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RookTakesPawn

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Best Games of 1995

This year was the height of the JRPG era. And it reached the highest heights with what is nearly my favorite game of all time, Chrono Trigger (note: the horror stories about the game's development and treatment of the dev team drop it a notch below A Link to the Past for me).

But don't sleep on Lufia II, Terranigma, and Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together which are probably the most underrated and underplayed JRPG's compared to their quality. Also, while I didn't like the game play, Suikoden earns a nice shout out for its ambitious storytelling. However, Dragon Quest VI should take the walk of shame for its story, along with Tales of Phantasia for its combat and too many random encounters.

List items

  • As stated in the intro, this is probably my favorite game of all-time. The characters drive the story and each has their moment to shine. The setting changes due to the time travel element in this game are supplemented by music and tone changes, enemy and even mini-game designs. The only downside here is that Lavos is an existential threat without much of a personality. It is this seemingly lone flaw that will allow another game to surpass this one. But until then, Chrono Trigger is a worthy emblem of the height of '90s gaming, JRPG's, storytelling, characters you love, and the scene where you are judged for your actions that made you first feel the true consequences of your choices as a player.

  • The story and political intrigue were complex, confusing, but pushed you to think about war and battles in a new way. The tactical system is claimed to have been inspired by a Japanese show with humans as chess pieces; regardless, it was miles ahead of the game play they provided with "The March of the Black Queen." This tactics system would stay with the team to their development of Final Fantasy Tactics, another great title. But LUCT constantly kept the character development moving forward, with some tough player choices and chilling outcomes. The global politics were enough to cast doubt on your success but not invasive enough to become mindless jargon. Also, player choice was used in some really awesome ways to have multiple paths, scenes, and endings.

    If not for Chrono Trigger, it would be hard to see any game topping Tactics Ogre this year. What a great game.

  • Lufia II's puzzles and dialogue make this game a remarkable hidden masterpiece. This was a very fun romp that was surprising in how far a leap it took from its predecessor that was previously reserved for Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy games.

  • The charm of this platformer kept you going despite its wicked difficulty. The music popped too and the creative designs of the levels kept you wanting to see more.

  • Many days in computer lab playing this game, full of spunk and cutesy, bloody destruction.

  • I love the mountains.

    I love the rolling hills.

    I love the flowers.

    I love the daffodils.

    I love the fireside.

    When all the lights are low.

    Terranigma. Terranigma. Terranigma. Terranigma.

  • A nice change of pace for the team at LucasArts. Not as great as what would come or Day of the Tentacle, but still - a solid adventure game.

  • A bit of an awkward follow-up to the apex of Sierra adventure games comes this FMV thriller. While the plot took longer to grab me, and had me holding my nose at some of the acting, the game finally succeeded by Act IV to get me to care about the setting, history, and story. In the end, a memorable game with an awful last puzzle that will forever shape my view of Bavaria.

  • Mortal Kombat was a lot of flash but had many characters play and feel the same. With Tekken 2, you felt the variety of movement and fighter styles. Tekken 2 also struck the right tone between serious fighting game and something silly to play in the afternoon with buddies.

  • The foot pedal suddenly made this cover shooter feel very different compared to the open arena games of its age. Add in a silky smooth frame rate and you have a game that deserved to be played at the arcade rather than at home.

  • More Mario is good - but all of the Yoshi controls and other additions were not.

  • A solid on-rails shooter.

  • Pokemon before the craze, but made up with humans based on a Chinese epic myth story. I appreciate what this game was trying to do but the collection of characters was too tedious and adding them didn't result in any memorable gameplay changes.

  • I enjoyed the cutscenes and it felt like I was putting up with the gameplay just to get to the next story beat.
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