Favorite Games Ever (Besides Ninja Gaiden, Obviously)

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Hmmmm, I guess I remember the older games wrong, but it must have been at least somewhat different since I didn't remember there being that much variability between 2 of the same Pokemon if you leveled them up all of the way (as in, their stats were almost identical as far as I can remember). Perhaps I should replay the original versions of Red and Green/Blue or Yellow to experiment with that game's stat-leveling system.

Still, I do feel that the later installments at the very least had a more refined feel to the combat, but maybe my outlook is just biased.

::EDIT::

I did notice a couple of differences from the link you sent me. One of the main ones was that in G1 and 2 there was only one IV value that applied to both special attack and special defense, whereas in G3 and 4 that changed so that there were separate IV values that individually applied to each stat. So in other words I believe that would mean that based on IV values in the early generations, it would either contribute to stronger or weaker special attack and defense in general based on the value as opposed to having them vary. Though, they each still had their own individual EV values according to that chart, so they could still vary to some degree, rather than the Pokemon having having to have both special stats be around the same level.

The interesting thing is that, if I'm not mistaken, the Fire Red and Leaf Green remakes ended up integrating in the stat-leveling system from G3 rather than the original one, so that's probably why I noticed a lot of difference in IVs/EVs in that game and how it effected my Pokemon as I raised them.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Good lists, guys. I'm glad to see I was able to spread some MMX love around. The game is just so perfect that it's a shame how they managed to lose a bit of what made it work in later installments.

I think I might make a list, too. But I'll try to shake it up with more genres this time.

[talonmalon333]

Great list. I haven't been able to play all of the games on your list, but I think they all have good qualities to them and a couple of them would definitely be in my top 10-20 as well. On the point of Pokemon's deep combat system, though, I'd argue that the original Red/Green/Yellow (Blue is basically the U.S. version of Green) had relatively more shallow combat systems compared to later Pokemon games. It has more to do with stats, though. Back then they didn't have EVs, IVs, or Natures, which cause Pokemon of the same exact species to be radically different as you train and evolve them, with their own custom strengths and weaknesses. It makes the combat system far more varied in later games. Though the originals are still entertaining and addicting games as well. I figured I'd just post my list even though its basically the same as it always was except for a few changes. I'll make it a top 12 list to keep the holiday spirit up (but really its because I had a hard time leaving some games out of my list by only making a top 10, yet I didn't feel like writing a full top 15 either).

Thanks! As for Pokemon, you're right. I do think they're still deep, but yeah, not on the same level as later games. Thankfully the originals have other features that make them more fun as a whole than later games.

As for you're list, it's also great! I noticed Ninja Gaiden II isn't there. I always knew you were a (much) bigger fan of the first one, but I had a feeling you'd clip it onto the very end of the list.

12. Halo: Combat Evolved

11. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages/Seasons

10. Mega Man X

9. Jet Set Radio Future

8. The Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker

7. Super Mario World

6. F.E.A.R.

5. Max Payne

4. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest

3. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island

2. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

1. Ninja Gaiden Black

#11: I love Link's Awakening, but I agree with you on A Link to the Past. Ocarina of Time did everything it did, only better and in 3D. 8)

#10: YES! I like this better than 2 and 3, the traditional favorites from what I've seen. X just had more going for it.

#8: I felt terrible about kicking Wind Waker out of my list, but Twilight Princess just recently stole it's spot. Hope you get to play through this someday. I think it's the definitive "traditional" Zelda (still love Ocarina though)... By the way, sailing is awesome, for every reason you said and more.

#7: I tend to pick 3 over this when rankings. But really, I like them equally! I prefer the variety of different powerups in 3 over Yoshi, as well as the level variety. But World... I don't know, something about the atmosphere really draws me in. Plus, it has an AWESOME ending theme!

#4: Excellent! I already went into depth with this one of my list.

#3: Aww, you know Baby Mario's insanely annoying crying is classic! LOL. Agreed with everything you said (except it being the best platformer, but it's up there). Baby Bowser is the best Mario boss, and one of the best final bosses in ANY game. 8)

#2: Classic. And while I like the other 3D games more, one thing this game has over them is that it's easier to pick up and just play through. In fact, I recently beat this in five days, but the other 3D games took about twice that amount of time! Have you gotten a chance to try the remake?

#1: That's a surprise...

(That took a while to type up. )

[Spark Of Spirit]

Okay, I narrowed it down to 15 games, and diversified it a bit with a few different genres. I'm still missing some favorites, but I'll settle with these being my 15 most favorite games of all time. Honestly, I just picked the games that I come back to the most and am always willing to pop in for another playthrough at the drop of a hat, as replayability is my most important aspect in choosing a favorite. So here's my list.


15. Rockin' Kats



I'm probably the only one in the world that would rate this game so high, but you know... whatever. The game is a great platformer, with tons of variety, and a swinging mechanic that doesn't suck like Bionic Commando's does. The game is basically a tribute to classic cartoons with a classic jazzy and rock n roll inspired soundtrack. It's a simple and straightforward game with a lot of charm, and it's one of my favorite games ever. (As you can tell from my avatar on a certain other board.)

14. Duck Tales



Exploration, adventure, treasures, money, platforming, a unique attack style, and quite possibly the best music on the system. Almost like Mega Man crossed with Mario, but with a focus on treasure and money that fits right in with Duck Tales, there is no other game like Duck Tales short of its sequel (and similar Game Boy games) and that's really a shame because it's one of the best in not just its genre or system, but one of the best games ever. I still don't think anyone has ever found all the hidden money and gems in this game, and that's just amazing to think about.


13. DOOM II



Oh WOW. Talk about a shooter. DOOM is a classic and one of the best shooters ever made, but DOOM II takes the original and blows off all the doors. Anything you can imagine is turned on its head, the level design is complex but never complicated (one level kind of is, but that might just be me) but the action is just as rip-roaring as it was in DOOM yet even better with the improved weapons and enemy types. As far as the pure FPS experience goes, DOOM II is still one of the best and arguably still the best. Simplistic, yet complicated, straightforward and yet over the top. Despite the dated graphical style (there's not much they could do about that, though) and limitations of the time, DOOM II managed to shine through as a pure shooter classic. Turn the lights off and crank up the volume and enjoy classic gaming at its finest.

12. Garou: Mark Of The Wolves



I've played a lot of fighting games in my day. Some good, some bad, but few have given me the feel of a fight. MOTW is a fighting game that casuals can jump into and feel bad ass, and experts can pick apart all day. Every fight has a flow and a feel to it that even a novice like me can pick up on. As far as traditional one on one fighting goes- this is the peak. Every character has a style, all attacks come out fast, but are very easy to whiff with and easily punished, there are few overly complicated commands and fights can be as hectic or calm as the players want and the fights are always fun to watch and play. This game still has SNK boss syndrome, but it's hard to list that as a fault when that's really the only problem the game has. Again, this is the best traditional fighting game ever made.


11. Super Smash Bros.



Arcade action for a console. A simple, yet addictive experience and with just a handful of buttons, things can get hectic fast. While the sequels added more, I think they missed the simplistic joy of the hits this game offers where every hit feels STRONG and every character is a totally unique experience. Perfect for pick up and play, or for long gameplay sessions, in my opinion it is the best game on the Nintendo 64 and one of the best party games ever made. (I'd say fighter, but I don't want to be skinned)


10. Ninja Five-O



Take Bionic Commando, Ninja Gaiden, Shinobi, and Rolling Thunder, put them in a blender and you get Ninja Five-O (Or Ninja Cop in the UK), the best game nobody owns because Konami botched the release of the game making it impossible to find and expensive to buy. You basically enter a terrorist situation, rescue hostages, evade traps, slay enemies, defeat crazy bosses, and save the day. It's wonderfully simple and straightforward, but the way it plays and works is what makes it truly shine. You can go in Rambo, or you can try to sneak and attack. You can swing through levels, climb ceilings, or just hop around. You have quite the surprising amount of options despite it being just a portable game, but it is a true classic. Had this come out on the SNES or Genesis, it would most likely have been huge and lead to a series. As it is, it's just an obscure classic.


9. OutRun Online Arcade/OutRun 2/OutRun 2006/whatever they want to call it



You have to play this to get it, I think. Not just a racing game in that, there's no "traditional" track. You are literally racing across country on highways, swerving through traffic and hairpin turns and choosing routes (a racing game with branching paths! Brilliant!) in order to get the best score and/or time. There is no racing game in existence like OutRun, but while the original is a bit too rough for my taste, the sequel and all the alternate mixes/modes/editions/whatever based on it takes the concept and blows it up giving way to the best arcade racer ever made. No traditional racer has anything on the OutRun games, and as someone who doesn't really like the genre, I think it's one of the best games ever made.

8. Shinobi 3



Probably the best ninja game ever. No game has managed to nail the feel of being a ninja so flawlessly as well as even letting in the more crazy elements (like storming a base) but never breaking the tone of the action up. Other Shinobi games have had their faults (Revenge being hard to the point of being cheap, Shadow Dancer's one hit annoyances), but 3 has no issues aside from some annoying (but beatable) bosses, and in fact has tons of high points throughout. Possibly the secret best Sega game, it needs way more attention than it gets.


7. Mario Kart Double Dash!!



My personal favorite racing game. 16 tracks; almost all of which have crazy twists and turns and weird ideas throughout, and almost all are the best in the entire series. The ingenious idea of having two drivers per kart, which lends itself to different experiences and strategies for every race as well as having the only 'true' co-op in the entire series with having two players per kart, not to mention being able to have 4 players fight 2 on 2 and the all cup tour lends itself to a great marathon race. The only issues I have is the less than ideal battle mode (boring courses and no bots) and the lack of retro courses (which can't be faulted on the game since they were not implemented until MKDS... and poorly there), everything else is pretty much the best Mario Kart has ever been and leaves me waiting for a real sequel.


6. Contra



Run, gun, shoot, and dodge. That's it. There's nothing else to Contra. No dumb story, distracting art style, or cheesy cinematic scenes. Just two guys run and gunning their way through the bad guy's base. The action is tight, the levels are varied, and everything is kept minimalistic. Gaming perfection.


5. Perfect Dark



I wasn't always much of a GoldenEye fan. I loved the campaign at the time and how you could play it multiple ways with different objectives, but the multiplayer wasn't as revolutionary as everyone was saying, I found it dull and empty. then Perfect Dark- GoldenEye's "sequel" was announced, and I was giddy with anticipation. It looked to have improved upon everything I didn't like about GoldenEye while keeping everything I did. Then it came out, and I was still blown away. The multiplayer is still one of the best ever, but the single player modes and options improved tremendously on GoldenEye's basic campaign. But the biggest thing they kept was the feel of the action, where bullets had impact, weapons felt awesome to use (and they even had alternate fire modes!) and the campaign had a lot of variety and ways to play through it. Honestly, still a great game today even in a genre as over-saturated as FPS games.


4. Mega Man X



Everyone knew Mega Man back in the early 90s. But when a bunch of us got together and rented Mega Man x, we were not ready for what happened. The increased speed, wall jumping, amazing levels and music, sub tanks that could be refilled, and the perfect weapons that had a ton of uses like slicing off Flame Mammoth's trunk, or taking Armored Armadillo's armor off, this kind of stuff blew us away at the time. We made it all the way to Sigma's fortress before the spider boss stopped us cold, and it would be a while before we conquered the fortress, but that didn't stop us from playing the game to death. In fact, most of us still do, the game is perfect. While the series eventually slid downhill, the success of MMX1 was well deserved and is one of the best games ever.


3. The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past



It took me years to finish this game. I still remember the first time collecting the three pendants and facing down the wizard and thinking it was a fun game, but a bit too short. Then the game actually began and what occurred was easily the most fun I've ever had with an adventure game not made of only text. One of my favorite aspects is all the hidden caves and areas featuring items and gadgets that were completely optional and not even necessary for completion of the game. It took me a long time to find out if I had found everything in the game and even now I'm not sure if I have. While I have enjoyed pretty much every Zelda game since, none have come close to the scope and new ideas that this gave way to (though Link's Awakening, the 'sequel', came close) and it still remains the best adventure game I've ever played.


2. Sonic The Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles



I was always a Sonic fan growing up. But unlike most of my friends/schoolmates/random kids, I liked both Nintendo and Sega pretty much the same. The one difference was that until Sonic 3 came out, I always enjoyed Mario games more. Then one of my friends rented Sonic 3 and I was floored. Angel Island started up, the forest was set ablaze and Robotnik chased us with a giant battle ship. That punk that stole the emeralds destroyed the bridge and we fell into an underground city that threw us through walls and we were thrown through the sky into a giant mountain. Then Tails carried Sonic into a boss battle that blew our minds before we made way to a neon lit wonderland and had to think hard about how to pass a certain barrel. The neon lights gave way to a winter wonderland with a gorgeous soundtrack into a giant base merged with greenery. The game was brilliant, it was unbelievable, it was perfect, it was... too short. Until I spotted Sonic & Knuckles one day at the rental store and had pretty much the same experience. Then I learned that you could link it to other Sonic games and after putting it in Sonic 3, I discovered quite possibly the best game ever made... Hidden in such an obscure connection method. So weird, but so worth it.


1. Super Mario Bros. 3



Oh, come on. Everyone saw this coming. My favorite game of all time, SMB3 has it all. The largest platformer ever made for its time, tons of power ups, levels, unique worlds, and tight controls. One of my favorite things about this game was how every level has a distinct feel and flow to it, as well as mostly having unique art styles for them throughout. While I loved it as a kid, my love for it has only grown over time as I got better at games and the genre, but SMB3's pure uniqueness and execution has yet to be matched to me. It's not the longest game, and can be beaten even faster if you use the right cheats, but the replay value is off the charts considering all the different ways you can play through it. The game blew me away as a kid and it still does when I play it now. Honestly, this is the perfect video game to me and the one I judge all others to.

[Avaitor]

I've been wanting to make a list ever since seeing how good all of yours looks. I'm way rusty on my gaming, so this won't be as impressive as the others on here.

Actually, it was going to be longer, but it's only a top 5, since that's all I can really think of right now.

5. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

Still my favorite RPG. I think it's hugely involving and I like how every character serves their purpose into the overall experience arguably moreso than a lot of other RPGs. I also thank it for getting me into Bioware. Whenever I get a chance to play the Mass Effect games, I'd like to compare how they stand to KOTOR, but for now, it's still up there for me.

4. Metal Gear Solid

You know, when I think about it, MGS is like the Indiana Jones series. While the other 3 installments all have their strengths and memorable moments, none of them compare to the first, which is easily one of the best and most memorable of its kind. It's one of the few stealth games I've found rewarding to play with every solitary detail, and the narrative is fun without most of Kojima's bullshit twists. And each of the bosses still hold up today.

3. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles

Yeah, this seems to be the Sonic game of choice over here. Honestly, it is pretty much the perfect Sonic experience, and I don't have much more to add.

2. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Heh, I can't help but notice how everyone has a Zelda game in their top 3 so far. Well, it's my favorite franchise so I'll jump the gun as well. I was super hyped for Twilight Princess when I saw the test footage for it all those E3's back, and honestly, I was not disappointed when I picked up my Wii. It's such a well done Zelda adventure, handled with a cleverly told story, fun new characters, a gorgeous graphic system, and the same little twists and inside jokes that make for any great Zelda experience. I'm thinking of playing it again before Skyward Sword comes out. I can't tell what I'm more excited for, the new one or replaying this.

1. Star Fox 64

The more I think about, the more I realize that this is probably the one game I come back to the most, and the one that I never really feel bored with no matter how many times I've played it. At it's core, it's just a basic arcade air pilot game, albeit one with a load of neat tricks that make replaying a blast. Even then, the system is so tightly done that it's easy to go back again and again even if you stay on the main path you always do. It's a lot better done than the somewhat clunky SNES original and loads better than the games that followed it. By far the best Star Fox game, and one of Nintendo's most fun.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Great list. I haven't played the original MGS myself, and I still have yet to play Twilight Princess as well (but I'm sure its as great as everyone says it is), but I love the 3 other games on your list. I also agree with you on KOTOR (it just barely missed my list; it'd certainly be in my top 20 at the very least). Its my favorite RPG as well, and this is coming from a guy who doesn't really care for the genre on the whole. And for what its worth I liked it a lot better than Mass Effect. I hear the sequel brought substantial improvements to the gameplay, but the first one suffered from bland cover-based combat and what was honestly a pretty boring story until around the last quarter of it or so. The characters also weren't as interesting to me as the characters in KOTOR, but maybe that's just because I have a thing for Star Wars archetype characters in the SW Universe.

I still need to get back to playing Sonic 3 and Knuckles myself. In terms of what I've played of it so far (I got just past Ice-Cap Zone on my first run before I had to quit), I personally like it about equally as much as Sonic 2 (but I love Sonic 2, so that's still saying a lot), but I'm sure that when I get to experience playing the game as Knuckles it'll add some more depth to the experience, which'll probably push it just a smidge above Sonic 2 for me, making it my favorite Sonic game as well.

Another fantastic game, and probably my 2nd favorite N64 game. Its certainly the best rail-shooter/space-shooter ever made as far as I'm concerned. Sure, it can be finished in just over an hour or maybe even less, but the replay value with the alternate levels and trying to score perfect runs on each stage makes it last for at least dozens of hours of grade-A entertainment.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Star Fox 64 is another one of my favorites, in fact the 3DS version is still on my list.

I also agree with MGS1 (not the remake), I just didn't like the tone shift the series had after this game. They went too goofy and lost the grittiness this game had which made the stealth much more intense and satisfying to pull off.

[Foggle]

The English version of Yakuza 4 is excessively cheap on Play-Asia right now. GO GO GO!

[talonmalon333]

Star Fox 64 is another one of my favorites, in fact the 3DS version is still on my list.

I also agree with MGS1 (not the remake), I just didn't like the tone shift the series had after this game. They went too goofy and lost the grittiness this game had which made the stealth much more intense and satisfying to pull off.

Didn't play the remake, but what did it do worse?

[Spark Of Spirit]

Star Fox 64 is another one of my favorites, in fact the 3DS version is still on my list.

I also agree with MGS1 (not the remake), I just didn't like the tone shift the series had after this game. They went too goofy and lost the grittiness this game had which made the stealth much more intense and satisfying to pull off.

Didn't play the remake, but what did it do worse?

The voice acting, enemy AI from the wrong game, adding features from the sequel basically breaking the difficulty entirely, and making the story worse by making it closer to MGS2's idiocy. The remake basically killed any interest I had in the series after 2 blindsided me.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

MGS2 is the only MGS game I ever fully played. While mechanically the game was fine enough (its not really my thing, though, as I'm not too much into stealth action), I couldn't for the life of me understand anything about its fucking story. I swear, it was nothing but over-convoluted, pretentious, tripe, and that's during the few times you could actually take it seriously. I understand that it was trying to be intentionally goofy at some instances, but the hilarious thing is that its hard to discern the goofy moments from the serious ones. Its pretty much the perfect tutorial on what NOT to do with a story in a video game (or any medium, for that matter).

[gunswordfist]

Nice list, EK. I still need to beat Yoshi's Island (and just about any Mario game) and I need to get Oracle Of Ages.

I think even without bullettime, Max Payne would be the greatest TPS of all time. Remedy went the extra mile.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Was browsing the thread and noticed Desensitized's complaints on Sonic 2. While we all have our own opinions, having just replayed the game myself (and not really having an nostalgia bias for any particular game in the series as I didn't even have a particular favorite as a kid), I disagree with a lot of the complaints.

There's nothing wrong with complaining about the game, but most of the stuff you listed are personal issues rather than objective gameplay flaws. Personally I thought that the music throughout most of the game was kick-ass, and most of the zones you called boring I thought were fun. And I especially disagree with you about Aquatic Ruin Zone. I loved the music in that level and the stage itself had more going on in it than what you gave it credit for. The only zone that I agree with you on not liking is Metropolis Zone, personally. Its too long and drawn out (I don't understand why this zone was 3 acts long when every other zone was only 2 acts), and its level design can be rather confusing at times.

I had absolutely no visibility problems in Oil Ocean Zone and if anything I loved its level design (as for the music, while I don't find it to be as bad as you do, its pretty standard to me; nothing I'll really remember, but its passable at least).

Sky Chase Zone IS filler, but I don't see how that's worth complaining about as it was a fun little diversion before getting back to the main game. Besides, if we're talking strictly gameplay here, Sonic and Knuckles has Hidden Palace Zone, which aside from story is just as much filler gameplay-wise as Sky Chase Zone (which is also arguably story-driven, as it explains how Sonic gets onto Robotnik's air-ship via Tails flying him there on an airplane).

Also, as far as Sonic 1 goes, sorry to say it, but in retrospect I see it as the weakest of the 2D Sonic games (not counting Sonic CD which I haven't played yet). Its still a great game and a classic platformer, so don't get me wrong and think I'm saying that its bad (because its awesome), but I hated Marble Zone and Labrynth Zone, and I'm lukewarm to Scrap Brain Zone at best (while I appreciate its level of challenge, it just moves by way too slowly, and the level design is kind of dull, IMO). That's 2/6 Zones right there, which is 1/3rd of the entire game. If 1/3rd of the game is boring, its not exactly perfect or even that tight, IMO.

With Sonic 2, there were also 2 Zones which I didn't like (Hill Top Zone and Metropolis Zone), but Hill Top Zone was only 2 acts so it was shorter, and the game on the whole was about twice as long as the first game, so it wasn't as big of an issue, especially since the game at least allowed you to speed-run through stages quickly if you were skilled enough for that (so I could get through stages I didn't like and make them a lot shorter than they needed to be ). Well, you could do that in the first game as well in the Zones that actually allowed you to be as fast as you wanted, but in Sonic 2 you could do that in just about every Zone.

I'll probably end up agreeing that S3K is the best when I'm done with it, as their has only been 1 Zone in the game that I don't like, but still I felt like giving my opinion on Sonic 2, and why I think its almost as good, personally.

Also, speaking of S3K, I just got up to Death Egg Zone. I was surprised by how quickly Sky Sanctuary Zone ended. I guess I forgot that it was only 1 act long. It was kind of cool how Metal Sonic used old machines that Robotnik had used in previous games the multiple times he fought you throughout the stage. Aside from the music and art design being fantastic, though, I thought that the Zone itself was pretty average, in terms of gameplay and level design.

[talonmalon333]

Sonic 1 definitely feels slow in comparison to it's sequels. While still great, it doesn't hold up as well as, say, the first SMB.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Alright, I'm not sure how much of the game I actually have left before its finished (for the record I'm currently in the middle of Chapter 5-2), but RE4 is already a serious contender for being in my top 10 favorite games of all-time, and I'd already put it in my top 20 despite not being done with it yet. I've seen plenty of games hyped up before and rarely do they ever live up to my expectations, and in the case of RE4 its kind of the opposite because I was expecting a good game but was also keeping my expectations in check since I wasn't sure if it'd live up to its level of hype or not. Well, even though it contains some movie-game elements here and there (in terms of scripted QTEs and such, which I can actually tolerate in this game the way its handled), and its control scheme isn't necessarily the most perfect for dealing with every situation, the game itself is brilliant, and I can see why it gets all of the praise that it does.

There are some games that just give you that feeling of satisfaction as you play through it that you rarely get from any other game, and in those cases you know that you're playing something extra special. Not just a great game, but a memorable one at that, and one that you know you'll want to go back and replay as soon as you're done with it.

Also, I should note that as a last-gen game, this game is already hands down better than any other game that I have played this generation. Of course, I haven't played too many games this generation being limited only to what I can play on the XBOX360 and some games that my friend buys for his Wii that I can play in bits and pieces from time-to-time as I visit him, so I'm sure there are plenty of great games from this gen that I still have yet to play. That said, out of anything I have played, while there have been a few great titles in the mix, most of it has been mediocre, and even the best ones that I've played haven't hooked me as much as Resident Evil 4 has.

I really like the creative boss fights (especially since the game doesn't hold your hand and tell you how you're supposed to defeat them), and while the game isn't necessarily scary, its definitely intense. It puts you in challenging situations where you're at a disadvantage and you have to use strategy and tactics (along with a lot of firepower, of course), to make it through each encounter. That isn't to say that its really a very hard game, but I have died about 20 times throughout my entirety of having played through the game so far (which I juts realized is average for a game from last-gen, but A LOT compared to games of this gen), and while maybe half of those were due to my own stupidity in not realizing what to do in certain situations, the rest were due to either challenging situations or me being caught off-guard by some admittedly clever little tricks that the game pulls on you to see if you're paying attention (my favorite was getting grabbed by an El Gigante even after I dropped it into the lava pit, not realizing that it doesn't instantly die and can drag me down with it if I'm not careful to keep my distance from the pit ).

Overall the game just constantly throws the unexpected at you, and it really keeps me wanting to see what happens next, and more importantly I want to PLAY through what happens next, which is oddly enough a feeling that I haven't had in a game this generation (I don't count F.E.A.R. as a current-gen game, just for the record), and oddly enough, I haven't felt this exciting or engaged playing a game since F.E.A.R., and before F.E.A.R. it was Ninja Gaiden Black, so its certainly been a good gap of time between these monumentally great game (from my perspective) that I have played through.

Also, now that I have played through most of this game, I think that any other TPS that I've played from this gen pales in comparison. Don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean I don't think that they are good, and I still have a bunch which I have yet to play, like Mikami's Vanquish and Suda's SoD, but this is definitely better than the Gears of War games and stuff like Dead Space (at least the first one, which is the only one that I've played), and for the record I liked the Gears of War games (I haven't played the third one, yet) and Dead Space. That said this game is just on a whole different level than any of those other games, IMO.