Board 8 > transience's top 100 games -- almost 2022 edition.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Zero Mission still left?

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5.



Metroid, baby. Zero Mission has Super Metroid's general design but with a better control scheme. It's one of the smoothest controlling games around and it's so easy to pick up and play anytime. It's easy enough to control that even a scrub like me can grab world records. The game isn't challenging, but there are a couple of boss fights or the stealth sequence that can get you if you're not ready. But overall, this isn't Metroid Dread, and that's okay.

There's a boatload of ways to play this game thanks to the alternate pathing that the game offers. The items in this game are essentially optional and you don't have to be a Metroid savant to go without screw attack or long beam. I've been riding this game hard for about 15 years now and it's still a fun little romp.

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4.



I'm a simple man. I like basic things in my games. I like watching numbers go up. I like run buttons that let me go fast. Above anything else, I like to jump. Give me any random game and I'm going to jump everywhere I go. It doesn't matter if it's a platformer or not, that's just what I do. I especially like a good wall jump. One of my main draws in Metroid is being able to scale a single wall. It was a huge deal to me that they removed it from Fusion and Dread.

n++ has a lovely little walljump. In fact, it may as well be the main feature of the game. This game has such a nuance to its feel and its movement, and especially to its jumping. It's this heavy, floating jump that has such gradual momentum. It is absolutely perfect.

n++ is about making a really careful jump, with no margin for error. It also walks this tight line of feeling like it's procedurally generated because there are thousands of levels to play. But, instead of just being randomly generated, every level is authored. That's the benefit of having such lo-fi visual design: you can make these levels fairly quickly. Quick design doesn't mean they're lazy though. Every level has a specific theme and challenge and most of them are fun to play. If you don't like one, you can move on to another set of levels. There's so much content here that it's hard to believe you can finish it. (You can, but it'll take you hundreds of hours.) I am always going back to this game, and it has this strange property where I can not play it for months and pick up the movement perfectly within about 90 seconds. That's not true with pretty much any other action game, but n++ just comes so incredibly naturally.

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transience posted...

I got to like the Phazon Suit and that was as much as I could stomach.

So you got to the end lol

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That was as far as I got!

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no it definitely wasnt the end. maybe thats not even the right term for the suit. its been like 15 years

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I consider it the end because it's just the artifact hunt and final boss sequence after the Phazon Suit.

Unless you meant the Gravity Suit or you just got to the Phazon Mines.

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its the one where the visuals turn all grey and awful. thats what got me. I cant explain better than that with so much time having passed

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Yeah the Phazon Mines have a dull bleak aesthetic

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Oh grey visuals, sounds like the X Ray Visor. So yeah, pretty far, but some annoying stuff comes after that.

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3.



This game. This game has just consumed my soul.

It's the mobile version. I managed to break away from Desert Golfing only because I play this damn thing endlessly. My STS save on mobile has.. 824 hours on it. It came out like a year and a half ago. It's bad. I have a problem. That doesn't even count the time that I've spent on Switch or PC. I'm probably closer to 1000 hours, and it's not slowing down. Just a few minutes ago, I had a tragic death on the final boss that should not have happened. I had it won and got suuuper unlucky. Oh well.

I could talk about this game for literally weeks. I could probably write 300-500 words on every single card, relic and event in this game. (Sounds kinda fun, actually. I would do it but nobody else is as sick as me when it comes to this game.) I have strong opinions on what cards synergize with what. I spend so much time just thinking about this game.

In general, Slay the Spire is just an amazingly balanced game. It's a deckbuilder but it feels more like I'm doing RPG combat thanks to the progression of the game. Each card is thought out well and the game's balance, especially across the four playable characters, is really remarkable. There's so many interesting ways that cards can go together, and just as many ways that they don't. Building a deck is super interesting because you end up doing vastly different stuff every time. I could write full posts about many of my runs, and I apparently have done thousands.

This game is so good. I can't wait to see what these guys do next.

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love StS, but ive only ever beat the heart 2-3 times (getting there is not a problem)

I feel like I could research better synergies and strategies, but i kinda like where I am. Also enjoy doing shiv and poison builds too much so that's what i do most of the time

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that's respectable. the heart is rough, even on lower ascensions!

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How do you feel about Monster Train? For some reason Slay the Spire didnt hit for me like Monster Train did, maybe I should try again.

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I actually haven't played Monster Train. I've been yelled at for a year to give it a shot, and I totally should, but it's not on mobile and that's the only way I want to play these games.

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sts sounds like a game that could destroy my life
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it's so good

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Im with you on Slay the Spire. I have so many thoughts on that game and its incredible how balanced it is. Its easily my favorite roguelike. Sometimes I prefer Hades just because Im much better at it and its a smoother experience. STS stresses me out so much.

Ironclad main for life, for the record

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really? STS doesn't stress me out at all. it's actually my comfort food game. when I'm struggling, I can just lose myself in it. I don't even pay a lot of attention when I'm playing unless I get on one of those runs. sometimes, like today, I get a "oh come ON" moment but I get over them pretty quickly.

edit: I don't like Ironclad actually! I love Silent, Defect is right behind. Watcher is the best in the game by a good amount but I try not to play her because she can be really broken, even on A20 (which is all I play).

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Yeah, I struggle a lot with deckbuilding games in general and I get really nervous whenever I get to Act 3. It really gets me when I have a great deck and I fail.

Ironclad is simple and I love exhausting as a mechanic. Silent is a close second. Defect is a little too wild for me and Watcher just has too much going on.

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Monster Train is also very good, indeed. Honestly don't know which I prefer of the two but I can understand both sides

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transience posted...

I could talk about this game for literally weeks. I could probably write 300-500 words on every single card, relic and event in this game. (Sounds kinda fun, actually. I would do it but nobody else is as sick as me when it comes to this game.) I have strong opinions on what cards synergize with what. I spend so much time just thinking about this game.

i think you underestimate how many people on this board have also invested this many hours into spire and could follow such a topic

I also have StS on mobile! I've only beaten the heart a few times though, I'm not very good at it. Every so often I get an amazing run with infinite shivs or something, but more often than not no good build really materializes and I just get grinded down on the third floor.

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I'm totally lost here

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oh good, other people have my sickness. I'll cut the discussion off here and make a topic in a little bit. (those who slay the spire speak a different language)

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2.



Celeste just has such good mechanics. They're not involved or complicated, but man, they feel so good. Just executing basic movement feels better in Celeste than basically any other video game. It's just a jump and a dash! There's a little more than that, especially with chapter 9, but it's not layering on anything crazy. Each level has its own stage mechanics and pretty much all of them feel great.

But it's chapter 9 that really sells me. This game pushes me to my absolute limits with some of the stuff they ask you to do. I don't mind spending 10 minutes on a single room because the movement feels so good and I love pulling off really hard stuff. Celeste's level design is amazing. I meant to spend just a few minutes with it over the last couple of days to see how I felt about it and I ended up playing through the whole game + most of chapter 9. Damn, Celeste is good. The music is good! The story is good! Everything here is just really great.

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n++ is the best game you've introduced to me. It's perfect.

I finally finished the Ultimate levels last year. I felt so accomplished when I got the platinum, and then got to have that feeling again after they threw another giant pile of levels at us.

It's so, so good.

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also got hooked on StS for a little while this year. Didn't think it was something I'd be into, but I like it a lot. I've only managed to beat the heart a couple times and at low ascensions, but I'm sure I'll pick it back up and be hooked again.

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I have one level left on ultimate and I just have no idea how to do it. I haven't gone back to it in months but I just couldn't manage it. this was E-20 or whatever so I never got to the X levels if those exist. I need to go back.

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I think that one was the one I died on most: 792 deaths on "End Sinister" alone

Had a bit of a facepalm moment when I looked at videos after, though

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maybe I should do that

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Just threw my replay up here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XofcnjyFQXc

But I think I remember seeing other people do some easier stuff in that last level

edit:
there's a slight spoiler in the video revealing that there is indeed an X row

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Hell yeah #1

This level (back in Ultimate C-19) is ridiculous and I love it: https://youtu.be/teO-6cE8ATE?t=122

what a game

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yeah, that's the one! god, I hate the ghosts in n++. I had the same strategy of just hanging out until they finally stop spawning.

that last jump has to be so stressful!

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Not Dave posted...

This level (back in Ultimate C-19) is ridiculous and I love it: https://youtu.be/teO-6cE8ATE?t=122

what a game

haha yes! I have such strong memories of this one. I spent so long trying to cheat this level before resigning myself to doing exactly what you did. it's such a good level but god damn!

n+ on 360 had a similar level and there was online play (!), but the rockets would glitch out after like 30 seconds and just insta-kill you. it made one of the co-op levels impossible! it's probably part of the reason why n++ didn't have it.

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oo celeste also in my top 10

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slightly surprised #1 is still #1, but I guess not that surprised

I havent played it in so long I just assume it doesnt hold up as well as it did 20 years ago but maybe it does

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#3 and #2 are both games I played last year, and didn't really finish. =x

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1.



The GOAT. Xenogears just hits different. Its earnest way of storytelling wins me over big time. Xenogears is so sincere in everything that it does. It tells a mega serious story but also goofs around all the time in the dialogue in super charming ways. Its characters get developed to an extreme degree. I especially like how all the villains are basically trying to one-up each other.

Its music and sound design are second to none. This game has very identifiable flaws, no doubt about it, but I can accept that for a game with this kind of scope and heart. Xenogears is far from perfect but I just love everything about it.

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All done in a week. Very impressive
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Highly recommend listening to the 50+ episode epic podcast "Retrograde Amnesia," which is a playthrough/retrospective on Xenogears. It's extremely entertaining.

I listened to that as it was happening. I chat with those guys every once in a while. stingers even joined in the other day.

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transience posted...

I listened to that as it was happening. I chat with those guys every once in a while. stingers even joined in the other day.

Awesome. Tell them I say sup.

well, that's that. thanks for joining me, and see you all in another 2ish years!

100. portal
99. uniracers
98. dragon warrior
97. world of goo
96. spelunky 2
95. binding of isaac
94. mega man 3
93. ace attorney 5
92. p1 select
91. castlevania: dawn of sorrow
90. half-minute hero 2
89. dragon quest builders 2
88. zelda: link to the past
87. monument valley
86. papers, please
85. zelda: majora's mask
84. god of war 2
83. crystalis
82. great ace attorney 2
81. wolfenstein 2: the new colossus
80. dragon warrior monsters 2
79. final fantasy 7
78. golf story
77. we love katamari
76. etrian odyssey 5
75. super smash bros ultimate
74. mike tyson's punch out!!
73. dragon quest 3
72. holedown
71. shadow hearts 2
70. bleed
69. super hexagon
68. shadow complex
67. hades
66. final fantasy 9
65. persona 4 golden
64. zelda 1
63. mega man 11
62. metroid fusion
61. ace attorney investigations 2
60. desert golfing
59. crypt of the necrodancer
58. street fighter 2
57. brothers: a tale of two sons
56. persona 5
55. geometry wars 2
54. castle crashers
53. tales of maj'eyal
52. xenoblade
51. actraiser
50. castlevania: portrait of ruin
49. ace attorney
48. etrian odyssey 4
47. ace attorney 6
46. the messenger
45. final fantasy 6
44. life is strange
43. ikaruga
42. dicey dungeons
41. inside
40. fantasian
39. dragon quest 11
38. shadow hearts
37. final fantasy 4
36. suikoden
35. banished
34. final fantasy 10
33. tactics ogre: let us cling together
32. street fighter 4
31. super mario odyssey
30. bleed 2
29. outland
28. chrono trigger
27. final fantasy
26. persona 3 portable
25. the walking dead
24. dragon quest 8
23. vvvvvv
22. mega man 2
21. ori and the blind forest
20. final fantasy tactics
19. mega man 9
18. dragon warrior monsters
17. f-zero gx
16. spelunky
15. cave story
14. zelda: breath of the wild
13. am2r
12. final fantasy 5
11. ace attorney 3
10. xenosaga 3
9. ori and the will of the wisps
8. metroid dread
7. tetris
6. super metroid
5. metroid: zero mission
4. n++
3. slay the spire
2. celeste
1. xenogears

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fun as always

I haven't done a list in a long time

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I can't imagine how wonky a top 100 games list would look for me. Too many different eras of gaming to try to blend.

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This list may have inspired me to try and do one of my own soon. I know I have a tendency to get too wordy (which also makes the prospect of starting the list more daunting in the first place), but I feel I could restrain myself at least until the top 10 or so.

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https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/79323228

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Great job, this was really entertaining to read.

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