Damnit, I was hoping to finish Persona 4 before this ended. From what I've played I feel like it's on pace to crack this list. Oh well.
Enough people have already gushed about all the games in my top ten, so instead I'm going to criticize my favorites by mentioning some (mostly very minor) issues I personally have with them. I love all of these games, but no game is perfect!
1. Super Smash Bros. Melee - Really my only issues are with the roster: terrible balance issues, odd choices (Pichu?), lack of major characters (Wario should've been a no-brainer), and clones (Ganondorf deserved so much better).
2. Ninja Gaiden Black - Chapter 11 is a chore due to the terrible swimming controls (mindboggling considering how well Team Ninja nailed the rest of traversal). Can't move while using the bow which interrupts the flow of combat. Ghost fish in Ch14/15 are extremely annoying to fight. There are a few spots where projectile enemies are difficult to see due to camera issues (NGII took this to a whole 'nother level). Mediocre story and writing. Emotionless voice acting.
3. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - The infamous Supply Lines mission. Technical issues (long loading times, pop-in, glitches). Though the shooting mechanics were vastly improved, they could still be more streamlined (e.g. shouldn't have to press three buttons for drive-by shooting). You can exploit cover and shoot through walls. I found the San Fierro and Las Venturas storylines to be generally less interesting than the Los Santos gang war. Vehicles don't look as great as Vice City's, and they simply blow up when flipped upside down. Some missions take away your weapons to give you others that you may not like. Changing apparel is cumbersome. Lots of superfluous content that could've been cut to polish other aspects of the game.
4. Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory - The controls are a little too stiff to support any kind of assault/run-and-gun gameplay. The game arguably provides too much darkness for Sam to disappear in. Can't peek out from cover with a weapon. The map is virtually useless since it doesn't show your exact location or what direction you're facing. The last few levels are a bit tedious.
5. F-Zero GX - I honestly can't think of any. I suppose Story Mode could be less difficult, but I did manage to eventually beat Very Hard. Perhaps the soundtrack could be more melodic and memorable?
6. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City - The shooting mechanics are archaic by modern standards. Can't instantly retry missions after failing, and you can only take a taxi back to a mission giver if you die or get caught. Camera can't be rotated (only positioned behind Tommy with a button press), and it's very wonky inside interiors. Can't swim, you just instantly die in water. Can't shoot forward in cars, only bikes. AI constantly runs into walls and often just keeps running into them instead of changing direction.
7. Resident Evil 4 - Tank controls are still jarring to me every time I pick this game up again. The game peaks early and never recaptures the brilliance of the village. Can't stand the FOV on 6th gen consoles anymore. QTEs. Laughably bad and cheesy dialogue (arguably a positive in hindsight after this many years). I'm always surprised by the complete lack of recoil when aiming down the sights of the rifles.
8. Half-Life 2 - The vehicle sections drag on for too long, and I don't particularly care for the way they control, especially when trying to drive and shoot simultaneously. Even discounting the vehicle sections, I feel the game isn't as well-paced as Half-Life 1. The sand area is by far the weakest part of the game for me. Overused character models and voice actors.
9. Deus Ex - Very unrefined gunplay. Terrible AI that, once you're spotted, either runs straight at you while shooting or runs away from you. I wish there were an easy way to hotkey combinations of augs that are commonly used together. The voice acting ranges from mediocre to terrible. I'd have preferred the hacking and lockpicking mechanics to be more interactive than simply waiting for them to finish. Didn't enjoy
since I got easily lost and as far as I could tell it had infinite enemy respawns.
10. Thief II: The Metal Age - Melee combat is absolutely terrible; I know it's a consistent design choice throughout the series but I wish melee combat were a more viable way to deal with enemies in certain circumstances rather than result in inevitable death every time (at least for me it does, perhaps I just never figured out how to fight properly). The best levels are frontloaded in the first half, the second half has a few poor design choices, and the final level is tedious with all the part collecting and tower activating. Jumping, climbing, and crawling in tight spaces is very finnicky.
...Alright, so the majority of these issues are minor nitpicks and not really worth complaining about at all. For the seemingly significant issues, obviously I feel that these games otherwise do so much so well that they transcend their flaws to the point where I'm not really bothered by them. Like I said, I absolutely love them all!
Enough people have already gushed about all the games in my top ten, so instead I'm going to criticize my favorites by mentioning some (mostly very minor) issues I personally have with them. I love all of these games, but no game is perfect!
1. Super Smash Bros. Melee - Really my only issues are with the roster: terrible balance issues, odd choices (Pichu?), lack of major characters (Wario should've been a no-brainer), and clones (Ganondorf deserved so much better).
2. Ninja Gaiden Black - Chapter 11 is a chore due to the terrible swimming controls (mindboggling considering how well Team Ninja nailed the rest of traversal). Can't move while using the bow which interrupts the flow of combat. Ghost fish in Ch14/15 are extremely annoying to fight. There are a few spots where projectile enemies are difficult to see due to camera issues (NGII took this to a whole 'nother level). Mediocre story and writing. Emotionless voice acting.
3. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - The infamous Supply Lines mission. Technical issues (long loading times, pop-in, glitches). Though the shooting mechanics were vastly improved, they could still be more streamlined (e.g. shouldn't have to press three buttons for drive-by shooting). You can exploit cover and shoot through walls. I found the San Fierro and Las Venturas storylines to be generally less interesting than the Los Santos gang war. Vehicles don't look as great as Vice City's, and they simply blow up when flipped upside down. Some missions take away your weapons to give you others that you may not like. Changing apparel is cumbersome. Lots of superfluous content that could've been cut to polish other aspects of the game.
4. Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory - The controls are a little too stiff to support any kind of assault/run-and-gun gameplay. The game arguably provides too much darkness for Sam to disappear in. Can't peek out from cover with a weapon. The map is virtually useless since it doesn't show your exact location or what direction you're facing. The last few levels are a bit tedious.
5. F-Zero GX - I honestly can't think of any. I suppose Story Mode could be less difficult, but I did manage to eventually beat Very Hard. Perhaps the soundtrack could be more melodic and memorable?
6. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City - The shooting mechanics are archaic by modern standards. Can't instantly retry missions after failing, and you can only take a taxi back to a mission giver if you die or get caught. Camera can't be rotated (only positioned behind Tommy with a button press), and it's very wonky inside interiors. Can't swim, you just instantly die in water. Can't shoot forward in cars, only bikes. AI constantly runs into walls and often just keeps running into them instead of changing direction.
7. Resident Evil 4 - Tank controls are still jarring to me every time I pick this game up again. The game peaks early and never recaptures the brilliance of the village. Can't stand the FOV on 6th gen consoles anymore. QTEs. Laughably bad and cheesy dialogue (arguably a positive in hindsight after this many years). I'm always surprised by the complete lack of recoil when aiming down the sights of the rifles.
8. Half-Life 2 - The vehicle sections drag on for too long, and I don't particularly care for the way they control, especially when trying to drive and shoot simultaneously. Even discounting the vehicle sections, I feel the game isn't as well-paced as Half-Life 1. The sand area is by far the weakest part of the game for me. Overused character models and voice actors.
9. Deus Ex - Very unrefined gunplay. Terrible AI that, once you're spotted, either runs straight at you while shooting or runs away from you. I wish there were an easy way to hotkey combinations of augs that are commonly used together. The voice acting ranges from mediocre to terrible. I'd have preferred the hacking and lockpicking mechanics to be more interactive than simply waiting for them to finish. Didn't enjoy
Area 51
10. Thief II: The Metal Age - Melee combat is absolutely terrible; I know it's a consistent design choice throughout the series but I wish melee combat were a more viable way to deal with enemies in certain circumstances rather than result in inevitable death every time (at least for me it does, perhaps I just never figured out how to fight properly). The best levels are frontloaded in the first half, the second half has a few poor design choices, and the final level is tedious with all the part collecting and tower activating. Jumping, climbing, and crawling in tight spaces is very finnicky.
...Alright, so the majority of these issues are minor nitpicks and not really worth complaining about at all. For the seemingly significant issues, obviously I feel that these games otherwise do so much so well that they transcend their flaws to the point where I'm not really bothered by them. Like I said, I absolutely love them all!
