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[Dark Schala]

Just a heads-up that this thread now has a sister thread!

NeoGAF’s Soundtracks of the Generation (DC/PS2/GBA/GC/Xbox/PC 2000-2005/Arcade 2000-2005) Voting Thread

Deadline is February 28th at 11:59 PM PST for that thread.

I'll list some stuff in here when I have a little more time.

 

[Eolz]

Wow, didn't see the thread.

1. Metroid Prime ; Nobody believed Metroid could successfully transfer to a 3D gameplay. Even less when it was shown as a first-person game, developed by an american studio as their first game. Then it was released and everything changed. Superb graphics, music, and surprisingly good gamepad controls (FPS using platforming and Z-targeting), Metroid Prime showed everyone how good a 3D Metroidvania could be, with an alien atmosphere and the sensation of really being alone against the environment, that no other game (outside of this series) really got as well. No developer did this kind of game again, and if they did, it is not even remembered for just being half (or less) as good as this.

2. Half-Life 2 ; the first game revolutionized the FPS genre (remember when they were called Doom-clones before HL1 was released?), and the second one had really a lot to live up to. It did. After delays and other problems, Valve released a game even better than what people expected. Once again, it shaped the future of the FPS genre, through storytelling, AI, graphics, physics, gunplay, and countless other elements. I'm not surprised Valve doesn't want to release Half-Life 3, just try to live up to that.

3. Freelancer ; People being excited for Star Citizen should play what could be called its prototype. Good story, excellent universe, surprising controls that are even better than a joystick, and persistent servers. This is what makes Freelancer a game ahead of its time. Microsoft cancelling Freelancer 2 and the lack of a remake makes me sad.

4. F-Zero GX ; Not only it is the best F-Zero game, but it's the best futuristic racing game AND arcade racing game of its time. Back then, its reveal blew everybody's mind by showing the collaboration of Nintendo, Sega and Namco on a single game. To this day, it is still a really good looking game, and amazing to watch for speedruns. Its story mode is extremely difficult too, and the ship creation allows some really interesting races.

5. God Hand ; The only 3D BTA of this kind. Adaptative difficulty and different controls from the usual bunch make it not only a memorable gameplay, but one of the very best 3D BTA that nobody really expected. Add to that a very japanese ambiance, fun music and characters, and weird enemies, and you get an awesome game that doesn't really take itself seriously.

6. World of Warcraft ; Impossible to not put this game in this list. It did not exactly revolutionize this genre, but no other game could surpass it for a long while in its sub-genre. The WoW from now is sadly very different from the WoW from then, but it still deserves the merits of the original. Extremely popular for a lot of good reasons, why do you think so many publishers tried to make this famed "WoW-killer"?

7. Resident Evil 4 ; Nobody expected that for this saga and this genre. Revolutionized it. Extremely stressful rather than scary, and a special atmosphere. Awesome in every category. Received better ports later on (Wii/HD), but for a while, it was a superb GC exclusive. The PS2 version is meh, the PC one is really bad (until the latest remaster).

8. Donkey Kong Jungle Beat ; After thinking about it for a long time, this one made the list. It had a disappointing remake on the Wii (gameplay changes make it just not as smart nor fun), but the original is just fantastic on most points. Who could have thought a platformer would work so well with just bongos?! Koizumi, now well-known for being in charge of the 3D Mario franchise, did a superb game design work with a limited peripheral (tap & clap) to give us a game that is not only accessible and fun from the get go, but can also be really challenging for hardcore players, giving it a lot of replayability. Bosses can seem gimmicky at first, until you get how it is really following rhythm games tropes. Platformer phases give you red hands after hours of fun in front of your tv, clapping and tapping with a big smile as Donkey Kong destroy every enemy and is just as agile as in recent 2D DKC games. This is what game design is also made of: make something deep, fun, rewarding, accessible, with a limited genre and limited controls.

9. Ninja Gaiden Black ; The first Ninja Gaiden was already an excellent reboot of the extremely difficult series of games on NES, but this "remaster" fixed a lot of things and expanded its gameplay to make it one of the best 3D BTA ever, with a very different style than its competitors. This isn't about style or QTEs. This is about efficiency and an even harder difficulty than before. Yes, there is some balancing problems (Izuna Drop being one) and its sequels aren't as good, but it is still one of the best examples of transitioning a 2D game to 3D, while keeping its legacy and making it evolve beyond what could be done without efforts. Developers didn't just pour love for this franchise to make this game, they poured sweat and blood. And you can definitely still feel it.

10. Killer 7 ; A game that is disturbing, confusing, and amazing. The artstyle is special, the controls aren't found anywhere else, the characters are weird, the music doesn't really fit. But strangely, all of this forms a coherent package that will stay in your mind for the rest of your life. A cult classic that more people should at least try. Suda51's masterpiece.


x. Halo ; Basically the continuation of GoldenEye showing multiplayer FPS can be perfected on console. Also, Microsoft's mascot. They found one quickly.
x. Mother 3 ; I would have put it higher in the list if the fan translation had been released in this time period. This game just is the perfect conclusion of the Mother saga. A game that is really deep, and that will make feel a lot of emotions.
x. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker ; Arguably the best 3D Zelda, that has since been perfected with its HD remaster. It's still more or less the only "open-world" 3D Zelda game, despite its flaws, and it is deceptively dark. Still aged really well, thanks to its artsyle.
x. Devil May Cry 3 Special Edition ; Had to make a choice between this and NGB. Still in the top 5 ever of the best 3D BTA. Shame there's no good port on PC, because that mod allowing you to switch styles is SSS-tier.
x. Rez ; Synesthesia. Still plays from time to time this hypnotizing mix of shooting shapes moving to the rhythm of some great music. Sadly, this kind of game probably wouldn't be made today (and no, the spiritual sequel is pretty bad). If you have to play it, buy a 360, the exclusive remake is amazing.
x. Deus Ex ; The perfect evolution of its own sub-genre. Everything was great at the time in this game, and it still holds its own in terms of gameplay. Would have still put System Shock 2 in the top 10 if it had been possible.

 

[Enosh]

I honestly had and probably still have no idea how to order the list, I love everything on here pretty much equally and they are all big parts of what shaped my gaming tastes, also good thing steam has headers for most of the games so I can use those pictures ^^

also I could have basically included like 3 4 franchises and a bunch of games from them, but I decided to limit myself to 1 game per franchise in order to get some more diversity into it, I'll probably talk about some of the other games from the franchises in the comments

been a PC only gamer in that gen, so there are no console only games to be found here

1. Rome: Total War ; christ, this or medieval (the original one, 2 is a 2006 release if I looked it up properly, thank god otherwise this would have been an even harder decision) Rome basically improved on everything from the previous one, the graphic were for that time jaw dropping, thousands of fully 3d rendered soldiers, the improved campaign map, the big cities instead of just castles, but I medieval was my first Total War and despite the 2d sprites and the basic risk type of map, it had a certain charm to it and I spend hundreds of hours on it, but I did the same in Rome, so had to go with the improved version over nostalgia

2. World of Warcraft ; Well, there isn't much i can say that wasn't said already, the biggest success in MMOs, the amazing world, the different classes and the fluid combat that isn't really matched in MMOs up to this day, it's going on for 10 years now, it broke up couples, people died playing it too much and yet still it brought joy to millions of players and build friendships that for some last to this day

3. Halo: Combat Evolved ; some probably still curse it's name to this day, it bought a lot of "innovations" into the genre that people hate, regen health (although in this case shields, health was still about collecting packs on the ground), weapon limits and made fps the genre on consoles along with CoD. But plenty of people also love these changes, it build a great world that went on to span multiple sequels and books and soon some TV show and made Master Chief an iconic character in gaming

4. Soul Reaver 2 ; One of my favorite game series of all time and the best counter point to anyone saying gameplay > story and yes I even liked defiance and Blood Omen 2. the gameplay is average at best, although quite improved from SR1, the puzzles are imo worse, too many based around guiding light somewhere with mirrors, but the voice acting is miles ahead of anything of that generation, hell it's miles ahead of a lot of stuff from the previous generation and the one now, plus an amazing story and cast of characters along with a time travel story that actually kinda makes sense, more or less

5. Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines ; Given that the game is basically only 3/4 done it's amazing that it appears on so many "best rpg" or even "best game" list across the web and anyone that played it knows exactly why, yes the game basicly falls apart in the finals parts where it becomes painfully obvious that the devs ran out of money and the publisher rushed the game out the door, there are game breaking bugs, think some were fixed with official patches and some of the not that big bugs with fan ones, but still was is there is beyond amazing, great characters, an amazing setting, quest that can be completed in a variety of different ways with a variety of different characters build to support your favorite way of playing, although if you didn't put enough into combat you are fucked in the before mentioned last part ^^ plus it had a song of Lacuna Coil in a club which is what made me aware of the band

6. Battle Realms ; Ah battle Realms, spend hundreds of hours on this and the expansion pack, while everyone else was ruining around azeroth in Warcraft 3, I was saving fantasy Japan, don't get me wrong WC3 was a great game, but I'm still pissed at it that it overshadowed Battle Realms so much, I loved all the different animations for all the units, they weren't firing their arrows from point blank range but instead switched to whacking the enemy with the bow in melee, they limped home if on too low health, horses were a separate resource and almost any units could mount them, a variety of different active abilities to choose from and some nice touches like a kabuki warrior juggling near peasants making them work faster

7. Hitman 2: Silent Assassin ; My favorite Hitman game, a nice variety of ways to get to the target and kill it, story was kinda just there, I never exactly got why I'm killing someone, granted my English back then was kinda shit, great weapon selection, don't really know much more to say about it

8. Call of Duty 2 ; The prototype game for CoD4 which would go on and basicly define a generation of FPS games along with halo,maybe a bit cheating since it's technicly in the 360 gen but came out in 2005 on the PC where I played it which seems to be within the rules, was kinda wondering between this or CoD1, Russian campaign in both is the clear highlight, storming Stalingrad in CoD with just some bullets bombs going off all around you, dozens of other soldiers fighting along side you in comparison CoD2 had you storming that building taking it and then defending it from a German attack. Medal of Honor kinda laid the groundwork for that style of FPS, but CoD took it to the next level, I know everyone in school was talking about the game, CoD2 refined on that formula, put in regenerating health, which I preferred and in general just polished what was started in CoD

9. Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne ; The amazing comic book style cutscenes, the noir story, Mona, removed some of the stupider shit from the first game (fucking red line thing in the dream sequences...) overall a great action game/third person shooter

10. Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield ; Don't really know much to say about this one really, it was designed to be a great tactical fps and it delivered exactly that, I know I never really got the hang of the whole tactical map at the start so I usually just did a "hold all" command and went in solo to clear levels ^^

 

[Wazzy]

1. Final Fantasy X; Gorgeous visuals and one of the most beautiful soundtracks in the series, this game is my second favourite in the Final Fantasy franchise with Final Fantasy VIII beating it out. The character designs were vibrant and perfectly matched the colourful world of Spira. The battle system was fast paced and addicting with a wonderful party member switch in option in battle. There's so much to love about this game and it makes sure to have a story that keeps you playing until the very end. One of my most cherished game experiences is with Final Fantasy X.

2. Dragon Quest VIII; My favourite Dragon Quest game in the franchise. Beautiful open world, gorgeous soundtrack to make exploring it even better and a fun but simple battle system. The story is charming enough to make you want to see it through and the amount to do in the game keeps you hooked.

3. Jet Set Radio Future; First of all, the soundtrack. This goddamn addicting soundtrack. I could listen to it at any time and never get sick of it. The cel-shaded visuals help the game hold up and the open world exploration let's you do things at your own pace. I really love this game and it's my most loved Xbox game.

4. Final Fantasy X-2; I love the upbeat and all women cast of this game. The battle system is the best in the franchise with the addicting job system allowing so many different play styles. The music suits the atmosphere perfectly and the story is a great continuation of X's.

5. Persona 4; I adore the cast in this game. Their struggles are refreshing to see in a videogame with sexuality and gender being explored especially at an age where it's the most understandable. The Jpop OST is extremely fun and knows exactly when to change to fit the tone of the scene. One of my favourite JRPG's which is quite impressive with the many I love.

6. Warcraft III; If Starcraft didn't already have me hooked, this game solidified my love for strategy games. The multiple playable races, Dark and intriguing story and of course the fantastic gameplay that allowed for the creating of your own army using resources changing how and when I completed a level had me playing for hours.

7. Legend Of Zelda Wind Waker; I love cel-shaded games because of the vibrant beautiful colours and the fact they age quite well. This Zelda was quite a different experience coming from games like Ocarina Of Time and Majora's Mask but oh boy did it deliver. The sailing mechanic was quite relaxing and a different approach to the mobility of Epona from previous instalments. The villain is one of the best in the series with motivations that deepen the character and prevent him from being a one-note antagonist.

8. Devil May Cry; A lead that's mouthy and a fun Hack and Slash battle system that takes place within a dark and creepy setting, there's not much stopping me from loving this game.

9. Metal Gear Solid 3; The experience of this game is one of the greatest. A tragic story involving betrayal and distrust combined with a stealth shooter made this one of the best Metal Gear Solid games. Everything feels fresh and new and the game is challenging with it's survival mechanics. The End is the best boss fight you'll ever encounter in Mthe Metal Gear Solid series.

10. Kingdom Hearts; I didn't think you could mix something like Final Fantasy and Disney and actually have it turn out well but this game showed me it can. The re-imagining of iconic characters while visiting childhood Disney worlds was one of the best experiences ever. The music in this game is astoundingly good and the battle system is insanely fun.

Honourable mentions:
X. Halo
X. Rogue Galaxy
X. Final Fantasy XII
X. SSX

 

[Eolz]

There's a list of platforms allowed in the OP, so no, no 5th gen consoles.

 

[Jucksalbe]

I'm guessing no because they're first gen games but I just want to make sure.

Oh god, EA got into your head.

 

[Dark Schala]

This is why i don't call generations by wiki's numbering system. I just call it "Magnavox era", "Atari era", "NES/Genesis era" and so on. Numbers are confusing!

 

[ForsakenLotus]

Under construction.

 

[boingball]

Wow, damn difficult to limit to 10 games, I try to limit myself to one game per franchise.

1. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City ; The best of the best. GTA III was a revolution, GTA San Andreas astounding (for the size of the world in your small PS2) but Vice City was the most fun and has the best soundtrack ever
2. Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando ; I love the R&C franchise and the second entry was almost perfect building upon the first one. Number three was more of the same, which I still loved, but I give the nod to number two for the big jump it had in scope over its predecessor
3. Burnout 3: Takedown ; The best racer of the PS2 (or any) generation. Burnout was knuckle-hard and great, Burnout 2 introduced the amazing crash mode, Burnout 3 improved on this and introduced Takedown mode. Criterion knew their stuff, great graphics in butter-smooth 60fps. The pinnacle of racing games, since then it has gone downhill. Or depending on your view, the last hooray for simple corridor-racers. Notable other racing games I enjoyed were Gran Turismo, WRC and Colin McRae Rally. The subgrenre of rally racing games has complete died off unfortunately.
4. SSX Tricky ; If I have to describe the SSX franchise during its PS2 years with one word, it would be fun.
5. Ico ; A brilliant gem of a game. While Shadow of the Colossus was much larger in scope and in a way more interesting the PS2 could not really handle it. So I give the nod to Ico (SotC is nonetheless a great game also).
6. Jak & Daxter ; The very first PS2 game from Naughty Dog was also their best PS2 game.
7. God of War ; Brutal and gorgeous latecomer to the PS2 software library.
8. Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves ; Where Jak slightly regressed I felt Sly always improved (there are gamers who disagree though). Sly 3 was Sucker Punchs best game on the PS2.
9. Dark Cloud 2; Best RPG on the PS2, there were plenty of other highlights though (e.g. Dragon Quest XIII)
10. Disgaea ; Start of the successful Disgaea franchise and NIS best story still.

 

[JinjoUnchained]

Caught up with this generation later, so my list won't be that good!

1. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker ; Another outstanding Zelda campaign with a striking, timeless art style. I don't usually go on about visuals, but WW's look is intoxicating. It pulls you in, in a way that other Zelda games don't manage.

2. Metroid: Zero Mission ; Now this is how you do a remake. Update a classic title with improved controls, visuals, and better technology while still being true to the original. It feels like a fuller realization of the original game's vision.

Spoiler

The post-game content is an awesome, unexpected twist, too.

3. The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap ; Memorable, visually appealing, and charming portable entry in the Zelda series. Stealth nominee for best soundtrack of the generation, too.

4. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess ; A modernized Ocarina with a huge campaign that manages to keep things fresh and varied the whole way.

5. Super Mario Sunshine ; Won't win any prizes for Best Mario Ever, but I like that they tried something new to keep the series fresh. It's still a great game, if a bit uneven in parts. I remember it for it's good qualities though, like some great levels, fun vibe, and possibly the best controlling Mario in the series.

6. Metroid Prime ; I prefer 2D Metroids, but I still loved this one. Talon IV is a great environment and was awesome to explore. Retro really did an amazing job moving Metroid to 3D while keeping the series' spirit intact.

7. Resident Evil 4 ; Not my favorite franchise, but I like this game best in the series. Immersive and innovative.

8. Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy ; Really good 3D platformer collect-a-thon. I wouldn't quite put it up there with Banjo, but it's in the top 10. Bonus points for those awesome hover bike sections.

9. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow ; Ranked a little lower because I prefer the sequel on DS. But this one was first and, I feel, is the most successful reinvention of the SOTN formula. Love the more modern setting and the soul stealing mechanic.

10. Metroid: Fusion ; Ranked lower because I like Zero Mission more, but that's nothing against Fusion itself. Fusion creates a level of suspense unmatched in the rest of the series.

Now do this list for the SNES/Genesis generation and there will be blood! I'd love to see that thread.

 

[ForsakenLotus]

Under construction.

 

[ForsakenLotus]

So, I'm really dumb. I thought for some reason it was ranking each console, not the overall generation.

I'll come back when I'm done kicking myself. Sorry Ani.

 

[Kritz]

So far it's a really close match between "Game A", "Game B" and "Game C" for the title of Placeholder Game of the Generation. Game A is ahead sitting somewhere in the top 25, with Game B and Game C fighting neck and neck for the top 30 position.

 

[Violet_0]

So far it's a really close match between "Game A", "Game B" and "Game C" for the title of Placeholder Game of the Generation. Game A is ahead sitting somewhere in the top 25, with Game B and Game C fighting neck and neck for the top 30 position.

Game A sucks (dat mainstream appeal), anyone with a deeper understanding of the industry knows that Game C is where it's really at

 

[ohlawd]

yo Ani, I'm doing 10 to 1 ok? ok.

after much deliberation, I've decided to reserve this post for futu- no, eff off. If any of the ballots aren't allowed or you want me to revert back to 1 to 10 then tell me

I know we do the whole ballot thing for discussion but I spent like an hour writing this and mostly it's for myself. It's been great trying to remember what I played. Didn't exactly translate directly from my reminiscing into post writing >_>

10. Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga ; Press Turn, that music (the standard boss music is really good by the way), blah blah, Argilla is my girl, that one boss in the middle is super freaking annoying oh gawd my blood is already boiling from remembering it.

The high encounter rate is such a huge turn off. That final dungeon? DUDE.

9. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas ; unlike CJ, I managed to follow the train. Compared to V, this joint is mad old. The shooting? It was terrible back then and now it's super terrible compared to just about every other game that involves shooting! But I really liked CJ, the other characters and watching the story unfold. Maybe it was the primitive graphics or the basic voice acting that really drove it home but that one scene where everything fell apart. I remember it vividly to this day.

8. Fire Emblem ; Eliwood is a lame so I was sad that Lyn, while still a main character, stuck to the background a bit to make way for this dude. Hector though.

Responsive battle system. Still my favorite FE. And it really has to be. Everything else just tries too hard by adding in unnecessary features.

7. Halo 2 ; For me, this was multiplayer at its finest. Spending the night over at a friend's house just to play this, bliss. I think there were about five of us at some point and it was New Year's and friend's family were out lighting fireworks. The rest of us? We closed the curtains and cranked the music up. Coagulation and Rockets only, yesss.

I screwed up and didn't play Halo: Combat Evolved before this. Just fell into the hype. Halo 2 was the first time I've seen a news channel do a report on a video game. Yeah, I don't remember what news channel and I don't know if they're still around but whoever they are, thank you. Anyway, so here I was playing the intro and I was really lost. I didn't know what was going on but it didn't matter because the shooting clicked straight away. My eyes were melting too. That scene in the ship and the bomb and Chief doing all that good stuff. We didn't even need to upgrade our graphics, I thought this was our ceiling and we didn't need to go any further.

6. Tales of Symphonia ; I got really invested into the world building. Having played other Tales now, it's safe to say that (again, for me), Tales peaked here. In terms of pretty much everything. Yes, even combat.

Like with Fire Emblem, Tales of Symphonia was simple. Run up to an enemy, hit them with a normal attack, chain to a tech. Rinse and repeat. This is gonna sound crazy but this game was almost turn based-like. And that's when you step back from the computer and you're wondering what the heck am I even typing. Where did I find such potent drugs to write this? I

The story! Riveting. The best cast of characters I've seen. I liked everyone, nearly. Regal is kinda blah but everyone else was spot on. And the group didn't feel forced. Being childhood friends, teacher and a student, common acquaintances, I look back and I think everyone has a connection to someone. And get this, everyone actually has a reason why they tag around. It's not as if they all feel that they have to save the world. Eventually they do make this their ultimate goal. They have motives. A desire to explore, because of orders, for redemption, like wow Namco, can you please make another Tales game like this. I'm not asking. And dial down the hard on for making stupid battle systems, please.

And the twist not that far in. Yo. Keep this in mind.

5. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door ; okay, this one's a real turn based game. No drugs this time.

The jokes are nicely done. The writing as a whole is excellent. Just a really fun game to play from start to finish.

I remember losing my save file of 35 hours because someone wanted to be funny and just delete my stuff. My anger died down rather fast. I used this opportunity to do everything again. Normally when I replay games and I hit a section where it's really boring I'd lose the urge to keep playing. I still keep playing though. That's what I just do. I don't lose any urge of playing when I play TTYD. Not a single boring part. Maybe the Chapter 4 stuff is kinda boring with all the backtracking but I always tell myself the ending of that chapter makes up for everything and it does.

The game isn't exactly short but I've played through it a bunch of times already. The best.

4. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes ; it's always black and white. Dark and Light. Cookies and cream. What is up with the fascination of opposites in fiction? I asked for this for Christmas 04 and it remains my favorite present.

Out of everything in this list this is the fairest game. Not difficult, not a cakewalk. When you enter Aether and step out in to the miasma, you get panicky since the atmosphere is corrosive as heck. Watch that health bar drop down to 0 really fast. I loved that rush. While there are these things called Light Crystals that provide protection and heal your HP little by little, I was still impressed at how imposing this dark unknown world was. Eventually you get an armor upgrade that made you a little bit resistant to these effects but Retro was smart enough to start spacing out the light crystals. Your health bar didn't go down fast like it previously did so you aren't as worried as before but then you realize it's been a while since you last stepped in a safe zone and panic starts to sink in again. Like when will that darn Crystal pop up again and save me

Those were my memories a decade ago. Actually, that's not really true. The whole spacing out crystal thing. Well, it is true but just a slight exaggeration on my part. Still, Retro Studios remain masters of their craft. Still masterful game design and it's everywhere to be found in Metroid Prime 2. Varied areas and the bosses, ooh the bosses. Some of my favorites ever.

The Chykka. Battle doesn't really play out any different but the logbook data for it was interesting. Oh thanks to the poisonous dark water, it started to mutate heavily and age rapidly. The transformation was something else.

Same with Quadraxis. This one was a really good boss fight. It's a giant mechanical spider with a floating head. Don't know how you can beat that.

3. Resident Evil 4 ; Another game where I fell for the hype. Out of nowhere, my childhood buddy was creaming his pants for this game. He didn't have a Gamecube so it was up to me to save the day. Thanks so much, buddy. True classic status right up here.

It's kinda unfortunate the game loses its mysticism as your further explore the second area and loses ALL of it in the third area. Only negative.

Everything else is so good it's like a fantasy. I wasn't feeling the first couple of minutes since the game was trying to scare me with the ambient music, ooh someone's moving in the background, this guy wouldn't respond to my cheese (I mean, freeze!), typical scare antics. But I got to the village. And the stake. And the whole barricade thing. And the window breaking with the ladder. The cursing. The chainsaw!

So I did my job and I beat that section. Instantly, I faced my friend and I thanked him. I knew I was gonna be up for something special. Honestly I'm kind of sad we haven't good clones of this. The over-the shoulder perspective and the immaculate shooting. I don't know why. RE5 is a major step down compared to this.

2. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker ; I would actually bump this down to a mere honorable mention but how can I when this game is still my favorite game of all time? Favorite =/= best. Words of wisdom.

I hate how piss easy this game is. The implementation of the QTE moves didn't help either. It's a mechanic that makes the already easy combat even easier. With how abundant grass and pots are, enemies should have been hitting 2-3x as much.

So I hate a big part of an adventure game like WW. What's left.

I role-played. The only time in a video game I ever role-played. Link? Link didn't exist. I was the main character. My sister got captured by some eagle thing. I had to save her. I had to sail the seas to do that. And with how big the world was (har har it was empty) I felt this sense of adventure I haven't felt before. Fast forward a decade later and I felt that sense of adventure again in Etrian Odyssey IV but Wind Waker started it all for me.

I was soaking in the sights. Empty sea map and just a compass, I didn't know what awaited each island I sailed by. Everywhere and everything was an unknown. The sun constantly shining on my skin, the taste of salt and the flurry of wind hitting my hair as I rode the waves. Making trips to Windfall Island, interacting with merchants and the townsfolk. Seeing so many Rito for the first time in a single place when my only encounter of them before was a single Rito making deliveries. Little Koroks of The Forest Haven, hiding above the withered branches of the Deku Tree.

Yup, call me close minded but this game will always be my all time favorite.

And that final boss fight is so awesome. I really felt like if I didn't down this boss, it'd be the end of my world as I'd know it.

1. Metroid Prime ; The pinnacle of game design. I don't know what else I would put here. If we included all games from all generations, Metroid Prime would still be my top pick.

And I copped this for $15.

The pacing is so good. Like you wouldn't believe it. The items unlock at the right time. Combat gets old kinda. Super Missile that, Super Missile this. Occasional trap the player into a tiny corridor while a Space Pirate there wailing at you with its plasma scythe thing.

Of course, the adventure part of the game is the best. Encounter a place where I need a new piece of equipment. Gotta backtrack all the way since I clearly went the wrong way. Not. A. Problem. Really. Didn't have any problem with that. What if I did see this tiny room like ten billion times already. I saw it ten billion times differently every time.

Always I see Phendrana Drifts get mentioned in any Metroid Prime related topic. But I think all the areas deserve praise. The areas for MP2 also get the shaft but places like Sanctuary Fortress are so cool and out there.

Greatest. No doubt in my mind.

x. God of War II ; the best God of War game. The game has no low points and also no high points but it's really consistent in everything. All the other God of War games, as much as I want to praise the living daylights out of them, they ain't touching II.
x. SSX Tricky ; fun snowboarding game. The Uber moves are so creative. The worm, breakdancing, pirouette, backflips... Insane.
x. Super Smash Bros. Melee ; nice game with friends around.
x. Soul Calibur II ; borrowed it from a friend and it had Link and all. Great fighting game. Once I dug into it, I forgot about Link. The character designs though. As a kid, I spent a long time ogling the official art for Xianghua, Seong Mi-na, Ivy and Taki. Yeah, just putting it out there.
x. Mario Kart: Double Dash!!; I really wish Nintendo would add the 2-characters on a kart gimmick back. They don't have to make another main entry. Even a simple mode would be welcome. I know the game's easy but I liked thinking whether I should be saving my item by stocking it in the back or use it right away and stuff. Liked using Bowser and DK together and saving giant bananas and the giant shell, mayhem hahah
x. Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal ; I think I abused a bunch of weapons and rarely deviated. Oh well, I definitely remember the fun I had
x. Half-Life 2 ; All these games and the only one I didn't finish. I didn't even play this on PC. I played it on my Xbox! How's that for an L. Might even be a win. Who else played this on Xbox? No one? Okay.
x. Tekken 5 ; great game with all the different characters and fighting styles.
x. Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening ; yes, amazing amazing amazing battles. Legendary boss fights with Vergil. That last one. I gotta walk that off.
x. Pokemon Emerald ; to most RBY -> GSC brought bigger changes but I thought RSE brought more than gen 1 to 2 did. Dead serious. All you guys clowning on this gen and its Pokemon designs but the coolest legendaries, freaking Flygon, best region, best music, all from this gen, baby.
x. Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones ; umph Eirika.
x. Shadow of the Colossus ; nowadays I find this game near unplayable. I beat the game when I was younger but I can't do it now. Every passing year my memories of this game fade. With those screwed up controls that much needed replay always escapes my grasp.. or grip. Wait, that's the same thing.
x. Dragon Quest VIII ; oh ho now this is one game that will never get a replay from me. That atrocious battle speed. It's criminal. I should sue Square Enix. I still beat it though. Some games just aren't meant to be played twice. With how slow everything this game, from the battle system, the traversing, glacial movement of the plot, no way does this deserve another run. But I'm judging this from my first run so yeah good memories all around. It's why I even put it in my honorable mentions list. I liked the cast and Yangus is that one guy. That one guy you'll remember 'til death take you.
x. Super Mario Strikers ; quirky soccer game. I was playing RuneScape (yeah, RuneScape) and my two friends just came over. They didn't notify me with a fancy email or nothing. I had my GameCube in the other room and for the next six hours while still playing RS, those two scrubs sat there screaming each other and laughing their heads off.
x. Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Last Ocean ; the long lost oshun. Voice acting woes aside and painfully slow battle system aside, great experience. Card battles. Nothing else like it And that twist left me legitimately shook down to the very core. That twist is so legit. Another Namco twist. They only published (I think, don't know the specifics) but same thing.
x. Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne ; Press Turn. My girl Chiaki may be insane but she rocks that denim skirt.
x. Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2 ; oh Atlus. The DDS series is two parts of a whole but this mess? Not gonna be a part of it.

****

Okay. I'll separate this section using symbols. This section might as well not exist. It ain't part of my ballot. It ain't my honorable mentions either since it don't have that x with a period. I ain't even bolding the titles.

Ever17: The Out of Infinity ; that subtitle makes no sense. I used the Wikipedia title but the GameFAQs title is different. Don't know what to think of that.

I always thought Sora was my one but then Sara came along and swept me off my feet. The game's a slog until you do the true route and when you get on that route, there ain't no force in the universe stopping you from just marathoning it from beginning to end. Written by the same person who did 999. Call them a hack for using the same concept all the time whatever at least the writing is captivating. Maybe just for me but I know I got hooked.

Tsukihime ; yeah uhhh game came out 2000 in Japan but the translation patch didn't come until 2006. A year past the due date. I'm cheating the system. Still, I wanna mention it in some capacity because it's still my favorite VN. Akiha is the best little sister in games, dudes.

****

I'm done messing with the memories. Thank you to all the developers, companies, whatever, the people from those other electronic stores, basically everyone who took part in my favorite gaming generation.

 

[Bass260]

This is my favorite period in gaming - and also the one I more or less grew up in. *Work in progress.

1. Okami ;

Okami is an unforgettable journey. I'm no good with words - if I had to sum up Okami, I would best describe it by "resonsance". Clover Studio took everything they learned growing up in Japan, and added their own twist to it. There's a lot to be taught just by playing the game. It's a game I can just flip on and play for hours. The art together with the splendid animation make Okami such a joy to play. Really, just watch how Amaterasu gradually speeds up running in Shinshu Plains. And let's not not forget about the music. Although it isn't near my favorite video game OST's, Reset (Thank You) and The Sun Rises mean a lot to me. Thanks Okami.

2. Persona 4 ;

Building off it's predecessor, Atlus was quick to churn out P4 in a mere couple years. The press turn system from the main SMT series works wonders in Persona and persona fusion adds a neat element of wondering what you can make. It's a great way to make a crafting system so appealing. Now, the main cast is no slouch and is probably why Atlus has been so successful in expanding the Persona 4 universe. Anyone who has played Persona knows what a fantastic supporting cast these games have. As well, composer Shoji Meguro created such a fitting soundtrack for Persona 4. It's a lovely piece of work.

3. Metroid Prime ;

Now here's a game that practically came out of nowhere. Metroid Prime was created by a little studio from Texas - Retro Studios. With a little help from Mr. Miyamoto himself and Nintendo vets such as Kensuke Tanabe, they went all out on redefining Metroid in the 3rd dimension. And they passed with flying colors. Metroid Prime kept the core elements of Metroid intact while bringing so much more to the table. It almost feels as if Metroid was always supposed to be played in the first-person view. Walking into Phendrana Drifts for the first time is one of those gaming moments I'll never forget. Or finding that last missile expansion lost in Tallon IV. Or exploring the Wrecked Ship with that music playing. MP is full of little moments that remind you of why you love this hobby so much in the first place.
4. Super Smash Bros Melee;

Super Smash Bros Melee is without a doubt my most played game of the 6th Generation, and probably one of my most played games ever. This game defines who I am as a gamer and what I'll always strive for - fun. And competition. Both in the same game you say? It's possible. Melee comes together in such a way that it can be played at any skill level. Truly, Nintendo's All Stars in 4 player action. I'd also like to point out how many different franchises this game introduced me to - Mother, Metroid, Fire Emblem (to everywhere outside of Japan!), F-Zero and more. Gotta give lots of credit to this game

5. Resident Evil 4 ;
6. Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne ;
7. F-Zero GX ;
8. Metal Gear Solid 3 ;
9. Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance ;
10. Shadow of the Colossus ;
x. Game K ;
x. Game L ;

 

[Brashnir]

1. Champions of Norrath ; Direct character control, including being able to block with a shield added so much to the Diablo/Isometric Loot genre. It's a real shame that nobody is making games like this anymore, and that Snowblind has strayed so far from what made their games great.

2. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City ; This one was the sweet spot where the GTA formula had matured, but had not yet become oversaturated and extended in scope that it lost its focus. The GTA series continues to be strong, but has lost a lot of the intimate charm that made this game so memorable.

3. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic ; Like every other Bioware game, it is built on a deeply flawed combat system with a whole lot of issues, and is plagued by the same binary morality system that is so common in games. That said, it still managed to make a pretty big impact on me the first time I played it.

4. SSX 3 ; While it included an "open" mountain environment, this didn't cause the game to stray into the realm of lifeless, unfocused design so commonly associated with open game design. In reality, it was just a series of tightly-designed, focused levels strung together in such a way that it had some level of openness within each of the three mountains. The trick system was mature at this point, and not played out or polluted by extra junk. The pinnacle of the series and genre.

5. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time ; A wonderful and diverse platformer with an excellent retry mechanic and a well-tuned difficulty level. This might have been number one on this list if not for the godawful tedious combat sections. Why they played up that area of the game in the sequels instead of the areas where it really shined perplexes me to this day.

6. Sim City 4 ; Whether playing vanilla or with the expansion and NAM mod, this game is the apex of the city-building genre. It's a shame what the series has become, but none of that takes away from the greatness of Sim City 4.

7. Metroid: Zero Mission ; These 2D Metroid things are pretty great. Somebody should make a new one. Nintendo, are you listening?

8. Civilization 4 ; This never reached the height of addiction I suffered with the original and Civ 2, but it was a truly excellent return to form for the series after the absolute mess that was Civ 3.

9. Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 ; I'd be comfortable putting any of the original 3 RCT games on this, or any other, list, but of the two that came out in this time period, 3 got the lion's share of my playtime. In some ways, it's inferior to RCT2, but the ability to hop on and ride your coasters in first person kept me coming back to this one for years.

10. Bejewled 2 ; The Match-3 puzzle genre is practically an industry joke at this point, but it's hard to discount the influence of the Bejeweled series, and this game remains the best of them.


Homorable Mentions:

x. Halo: CE
x. Project Gotham Racing 2
x. Everquest: The Ruins of Kunark ; I spent a ridiculous amount of this generation playing Everquest, and Kunark was game's best era. SoV was good, and SoL was OK, but the first year + the Kunark expansion was the real golden era of EQ.
x. Power Stone
x. Wacky Races
x. Golden Sun
x. Mechassault
x. No One Lives Forever 2

 

[pantsmith]

1. World of Warcraft ; It came along and broke a genre. Every game since lives in its shadow, and typically tries to capture some of its magic. I've never seen a game reach so many people from all over the world, devour so much free time, seep into so many other genres, and go on to infiltrate pop culture quite the same way. Not my favorite game, but I cannot deny its omnipotence.

2. Silent Hill 2 ; It might as well be a non-game, and the best example of what gaming as an art form looks like. It not only works as the best example of the survival horror genre, but as an incredible look into the human condition without ever copping out or settling for an easy scare. Works as a story, a game and an experience. To this day the only game I had to get up and leave because it got so far under my skin.

3. Metal Gear Solid 2 ; A super post-modern take on what it means to be a sequel. I don't think anyone will ever troll us quite the same way Kojima did with Raiden. Wins out for having a plot that is more relevant today than it was when it came out.

4. Metal Gear Solid 3 ; More fun and more incredible than its predecessors, its a flawed game full of amazing ideas and oh so much content. Most importantly it is full of love. It just doesn't have as much to say as MGS 2 does.

5. Resident Evil 4 ; Is likewise a game full of love, content, and brilliant ideas. Brilliantly paced and always introducing you to something new. Might as well be perfect. Also saved its franchise through some unparalleled risk-taking.

6. Katamari Damacy ; Pure and untainted creativity without any semblance of trying to change itself for an audience, Katamari Damacy is the dream of a brilliant artist that no one knew what to make of. It is raw, its soundtrack incredible (so catchy I can remember it all to this day), and a perfect example of the kinds of gameplay potential still out there to tap into. Also one of the few games my non-gamer friends love to pick up and play.

7. Grand Theft Auto Vice City ; I picked Vice City because its my favorite of the three, and what I consider the better example of its strengths. Grand Theft Auto was on tv, in the papers, and had people who don't care about video games talking about it. It was also the spark that would ignite the chain of sandbox games that followed.

8. Halo ; I actually have yet to finish the campaign, despite the hundreds of hours I spent playing it. The sheer mindshare this tapped into is incredible. For a long stretch of time I was invited to parties where all anyone wanted to do was hook up 4 televisions/xboxes and play Halo. It helped usher in Xbox Live, and is basically responsible for the Xbox brand still being around, as well as the "social" multiplayer shooter being something that can comfortably be found on your television.

9. Shadow of the Colossus ; Let an artist dream and they give you a game with no filler and magnificent scope, full of giants and unspoken truths about love and loyalty. The game is full of negative space in between the few sections you can actually call gameplay. I love it for this very reason.

Spoiler

It's also the best Zelda game.

10. Half Life 2 ; I'm not even a big fan, but its success led to the success of Steam, and Valve as we know it today. Very important, very well thought out and very well made. It established the groundwork for what we now expect from a (good) single-player campaign.

Honorable Mentions:

x. God Hand
x. Rez
x. Gitaroo Man
x. Kingdom Hearts

 

[Trey]

A hearty excuse to ballwash some of my all time favorite games.

 

[7DollarHagane]

1.Halo: Combat Evolved ; My favorite FPS of all time. The way the physics interact and the large size battles and variety were like nothing else at the time. i replayed it this year and loved it just as much as I always have.

2.Ninja Gaiden ; A simply perfect action game. I love the movement, i love the violence, i love the graphics, I love everything.

3.Counter Strike ; Another game I can just pick up and play even today. The balance and the map control and the recoil mechanics are all so good. People will still be playing this long after we're all gone.

4.Metroid Prime ; A fantastic sense of place and a feat no one ever thought possible before it was released - metroid as an FPS.

5.Halo 2 ; laid the groundwork for the next generation of online play and is still a blast to play.

6.Metal Gear Solid 3 ; The ending sequence nails it for me although the cold war setting was also a big factor.

7.Super Smash Bros Melee ; The best nintendo fanservice game ever and loads of deep mechanics and unlockables.

8.Resident Evil 4

9.Burnout 3

10.The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker



Honorable Mentions

GTA 3, vice, San Andreas
Half Life 2
F-Zero GX
Metroid Zero Mission
Max Payne 1 and 2
Super Mario Sunshine
OutRun 2
Soul Calibur
Metal Gear Solid 2

 

[tcrunch]

1. Metroid Prime ; Prime pioneered the kind of quiet exploration of ruins that I would later revisit and love in the Souls series. The game's background was hinted at by brief data logs, and the player was allowed to fill in the connecting lines by themselves. The atmosphere welcomed treasure seekers, shooter fans, and amateur alien naturalists alike. In addition to finding pretty places and blasting all the wildlife that live within them, the game offered a variety of puzzles, a soundtrack that steps gracefully between its sci-fi and naturalistic themes, and the late-game horror of the series' namesake alien species. [GCN 2002]

2. The Sims ; Artificial life. This was no bustling SimCity which you sent Bowser in to raze when taxes got too high. Sims were your own human-like hamsters, wandering around cages you designed and occasionally (if you kept them happy and healthy) dancing to your tune. Of course you could attempt to care for your Sims like a good pet owner, or you could turn malicious, deleting the ladder out of the pool, locking a Sim in a room with no facilities or doors. You could prompt adultery and fistfights between your Sim and a neighbor, or you could move the same Sim in and out of houses as they moved up at work, caring for their progress like a doting helicopter parent. Your role as the all-powerful Player was endless, and you were never actually being mean or immoral to The Sims, because they weren't real people...right? [PC 2000]

3. Final Fantasy XII ; No more random encounters. See that strangely-colored, enormous behemoth ahead? You can take it on if you want, but without some tactical precision you may find yourself running away (manually, with your own control stick instead of a menu option). FFXII combined the expected richness of a Final Fantasy RPG experience with a bounty hunting system I would later come to love in games like Monter Hunter Tri. This was a game of binary character dynamics: Vaan/Penelo are quickly overshadowed by Balthier/Fran and Basch/a-lot-of-hoity-toity-NPCs. The creatures are fantastic, the environments diverse. The outfits range from the artistic heaviness of the Judges' armors to whatever that rainbow checkerboard is that Basch likes to wear, and the embedded high heels of Fran's tree-loving friends. The story is complex, semi-political, but as you play on your party members are slowly revealed as living legends, giving you a reason to keep caring about what happens to the tiny, insignificant country of Dalmasca. Almost as involving is the effort you put into upgrading your characters' equipment and licenses and developing the tactical schemes that will best assist your preferred role, or auto-play the game for you if you wish... [PS2 2006]

4. Shadow of the Colossus ; You are small. You are weak. Your only asset is your powerful grip and the knowledge that the girl you love will be saved if only you trespass on the forbidden land, and destroy its guardians. These creatures give up their weaknesses to the light off your sword, if you can manage to scale them. Shadow of the Colossus is an adventure, it is also a sad tale of spiting death by any means. Half your journey to each colossus is finding it, delving into unknown forests and pits where no one else has ever dared venture, just for the privilege of killing the beasts. They are harming no one, they live in solitude until you show up. Their forms are wondrous to behold, artworks in motion that teeter between biological relevance and some old god's idea of what looks imposing. Although on a second playthrough, your knowledge of their weaknesses makes most of the colossi pushovers, there is no other gaming experience quite like winding through your first playthrough in Shadow of the Colossus. [PS2 2005]

5. Resident Evil 4 ; I tried playing Resident Evil once, when I was little. I got too scared to continue. Luckily, just for me, Capcom made RE4. The game was spooky and weird, but the terror less clingy than in the original. And this RE was significantly more fun. At the time I was not aware that it introduced a new category of shooter (never been a shooter fan), but I noticed the focus on reflex and aiming as a means of enhancing the game's scariness. In RE4 you need to hit the critical points of a monster before it reaches you, or you may be dead. It is your skill that controls how scary the situation is, as well as the occasional evil background chanting to set the mood. RE4 is not a strict horror game, and Leon S. Kennedy is not an unprepared man struggling for survival. He comes prepared, at least for all the nightmares he can imagine before he arrives at the cultists' island. RE4 is a horror-adventure, and it excels at everything it sets out to do. [GCN 2005]

6. Sid Meier's Civilization IV ; Although I have not played the other Civ games, this one has claimed many hours of my time. Honestly I prefer the early phases of empires, the scouting, the early mapping of a new city's territory, and the inevitable first conflict with those pesky barbarians. I rarely finished a game of Civ, usually petering out sometime in the modern era when I could tell I was either ruler of the whole world or about to be destroyed by the ultra-powerful philosophical influence of Gandhi. In addition to being a great game, CivIV was deeply invested in player customization. After a few years this meant players were crafting campaigns, fixing mechanics, and ultimately designing "revamps" that changed the entire basis of the world. You could play a debugged CivIV or an alternate fantasy world with new tactics required to take over. CivIV is no horror or adventure game, and yet when you throw yourself into a war your heart will still race. Actually the thought of your neighboring country grabbing a resource or technology before you may be enough to send you a-tizzy, and your cold-hearted (but tactical) jealously sees you leading a raid on your ally's city. When their fields are burnt and their people bowing before you, there is no shame or sadness. Only the congratulatory pat you give yourself for waging the most efficient campaign possible. [PC 2005]

7. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess ; Twilight Princess aims to be a dark epic. Experiencing the limbo between Hyrule and the Twilight Realm can only be described as sorrowful, and not only because it's dimly lit. Townspeople whisper their fears, scream at the sight of you, and your role is not Hero of Time but a grubbing animal that must investigate the world closely to have any hope of returning to his more familiar form. Your allies are ghosts, imps, and uncanny beasts forged of porcelain and light. The effectiveness of this atmosphere is variable: the story hits a few fantastic beats with the sacrifice of Zelda, the descent into the Twilight Realm, the climactic swordfight battles on horseback, and that strange little house on the riverbank. But you may also grow weary of the world's new dark side, or the light-fetching needed to make your environment whole. Twilight Princess is a less compact undertaking than some of the earlier games, and just a little too much of it is traveling about between places with a little too small a reward gameplay-wise for doing so. It also has one of the most fantastic and funny side characters in the series, Midna. [GCN 2006]

8. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door ; The Glitz Pit. Puzzle games as Peach. Strange worlds with weird characters, all of whom rely on you to solve their disputes. PM:TTYD introduced new paper-based overworld abilities, such as turning into a paper airplane and rolling under obstacles as a tube of paper. There's a lot of similarities to the first Paper Mario here, but TTYD makes its own identity through its new environments and character interactions, proving another solid addition to the series. And really, The Glitz Pit is my favorite chapter out of all the Paper Marios, ever. [GCN 2004]

9. Silent Hill 2 ; Gameplay-wise, SH2 is a "locked door simulator". Every building is abandoned, but all the residents took care to secure their belongings against roaming vandals like James Sunderland before they left. SH2 is almost completely concerned not with its game-y-ness, but its atmosphere. Not story (that's quite simple), atmosphere. The intention is not to scare the player, but to lock them into a deep-rooted horror that they can only escape by quitting or finishing. By modern standards, it can be a shade too cryptic in this effort, which is why it does not get a higher spot on the list. But once you accept the journey SH2 wants to put you through, you will get to know fear as your best friend. [PS2 2001]

10. Final Fantasy XI ; Normally I would not allow more than one game from the same series in, but FFXI is not like any of its predecessors because it a MMORPG. It is the first and only MMORPG I ever attempted, it was the first Final Fantasy game I ever played, and I only did it because my friends told me to. A couple years later, I was inviting those same friends (who were casual RPer types) into their trial memberships at one of the most famous endgame linkshells in the community. The FFXI experience is a personal one to me, a serious YMMV. I loved the competition, the hunt, and the community. The quests and stories were more obstacles than anything to me until much later, when the Treasures of Aht Urghan expansion hit. I am not sure if FFXI was a great game, or just something I really liked playing with other people. My favorite class, the Beast Master, is notable for having almost no community use at all. I leveled it to 75 completely on my own and had a blast, so I guess I have to say it's a great game just for that. FFXI also had some devious timing mechanics that meant you would be up at 4AM camping a special monster, and whoever had the fastest connection (or bot) won. FFXI was a strange, distracting experience. It could easily detract from your real life. But I also loved it for the time I played it. [PC 2003]

 

[Alo0oy]

Looking at the thread quickly,I think RE4, Halo, God of War 2, Metroid Prime, & Shadow of the Colossus are a lock.

Spoiler

I hope games like SH2 & DMC make it

 

[ForsakenLotus]

Okay, I'll try not to mess this one up.

1. Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn; My favorite game of all time. Almost peerless in it's writing at the time. A deep and diverse cast of characters with a delicious villain quite adept at monologues. The combat was fun, the loot distribution was surprisingly well handled (something I realized after playing Dragon Age: Inquisition). Cannot speak highly enough of the game.

2. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater; The best mixture of grounded storytelling relative to the series and humor in the Metal Gear Solid series. Very good gameplay additions as well as some of the best bosses in video game history. The Boss is a wonderful character and her relationship with Big Boss is touching and well done. Also, SNAKE EATER!

3. Halo: Combat Evolved; One of the two or three most important FPS of all time. Supremely fun, and one of the first games to have a great single player campaign and multiplayer. Great and iconic soundtrack. I meant many of my current closest friends specifically because of this game (maybe it should be higher? Haha).

4. Kingdom Hearts; An action JRPG that combines Disney characters and worlds with Final Fantasy characters. Beautiful aesthetics, great soundtrack, really cool story that wasn't overly convoluted yet. The bosses are mostly Disney villains, so that's sweet, and I get to fight Sephiroth. One very cool game concept.

5. Eternal Darkness; A wholly unique Horror game with a good Resident Evil vibe mixed with the awesomeness of Kojima inspired 3rd wall breaking craziness. I believe it's one of the most underrated games of the generation.

6. Metroid Prime; I believe Super Metroid is one of the few 10/10 games, a true masterpiece. Metroid Prime takes the 2D formula and does a great job of transitioning it into a FPS. Great setting, atmosphere, gameplay, everything. I even liked scanning everything to learn about it.

7. Shadow of the Colossus; A flawed masterpiece. I loved the minimalist storytelling and the world. The gameplay, while a little clunky, was inspired and there wasn't anything like the bosses at the time that I had experienced.

8. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic; The best Star Wars game of all time. Drew Karphyshyn created two of the best Star Wars characters not found in the original trilogy, one of which is Bane in the novels, the other being Revan from KOTOR. The writing is fantastic, as is to be expected of BioWare at its peak.

9. Silent Hill 2; The best Horror game of all time. As much as I love Resident Evil 1 & 4, Eternal Darkness, Dead Space 1 and others, Silent Hill 2 was almost too good at what it did. It's writing and enemies were so good that almost every Silent Hill game after tried to emulate or copy it. A truly disturbing game; and not because of jump scares but because of tension.

10. Final Fantasy X; The best written Final Fantasy of all time. The great characters and their development coupled with nice pacing made up for the linear nature of the game. And that ending. Man tears.

Honorable Mentions:
X. Final Fantasy XII
X. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
X. Deus Ex
X. Ninja Gaiden Black
X. Resident Evil 4
X. Resident Evil REmake
X. Halo 2
X. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
X. Okami
X. Half Life 2
X. Kingdom Hearts 2
X. God of War
X. God of War 2

Man, there are just way too many great games from this generation. I could make a top 25 list of games I didn't list from the PS2. Insane.

 

[Zophar]

Planescape: Torment is a 1999 release.

 

[Nothing1016]

Reserving my spot.

1. Metroid Prime ; The perfect transition from 2D to 3D. Unrivaled level design. Fantastic Graphics. Fantastic Gameplay. Impeccable atmosphere. memorable music. The game is literally perfection, flawless.

3. Resident Evil 4 ; Mikami may never produce a game as great as RE4 again. The attention to detail on everything from character design to animations are unreal. The gunplay is still some of the best in the business and has shaped the TPS genre into how we know it today. The pacing is godlike and is probably the games greatest attribute in my opinion. Also, the amount of guts Mikami portrayed in changing up he RE formula and shaping its future is remarkable for better or worse. One of the finest games I have ever played.

4. Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker ; I'm a sucker for Zelda. Its my favorite franchise and Wind Waker was shaping up to be the best one yet. Unfortunately the triforce quest and cut content keep this game from transcending. Still a fantastic game nonetheless and my 3rd favorite Zelda ever.

5. Star Ocean: Till the End of Time ; This game man... THIS GAME. The first game I have ever 100%. Killing Freya was one of the most satisfying feelings and collecting every trophy was soul crushing. But boy was it fun.

6. Super Smash Bros. Melee ; 2000+ hours and after 13 years its still the best fighting game ever made.

7. Persona 4 ; Dating-sim and JRPG..... What more could you ask for?

8. Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess ; Like I said, I'm a sucker for Zelda so its only natural two games appear on the list lol. This iteration of Zelda was and still is an incredibly solid experience. Some of the best Dungeons in the series and new additions to the combat helped make up for the lackluster overworld and lack of side quests. The wolf parts weren't all that great and the very brown color palette was a step-down from the highly stylized/colorful Wind Waker. A bit of a disappointment in my eyes but then again my expectations were enormous as they are with every Zelda. Still a fantastic game and one of the best I have played this particle gen. My fourth favorite Zelda.

9. Chaos Legion ; This game has no business being anywhere near these games I have listed so far, yet I can't shake the feeling of nostalgia. My first ever PS2 game and boy does it hold dear to my heart. This game isn't good. Its a poor mans DMC clone but the amount of joy it brought me was incredible. I had a wild imagination as a kid this game encapsulated everything.

10. Sonic Adventure 2 Battle ; The last good Sonic game before the franchise went downhill.

Will add reasons later.

Honorable Mentions

X. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
X. Super Mario Sunshine
X. Halo: Combat Evolved
X. Metal Gear Solid 3
X. Okami
X. Devil May Cry
X. Odin Sphere
X. Jak and Daxter
X. Ico
X. Metroid Prime 2: Echos

 

[TheXbox]

1. Halo: Combat Evolved; I play video games because I played Halo. In every respect this game is brilliant. It has the best combat sandbox of any shooter, ever. It's got a mind-blowing campaign. The local MP is unmatched. Did I mention the art? The soundtrack? (they're amazing) CE was and is the greatest first-person shooter ever made and it is my favorite game of all time.
2. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater; Enough has been said of this game. Metal Gear's stealth mechanics are at their best here and the story is still incredible. Subsistence is actually the best version of this game but I'm sure all of you are going to say Snake Eater, so there it is.
3. Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy; Best platformer ever. None of the sequels even came close. It takes cues from its forbears and one-ups all of them. I cherished it in my childhood and to date it has aged magnificently. And no load times, that's pretty rad.
4. Halo 2
5. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
6. Super Smash Bros. Melee
7. Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader
8. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
9. God of War II
10. Star Wars Battlefront II

Honorable mentions:

x. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
x. Twilight Princess
x. Half Life 2
x. Super Mario Sunshine
x. Sonic Adventure 2 Battle (I'm sorry. It was the chao)

 

[ForsakenLotus]

Planescape: Torment is a 1999 release.

It was released in December 1999 in NA, I'm REALLY hoping it released in 2000 in Europe or somewhere else. Would it count then?

 

[IAmRandom31]

Preliminary ( off top of head type thing )

1.) Shadow of the Colossus; It is quite hard to describe the moment I saw the first colossus, with the birds circling over its head. It was a moment of sheer awe. Nothing prepared me for it. Nothing prepared me for the battle to clasp onto the beast, work my way up to its head and begin slamming my sword into its skull. The animations of Wander. The animations of Agro. The animations of the Colossus. The music. The sound effects. The struggle and triumph and mysterious conclusion. Each battle was unique. It was a battle to find the Colossus, to get onto it, and to take it down. An absolutely brilliant game with perhaps one of the most powerful endings of all time, of not for Journey existing.

2.) Okami; A game that is too Japanese even for the Japanese? lol. That was one of the main things said about the game prior to it launching. Was odd to hear, but was totally understandable once you began playing. But oh what a fucking joy it was to play and behold. Was unbelievable to say the least. Everything on screen looks like it had been hand painted. And you could manipulate the world in dozens of ways by using your own paintbrush. Add stars to the sky, comets, turn day to night or night to day, cause flowers to grow, slice enemies in 2, fix broken objects, whatever. Open world exploration. Beautiful, majestic soundtrack. Hilarious characters and acting and script. Loved it. Amazing game.

3.) Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal; Oh man was this game fucking epic. Epic weapons. Epic scenary. Travelling around in space and upgrading your weapons and armor and ship and character. Silky smooth framerates and fantastic visuals. Comedic characters and great voice acting. Perhaps the best of its genre. An action adventure with some puzzle elements and one for the ages.

4.) Dark Cloud 2; Currently playing through this game now actually, and it is just as deep and addicting today as it was back when I was younger. Just dozens of things going on all at once. Excellent soundtrack. Excellent story and villains. Beautiful artwork and world to travel. And the addition of being able to build up Towns and have little secrets and mini games even within the town building was just fantastic. Is fantastic. Wonderful game. Tough too. Mess around and you'll find yourself flat on your back quick. Weapon upgrading.

5.) SSX Tricky; I can still play this game to this day. A perfect mix of arcade sounds and ambience, insane tricks, fast courses and secrets galore . It was pure crack trying to perfect a course and show off for whomever may be around. There will never be a better extreme sports title then this. Great cast of riders. Great interaction between riders mid-race. Mixed in some Road Rash fighting between characters mid race. Excellence. Near perfection. Nah, it was perfection of its genre.

6.) God of War 2; If there is a game that was designed from the ground up with one word in mind, that would be God of War. And that word is EPIC. I mean this game was pretty much the visual representation of our almost gluttonous desire to tear shit up. But it also had a story to tell, and a compelling one. It also employed some of the grandest set pieces ever created and put together some of the best boss battles ever. It was just fantastic in every way. Great combat, great voice acting and cast, great enemies. It did it all and did it all very well.

7.) Freelancer; What can you say about this game? I can't tell you how many late nights were spent with my mouth wide open and my eyes 5 inches from my monitor while I was utterly engrossed in this Christ Roberts created universe. Travelling between jump gates was a form of therapy no matter what may lie on the end. Scanning peoples cargo to see what is inside, and the ultimate sandbox universe allowing you to do whatever the fuck you wanted. Take down an entire police force within a zone. Become the greatest pirate alive, wanted in all sectors. Become a treasure hunter and search within massive asteroid fields looking like something out of hell itself. Was absolutely incredible man, this may move up the list.

8.) Homeworld 2; My favorite RTS ever created. Without question. Was brilliant watching your ships leave the hull of your Mothership. Was greatness to zoom into a squadron of bombers as they fly toward their intended target. Was incredible being able to tell those bombers to attack the engines of a cruiser, or individual weapons. It was like an epic Star Wars battle that you were in control of. And one of the few games that employed a system where whatever you left the battle with, you started with during the next battle. So it became imperative as time went on for you to save your ships and avoid unnecessary losses, or the next mission may be 10x harder as a result.

9.) Grand Theft Auto: Vice City; Some of my favorite movies of all time are Goodfellas and Scarface. This game allowed you to feel like you were living that kind of life, and it did everything it could to make you feel like you were inside one of those movies stories. Brilliance, utter brilliance. Amazing 80's soundtrack and vibe throughout the city.

10.) Dragon Quest VIIIl; The game that proves the point that purely traditional JRPG's are still the best when done just right. Down to your character putting his hand inside a bag hanging on the wall to pull a secret item out, this game oozed traditional. Can only save in a church. Turn based combat. Random battles. The game employed various side quests and secrets like finding little mini-bosses out in the open 3D wilderness. Enemies got tougher in the dark, and many enemies had multiple little quirks like one dude when hit becoming a devil creature instead of its usual regular self. You could create items with the alchemy pot and recruit monsters to form a special team of monster companions to fight for you. Brilliant game. Oh, and Jessica.

 

[Mr. Patch]

Question: Would Beyond Good & Evil HD and The Orange Box version of Half-Life 2 count? Those could possibly make my list.

 

[tcrunch]

Question: Would Beyond Good & Evil HD and The Orange Box version of Half-Life 2 count? Those could possibly make my list.

From the OP

Remakes of games from this generation cannot be the basis for a vote either (so no voting for The Wind Waker if your only experience with it is The Wind Waker HD).

 

[psykomyko]

1. Resident Evil 4 ; What can I say that hasn't already been said? It's the greatest game of all time. I actually hate that term, but there is really no other game that is even close to it in my book.
2. Ico ; Oddly enough, my dad is the one who showed me this game. Glad he did.
3. Super Mario Sunshine ; My personal favorite 3D Mario game. Screw the haters!
4. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater ; During this generation, if you asked me then what my favorite games were, it was easily MGS 2 and 3.
5. Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory ; First SC is probably closer to my heart, but this was the high point of the series.
6. Shadow of the Colossus ; Always preferred Ico out of the two games, but that takes nothing away from SotC. Its an amazing game.
7. Half-Life 2 ; Best FPS ever.
8. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty ; Probably my most played game ever. Beaten it at least 15 times.
9. Halo ; The only reason I bought an Xbox.
10. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker ; This is the only Zelda game I have ever liked.


Always regret not playing many games during this generation. Wish I got around to playing more. I missed out on a lot of great games

 

[gurudyne]

1. Metal Gear solid 3: Snake Eater; I hate Kojima's over-expository dialogue and cutscene-heavy direction, but there's no way this game isn't game of the generation just for the amount of care put in the gameplay. The Boss is also one of the best characters of the generation.

2. Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem; The number one horror game of all time. The only GC game I still replay.

3. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas; Large sandbox for its time and packed with features. Set a high bar the series has yet to clear. Seriously--jetpacks, James Woods, Las Vegas, Samuel L Jackson and harrier jets in a sandbox with a PS2-era Rockstar soundtrack.

4. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City; Amazing atmosphere. The colors, the soundtracks, the fashion, the cars. The most 80's thing that doesn't include a DeLorean.

5. Half Life 2; There's a reason HL3 is still so anticipated. HL2 was so damned good.

6. Guitar Hero 2; One of the best entries for an entire subsection of gaming that died recently--the plastic instruments fad. Very sad, but an entertaining several years. Freebird!

7. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3; REVERTS!!

8. Katamari Damacy; Pure, creative insanity with a damningly catchy soundtrack.

9. Persona 4; Not usually a fan of JRPGs, but this is too good not to list.

10. Max Payne 2; The last good Max Payne game.

x. Persona 3
x. Okami
x. God of War 2
x. Metal Gear Solid 2
x. Grand Theft Auto 3
x. Viewtiful Joe
x. Star Wars Battlefront I
x. Star Wars Battlefront II
x. Max Payne 1
x. Knights Of The Old Republic
x. Legend of Zelda: Windwaker
x. Devil May Cry 3; SKYWHALE!
x. Deus Ex
X. Halo
X. 007: Everything or Nothing

 

[Thunder Monkey]

1. Knights of the Old Republic 2 ; The sequel to my number two and one of my favorite games of all time. It took most of the good things about KotOR and wrapped it in an actually interesting story. Level progression is kind of borked compared to the first and the ending does fall apart, but what was achieved in a year will always amaze me.

2. Knights of the Old Republic ; My first WRPG. Between it and the second I spent 1500 hours creating hundreds of different story-lines and characters builds. This series started my love of Star Wars. (I really wasn't much of a fan until then)

3. Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker ; To this day one of the prettiest games I've ever seen. Sure, it has its flaws. The world is huge, but traversing said world is fairly boring. It falls apart (to varying degrees) toward the end, but it has the most well realized Ganondorf of any in the series.

4. Shenmue ; Never before, or again for that matter, have I seen such a well realized game world. You literally feel like a young male living in a small Japanese town in 1985. Voice acting so bad it goes from bad to charming back to terrible.

5. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty ; I loved MGS. I love MGS2 even more. From the fake out of Raiden, to the occasionally bizarre, but prescient story and attention to detail that is on par with Shenmue.

6. RE4 ; It's fucking RE4! I'm honestly surprised it isn't higher on my list.

7. Super Smash Brothers Melee ; Take Smash, add better visuals, and a much larger roster and you have a game my brother, best friends, and I spent a full 16 hours playing at launch, and hundreds of hours after.

8. Silent Hill 2 ; Silent Hill made me uneasy. Silent Hill 2 introduced me to themes I never expected to find in videogame storytelling. Sure it was just as creepy as the first, but whereas the first seemed inconsistent in theme, Silent Hill 2 knew exactly the story it wanted to tell and it did so spectacularly.

9. Luigi's Mansion ; Short, but sweet. My go to launch title for the GCN, and to this date my favorite of the Mario universe on the platform. A fresh departure for Mario, and a great visual showcase for the platform.

10. Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage ; To this day my favorite hack and slash. Coming from someone that didn't even realize it was based on an established IP at the time.

That is my list.

Thanks for the fun Ani!

 

[rjc571]

If Dreamcast is eligible, why can we only vote for PC games from 2000-2005? Shouldn't we be able to vote for PC games which were released after the Dreamcast launched on 11/27/98? Well, at least I came up with a loophole that allowed me to vote for HOMM3 (see below).

 

[Mr. Patch]

From the OP

I saw that. I'm wondering because I'm kinda confused on the whole remake vs port thing.

Looking into it further, would Beyond Good and Evil HD be considered a remake and Half Life 2 be considered a port?

 

[daegan]

1. Katamari Damacy ; This was $20 when it released in the US. Completely visionary, and unlike anything else before or since, Katamari Damacy bleeds creativity. It could be considered, in some ways, like the last gasp of the wild creativity enjoyed in the previous generation; yet polished enough to stand with any of the major games of its time.

2. DDRMAX2: Dance Dance Revolution 7th Mix ; (ARCADE ver) This is by far my favorite DDR - Extreme has more songs, MAX upped the frame rate and introduced Oni Mode, but this had the best songs that weren't found on future games. I would still go play this on a regular basis if there was a cabinet that was still running it near me. I don't know how I always had money to play DDR, but I really did always come up with more money to play more DDR.

3. Persona 4 ; I hope this story isn't too spoilery. When Persona 4 came out, I had a ton of roommates, and we had weird electrical issues on specific outlets. We had been there for a while, though, and so all knew what was up. I had nearly completed the post-ending content

Spoiler

which if you've played P4 you know is quite long

when one of said roommates decides it is a great time to try the hairdryer on an outlet that she knows full well can't support it, knocking the power out through the whole house. She's awful, but Persona 4 is a phenomenal game worth me going through the trouble of finishing that substantial portion of game again.

4. Rez ; I'll spare another anecdote and simply say this is a game I cannot find anything lacking in, except that there isn't more of it, and the "sequel" of sorts just didn't live up to it (but what would?) This is a Video Game with all that entails, and yet tries - and succeeds - to tap into something subliminal, emotional; just different altogether. Evan Narcisse at Kotaku recently revisited this with a great piece and a plea to bring it to modern gaming hardware and I can't echo that enough.

5. Metal Gear Solid 2 ; "How could he pick MGS2 before MGS3?" is what you are wondering. Simply, I have to answer - what Kojima accomplished with this game could not happen today, now. The script is not great work, no; but it is likely the most prophetic game of all time, eerily predicting an overload of cat photos, insufferable personalities, #brands, social game invites, and their ilk all competing for your time and attention, constantly churning out massive amounts of data. When I think of the amount of time I've spent over the years just clicking between threads on NeoGAF, not contributing even but just taking things in, I am reminded of MGS2. And then I usually find something else to do.

6. SSX 3 ; I have to have put topside of 100 hours into this game. I don't regret it. A master class in making your game fun in the first few moments, but letting the player feel like a total badass consistently as they learn new things. Running down the entire mountain without loading was an insane experience.

7. Metal Gear Solid 3 ; Still the best final few hours in a game ever. Still the best bosses in a game ever. Still the best use of a title song in the midst of a game ever. Completely phenomenal. Spent a lot of time on MGOnline in the rerelease as well. Too bad nobody makes controllers with analog buttons anymore.

8. Metroid Prime ; "Ugh! I can't believe they're making a first-person Metroid. How is that going to work even?"
"PERFECTLY."

9. Kingdom Hearts II ; Almost the antithesis of MGS2 in that it almost completely delivered on all of its hype. Much more playable than the original, better pacing, a story that ups the stakes (although unfortunately also ups the confusion to unheard-of levels)… It is very hard to find much wrong with KHII, at least after you finish the intro.

10. Resident Evil 4 ; There are only two reasons this is so low: it's a little too long and the Gamecube controller cord was too short. Otherwise a stunning reinvention of a series that was dangerously close to plunging into irrelevance (and is arguably now there.)

x. Ikaruga ; frothing demand etc etc

x. Halo ; Because how can you not? Another game I spent a ton of hours on and I didn't even own an Xbox until well into the cycle - but I had a controller, because I spent plenty of time getting together with friends and playing this until the sun was up again.

x. Half-Life 2 ; I was massively hyped for Half-Life 2 to the point that I bought Raising the Bar from CompUSA in the days after launch, but oddly I feel the same way I expected to: I bought it because I expected the tech to be more important than the game itself. The difference is I expected this to take the form of mods; but Steam turned out to be the real innovation. And how far it has come since then. Still, years on, the game is worth playing, as long as you can forget how long the damn vehicle sections are.

 

[Incendiary]

I'm going to have to sit and think about this one. There are so many games to choose from in this era. My top 10 will probably come from the following list:

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
Metroid Fusion
Super Smash Bros Melee
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
F-Zero GX
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
Metroid Prime
Mario Kart: Double Dash
Persona 3 FES
Persona 4
SMT3: Nocturne
Shadow of the Colossus
Psychonauts
Metal Gear Solid 3
Ratchet & Clank
Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando
Midnight Club II
GTA: San Andreas
Resident Evil 4
Kingdom Hearts 2
Max Payne
Devil May Cry 3
Hitman: Contracts
Hitman: Blood Money
The Suffering
Final Fantasy X
Prince of Persia
Half-Life 2
Age of Mythology

And these are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head. I'm listing them here so I can really take a look at them and decide what I want. Later I'll make a new post with an organized top 10 + honorable mentions. Geez this is gonna be tough.

 

[Suzushiiro]

1) Ar Tonelico 2: Melody of Metafalica- Localized in 2009 with a rushed translation as well as a bug that would have made the game impossible to complete if it wasn't so damn easy, the characters and vocal tracks still managed to make me fall in love with Gust through this game. Song highlights include the opening, EXEC_SPHILIA, and EXEC_METAFALICA. Flawed but beautiful.

2) Persona 3 FES- 4 is the objectively better game, but I've always liked 3 better, partially because I actually kinda liked some of the weird things it did that people complained about (most notably the AI control of allies.) The stakes being higher in this game also made the grand finale much more satisfying. Also Mitsuru is best girl.

3) Jak 2- Hard as balls and I fucking loved it (when I wasn't raging at it.) I don't get you people who say it was a downgrade- Jak 1 felt like a pretty generic collect-a-thon platformer to me. I wasn't a huge fan of the GTA-ish parts, but the platforming was rock fucking solid.

4) World of Warcraft- I bought this game in May of '05 thinking I'd be bored with it and quit by the end of summer and it wound up owning me for nine years. It's had its ups and downs, but overall I don't regret the time I spent in it.

5) Metal Gear Solid 2- A massive improvement over MGS' gameplay and a glorious mindfuck of a story. I NEED SCISSORS! 61!

6) Metroid Prime- Still the best "modern" Metroid. I actually didn't like this game very much the first time I played it, but after getting into speed running it I fell in love with it. I still love how when it and Fusion were announced people figured Prime would be shit and Fusion would be the "proper" Metroid sequel, then Prime wound up being closer to the classic Metroid games than Fusion.

7) Final Fantasy X-2- Main story was 'blah' but the combat system is probably still the best variation of the standard ATB system and the side quests were frequently hilarious.


8) We Love Katamari- The only reason why I chose this over the original is because it's objectively the better game, but either one qualifies for this list. This was a weird quirky game back in the era where it seemed like weird, quirky games had no chance in the west. I still remember showing this game to several people and seeing them go from "what the fuck is this shit" to "HOLY SHIT THIS IS FUCKING AWESOME."

9) Zone of the Enders 2- A solid mech game, and one of the biggest upgrades by a sequel ever.

10) Half-Life 2- Probably not as transformative as the first game, but still one of the defining games of its genre.

 

[thesaucetastic]

It's so hard to do this, I haven't even gotten through all the games I've wanted to play in this generation. I think I'll probably hold off.

It's going to be so weird seeing the top games, I know it.

 

[Bubbins]

1) Metal Gear Solid 3; my favorite game of all time.
2) Warcraft 3 + Frozen Throne; people sometimes seem to forget Warcrafts roots which is a shame. These two games were the pinnacle of RTS and it's a somewhat bittersweet that they have been overshadowed by World of Warcraft
3)Resident Evil 4; what are ya buyin? I bought a Gamecube for this game and Paper Mario. Best $100 I ever spent on a console.
4)Battlefield 2; the high-water mark for the once revered Battlefield series (and online FPS for that matter). Great maps, great squad mechanics. Shame EA ran the series into the ground.
5) Half Life 2; the graphics! the physics! the mods! I think it's fair to say that Half-Life 2 redefined immersion in video games and for the time was the most technically and qualitatively compelling games of its (or any kind).
6) Ratchet and Clank: Going Commando; I was torn between this and Up Your Arsenal. Had to go with the former given the single player is a more complete package and really set the bar for action platformers.
7) Burnout 3; best arcade racer ever. Simple as that.
8)World of Warcraft; the gold standard of MMO, made Warcraft a household name. I can't think of a better IP to get the MMO treatment.
9)Dragon Quest 8; the best Level 5 RPG and my favorite PS2 RPG. So much charm and depth.
10)Guitar Hero; when this series first came out it was a dark horse IP with a wacky peripheral and some covers...and it was great. Too bad the first few entries in the series were the arguably the most fun.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

This is why i don't call generations by wiki's numbering system. I just call it "Magnavox era", "Atari era", "NES/Genesis era" and so on. Numbers are confusing!

I blame EA and their recent "We're entering generation 4" talk for this!

 

[AniHawk]

I saw that. I'm wondering because I'm kinda confused on the whole remake vs port thing.

Looking into it further, would Beyond Good and Evil HD be considered a remake and Half Life 2 be considered a port?

i'm going to limit things to the platform. if you played final fantasy iii on the wonderswan first, great. if you played beyond good & evil hd on the ps3 first, you played it on the ps3, not the ps2, gamecube, or xbox. half-life 2 as part of the orange box for ps3 and 360 would count as a ps3 or 360 game, as it carries with it its own flaws and benefits versus other versions.

 

[rjc571]

1. Metroid Prime ; A perfect recreation of the Metroid formula in 3D. Just a flawless all-around masterpiece.
2. F-Zero GX ; "Ow! My balls!" No game this punishingly difficult should be this god damn fun to play.
3. Heroes of Might and Magic 3: Complete ; Thousands of hours of my life were flushed down the drain playing HOMM3. The layers upon layers of strategic and tactical depth along with the sickeningly addicting "one more turn" compulsion made for plenty of sleepless nights hunched over my PC desk. This compilation of Heroes of Might and Magic 3 and its expansions was released in 2000.
4. Jak II ; It's hard to put my finger on just what makes Jak 2 so captivating. A weird mishmash of different ideas and elements that somehow came together perfectly.
5. Castlevania: Circle of the Moon ; I actually hated this when I first played it, but after giving it a second chance I couldn't put it down. With its flawless castle design and hardcore whipping action, it successfully combines both the old and new school Castlevania templates into one awesome package.
6. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes ; It had a lot to live up to following the first Metroid Prime, and it did not disappoint, even surpassing its predecessor in some regards. The game's biggest asset was its atmosphere, which helped it stand out from the rest of the series while still giving it a distinctly Metroid feeling.
7. Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil ; I liked the original Klonoa, but the sequel really turned things up a notch, with bigger levels, more challenging puzzles and intricate stage designs, and gorgeous 2.5D cel-shaded visuals.
8. Metroid: Zero Mission ; A brilliant retelling of the original Metroid. Now with map!
9. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door ; Every single aspect of this RPG hit all of the right notes, from the hilarious writing, to the superb battle system, to the game's myriad locales and gameplay systems which allowed it to stand toe to toe with any of the more "serious" RPGs you can name.
10. OutRun 2 ; Nothing but a pure, thrilling driving experience.

 

[Whiteblade999]

1)Baldur's Gate 2: Pretty much the ideal party based RPG. Loads of good content, great encounter design, strong characters, amazing music, and the best mage duels in gaming.

2) Diablo 2: The best ARPG of this era, and for good reason. It nails everything you want from a loot game, and then some. What made me really invested into the whole thing was the universe behind it. Blizzard North created an amazing mythos for this game (which was later almost destroyed by Metzan..).

3)F.E.A.R: The best AI in a singleplayer FPS, its kind of a joke how it still hasn't been topped. Can't get enough of this game.

4)Painkiller: On the flip side, you have a game full of dumb ai that you can kill in many different ways. Amazing enemy variety and great gunplay makes this something infinitely replayable. Also, this is the only game in the franchise.

5) Unreal Tournament 2004: The best AI in a multiplayer FPS, its amazing how dynamic the bots for this game were. Add in a boatload of maps, many weapons, customizable everything and you have the best multiplayer arena shooter.

6)Ys: The Oath in Felghana: Came out in Japan in 2005, imported to US. Tied for strongest entry into the Ys franchise. Music is mindblowing as always, boss encounter is some of the best in the series, and the difficulty is pretty consistent throughout without becoming overwhelming.

7)Fire Emblem 7: Great encounter design, multiple tight campaigns, interesting characters, and an interesting story make this my SRPG of choice.

8)Vampire Bloodlines: This game is flawed, no one can deny that. What people also can't deny is it has one of the best campaigns out there. The biggest feature in this game was XP being tied to creative execution of quests, so you were encouraged to be creative.

9) Soul Reaver franchise: All of these games come together to form one of the best stories in gaming. Also, the writing in these gamse is some of the best in the medium bar none. I can't pick one because they all come together to tell an overarching story.

10)Rune: Viking flavored action adventure with some nice use of the mythos.

 

[Count of Monte Sawed-Off]

1. Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn ; Huge game that improved upon just about every aspect of its predecessor. This was Bioware at its height. It was everything I expected and more.

2. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City ; This is the 80s. The music, the scenery, everything is just perfect. The atmosphere is what really sells this game for me, and Rockstar just nailed it.

3. Grand Theft Auto 3 ; Before it came out, I was interested in GTA3, but I had no idea what kind of impact it would have. I mostly saw it as a game that would kill time between Devil May Cry and Metal Gear Solid 2. Never did I think that I would love this game far more than those two. This game was something else when it first hit. Never had there been so much freedom in a 3D game. Hell, when it was released, a mission solely involving you beating up a pimp with a bat then having his car resprayed was exciting. I play this and Vice City about once a year still.

4. Shenmue ; I loved the old school adventure games, and that's just what this felt like, except more expansive and prettier. Like the Grand Theft Auto games, the atmosphere of Shenmue went a long way for me. Living as Ryo in that Japanese town was a unique experience. Plus I've never had such a good time looking for sailors.

5. Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence ; I liked MGS2 alright, but it was a bit too out there for me. MGS3's cold war tale of spies and eating a bunch of shit brought it back for me. The revised camera system in Subsistence was the cherry on top.

6. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas ; Mike Toreno.

7. Persona 3: FES ; I actually just played it for the first time a few years ago. I loved the hell out of it, and it became the first newly played JRPG that I had played through to completion since Dragon Quest 8 hit in 2005. Considering how long the game is, that's quite an achievement.

8. Shenmue 2 ; Great game, that improved upon a lot of the issues that Shenmue 1 had. Even still, I rank it a bit below Shenmue 1 as I prefer the original's story and setting.

9. Persona 4 ; I rank this a bit below Persona 3, because I like the story and characters in 3 a bit better.

10. Final Fantasy XII ; Love the characters, love the story (what there is of it), love the openness, love the hunts. It's a massive game that I didn't really appreciate when it first launched, but over the years I've grown to love it.

 

[UrbanRats]

1) Shenmue; (dreamcast) Although some of the systems can feel dated by now, its design has been broken into pieces and pillaged a lot ever since it came out.
Hard to even describe how much i waited to play this game before it came out, before i even had a Dreamcast, but it's one of those rare instances where that level of anticipation was met and exceeded.
I can safely say i've never found a game, since, that gave me as strong a sense of adventure, as well as the illusion of "being" in a real place.

2) Silent Hill 2; (playstation2) Well, i usually refer to this as my favorite game, which is true, though i put it under Shenmue, as i think it had less of an impact on me overall.
Silent Hill 2 is the first game i ever pre-ordered, as i was already a huge fan of Silent Hill 1, and although i didn't know what to expect from a sequel (seemingly unrelated, going by the trailer) i was incredibly excited to get back into that "world" again.
Silent Hill 2 elevated every concept found in Silent Hill 1, from a visual design i consider still unmatched in the genre, to a much more interesting and deeper plot and characters, to a more clever way to introduce multiple endings based on player behavior, to a more varied soundscape, with one of the most amazing soundtrack for a videogame i've had the pleasure to listen to.

3) Shadow of the Colossus; (playstation2) Not much to say, to me this game was as close to perfection as a videogame can get.
My only gripe with it, was the linear approach chosen to have you face the Colossi.
The way it understands the concept of open space, the way it understands the element of "emptyness" in what is essentially visual and environmental narrative, is sadly completely unmatched, and not really attempted by many others.
It just had a sense of pacing that went above and beyond most games, exactly because it understood that.
Also, yeah, all those amazing Colossi fights, you know...

4) The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind; (pc) Another game with a very strong sense of "place", a game with an art direction incredibly strong and characteristic, that i feel the sequels lost, big time, unfortunately.
Also my first real experience with the genre, and it's fair to say it blew my mind at the time.
Buffing myself, lockpicking the door to Vivec and, eventually, killing the fucker, for no reason other than just being able and willing to do it.
No other game had given me that level of insane freedom, at the time.

5) Resident Evil 4; (gamecube) I was conflicted if having this one or REmake on the list, both amazing titles, and although i consider REmake the best Resident Evil, i think Resident Evil 4 is probably the better *game* as well as a much more impactful title on the industry and myself.
You can argue that it veers off the beaten path a bit too much in terms of art direction, especially in the later chapters, however it wasn't nearly enough to not have me beat the game in one sitting (20+ hours) and start it over again, the next day.

6) Ninja Gaiden Black; (xbox) The best action game i've played, it not only got me back into Ninja Gaiden after i had rage quit (and sold) the regular version, but it also got me into the character action games genre in general.
Before this game, i assumed those games "weren't for me", but Ninja Gaiden Black showed me that i just didn't understand them.

7) The Sims 2; (pc) I think The Sims is simply one of the most brilliant ideas in gaming, and The Sims 2 expanded on that idea tenfold.
Really not a lot to say, without going into the boring specifics, but i've spent so many hours (and loved every single one of them) into this game that it'd be impossible not to include it.
I still remember fondly many of those sims i created years ago.

8) Metal Gear Solid 3; (playstation2) Another game (like RE4) that i completed in one, 20+ hours sitting.
It's the culmination of the MGS series for me, an incredible ride, filled to the brim with all the shit Kojima is loved for, with some of the best boss fights, the best setting (minus the Tanker), and the most engaging story in the franchise.
Never got around to playing the Subsistance edition, which allegedly fixed the major problem with the game (the camera), but it would've probably been higher if i had.

9) Jet Set Radio; (dreamcast) I remember seeing a trailer for this on a gaming channel on TV, and i remember feeling like the fluidity of the animations, as well as the amazing graphics, were just not possible to wrap my head around.
I wanted to include its sequel too, since i loved both equally, however i give this the advantage of having come out first, as well as an admittedly more elegant game design.

10) Shinobido; (playstation2) Sort of an unusual choice i guess, but i spent an obscene amount of hours into this game, i am a big fan of Tenchu (and Tenchu 2 especially) and this one sort of took the helm of Ninja stealth games, from where those left off.
Probably the most satisfying fast stealth game i've played, in the way you can zip in and out of shadows fluidly, the way you can kill some bosses stealthily, the way you can use all your gadgets in various ways.. on top of that you have a very fun story, and an intriguing mechanic through which you choose your alliances and control demand and supply of you allies and enemies.


-------------------------------
A couple that almost made the cut:

x) Resident Evil Remake
x) Star Wars Galaxies
x) Grand Theft Auto 3
x) Phantasy Star Online
x) Shenmue 2
x) Jet Set Radio Future
x) Civilization IV

 

[Touch fuzZy. get BizZay]

1. Deus Ex (PC) ; This is my game of all time, followed closely by Planescape Torment. Which, incidentally just barely doesn't qualify to be on this list as it was released in December 1999. What can I really say about Deus Ex that hasn't been said at this late date? Well, I almost didn't play it. After playing the tutorial, I was like "well, this is just Half Life again basically. I don't need to play this" and dropped it! How hilarious is that! A friend told me I would really like it and I should give it another try and lo and behold, favourite game ever made. So that's a lesson to NOT trust your first impressions. I replayed it a few years ago with the high res texture pack and loved it just as much as ever.

If I had to single out the game's specific strengths...Well, there's great characters you love or love to hate and tons of great dialogue that is intelligent, funny and which also includes epic one liners. There's fascinating story elements like rogue A.I.s with mysterious intentions assisting you or kill switches - powerful safeguards that can kill dangerously enhanced agents with a simple spoken phrase...you know, just really really cool cyberpunk stuff...some of which actually makes you think, like the conversations with Morpheus or Lucius DeBeers. But the greatest strengths of Deus Ex have to be gameplay ones - the way it allows the player to solve problems in multiple ways, the variety of options it gives them when building their character, the way it integrates their choices into the story rewardingly. I was shocked when someone told me they managed to save Paul. He had died in my game and the game handled it so convincingly that I thought that was the only possible outcome! Learning this led me to do something I never do...I was very attached to the game's characters, so I quit midgame, restarted and played through it again with the intent of saving Paul. Along the way I found several different, interesting solutions to previous challenges I had beaten! The game was incredible and I've yet to play another game that's been this cool. Heartfelt thanks to Warren Spector and his ambitious team.


2. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 (PS2) ; I actually went into Persona 4 with fairly stable hype levels, despite loving Persona 3. I had learned many times to expect disappointment from sequels, and while I sometimes need to relearn that lesson harshly (Dark Souls2) I would have been delighted by Persona 4 even if I let my hype get the better of me. It's just so fresh and fun and full of life. That little town wins you over soooo easy. I can just stare at the dusk sky in the middle of the shopping district and it whisks me away on a fantasy holiday to rural Japan! Most jrpg stories involve a bunch of shallow character arch types killing God, saving some crystals, or maybe fulfilling a medallion related prophecy in the most uninteresting way possible, but Persona takes you on an upbeat adventure where a group of friends learn about their own individual dark sides as they investigate a spooky murder mystery that succeeds even when it devolves too far into goofyness because the characters are so fun, likable and interesting. It was a stroke of genius to tie story to gameplay even further by making the dungeons into physical representations of a persons trauma and...there's just something so human and real about a story where you confront the hidden side of yourself you don't like to admit exists.

The persona fusion and turn based combat is rewarding, Soejima's character designs are some of the best in the world, and Meguro yet again delivers memorable music but its the way it all fits together so perfectly that makes P4 so lovable. In fact the world and its characters are so beloved that even though Persona 5 is imminent, I'm not sure they won't announce yet another P4 spinoff...And I'll be all over it day 1 to get me some Chie goodness.


3. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (GCN) ; I've played the first two Prime games about three times each, and I did not hold Echoes in higher regard than Prime the first few times I played it. Prime just felt fresher since it was the first time a game like that had ever been done, and its environments felt more beautiful and diverse, ranging from lush forests to fascinating ruins to snowscapes. By contrast, Echoes offered such locales as bleak desert wasteland, harsher more bleak desert wasteland, barren swamp and murkier eviler barren swamp. But replaying the games on the hardest difficulty setting, I guess I kind of 'got' Echoes. It's Samus Aran's Empire Strikes Back, her dark middle chapter....And all Corruption has is a bunch of muppets.

Samus has always been a cool, mysterious loner (other M doesn't exist, lalalalala I can't hear you) with a tragic background, but the odds have never felt more stacked against her than when she tries to save the Luminoth by venturing to Dark Aether, taking on the Ing and the space pirates in a place so evil that its very atmosphere slowly kills her. Her grim determination is unwavering as she endures all this and the terrifying opponent that is Dark Samus. You get a chill, when you enter an area with phazon particles floating in the air and hear the music change to an ominous pulse. The tension thickens and you know a boss fight with Dark Samus is just around the corner! Sooo good. The game has awesome graphical effects, a superbly atmospheric soundtrack, great enemy and boss encounters (like Quadraxis) and my favourite Samus outfits ever! No, not the skin tight ones, surprisingly...The Dark Suit looks so alien and cool - I really dig it! But nothing beats the Light Suit, which not only looks incredible but its power is equal to its beauty. When she wears the light suit, the vile atmoshere of Dark Aether retreats from Samus whenever she advances. The miasma itself cringes before her approach. It's a great feeling.

Just like Prime, Echoes is a very rare game in that it excels in both style AND substance. But there's something extra cool about it, as the dark middle chapter of the trilogy. I'd love to see Retro pursue that idea further and make another Metroid that's built around a space horror theme!


4. Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence (PS2) ; Oh boy. I was over Metal Gear after MGS2 but this game just pulled me way back in. MGS3 was shockingly good, just bursting with content and cool ideas. It's as if Kojima had finally found the perfect balance for his crazy ideas and the player's experience. But having played MGS4 now I think he just got lucky with this one! MGS3 has thrilling CQC packed cutscenes, utterly brilliant boss fights, new stealth and survival mechanics, spectacular setpiece moments and a story that can be enjoyed unironically (!) with a captivating central figure: DA BAWS. Have you ever wondered "what if my mother still really loved me, but she was a hard-ass ninja?" Well Da Baws answers that question like a Baws. Talk about tough love.


5. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES (PS2) ; Persona 3 was my first Persona game and the first time in a long time where I fell in love with a jrpg's style and characters. Some of its design choices got mixed or negative reactions and were changed in P4...But I actually thought they were really cool and I kinda miss them. Like how you don't control the other party members, only yourself. That made me feel like they really were other people and I was relying on them to do what I wanted, frustrating me when they didn't... but when their actions really helped I was like "yeah, Akihiko, way to go senpai!" Of course you can choose to give up direct control of others in P4 but it feels meaningless if it's a choice - I like that the game was specifically designed to make you feel like your allies were different people with their own minds in combat. I may be misremembering and it was only in P3 Vanilla, but there is also a mechanic where characters get exhausted and even sick from exploring dungeons which is a cool way to make the gameplay balance shift more regularly between dungeon crawling and life simulation.

Shigenori Soejima's gorgeous designs made even minor characters awesome. Tattoo drug hippy, emo briefcase grenadier and redhead gothic lolita are 3 of the coolest and most memorable characters I've ever forgotten the names of. Brilliant combat, music, atmosphere, style... all these things are in the same elite class as P4.


6. Metroid Prime (GCN) ; Assuming Resident Evil 4 comes in 1st once all the votes are in, I imagine Prime will probably be 2nd. If anyone were to tell me back in the gamecube days (when it seemed to be the butt of every joke about low sales numbers) that a couple of gamecube games would come out at the very top of the generation by people looking back and voting on them I would have been like "yeah, of course." The game's music, style and sophistication were ahead of their time. And maybe...ahead of this present time? It also had brilliant puzzles, memorable boss fights, enjoyable back tracking, and smart little touches. Awesome Moments like the first time you boost on a half pipe, or when you see a flash of Samus' face reflected in her visor, or when you stand above Phendrana Drifts and the whole area is covered by Ridley's massive shadow as he flies over, these are Metroid Prime memories that will stick with me forever.


7. Resident Evil 4 (GCN) ; I can't complain that this game will almost certainly be the victor in this thread once all the votes are in...it's a true masterpiece that I had a lot of fun playing through multiple times. Everyone is going to praise its brilliance and influence and I could go on and on about the awesome set piece moments, enjoyable weapons, interesting enemies and perfect pacing, but I'll just say it was a hell of a game. There's something I love about how the cutscenes and dialogue were like somehow really cool and embarrassingly cheesy at the same time... I guess it's a happy accident of imitating horror and B-action movies (and literally becoming one, in Resident Evil's case.) "Where's everyone going....bingo?"


8. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GCN) ; This game is like a beautiful dream, I'm so glad people who missed it get another chance with the HD remaster. It was so full of personality and expression...I remember stopping the game and rotating the camera often, just to frame the perfect shot and stare at it. There was so much charm, like the way Link would imitate a cat when stealthing through windfall island at night, or the way Salvatore would say "sploosh" to provide the sound effects for your battleship game. But when wind waker wanted to get serious, it was intense. That scene where Ganondorf bitterly monologues about the past and then turns and screams "YOUR GODS DESTROYED YOU!!!" had me in awe of the mysteries of Zelda lore. The subsequent grandiose boss fight where Link and Ganondorf parry each other's blades as a flood rages around them wasn't half bad either.


9. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door (GCN) ; Jrpgs are boring, right? With predictable, tedious stories...Well what if I told you there was an awesome jrpg where you can become a professional wrestler and work your way through the league to take down a guy called "Rawk Hawk?" Where you could play detective and solve a murder mystery on a speeding train? Where you deal with the consequences of identity theft? Where you go to a place called Boggly Woods that is so eerie and off-putting that little kids freak out and have to stop playing the game? Yet another under appreciated nintendo gem.


10. Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (GCN) ; Look, controversial opinion and all that but while Metal Gear Solid 3 is a better game, Twin Snakes a more metal gear game, if that makes sense. The insane new cutscenes are very, very much in the true spirit of Metal Gear. The over the top action scene where Grey Fox's Katana slices a chunk of the ceiling out and Fox bicycle kicks it at Snake only to have him Matrix dodge it is like, the most Metal Gear thing that there ever was.



Some Honorable Mentions...

x. Mario vs Donkey Kong (GBA)
x. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (GCN)
x. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (GBA)
x. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (GBA)
x. Warioware Inc. : Mega Microgame$! (GBA)
x. Mario Kart: Double Dash (GCN)
x. Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (GCN)
x. Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour (GCN)
x. Katarami Darmacy (PS2)
x. Final Fantasy XII (PS2)
x. Super Mario Sunshine (GCN)
x. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (GCN)
x. Mother 3 (GBA)
x. Super Smash Bros. Melee (GCN)

 

[TheSpaceBetween]

Oh shit, we're doing this too? I just saw the music thread. This list will be WAY harder than last gen. I gotta figure this out...

 

[Verger]

Reserved and editing:


1. Metroid Prime

This is still my most favorite game of all time. It was really an amazing story of how it came to be. If you recall, there were so many bad rumors about Retro Studios, and a lot of bad press due to the original Founder of the studio being an absentee boss who spent money on booze and hookers. Not to mention the reports of Nintendo having to step in and cull out all the staff and pretty much hit the reset button. Then you have the unforeseen idea of turning Metroid into an FPS and one can recall the rancor and umbrage at such an idea. No one would have ever expected it would turn out well.

So when the reviews started coming in and people got to play it it was just so unexpected. I went in trying to keep expectations in check and not entirely sure what I would expect since it wasn't something that one could really quantify.

I was hooked immediately.

The way the game is presented is just brilliant. The whole "behind the visor" HUD was just such an amazing touch to really give the player the sense of really being in the suit of Samus. The Scan Visor was the best idea they came up with in terms of World and Lore building. Being able to scan the environment and NPC's was just an amazing and immersive way of crafting the world and showing just how much details were in it. The Level Design is at the pinnacle in the industry, with each corridor and room feeling like they belong in the way they were laid out. Even with such a limited resource available on the Gamecube discs, they were able to craft each room to be so unique and hide the "reusable" assets they used to construct the world.

Just an amazing immersive experience that is the highest level of videogames.


2. Eternal Darkness

It is not so much about how complex a story is written, but how well a story is told that I feel should be most important. I would readily admit that in terms of complexity, length and even originality, the tale of Eternal Darkness isn't unique. But when I started the game I was just pulled in by the narrative. There was just something so compelling about being in an empty mansion and searching for clues.

And then it just opens up from there...

The way you read that book and are suddenly transported to ancient times and past lives who wound up entwined into things beyond understanding was just so amazing. You got to witness a story that kept on going through different perspectives and saw things that were not of this earth try and concoct elaborate plans to bring about the end of days. Great voice acting by the cast helps really draw you in. And in the end you come to the realization that nothing has mattered....

Like Metroid Prime there was a lot of good world building and the ability to examine the environment and uncover the details about the worlds you were inhabiting was key and the content of extra stuff like the infamous Autopsies of monsters was just brilliant. And of course the Sanity Effects. No game has ever broken the Fourth wall in such a way since then and it was just such a groundbreaking idea. Almost everyone who played the game was caught by at least one Sanity Effect, but most likely more than that. It was a testament to Silicon Knights and Nintendo to allow such things to get in game, as doing stuff like erasing save games or causing the "blue screen" or anything that gives the idea of a "defective product" would normally be something that is never even considered. But they did it, and they pulled it off so well.

Truly a game that stands out from the rest and one wishes more games like this were made.


Half Life 2 (and Episodes):

It was just

 

[TheSpaceBetween]

I feel like we should get 15-20 votes.