Board 8 > CasanovaZelos's Top 100 Video Games

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CasanovaZelos
05/27/20 9:44:58 PM
#1:


I've always wanted to do a project like this and, now that I have a ton of free time, this seems like the best moment. This might take a while; the main reason I want to do this is because I want to actually try to explore why these games matter so much to me, so I'm going to take some time on these write-ups.



#100. Rock Band 3 (2010)
Developed by Harmonix

A decade on, the Guitar Hero and Rock Band craze could easily pass as the video game industrys very own disco moment. Requiring expensive hunks of plastic good for nothing else (unless youre the type who thinks Dark Souls is too easy with a traditional controller) and supposedly encouraging teenagers to severely overestimate their ability to translate their in-game skills toward actual playing, mockery came easy. Now its success seems all but a blip.

As a teenager at the time, however, its hard to overstate the impact these games had on my cultural development. In a series celebrating popular music, Harmonix did not skimp out on their set lists. I have listened to several thousand albums now, but that all started with Rock Band 2 introducing me to Sonic Youth and Bikini Kill. From David Bowie and Jimi Hendrix to Phoenix and Amy Winehouse, the series covered as many styles and eras as possible, with thousands of additional songs available to download. As a collection of music, this is the height of licensed video game soundtracks.

Of course, a rhythm game is far more than its music. Rock Band 3 was Harmonix at their zenith, but this all started with Guitar Hero. The idea was simple; where its most popular predecessor (Dance Dance Revolution) focused on how the listener interacts with music, Guitar Hero focused on the creative side. Naturally, five buttons and a bar offer little in the way of true simulation, but the joy of this process rests more in gaining a deeper understanding of the songs themselves. The simple presentation highlights this single instrument in a sea of sound. Guitar Hero never taught anyone how to play guitar, but it certainly left some of us better attuned while listening. And, for those of us who actually recognized this as a video game, the series offered its own unique and challenging experience; powering through Free Bird until finally managing it on expert difficulty gave perfect bragging rights.

Harmonix expanded on this with Rock Band, adding bass guitars, drums, and vocals to the mix (the Guitar Hero series starting with 3 were developed by a different studio). Rock Band 3 stands as the definitive version due to going yet another step, adding a keyboard and vocal harmonies along with a Pro mode which could use an actual guitar alongside a more complex variation on the drums. The amount of content and variety is staggering; with 83 songs included on disc and most utilizing all five instruments, thats well over 300 different parts to play with the base game alone. The sheer difference between these instruments almost makes this five games in one.

Key to Rock Bands success is the communal aspect. In an era where mainstream multiplayer games were dominated by competitive shooters and fighting games, Rock Band offered something completely different and cooperative. Few games have replicated the asymmetrical unity on display here. Some of my fondest high school memories found four or five of us belting it out for hours, each contributing our own unique part toward a shared goal. This would always come to a screeching halt as we approached midnight and my step-dad asked us to turn that racket down.

The party might have ended, but only because Rock Band was such a singular experience Rock Band 4 exists, with a few limitations and largely as a way to harbor the massive content during the generation that followed. There was simply no meaningful path forward with how much Rock Band 3 offered. Though its easy to mock those days of beating on plastic instruments, this is where I learned to better recognize music as individual parts building toward a singularly cohesive unit.

Plenty of games have left their mark, but Rock Band is one of the few I can say changed me as a person, and that goes beyond opening me up to the world of popular music. After a childhood of fearing my own voice due to various speech impediments, those evenings of wanting everyone to play a part would eventually end with a microphone being tossed my way. Though it may not be the most beautiful voice, Rock Band offered an outlet for me to realize it was safe to sing among friends.

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Snake5555555555
05/27/20 10:13:33 PM
#2:


If the market wasn't absolutely flooded with yearly releases and pretty pointless band centric games I think there would've still been a place for this kind of game in our current console landscape. But, if it had to die, can't ask for a better exit than RB3 (even though 2012's Rock Band Blitz is my all time fave rhythm game regardless!)

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Not Dave
05/27/20 11:25:21 PM
#3:


rocksmith is pretty decent from what i've played

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ND
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CasanovaZelos
05/28/20 12:12:53 AM
#4:


Also, here's some stats in case you want some hints - I have no idea why 2017 has 4 more games than the next most featured year other than it having a bunch of great games that hit me in the right way. I'm young enough that I did not really start playing video games until the early 2000s, so this list definitely leans more toward the last two decades. Anything before that, I had to go out of my way to play. There are also a few iterative series where I feature the most recent, but they essentially represent their entire series (Rock Band 3 and #99 both being key examples, though I think both had enough of an edge where the previous games would have fallen a bit outside)

1988: 1
1989: 0
1990: 0
1991: 1
1992: 3
1993: 1
1994: 3
1995: 2
1996: 0
1997: 3
1998: 2
1999: 2
2000: 3
2001: 5
2002: 1
2003: 1
2004: 5
2005: 6
2006: 3
2007: 6
2008: 3
2009: 3
2010: 5
2011: 5
2012: 4
2013: 2
2014: 5
2015: 4
2016: 4
2017: 10
2018: 5
2019: 1
2020: 1

I also tried to get stats by genre but realized a bunch of these either blend genres or are vague enough I don't know how to categorize them, so I put them under whichever category I thought they fit best

JRPG: 17
Action RPG: 10
Action-Adventure: 9 (most action adventure games split easily into sub-genres; these are the leftovers I couldn't place, essentially boiling down to "Legend of Zelda-likes" and "Flagship Sony")
Platformer: 9
Adventure: 9 (meaning visual novels, walking simulators, Telltale style, etc.)
Open World: 9 (most of these overlap but I feel like their open world nature overrides the others)
FPS: 6
Shooter: 5
Metroidvania: 4
Survival Horror: 4
Puzzle: 4 (...though three of these lean toward Adventure and the fourth borders on unclassifiable, so not puzzle games in the Tetris sense)
Action: 3
Stealth: 2
Strategy: 2
Simulator: 2
Fighting: 2
Racing: 1
Beat 'em Up: 1
Rhythm: 1 (and it's already out)

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NFUN
05/28/20 12:18:55 AM
#5:


i guess you need to play more rhythm games

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CasanovaZelos
05/28/20 12:32:42 AM
#6:


Elite Beat Agents is currently at #109. I've also played Crypt of the Necrodancer/Cadence of Hyrule (which I'm not sure how much those really count), Theatrhythm, Audiosurf, Thumper, and a bit of some version of DDR. I'd definitely like to play more, but it's a genre I don't hear too much about

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NFUN
05/28/20 12:34:15 AM
#7:


https://taiko.bui.pm/

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jcgamer107
05/28/20 12:36:04 AM
#8:


CasanovaZelos posted...
1996: 0
RIP Mario 64, but still *tag*

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CasanovaZelos
05/28/20 12:40:13 AM
#9:


jcgamer107 posted...
RIP Mario 64, but still *tag*


Sitting at #145...it's a game I've always respected and I actually played it near its release, but it's never fully clicked with me and I find it difficult to go back to

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CasanovaZelos
05/28/20 11:22:31 AM
#10:



#99. Animal Crossing: New Horizons (2020)
Developed by Nintendo EPD

Never has a game had a more perfectly-timed release. As the world shut down during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, Nintendo released the latest Animal Crossing, a series which risks bordering on the mundane in its celebration of everyday life. Though I have been playing this series since the Gamecube era, I never quite appreciated all it does until finding myself in a position where a game asking for a little bit of my time each day added a much-needed sense of routine. Where I rarely lasted more than a month with the other games in the series (and even resorted to time travel in my youth), I have checked in each and every day in the two months since New Horizons release.

In a medium defined by constant action, Animal Crossings pacing could almost be taken as iconoclastic if not so blatantly innocent. This is a game that demands patience; when you order an item from the in-game online catalog, it will not arrive until the next day. And not in a video game day, where you send your character off to meditate around a campfire, your screen fading to black to consolidate several hours into a few measly seconds. A real day.

If youre anything like me, the hardest time to play an Animal Crossing game is during the first week. The opening day is excruciating in New Horizons. You start with a tent, and you will likely have that paid off in a matter of hours. You spend this time trapped on a small segment of the island. The rest is there on the other side of that river, taunting you. The solution is immediately obvious but something few will accept. Theres no boss walling off your path, demanding you to get better. Theres no puzzle requiring an encyclopedic familiarity with Oscar Wilde. You simply have to put the game down until tomorrow, and thats somehow the most frustrating answer possible in a shiny new video game.

Continuing its subversions, Animal Crossing becomes most appealing when it stops being new. If most games want to be the main course, this is the perfect snack; you can safely pick this up and play for however long you want in a day, and even a few minutes visiting your island feels significant with how this works. Find a few fossils, visit the shops to see what new items they have for the day, and anything beyond that is an extra delight.

On a simply mechanical level, not much feels different between the various Animal Crossing games. Each sequel offered its own slight improvements, but New Horizons offers enough new features to almost redefine its central purpose. In previous entries, the player was largely stuck with whatever the game threw their way. Villagers popped in and out, usually right on top of your garden. The focus was always your own house, an encouragement to pay off your loans to have a better sense of control in this otherwise automated world. A chance to decorate a full house was the ultimate reward the original game had to offer, but space was always so limited. The village was an interactive set piece with a few creatures to catch, your only control being over the trees and flowers. New Leaf introduced projects, expensive objects which could permanently alter your villages landscape, but those were naturally tedious unless you made it big on the stalk market. Waiting was always the name of the game.

New Horizons tossed that lack of control out the window. Not only can you decorate the island, you soon gain the ability to shape the land and rivers. Villagers will live where you want them. The slow build feels especially rewarding in this iteration, reveling in how suffocating the opening act can be before handing you the tools necessary to truly make this island your own. With all these possibilities, the series finally rivals The Sims in sheer simulated living design options. This has an exponential effect on the basics; filling out your catalog by buying out the store has more meaning, since you can always put up a new showroom on the island. You might even hesitate on selling off your duplicate fossils to stage a battle between a T. Rex skeleton and a giant robot at your islands entrance.

Aside from one small gripe (tools breaking has been a consistently tedious experience), the introduction of DIY furniture has added another great layer to daily activity. Moving away from a purely bell-based economy does wonders for the experience, turning the focus away from simply catching critters until you eventually make a few big sales on the stalk market. With some of the best furniture requiring rare material, theres always more to work toward even with millions of bells in the bank.

Another key introduction is the Nook Miles program, which rewards the player for daily activity. Yet another currency, this one actually encourages continual play, with many of the best upgrades and props locked away behind these points. Earlier I noted that Animal Crossing has always asked for just a bit of your time each day, but New Horizons offers something more if you really feel like it, theres always some little thing you can be doing. From decorating to grinding nook miles to hopping around islands in search of a few more stones so you can finally build your very own imitation Stonehenge, waiting for daily changes no longer feels like a barrier.

At the heart of it all, these shiny new features only add to the already excellent Animal Crossing experience. Theres still the joy of tuning into a K.K. Slider show every Saturday evening or being ripped off by Redd because you didnt notice Mona Lisas eyebrow game was a little too on point. Villagers are still their goofy selves, and added behaviors such as them randomly breaking into song really bring the island experience to life.

The strangest thing about writing this now is that none of us have yet experienced the full New Horizons experience; Nintendo is finally taking full advantage of the ability to update their games, and it seems almost certain big changes are yet to come. Whatever the case, New Horizons has already proven the perfect evolution of an already singular series.

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CasanovaZelos
05/28/20 1:47:34 PM
#11:



#98. Paper Mario (2001)
Developed by Intelligent Systems

The Mario series has always been a stylistic oddball, a remnant from an era where character design had more to do with what could pass with limited technology than any semblance of narrative purpose. A plumber fighting a dragon-turtle to rescue a princess is the exact sort of nonsense well accept in an NES platformer without question, because why would we care?

I bring this up because the Mario RPGs were handed the challenge of making some narrative sense of this nonsense. Instead of playing things as simple as the platformers, SMRPG and the Paper Mario games really go all-in on this strange setting, adding a layer of whimsical humor through excellent characterization and then ramping it up through its own bizarre creations. This is where most of the central cast really comes into their own, with special sections focused on Peach really adding to her character. The universe starts to feel like more than a dozen stray thoughts smashed together or rather, it continues to feel that way, but with purpose!

The fifth generation of console gaming is perhaps the toughest to revisit. Even through the early PS2 era, capturing a sense of fluid motion in 3D gameplay proved challenging for many developers. Most games from this generation simply do not look very good. Nintendo, however, has always had a knack for making limited technology work in their favor. Through its combination of 2D characters and a storybook-styled world, Paper Mario might just be the best looking game from its era. Theres a simple charm about its aesthetics that work even twenty years later.

Paper Mario has the magical feeling of being a beginner-level RPG while offering enough to remain engaging to even the most experienced player. The use of timing mechanics during combat offers a better experience than simply mashing attack until the enemies are defeated like many other JRPGs all while serving as a reminder that this is a Mario game, where timing your jumps as you land on enemies has always been key. Most enemies having certain weaknesses or immunities also adds at least some thought to basic encounters. Though the game might be overly easy, it never stops being fun. The simplicity of its numbers is also important here, allowing the player to better understand just how much damage theyre doing without much analysis required; these low numbers also keep the battles at a quick pace.

Even if the overarching narrative is simple, with Bowser again kidnapping Peach, theres so much charm in each of this games locations and the characters within. Generic enemies from earlier games are given a chance to shine, and the subplots offer up their own whimsical moments.

Simple is a word I keep coming back to, but I think thats what really sets Paper Mario apart; this is a minimalist RPG that does everything just right. Theres really not all that much to it, but the presentation is just that strong and considering how many contemporary JRPGs really came down to rudimentary attacks in everything but boss battles, the lack of complexity does little to hurt. Ultimately, Paper Mario improves what Super Mario RPG started, a comedic RPG that still manages to capture the spirit of a classic Mario game.

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CasanovaZelos
05/28/20 3:13:15 PM
#12:




#97. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992)
Developed by Sega Technical Institute

Sega does what Nintendont, and nothing quite summarizes 90s culture like a blue hedgehog being treated like the epitome of cool. We were a Sega household but a little bit late to the party my mother got a Genesis for cheap after the Playstation and Nintendo 64 were already on the market. It came with a collection of six games the original Sonic, Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, Columns, Revenge of Shinobi, and Super Hang-On. For the first eight years of my life, this console was all I had, picking up used games for cheap from the local video store. It wasnt until the Christmas of 2000 that I received a Game Boy Color and my very first Mario game, so Sonic was my introduction to the platforming genre.

The second game in the franchise, my personal favorite, felt like the first to truly capture what Sonic was promised to be, a carefree speedster with attitude. The addition of the spin dash to get a quick start certainly helped. The levels were better designed to leave you running at high speeds, forcing quick reactions as obstacles popped in the way. Even certain slow segments forced a frantic energy; Im forever scarred by a certain corridor in the Chemical Plant Zone where you have to escape drowning by jumping up a series of moving platforms and to add to that horrifying drowning music, theres the added risk of being crushed to death by the platforms.

This sense of motion set the series apart from more methodical platformers, and key to this is a sometimes false sense of security. Like most platforming heroes, Sonic will die in only a few hits. Rings protect you from damage, but a single hits sends them all flying. Every damage turns the game into a frantic chase to either collect those dropped or finding the next one. This game is not too difficult, but it pushes the tension in just the right way to reinforce its core tenants. The protection of a few dozen rings makes you feel invincible, which is why anyone ever dared to go charging through these levels in the first place.

The levels themselves are gorgeous; no two zones looked alike. Emerald Hill Zone is a classic opener, followed by the nightmarish industrial Chemical Plant which captures everything right about the series with its twisted paths. Casino Night Zone is an absolute blast, while Mystic Cave Zone captures this perfect sense of peril. Nothing about these levels could be called generic; Metropolis Zone could certainly be called something, but not generic. Sonic the Hedgehog was cool not the character himself, but his games pushed a certain aesthetic that made other platformers look cheap in comparison. Add in the excellent soundtrack and you really get an unforgettable experience.

While Sonic has rarely outdone the plumber, the first two sequels did etch themselves a particular style few other platformers have successfully imitated. As more and more throwback platformers move toward brutal precision, I hope to someday see someone expand upon the pure frenetic energy Sonic managed to pull off.

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SeabassDebeste
05/28/20 3:28:47 PM
#13:


tag

paper mario's simplicity is great; doesn't let contrivance or frustration get in the way of a really fun mechanics and story

i always enjoyed the sections where you play as peach
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jcgamer107
05/28/20 3:46:51 PM
#14:


Just played through Sanic 2 again last night. Still holds up.

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Nelson_Mandela
05/28/20 10:11:55 PM
#15:


tag

excellent writeups so far

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Not Dave
05/28/20 10:30:44 PM
#16:


yeah, these are great

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ND
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Nelson_Mandela
05/28/20 10:34:31 PM
#17:


I'll chime in.

It's almost cliche at this point to say that Sonic 2 is the most overrated platformer of all time--but it really is. However, Sonic 3 & Knuckles deserves every bit of praise that it receives.

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Nelson_Mandela
05/28/20 10:35:09 PM
#18:


CasanovaZelos posted...
As more and more throwback platformers move toward brutal precision, I hope to someday see someone expand upon the pure frenetic energy Sonic managed to pull off.
+1

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CasanovaZelos
05/28/20 10:48:24 PM
#19:


Nelson_Mandela posted...
I'll chime in.

It's almost cliche at this point to say that Sonic 2 is the most overrated platformer of all time--but it really is. However, Sonic 3 & Knuckles deserves every bit of praise that it receives.


It's just such a formative part of my experience that it's hard to shake off...

Also, I've played 3 but never actually got around to 3&K and realized while writing this that I really should do that sometime

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Nelson_Mandela
05/28/20 10:50:44 PM
#20:


CasanovaZelos posted...
Also, I've played 3 but never actually got around to 3&K and realized while writing this that I really should do that sometime
Yes you do. It improves on 2 in every way.

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jcgamer107
05/28/20 11:46:08 PM
#21:


Nelson_Mandela posted...
It's almost cliche at this point to say that Sonic 2 is the most overrated platformer of all time--but it really is.
I don't think that's the majority opinion at all...

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Nelson_Mandela
05/28/20 11:47:40 PM
#22:


jcgamer107 posted...
I don't think that's the majority opinion at all...
If it was the majority opinion, then Sonic 2 wouldn't be overrated. I just see that label for Sonic 1 and 2 far more than any of the other 2D platformers of the era.

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CasanovaZelos
05/29/20 1:37:11 AM
#23:


I decided to download my copy of S3&K tonight and play for a bit - am I wrong to just really hate the Marble Garden Zone? I feel like that stage always bothered me as a child which is why I never bothered with 3 as much as 2, and I still find it so tedious and dull. This gets better, right?

Anything on the Knuckles side will be new to me (and I'm playing as Knuckles)

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Nelson_Mandela
05/29/20 1:42:54 AM
#24:


^5!

I don't remember the exact level order, but can confirm that the levels generally get better stage after stage (unlike sonic 2!)

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CasanovaZelos
05/29/20 11:52:23 AM
#25:


This feels like a fair time to point out these are referring to the 'best version' of a game; I'm highlighting the original release more to categorize by era, but there's no reason to play anything but the special edition.



#96. Devil May Cry 3 (2005)
Developed by Capcom

The transition into 3D gameplay was a challenge for many developers, but theres always something magical about playing the first game in a series that really gets it right. The first Devil May Cry is certainly a good game (and thats not nostalgia talking I played through this entire series for the first time in 2020), but its fixed camera is an obvious relic from when it began development as a failed attempt at the next Resident Evil. Unfortunately, what works in survival horror wont necessarily be the best option in another genre especially when many of the controls are contextual based off the characters relative position. Despite this, the seeds of a great series were obvious even then.

After a major blunder in the form of Devil May Cry 2, Capcom came back with what felt like a total refinement of what the first game promised. Though the original laid the foundation, Devil May Cry 3 defined what would become known as the Character Action Genre. A controllable camera was key, but an extra emphasis on weapon and attack variety really highlighted the style meter.

Where more traditional action games can sometimes devolve into running up to an enemy and mashing the attack button, DMC3 rewards you for changing up the pattern. The meters constant depletion encourages frantic action while a single hit resetting the meter requires grace. Combat thus demands your total attention, a constant juggle between attacking one enemy, avoiding the others, and changing up the way in which you are attacking. Your options are diverse enough to make this seamless; an enemy moving in for an attack can be the perfect time to combo your current target into the air, a dodge and attack mixed together in one fluid motion.

A great combat system is not enough alone; Devil May Cry 4 made several improvements, but 3 reigns supreme because it simply has better enemies to use that system against. The game is constantly barraging you with new enemy types, all requiring new patterns to combat; theres never a routine option to safely fall back on.

Even better, pretty much every boss fight here is phenomenal. Cerberus, Agni & Rudra, Nevan, Beowulf; each requires a totally unique approach. This game perfects the hard but fair boss fight; everythings so fun that getting to fight these bosses a few times feels more like a gift than a punishment for failure. When you finally figure out the trick to take out something like Agni & Rudra, it sticks with you.

Standing above all of these is Vergil; the Devil May Cry series enjoys tossing the bosses at you again and again as you near the end, but nothing is more satisfying than the way Vergil evolves between stages. The first encounter passes as a simple sword fight with a few neat tricks; a perfect change of pace from the giant monstrosities you usually face. But that final boss fight flips everything on its head; the super-powered devil trigger ability which has been the saving grace during these difficult fights is finally used against the player. The evil twin is a common trope for boss fights, but few make you feel quite so powerless in the face of your own abilities as Vergil.

The gameplay is far from the only stylish feature of Devil May Cry 3. The original game is cool in that early 2000s video game way, the type which falls quickly into cheese to anyone outside of edgy teens. Devil May Cry 3 ramps this up in the best way possible, going so hard in over-the-top cheesiness that it somehow wraps back around to being cool in its own odd way. Dante perfectly straddles the line between suave and dorky. He literally does a front flip while riding a motorcycle up the side of a tower.

Even beyond its phenomenal string of boss fights, the conflict between Dante and Vergil is one of the classic video game rivalries. Vergil is the perfect foil, cool in all the opposite ways. His calm and collected presentation suggests a quiet confidence in his abilities; he doesnt need to show off for us to be impressed by him. They really feel like two sides of the same coin, further highlighting the familial nature of the conflict.

Plenty of games ooze coolness during their cut scenes only to fall back on bland presentation as soon as they hand over control, but Devil May Cry 3 perfectly integrates its aesthetics into the gameplay itself. Though games continue to evolve visually, DMC3 is a perfect representative of the moment when action games moved into the modern era. There have been many imitators, some better than others, but nothing will ever reduce Devil May Cry 3 to a mere nostalgia piece. The gameplay is too smooth, the boss fights too fun for this to not hold up as a true video game masterpiece.

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CasanovaZelos
05/29/20 2:05:39 PM
#26:



#95. The Walking Dead (2012)
Developed by Telltale Games

As video games continued evolving, more and more companies began exploring the medium as a predominantly narrative form. Point-and-click adventures set the stage decades earlier, but the seventh-generation era saw several mainstream works which came close to truly capturing the idea of an interactive movie. Many of these attempts had serious problems, especially in retrospect; if the story itself wasnt nonsense, there was almost always the disappointing realization that telling a proper story meant most choices were merely an illusion.

As the first game to truly set this craze on fire, The Walking Dead does not avoid that latter pratfall. But what it lacked in freedom, it made up for with one of the best narratives to hit the market; the first season of the Walking Dead video game outshined both the comic and the television show, and thats some serious praise.

At the heart of this is the relationship between Lee and Clementine. Though not father and daughter, their relationship is one of a larger trend during the 2010s to explore the bond between a guardian and the one they must protect. This is one of the best, perhaps only rivalled by Joel and Ellie in The Last of Us something about the post-apocalypse really brings people together. Lees influence over Clementine became a popular meme: Clementine Will Remember That. This phrase operates on two levels. The most basic, and saddest, is a reminder that this game will never fulfill its promise of meaningful branching paths. On the other, this game is about how Lees actions will shape Clementines future. Has his presence left her better or worse off? These pop-ups are a reminder that youre playing not just for the heros sake but his entire group.

Viewing The Walking Dead through a lens where your choices dont matter can lead to another perspective this game did manage to get many of us engaged before we realized this fact, after all, and there had to be a bigger reason than the mere anticipation of setting up a line of dominos. While the game at large was railroading us back toward a universal path, the self-contained moments were all stellar. One choice in the third chapter is particularly devastating. You are given the choice between doing something yourself or having another character perform the action; the end result is the same, but it presents a moral quandary you would rarely if ever encounter elsewhere in the medium.

In fact, I believe the true impact of the choices exists not in the shaping of the narrative but a pop-up at the end of each episode. You are presented with a screen showing your own choice compared to all other players. As a game exploring themes of gray morality, you might be shocked when what you considered a rare easy choice has a fifty-fifty split, or maybe you find yourself completely against the world and start questioning your own views. In many ways, these choices operate as a survey of how we collectively reacted to the story.

Whether or not it was a complete success, Telltale set out to make the video game equivalent of a television show, and it certainly ended up being one of the biggest narrative events of the 2010s. As much as we can gripe about a flaw here or there, that largely serves to reinforce a bigger truth; we care so much about its failings because everything else was such a success. Few games have ever left me so emotionally raw.

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SeabassDebeste
05/29/20 2:50:00 PM
#27:


the DMC3 writeup was superfun to read, never having played any DMC game

the only narrative game in TWD's vein i've played is life is strange, which i enjoyed, but found a bit tedious as a medium. is TWD similar to that?
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yet all azuarc of all sorts are more or less capricious and unreliable - they live in the varying outer weather, and they inhale its fickleness
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CasanovaZelos
05/29/20 3:00:29 PM
#28:


The Walking Dead started what Life is Strange followed; whether I consider one better than the other, I guess you'll have to wait around and find out

Or, since anyone who knows me personally would know that answer:
The answer is Life is Strange; if you did not care for LiS due to its structure, I highly doubt you'd care for TWD. LiS does a lot more with the idea, and even if they have some similar issues, I found Life is Strange a much more unique and rewarding experience

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CasanovaZelos
05/29/20 4:48:38 PM
#29:



#94. Ikaruga (2001)
Developed by Treasure

The shoot em up genre is about as old as video games in general. The basic formula has remained largely the same. You control a spaceship (the spaceship is sometimes a magical girl or homoerotic bodybuilder) and shoot down enemies while avoiding their return fire. The genre is best when it keeps the mechanics simple, instead shaping the challenge around the level design. As such, many end up blurring together, with particularly bothersome entries being little more than trial and error.

Ikaruga offers a unique twist on the formula; instead of avoiding all danger, enemy attacks are colored either white or black. The players ship carries a shield which can flip between the two colors, absorbing all attacks that match. Not only do you avoid the damage, but the absorption powers your own special attack. Thus, the game operates as a bullet ballet, relying on well-timed shifts between shield colors to move between the ever-changing attacks.

This is technically a short game; I dont believe a full play through takes more than half an hour. But this is about as challenging as video games come, even on the easiest difficulty. This is a game you play almost purely for the challenge look at any screenshot from the hardest difficulty and you wont believe its possible. Then you keep playing because you know it must be and you want to see how. You will die a lot, but that comes with the territory, and its always so quick to jump back in.

When we talk about the cultural merits of video games, much of the focus turns toward artistry, which quickly devolves toward narrative. A game like Ikaruga has little to offer in the straightforward search for human understanding which rests at the center of most art; but if we are to view the medium as an art form, and accepting these minimalist games as among the most noteworthy, there must be something beneath the surface. If a great game does not remark upon a human experience, that is only because it is the experience.

Every work of art has a thematic purpose, whether or not the creators were consciously aware what that would be. For a game like Ikaruga, that theme can only be sussed out through the experience: what might seem impossible can be overcome through enough dedication and perseverance. This is at the heart of most challenging video games - the human drive to improve oneself. Some might argue that this is not enough, but what is the point of recognizing video games as an art form if we only apply that term to so-called universal elements between mediums? Some look to the Ikarugas of the world with a certain disdain, as if the players are entering a sado-masochistic relationship with the designers. They think we play these games because we want to suffer, but its quite the opposite. We want a chance to win against something we expect not to. Video games offer a simulated chance to overcome strife.

But there is good art and bad art, and nothings worse than a game so frustrating that you give up. The artistry of Ikaruga is making everything so fluid that its even harder to put down, even as you eat through the hours just trying to get past the second stage. A good challenge brings you inches closer to victory with every new attempt. Add in that Ikarugas gameplay is naturally hypnotic with its ever-changing colors, and you end up with something as difficult as it is inviting.

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Not Dave
05/29/20 5:19:40 PM
#30:


CasanovaZelos posted...
For a game like Ikaruga, that theme can only be sussed out through the experience: what might seem impossible can be overcome through enough dedication and perseverance. This is at the heart of most challenging video games - the human drive to improve oneself.

Love this. An n++ episode took me 1077 tries the other day (>500 more than any other), but it was very rewarding to slowly improve and then beat it.

Ikaruga is great - haven't played it in a while, though.

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ND
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Nelson_Mandela
05/29/20 5:22:24 PM
#31:


CasanovaZelos posted...
homoerotic bodybuilder
dare I ask what this is referring to?

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"A more mature answer than I expected."~ Jakyl25
"Sephy's point is right."~ Inviso
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CasanovaZelos
05/29/20 5:36:16 PM
#32:


Nelson_Mandela posted...
dare I ask what this is referring to?


Something called Cho Aniki which was surprisingly released on the Wii Virtual Console after being a Japanese exclusive - I don't know why I remembered it existed because I have not thought about it for a solid decade until writing this and I have never played it myself.

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NFUN
05/29/20 6:16:57 PM
#33:


"You get infinite lives and you'll need every last one"

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You shine, and make others shine just by being near them.
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CasanovaZelos
05/30/20 12:19:21 PM
#34:




#93. Shining Force II (1994)
Developed by Sonic! Software Planning (now Camelot)

The Strategy RPG has evolved a lot over the years, but theres something about the simplicity of this early installment that continues to resonate with me. Theres no permadeath or expansive character interactions; just a straightforward chess battle of hoping to topple the enemys leader before they capture your own. In a genre known for heavy punishment at the smallest sign of failure, its nice to have a few strong entries which can be taken at a leisurely pace.

Emerging during an era when platformers reigned supreme, the RPGs of the fourth console generation offered a mesmerizing scale. Instead of artificially inflating their length through absurd difficulty spikes and resetting you back to zero after enough failure, these games truly were that big. On the Sega Genesis, few games felt bigger than Shining Force II.

This sense of scale is perhaps why Shining Force II holds a certain edge over most of Nintendos Fire Emblem series for me; where the typical Fire Emblem jumps from battle to battle with a cutscene or two between, the Shining Force series incorporates its battles into the world. Thus, the series captures a sense of exploration like more traditional RPGs, searching through towns for hidden treasure and sometimes secret characters. When a conflict transforms a town into a battlefield, theres more weight than being plopped into a nameless village youll never revisit. The ability to explore the overworld gives a nice break between battles and a better sense of how these conflicts connect.

The lack of permadeath also seriously alters the dynamics of combat. This game is not designed for you to treat every party member as valuable at all times, allowing you to take risks as you push your way toward the end. Where other SRPGs can devolve into letting a few overpowered units run ahead, Shining Force allows even the fragile characters to get in a much-needed hit before bowing out. Battles here feel less like running a minefield where one false moves destroys all progress, and that little bit of wiggle room makes all the difference. Theres also just something freeing about being able to actually lose a battle based on in-game conditions instead of hitting the reset button due over a critical hit an unfortunate side effect resulting from permadeath is it causes you to stop while victory is achievable; you havent lost as much as you arent accepting the games conditions.

Whatever the flavor, the strategy RPG genre is phenomenal at capturing a sense of battles bigger than a lone hero but smaller than a full-blown war. The relief from an enemy missing an attack at just the right time, the panic as you realize your healer is in range of the enemies, the sliver of hope you feel as you scramble to correct that issue; all of this emotion with the necessary time to process what it all means.

Shining Force II feels like the strategy RPG in its most distilled form. The plot which is there is simple. The mechanics are straightforward and forgiving while the battles still offer a challenge. There are dozens of variances on the basic formula, but Shining Force II is a testament on how well this formula worked from the very beginning.

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CasanovaZelos
05/30/20 2:11:16 PM
#35:



#92. Batman: Arkham City (2011)
Developed by Rocksteady Studios

For various reasons, the video game industry has always had difficulty with licensed properties. Most of these issues stem from them being used as movie tie-ins, the rights given to cheap studios promising to turn out a game to meet the release date of the movie. Nothing good comes from such restraints.

Back in 2009, Batman: Arkham Asylum was a major turning point. Based off a franchise which has not stopped being relevant for several decades now, Rocksteady was given ample time to bring the Batman franchise to life. Perfectly implementing Batmans gadgets to produce a stealth-heavy brawler and turning his ample rogue gallery into some mesmerizing encounters, Arkham Asylum stood as not only the best licensed game at the time but one of the greatest games period. Arkham City took its formula and simply increased the scale (whether one is better than the other is up to preference I enjoy the open world but would never argue against anyone who prefers Asylums linearity).

That stealth-brawler hybrid is truly something great. Sneaking through the vents to pick off mooks one-by-one really captures the spirit of the Caped Crusader, but failing at that and descending into a brawl is equally appetizing. Rocksteady forces the player to shift gears here and there, key to perfecting a genre which can sometimes descend into tedium.

The boss fights really change things up, including what ends up being one of the all-time greats. The battle against Mr. Freeze leaves you hopeless when attempting direct approaches, but the room is littered with stealth options. Each success lets you get in a few hits, but Freeze will then counter that option for the rest of the battle. You have to use everything the game offers to take him down. This battle serves as a testament to the games simple yet complex design, a brawler that absolutely refuses to let you mash your way through.

Key to capturing the spirit of these characters is that the bosses dont stay confined to their rooms. The Arkham series is a great example of set piece-based design, each area influenced by those classic villains found nearby. The game is also loaded with sidequests, including a slew of minor adversaries. While these characters will almost certainly never earn a film appearance, their presence here shows how deep the Batman gallery goes while still maintaining fantastic diversity. Only the most ardent fans are likely to recognize Zsasz or Hush, but their presentation here is a perfect argument to become one of those ardent fans. With all this game throws at you, Arkham City captures the terror of Gotham City while other adaptations have to limit themselves to a handful of villains at a time.

The narrative is a wonderful descent into madness; being toyed around with by the Joker is always a fun time, further adding to the chaos of this city. Despite all these villains having their own agendas, everything flows together so well due to Joker getting a little bit of his hands into everything. The final act is a surprisingly complex and somehow tragic web.

With open world games becoming more and more common, its becoming clearer what does and does not work. Even if there arent enemies covering every inch of the city, the player is provided with enough tools to navigate quickly. Swooping through the sky is always fun, a feature which laid the groundwork for Insomniacs Spider-Man. There is enough side content to encourage exploring everything you see, and the rewards for everything but the Riddler puzzles tend to be grand.

Batman has been with us since the late 1930s, but few works across any medium capture the spirit so well. This is the all-encompassing experience.

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CasanovaZelos
05/30/20 2:20:08 PM
#36:


Figure it's time for a minor list; my top 5 licensed games (which are all far ahead of any others):
#1. Batman: Arkham City (#92)
#2. The Walking Dead (#95)
#3. Batman: Arkham Asylum (#101)
#4. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (#102)
#5. Spider-Man (#108)

Also, top game of each year with nothing left to place:
1985: Super Mario Bros (#204)
1986: The Legend of Zelda (#245)
1987: Punch-Out!! (#140)
1989: Tetris (#113)
1990: n/a (have played a few but none good enough to rank)
1996: Quake (#121)
2020: Animal Crossing: New Horizons (#99)

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SeabassDebeste
05/30/20 2:27:30 PM
#37:


assuming that SMB3 is 1988, then?
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yet all azuarc of all sorts are more or less capricious and unreliable - they live in the varying outer weather, and they inhale its fickleness
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CasanovaZelos
05/30/20 4:24:53 PM
#38:




#91. Portal (2007)
Developed by Valve

To think that one of the most influential games of its era started off as part of a bundle; but at a time when retail games came with the expectation of being worth $60 and thus several hours long, there was no other way this game would have seen a traditional release.

The original Portal is about as singular of an experience as video games come, fitting into that elusive non-block-based puzzle genre which requires crafting entirely unique mechanics from scratch and then shaping ever-increasingly complex puzzles around those mechanics. Sometimes these games become so esoteric no one but a genius will be able to progress past the opening stages without consulting a guide. Creating something accessible for the common player while containing enough of a challenge to make each solution memorable requires a fine balance, and few games have ever gotten that balance quite as right as Valves Portal.

Though too familiar to truly go back and appreciate, its hard to overstate how well this game handled atmosphere, especially while being presented as a side-game in a Half-Life 2 compilation. Many of these games are plotless affairs, throwing you into a series of levels and that being that. Portal pretends to be this in its early stages, a completely innocuous lab setting where youre experimenting with a new technology which can create two portals which connect to one another.

The pieces slowly start adding up. The puzzles soon start adding clear safety hazards which will never be a threat, but still far from OSHA compliant. Then host robot GLaDOS adds a consequence for failure, being poison gas along the floor below which will instantly kill anyone who falls in. This simple puzzle game transforms into an oppressive horror story.

Well, it would, except for one key feature GLaDOS is one of the funniest video game characters ever written. Her seething hatred for the player character is barely masked by her robotic voice, and she becomes more and more agitated with every success. Theres a reason this became perhaps the most memetic video game of all time every line of dialogue is golden.

The back half of the game is where things really shine. The chambers become increasingly decrepit, allowing the player to briefly sneak inside hidden corridors and find the mad ramblings of the previous test subjects. GLaDOSs threats move from passive to direct, employing poorly-designed but cute little turrets. The final stage has GLaDOS slowly lower you into a fire, and then the real game begins; Chell breaks free from the chambers and wreaks havoc through the rest of Aperture Science.

This breakthrough transformed Portal from an off-kilter puzzler to something medium defying. In this post-modernist twist, the player is suddenly thrust against the creator herself. The meta-analysis wrote itself. What does it mean to break free of an internal ruler while still being railroaded by the actual designers? Nevertheless, Portal managed to achieve the feeling of breaking all the rules.

The best part is how this section keeps being the same game, but with the added stressors of obscured progression and outright assault. The game itself starts breaking the design philosophy established in its first half, all to showcase the true genius behind the developers creation.

The portal gun is one of gamings greatest inventions, this device which proves simple to use but with seemingly infinite possibilities. An extra layer is how the puzzles incorporate the physics engine. While the earliest chambers largely involve connecting two portals to reach distant areas, later puzzles involve generating momentum to leap across chasms. Some of the best moments require shooting more portals while being flung across the room. And who could resist shooting one portal on the ceiling and another beneath your feet, just to see how fast you could go? A few trick angles would even allow the player to catch a glimpse of Chell on the other side.

Its easy to view Portal as bordering on a tech demo considering its length, but if thats the case, one must wonder why any developers bother creating full-length games; few games have lingered longer in the collective conscious. Portal is simply to the point, no second wasted as it first teaches the rules, then explores what those rules mean, before finally asking you to break them.

For Portal, the name of the game was escalation. Whether it be through the ever more complex puzzles, GLaDOSs increasingly mean-spirited dialogue, or the total tonal shift, every new area threw another curve ball. If brevity is the soul of wit, such a tightly-focused experience was destined to go down as a social phenomenon. Though made by a preeminent studio, Portal clearly laid a path for people to be more responsive to the indie game craze which would really take hold with the following years Braid. It cannot be overstated how much Valve shaped gaming; where the Steam platform helped open the market to independent developers, Portal was a forceful mainstream nudge to give smaller games a chance.

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SeabassDebeste
05/30/20 7:33:07 PM
#39:


CasanovaZelos posted...
Its easy to view Portal as bordering on a tech demo considering its length, but if thats the case, one must wonder why any developers bother creating full-length games;

love it
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yet all azuarc of all sorts are more or less capricious and unreliable - they live in the varying outer weather, and they inhale its fickleness
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_stingers_
05/30/20 8:09:39 PM
#40:


Tag, great writeups so far

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Congrats Black Turtle!
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CasanovaZelos
05/31/20 11:57:34 AM
#41:



#90. Into the Breach (2018)
Developed by Subset Games

The strategy genre comes in a variety of flavors. Do you want real-time or turn-based gameplay? Do you want to command a small band of warriors or control an entire empire? Whatever the case, the philosophy behind the genre all seems pointed the same way the more complexity, the better. Some of the meatiest games in this genre, usually falling under the 4X subgenre, are so complex that even their in-game tutorials are largely inadequate. The time required to simply wrap your head around something like Crusader Kings II could be used to play through an entire JRPG.

Into the Breach shoots recklessly in the other direction, operating almost as strategy in arcade form. During battle, you are limited to three mechs in a fight against giant insects. Like a standard SRPG, you get to move each of these mechs and then attack. The controls are ridiculously simple, but like so many other great minimalist games, that serves the purpose of allowing the game to build up an intricate web of challenging scenarios based around that simplicity.

Into the Breach never lets up. If theres ever a moment where you feel in control, know its only temporary. Set across four islands, each containing several maps, Into the Breach is an endurance run. Each map is littered with civilian structures, and their destruction reduces your campaigns HP. Thus, the game is more focused on mitigating civilian losses than protecting your own crew, though both will be necessary for a successful campaign.

The ingenious twist on the combat here is that the players turn takes place between the enemys movement and attack. When they stop moving, the direction theyre planning to attack is shown on the grid along with how much damage they will do. Your own attacks offer a variety of options; surviving in Into the Breach typically has more to do with positioning than outright attacks. While doing some damage can be satisfying, the best option usually involves shoving the enemy so they no longer have a target even better, you can set them up to attack their own allies. With the game offering the enemy turn order, you can prevent two separate hits in a single move. While being overrun with enemies, you simply must do this; a successful turn can transform your measly three attacks into six or more.

What makes this game so infinitely replayable is the variety of the mechs. There are eight squads to unlock, each consisting of three entirely unique units built around each others abilities, along with random and customizable squad options. Each squad is like playing an entirely new game. Where a few are simply based around shoving the enemies, some instead offer the ability to place temporary barriers over the civilian structures, or to turn the enemy in the opposite direction, or to freeze the enemies in place. Each requires you to analyze the situation in a new way, especially since the more powerful abilities have serious drawbacks.

Adding to this is that each mech needs a pilot, who in turn have their own abilities. The right pilots in the right mechs can make an unstoppable force. Pilots can earn experience for additional abilities through combat while you can also earn reactor cores to boost the abilities of both. Unfortunately, any unstoppable force is only temporary. Whether you win or lose a full scenario, you begin the next by sending one pilot back in time, leaving you to scrounge together the rest of your team during the next playthrough. Thus, the game is always fresh, but with just the right amount of continuity.

The islands themselves offer a wide variety, each having their own theme. One has conveyor belts which will move enemies around, while another is also overrun with its own dangerous mechs. The finale unlocks after completing two islands, meaning the islands you choose to tackle are just as much part of your overall strategy. The maps gets consistently harder as you go, but there are advantages and disadvantages to completing more islands. Additionally, each island has seven maps to choose from, but you only have the option of completing four; each map has its own risks and rewards, so you must consider how much youre willing to risk to get another reactor or a bit more energy added to your health bar.

The best indie games feel as if they come from another dimension where 2D games reigned supreme even after the introduction of the PlayStation. Into the Breach is the minimalist culmination of several ideas we never actually saw. This is a game which feels like it should have always existed; every element present in its design could have been done decades ago. But improved technology is only a tool; it takes a great developer to notice so many overlooked possibilities and mash them all together in one cohesive work. Every part of Into the Breach is simple and clean, yet juggling everything at once proves a suitably challenging experience the simplicity is a shortcut to the same satisfaction some other strategy games take literally days to provide.

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CasanovaZelos
05/31/20 1:35:34 PM
#42:


Here's my top game of 2019



#89. Devil May Cry 5 (2019)
Developed by Capcom

Devil May Cry just might be gamings most inconsistent franchise, but Capcom managed to finally land another outright success with the most recent entry. Devil May Cry 5 has everything fans could have wanted from a follow-up to DMC3, without the shoddy level and enemy design of 4. DMC4s greatest improvement was the ability to instantly transition between Dantes four combat styles, a feature which finds a new home here. In a genre all about switching up your attacks, any additional option is fantastic. Devil May Cry 5 feels as smooth and expansive as they come.

DMC5 hits a special niche by having three diverse protagonists, forcing the player to adapt to their unique styles between missions. Nero returns from DMC4 with his fun abilities to quickly shorten the distance between himself and enemies. Dante has a few new tricks, but his familiarity is key to making this a true Devil May Cry experience.

The true highlight here is the third protagonist, V. In a genre all about getting up in enemys faces, Capcom came up with the ingenious idea of integrating a summoner. V comes with three familiars who do the fighting for him, though he is always forced to deliver the killing blow. Until that moment arises, you have the option of getting some distance and reading from a book of poetry by William Blake, an action which increases your devil trigger meter. The controls all work very similarly, with the attack buttons giving commands to the familiars. Its a total innovation that never feels out of place, adding a distinct layer of strategy around your relative positioning.

Devil May Cry has always played with the idea of cool, with both Dante and Nero precariously straddling the line between dorky and cool in their over-the-top gestures. V, meanwhile, feels like an effortless success. Hes what everyone who ever shopped at Hot Topic wishes they could be. His weird tendency to recite Blake in every possible situation perfectly contrasts with and sometimes builds upon the series tendency toward quick banter. Like Vergil back in DMC3, V acts as a perfect foil.

A cool new feature called the cameo system changes up a few missions. As the three characters stories intersect, you will sometimes see what the others are doing. Instead of this being a simple background event, these are other actual people playing another mission. This seamless multiplayer integration is a neat touch, and two missions end up being full-on cooperative.

Outside of these new features, Devil May Cry 5 is a continuation of everything we loved about the series. Excellent gameplay, terrific enemies and level design, and a somewhat cheesy story serving a much more effective central conflict the only thing missing from DMC3 is the thoroughly excellent bosses, but few games have ever compared to that, and those DMC5 does have are still great. V is enough of a change of pace to make up the difference.

Devil May Cry has always served as the preeminent Character Action Game series, and the fifth entrys excellence means DMC3 can stop carrying that load all by itself.

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CasanovaZelos
05/31/20 3:29:22 PM
#43:



#88. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018)
Developed by Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd.

Starting with the announcement of Solid Snake being added to Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the hype started overshadowing the final products. Its hard not to get carried away when this mega-franchise opened up its gates to gaming at large. The wish-fulfillment surpassed all reasonable expectations; who truly expected to see Cloud Strife or Banjo & Kazooie make it in, let alone Joker and Bayonetta? The cast is an absolute grab bag of gamings best characters.

Such hype can be deceiving; there are plenty of character-focused fighters with even larger casts, and none have left anywhere near the impact. The true excellence behind the Super Smash Bros. series is Masahiro Sakurais insistence that each character play a distinct role within the meta while having their move set based around their original franchise. The character designs balance on a tightrope between balance and novelty, most to a surprising degree of success.

More additions is far from a guarantee of success; Super Smash Bros. Brawl added a ton of characters but faltered with the actual gameplay, slowing the combat to a snails pace while also adding random tripping. SSB4 worked its way back toward the frantic speed of Melee, and Ultimate built upon that.

Ultimate takes it upon itself to highlight the ambition of including every single fighter the series has ever featured. In a controversial move, you begin with only the original 8 and must unlock all others. Tedious as it may have been, watching that roster slowly explode before our eyes was a perfect reminder of how far this franchise has come.

At this point in time, the Smash Bros. franchise is all about possibilities this can be a competitive one-on-one fighter if you want it to be, but the crazier stages and option for eight players at once makes it one of the best party games. As someone who regularly hosts large get-togethers, this has always been one of the biggest video game hits alongside the Jackbox games.

My relation to this series has always been an important one. With the Nintendo Gamecube being my first Nintendo console, SSBM was my introduction to most of these franchises. I had never played a Metroid or Legend of Zelda game, while characters like Ness and Marth offered a certain unreachable allure. It quickly became my goal to try each of these series out. I met Ultimate from the opposite end; I was already familiar with even the most obscure choices but was impressed by each and every one (except maybe the endless deluge of Fire Emblem characters). Its fan-service, certainly, but fan-service which guided me to bigger and better things.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is video games at their most chaotic, overloaded with various modes and features and sold with the promise of a massive and diverse roster. None of this would work if the franchise itself did not keep toe-to-toe with those it includes, all thanks to a magically simple fighting system. It may not offer the complexity of more hardcore fighters, but when my experience with those has always been consistently lopsided toward the more familiar player, Ive always found it more fun when even the worst player has an outside chance.

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jcgamer107
05/31/20 7:51:17 PM
#44:


Ultimate is so great. Right there with Melee as one of the best competitive fighters.

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Not Dave
06/01/20 12:23:06 AM
#45:


i'm not much for strategy games, but Into the Breach looks pretty cool

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Murphiroth
06/01/20 12:43:33 AM
#46:


Ya go my DMC3/5.

There are few things more intimidating in gaming than Vergil slowly walking towards you at the start of his fights. DMC3 instilled in me a love for boss fights that start that way with an enemy that has similar abilities to the player character.

And yeah, V is the best emo poetry spouting summoner in gaming. Maybe the only one but still. He's even more satisfying when you think about his true identity and realize Vergil would 100% be into poetry and classical music but would never want to show it.

And he has the best taunts!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah5E8ZVu_qs

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CasanovaZelos
06/01/20 12:08:24 PM
#47:


There are some arguable spoilers below; when I get to some of the higher story-focused games, I'm likely going to talk in detail about certain plot points and heavily use the spoiler tag, but I don't feel like anything here merits their use. Basically, I discuss a few later scenes, but nothing that would spoil any revelations or twists


#87. Night in the Woods (2017)
Developed by Infinite Fall

With the medium focused on stories which are bigger than life - a necessity when so many are built around combat - its surprisingly rare to find a game which feels truly personal. Growing up queer in an industrial town on the decline, where being gay was not just taboo but borderline unfeasible, I never expected to find a high quality game reflecting these aspects of my experience.

Night in the Woods is that game and so much more. You play as Mae, a recent college dropout returning home to try to get a grip on her failing mental health. The town is being hit hard after their mines have closed, but she tries to remain above water by reuniting with her childhood friends. The nostalgia beats heavy in the beginning, Mae and Gregg catching up with each other like nothing has changed. But things have changed, and Gregg is now planning a future with his boyfriend. Other bestie Bea is painfully serious, rightfully chiding Mae at various points for trying to regress into childhood familiarity while everyone around her is trying to get by and move on.

A lot of queer representation in gaming feels rather shallow, whether its a mainstream game fumbling with serious issues (if theyre even attempting anything beyond a mild reference) or an indie game operating as wish fulfillment in a magical world with no prejudices. Few feel as honest as Gregg and Angus, who are already in the midst of a long-term relationship. Their story captures that underlying feeling of growing up somewhere that has never truly felt like home. In a side-conversation, Bea brings up her own concerns; what are the chances the only two openly gay men their age are going to stick together if they move to a city with more options? Where so many stories hyper-focus on external factors like homophobia, Night in the Woods goes straight to internal fears. Beyond prejudice, finding actual love when your options are so limited feels impossible. Even within one of those impossible relationships, that fear can linger, that your partner has chosen you not out of love but loneliness. By directly confronting these issues, their relationship becomes that much sweeter as the game reinforces what has brought them together.

The game does an equally powerful job representing economic hardship. Early on, Maes favorite restaurant suddenly closes shop, a sad reminder every time you cross the town. As you go to meet up with her friends, you realize theyre all stuck in retail jobs; even Maes father has been reduced to working at a deli. Upon Maes return, Gregg convinces her to join his band practice, where they play a song titled Die Anywhere Else. This struck a familiar chord; as a teenager, the idea of spending my entire life in the same place was one of my greatest fears. Yet the sentiment reinforces the theme so well; it seems so simple, but how do you get anywhere else without money? Working class life in a small town feels like a vortex where you start low and can only be dragged lower which adds an extra layer of sadness that someone like Mae would choose to return.

Traditional for any story involving a small town, theres something very wrong beneath the surface. Maes other close friend, Casey, has been missing for a long time. But what makes this game so special is that it focuses on the more mundane issues. Any exploration of this mystery serves more to reinforce the bond between these characters.

This is about as story-heavy as video games come; aside from a roguelike you can play on Maes computer, moments of gameplay beyond exploration are few and far between. Some of those moments are memorable, such as the aforementioned Guitar Hero-styled band practice or a knife fight with Gregg, but what makes this stand as an all-time great is the sheer quality of the writing throughout. Its not just the main story that shines. Several NPCs you pass on the way to visit Maes friends have their own evolving story, giving you an actual reason to stop and chat. With such well-defined characters, Possum Springs is one of the most vibrant towns in a video game.

Adding to this charming town is the games simple art style. The characters are cute, anthropomorphic animals, which makes swallowing some of these heavy concepts a bit easier. Its hard not to fall in love with Gregg the moment he appears, happily flapping his arms as hes reunited with Mae. The use of warm colors throughout perfectly capture the spirit of its autumn setting.

Though it falls squarely in the adventure genre, few games actually feel like Night in the Woods. Tackling serious subject matters in an incredibly approachable style while ultimately being a story of friendship, it never feels too heavy. While not necessarily pushing the boundaries of the medium, Night in the Woods takes a resonant story and tells it incredibly well.

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CasanovaZelos
06/01/20 5:39:10 PM
#48:



#86. God of War (2018)
Developed by SIE Santa Monica Studio

The God of War reboot is a bizarre experience. Sony took the edgiest franchise this side of Mortal Kombat and decided to question its morality. The necessity of this was questionable; the finale for the original trilogy hadnt even been out a decade. Culture is constantly changing, certainly, but many of us already read the first three games as a nightmarish descent into the mind of an enraged madman. Few of us needed to see Kratos with a son to realize his toxic influence.

Not only did the presentation change, but everything from the combat to the level design was completely overhauled. Gone are Kratoss chained blades, replaced by an axe. The camera is scooted in close like every other modern Sony action-adventure game. An average playthrough will take about as long as the original trilogy combined, as it has moved from a straightforward action series to a semi-open world epic. In fact, this game feels singlehandedly designed to upset fans of the older games.

Somehow, all of this worked. The further you progress, the more and more you realize how natural all these changes are in the creation of a modern God of War. Sony could have easily made this a new property, but so much of the experience is shaped by the juxtaposition between old and new; to know the violence in Kratoss heart and see him hold back to be a better role model defines this game.

God of War is all about a sense of scale; from the sprawling Lake of Nine which acts as a central hub area to the mountains you must climb to the other realms, this game feels overwhelmingly big. Few games have ever looked this good, but most of these locations go beyond pretty visuals to include clever puzzles which must be navigated. While the previous games already had Kratos facing off against the gods, this wonderful level design even better encapsulates the feeling of him against the world.

It takes some time to adjust to the combat. Lifting controls typically used in third-person shooters was an odd choice for a melee-based action game, but Kratos will be throwing his ax enough to make it necessary. This game was clearly built around the scheme, and what starts as frustration at losing track of enemies as they flank you soon becomes accepted as part of the challenge. Most traditional action games give you a free-flowing camera to keep your eye on everything at once God of Wars limited camera brings you closer to Kratoss level, meaning you must work to give yourself a better position.

The bond between Kratos and Atreus is up there with the likes of Ellie/Joel and Lee/Clementine. Kratoss seething and strict demeanor is perfectly juxtaposed against Atreuss jovial and curious personality; both of these characters will get on your nerves by design. Kratos plays an over-the-top straight man in this bizarre world, and its good to have one character in a position to ask him to lighten up a little; anyone else would get an ax through their skull.

As video games are starting to be taken more and more seriously as an art form, it seems logical that the major studios would shy away from or even turn apologetic for their questionable pasts. The original God of War was egregious even in its own time. The original games still have their place and are great in their own ways, but the 2018 reboot stripped away the juvenile edginess and built upon what really makes the series work - this is an action-packed journey into the land of ancient gods.

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CasanovaZelos
06/01/20 7:02:13 PM
#49:



#85. We Love Katamari (2005)
Developed by Namco

Video games have always been able to get away with oddity unquestioned. After Super Mario Bros. smashed onto the scene, nothing seemed too conceptually ridiculous. It takes a massive quantity of absurdity to actually register and, boy, does the Katamari series deliver.

The second game in the series, We Love Katamari took everything from Katamari Damacy and made it even better. Your goal is to push around a tiny ball and collect smaller objects which stick to the surface. Anything too big wont fit, so each level is built around a loop of collecting the small objects until the ball is big enough for the next set; but if you want to maximize your size, you must quickly find those objects which give the biggest boost. Once you get rolling, theres no stopping. A pencil? Go ahead. A cat? No ones going to question your morality here. A fleeing school child? Baby, when were finished here, every country on earth is going to be shot into space. All will be sacrificed to the beautiful ball.

This is a game that nearly defies genre labels; it can be called a puzzle game, though that doesnt feel quite right. Katamari became a momentary craze because its so singular; it faded just as quickly because theres no meaningful way to expand beyond what we got here. Like Tetris, Katamari is inimitable and as good today as it was upon release.

The narrative presentation is completely baffling. You play the teeny Prince of All Cosmos, who came to earth because his father destroyed everything else in space and the only way to fix things is the katamari ball. After restoring the stars in the first game, you must now make themed planets for the inexplicable fans of the process. The King will make completely bonkers statements as you progress during the level before giving an equally inexplicable evaluation once its all over. This kookiness is a bit of a necessity, since one might actually ponder the morality of their actions here otherwise (save us if anyone even suggests an edgy reboot).

The levels expand upon the basic concept in several ways. Many have you in search of specific objects, such as paper cranes or clouds. One memorable level ends the moment you collect either a cow or bear (or anything which may be confused for such), forcing you to navigate around these objects until youre big enough to collect something good. The highlight is the simple but ambitious As Large as Possible finale, where you start with a 1 meter ball and have 17 minutes to reach 500 meters; but since the game lets you keep going to get as large as possible, its always fun to go back and break into the thousands. Theres something mesmerizing about rolling up literal landmasses and looking back to realize you started by getting knocked around on a street corner. All of these stages are backed with music as strange and wonderful as the game itself.

Katamari is one of the purest experiences in gaming, a simple yet addictive exercise in growing very large. Theres no hidden meaning or anything to analyze. A team at Namco simply came up with a fun idea and immediately grasped everything which would make it excellent.

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CasanovaZelos
06/02/20 11:18:58 AM
#50:



#84. Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne (2004)
Developed by Atlus

The JRPG genre has largely achieved its popularity based on its ability to present narratives of an epic scope. Balancing the gameplay has proven a challenge to many developers. Common enemies tend to collapse after enough basic attacks, while the few challenging bosses can be overcome by grinding levels for a bit. Its rare to find a truly challenging JRPG that isnt caused by the player being perpetually under-leveled, but Atlus has made an art of this feat.

Now overshadowed by its more narrative-heavy spinoff, Persona, it is sometimes hard to remember the minimalism intrinsic to Nocturnes design. Where most series focus on the battle between good and evil, Shin Megami Tensei treats this as a struggle between order and chaos. Nocturne takes these sides to the most extreme point; the protagonist, Demi-fiend, is forced to choose one of several questionable options. The lack of a satisfying alternative is maddening, lending well to the games oppressive atmosphere. There is one clear option to reject everything, but chances are you wont like who you are working with toward that goal.

Most fantasy settings tend to stick to a few familiar flavors (whats an RPG without Medieval castles?), so something like Nocturnes demon-infused Tokyo immediately stands out. The dungeons are shopping malls, hospitals, construction sites; anything to reinforce this was once our world. Few games feel so outright desolate.

Unlike practically any other JRPG, the draw here actually is the gameplay. Grinding might help, but Shin Megami Tensei is all about strategy. Like most JRPGs, enemies have their weaknesses and resistances. But where those exist largely to do a bit more damage in other games, Nocturnes entire combat system is built around hitting the right enemy with the right move.

The Turn Press system makes every move count. Hitting a weakness gives an extra chance to attack before the enemies get their turn, up to a full round of additional attacks. With a varied enough team, you might be able to wipe out the enemies before the game ever rolls over to their turn. On the other hand, missing an enemy takes two attacks away, while having your attack repelled or absorbed immediately ends your entire turn. Thus, battles become a mad dash to identify what works, as you need those extra turns.

Like Pokemon, a major selling point here is that you can essentially capture the games many demons. Your party consists of Demi-Fiend and three demon allies, but these demons have limited use and level slower. Where the game shines is the ability to fuse demons to make something stronger, the resulting demon gaining otherwise unobtainable skills from its parents. The massive amount of demons are a necessity, as there are enough ultra-hard bosses where you will want an entire team that can hit any available weakness. Additionally, SMT is a rare JRPG series where stat boosts actually mean something, so having a support unit is also feasible. The benefit to a challenge is that variety counts for more.

With move sets being limited, choosing which form of an attack to keep can be a surprisingly hard decision. In most RPGs, a spell which does the same damage but can hit all enemies would be the logical choice. Here, it might be better to keep the version which can only hit a single target, lest you hit something which can absorb the attack and negate any benefit. There is also a spell type which always does neutral damage, which seems like a safe choice until you remember the need to hit weaknesses. Luckily, the ability to summon previously discovered demons negates any permanent damage from a poor decision. Any time your team falls behind, you simply have to make a new one.

Few JRPGs have tension as a selling point, but almost every single battle in Nocturne left me on the edge of my seat. Each new area means a new set of enemies you must analyze, making this a constant game of risk vs. reward. With instant-death attacks which can actually work and enemies that can wail upon you the moment they hit an allys weakness, one bad turn can ruin everything. What makes Nocturne actually work is that it gives you the tools to mitigate these risks. Why even enter a battle with a weakness once youre able to fuse a negating ability to turn that weakness into a strength? The massive compendium offers an endless sea of possible demons; the greatest puzzle in this game is figuring out how to get this ability onto that monster with the least amount of fusing necessary. Your demons are what you make of them.

Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne fills a unique niche, almost like the antithesis of the traditional JRPG. Anyone expecting a party of plucky heroes fighting against evil will be disappointed. But for those who want to see what the JRPG can offer when focused on making every single encounter have weight, few have ever done it better.

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