Parama's Top 25 Video Games Lists v. Cool Games You've Probably Never Heard Of
First off I want to rattle off a long list of games that didn't make the cut even before I get to the 10 honorable mentions I have lined up.
I put in place a strict "one game per series" rule that I didn't really need to break anyways, honestly, maybe one or two games I won't put anywhere on the list but will probably mention in writeups for the games I did pick.
In no particular order, then.
Final Fantasy X - Not a series I've ever been a huge fan of but I do have fond memories of this one. Sadly XII killed any interest I had in the series and I've never bothered to revisit any of the games since. It's a bit vanilla as far as RPGs go but I liked the characters and especially the world they live in. Also some of the music is just fantastic.
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes - Another game I have a lot of fond memories of, but I could never get into the sequel and outright never played the first in the trilogy. Do want to go back and replay this one sometime though because the world the game takes place in is gorgeous. I've played Super Metroid too but honestly that game doesn't have the same sense of wonder of atmosphere to it and came off as a little dated to me. Dunno.
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor - Another case of "liked the game, couldn't finish the sequel", though I do intend to go back and try to play through this at some point... Anyways, I particularly like the event system of this game and the combat is pretty solid too, decently strategic without relying on too much luck. The many different endings and the way a lot of your choices can come back to bite you I also quite like, though the story as a whole is maybe a bit cliche.
Rhythm Heaven - I love the idea behind this game and series but the flicking mechanic on this game has always been a sticking point. Especially in that ping pong minigame. Nightmares. Ugh. Still a cool game on the whole though, a lot of creative uses of basic mechanics and just a lot of charm to it as well.
Pokemon Ruby - I skipped a few gens (4 and 5) and only got back into the series recently so I could totally be missing out on a better game in the series, but as it stands this one's always been my favorite. A lot of my favorite 'mon designs, a pretty diverse world that feels a lot more interesting to explore than previous games, and at least this game poses a bit of a challenge compared to the gen 6 games.
Kingdom Hearts 2 - Another game I played the heck out of (as well as the original), but then 358/2 had to come along and completely destroy my interest in the series. I haven't played this game in so long though, and every time I do go back to it I don't ever seem to make it past the long prologue, which is a sign that it probably hasn't aged well for me. Still have fond memories regardless.
Rock Band 2 - Great setlist, heck, probably a better setlist than the guitar hero game I ended up going with (spoilers) but the game engine has always held this series back from being truly great. Would probably crack my top 40 though, consider it like #38 or so.
The Stanley Parable - A fantastic experience, but once you've played it for a few hours you've seen all there is to see and it's hardly replayable. A bit hard to really even call it a game, but, definitely something everyone should experience once in their lives.
Castle in the Darkness - A retro-styled metroidvania that's got great pacing and is pretty great fun, though lack of a map and a bit of an excess of instadeath holds it back a little. I dug this a fair bit when playing it but I haven't really felt the urge to return to it since. Still a pretty fun game and a pretty good metroidvania on the whole.
Fract OSC - I just think this game's aesthetic is absolutely beautiful. Like, damn. Looks gorgeous, sounds gorgeous - and it better since sound is a major aspect of its gameplay. It's a bit short though and really lacking in replayability, but it's an enjoyable world to explore once, and has a decent amount of puzzle variety to keep it interesting.
Grow Home - Quirky physics aside this is a pretty chill and pleasant exploration platformer that goes on just long enough and has just enough hidden away to keep it from ever feeling stale. Oh, and, tons of charm, just like, a lot of it. The weird climbing mechanic can get a bit annoying after a while though and it's a bit awkward to play at the start as well.
Velocity 2X - An unsurprisingly fast-paced shmup/platformer hybrid that has one of the highest damn barriers of entry to its convoluted control scheme I've ever seen but once you do get the hang of it it's really quite fun to play. And there's enough variety to keep the game from getting stale, though there are some notable misses that turn from fun to frustrating pretty fast, and 100% completion is a bit of a nightmare (but I pulled it off, somehow...)
Before the Echo (aka Sequence - Cool little RPG//rhythm game hybrid with quite fun gameplay and a great soundtrack provided mostly by Ronald Jenkees, with solid characters to keep the story engaging and a decent sense of humor as well. Can end up a tad grindy, especially when drops are as luck-based as they are, but it's a great core concept.
Blocks That Matter - A simple but elegant block-based puzzle platformer that takes into account both the puzzle and platformer elements of the genre quite well. The puzzles tend to have a few different solutions and there's incentive to find the most efficient ones that gives the game a surprising amount of replayability.
La-Mulana - I'm hyped as hell for the sequel to this game despite only ever kiiiind of being on board with the original. For every clever puzzle there's one stupidly obscure one and the game is practically impossible to beat without a walkthrough, on top of being one of the longest metroidvanias I've ever played. The real gripe I have though comes with the stiff controls, and some of the boss designs (especially boss #5) can be particularly frustrating. I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with this one, I guess. And the stuff it does best, well, a game in my top 5 does just as well without any of the frustrations.
Mark of the Ninja - Stealth games are a genre I tend to not be a fan of but this one pulls it off well for me due to it being primarily a platformer at heart, though the stealth elements definitely play a major role. A bit awkward to start playing but once you get used to the controls it's pretty fluid and can be pretty fast-paced if you know what you're doing. I tend to prefer playing the pure stealth route, personally.
Outland - A gorgeous game to look at and a solidly fun one to play, but by the time I did get to playing this one I'd seen everything it had to offer done better. Doesn't keep this from being a pretty great game nonetheless, though.
PixelJunk Eden - This game is insufferable if you don't figure out the right way to play it, but once you do, it's... it's actually pretty chill and a really fun game to explore around in. I dig the aesthetics and I dig the stripped-down gameplay, and while it could maybe end up being a bit monotonous to some people I find it easy to get lost in the game for the same reason. I haven't actually played this one in ages and now I kind of want to go back and replay it, haha.
Portal 2 - it's p. good
Psychonauts - A cult classic with great writing and decent gameplay, but it just barely missed the cut for my proper honorable mentions due to being... a bit rough around the edges. Not quiiiite as good as everything above it. But still a great game. Maybe my honorary #36. Probably. I wouldn't put it above what I have at #35, at least, but it's close.
Retro/Grade - Continuing the trend of great genre fusion games that didn't quite make my list is the shmup/rhythm game hybrid that would be so much better if it had more than 10 songs. That being said the game has a pretty smooth difficulty curve and the tunes are actually pretty bangin'. And the patterns on some of the final levels... it's really tightly made, a blast to play, and it can be pretty dang tough too. Getting 100% completion on this one is an achievement I'm quite proud of.
Shantae and the Pirate's Curse - I dig this more than I dig the standard Shantae games, mainly for its better pacing and its powerup selection, but it's a bit on the short side. Some of the bosses are a bit weak too and the island-style level design means for smaller, isolated areas instead of one bigger map like I'd prefer. A fun game but maybe a bit lacking in flavor or anything that really stands out.
Terraria - I played the heck out of this a while back and was never able to get into any of its copycat games as a result (maybe because they're all inferior). Crafting sandboxy type games don't tend to be something I like but the sense of exploration you get in this one made it worth playing to me, and it's easy to accidentally lose an afternoon playing it because you keep going "just a little more" a dozen times in a row.
Valdis Story: Abyssal City - A game with so much potential and some pretty enjoyable and diverse playable characters, that often shoots itself in the foot with frustrating level or boss design. Oh and the fact that towns can literally vanish off the map leaving you with no way of upgrading some of your equipment. If you miss certain events that is. Which you may or may not accidentally do. That being said it's pretty great aesthetically and when you do get the hang of it pretty dang fun to play. It's just got a lot of minor annoyances that keep me from really loving it.
VVVVVV - One of the indie games that was largely responsible for the indie game boom and it's a pretty great one in its own right, though it's a bit on the short side. I still go back and replay this from time to time though, especially because of how brief it is.
...whew, I think that's about all I have for now. I'll start the honorable mentions proper tomorrow (yes, I have 10 more before we even hit the main list, because there are just so many games I can't go without talking about). I maybe forgot to mention something here but, ehh, shrugs, whatever, y'know, y'know.
One thing you'll probably notice is that I don't really value nostalgia a lot in deciding my favorite games. I believe in the progress of the medium as a whole and as such a good number of my picks are quite recent, with only a handful in the top 25 being more than 5 years old. Maybe it's because the newer games are fresher in my mind, but also because whenever I tend to go back and replay older games I find myself quickly picking up on all the little imperfections the medium as a whole has ironed out since their release. You won't see Super Mario World here, you won't see Sonic 3 & Knuckles here, heck, you aren't even getting any Zelda games period. There are none. I realize this is likely going to be really alienating for a lot of people who follow the thread but hopefully I can make up for it by introducing you all to a lot of Cool Games You've Probably Never Heard Of.
Topic: Top 25 Video Games Lists v2.0: Cable's NES Nostalgia 15 & 2 (starts pg32) (Read 83529 times)