Favorite Games Ever (Besides Ninja Gaiden, Obviously)

[Grave]

I don't know, Arkham Asylum just felt so bland to me for some odd reason.

[Grave]

01. Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition 2012
02. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
03. Shenmue
04. Devil May Cry 3
05. Devil May Cry 4
06. Mass Effect 2
07. Final Fantasy 8
08. Halo Reach
09. Assassin's Creed 2
10. Batman: Arkham City

Honorable mention: Uncharted 2, Okami, Street Fighter 3rd Strike, Street Fighter x Tekken, Ninja Gaiden, Ninja Gaiden 2

Haven't even been a month and Batman: AC is already knocked off the list.

01. Super Street Fighter 4
02. Street Fighter 3rd Strike
03. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
04. Shenmue
05. Guilty Gear XX: AC+
06. Devil May Cry 3
07. Devil May Cry 4
08. Mass Effect 2
09. Halo Reach
10. Assassin's Creed 2

Invasion of fighters.

[Foggle]

Deadly Premonition is coming to the PC.

Guess I'll be buying it a third time.

[Spark Of Spirit]

So the remake is good. There's nothing busted about it. I played through hard difficulty and hard pogo and came across no issues. There are two new stages in the game, an intro stage (whose music sounds like Chip n Dale) and a final stage which is a big improvement over the original's final stage. Basically, if you have access to a system that can play this remake- GET IT. It's still one of the best platformers out there and the additions really enhance the experience.

About the only disappointment is the original isn't unlockable.

[Foggle]

Nice one, man! Ready to play it again and top the leaderboard (at least, until the hackers arrive)?

[Spark Of Spirit]

I topped my playthrough with a run on Extreme mode, but I can't see the leaderboards because it crashes now when I go there. But it's nice actually being on one!

Shame once the hackers and pros arrive, I'll be tossed off quick. 

[Spark Of Spirit]

Just imagine if this happened!

We might never have played it.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Super Mario Galaxy 2 is officially $29.99 now. If you haven't played it yet, now's your chance!

[talonmalon333]

So I wasn't sure if or when I posted a top 10 game list on this site was. So I decided to do that right now, along with explanations for my picks. Most of the games here should be fairly predictable knowing me.

#10

Silent Hill 2
Starting the list with survival horror. I love the Silent Hill brand... And by that, I mean just the first three games. Things suck now. But really, for those first three games, Silent Hill was living wonderfully. Gameplay-wise they are all rather mediocre, and the graphics are nothing special. However, what makes these games is the immersion. Even if the controls and combat are mediocre, they just excel at pulling you into the world with their atmosphere. And they all present great stories. I pick Silent Hill 2 over 1 and 3. It's not as scary and skin crawling as the first game, and it's not as advanced in its gameplay as 3. But it pulls off that immersion thing just a little bit better, in my opinion. For example, in the first Silent Hill, you are basically in a nightmare that you must escape. But in Silent Hill 2... I honestly can't explain it, but it's like you become one with Silent Hill. And that's largely thanks to the fact that, in my opinion, Silent Hill 2 has the best video game story ever told. It's not typical. It's the combination of your character, the immersion, and the world of Silent Hill itself.

#9

Resident Evil
Last survival horror on my list. A heavy honorable mention goes to RE4 (I thought long and hard about putting that game on this list instead). My great love for RE1 and RE4 should be a shock to... absolutely no one on this board who's known me long enough. But anyway, Resident Evil was the game that really kicked off the survival horror genre, and I do think its success hasn't been quite replicated. The mansion is probably one of the most iconic settings in video games. And the combat survival gameplay is classic. I really love the mystery that surrounds the story in this game, which inevitably (and of course, understandably) couldn't be matched in this game's successors. Of course, I can't talk about RE1 without mentioning that dialogue. Some of the best writing in any video game, man.

#8

Fallout 3
Months of my life, and well over a hundred hours, were spent in the Capital Wasteland. No regrets. Fallout 3 is amazing because of its world. You, the Lone Wanderer, must decide where you fit in it. There is still so much I have left to do, and I'm not even sure I could ever bring myself to go through with some of these morally challenging decisions. And that's the mark of a well done game, to make you care that much. Plus, Fallout 3 just has a great story and surprisingly funny dialogue. And the gameplay? Fallout 3 was a massive change to the gameplay style of this franchise. And that change was a beautiful decision.

#7

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
The best in the Metal Gear series by a long shot. Snake Eater is the perfection of the stealth gameplay that makes this franchise what it is. With all the different kinds of stealth, and the camouflage, I think no Metal Gear game since has surpassed it. The jungle is a far more interesting stealth setting than the high tech places of MGS1 and 2. Then you have the survival elements which really add to it. I also find this to have the best story in the series. The characters are great, and Kojima's humor is fantastic. And then there's that ending. One of the best video game endings ever. I can't imagine Kojima topping this, for it is his masterpiece.

#6

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
I owned this game for a while. But it always landed in my "I'll get to it later" pile of games. I played bits of it over the years, but it never left an impression on me (especially compared to the N64 Paper Mario which is an all time classic). But a few years ago I picked it up a second time, and before long, it was love. I think much of that is thanks to the game's chapter 3, the best part of the game by miles and my favorite subplot in any game. Thousand-Year Door really took the first Paper Mario's gameplay to a whole new level in every single way, as far as I'm concerned. The writing is also even better, allowing for more of that Paper Mario humor. Of course, the art style is still lovely and looks great to this day. Overall, TTYD takes a while to get started, but once it does, it's an unforgettable adventure till the end.

#5

My favorite RPG. There's something special about Chrono Trigger, because I'm not the only one who fell in love with it. The game deserves its praise, for everything about it works so well. The gameplay style is unique and remains exciting until the end (and isn't just about waiting for your turn during combat, or grinding). The music is some of the best in gaming (it was done by Yasunori Mitsuda, so no surprise there). I also appreciate the story for what it is, and the characters are quite fun. Of course, a big part of the game is its replayability. Every playthrough of it can be completely different. And that makes Chrono Trigger excel as a game that you can continue to play as long as gaming survives.

#4

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
The purest action-adventure. Ocarina of Time is often called the best game ever, and it deserves this. You don't get that title by being "revolutionary" or by "being connected to your childhood". OoT is so loved because of how it perfected a formula, a success that no Zelda in ten years has been able to match. The combat is great, the level design is perfect, the story is simple yet effective, the music is classic, the items are fun, I could go on and on. And that's all held together by masterful pacing. It's so devoid of flaws. Some say the writing hasn't aged gracefully. I think it works well enough. It does its job to pull you through an overall unforgettable adventure that will live on through the ages, and will never be forgotten.

#3

Super Mario Galaxy
Oh boy, we all knew this was coming. I'll try to keep my ranting to a minimum. Super Mario Galaxy is a perfect 3D platformer, in my mind. Course, Super Mario 64 pulled that off well ten years prior, but nothing like this. As far as I'm concerned, Super Mario Galaxy was the best Mario game by far when it came out. The levels are amazing and never get repetitive (there are so many of them with so many variations to them). The controls are so perfect. The soundtrack is perhaps my favorite in all of gaming, and the visuals are beautiful (not just for Wii standards, and these two together give SMG a beautiful atmosphere. There is a simple, serenity to the game's space motif atmosphere; the universe is a beautiful place, after all. Admittedly, the game is a bit too easy to get to the credits. But for those going for 100%, it gets tough.

#2

Super Mario Galaxy 2
This is basically tied for #1 on my list. Not only is it equal to the first game, but perhaps a bit better. SMG2 luckily isn't just a rehash. Since the development crew knew there were so many possibilities for Super Mario Galaxy, they were able to make an entirely new game out of them. SMG2 never feels stale. It introduces new gameplay and brings far more challenge than its predecessor did, as well as better replayability. The graphics and controls are basically taken right from SMG1, so they haven't been improved much if at all. But they didn't need to be. Admittedly, I do miss the grand, epic, galactic atmosphere of SMG1, but SMG2 has a universe atmosphere of its own. I loved the hub in the first game, and I kind of missed it here. But I must admit that I enjoyed more streamlined gameplay. Overall, SMG1 and SMG2 are my favorite platformers ever made.

#1

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Call it a nostalgia tiebreaker between this and SMG2, (this game goes back to my childhood). MM is my favorite Zelda. It's an example of quality > quantity. The world is small but dense, as there is so much to it. There are only four main dungeons, but most of them rank among the absolute best in the series. It's certainly the most atmospheric Zelda. With the threat of a giant moon crashing down on you, the people of the world are tortured, and are in need of emotional healing. And you yourself must do that. MM has the best Zelda story because of this depth. Beating the main quest isn't the point of it. You must save the people, not just prevent their death by the moon. And that makes the ending all the more special if you completed all the sidequests. Everything about it just comes together so well, just like the rest of the games on this list.

[Foggle]

Whoa, how did they make Mario Galaxy's graphics look so smooth in that screenshot? There were jaggies everywhere when I played the game.

Anyway, I was able to guess most of your list, but it was still good.

[talonmalon333]

Whoa, how did they make Mario Galaxy's graphics look so smooth in that screenshot? There were jaggies everywhere when I played the game.

Anyway, I was able to guess most of your list, but it was still good.

The order? Or just the games? Also, what games, if any, did you not guess?

And yeah, that's a really nice shot of SMG1. I just picked it off Google images.

[Foggle]

Just the games. I thought Mario Galaxy 2 would have been number 1, followed by MM (so I was almost right there), with Silent Hill 2 somewhere in the top 5. But I guessed all your favorites except for Paper Mario.

[talonmalon333]

SMG2 was very nearly #1. I basically used nostalgia as a tie breaker to give MM the spot, as I go way back with that game. I know people might take issue to "letting nostalgia get in the way" like that. But I don't see a problem with it, especially if you like two games 100% evenly and feel the need to use a tiebreaker of some sort.

And good guess on SH2 making my list. I actually thought that would be the game that you guys might not be able to guess (assuming you missed one).

[Spark Of Spirit]

It could be a Wii-U shot since it has WAY better video output than the Wii did.

Not a bad list, but I still really didn't like Fallout 3. I think Borderlands pretty much did everything I wanted from it.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Great list. I REALLY want to play some classic RE and Silent Hill games, one of these days.