Reminder of scoring system used:
Format:
#[Rank] ['(T)' if tied with another game] - [Game Name (including version/expansions)]
Total Points: [total points across every list used using the above points/rank]
Highest Position: [highest spot game appeared on anyone's list] ([number of times it appeared at that position if more than once])
Example:
#125(T) - Street Fighter IV (Super, Arcade Edition, & Ultra)
Total Points: 23
Highest Position: 6th
Showing 1-10 of 100 items
#100 - Super Meat Boy Total Points: 30 Highest Position: 2nd "Difficult games aren’t only hard to play, they’re hard to make correctly. Frustrating is not the same as fun, and if a game is too challenging it could deter players that would otherwise be happy customers. Super Meat Boy is the perfect example of a game that makes difficulty fun. It’s one of the best-feeling platformers on the market, with fluid and tight controls that combine with good level design to make the player feel as though the only thing standing between themselves and victory is their own skill." -Sam Carpenter, The Young Folks' "It’s hard as hell to complete these levels, and no matter how punishing things may seem in the moment, the game’s ultimate celebration of that effort is what makes it so fulfilling." -Steven Scaife, Slant "The joy of this game certainly stems from its challenges, but its greatest trick is the way that it keeps convincing you that one more try will finally be enough to catch that carrot it constantly dangles in front of you over a pit of fire and spikes." -Matthew Byrd, Den of Geek [Devour: this is the game that taught me how to play with a fightstick because that's all I could use to play it when I broke my right thumb.]
#99 - Dragon's Dogma (including Dark Arisen) Total Points: 30 Highest Position: 1st "Dragon's Dogma is what western open-world RPGs like The Witcher 3 and Skyrim look like in another dimension, and it may be a better dimension than the one we live in." -Connor Sheridan, GamesRadar+ "DD has its' flaws and fair detractors, but love is blind (as proven by the affection system in game) and it really connected with me on a level a game hasn't since I was a kid. The combat, the dynamic nature of the world, the general Berserk-esque aesthetic, the super weird story and twists." -Slag, Giant Bomb user "The wind is pushing me Into the clouds again I feel the blood in my veins Time is running free I feel like letting go Just like the Dangan!" -Into Free ~Dangan by B'z [Devour: Austin Walker would be proud.]
#98 - Mario Kart 8 (including Deluxe) Total Points: 31 Highest Position: 9th "Best played with friends but offering a good challenge at the 200cc difficulty level, [Mario Kart 8] is the ultimate party game." -John Saavedra, Den of Geek [Devour: Mario Kart 8 is the only game whose top position on anyone's list was below 7th.]
#96(T) - Superhot & Superhot VR Total Points: 31 Highest Position: 4th "Superhot’s shootouts make its case better than its narrative layers ever could. Its methodical take on shooter combat forces you to linger on the consequences of your actions without saying a word. And that’s all it needed to be." -Suriel Vazquez, Paste "SUPERHOT is like a Matrix fight scene where you are simultaneously choreographer and lead actor." -Scott Tailford, WhatCulture "Superhot wasn’t made for VR, but it makes the transition so seamlessly that it’s now one of the go-to games to demonstrate virtual reality’s capabilities." -Simone de Rochefort, Polygon "Super. Hot. Super. Hot. Super. Hot." -Superhot
#96(T) - The Last Guardian Total Points: 31 Highest Position: 4th "It is one-of-a-kind; it is about the unspoken power of loyalty, determination, and caring. Everyone should play The Last Guardian." -Steve Gaynor, Fullbright "The Last Guardian is a poignant reminder of our dependence upon nature and other species." -Garrett Martin, Paste
#95 - Fez Total Points: 32 Highest Position: 2nd "[Fez's] trick is very simple, but has deep implications. It defines everything about the game. It constantly changes the way you think. Playing the game, you perform this trick all the time, and yet every time you do it you still do a little internal gasp as it reorders your perceptions. It's impossible, but it's real. It's magic." -Oli Welsh, Eurogamer "A combinations of cool perspective based platforming puzzles and layers of mysteries to unravel. It has a ton of memorable moments, and is one of the prettiest best pixel art games of the decade." -TheMasterDS, Giant Bomb user [Devour: I like the part where you jump and spin, but not where the game becomes Myst.]
#94 - Devil May Cry 5 Total Points: 32 Highest Position: 1st "It's buttery smooth, frenetic, and a reminder that sometimes all you need is to smack some monsters around. " -Brittany Vincent, Thrillist "The greatest action game of all time." - TechnoSyndrome, Giant Bomb user "Hilarious, ridiculous, incredibly fun. So it is written." -Lazyaza, Giant Bomb user [Devour: Pull my Devil Trigger.]
#93 - Bayonetta 2 Total Points: 33 Highest Position: 7th "It’s impossible not to feel cool while playing this game. Lead character Bayonetta is a captivating badass, and her variety of witchcraft attacks never gets old." -Chelsea Stark, Polygon "Combat feels like a bullet-and-sword ballet as Bayonetta dances around the battlefield, interspersed with eye candy like the Umbra witch's demon hair transformations and charming dialogue. It's a nonstop thrill ride with action oozing out of every pore, and a great example of a female character who doesn’t ever need a man’s assistance to come out on top." -Brittany Vincent, Thrillist
#92 - Return of the Obra Dinn Total Points: 33 Highest Position: 6th "It’s a delightfully complex, chronologically fragmented puzzle box that demands intellectual focus and player imagination. It’s a clever whodunit that’s best played with a handy notebook, in which its fabulously convoluted secrets can be recorded and unraveled." -Simone de Rochefort, Polygon "[An] intellectually curious and singular creation, the type of experience that highlights the true power of the interactive medium." -Josh West, GamesRadar+ "Return of the Obra Dinn reminds me of geometry, with all its theorems and proofs, where the goal is to figure out the relationship between all the figures and elements of the equation until a conclusion can be drawn. Often it requires holding several pieces of partial information in suspension, following the trail of thought until even just one tiny, solid sliver of detail unlocks a key to the whole cypher. The tension is addicting, each victory a triumph no matter how small…It’s like a game of murder sudoku, with a stylish, almost swashbuckling, flair." -Holly Green, Paste
#91 - Cuphead Total Points: 34 Highest Position: 7th "As difficult as [Cuphead is,] the game rarely feels capricious. You’ll usually understand what you have to do, and the struggle is just being able to pull it off. As frustrating as it can be to fight the same enemy two dozen times before finally winning, it only makes the satisfaction of pulling it off that much more powerful." -Garrett Martin, Paste "Cuphead's 1930s animation-inspired art style is extraordinary, an early Walt Disney fever dream that looks unlike anything else released this decade." -Bernard Boo, Den of Geek "Never will cease to amaze me as to what is now possible to make in games today." -Slag, Giant Bomb user
