My Twenty Favorite Video Games Part One: 1-10
Thinking back, I really should have started at 20 and counted down. But...I didn't realize what I was doing until roughly number 6. So...F it.
List items
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Before getting my Vita, I haven't played a Persona game since the first entry on the PS1. I didn't get through much of it, and hadn't thought about the series until I started reading Giant Bomb. After looking at a couple of the videos for the Endurance Run, I knew I needed to get this game. After securing a Vita, I immediately purchased Persona 4 Golden and spent the next 120 hours of my gaming life playing it twice. Between the classic feeling battle system, the great characters, and fantastic story, this game dethroned what was originally my favorite game of all time, a game that held its title since 1999.
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As a child, I had not played anything this complex ever. Between the nuanced political tale being interwoven with the personal tale of two best friends, to the many forms of battle one will engage in over the course of the game, Suikoden II was a game that sucked me in from start to finish. It took everything that made Suikoden a great, if short game, and dialed it all up to 10. It would be a long time until I played something that even came close to the esteem I hold this Konami title in.
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Sure, this game had a story that was ruined to nonsense thanks to a terrible translation. It is however, the game that introduced the United States to the job system made so popular in Final Fantasy III and V (The Japanese were hogging all the job changing glory). This was also the game that got me into strategy RPG's, a genre that I have never lost affection for since this great title. I was all too happy to play this again when it was re-released for the PSP, with an actually amazing translation. Despite that version being clearly superior, nostalgia wins out in the end, and this version remains one of my all-time favorites.
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Finally away from the RPG's. This was...the game when I was a kid. Nothing else mattered. After beating Super Mario Bros. 1 more times than I can count, and generally not digging Super Mario 2, the third entry really hooked me. Everything that was good about Mario 1 stayed, and Nintendo just piled more on. New powers, the world maps, and secrets made for one of the most memorable games of all time. Nintendo brought their A game with this title, and it is truly a classic I can play again and again to this day.
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The PS1 was a system that is really remembered for helping to usher in an age of 3D games. However, those games, especially when played today, look disgusting. The graphics do not hold up well, even if at all. If you ask me what the PS1's biggest strength was, I think it was taking the ability to make 2D games, and tarting them up as much as possible with background effects and little visual tricks that were not possible on the SNES. Castlevania: SotN is always the game that comes to mind for me when thinking of 2D on the PS1. A stark departure in style for the series, SotN gave us a great aesthetic, and tone that would be replicated for years to come. With the future of such games now in flux with Igarashi's departure from Konami, it is always nice to sit down and play the game that coined the term "Metroidvania".
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The dark middle chapter of the Mass Effect trilogy refines the shooting while getting rid of the annoyingly constant menu navigation. Very contained in its scope, and held together by amazing writing from both a story and character perspective, this is by far the best Mass Effect experience out there. I think I also bought and played all of the DLC for this game, which is something I never do.
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I swear there are games other than RPG's on here. I actually just started playing this again on the Vita, and it really holds up well. Featuring a surprisingly deep turn-based battle system and probably the best way to level up a character Square has ever invented, and you get a game that is truly something special. A very personal story dealing with responsibility to both yourself and everyone around you, Square crafted a tale that everyone has dealt with at some point in their lives. Layering a heavy religious element on top of this makes for oddly enough one of the easier to understand tales Square has ever put out there.
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This game held onto my soul for 8 years. It seems I may have finally kicked the habit, but I still take it one day at a time.
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I killed a robot lighter man with bubbles. Also Wily's Castle has some good music. If you don't know why this game is so good, you have simply not played video games.
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This is probably the ultimate hybrid game. Featuring the ability to play as a whacky party title, or as a deep, complex, infinitely replayable fighting game, the Gamecube entry in the Smash franchise is truly in a class of its own. This is the game people still play, despite the sequel with extra bells and whistles. Brawl may have put in plenty of extras, but it was in Melee where the core was perfected.
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