Board 8 > Haunter ranks 101 games he's played over the last decade, with write-ups.

(+) Yeah! (+)

For Lost Odyssey, I actually played into the start of disc 2 and then stopped. I felt the opposite of you in almost every way, amusingly enough. The memories were my favorite part of the game, the main story didn't really hold my attention, and Jansen was terrible (probably the main reason I stopped playing, honestly).
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12. Persona 5
Original Release: 20117
Year Played: 2017
Developer: Atlus
Platform: PS4
Waifu: Kawakami
Favorite Palace: The Eighth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaIo82uT0qs" data-time="

SPOILERS

I have reasons for not putting Persona 5 in the top 10, and we'll dive into those below. Putting that aside, Persona 5 delivers on all expectations. It's a meaty game easy to get into and pick up and play. It also fixes some problems I had with P3 and P4, making it one of the most accessible JRPGs released. The thing is, I feel that Atlus knew they had an insta-hit the moment they begun development on this game. The same cannot be stated for Personas 3 and 4, games that became successful in the west just like that. It's because of this thought process that I felt they had that made the P5 feel...manufactured. It never quite reaches the emotional impact that Persona 3 had on me in the latter parts of that game, and it never truly gave me the "feels" period that I experienced with the third game.

Now, keep in mind that I have not been able to play Persona 4 fully. The thing is, I hated the randomized dungeon format of P3 and P4, making those games feel like repetitive, tedious slogs. But with P3, I was able to play the updated release on the PSP, and playing through these sections on a handheld was much more tolerable than trying to play them on a PS2. Of course, they also fix other issues like the load times and being able to play all characters in battle. Unfortunately, I've never been able to do the same with P4, since I don't own a Vita. I tried twice to stick with P4 on the home console but just couldn't do it. But Persona 5 is different. Gone are the randomized dungeons, which is an absolute blessing. There's only one random dungeon now, and we'll get to Mementos later. Much care and personality have been placed on the Palaces in this game and I cannot state how much of an improvement that is over the old games. It changes mostly everything.The dungeons are impeccably designed and you'll need to spend more than one day to get through each one. I was always constantly wondering what kind of Palace I'd be going to in the next arc (although I could do without Okumura's) and each one had me pleasantly surprised. The eighth palace was my absolute favorite. I loved the feeling of dread and sorrow accompanying that one (I'm talking about Mementos Depths).

Everything else flows together smoothly. Shifting the focus to juvenile delinquent-type characters was a great change in tone. I love the theme of thievery and giving bad people a literal change of heart. Setting the game in the heart of Tokyo meant the stakes were larger and the overall plot is definitely satisfying. The game starts off in medias res with Akira escaping a Palace only to be caught, then rewinding several months to when the Phantom Thieves first got together. This got me highly invested in the story and characters and I kept wanting to find out how they reached the predicament they were in at the start of the game. Then, once you finally reach that part, the plot throws a great twist which doesn't quite pay off in the end. Akechi was obvious (especially if you play Falcom RPGs), pancake hint or no. His demise was also haphazardly thrown together. It's like the devs forgot that they needed some way of getting him out of the picture so they threw a boss battle with him randomly in a dungeon to end things. I would've liked more scenes with him after the fact, because he received a shit ton of development throughout the entire game. With his defeat he disappears from the game completely, making all the scenes with him feel like nothing more than setting up for him to be nothing more than the token traitor rather than a compelling character. Luckily, there's another major plot twist that comes near the end of the game (Igor) which was well worth it.

So this brings me to some of my major nitpicks with Persona 5. As I've stated earlier, Persona 5 could take some people more than 100 hours to beat. HowLongToBeat states 95 hours for just the story content. I dunno how to feel about this but its probably right. A lot of this time is spent listening to banter, and there's a fuckton of banter. It gets annoying. I know I said constant and wordy games like Golden Sun Dark Dawn didn't bother me, but Dark Dawn was not a 100-hour game. When I receive a call from Ryuji telling me not to forget about hitting the Palace on a daily basis, I get annoyed. When Morgana won't shut up, I get annoyed. There were many sessions of the game where I felt like I literally got nowhere in the story, because I would spend a few days doing this and that, and the story content only included scenes with the Thieves discussing current events and what should be done next. It should be noted that after you finish a Palace, you have to wait till a certain day before you move on with the story, and then after that, you have several hours of play time just setting up for the next Palace. Often times, meetings with Phantom Thieves include them discussing repeatedly about what should be done next, and these discussions devolved into a bunch of crap I already knew and have heard before. But the worst thing about this is how the game wants to remind you about the current story arc and Palace CONSTANTLY. For example, when you're in the Okumura arc, somehow the school curriculum changes to studying about the history Big Bang Burger and sweatshop workers and multimillion dollar corporations. When you're doing Shido's arc it's all about politics. It's like, I fuckin' know, I gotta do this Palace and make this guy have a change of heart, I get it. STFU.

It doesn't help that the core cast of characters, while a great motley crew, are nowhere near as compelling as P3's. I couldn't name off my favorite characters if I tried. I mean sure, I liked Makoto the best probably, but doing her social link made her seem a bit prissy. In fact, none of their social links were all that interesting. The strength here comes in doing social links for the supporting cast of tarot card characters. Not only are these characters way more interesting to follow, they grant you new abilities and power ups that are absolutely essential and highly satisfying to have once you receive them. Chihaya's fortunes and Kawakami's maid service were important and an absolute blast to use. I loved Tora's politics (though I wish he was actually connected to the Shido arc) and Takemi's backalley doctor stuff. The payoff at the end of their storyline is highly worth it. These moments are highly emotional and I absolutely loved them. Best part of the game. I wish the main characters were just as good.

I don't think I'll talk about the battles and Persona system much because it's typical Persona/SMT stuff, which is a good thing. I will say that the whole stealth mechanic doesn't really work. Once an enemy discovers you, it's nearly impossible to outrun them without alerting others. You're better off killing everything in the Palace because battles are quick and net you experience, anyway. I kinda wish there were actual platforming segments in dungeons. For how they were designed, you'll be jumping across chandeliers and unlocking safes but that's really the extent of it. Everything else -- puzzles and stuff, that is -- is entirely text-based. A jump anywhere button would've been great. More complicated puzzles would've been great. Oh, and unlike previous entries, minibosses were a joke up until the Ark.

So all in all, Persona 5 is an amazing game that revitalized much interest in JRPGs in 2017 (along with other releases that year), but it never hits the highs of Persona 3. In fact, sometimes I felt that the game was playing it a bit too safe. But it's still an essential RPG designed very well. Yes, it felt like a chore sometimes, but this behemoth of a game made my top 15 because it is an amazing experience I won't forget.

Oh, and the thing about Mementos that bothered me was how the characters constantly remind me to do Mementos but it's never outright stated that the dungeon is required when in the end, it is. I could see this pissing off gamers who haven't been doing it up till December. I wasn't one of those.

Yusuke and Haru had pretty great S Links, and Ryuji's was fine as well, but most of the main cast's links fell flat. Definitely true on how good the supporting Links were.

I really do hope you'll finish P4 because its cast and their respective S Links are just wonderful.
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I'm playing P3 right now having recently played 4 and 5

I have to say that going backwards has made me really appreciate the gameplay changes from 3 to 4 and 4 to 5...!
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I beat Persona 5 in under 80 hours and I didn't think I was going fast at all, really. Took 125 total for the platinum since I didn't do all the confidants and requests the first time around.

I do agree with a lot of what you said. Best non-party links, great dungeons though the main cast is a bit lacking.
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I think a big reason for the main cast lacking behind P4 and somewhat P3 (at least theres no Ken or Yukari) is because P5 has actual villains throughout each arc of the story. P3 and P4 inherently didnt have those as actual characters beyond a few of the endgame ones. Thus, time that would often be spent developing the main cast has to go toward developing the villains instead. Its not an excuse but its an explanation.
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I beat P5 in 80 hours and maxed every Confidant on my first playthrough <_<
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11. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel
Original Release: 2015
Year Played: 2015
Developer: Falcom
Platform: PS3
Favorite NPC: Victor Arseid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4JXuHiSPiU" data-time="

Falcom originally released TCoS in 2013 in Japan, but did they even knew that this first foray into the oft-mentioned Erebonian Empire would create a quadrilogy? Probably not. In fact, they never meant for TCoS3 to have a sequel, I don't think. And many fans didn't even know that TCoS itself would have a sequel up until the very end. If you come into this game with an open mind -- that is, knowing that the overarching story and character development may, or WILL, span a few games, I promise you'll get highly invested in what is likely one of the coolest game settings in the history of RPG.

See, Cold Steel doesn't spend much time with its storyline. Throughout the game's seven chapters you're constantly fed new information and introduced to new characters, some of which may only be important in a later game. Plot arcs start but sometimes don't end at all. The story remains completely unresolved and the various mysteries remain open. For the game's first four chapters, you're really just learning about the state of Erebonia and Class VII. Yes, there are story rumblings but nothing major. The game is more concerned about worldbuilding and trust me, it pays off in the end and in the later released. Trust me, it's worth it to stick around. It's because of this that the game may be considered one of the slowest RPGs ever, but this isn't a bad thing. I constantly wanted to see what would happen next, or who I would meet next, or which new region I'd be visiting next. It's a beautiful world and it's the setting for several 60+ hour RPGs.

When you're not on field studies, you're a student at Thors and you're doing tasks at the school. Every first half of each chapter is built like this, and one of the big things is visiting a multi-floor dungeon that will have some plot revelance later on in the game. The actual school-related activities and student life are sometimes menial, but if you're interesting in worldbuilding (and you should be) you can talk to all the students and learn more about them. Each and every student often gets some kind of development, whether it's through talking to them a few times or through doing sidequests. It pays off well when they all come back and join you in Cold Steel II. I'd say the school activities sometimes felt like a chore, especially if you're trying to complete everything, because you'll have to wander around and talk to everybody multiple times. Typical Trails stuff.

Ending Spoilers Below

Anyway, the ending. Believe me when I say this, and this is my personal opinion, but Trails of Cold Steel has the best RPG ending I've ever seen. I'm not kidding. I don't care that it's painful to watch for those that have to wait for the next release to come out (including myself when I played this back in 2015), the cliffhanger(s) were perfect. Not only is there one plot twist, there are multiple. Shit hits the fan, and all hell breaks loose, in those final 2 or 3 hours of play time, and it's absolutely phenomenal. The game made my jaw drop multiple times. C's identity is revealed, an important character dies, the Noble Alliance takes over, Vita is evil, Sharon is part of Ouroboros, the ILF are all alive and well, freaking giant robots appear out of nowhere and Rean becomes one of the pilots! That's right, a new gameplay system is introduced in the last hour of a 60-hour RPG. I loved all the set up for CSII here, even if the sequel doesn't quite ever deliver the same thing ever again. I should also mention that this game absolutely nails it when the plot kicks in. The biggest plot points and events in this game are masterfully done. Again, I chalk this up to the worldbuilding: being invested in Erebonia and all the characters make the bigger events of the game matter a whole lot more, and Falcom gets it right.

The game narrowly misses the top 10 for a few reasons. It's way too easy, and the difficulty settings feel unbalanced. Normal is too simple, hard is kind of like normal, and Nightmare is nightmarish. Problems with balance show themselves early on, which seems to be a common problem in all the Trails game. You can get killed much easier in the early game than in the latter parts, although fighting <C> at the mine is challenging in a good way. There's also some filler quests here and there. Like, I have no idea why I'm required to go fight random big gorilla dude on a highway other than the banter and dialogue and worldbuilding that's done during said quests. Also, the dungeons aren't very well designed. This has never been a strong point in the series, but Cold Steel's dungeons were nothing more than large labyrinths with some breakable objects and switches to press. I'm assuming the lack of detail in the dungeons is due to 3D/all rotating camera, which means the devs have to work much harder than they would in the Sky/Zero games which contain isometric view. Still, I'd have loved some more variety here.

Cold Steel I is the perfect introduction to a new chapter in the Trails series. There's plenty of lighthearted moments, many moments of bonding, some tragic moments, plenty of suspense, and a whole lot of mystery. It takes a lot to create a web of detail that Falcom did here. The mysteries on the overarching plot definitely kept me going... Is this guy to be trusted? Is she the villain in secret? Is he a good guy or bad guy? Is C Claire or Cayenne or Crow or who? Sometimes it felt like a good book or tv series. You just don't get stuff like this very often in games anymore, and the shared video game universe of Zemuria is one of the greatest things I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing.

-Shit Tier-
101. Angry Birds
100. Adventures of Mana
99. Bravely Default
98. Suikoden Tierkreis

-Absolute and Utter Meh-
97. I Am Setsuna
96. Tokyo Xanadu eX+
95. Star Ocean 4
94. Super Mario Run
93. Star Ocean 5
92. Tales of Xillia 2
91. Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
90. Candy Crush
89. Deus Ex: Human Revolution
88. Crash Bandicoot N-Sane Trilogy
87. Final Fantasy Brave Exvius
86. Cosmic Star Heroine
85. Final Fantasy XV

-Revel in Mediocrity-
84. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
83. n+
82. Skyborn
81. Radiant Historia
80. Cuphead
79. Mario and Luigi Dream Team
78. Tales of Zestiria
77. Brutal Legend

-It's Not Half Bad-
76. Rock Band 2
75. Arc Rise Fantasia
74. World of Final Fantasy
73. Indigo Prophecy
72. Horizon: Zero Dawn
71. Ninja Gaiden Black
70. The Wolf Among Us
69. Skyrim
68. Resident Evil 5
67. Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction
66. Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
65. Shadow Complex
64. Echoes of Aetheria
63. Final Fantasy XIII
62. Uncharted 2
61. LA Noire
60. Undertale

-Here Comes the Good Stuff-
59. Rock Band
58. Diablo 3
57. Battlefield 1
56. Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World
55. Ratchet and Clank
54. Ys SEVEN
53. Dust: An Elysian Tail
52. Grand Theft Auto 4
51. Tales of Xillia
50.75. South Park: The Stick of Truth
50.5. Borderlands
50.25. Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty
50. Ninja Gaiden II
49. Ara Fell
48. Metal Gear Solid 4

-Here Comes the GREAT Stuff, or How to Fill a Tier With RPGs-
47. Mass Effect 2
46. Xenoblade Chronicles
45. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd
44. Bioshock Infinite
43. Magna Carta 2
42. Golden Sun: Dark Dawn
41. Call of Duty: World at War
40. Final Fantasy Tactics A2
39. Grand Theft Auto 5
38. Crisis Core
37. Tales of Berseria
36. Valkyria Chronicles Remastered
35. Last Scenario
34. Tactics Ogre: Let us Cling Together
33. Donkey Kong Country Returns
32. Fallout 3
31. Final Fantasy Dimensions

-Awesome and Addicting-
30. Final Fantasy XIII-2
29. Super Smash Bros Brawl
28. The Last of Us
27. Ys: The Oath in Felghana
26. Devil May Cry 4
25. Final Fantasy IV DS
24. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II
23. Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
22. Okami
21. Grandia II

-All Killer No Filler-
20. Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA
19. Final Fantasy V
18. Fire Emblem Awakening
17. The World Ends With You
16. Stardew Valley
15. Exit Fate
14. Lost Odyssey
13. Mass Effect 3
12. Persona 5
11. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel

TOP TEN

2008
Tales of Vesperia

2010
Persona 3 Portable
Red Dead Redemption
Mother 3

2011
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky FC

2012
The Last Story

2015
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC

2017
The Witcher 3
The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Zero
Yakuza 0

So, anyone wanna take a stab at what my top five could be?

10. Persona 3 Portable
Original Release: 2010
Year Played: 2010
Developer: Atlus
Platform: PSP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKddkLqoWLY" data-time="

I waited to play Persona 3 on the PSP and for good measure. I just know I wouldn't be able to deal with something like repetitive daily life on a home console with load times (although I could now do this with P5, my tastes sure have changed). Fortunately, P3P fixes many of the issues, including simplifying the field exploration by turning it into a point-and-click affair rather than controlling a character. Personally, I found this a welcome change, and it lessened the monotony and repetition of performing the same tasks over and over as each day goes by.

Persona 3 slightly edges out Persona 5. This could be due to my overall gaming tastes and preferences being different in 2017 than in 2010, that or I've simply matured. I mean, seven years is a big gap. I couldn't imagine what this would look like if I played the vanilla version in 2007! One of the big reasons I found Persona 3 to be more touching is that it manages to hit some emotional soft spots in the latter spots of the game. The tone of the game changes drastically in January and I found all the events here leading up to the final battle and the epilogue to nearly make me tear up. It was so touching and melodrama done right. The music helps quite a bit.

Also, I found the characters to edge out P5's cast as well. Persona 5's characters basically felt like they took the cast of P3 and made them less interesting. I liked them all except for Ken and Fuuka. Someone's already mentioned the lack of villains but I thought this made the game feel more ominous. Like, you know there's a bad guy there somewhere (besides Takaya and Jin) and when he finally reveals himself, I was like, "Holy crap I knew it was you!" Keep in mind I played this before any Trails game. But yeah, I prefer:

Junpei > Ryuji
Mitsuru > Makoto
Ann > Yukari
Akihiko > Yusuke
Futaba > Fuuka
Aigis > Haru
Shinjiro > Akechi
The Dog >>> Morgana
Elizabeth > Justine > Caroline

The full moon events are also a highlight, with the bosses being interesting and challenging, more so than any of Persona 5's bosses. Tartarus was a chore sometime, but it was satisfying to get a lot of progress done there from time to time, all the while fusing Personas which I find to be a really cool gameplay system.

There's also a constant feeling of tension going on here. When the main character dies, it's all over, and this could happen anytime. This game is more difficult than Persona 5 so I was constantly at the edge of my seat. The final boss was quite the challenge, except the ability to fully heal himself was a dick move, but one I can only see an SMT/Persona game doing. Be prepared for anything.

I also found the more "rural" setting more interesting than downtown Tokyo in P5. It's not as rural as Inaba, but it still felt that way. The daily music and the locations were well done and became sort of "iconic" as the game went on. I played this game on hot summer days and the setting (along with the visuals, music, etc) kinda made it feel like a summer game. But then the game gets super serious and dark towards the end, and the story never lets up. In fact, I didn't think there were any dull points in the plot in P3, as opposed to something like the Okumura arc in P5. I wish the Answer sections were available in P3P but I'm betting it was space limitations that prevented that from happening. Being able to play as a female was a nice touch, though.

I dunno how much my tastes will change over the coming years, and if I look back and think that Persona 5 is overall a better game. Much improved, yes, but not quite as memorable. Some of the best moments in the series come in that last month Persona 3.

P3 final boss is the best one in JRPG history, and one of the greatest in gaming overall. God damn did they execute perfectly.

Also the dog's name is Koromaru you filthy swine
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Aw yes Persona 3 best Persona.

The entire last month of the game is so good and is one of the best plot segments of any video game imo.
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9. Tales of Vesperia
Original Release: 2008
Year Played: 2008
Developer: Namco Bandai
Platform: XB360

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Esv6U2dCqc0" data-time="

I go back and forth between deciding which Tales is my favorite, but usually it's something like Symphonia for 1, Legendia for 2, and Vesperia hovering around there being either 2 or 3. Neither of the other two game are on the list so let's talk about Vesperia. This is the last truly great Tales game, everything after this was good at best or pure garbage. For a game over ten years old, Vesperia still looks amazing. The visuals are colorful and beautiful, and part of the reason they've aged well is because of the fixed camera. In the newer entries, you can rotate the camera 360 and so the devs have to manually add detail to every nook and cranny in each room and it's never enough, while in Vesperia this is not the case. Honestly though, I wish more games used the fixed camera because Tales doesn't really benefit from 360 rotation all that much. Xillia suffered because of it. This is also one of the last Tales to use a fully fledged world map, and it look astounding after you gain your airship.

It's also got a wonderful cast, with Yuri being the highlight. Repede is one of the better Tales playable characters. Think about that statement. A freaking sidekick dog that doesn't talk is better than most Tales party members! Yeah. The cast has great dynamics and chemistry with each other and the skits are finally voiced. I did get annoyed when the entire crew kept calling Raven (35 years old) an old man, but whatever it's a JRPG.

There's some pacing issues with the main storyline. It's divided into three arcs and all feel vastly different from one another. I preferred the first arc's empire vs guild angle over the second arc's search for Phaeroh angle but there's a really good payoff in that one. It did feel sometimes that different writers were involved in each third. The problem is the third arc. The big bad guy is killed at the end of the second arc and then the game gets all weird and nonsensical, and I didn't like where it headed. The final boss was just a guy who disagreed with you but wasn't a bad guy, and certain arcs are either unresolved or wrapped up way too neatly. Yuri vs. Flynn rivalry never panned out to anything, and they ended up having some friendly match up instead of where I wanted it to go. Yuri's vigilante story was really freaking cool, but it is dropped entirely halfway through the game and the focus shifts to Estelle. The final dungeon comes out of nowhere and doesn't seem to have any involvement with the plot other than it looks cool. The final boss...agh... Let's just say that you'll meet a character early on in the game who looks like total final boss material. This character isn't doing anything special and is a good guy through the entire game, and guess what? Yep, nailed it, he's the final boss. Other parts of the plot are also completely dropped. At the end of the first arc, Barbos gives Yuri an ominous warning: that him and Don Whitehorse are very much alike and will one day go against each other. I was excited to see where this would as the Don seemed like quite and interesting character, but then the Don dies unceremoniously and somewhat randomly shortly afterwards. What they should've done was combine Duke and Don into one character, and gets rid of the stupid red eyes and silver locks so he doesn't look like an obvious lock for the final villain.

Fortunately the game still remains fun and has a sweet battle system, one of the better Tales ones. Going into overlimit is fun for the ability to spam skills as much and as often as possible (Destruction Field!) and this pays off in the arena, which is actually a fun diversion unlike most of the Tales coliseums. There are a few other side activities you can do here and there, although I'm not really sure what the whole point of Aurnion was. The world could've been a bit bigger. Strangely, you get the airship halfway through the game and you can go pretty much anywhere at that point, but the world ain't that much bigger and the next mandatory locations just pop up out of nowhere at that point.

So yeah, this could have been my favorite Tales if it wasn't for the plot oddities and that third arc. But it's still a heckuva lot of fun and well deserving of all the praise it continues to get. I wish Namco gave it more respect and HD released it, along with the additional PS3 content.

I hope we get PS4 Vesperia, or even better Switch Vesperia. I refuse to ever get any Xbox system.
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I got a 360 instead of a PS3 for FFXIII purely because I thought I was more interested in Vesperia than any PS3 exclusives

I think I ended up playing less than an hour of it and bought a PS3 anyway years later. 'Whoops'
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Vesperia is probably my favorite Tales game, with Berseria following shortly after. Yuri is great and was my favorite JRPG protagonist right up until a year ago when I played Trails in the Sky. It even held up quite well upon replaying it recently, which I was happy to see especially after how my attempts at replaying Tales of Symphonia have gone.

Only real problem I have with the game is the third arc yeah. I love the first two arcs for different reasons though.
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It's hard to tell since sometimes I'm not sure how I even unlock each achievement

I think I've had issues with figuring out which part of Chegami's special is the sushi bomb part, either that or its not counting.

Same for Chesterworth's explosion.

And there's a chance that it's not counting my jumps, pretty sure I've jumped more than 30 times.

Update soon

Yuri vs. Flynn best scene in the Tales series tbqh.
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8. Yakuza 0
Original Release: 2017
Year Played: 2017
Developer: Sega
Platform: PS4
Favorite Villain: Tie between Kuze and Nishitani

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_60AJiVEh4" data-time="

Okay, so I had like no exposure to this quite amazing series since before playing Yakuza 0. The five games (and spinoffs) came and went and I paid zero attention to them. I do remember a college roommate playing the original Yakuza back in 2006 but I totally forgot about that game. It's not till Yakuza 0 and the solid word of mouth that got me interested. Seeing as how I was a big gamer in 2017, as you would surmise if you've been following this list, I had to check it out. I watched YouTube vids and reviews and read reviews and still couldn't figure out if this game was going to be a Japanese GTA or a JRPG or what, and I'd say it's neither but leaning towards the latter there. I loved the game. And here's the thing: This series has been going on for a while, and very rarely has one game in a long-running franchise got me hooked enough to play the other games and start following them. After finishing up Yakuza 0 in late December - this is the last game I played and finished in 2017 and on this list unless you count Cuphead and fuck Cuphead - I've completed Kiwami and 6, and playing through 5 right now while eagerly awaiting Kiwami 2.

Yakuza 0's an easy game to pick up and play. Kamurocho is small but well designed and brimming with detail. It's even more interesting if you've played the city's renditions in the other games. The 80's setting was really cool because of the culture shock, like watching people waving and throwing yen at taxis to hitch a ride. Basically the game amounts to nothing more than going from point A to point B, watching a scene or two, beating up some dudes or a boss fight, and moving on. Sometimes there's a 'long battle' which is like a beat-em-up style "dungeon" of sorts where you move through a building and face a boss at the end. But yeah, that's most of the gameplay in a nutshell. There's a ton to do, many mini-games to play and sidestories to tackle. The sidestories have a sense of humor that's quite wacky, and I kept wanting to do them just to see what crazy situation Kiryu or Majima would get themselves involved in. Being set before the rest of the series, Zero also has plenty of nods to future entries, like Daigo showing up.

The thing is, the "big" mini-games are actually extremely fun and time-consuming. They ARE optional but they net you some awesome rewards. Think Blitzball from FFX. It's not very often a game designs a very addicting mini-game, but managing Cabaret clubs was a ton of fun. It's incredibly intricate in being able to play dress up with your hostesses and then managing a small simulation where you're trying to please customers. I only wish the game was a bit longer or introduced this mini-game sooner, as the story isn't long enough to accomodate a mini-game with this much content. You'd have to grind it out if you want to finish it before the final boss.

The game does have some serious pacing issues, mainly because of the two protagonists. You'll play two chapters, then switch to the other character to play two chapters and switch back. Often times, the game leaves one character at a cliffhanger and then cuts over to the other. This can get annoying because the story was just going from great to amazing. I wish instead that I was able to switch between Majima and Kiryu anytime I want and play their scenarios in any order up till the finale, GTA5 style, but I'm getting ahead of myself. The game also forced me to fight the same boss FIVE times, with minor changes. Kuze was a great villain but he just never learned and I got sick of beating him up at the end. The combat itself can get repetitive when fighting random thugs, but luckily you can avoid them if you throw money at them. Boss fights, besides the aforementioned Kuze, are quite exciting. The last few are well choreographed and intense. The combat system is copy-and-pasted to Kiwami 1, where it's a bit more polished though.

Speaking of the villains, the characters and the acting are superb. Majima is one of the coolest protagonists I've ever been able to play and has some of the funniest lines in the entire game. Kiryu is cool, too, as always. The villains, many of whom are based off of real-life Japanese actors, perform well too. Especially the three Dojima Captains. The story has plenty of twists and turns to keep you invested, with a central mystery that slowly unravels over the course of the game. Best is the ending, which is probably about an hour long.

What makes Yakuza 0 such a great game and top ten worthy is that it blew all my expectations away, and got me addicted to a series I've completely avoided for some reason until now. The other thing, is that it is one of the few JRPGs (shoot me for calling it that, I don't care) I've played that is aimed at a more mature audience. No more teenage heroes solving teenage problems while saving the world, no more awkward romances, this game runs with the rule of cool and turns out to be... manly. It's awesome how far this series has come and I'm glad it's getting more mainstream attention now, because I'm now a big time fan.

i miss my ex

I dont

7. The Last Story
Original Release: 2012
Year Played: 2012
Developer: Mistwalker
Platform: Wii
Favorite Character: All of them

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiG4ovX_p10" data-time="

It's kind of funny how Xenoblade was the game everyone was looking for when it came to Operation Rainfall, but The Last Story, at least in my opinion, came to be the much better release. This game didn't look good initially, appearing boring and drab and nothing special compared to XC's colorful, vibrant world. But look beneath the surface and you'll find a highly emotional and engaging tale involving love, loss, racism, friendship and camaraderie, and betrayal. This is Sakaguchi at some of his finest.

Hajime Tabata, take note. THIS is how you do party banter. FFXV highly advertised the party interactions between the four during your field travels but I felt this fell flat because the characters were uninteresting one-note dorks. This is not the case here. You play as Zael, who is part of a mercenary troupe consisting of his leader and mentor Dagran, Lowell, Yurick, Mirania, and Syrenne. Zael is also probably the least interesting character of the bunch. The group is hired to protect an island nation from an invading force of half-human/half-beast creatures called the Gurak. Through the journey Zael meets and falls in love with the princess, crosses swords with both the Gurak and usurper jackasses from the Lazulis nation, and best of all learns more about his team. Zael is also granted the power of the Outsider, which is like the Macguffin special power here that plays a role in the battle mechanics.

I'm not going to talk much about battles because, frankly, I don't remember how exactly they work. It's been several years since I played the game, and the combat is quite complex. I do remember having a lot of fun with it, especially in the later boss fights. You get to deploy your entire team to battle and some of them can become chaotic in a good way.

The game is extremely linear, and takes place in a rather small area. You'll spend most of your time in the city, castle, or a mini-dungeon or other similar-type location over the span of 40+ episodic chapters. In some chapters, you get free reign of the city which, while big and empty at first, gets more interesting (complete with battle arena) as the game progresses. I felt the linearity worked to the game's advantage as the game was focused on telling a story instead of letting you go free and do whatever you want. And oh boy is the story good. Like I mentioned earlier, party banter is a big thing here and the characters develop quick and become extremely likeable - ALL of them, very early on in the game. The interactions you get with them while traipsing through dungeons and fighting off enemies are classic, and the amazing British voice acting only help the situation. I loved each and every one of these guys to death. In any other JRPG, Mirania would have been an annoying sidekick character who just loves food. In TLS, she's got way more heart than that. Yeah, the game hammers it down that she loves to eat, but she's got many more qualities, on top of kicking absolute ass in combat. Lowell and Syrenne develop a thing for each other which is a pretty fun love story that reminded me Ming/Jansen in Lost Odyssey, only better.

It's not a terribly long game, and most of that has to do entirely with its focus. There's very little filler and side content and what IS there is still focused and still connected to the main plot as it serves to build upon the already extremely strong character development and plot. The final act is quite epic and has some of the coolest setpieces and boss fights, with a memorable one occurring on a certain ship with a certain villain. I forgot to mention that even the villains are given tremendous character development to the point where it's hard to even call them villains anymore because you can sympathize with them.

SPOILERS BELOW

And yes, I enjoyed the final big plot twist that happened near the end. It came out of nowhere, and although it was set up to be incredibly obvious -- Dagran completely disappears from the game up to that point -- it still caught me off guard and made my jaw drop when it actually did happen. As I mentioned, the voice acting and scene layout was done extremely well and that helped his case. The game was also near the end of a climactic hell of a ride with its amazing third act.

I guess the biggest drawback is that there's no sequel and it's unlikely there will ever be one. Like Lost Odyssey, this thing has been out for 6+ years and Mistwalker's kept quiet. I would love a shared universe with the two games but that's not gonna happen. I just want a sequel, please!

I'm sorry but no matter but what anyone this game runs circles around Xenoblade Chronicles. It's terribly underrated too.

JetJaguar posted...

My tickets said 06:30 and I arrive to discover I missed two matches

Pretty butthurt

they dont expect you to see the whole thing anymore

6. Red Dead Redemption
Original Release: 2010
Year Played: 2010
Developer: Rockstar
Platform: XB360
Favorite Character Design: Uncle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IkvAb6THQY" data-time="

I think this is the last non RPG on this list. Yeah, it is. It's also the best sandbox-style action game I've ever played. It's better than GTA4 and 5 in more ways than one. It just does things so well and tells a compelling tale to boot, something that Rockstar struggles with.

The west, for how barren it is, is a ton of fun to explore. Unlike GTA4 which took place in an almost metropolitan setting, or GTA5 which had a world that always felt way smaller than it should have been, RDR's setting feels more like what I wanted as a follow up to San Andreas. There are multiple regions each with their own centers of civilizations and nooks and crannies, and these regions open up as you progress. The first arc of the game takes place in a sorta generic old west-style setting with Texan saloons and rolling desert dunes with cacti and canyons and stuff, complete with a marshland-like setting toward the east side of the map which reminds me of Lousiana. This arc of the game takes a while to get going, because during this part of the game you're doing generic GTA-style missions for odd characters. It takes a while to realize that this game perfects the shooting and cover mechanics that were introduced in GTA4. Once you reach Mexico, the missions get better, the story gets better, and the new characters that are introduced are much more interesting. At this point I was actually genuinely interested in John Marston as a character.

It's really unfortunate that there were parts of the story I think should have been expanded upon more, but this will most definitely be addressed in RDR2. Specifically, the Van Der Linde gang and John's involvement in it, and how he gets blackmailed by the law. Edgar Ross had too little of a screen presence to be a final villain in the game, as are certain characters that should have had more scenes. That said, the story is still absolutely terrific and also terrifying. The game nails it in the final third, with a setting reminiscent of the Trapper west, taking inspiration from movies like Unforgiven. It gets darker and more personal for John at this point, culminating in an amazing climax with Dutch at the top of his hideout. The mission "And The Truth Shall Set You Free" is one of my all-time favorite gaming moments.

The pacing slows to a halt immediately after that mission as there are a handful of them left. This is an extremely odd maneuver because the tonal shift here is extreme. John is now back to the farm with his family and the rest of the missions involve helping around the farm. I've never seen anything like this in a video game story that wasn't part of the ending (but I have seen it in movies). Rockstar could have ended the game right there, as soon as John reunites with his wife and son, but they they opted instead for a tragic ending. I totally get what they were going for here-- John accomplished his mission but he cannot escape the demons of his past doings. Rockstar wanted to establish a sense of security with the dragging farm missions but any player would know that something bad would happen at the end (after all, it would be disappointing if I had to do ten of these missions and then the game ends). These sections of the game are also highly emotional: Jack wants to get an education instead of being relegated to any sort of criminal lifestyle like his father, and he's on the right track up until John dies. Abigail dies soon after, and Jack becomes the new protagonist for the post game, a basically copy and paste version of his father. Dunno about you, but this was extremely heartbreaking. When I avenged John by killing Edgar, and the screen froze to show 'Red Dead Redemption' and switched to the credits, I can't lie, I shed a few tears. What an amazing, memorable game. RDR2 has a lot to live up to, but I'm sure it will meet expectations.

It's funny how Rockstar's flagship series is GTA but RDR clearly runs circles around it. Everything is better. I also bought this game on a whim and I did not run into any glitches like many others, so I'm sure that helped me like this game more. It helps that the story is much better than anything GTA in the HD generations, the characters are (mostly) better, the soundtrack is fantastic, the missions are just as good as GTA5's missions, and the gameplay makes really good use of bullet time which is often an overused mechanic. Man this game was good. RDR2 can't come soon enough.

Alright let's finish this once and for all! Yes, I realize there are three Trails games in the top five, I'm a big fan.

TOP FIVE

2010
Mother 3

2011
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky FC

2015
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC

2017
The Witcher 3
The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Zero

Solid top 5, probably wouldn't have FC that high though. SC definitely deserves it
---

I've played 4 of the games in the top 5 and none of them are that good (Witcher 3 is the one I haven't gotten to yet).
---

TitS the 3rd was robbed.
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5. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Second Chapter
Original Release: 2015 (2006 JP)
Year Played: 2015
Developer: Falcom
Platform: PC
Favorite Character: Kevin
Favorite Chapter: Finale

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6YURGwCsMg" data-time="

Spoilers

BLASPHEMY~!

Yes, I ranked SC below FC. Hear me out before you untag everything.

SC is a game I was looking forward to since I finished FC for the first time in 2011. That's...April 2011. So effectively, this is a game I was waiting for over four years! That's the longest wait for any game on this list, or possibly ever (although Cold Steel 3 and 4 could beat this). The worst part is that the game just needed to be localized, so I had to also avoid spoilers and the urge to watch them and/or other gameplay videos on YouTube this whole time. After the fiasco at the end of FC, this was extremely tough. And I will admit, I had doubts that this game would ever be localized at any point. XSEED didn't even make the announcement till mid-2013, and then there were troubles with the translators and their livelihoods. One of them almost committed suicide, and the link below describes the nightmares everyone faced in bringing this game across the pond:

https://kotaku.com/the-curse-of-kiseki-how-one-of-japans-biggest-rpgs-bar-1740055631

Quite a good read. But finally, October 2015 saw the release of my most anticipated game ever, and it was easily the best game I played that year. (This game also made Tales of Zestiria look like shit, as I was sometimes alternating between the two they got released a week apart of each other.)

SC starts off right where FC ends. It's almost like I'm playing the same game and not even halfway through it to boot. Originally FC and SC were going to be a single game, but due to limitations this was not possible at the time. Holy crap, can you imagine if it was all one game? It would be the longest RPG ever made, and you know, this is entirely possible in today's day and age. Anyway, players who started to play the series or FC after SC was already localized were extremely lucky, unlike others like myself who had to wait. We'll talk more about FC when we get there, but anyways SC features ten chapters (prologue and finale included) revisiting Liberl where the stakes are higher and the story becomes more serious. You'll revisit each of the regions and learn more about Ouroboros, Joshua's past, and the mysterious surrounding the Aureole and Liberl's history.

The characters from the previous game all return and join your party fairly early on, at least in the first few chapters. You'll now have the ability to switch who is in your active party much earlier than you did in FC (which was all the way in the final dungeon). Many of the returning characters also get a fair bit of development. Agate receives a TON of characterization and develops a cute if maybe a little creepy bond with Tita. Nevertheless, he's one of my favorite characters in this game as his backstory is quite provoking. Falcom also wasn't afraid to take supporting characters from FC and turn them playable, and that's always cool. Early on, a new character named Kevin Graham joins your party, and at first he seemed a bit pointless, but the mysteries surrounding him were some of my favorite parts of the game. I feel that XSEED/Carpe Fulgur absolutely nailed his dialogue and the way he should sound. This is important, as he is the main playable character in the next game, and he also became my favorite Trails character ever. Estelle is probably my second favorite. In FC, I could care less about her as she was childish and came off as sort of stupid, but she happened to grow on me. I always found Joshua to be the main character in FC, but the focus changes to Estelle in SC. She's in the group from beginning to end. She turns into an extremely strong female lead with little to dislike. Even Trails to Zero showcases her personality well. She's also got some of my favorite lines: "Let me remind you that I have a BIG STICK! *angryface*"

One of the things I yearned for more in FC is more strategic battles. The final battle in FC was fun because it required me to actually think about character placement and strategize ahead of time. I wanted more long boss fights with giant opponents, and I got it here. The battle system also adds Chains, which I tried once and never used again. Felt it was useless. Other than that, the combat is the same as it was before, except now you're stronger. The Third makes the combat and battles even better.

The new music is amazing, too. This has one of my favorite final boss themes in the history of JRPG. Listen above.

So why? Why is this ranked below FC? See, the thing is, FC was the game that turned me into a Falcom fanboy. I had no idea this series even existed before playing FC. I was awestruck with FC and how it forever changed my view of RPG storytelling. SC promises early on to defy my expectations but I still felt like it sometimes missed the mark. It's an 80-hour game after all, but there are so few new areas in the game I'm spent running through the same exact regions for almost three quarters of the game. I'm not the biggest fan of recycled content, and I appreciate Falcom finding ways (story and gameplay wise) in making these reused areas inventive. But then, we also have the fact that the same exact enemies from the first game return, often in the same exact locations, except their stats are buffed.

The game makes you revisit all the same regions from FC not once, but twice. Chapters 1-5 are all about doing this, and honestly, that's a lot of game. I also didn't really care much for the story in these segments, except for Chapter 3's main plotline. It's basically rinse and repeat: Return to a region to find an Ouroboros member terrorizing that region, find them, stop them, and move on. I think I probably enjoyed the side content in each of these chapters more than the main content, especially in Chapter 2. Chapter 3 was much better because it had a pretty good plot twist and also involved the villains from the first game making a comeback and somewhat atoning. Chapter 5 was also decent, with Agate taking center stage. But still, this first half of the game felt a little too formulaic. I still enjoyed the hell out of it, and I don't know how they could've made it better, honestly.

After an epic Chapter 6 came Chapter 7, the weakest chapter in the game. This one was just sort of annoying. In this chapter, you're stuck on an airship unable to leave as you automatically go through four separate dungeons and fight the Enforcers at the end of each one. If Chapters 1-5 were considered formulaic, this is even worse. The dungeons themselves aren't designed too well, either. They're just boring otherworldly mazes. I did like the Aureole data that was found in each and every one, and I know that these places were necessary for the main plot, but it still felt like padding to me.

Then, Chapter 8 comes around and you're tasked with revisiting all of Liberl, AGAIN, except with no air travel and no Arts being used (and no Olivier). A lot of people didn't like this chapter, feeling like it's a massive chore to get through the same exact locations. I would feel the same, except I actually enjoyed it for some reason. Dunno why, but I felt that the story was on point again here. I also loved the freedom of being able to go anywhere in Liberl and there were enough sidequests to make it great. But here's what I think they should've done: Combine Chapters 7 and 8 together. Let me have the ability to use the Arseille in Chapter 7 to go anywhere in Liberl while still mandating the four towers, then take the Arseille away in Chapter 8. This would've given everyone more time to take in the free Liberl again, because the main plot in Chapter 8 is still pretty minimal.

The Final Chapter brings us to a completely new regions which is a massive ancient city and the location of the Aureole. I loved this setting and it was quite a detailed location that reminded me of something from Xenogears. Tons of shit happen here but it never felt very final dungeon-y. The actual final dungeon is just a linear straight shot to the top of a tower. There were problems here, mainly because each of the villains, fought once again in the final dungeon, had connections to the main cast. Now, you need to have Estelle and Joshua in your party at all times, which leaves room for only two characters you can switch out. What's really annoying is that if you want to watch specific scenes involving a villain and a hero, you'd have to trek all the way back to the beginning of the city and switch them out, each and every time (this would total out to four separate times, then once again for the final few battles). This did get a bit annoying.

I also have to mention Joshua's lack of screentime. I do wish there were more playable segments with him like in Chapter 4. We spend so much time with Estelle looking for Joshua while occasionally watching a scene with Joshua at the beginning or end of a Chapter. How about being able to play the Hamel section with him? Or another mission with the Capuas? Hmmm. I suppose I should also mention Cassius, who is an impossible character. Everybody seems to worship him, or be afraid of him. He's like all the Marvel Avengers rolled into one. How is it possible that he was in charge of Liberl's defense in the 100 year war but also an S-Rank Bracer and leader of the military, while also being able to live at home peacefully with his daughter and adopted son? The amount of praise he gets in this game is overkill.

The other nitpick I have is the difficulty. Normal is way too easy and sometimes mindless. I was never too tense in the boss battles except for a few where I had to use a specific strategy, but I never needed to rework my entire strategy to beat a certain boss except or the Abyss Worms and Loewe. Some of the latter bosses are more frustrating than difficult, but overall this game faces some of the same balancing issues that seem to plague most Trails titles. The game starts off tough but gets easier as you progress. Normal is easy and Nightmare is unfairly rough, at least in my eyes.

So that's that. Everything else about this game is excellent. Did it live up to my four years of waiting? Absolutely! And then it left me wanting more, as SC really sets in stone the shared universe of Zemuria (luckily Cold Steel came out two months later!). It ends Joshua and Estelle's story on a bright and positive note, and that is highly satisfying. Obviously, it didn't leave as much of an impact on me as FC did, but it made me love the series even more. What an amazing series.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nGI-XnjaVs" data-time="

FC is the worst Trails game.
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Is Trails the type of series that one could marathon? Or would the fatigue from multiple 50+ hour games just be too much for most?

Also is there a good amount of grinding involved?
---

Uh well I basically marathonned it (the ones with official English releases anyway) but it's also basically my favorite series of games ever so I could easily see other people getting fatigued.

I also don't really advise consciously trying to rush through them if that's what you mean. They're games that are sorry of designed for you to take your time with them.

On normal difficulty there's very little if any grinding required. Also the way exp scaling works I don't expect you'd be grinding for long either way. It's designed so that if you're underleveled you gain levels/exp at an absurdly fast rate.
---

4. The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Zero*
(aka Zero no Kiseki)
Original Release: 2010 JP, 2017 unofficial English translation
Year Played: 2017
Developer: Falcom
Platform: PC
Favorite New Character: Rixia Mao
Favorite Returning Character: Renne

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDH11NVtxek" data-time="&start=22

*This is the unofficial name given by the current translation team on Geofront, instead of "Trails of Zero". The localization is in its editing phase and 60% done as of March. That being said, I played the rough translation that was released midway through last year. It's not a very good translation, but it's playable. For those who are interested, I suggest waiting for Geofront since they should be done soon.

Anyway, despite the shoddy translation leak, this game is still #4 because it's still very much playable and understandable, and very very good. Falcom strikes again, continuing the Trails franchise and starts up a new story arc that is also probably the best one. Crossbell is such an amazing, detailed place, and shifting the focus from Bracers or students to the police department works out really well.

See, unlike the Sky games, Zero (and Ao) takes place in Crossbell state and some of the surrounding regions and towns. The world is pretty small compared to Liberl, but the highlight here is the city itself. Comprised of at least 10 different maps, each section of the city is vastly detailed and has its own personality. There are several factions and many new faces to meet here. This is the epitome of "hub" town, except the majority of the story and action actually takes place here. You'll get to explore almost the entirety of Crossbell state by the end of chapter 1, but you're still less than a third of the way through the game at that point. Most hub towns are just there so you can do some minor story progression and buy new equipment before moving on to the next story location, but Crossbell is different. It also helps that the several background themes that play while exploring the city are extremely good. Take the tune above, for example, which never got old.

Being part of the Crossbell police force (SSS), your story missions are basically cases and side missions are basically police work. Of course, there are still monster elimination missions and the like. Each chapter, there's a major case to solve but like in FC everything is connected, and the finale is absolutely epic. You'll spend much of your time in Crossbell doing rounds and talking to various NPCs (all of which are named and have their own personalities). Their dialogue changes after every story event. I actually had a ton of fun running around town and talking to everyone...it's like I didn't want the game to end. Normally I would hate this sort of thing, but exploring Crossbell is just too much fun. I was invested in the SSS and the game quickly drew me in, especially after chapter 1. There are lots of interesting ideas and characters to meet, and mysteries and revelations are revealed on a regular basis. The city also constantly changes. For example, in chapter 3, which takes place over the course of five days, the Founding Anniversary parade comes to town and you're tasked with doing police work while the city is at its busiest time of year. Balloons and confetti fly around, everyone's going crazy, and tons of new faces appear in town. There's a huge twist and revelation near the end, and the final chapter and final dungeon pay off really well. In fact, the final dungeon was actually a ton of fun to explore, and you'll learn more about the big bad and his motivations along the way, too.

For those of you who were interested in Star Door 14 in the 3rd, the backstory there is highly elaborated upon in Zero. In fact, it becomes the one of central foci of the plot later on as Renne returns. She wasn't my favorite character in the Sky games, but here she grew on me. Joshua and Estelle also return and are as badass as ever. As for the new characters, I did think their personalities were lost in the (shoddy) translation but even so, I still liked watching them grow and trust each other. I'm sure they will get developed more in Ao, but they are a better cast than Sky and Cold Steel's mains, specifically because of their bonds with each other. You also get a cool police dog who is actually plot relevant.

The battle system remains largely unchanged from the Sky games, except now you can use team attacks which involve all four party members. Again, it's not that big of a change. I will say that the battles can get pretty hectic sometimes, especially the last battle.

Zero also has my favorite Falcom soundtrack out of all the Trails games.

While the game sets things up for Ao, it actually does not end in a cliffhanger. Sure, there are lots of unanswered questions, but this could be considered a standalone title based on the happy ending we get. Of course, that doesn't mean you should skip out on Ao. I was still left with wanting more despite this.

The only thing I disliked about the game is sometimes it felt padded. The first mission in chapter 2 involves you going to a farm and eliminating seven or eight skunk monsters. These battles took me forever, and they weren't difficult just long. There really was no reason to make this a mandatory quest, because it has no bearing on the plot. It's just..there. It should have been a side mission. No other mission really felt like this, as even the most inconsequential ones did something different like develop a certain character.

So yeah, Zero! Despite the terrible translation, I was still able to enjoy the hell out of it. I will replay it with Geofront's translation whenever that comes out, and I'm looking forward to the unofficial Ao translation that should be releasing soon as well. Dunno if XSEED will ever get around to releasing them officially, though I'm kinda hoping they're working on Cold Steel 3 instead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBkrcWMgJdo" data-time="

Oh man I cant believe the end is in sight.

They had to speed through it but at least they tried to talk to everyone. Its how its done, survivor

bump for new page

I'd like to add that Zero also has some of the best dungeon design in the Sky games. There's the obligatory ruins-type dungeons - three of them, to be exact: an ancient fortress, a tower, and a temple. These are, of course, extremely plot relevant and become important later on. The rest of the dungeons are smaller and mainly take place in the Geofront, which is basically an underground infrastructure for Crossbell. I actually like what they did here. It's like an underground sewer but it's not really a sewer. It's a construction site infested with monsters, and there are three of them and they all look slightly different and pretty cool.

3. Mother 3
Original Release: 2006
Year Played: 2010
Developer: Brownie Brown/Nintendo
Platform: GBA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bF0Fb682rsY" data-time="

First off, I don't really like Nintendo (anymore) nor its fanboys, but fuck them for not even giving this game a fair chance in the west. Seriously. And it'll probably never happen. Oh well, I doubt I will ever own a Nintendo console again unless my future kid(s) wants one.

Second, it's interesting that two of my top five are both fan translated games (this and Zero). Shows how much I would have missed out if there weren't awesome people that existed who were also big fans of the games. I love you guys.

Anyway, so the reasons I've heard on why Nintendo decided not to localize this was because the story was too dark yet mixed with cutesy Earthbound graphics and I'm sure they were worried that kids would get their hands on this and see stuff like weird hairy crossdressing men (oh yeah, Nintendo, maybe you should think again because it's fucking 2018 so release this already). Whatevs, I'll stop complaining about them, because we did get a really, really good fan translation after all that Nintendo would never be able to match. Ugh, I'll stop now.

Mother 3 is an exceptional game. It didn't take me long to realize this. The first hour or so of the game was typical. Basically another Earthbound, really. Then came this: "I found it pierced through your wife's heart." After that, I knew I was in for a wild ride. I should mention that the 2D sprite animations in this game are absolutely terrific, especially during that particular scene. I also forgot to preface that I loved Earthbound back when I played it in '96 or '97, and at the end of the day I think Mother 3 is actually better despite being half the size. It tells a hugely captivating story that's quite messed up in so many ways but is also darn focused. It also contains a lot of subtlety. It doesn't treat the player like an idiot and sometimes lets him or her figure out certain plot points on their own. To elaborate, the entire transformation of Tazmily Village from the way it was in Chapter 1 up to your last visit near the end of Chapter 7 is always visualized. You're never explicitly told, "The Pigmasks came and turned this place into a metropolis then told everyone to go to their city where everything is better so now it's abandoned." You instead find this out over the course of the game, and it's quite sad when you put the pieces together. It's thematic. Family and the simple life is paramount; money and greediness is the root of all evil. So are happy boxes.

The game's world is incredibly small but fun to explore, especially when you find out that it's all that's left (again, putting the pieces together). You'll spend the first few chapters in different character's shoes before Lucas becomes the main. Also, Ness is dead. What a dark twist to a happy ending from Earthbound. Anyway, there's some inventive level design here. The main forest changes every time you explore it, as does the town as discussed already. You do get to explore a typical ice and lava level later on in chapter 7, but during that chapter there is a high sense of urgency and some great storytelling. Oh, and there's a level where you eat magic mushrooms and go on a hallucinatory trip.

I also feel the need to mention Porky, the game's antagonist. What Itoi did was not even introduce this guy until the last chapter. Thing is, he doesn't really need any introduction. He's responsible for all evil in the world and he also had a major role in Earthbound. If you wondered whatever happened to him, well, this game tells all. It's insane. Porky is one of the few villains that succeeded in destroying the world, after all, and his sins in this game are unforgivable. He's Cartman mixed with the embodiment of Satan.

I never really got gud in the rhythm battle system but I appreciated it. The battle music was mostly really good, but it's the town and dungeon themes that shine here. I especially loved the Pigmask army leitmotif.

Do I wish the game was longer? Maybe a little, but at the same time I don't really know how they could've gone about in doing so. The game is extremely focused and story driven, if it were longer I'd be worried about padding. The story's just really damn well done. It's dark, it's creepy, but it's got lighthearted moments, which can at times seem humorous and at other times be inappropriate for the mood. 2010-2011 was an extremely dark, sorrowful time for me...we'll get into that when I do FC's write-up but Mother 3 was one of the games that shined a light through my depression at the time, despite being quite depressing itself. Oh, yeah, I know the game came out in 2006, and I'm actually surprised it took that long to get made. I would love a proper Mother 4 but I doubt it'll never happen. Don't really know what Itoi's up to these days. And no, Undertale doesn't count. Maybe we just need more Super Smash Bros. iterations of Mother characters.

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