BoG's greatest games of all time: THE FINAL FIVE!

yeah although i probably would not place it number 1 overall.  In fact I can't rank the games I like at all.  Way too hard @.@

Ha, Final Fantasy VII. Wasn't expectin MGS1 though...
Great list man!

Good fakeout. Good Top 30 list (MGS 1 is somewhere on a top whatever list I have).

Really though, I find FF7 to be just as good or "classic" (Yeah. Hmm.) as any other regular FF game. Why the hate? Because it was the one that became really popular?? Riiiight....

"Kenshin said:

"Good fakeout. Good Top 30 list (MGS 1 is somewhere on a top whatever list I have).

Really though, I find FF7 to be just as good or "classic" (Yeah. Hmm.) as any other regular FF game. Why the hate? Because it was the one that became really popular?? Riiiight...."

I already discussed this. I don't hate the game, I think it's a good title. Neither as good nor as bad as everyone says. I just used it as a fakeout to 1. separate space between the real number and #2; and 2. I chose FFVII because it would upset wy more than an Ocarina of Time fakeout."

I'm very sorry Bug, I have loved all your Top 30 posts until your top 5! I was dissappointed to see so much love for MGS. I have played half of 1 and all of 4 and just got bored throughout them. I didn't ever get that rush feeling that people got. I completely agree with Metroid and SotN though. I'm just not a huge MGS fan.

Good choice for number 1, but I like MGS4 and MGS3 marginally better.

Word up for SotC!!!

I know you can't really criticize a favorite list but hey, I'll do it anyway.

"Milkman said:

"I know you can't really criticize a favorite list but hey, I'll do it anyway.

Metal Gear Solid 4 is the best game in the series. Why? Because it evolved. It became more Western and in turn, just a more accessible and fun game to play. The shooting, which is usually TERRIBLE in Metal Gear games, was extremely tight, while the stealth mechanics were also very improved and gratifying. For me, MGS 4 is the brilliant example of how to mesh together a compelling story line and great gameplay. Plus, it looks pretty nice too, eh?

This may have something to do with me not loving Metal Gear Solid or MGS 3. Don't get me wrong. The games are great and I definitely enjoy them immensely. The original was groundbreaking for sure, but it had its flaws. As for MGS 3, once again, great game but the gameplay and story don't mesh together nearly as well as MGS 4. But MGS 2...Now, if there is any game that deserves to share the a number five spot with another MGS game, it's that. I can't really explain why I like MGS 2 so much more than the original and MGS 3 but it just feels so much tighter. I feel it's along side MGS 4 as a game that combines these hugely technically impressive cut scenes and great gameplay to find the perfect middle ground.

And I assure you again, I'm not trying to bash MGS and MGS 3 and I know this is your list and none of what I just typed really matters to you. Just my two cents.

"

So, we define evolution these days by how westernized it becomes? What an ethnocentric approacj. Accessibility? I had a really hard time with the fact that my dad couldn't get a hold of MGS4. He's a fan of the series just like I am, but he couldn't figure out all the complex commands required to accomplish anything in the game. Accessible games don't have a learning curve that steep. The stealth mechanics may be improved, but it doesn't really matter, because there was just too little stealth in the game. I'd also love to know how exactly the gameplay and story mesh together so well? That "meshing" occurs the same in each of the games. 

As for how compelling the story is, are you SURE you played 3? I mean, that story was cohesive, it had some great themes and great characters. Metal Gear Solid 4 was a fanservice that defaulted to nanomachines to explain absolutely everything. I honestly can't understand how you don't think 3 had the absolute best story and cutscene choreography of the series. Four had that crawling scene that was quite impressive, but other than that it drew too much from the other games. 4 had a bigger budget, but 3 was just a whole lot better. 

What you typed does matter to me. I've played these games religiously, and I think it's blasphemous to say that the fourth game is as good as its predecessors in any regard aside from technology (both graphically and gameplay wise). I reiterate, it was a fanservice, and one I just couldn't love as much as the games that came before it.

"

I was anxiously anticipating your final five. Sorry it's taken me so long to write a reply to it. I really need to start playing the Castlevania series, by the way. It's definitely one of the highest regarded video game series around, and I've only played one of them on the SNES for about 5 minutes and wasn't enjoying it much. Still, maybe I should give Castlevania another go.

Snake Eater, eh? You know, I never even finished it. I couldn't really even tell you why. I played through it, got pretty far, maybe like half way through it... then for some reason, stopped playing it for months. Some other big games must have come out that held my attention away from it. Many months later, I wanted to get back to it, and couldn't really remember much from the story and decided to start it over. I only got up to around Ocelot's first fight before quitting again. To be honest, I can't say I enjoyed it that much. I had a lot of problems with it. First of all, the preset camera just wasn't working out so hot, especially since the radar was removed. Sure, you had other forms of radar, but considering they picked up animals and things and had a battery life, I found them to be mostly useless. By the time MGS3 came out, I think the controls had become incredibly outdated. Movement in the game never felt comfortable or fluid to me. Most of the time, the awkward controls would be completely responsible whenever I made a mistake or accidentally alerted guards. I actually think the controls got worse with MGS3. I recall something in the controls where to like hold a hostage and use him as a shield and shoot enemies, I had to hold down Circle, Triangle, and still press Square to shoot. 3 face buttons at once? Man, that's ugly. Especially with the Square button using button sensitivity... Also, the brief load time to pause and change your camoflauge kind of sucked. Considering how frequently the environment changed, this got annoying. As a result, I tried to change my outfit as rarely as possible. There was a lot of good to be found in the game, for sure. Tossing grenades into alligator mouths? That's great fun. I thought it was cool how there were so many types of camo available to you, and then you had the whole aspect of hunting for food, which was interesting but ultimately not anything too great, as far as I'm concerned. Another issue I had with the game is that I never really felt like I was trying to survive in the jungle. I thought that was something the game was aiming for. Hunting food was incredibly easy and there was always an abundance around. Snake never sleeps? I thought it'd be cool if I had to find a place to sleep every once in a while, and could set traps just in case any enemies would happen to walk by as I rested. None of that happened. Healing wounds was neat the first time, but considering there really wasn't anything to it other than using certain medkit items in a certain order, it got old really quick. You could also carry a ridiculous amount of stuff, which certainly didn't help with the whole survival mood. I found that to be stealthy in the game, you really had to play the game at a significantly slower pace. That's how I tried to play through it for the most part, but it's kind of discouraging when it's so much easier to just run pull out an AK and shoot guards. I don't know, I just never really felt like I was rewarded for playing in a stealthy manner, and felt like I was wasting my time when I could more easily just run and around and shoot everybody and hardly get damaged by their bullets. Okay, just another thing or two. I thought the ridiculousness of the cutscenes went way too far. I remembered thinking they were cool in MGS2, but MGS3 takes them to such an extreme level that they're incredibly cheesy, embarrassing, and for the most part kind of stupid. Like that part where Eva does like a backflip on a motorcycle on flat ground and perfectly hits a guard in the head with the back wheel? Too far, man. Too far. Also, I was disappointed with how lame they made Ocelot. I think him and Snake have like one of the greatest rivalries in all of gaming, yet here Ocelot is betrayed as being some young, dorky, mating-call-obsessed soldier. Also, I found the conversations to be a lot less interesting. Well, I think I've said enough about MGS3. I'd like to beat it one day, it has some great boss fights and a cool ending that would probably be good for me to experience first-hand, but considering all my issues with it's gameplay and how much fun I didn't have at times, it just might never happen. Well, sorry to gripe about one of your favorites. Onto the next one!

Shadow of the Colossus is a cool, original game. Definitely nowhere near being among my all-time favorites, but I can show some love. I agree that it's a great concept. I love the idea of having just a bunch of boss fights. Luckily for you, I don't have quite as much to say about this one. I enjoyed the aspect of having to track down all of the different Colossi, which in itself could be quite challenging at times. My favorite battle is the one in the second picture you chose. I really loved that one. Most of them were really good, though. I would have liked to have scaled that main building. I didn't know until after beating it that eating lizard tails would increase your grip strength. The story didn't have all that much of an effect on me, I found most of it to be pretty forgettable. The way it's presented and all takes place around that building and the girl is pretty cool. I did feel bad killing a lot of the Colossi. Many of them seemed like kind, harmless giants, while others were a lot more aggressive. The art style is fantastic, and yeah, it really looks fantastic for a PS2 game. It's a game I should probably be playing right now that my 360 has been sent off to repairs, but it's probably not gonna happen since I'm about to start Donkey Kong Country 3 for the first time.

Here we go. Metroid Prime. This is a choice I can fully get behind. Metroid Prime might be the best video game to come out of last gen. It's among the top five without question, I don't care who you are. It's a masterpiece. It's phenomenal in pretty much every right. It was actually the first or second Metroid game I ever played. I don't remember if I played Metroid Fusion first or not. Heh, your story about your dad is kind of interesting to me. It was the same way with my best friend. He had an SNES, and his dad loved Super Metroid and also had Metroid 2 on Game Boy. Growing up, my only experience with the series was pretty much just watching his dad play it. Anyway, I think it's amazing how well Metroid transitioned to 3D. I remember being sucked in right away in that first level. Then afterwards, you lose all your weapons and powerups and have to find them throughout this new world. That actually was discouraging to me. I felt like I was kind of robbed, but perhaps more than anything that first part of the game serves as a teaser of the awesomeness that is to come. Eventually I grew to love exploring Tallon IV. The world Retro Studios created was absolutely amazing. The environment was so impressive, so varied, so believable. The gameplay and powerups were all put to good use. The game also maintains it's awesomeness throughout, and it's a pretty long game that never really falters. I have only one complaint about Metroid Prime. The artifact collecting that is required before one of the final boss fights is rough. You're given just a small hint, which also points you in the area where you'll find what you're looking for, but in my experience, I think a guide is pretty much required for this part. Maybe more helpful hints would have been nice. I don't know, maybe you'll disagree about that, but I wasn't having much luck finding them on my own. Wow, the game sure had some great boss fights too. This is certainly one of the most impressive games I've ever played in my life. Some genius puzzles thrown in there as well. Good pick.

Final Fantasy VII. I agree. This is totally the best game ever and my all-time favorite!
Okay, okay, I'm totally lying. I hate Final Fantasy. FF7 is one of the only games I played from the series, and I wasn't enjoying it at all.

Metal Gear Solid is a game I overlooked back on the Playstation. I rented it shortly after it came out, and dude, I just didn't get it. Cigarettes? Cardboard boxes? Ketchup? What the heck is this game?! It also had weird controls, and was pretty different from probably any game I had ever played at that point. I didn't play it for all that long before deciding I was done. Well... that may have been a huge mistake on my part. Anyway, I did get to relive the magic with Twin Snakes on Gamecube, so at least I had that opportunity. One of my biggest problems with MGS on Playstation was not being able to really see where you were shooting. I didn't like that at all. Twin Snakes fixed that and added some other upgrades from MGS2. I thought the story and characters in this game were definitely more interesting than those in MGS3. The game definitely has some great moments. I loved some of the violence of it too. Like with uhh.. what was his name, Frank? Against Metal Gear Rex. Awesomeness. I can't say I remember most of that boss fights all that well, but I suppose I still have a general idea of what happened in each of them. Psycho Mantis, of course, but that one has been so publicized since the release that I'm sure people who haven't played MGS can tell you all about it. I tried buying Twin Snakes a few years ago... I had always been reluctant to buy it because of the awful box art the game had. I know that's stupid, but I like good box art, and Twin Snakes' box art is ugly and low quality, and I have no idea why they did that. Maybe they were trying to make it look closer to the original PS1's graphics, but either way, I think it looks awful. Okay, okay, so I ended up trying to buy it, only to find out that it's become this super rare game. Buying it new? Forget about it. You're gonna be spending like $100 or more. Looks like I'll never own it. Ah well, it was a great rental. Good list, man. I've enjoyed reading them and commenting on them. Maybe I'll write a list of my all time favorite games as well, but don't count on it.

BoG, I completely agree with what you had to say about MGS4, there is too much action and not enough sneaking around like the previous games. The gameplay aspect of the MGS series is all about getting you heart pumping as you try to sneak past, tranquilize dudes and hide in lockers, and there really isn't much of that in MGS4.

Wow, I'm loving the big comments. I've really already said too much about all these games, but I'll respond to a few.

Well, thanks for responding. I really need to tone down the length of my replies, I do this all the time! However, it seems to work best when I do it in a blog since I can at least count on the original poster reading it instead of nobody. Yeah, the camera was certainly a big issue for me. I'm sure it was in the other MGS games too, but the radar kind of minimized the problem. I mean, really... is it that important to see everything when the only thing you have to be cautious of is enemies, who are clearly shown with even their field of vision on your radar? Once that was taken away, I felt kind of handicapped. Looking back on my comments, I was kind of harsh on MGS3. Sorry for ripping on your game, dude. Anyway, great list. I'm curious, have you played Metroid Prime 3? I still strongly promote it as being the best game on the Wii. Sure, not quite up to the level of Prime, but heck, what game is? I mean, really, c'mon. It's almost not fair to even judge it by Prime. In it's own right, I think Metroid Prime 3 is superb and keeps things fresh.

props for SOTC and MGS1.  I must of played through both of them 10+ times, lost count really.  FFVII will always be a favorite for me but I just give up talking about it considering how much people love to hate it, Ive grown tired of trying to explain my side of it.

I agree with everything there exept Shadow of the collosus. It was a boring game.

"Well, thanks for responding. I really need to tone down the length of my replies, I do this all the time! However, it seems to work best when I do it in a blog since I can at least count on the original poster reading it instead of nobody. Yeah, the camera was certainly a big issue for me. I'm sure it was in the other MGS games too, but the radar kind of minimized the problem. I mean, really... is it that important to see everything when the only thing you have to be cautious of is enemies, who are clearly shown with even their field of vision on your radar? Once that was taken away, I felt kind of handicapped. Looking back on my comments, I was kind of harsh on MGS3. Sorry for ripping on your game, dude. Anyway, great list. I'm curious, have you played Metroid Prime 3? I still strongly promote it as being the best game on the Wii. Sure, not quite up to the level of Prime, but heck, what game is? I mean, really, c'mon. It's almost not fair to even judge it by Prime. In it's own right, I think Metroid Prime 3 is superb and keeps things fresh. "

I always had fonder memories of mgs1 than I ever had with 2 or 3 (or even 4 for that matter :D)


I kinda had a bond with that game and the cool puzzle where I had to smoke to see the laser,I though that was so badass!

I approve of this list

"I agree with everything there exept Shadow of the collosus. It was a boring game."

Nice list man, MGS was a legendary game, great choice.

Thanks for mentioning GnG. That game deserves more respect.

SOTN was underrated by you.

Word, BoG. Great list.