So...favourite games evarr? Sure, why not?
There is also a video component because I joked to Gexup (who wanted this list to be spoken by myself) that I would "read the list over Skype as a bedtime story". Shenanigans ensued and he and Cendoo joined me over Skype to read my list. I really shouldn't have said that joke lol. Ugh, and I spent most of the free time I had after work editing the video instead of playing Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal (and for those keeping track of Ratchet collection glitches, it froze again and I might've lost about an hour of progress. Yaaaaaaaaaaaay x__x).
...back on topic!
But to keep in mind:
- I'm primarily a console gamer and have not yet ascended to the PC gaming master race.
- My first console was a Sega Genesis and I grew up primarily in the 90s, but I didn't really start getting into games until much later. That means I don't play many games before the PS1 and the lot.
- I'm obsessed with platformers.
- One game per franchise, otherwise this would be a very boring list.
- All of these games come with a recommendation and are awesome in their own ways. I don't promise you'll feel the same way as I do, but worth a try. Most of them are also cheap and easy to obtain.
- Bolded is the version I played
- If you know me, this list is very, VERY predictable. I know that Possk as an example played 8/12 of these, and she's no big collector.
- Honourable mentions located at the end
12. Bastion
[Xbox 360, PC]
-Rucks
Leading off the list is my favourite indie game, Bastion, a stylish hack n' slash RPG. When this game popped up on Steam sale one day, it just had to be mine. And it did not disappoint.
Bastion as a game isn't that special. There's stuff to destroy, and it's a matter of picking your favourite weapons to smash, slash, or blow it up with. You get XP by killing things, yada yada. But Bastion is really well put together none the less. The combat is satisfying and the variety of environments and enemies (not to mention a customizable level of challenge based on ways you want to be tested) is interesting enough to keep playing and see what happens next. The story, while sparse, also isn't that special. The world is falling apart, gather survivors, hotta find the things to bring back to another thing with a few smaller events here and there based on past civil issues causing friction among the team.
But to bring back a word I used before on WHY Bastion is so special. "Stylish". Everything about this game brings a unique style, from the art direction, to the scrappy-ness of the combat, the music, and even the names of the enemies. It's the game's soul. And it all comes together with that godly narrator, narrating everything you do from how you killed an enemy to various other bits of flavour. Just LISTEN! And that's just him doing a trailer.
11. The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past
[SNES, GBA]
"The Triforce will grant the wishes in the heart and mind of the person who touches it"
-The Triforce
See? I play older games. Not a lot of them, but they're there. I have a lot of problems picking my favourite Zelda, and not for the reason a lot of fans may like to hear. Most Zeldas are very samey to me (NOT BAD! I must make that very clear), and I can't help but see them as one mass as opposed to individual games. That's why whenever I try to put them on a list, they're all pretty tied (and I've played nearly all the console Zeldas except the first two...and I guess the ones on the CDI). For this list I was waffling a bit until I decided to choose the purest Zelda I've ever played, which also happened to be the first one I owned and beat.
Having owned a Genesis, I missed out on this game, so I got it for my birthday one year. I had a lot of fun and was well challenged by what LTTP had to offer. While I do like the later 3D games, LTTP to me had no fluff. Here's your sword, here's your mission, we'll give you some stuff to do along the way, now go get 'im. I guess the game represents to me why a lot of people play retro games. No spectacle, just a simple goal. It also helps that this game has aged well (for a SNES game) and still remains playable and challenging. It doesn't have Majora's Mask obnoxious save system, or Wind Waker's hunt for the triforce pieces. It has more colour than Twilight Princess and lacks the finicky controls from Skyward Sword or Navi from Ocarina of Time. Not to mention this is arguably the game that invented the Zelda formula in it's simplest and most focused form.
Sure LTTP isn't fancy and is one of the many "best Zelda evarr" contenders, but considering some of the games later in the list, you might see why.
10. Conker's Bad Fur Day
[N64, Xbox, and my computer's N64 emulator because this game is rare and expensive *cough*]
"Now this is what I call a platform game!"
-Conker
This game is just simply one of a kind. It's the demonic hell spawn of South Park and Loony Tunes, and that's just fine if you ask me.
Despite it's colourful platformer design, Conker flaunts it's M rating with it's excessive profanity, violence, blood, raunchy jokes, and I kid you not, an entire level themed with poop, including it's boss, a singing pile of shit. And the movie references? The plays on game design tropes? The 4th wall breaking moments? Perfection. The game launches so much crazyness at you, and all you can just do is take it in and laugh, even if you hate yourself a little bit for doing so. It's all good fun, and when you get down to the nitty-gritty, it's also a very smart and clever game in design (not unlike South Park as a show). Conker's Bad Fur Day is a rather average, almost mediocre work on a gameplay front, done better by games like Rare's own Banjo Kazooie. But the game is proof that if your concept is original and bold enough, it'll be remembered and loved.
9. Kingdom Hearts 2
[PS2]
"A scattered dream that's like a far-off memory. A far-off memory that's like a scattered dream"
-Sora
Kingdom Hearts is cheesy, saccharine bullshit that makes cynical me want to puke all over my hermit cave from the sheer self-aware camp of it all. And damn it, I wouldn't have it any other way. Kingdom Hearts as a concept absolutely astounds me on how it got this popular. It shouldn't have worked and whoever thought of the idea is either a genius or a madman. Either way he's hopefully rich. With Kingdom Hearts skipping a generation when it came to big console releases, I did somewhat miss it. With all the gritty, fat space marines, I needed something to cleanse the palate that isn't ashamed to be happy. And also Disney is awesome. I think I should mention that.
Anyways, I've never been a particularly big fan of turn-based RPGs. It's just the pacing that gets me. Being an action RPG allowed Kingdom Hearts as a franchise allows me to be more involved with the combat and dictate how much combat I need to do (random encounters, ugh). I just prefer the style, so come at me, my favourite JRPG is where you play a spikey-haired kid with big shoes who has Donald Duck and Goofy as his sidekicks. But yes, much of my love is from the ludacris concept and it's surprisingly good execution. The gameplay itself is stable and fun enough to justify the journey.
I waffled between KH 1 and 2. Kingdom Hearts 1 is so simple and was one hell of a launching point, but it suffered a lot on a technical level (such as how the Gummi ship levels were boring, the disobedient camera, and breaking my chief cardinal gaming sin of not allowing us to skip 5 minute long cutscenes). Kingdom Hearts 2 fixed many of those problems and spruced up the combat, but also brought up new flaws, such as quick-time events, a needlessly overcomplicated plot (which had a TERRIBLE start for those that didn't play Chain of Memories, like me), lack of difficulty at it's highest setting, and...Atlantica. It's a choice between something good but imperfect, and something that is good but bloated. Apparently many of the Kingdom Hearts 1 features I complained about (namely the camera and cutscene skipping) are fixed in the Final Mix version, which we'll be getting in a month. Once it does and many of these issues are indeed fixed, the choice and easily be switched to the first Kingdom Hearts.
8. Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage
[PS1, PSN]
-Spyro
Oh gee, what a surprise. Raggedstar loves Spyro, huh? I'm sure she loves it so much that she decided to talk all over it several years ago.
Spyro was one of my first 3D platformers that I mooched from my friends, so even right there it holds a lot of special meaning. It was an open world of magic ready to explore and had the light, cute charm that used to be characteristic of platformers back in the day. Crash was great, but Spyro was better. Gotta love it. Not a hard game or even a particularly exotic one for the time, but it just has a lot of meaning for me. Good music, addicting yet simple gameplay, and a whole lot of fun.
The reason why I chose Spyro 2 over 3 is for the same reason as why I prefer Sly 2 over 3. More characters and mini-games by itself doesn't mean more fun (in fact much of the time it was the opposite), as opposed to Spyro 2 which was focused exactly on what it wanted to do. As for Spyro 1, well, we aren't on speaking terms. Oh and speaking of that thievious raccoonus...
7. Sly 2: Band Of Thieves
[PS2, PS3]
-The Contessa
Sly was a bit left in the dust compared to the level of popularity his buddies Jak and Ratchet had (and of the three, I played Sly last). But despite that, Sly is still seen as a king among fans of platformers. There is no general consensus for best Sly game, but for me it would have to be the second.
It's the first game that included the heavier focus on stealth and many missions had me on my toes as I completed heists by running across rooftops and slinking around the shadows. In the first game, I honestly didn't feel like much of a thief. I was just hopping around levels looking for keys, occasionally racing or on a turret. Sly 2 brought some much needed variety without sacrificing the focus of the game. In fact, it helped. Instead of fetching keys from a case, you pick-pocket them from guards. You gather intel from tailing characters and taking pictures of their HQ for future use. Instead of Sly doing 90% of the work, you get to play as Bentley and Murray as they work together and play to their strengths (in one of the few instances where I think adding characters helped a game). The plots are broken down and complicated to a hilarious degree through Bentley's slideshows, and your enemies are just as silly and over the top. And these missions are easily adapted into established mechanics, though level design does often make it hard for Bentley and Murray to navigate.
Sly 3 may have had the better story, but the mini-games and lack of gameplay focus killed it for me. And for a stealth platformer to have less stealth AND platforming could be a bit of a problem too. Oh but Sly 2 can just fuck off with the tank missions. Fuck the tank.
6. Portal
[PC, PS3, Xbox 360]
"You're not smart. You're not a scientist. You're not a doctor. You're not even a full-time employee. Where did your life go so wrong?"-GLaDOS
Ah, the game that launched a million memes
(oh come on, that picture isn't a spoiler). It may only be a few hours long, but it's 100% gold.
Portal is a simple game in essence. Place portals here and there to get to the end, that's the game. It does it's puzzle-game day job very well, but on top of that is it's appealing design, physics, and humor. GLaDOS is definitely one of the most amusing characters I've seen in games, especially among antagonists. It's her mix of awkward curiosity for science and her content lack of understanding that hit home. You don't need to be particularly good at puzzle games (sure as hell I'm not) as it's maybe the best example of tutorial without being tacky, unpractical, or whacking you bluntly on the head with a manual. Not bad for a game that was originally made as an experimental romp.
Honestly, that's all I can say. It's just so simple and perfect. I can't think of a flaw to it. Portal 2 is great too (my game of the year 2011), but suffers from a lot of flab that Portal 1 avoids by being so tightly wrapped. It's just damn good game design.
5. Journey
"BUY THIS GAME!"
-Raggedstar
(I'm sure you can hear it in the wind somewhere)
The most recent game on this list (also my game of the year 2012), Journey is truly something special. It's one of the most powerful works of emotion I've ever experienced in my years of gaming. The music, the visuals, the story, all coming together in what I hope will be remembered as one of the greatest art games ever created. It HAD to make the list, and it HAD to make it in the top 5. It was also featured in my first completed GMV, in case anyone was curious...
Journey is a game without dialogue, no HUD, and no clearly defined plot. But what the game lacks in exposition it makes up in subtlety, and for being such a humble little game, it hit me like a brick. The vague and sparse cutscenes mixed in with clues of a civilization buried in sand tell their own story. You start off in the desert on a journey. You don't know why, but your destination is a distant mountain top visible from the dunes. I went into this game clean, completely buying into the mystery and excited for future set-pieces and enviroments to tell me the next clue. But what surprised me the most was the game's multiplayer. While it is technically co-op and there's benefits to co-op play (such as it being easier to refill your flight meter), I found the subtle ways of interaction and the closeness my anonymous partners was what made it an unforgettable experience. Co-op is completely non-forced, yet the game has a strange way of invoking an instant friendship and encouraging the co-opperation without doing anything at all. All we know is that we're both on our own journey, and all we have in this empty, beautiful world is each other.
Not to mention that such a quaint, artsy game has made such a huge rattle in the industry. Not only was it met with almost universal critical acclaim, but it was the top selling PSN game at it's time, top selling game OST on iTunes, as well as the first video game OST nominated for a Grammy (though it ultimately lost to Girl With The Dragon Tatoo). Warm fuzzies all around when such a wonderful experience, even if it's less than 2 hours long, gets the credit it deserves.
4. Jak 2
[PS2, PS3, Vita]
"Well, I probably wouldn't be 2 feet tall, fuzzy, and running in this sewer without a pair of pants... God, I miss pants"
-Jak and Daxter
The more I think about this game the more I think I'm in an abusive relationship with it. Jak 2 is unforgiving, often cheap and rotton, dark and unpleasant, made me scream on many occasions, and I can't help but wonder if it somehow gained from my anguish. But despite all that, I can't help but defend it on all counts as one of my favourite games. And if the franchise came back into my life bringing the same cruelty, I would welcome it's return and ask for more.
It was a huge contrast between the innocent and fairly easy Precursor Legacy, and is one of the extremely rare occasions of a dark and gritty sequel done right, unlike this and this. Despite it's dark exterior, it has a lot of heart. Not to mention no loading times, beautiful animation for it's time, humor is as good as ever, and at it's core is still a worthy (yet flawed) successor to it's near perfect predecessor. It does something new without forgetting and embracing it's history, even if it's a bit rough around the edges (mostly relating to vehicles, some of the writing, the choice to go sandbox, and Jak's new 'tude).
Not to mention it's worth every bit of frustration to see the crazy antics of Daxter, who daintily prances between the line of funny and obnoxious while drunk and STILL doesn't cross it. The guy needs his own game. Wait, he did? What console? PSP exclusive with no port in sight? DAMN IT!
3. Shadow Of The Colossus
[PS2, PS3, Vita]
"But heed this: the price you pay may be heavy indeed"
-Dormin
Shadow of the Colossus is the poster child for video games seen as an art form. It's been immensely praised up the yang, and I went in 100% clean. And it knocked my socks clean off by the time I finished watching the pre-menu intro. If a game that you know nothing about leaves you speechless before you even press "new game", then it's doing SOMETHING right.
I'll just repeat everything that has been said about this game. Shadow Of The Colossus and Ico are beautiful examples of video games as an art form. They cut all the fat and bring you the meatiest, most unforgettable experience you'll ever see in a game. No sidequests, minimal cutscenes and exposition, no villages, and no lesser enemies to fight. Between the two, Shadow of the Colossus is the easy winner despite how much deep love I have for Ico. The land is expansive and immersive while the colossus battles are intense and frantic. Each of the 16 beasts you meet is unique with their own personality, design, and method to kill. The game has very few cutscenes, having you experience every second of Wander's quest to revive a woman, no matter the consequence, discovering the answers for yourself. The game isn't really FUN (especially with nasty framerate, floppy controls, and a camera that doesn't know what to do), but it's engaging as hell. Shadow of the Colossus is a game of blood-rushing highs, and agonizing lows.
And remember, real men cry at Team Ico games.
2. Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack In Time
[PS3]
"But first, what about one final hurrah so we can kick this guy's butt?"-Ratchet
Remember what I said about Shadow of the Colossus not being fun? Well Ratchet and Clank games are fun. Very fun, actually. And the peak of those games, bringing to the table both satisfying gameplay and a good story, it's the franchise's grand opus A Crack In Time.
I've always admired the games for having elements of a shooter (...with weapons that have giant burping frogs and some that turn enemies into barnyard animals) but remaining a platformer at heart. It helps balance out the action from the usual shooter creed of "shoot everything in this room and then go to the next room to shoot more things". A Crack In Time had great platforming, good humor, the free-flight between planets, some great weapons, and a heartwarming story of two buddies conflicting with newfound responsibility. Not to mention not only was Clank's gameplay was good (for once) but actually rivalled or even surpassed Ratchet's levels on challenge and enjoyment. Some of those gold bolt puzzles were pretty damn hard. Also, hover boots. Gotta love them hover boots.
It's more or less a contest between this and Up Your Arsenal, but A Crack In Time edges ahead ever so slightly. At the time it brought a close to the PS3 trilogy and if this was the last game in the series, I would be satisfied. How many franchises these days actually END without being sequel bait or leaving you hungry for more? It's a rarity, that's for sure. It's been one hell of a ride, boys. I don't know how many games are left in you, but I'll be there as long as you don't shovel in multiplayer.
1. Okami
[PS2, Wii, PS3]
"Life is all about resolve. Outcome is secondary."
-Waka
To the surprise of a grand total of ZERO people! Yep, my favourite game is Okami. I mean, how many times have I mentioned it casually? One of the first games I played on my newly aquired PS2 and was my forbidden fruit for many years, Okami blew my mind through it's scale, art style, characters, story, and gameplay.
Some may call it a Zelda knock-off, and I agree. It is LIKE Zelda, but better! It does borrow some things from the Zelda formula and various games, but it brings so much more than that. The style is breathtaking and the celestial brush and interations with the environment were great touches while being approachable, satisfying, and intuitive. Not only are you going to be kept busy for over 30 hours with minimal filler (and that's if you skip most of the side-quests), but the story itself works various emotions from making you laugh to making you cry. The Japanese touch to the soundtrack is great, getting your blood running as you fight mythical beasts, or cooling it down as you wander Nippon's lush forests and quaint villages. I could waste time with no progress and still gain enjoyment running through Shinshu Field and Ryoshima Coast while watching the scenery and listening to the music.
The game has it's faults. All games do. It's piss-easy with the amount of hand-holding it has, the cutscenes are too long and unskippable, and the combat outside of brush techniques isn't that great. But Okami really hit the spot with me. It was the first time a game touched my heart through it's charm and pure magic, and it's ending nearly drew tears as my nearly 70 hour quest drew to a close. It was years of sitting idle while listening to the hype, and it was well worth the wait. It's a game I hold very close to my heart, and even after playing more and more games, I've yet to find a match for it.
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Honourable Mentions by genre. I love platformers perhaps too much, so much of the main list was stuffed by them. But I do play other franchises. Honest. Here are games that nearly made the cut but were edged out for one reason or another.
Survival Horror: Amnesia: The Dark Descent (PC)
RPG: Final Fantasy 9 (PS1, PSN), Xenoblade Chronicles (Wii), Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal (GBC)
Sandbox: Assassin's Creed 2 (PC, PS3, Xbox360), Infamous (PS3)
FPS: Bioshock Infinite (PC, PS3, Xbox360), Half Life (PC, PS2)
TPS: The Last Of Us (PS3)
Hack n' Slash: Bayonetta (Xbox 360, PS3), No More Heroes (Wii, PS3)
And mention to the first two games I ever played, Quackshot and The Lion King for the Sega Genesis. I really gotta beat Quackshot.
And that's the end of my list. I hope you enjoyed it and maybe learned about some cool games to try out. To end, how about one of your famous victory howls, Ammy!
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