaking job but somehow I don't think it was their intention.

Debeste is great though. He's been the funniest thing going on in the game so far.

But seriously. Justine Courtney is just the worst. Such a terrible character.

She gets better (but not by enough to make up for the earlier cases)
---

Sceptilesolar posted...

I wish you wouldn't perpetuate the misconception of 'character I don't like' = 'bad character'. It makes discussion difficult.

I mean I don't hate good characters...!

I like Courtney, so she's not a bad character.

Also, all this AA discussion makes me want to do another replay. This series always finds a way to suck me back in.
---

92. Sharks and Minnows (LeonhartFour)


This game has many different names: Sharks and minnows, British Bulldog (not to be confused with Davey Boy Smith), spiders and flies, octopus, etc. There are many variations in how to play, too, but the gist of it if you're not familiar with it (or you call it by yet another name I haven't listed) is: There's some people in the middle, and everyone else is on one side of the playing field. The goal is to get from one side to the other without getting tagged, and you keep going back and forth until only one (or no one) is left. Depending on the version, sometimes the people who get tagged then become the taggers, and sometimes they're just eliminated. It's essentially a tag spinoff.

Anyway, that's enough of a summary. This is a really fun game to play, and you can play it anywhere, even in a swimming pool. The kids at my church here love to play this game. We play it pretty frequently, and they never get sick of it. It's a good way to expend energy if children are worked up, too, because it's a lot of running around (you can tell I'm talking from the perspective of someone who has to watch/entertain children here). Since we play the game in a gym, we add a new rule where the taggers can only move horizontally along the midcourt line, so it makes the game progressively more difficult as it gets closer to the end. It can get pretty intense trying to find those tiny gaps to squeeze through. You've really earned the victory if you manage to be the last person standing.

Bonus Question: What's your favorite version/variant of tag?
---

91. Mega Man 5 (tazzyboyishere)


Mega Man 5 is a fun game, as MM Classic games tend to be. It also puts Protoman front and center for the first time (well, sort of), which is great, because he's the best Mega Man character. Also, Protoman is the only robot in the Classic series whose name I spell as a single word instead of two because it just looks cooler that way. Anyway, I tend not to judge Mega Man games based on the individual levels because they all kind of blend together for me. If you were to ask me what my favorite Robot Master level was or which game has the best levels, I'd just shrug. I mostly evaluate the games based on how much I like the Robot Masters and the powers you get from them. As such, I think MM5 is one of the weaker entries, particularly in the powers department. Plus, the fully charged Mega Buster is even more powerful here than it is in the previous games, so you're just fine never using the other powers most of the time. I really like the Napalm Bomb, and Star Crash is neat because it can be a shield and a projectile, but other than that, eh.

As far as the Robot Masters themselves are concerned, I feel like Mega Man 5's lineup is kinda unmemorable compared to other games. Overall, they're pretty cool and the game is fun, just less so than many of the others I've played. Gravity Man, Star Man, and Napalm Man are the best. Charge Man is the most hilarious in terms of design. I do like Dark Man and all the boss fights against him toward the end of the game though. He's pretty great. I honestly don't remember the Wily fights in this one, so I can't rate that one. I suppose it's not one of the most memorable ones at any rate.

Bonus Question: Who is your favorite Robot Master in Mega Man 5?
---

My least favorite would have to be...let's go with AAI. It took time to get used to the gameplay, like 90% of the side characters suck. The cases tend to drag on for a bit too long and typically uninteresting. AJ had some likeable characters.
---

Mega Man 5 is the first game I have memories of beating, aside from like, educational games. Definitely have a nostalgia hard-on for it and it's my favorite game in the series easily. Favorite RM is Gyro Man because he looks badass and sounds badass. I value both of those a lot in my RM rankings.
---

Sharks and Minnows is best when tagged people also become taggers because then it becomes an epic zombie swarm when there are like 5 people left.
---

pyresword posted...

Sharks and Minnows is best when tagged people also become taggers because then it becomes an epic zombie swarm when there are like 5 people left.

heck yeah it is

it's definitely satisfying to be the last person standing when you play that way, especially if you have a big group
---

90. Steins;Gate 0 (pyresword)


I just wanted an excuse to post a Kurisu image because she's the best. Anyway, it's pretty difficult to describe the premise of this game without getting into major spoilers from the original, but I'll try my best. Steins;Gate 0 is set in a different world line than the first game's True Ending, while still being intricately connected to it. Most of the original cast returns, along with some new characters. Most of the newbies are pretty good, with Maho being a cut above the rest, despite her utterly absurd hair. It still maintains the "feel" of Steins;Gate, for lack of a better word, although the mood is a bit darker and there's less humor. Part of the reason for that is Okabe, who spends most of the game in a deep depression for reasons that are easily understood, but he was usually the guy who drove the banter forward in the first game. He doesn't do that as much here, although his old self does manifest from time to time.

The gameplay is mostly the same, although the means for changing world lines is slightly different this time around. In the first game, branching into different paths was done via text messages and calls from Okabe's phone. They really scaled back the phone messaging aspect in 0. While Okabe's friends do still message him from time to time, the conversations aren't as elaborate, which is a little disappointing. Anyway, everything in this game revolves around an app called Amadeus. Even attempting to describe what it is would be major spoilers, but suffice it to say that choosing to access it or not at vital points in the plot is what initiates a world line change. I was lucky enough to figure this out fairly early on in my playthrough, so I didn't have to have to replay old sections much to get all the endings and stuff.

Anyway, while Steins;Gate 0 is good and I'd recommend it if you're a fan of the original, it's basically a less good version of it. That's the easiest way to put it. The plot doesn't feel as tight this time around. They don't make as much effort to explain the intricacies and minutia, and it seems like some of the plot threads are left dangling or unexplored. I wouldn't call it an "essential" game either, like it's something you absolutely must play if you played the first game or anything. It doesn't break new ground or wrap up loose ends from Steins;Gate. It's mostly a, "Oh, that's neat, so that's how it happened," type deal concerning a specific plot point from the original. It almost feels like an OVA or bonus episode DLC. I'm not trying to diminish the game, but I'm merely saying that it doesn't really excel the first game in any meaningful way. And that's okay. It's still a really enjoyable game that I had a lot of fun playing.

Bonus Question: Who is your favorite Steins;Gate character?
---

Houhouin Kyouma, the insane mad scientist

Fairly accurate writeup for SG0 IMO.
---

Okabe and Kurisu are both great, and probably my favorites, but I do have to give some love to Suzuha who I also really like. Maho was also good in SG0 and looking forward to seeing her animated.
---

LeonhartFour posted...

Bonus Question: Who is your favorite Steins;Gate character?

Kurisu only.

I don't care much for Steins;Gate and part of the reason is that I find most of the cast insufferable, aside from Kurisu. I've only watched the anime, but... I have no desire to read any of the VNs if the characters are more or less the same.
---

Honestly, Kurisu was the thing that kept me going through the first half of the anime. Not sure I'd have made it up to the point where it gets great without her!
---

Kurisu is very dour, or maybe that's because of the anime's art direction. I don't really have a favorite character, most of them are annoying in their own ways. Kurisu is still probably my favorite through process of elimination. Really though, I suspect it's mostly the art redirection being very repressive and gloomy...maybe I'll like the VN better.
---

The VN's art is definitely vastly superior to the anime's. SG0's unfortunately a step down from the original artwise though.
---

LeonhartFour posted...

Bonus Question: Who is your favorite Steins;Gate character?

Suzuha, though Kurisu is alright too. Literally every other character is terrible, though.
---

Raka_Putra posted...

Really though, I suspect it's mostly the art redirection being very repressive and gloomy...maybe I'll like the VN better.

well everyone in the VN is very sparkly so maybe you're right


---

Kurisu > Mayuri, but only barely. Literally everyone is miles better than Okabe.

I hope to play SG0 someday but I'm in no rush, especially if it isn't super groundbreaking
---

I don't remember Okabe slapping any children but maybe I've forgotten

anyway I think I'm done for the night
---

There's more than one thing that can make me dislike a character! For Okabe it was a mix of being insufferable and a moron
---

I can't see someone liking SG much if they don't like Okabe. He's like half the show/game.
---

I thought other characters played off of him well, for the most part. That didn't make Okabe himself any good though
---