Top 100 - xaerock
List of my 100 favorite games. Not trying to be objective.
Nostalgia is a factor. Order is rough and often not for gameplay reasons, like Rez being above Child of Eden.
(2022)
List items
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3D airdasher that combines arena fighters & shooting games.
Movement is very technical and characters have an array of moves allowing for flexible play and a lot of learning (sort of like Virtua Fighter). Character playstyles are very different to eachother. Unique characters and always having some new attack to learn to utilize made me stick with this game for years.
High level play is ridiculous in this game. There's some crazy and flashy stuff you can do with each character, all while dodging through intricate projectile patterns. I've barely played smash but the execution barrier of VOOT seems similar to melee.
For example melee-based combat is inherently risky in VOOT and too fast for most people but some of the best can dominate tournaments using super aggressive melee focused playstyles. Defensive play with smart projectile zoning and punishing unsafe moves is generally the way to success, but there's much more you can do.
Surprisingly balanced for a game of its type, though it did have many revisions. Has a bunch of glitches which somehow worked out to balance the cast and make for various advanced techniques.
There is no modern equivalent for a 1v1 fighter of this type so the game still has an active playerbase online & offline in japan and some remnants in the west. Generally takes new players over a year to get decent at the game with one character.
As a fast paced fighter with constant 3D movement the camera is turning very rapidly. This can be irritating unless you can get used to it. On the flipside a solution for slowing down camera could have adversely affected gameplay mechanics (IE slow down player actions or prevent fast rotations, make camera not static in relation to player)
My two gripes with the game are that playing for timeout is too effective at high level, and the height ceiling is unnecessarily high (this partly causes the former)
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More varied combat system system than most shmups (multiple weapons like Silvergun or Thunder Force). Player characters play extremely differently from eachother. Clever stage & boss designs. Has a unique look and sound. Comes with an infamously large manual and bizarre post-apocalyptic story.
The game isn't very difficult to clear on any mode after getting experienced. But the scoring system punishes deaths massively and involves doing risky things.
A cult classic game, japanese fans talk about it every other day for over a decade even though it was a small indie release. A translation team was generous and crazy enough to make an english translation for this game which is awesome.
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Superb third person shooter that's somewhat underappreciated. Would be nice to see a future game try something similar. Final boss on god hard difficulty is my favorite encounter in the game, it's fun and fair while being very challenging.
Lots of untapped potential in gameplay mechanics. A sequel seems unlikely but maybe there'll be a spiritual sequel (like P.N.03 -> Vanquish) or something heavily influenced.
Has barely any bonus content compared to bayonetta. Only unlocks are the 5 challenge stages and god hard difficulty. Even though it was in development for longer than MGR parts of level design in Vanquish seem rushed.
Something that disappoints me is that Platinum was trying to appeal to western audiences with this game which didnt turn out too successful. Since God Hand and PN03 sold poorly Mikami apparently wanted the dev team to hold back on the crazy stuff, and the soundtrack is mostly generic. I wonder what this game could have been with some more time and freedom. Though I bet they had some ideas for a sequel since the games ending leaves room for one.
God Hard difficulty is perhaps the hardest mode in any game by Platinum. It's unfair and ridiculous at points but can be played through in a stylish way with enough experience.
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Versus shoot-em-up with dash and melee mechanics. Trap your opponent with smart movement & combinations of special bullet patterns. Ability to turn into a shmup boss, generally either to finish off your opponent or recover health. Characters are pretty distinct from eachother. High level play is very intense & there's a lot of depth to how attacks can be used for area denial, trapping and rushdown. shmup skills can help you a lot.
Dash vectoring and forming traps with special attacks is quite similar to virtual-on.This game was my foray into the versus shooter genre so it has a special place for that too.
Killer soundtrack by Yasuhisa Watanabe (Metal Black, Kaiser Knuckle) and the Xbox360 version Rev.X looks great.
I wish I had a bigger opportunity to play this against people back when it was more active.
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My favorite RPG. Set in norse mythology. Bleak backstory mostly built through backstories of dead humans, to be trained as warriors by a Valkyrie. But there's much going on behind the scenes. If the valkyrie finds the path to truth the relationships between her, the gods and the human world are no longer so simple.
Combines platforming into dungeon exploration and beat-em-up style combos to RPG combat. Non-random enemy encounters. I still think Tri-Ace are the masters of fun combat systems in RPGs. Some 90s anime tropes which can be fun.
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Outstanding 2D platformer that is tragically unknown. Do ninja things with a grappling hook in some really cleverly designed stages. Time attack mode & level design encourages aggressive play with tricky movement and attack chains using the grapple and other abilities.
Developed by Hudson and released on GBA, but could have easily been a classic back in the Genesis/SNES days.
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Relentless & crazy rail shooter which also delves into other genres. Distinctly a product of the company Treasure who worked on titles like Gunstar Heroes, Ikaruga, etc. In S&P2 they go all out bringing in shmup elements and gimmicks while going crazy with boss designs. Sort of brings together most of Treasures catalogue into one big adventure. Maybe their last big game?
Presentation is great (you might recognize the character designer and music artists from other games). Scoring works great apart from some boss milking. A long game for full playthroughs in single sittings but you can always revisit individual stages.
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[including story of First Chapter, obsoletes otherwise]
Excellent RPG by Falcom.
Fun combat system, though normal difficulty wont challenge veterans and Hard without NG+ saves requires unreasonable amounts of luck in early game to get through.
https://steamcommunity.com/id/xaerock/recommended/251290/
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Shinji Mikami made the game he always wanted to. It's amazing but sold terribly.
Probably the best 3D rendition of classic 2D beat-em ups to date with a lot of quirky humor to it.
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[Prefer over Damacy/Reroll & Beautiful Katamari]
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[Prefer over WipEout 3: Special Edition & rest of original wipeout series]
https://steamcommunity.com/id/xaerock/recommended/473770/
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[note: playtester]
https://steamcommunity.com/id/xaerock/recommended/809020/
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https://steamcommunity.com/id/xaerock/recommended/392030/
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Flashy & polished 3D beat-em-up that builds on the DMC formula while being accessible to people new to this kind of game. As Platinum Games' first title it might still be the most solid one.
Director driven game with kamiya pretty much doing whatever he wants. This is how most god-tier games end up being created, isn't it?
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Fun weapon system and ingenious boss encounters. Accuracy is required with shooting to keep kill chains going. Scoring is tied to survival via leveling up weapons.
As a negative has a slow pace at many parts which can get tedious on repeat playthroughs. Often highly praised by people who don't know many shmups, but I genuinely enjoy it a lot. It certainly plays differently from most shooters so I guess it makes sense that it stood out back in the day.
It's interesting that the director thought that shmups were dead at the time and this was meant to be some kind of revision of them. He worked on gunstar heroes at treasure before this.
I think the scoring is inferior to Ikaruga but don't enjoy playing that game as much.
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[Prefer over 1]
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favorite AC multiplayer
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https://steamcommunity.com/id/xaerock/recommended/265690/
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[prefer over 2,3&4]
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Revision & Delta modes
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Boss fight centered 2D action game with heavy shmup elements. Mechanically solid, has an absurd amount of content and solid shmup patterns.
https://steamcommunity.com/id/xaerock/recommended/400910/
Dialogue & art style can be cringey. Exploration/environment aren't strong compared to other metroidvanias. But combat design wise plays extremely well.
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[Prefer over 1]
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favorite AC campaign
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2nd favorite AC campaign. Recommend starting with Armored Core 3 as this is more of an expansion with solid level designs and variety.
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[Type-R (Arcade) version]
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(Mercenaries mode etc.)
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https://steamcommunity.com/id/xaerock/recommended/476650/
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[includes Judgement Silversword & Cardinal Sins]
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https://steamcommunity.com/id/xaerock/recommended/349250/
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[prefer over 2]
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Unfinished game but the gameplay mechanics are superb.
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[Patched PC version on Inferno]
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2vs2 virtual-on game. Many mechanics were simplified and the game has a slower pace.
However with new mechanics came a lot of new techniques and it plays very differently. Melee is stronger with a new system and good 2on2 play requires good teamwork and situational awareness.
Still has a sizeable japanese community, though understandably far less popular than Gundam VS which is similar & possibly better.
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[note: beta tester]
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[prefer over 1]
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[Including story of Zero]
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Classic space trading, exploration and combat game. Combat is surprisingly good. Engaging story & world. Has a ton of story exposition and side quests along with tens of branching paths & faction allegiances to be made.
Some brokenness (in terms of difficulty) to it with trading exploits and such but still holds together well.
Had a big modding community back in the day. Mods can be used to enhance the main game or turn it into something completely different with the same engine (like a Star Trek game). There are mods that are accurate ports of previous games in the series.
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[Original version]
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[Prefer over 1]
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Sonic inspired game that outdoes its predecessors in many aspects. Has Treasure game-like combat & bosses. Sort of like a forgotten Saturn era treasure 2D action game or something, great time.
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