I figured that it would probably be best to list a Top 10 but I've been gaming for such a long time and played so many good games that I can't possibly narrow it down to such a short list. I'm gonna try with a Top 30, for now, and I will also try not to pick too many games of the same franchise but if I make my list longer than i plan then it might just come to that - So here it is; My Top 30 Games of All Time.
The greatest Metal Gear Solid game but also one of the greatest games of all time. Snake Eater is nothing short of a great accomplishment within video game storytelling and intriguing game-play. The central theme of the game is Scene (Era) - That refers to the idea of the climate in which events occur and the impact it has upon them. It borrows ideas from Cultural Relativism, which relates to human morality and terms such as ethics, customs, enemies, friends, can only be relative to the single individual. They constantly change with the times. This is brought to light as early and clearly in the beginning of the game by one of the central characters; The Boss, who also happens to be the mentor of our protagonist. Our main character, codenamed Naked Snake, is dispatched into the Soviet Union to retrieve a Russian Rocket Scientist named Nikolai Sokolov. Things go south as it turns out The Boss has defected to the Soviet Union and gladly hands over a few Davy Crocketts to her new best friend and bondage lover, Colonel Yevgeny Borisovitch Volgin. Her old unusual-war comrades The Cobras chooses to follow her across the Iron Curtain as Volgin apprehends Sokolov, his creation the Shagohod, and then bombs his research facility with one of the Crocketts - Finally, he puts all the blame on The Boss. Because he's a prick like that. Snake is sent on a new mission - Retrieve Sokolov, The Shagohod and finally eliminate The Boss. It's an incredible journey that explores the ideals of the game's characters, loyalty and trust with a tearjerker of an ending that still gets me to this day - Today. Well done, Hideo Kojima. You've managed to create a game you can't possibly top with anything else, least of all with Guns of the Patriots and probably not Ground Zeroes. It's time to move on to new ideas because there won't be anything like Snake Eater again! Thank you for the journey!
Ladies & Gentlemen - This game was the last good Spyro game ever. It was an awesome platformer with a cool protagonist - A cute snarky purple Dragon! This was back when his design was cool and he didn't look like someone had smashed his face in with a shovel. Spyro: Year of the Dragon is a light hearted quirky 3D platformer, where you play loveable
I'm gonna make it perfectly clear now - I. Love. Stealth games. If there's one thing I love more than stealth games, then it is intuitive stealth games. Games that take stealth to the next level, and Blood Money certainly does that. It's unique and diverse gameplay paves way for various fun and smart paths to engage missions through either stealth or guns blazing. You can either infiltrate your selected target's position by disguising yourself as a local guard, or what have you, or sneak in through the back door, or climb up through the pipes. The possibilities are limitless with Blood Money. The story is a bundle of poo-poo pancakes and is at best in the background and unimportant. It's the gameplay where the fun is at. The game that truly makes you feel like a dangerous and shady assassin is Hitman: Blood Money. Pure awesome fun made by Danes nonetheless.
Rockstar has always been known for its vast, open-worlded, fun, mindless sandbox entity that is Grand Theft Auto - You're looking for a good time with a game that allows you to do almost anything then you wouldn't have to look further than Rockstar. Ever since then, competitors have lined up to get bite out of that Sandbox cake. Rockstar has kept it steady without resorting to rushed out entries like some developers. Alongside GTA and a few other IPs, there is Red Dead - Red Dead originally started as an action game in form of Red Dead Revolver, but has now become a sandbox game like GTA, but in the old west as opposed to modern New York. What I feel Red Dead Redemption, as it is titled, does better than any other Rockstar game is the story and characters, plus the overall setting. You play as John Marston, former outlaw, who has since abandoned his gang, whom he ran with during that time, and found himself blackmailed by the government to hunt down and capture his old partners in crime. On this journey through John's past catching up to him, traditionally for Western heroes, he meets several colourful characters on his journey, most who are either scum or people in debt to scum, with the occasional non-criminal character like Bonnie McFarlane. Redemption is one of those few games that actually made me tear up a bit with its ending - It's tragic but beautifully appropriate thematic-wise. Visually it is simply gorgeous, and the world feels alive and big with its vast animal life of the American South. In natural Rockstar fashion, every character you meet, even protagonist John Marston himself, will usually spout philosophy left and right as you escort various characters on horse through the untamed wilds of Austin. This creates a great sense of flow for the story and makes otherwise dull horse rides feel nice. Red Dead Redemption is an amazing game from Rockstar, but it is slightly held back by its rather awful gameplay. John moves like a forklift truck, and sometimes I had a hard time going out of a door, and who's great idea was it to have the sprint function set to 'tapping the A button'? Something as trivial as sprinting should not require that much effort in a video game. The cover system also isn't the greatest thing in the world, alongside the shooting, but the Dead Eye function certainly gives the combat a great edge of badassery. Despite the shortcomings, Redemption is definitely one of my favorites among all the games I've played.
It's easy to say that The Last of Us is definitely one of Naughty Dog's better games from last gen. Uncharted wasn't really quite engaging or original enough to keep my excitement for more. The Last of Us is a post apocalyptic game, with a twist; The concept of Cordyceps-controlled human monsters generally makes more sense than Fallout's supermutants and ghouls or Capcom's silly freaks of nature in Resident Evil. The game's rather brilliant atmosphere makes them dangerously scary to encounter, given that the survival gameplay also makes the player feel very vulnerable. It opens up with a clever masterfully executed introduction, through the eyes of main character Joel's daughter, as the player beholds the apocalypse as it unfolds upon the world. The empty streets of Pittsburgh, where nature is retaking its previously dominant place in the world, illuminates the eerie sense of being completely alone in a violent uncaring society. It illustrates society's reversal back to the days of 'survival for the fittest' and The Last of Us' story certainly is that. Joel finds himself escorting a young 14-year old girl named Ellie across the American Mid-West. Traditionally - Ellie is a living breathing plot device that can solve humanity's problem, ala I Am Legend. She potentially holds the inevitable cure that humanity strives to achieve, while others strive to simply survive in the world they live in now.
It's safe to say for me - Choosing between Arkham City & Arkham Asylum was hard. Asylum had a good sense of pacing, and the tight corridors of the Asylum itself helped provide a sense of flow and keep the overarching story in check. Arkham City is a mess, but it's a good kind of mess. The story is pretty much everywhere, because in a way everthing right down to the side quests and the brawls with the goons can be considered part of the story. The actual main arc is disappointing to say the least. But that's okay, because puttÃng that aside. Arkham City is a vast improvement of Arkham Asylum on almost any level of the word. Fascinating boss battles, solid predator-stealth gameplay, fun-bad-ass combat, good writing outside of the story, lots of side stuff to do and playable Catwoman voiced by none other than Grey DeLisle (with her sexy Jeanette Voerman voice). Arkham City lets you truly engage villainous goons as The Dark Knight. And I love Rocksteady for making it possible not just once but twice.
Alongside Insomniac & Naughty Dog, Sucker Punch has made their own mark on the illustrious Mount Platform in form of the Sly Cooper franchise. The world of Sly can best be compared to that of Disney's Robin Hood, in a way, as it is based on the real world but populated by anthropomorphic animals, with elements of film noir and comic book motifs. So in other words - It's not like Disney's Robin Hood at all. The focus of the story is of a master thief named Sly Cooper, a young adult raccoon and the latest descendant in a long line of master thieves, who pass down their expert techniques from generation to generation using the "Thievius Raccoonus," a book which contains all the Cooper family's secrets and tricks. While the Cooper family has accumulated a massive amount of wealth through their thieving ways, Sly places greater value on his friendship with his partners, Bentley, a turtle, and Murray, a hippo, and his flirting and teasing relationship with his pursuer Inspector Carmelita Fox. Sly is unique in its own way because of the Noir-inspired storytelling but also because of the mix of stealth and platforming (My favorite kind of cocktail). In the sequel, Sly 2: Band of Thieves, the focus moves away from the Cooper family and instead chooses to focus on the family's greatest rival and enemy, a mechanical owl named Clockwerk (who also happened to be the main villain of the first game.. Oh and the one who was responsible for Sly's parents death). Sly and his gang, who's now playable, which is one of the reasons, why this game is so much more interesting than its predecessor, are on a journey to collect the parts of Clockwerk, so they may be rid of him forever. Things take an unexpected turn as a gang of International Criminals known simply as the Klaww Gang acquires the parts before the Cooper gang. Sly and co. most travel the world in search for the missing parts, with some twists and turns. The gameplay is a lot more solid and fluid, and like the Jak games, the levels are much more open and explore friendly. It makes for fascinating gameplay, as you climb on rooftops, slides down telephone wires like a true Master Thief, right? Sly 2 is one of the best platformers out there with a solid story, nice humor, good characters, and a very atmospheric soundtrack (especially the Paris theme).
BioWare - I think it's safe to say that the opinion on this developer as of today is a mixed bag - Some claim they are still the master story tellers of our time, while others think they are making cardboard cut-outs that barely register as RPGs. It's safe to say that I don't love them as much as I used to a few years back - Before BioWare completely sold out with the crappy Mass Effect sequels they managed to make the best game I've played from them. Dragon Age: Origins. It's a big, wide, bag of delicious RPG goodness. It's half of George R. R. Martin's novel series A Song of Ice & Fire, mixed with LOTR and some other well known fictional fantasy franchises shoved directly into the game. It's such a long game, with so much content, that it's impossible to sum up everything it does right - First of all, the writing is solid. This is something BioWare mostly gets right even today, and the gameplay (while being really, really slow) is quite fun. But most importantly -- The followers. This is usually the best part about BioWare games. The followers and the chemistry that brews between their occasional interaction. The homebase, the-so-called fire camp, makes the characters feel like a big family as you spent time talking to them all during your journey. Unlike older RPGs, and like Knights of the Old Republic, having this mobile homebase makes the characters feel more familiar, to say the least. The characters are variedly different from each other, which makes their banter all the more endearing. The story is quite solid but it's basically cut from every well known fantasy story we've already read and experienced before. But that's okay because it has the BioWare twist which makes for a compelling ride all the way to the end.
After Naughty Dog selfishly put Crash Bandicoot up for adoption and let the evil dark lords at Activision get their stinky hands on the franchise they had to come up with something new. This ended up being Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy - To summarize the first game; It could essentially be described as Crash Bandicoot but in a 3D environment - The furry little weasel, Daxter, certainly bears a striking resemblance to Crash in terms of design and colour. Jak & Daxter was lighthearted and excellent platformer with some nice humor and characters. Jak 2 is a 180 degree reversal. Well, not in terms of excellence, but in tone. Sure, the platforming still exists as good as ever. The close combat mechanics are still there, but Jak has access to GUNS now too. Let me just say that it took me completely by surprise when I saw it for the first time. It looked nothing like the previous game, and yet it still retained a lot of the same mechanics. It's a revamp of the original formula and the game literally shows this in the intro of the game itselt -- Jak & co. travels forward in time to a dystopian town of Haven City, where the mute and cute little Jak finds himself quickly kidnapped away and turned into a shell of his former self through years of torture. It's a dark story with a more mature approach. Unlike pretty much every other platformer in the world, the story here is filled with characters who you'll either love or hate. It's the story that gives this game the feeling that it's an adventure, like Indiana Jones. Jak is far more likeable now that he actually has a personality, and he's pissed off and owns honking big guns weaves in an unmistakable new level of emotion into the narrative. He even has his own share of quirky one-liners to smack Daxter over the head with as much as he did to him in the first game. Despite this rather drastic change in tone, Daxter is still there to breach the thick wall of occasional broodiness with his own weapon of choice; Sarcasm. Speaking of Daxter - One would probably notice that he's mysteriously absent from the main title which I find odd. I suppose one could argue it's due to him not evolving beyond being comic relief, but it's safe to say that if he wasn't there then the game would be quite dull or unbearable with all the broody men comparing willies. This is as much his adventure as it is Jak's quest for revenge and answers to why he ended up in this city of the future. Jak 2 is also really, really, hard game. Replaying it on the HD Colleciton has found me stuck with the gliding board challenge. Shamelessly I find it to be quite frustrating more than I remember it was. Despite this - Jak 2 is definitely Naughty Dog's best game they've ever made and definitely belongs here on this list.
Psychonauts might just be the among the best action-adventure platformer in recent times, and at the very least - Most original and intuitive in terms of its design and premise. The biggest reason as to why is partlu because the game is developed by none other than Tim Schäfer of adventure game fame such as Grim Fandango, Full Throttle, Monkey Island & Day of the Tentacle. The story revolves around the character Raz, a young boy gifted with psychic abilities who runs away from the circus to try to sneak into a summer camp for those with similar powers in order to become a "Psychonaut", a spy with psychic abilities. Joining their ranks, he soon discovers a sinister plot occurring at the camp that only he can stop. The game is centered on the strange and imaginative minds of various characters that Raz enters as a Psychonaut-in-training/"Psycadet" in order to help them overcome their fears or memories of their past, so as to gain their help and progress in the game. Raz gains use of several psychic abilities during the game that are used for both attacking foes and solving puzzles. The combat system might be kinda shit, but ultimately the platforming is top notch - The writing & humor is refreshingly awesome in Schäfer style without being corny. The latter is essentially what makes the game stand out the most. I've not had this much fun with a game before as it entertains me with its unusual cast of wacky characters. Psychonauts is a rocket slide amount of fun!
There was a time when games didn't want us to think too much of ourselves, of the choices we make, or the world we live in - A time where spunkgargle-wee-wee realistic shooters wasn't the average discussion topic. This was the time, when LucasArts were one of the greatest game developers with their awesome adventure games like Monkey Island or Grim Fandango. But it was also the time of platformers being seemingly one of the most dominant of game genres. Platformers have a special place in my heart, because for a long time ago that was all I evver played. They were engaging, lighthearted and even funny with its quirky character designs and story (like Crash Bandicoot or Spyro). On top of Mount Platform existed two entities - An italian plumber, and a blue hedgehog named Mario & Sonic doing endless battle with each other for the crown of Platforming. Personally I think Sonic can get bend, but back in the early 90s the Sonic franchise and Mario was the most well regarded among their peers. But there were certainly more than that, obviously - Like Castlevania, Metroid, Mega-Man etc. Super Mario World is what I'd consider of the best Mario games of all time. It also happens to one of the best sidescollers/platformers. It took the neat mechanics of the Mario Bros. series and brought it to the SNES with refreshing gameplay, challenging levels, and the introduction of Yoshi. Ever since, Yoshi has fought for his rights as a sentient being to gain his own game and a spot in the Mario Kart & Party series. What is there to say of Mario World? It's an absolute awesome platformer with the best upgrades, rideable Yoshi's (he knows his place in this game - It's as a means of transporation), and varied, challenging levels - I will always remember and treasure this game.
I'm gonna go ahead and say it - But Knights of the Old Republic is simply much better than its otherwise great predecessor. It's not just a good RPG, it's also the best Star Wars game there is. It takes the good parts of the first game, and then throws away all that good vs. evil bollocks of usual Star Wars caliber. That's right - This game introduces Star Wars to reality. It introduces the shades of grey through its characters, its atmosphere on worlds like Peragus, Telos, Nar Shaddaa - Pretty much all of them. The characters are incredibly complex, and Kreia is one of the best written characters I've ever seen. The story itself, breaking Star Wars tradition, isn't as much about a journey to save the galaxy as it is a journey for self-realization. You play as an exiled Jedi who's been away from the rest of the galaxy for years, and thus missed out on the events of Kotor 1.. you know, like me! Knights of the Old Republic 2 was my introduction to western RPGs, and also BioWare games. Even today it stands as one of the best I've played because of its beautifully written characters, story and atmosphere - Despite its shortcomings of cut content, which has now been fixed with a mod, it remains better than the first game in this guy's opinion here. Thank you for reigniting my love for Star Wars, Obsidian, love for good writing in games, and western RPGs. I look forward to Pillars of Eternity!
Silent Hill 2 is nothing short of a masterpiece in terms of story, characters, atmosphere, soundtrack, symbolism and most importantly - Survival Horror. I think it's hard to explain, why I find this game's story to be so great. First of all -- The story is partly packed inside the gameplay itself, inside the atmosphere, and the people/monsters you encounter. It's drenched in symbolism. The story as it is, puts us in the shoes of James Sunderland. A relatively normal looking man, who's clearly got something to hide. He's received a letter from his wife, that tells him to meet her in Silent Hill where they spent their holidays together. But you see, the thing is; They've been estranged for a while on the account of her being DEAD! It is rather peculiar to receive a letter of all things from a deceased person. So why the heck is James in this town? Obviously there's more to it, right? Of course there is. James, as he appears, is a rather normal looking man but judging from the tone of his voice and decision to come to this cursed town - One would get the slight distinct feeling that he might not have much to life for anymore. This is where the game takes us on a psychological journey of pain and despair, as we uncover the secrets of the foggy town and its new inhabitants of 4 people... And it's supposed to be a holiday seaside destination, go figure? The monsters you encounter all bear a striking resemblance to the feelings or thoughts that go through the heads of the characters in the town, especially James. This is such a fascinating use of symbolism, that makes the story all the more exciting. The haunting music of Akira Yamaoka helps bring these monsters and the town itself to life(quite literally). The thing about Silent Hill 2 is that it is never abundantly clear whether it's the town, the inhabitants or James itself that is James worst enemy. The game features several endings, all of which makes sense to the overarching story and feels complete. Team Silent, you will surely be missed for these brilliant horror games. Most of all: Silent Hill2
Here it is - Not just my favorite RPG ever - But also one of my favorite games of all time. I think I should admit now that I might change this list to an Unordered one eventually, because most of these games all carry a special place in my heart. Persona 4 Golden is at the top alongside a few others like Snake Eater because of how much fun I had with it and how engaging and touching it was not to mention the characters feeling absolutely genuine. Persona 4 is that kind of game where there is not a single character in the main cast I disliked - In fact, it's safe to say that most of the characters were all likable, NPC or not. Most of them had their own little back stories, which served to make them well rounded as you progressed their respective social links. This is pretty much a trait of the Persona franchise, the social links - But what's more is the amount of content added to an already excellent game on the PS2, now on the Vita. In Persona 4 we find ourselves in a fictional Japanese suburban town, which is indirectly related to both Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 (in terms of gameplay, story and production) and the Persona 2 duology (in terms of confronting one's "Shadow Self" to awaken their Persona). The player-named main protagonist is a high-school student who moved into the countryside from the city for a year. So as you can guess - The game takes place over the course of a year. During this year-long stay, the player becomes involved in investigating mysterious murders while harnessing the power of summoning Persona. In exchange for the moon-phasing system of the previous game, Persona 4 features a weather forecast system with events happening on foggy days instead. The smooth combat of the previous game is still there with some nice additions, such as being able to control party members, and guard against incoming attacks. Golden also offers a lot more interesting ways to develop your social links, and it introduces the season of Winter to the game, stretching its length even further with new story evetns and lots of new content to follow. If there is a master class among RPG then it is this game. Keep up the good work P-studio at Atlus! Because you've truly impressed me.
When I initially played this game a few years ago, I wasn't as impressed with it as I were the Persona games or even Digital Devil Saga. After falling in love with Bloodborne, and Demon's Souls however, I've really come to appreciate the atmosphere, music and overall world of Nocturne. It's an incredible JRPG with a lot of interesting lore, uncovered through show but don't tell type of storytelling. I'm a Nocturne fan, through and through at this point.
