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[Bishop89]

1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 ; My favourite game from last gen. The multiplayer was perfect. Yes, I am aware it was "broken" but I dont care. It didn't affect my enjoyment at all, if anything it probably enhanced the experience by making matches hectic as. 24/7 air support was heaps of laughs and destroying entire teams with commando knife was glorious. Setting up 2 claymores in the perfectly crafted multiplayer maps and just waiting for people to rush in dying automatically then replenishing my claymores, rinse and repeat lol. That's just the MP, the single player was fantastic in its own right. Infinity Ward were just God's at cinematic set pieces, even better than Naughty Dog. The campaign is an interactive Michael Bay movie and I just love it. The music is also good.

2. Deus Ex: Human Revolution ; Jesus, where do I begin. I love cyberpunk so I was extremely excited to play this. I never played the first game but I don't think that mattered by the end of the day. This game oozes style as does Jensen. He is probably the coolest video game character ever, his design is so badass! The music is top notch, the hub levels are fun to traverse, the story was extremely interesting and the gameplay had so much variety to it. Easily one of my favourite games of all time. I was so pissed when they got rid of the piss filter from Mankind divided. I loved that!!

3. Dead Space ; I would say this was my favourite new IP from last gen. I was very sad how there was a huge quality drop with #3. The audio design is probably the best designed thing in this game. It was sooo good, the sound alone was enough to stop me pushing through the game. I had to play this in 30 min bursts because it was the scariest game I had ever played. The combat was also freaken awesome as was the plasma cutter. Dismembering & stomping necro's was so satisfying. The necro that could regenerate was so stressful to get through each encounter lol I also so love the fact that it was inspired by Event Horizon. Also I need to give credit to their HUD team, so cleverly included in the game.

4. Yakuza 3 ; It might rank higher than 4 + 5 because it was my first yakuza game so it holds a place in my heart. Or it might be that it just has the best story of the lot, and I like the fact you dont switch characters. I didnt really like that with 4 and the others.
I love the Japanese setting and culture in this game. I love the combat, and I love the characters. There is nothing else like it on the market.

5. Uncharted 2 ; Last gen I had thought U3 was the better title, but having replayed them on the ps4 I believe Uncharted 2 is definitely the better of the 2. Reason for this is because its better acted, better settings, better pacing and feels like more of a cinematic action adventure movie.

6. Super Street Fighter 4 ; Best street fighter game since street fighter alpha 2 (gold).
The controls are tight and I loved the soundtrack. Perfect remix of the original themes. I constantly listen to them on my ipod. Can't really say much else, its just a great fighter. The inclusion of focus was a great addition. I used it so much to bait people into attacking me and then counterattacking their ass!

7. God of War 3 ; I cant have a top 10 without including God of War. My 3rd favourite video game franchise. I LOVE Greek Mythology (I am greek australian myself!). Kratos is such a badass character, haters gonna hate. The combat is great, not as deep as something DMC but its still engaging. The soundtrack is top notch, the graphics are INSAAAANE and the bosses are some of the best in the industry. The level design is also fantastic, looping back to a place you've been to without feeling like backtracking.

8. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 ; This and Modern warfare 2 were THE Shooter Multiplayers of last gen. BFBC2 has some of the best multiplayer maps out there, so perfectly crafted for conquest. The destruction was on another level and I don't think it has been matched in the series since. I was one of those players who would be circling enemy bases in my helicopter with my mate destroying everyone. Good times
Single player is garbage though.

9. Wipeout HD Fury ; The best racer on the ps4. Fantastic visuals (Zone mode!), very fun driving/combat with a great soundtrack to boot. Added bonus being able to import your own music.

10. Pokemon Diamond ; How can I clock 555 hours into this game and not list it here. I initially skipped the 3rd gen as I skipped the GBA, so this was my first pokemon game since Gold/Silver. I was extremely hyped for this, I bought a DS lite just to play this. Essentially its just another pokemon game, they all are pretty much the same thing. The main thing I do in the games is just collect them all and battle, so story/characters mean nothing to me. I also thought the designs were better than the Gen 3 pokemon and most pokemon post gen 4.

x. 3d dot game heroes
x. Batman Arkham Asylum
x. Bioshock
x. Binary Domain
x. Dead Space 2
x. Darksiders
x. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
x. Alpha Protocol
x. Gear of war
x. Gears of war 2
x. Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time
x. Infamous
x. Just Cause 2
x. Resistance 3
x. Resident Evil 5
x. Uncharted 3
x. Metal Gear Rising

 

[tim.mbp]

I'll be interested in seeing the vote between Trauma Center and Trauma Team.

 

[Bluth54]

1. Team Fortress 2 ; My favorite game of all time. I first played TF2 in 2007 and I still play it to this day. It still gets a ton of support, with over 600 patches and dozens of major content updates since launch.
2. Super Mario Galaxy 2 ; An amazing sequel to an amazing game. I never thought we would see 2 3D Mario games on the same platform but Nintendo knocked it out of the park with both of them.
3. Portal 2 ; Valve took the first Portal and made it even better with a longer campaign, co-op and steam map workshop support.
4. Alan Wake ; A flawed game to be sure. The combat and enemy variety could be better but I loved the story, characters and atmosphere were top notch. I still hope for a proper sequel.
5. Fallout New Vegas ; Easily the best of the modern 3D Elder Scrolls/Fallout game. Amazing writing and quests from Obsidian.
6. Donkey Kong County Returns ; A top notch 2D platformer and a great return of the DKC series. If only they got David Wise for the soundtrack like the sequel.
7. Batman Arkham Asylum ; I think this is my favorite of the Arkham games due to the Metroid like structure although all of them are good. I love Batman and even though I don't like stealth games I though the stealth in this game was great.
8. Hotel Dusk: Room 215 ; I fun little adventure game. I really found myself loving and interested in Kyle Hyde's world.
9. Deus Ex Human Revolution ; Finally the great sequel that Deus Ex deserved.
10. Half Life 2: Episode 2 ; Another top tier Valve game. Hopefully we get the cliffhanger resolved someday.


#1 is my favorite game of al time, the rest are in a pretty random order.

 

[hemtae]

1. Super Mario Galaxy 2 ; I didn't want to stick both SMG1 and 2 on the list and I thought this was a tad better so it gets the nod.
2. Dark Souls ; took the decent Demon Souls base and turned it into perfection
3. Fallout: New Vegas ; How Bethesda managed to screw up Fallout 4 so badly with this as the perfect template for a Fallout game in a Bethesda style RPG, I will never know.
4. Civilization V ; Didn't really become great until the expansions came but oh well.
5. Super Meat Boy ; Instant classic
6. Crysis ; Only took me about 5 years to run it. Too bad the sequels threw away a lot of what made this great. But at least they looked really pretty.
7. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword ; This would probably be my favorite 3D Zelda if it could get out of its own way. Unlike a good chunk of people, I felt the motion controls were great for everything that wasn't skydiving.
8. Red Dead Redemption ; I really like pew-pew-pew-ing in the wild wild west
9. XCOM: Enemy Unknown ; One of the few successors that ended up equaling its predecessor. It probably even exceeds it with The Long War mod.
10. The Wolf Among Us ; Out of this, Game of Thrones, and The Walking Dead, this was my favorite telltale game

x. Dreamfall: The Longest Journey ; Pretty good but not excellent like The Longest Journey
x. Dustforce ; Might have been numbered on my list in the universe where Super Meat Boy never happened
x. Galactic Civilization 2 ; Deserves some sort of recognition for having probably the best AI in a strategy game
x. The Last Story ; It's very important for me that everybody knows this was better than Xenoblade in the competition that only exists in my head.
x. Neverwinter Nights 2 ; the OC was pretty by the numbers and modding never really took off like NWN1 however Mask of the Betrayer is a veritable masterpiece.

 

[I-hate-u]

If Dark or Demon's doesn't win, I'll lose faith in GAF forever.

 

[Alej]

1: Demon's Souls: Revelation of the gen to me. Revolution in online and difficulty. Masterwork in game design. One of the best game ever.

2: Dragon's Dogma: Fantastic gameplay, very singular atmosphere, this game is of very simple and sober design. It marked a landmark in what i want at minimum of my games' gameplay.

3: Mass Effect 2: Another angular stone of that gen, it seemed to encupsulate some of the best gameplay of the TPS-RPG genre but then the whole gameplay loop and the very memorable set pieces makes it punch well above his weight to me.

4: Sid Meier's Civilization V: I'm a die-hard Civver and even modder (i make maps, search me on the workshop) and the 2300 hours i've played out of it should have let it take the crown in this list. But, as my computer is shit for a decade now, i've to say my experience with it has been at most janky and i can't even experience to the fullest my creations, i should really build a rig. Furthermore, i have a very sour taste in my mouth thinking about it, it's like i know too much of the systems behind it.

5: Dragon Age Origins: Before DAO i've never succeed to immerse myself in a western RPG but DAO with his very indirect gameplay, reminiscent of FFXII to me, made me a believer.

6: Skyrim: I don't really like sandboxy Bethesda games because i really prefer more focused experiences. But the entropy and empiricism of Skyrim are definitely what make games spectacular experiences, so... I can't forget the 300 hours i've live in it.

7: Uncharted 2: I didn't like TPS before Uncharted. Uncharted 2 came and i began to like the genre as one of my favorite. One of the prettiest game of the gen.

8: Killzone 2: Same as Uncharted 2 but for FPSes. I've done a lan with it. just before my marriage with my mates. Imagine 12 PS3s, 12 TVs, a mountain of beers... One of my best night ever.

9: The Last of Us: Best cinematic gameplay experience i've had. It is like Uncharted 2 with a mature tone. It is the better game but it didn't take me by surprise.

10: Warhawk: The multiplayer game of the gen's debut. One year full of Warhawk because nothing else to play. It deserves to be mentioned here.

 

[Ikon]

Shit. I have so many games I have to go back and play before this ends!

There were soooo many good games last gen...

 

[DerZuhälter]

1. Metal Gear Solid 4 ; Double GOTY 2008 winner and soon to be crowned GOTG 7 winner.

2. StarCraft II ; The streamlined user control made this more accessible to me and started a cycle of watching pro players, adjusting to meta and climbing the ladder up and down. The singleplayer portion was... fine. But the real deal was the multiplayer. 5000 matches later, I still itch sometimes to get back in.

3. Uncharted 2 ; The perfect sequel to a game that had charming characters and robust mechanics, but was lacking a proper flow and pacing. Uncharted 2 has perfect flow and pacing. No frustrating "Look at all this juice" savepoints and barely any difficulty spikes make it a game that let's you forget how long you've been playing. Adding a great multiplayer on top was the icing on this delicious cake.

4. The Last of Us ; Naughty Dogs craftmanship in storytelling and characterization culminated in their best single player title yet. Compelling charicterization and incredible world building make this their most memorable title in their Gen 7 catalogue.

5. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare ; In the end, it was CoD's singleplayer campaign that made it end higher than Bad Company 2 on the list. Mutliplayer is just as excellent as Bad Company's one, but focuses less on teamwork.

6. Journey ; A game that had not a single spoken word, but captivates with it's story.
Journey would have probably also worked as children's picturebook because its story is so simple. It's name is its story. Journey. A life's journey with an unknown destination far away in the distance. And through your journey you meet friends, lose them out of sight, give up the search for them just to meet new ones in the desolate loneliness.
Journey was an incredible experience visually and accustically thanks to Austin Wintory's grammy nominated soundtrack, jaw droppingly beautiful and unforgettable.

7. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 ; Giving CoD4 the slight edge in a similar space. Clearly DICE's best effort on consoles. The campaign suffered from DICE's typical "unmemorable" factor but wasn't, unlike their last few outings, straight up bad or boring. But as always with a Battlefield game, the real meat is in the multiplayer.

9. Crysis ; Ushered in the next-gen of gaming before the current gen even got rolling. Gameplay and graphics that were a glimpse into the future. An incredible technological marvel, that didn't lack in the gameplay department either, offering a true sandbox experience... well at least for the first half of the game.

10. Mass Effect ; BioWare's last great RPG, before turning everything into action titles with RPG elements. It's kinda like Kotor without the license, but maybe that's its charme.

x Batman: Arkham Asylum ; Really close runner-up. Was going back and forth in putting it instead of Mass Effect on 10.
x Far Cry: BloodDragon
x God of War III
x Brothers: A tale of two sons
x Deus Ex:HR
x Dead Space
x Alpha Protocol
x Portal 1

 

[Acquiescence]

1. Mirror's Edge ; Ignoring the lackluster story, it's a perfect package.

2. The Last of Us ; Melds cinematic aspirations with tight, satisfying gameplay to deliver a truly harrowing yet unforgettable tale. Shouldn't be getting a sequel though.

3. Silent Hill: Shattered Memories ; The antidote to every game out there that suffers from poor pacing and bloated content. It might be short at 7 hours, but Shattered Memories starts well and gets better and better until the very end. Bonus points for being the only thing in existence to have actually benefited from having motion controls.

4. Grand Theft Auto V ; Erased all my horrid memories of IV in one fell swoop. Consistently fun and outrageous missions aside, it's one of the funniest games I've ever played.

5. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare ; The franchise became the mega-seller it is today because of this installment, and for a good reason. Wouldn't go near CoD with a 60ft barge pole these days, but there's no denying this was a revolutionary first-person shooter when it first came out.

6. L.A. Noire ; Film noir meets Shenmue. Two of my favourite things morphed together. Ambitious, atmospheric and sensible enough to know better than to ram an action sequence down your throat every ten minutes.

7. LittleBigPlanet 2 ; Took everything about the first game and made in better. I sank so many hours into this game just playing random community levels with co-op buddies. It was so fun and I miss doing it.

8. Journey ; Before The Last Guardian, there was Journey with the biggest blubfest ending to rule them all. The stripped-back co-op element was utterly ingenious.

9. Heavy Rain ; Still one of the best attempts at creating a rubber-band narrative in the medium. Lots of games have choices that ultimately have no impact on where the story goes, but Heavy Rain managed to deliver on its promise of giving the player plenty of meaningful decisions to make. A white-knuckle ride from beginning to end.

10. Mass Effect 2 ; The last great Bioware game.

 

[Jamix012]

1. Persona 3 Portable ; The absolute best RPG I've ever played to this day. I hope we will get a definitive version soon.

2. Persona 5 ; I just love the formula so much that my second favourite Gen 7 game has to be this. The swan song for the PS3 and a fantastic experience regardless of platform.

3. Metal Gear Rising ; Still the best action game from Platinum in my opinion. The magnum opus combination of ridiculous story, satisfying combat and incredible soundtrack

4. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

5. The World Ends With You

6. Zero Escape: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors

7. Punch-Out (Wii)

8. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials & Tribulations ; This is, I suppose, the visual novel section of my list and for a series I love as much as Ace Attorney, this is definitely the best. Even though it is somewhat cryptic at times, the story and characters shine through.

9. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

10. Mega Man 9

x. No More Heroes 2
x. Super Smash Bros. Brawl
x.Pokemon Black
x. Xenoblade Chronicles
x. Advance Wars: Dual Strike
x. Rhythm Heaven Fever
x. Catherine
x. Mega Man: Powered Up
x. Vanquish
x. Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise
x. Kirby Canvas Curse
x. DmC: Devil May Cry
x. Steins;Gate
x. Lost Planet
x. Mario Kart DS
x. Heavy Rain
x. Bioshock Infinite
x. Pokemon Heart Gold
x. Metal Gear Solid 4
x. Ghost Trick
x. Journey
x. Devil May Cry 4
x. Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
x. Dark Souls 2
x. Bayonetta
x. Hotel Dusk
x. Last Window: The Secret of Cape West
x. Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
x. DuckTales Remastered
x. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice for All
x. MGS: PW
x. Metal Gear Acid
x. Muramasa: The Demon Blade
x. Sonic Rush
x. God of War: Chains of Olympus
x. Radiant Historia
x. The Walking Dead (Season 1)
x. Beyond Two Souls
x. Shantae: Risky's Revenge
x. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
x. Sonic All Stars Racing Transformed
x. Back to The Future: The Game

 

[KooopaKid]

That was surprisingly easy:

1. Super Mario Galaxy ; The most epic, creative and varied platform game ever.
2. Super Mario Galaxy 2 ; The sequel to the most epic, creative and varied platform game ever.
3. Portal 2 ; Every aspect of this game is perfect: Art, sound, level design, game mechanics, narrative. The co-op mode is one of the best ever.
4. Batman Arkham Asylum ; The best Batman video-game ever. Amazing level design, awesome gadgets, great and fun stealth sections. You are The Batman.
5. Bayonetta ; The best 3D character action game ever. Deep combo system, brilliant Witch Time mechanic, crazy looking enemies and a very original universe.
6. The Last Of Us ; Memorable characters and story, interesting world building, dynamic combat and stealth scenarios.
7. Mirror's Edge ; First person platforming and parkour done right. Fantastic gameplay and art design.
8. Guacamelee! ; Great Metroid-like game with a cool 2D combat system, unique artstyle and Mexican setting.
9. World Of Goo ; Simple concept but very varied scenarios, unique art, original and humorous atmosphere.
10. Mark Of The Ninja ; One the best 2D stealth action game around. Don't miss it.

x. Advance Wars series
x. Mass Effect series
x. Professor Layton series
x. Lost Winds series
x. The World Ends with You
x. Portal
x. The Legend of Zelda : Spirit Tracks
x. Rhythm Paradise
x. Resident Evil 5
x. Punchout!! Wii
x. Braid
x. Vanquish
x. Hydroventure
x. Alan Wake
x. Batman Arkham City
x. Starship Patrol
x. Dishonored
x. Rayman Origins
x. Fez
x. Tomb Raider

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

1. Red Dead Redemption ; Quite possibly the best game I have ever played. The World felt so alive and the story and characters were amazing.
2. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves ;
3. Fallout: New Vegas ;
4. inFAMOUS ;
5. Battlefield 1943 ;
6. Warhawk ;
7. Sid Meier's Civilization V ;
8. Pokémon HeartGold ;
9. Call of Duty: Black Ops ;
10. Transformers: Fall of Cybertron ;

 

[muetimueti]

Why the early cut-off for PC? Seems very inconsistent with allowing cross-generation titles like Life is Strange - basically it would be allowed if I played it on console but not on PC? Doesn't make much sense tbh.

 

[Playsage]

1. Dark Souls; After being completely spellbound by my masochistic experience with Demon's Souls, I wanted more... and then Dark Souls happened. Going through it for the first time, was the best digital journey of my life, the world and challenge had totally absorbed me and every time I was finding something I had previously missed, my love for the game just grew stronger. It was the first game I ever preordered, and it's still the purchase I'm the most happy with.

2. Super Mario Galaxy; Beautiful, fun and inventive, SMG is a joy the instant you start playing it. Thinking about my time with this game only warms my heart.

3. Monster Hunter Freedom Unite; Easily the best game experience I had on PSP. Its demanding but satisfying gameplay loop and awesome monster encounters where the turning point for the development of my gaming taste. Only thing I don't miss from those days, is the goddamn claw technique.

4. Tekken 5: Dark Ressurection; Simply the strongest entry in the Tekken franchise, be it for its presentation, music or gameplay, and now it was portable! For a casual but invested fan of the series, I was so goddamn happy with it.

5. Mass Effect 2; The Mass Effect trilogy is probably the single most ambitious project of the 7th generation and with the second installment we were given one of the most incredible experience in contemporary gaming. Yeah, it may lack some of the consistency and atmosphere of the original space opera, but pretty much everything else was heavily improved on, especially the most absorbing element of the series, the supporting cast.

6. Demon's Souls; This game owned me, in every sense of the word. Traversing its terrific world has been one hell of an emotional rollercoaster and I'm so grateful to have experienced it.

Spoiler

Fuck World Tendency, though

7. Super Smash Bros. Brawl; It was my first Smash Bros. and, boy, are these game fun! Its incredible ability to keep my ass on the sofa for days just casually playing versus with a friend skyrocketed Brawl in my top 10. Also, ALL HAIL KING DEDEDE!

8. Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In Time


9. Deus Ex: Human Revolution


10. Dead Space


HONORABLE MENTIONS

x. Batman Arkham Asylum

x. Batman Arkham City

x. Bayonetta

x. Bioshock

x. Burnout Paradise

x. Darksiders

x. Darksiders 2

x. Daxter

x. Dragon Age: Origins

x. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

x. Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon

x. Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock

x. Mass Effect

x. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

x. Pokèmon HeartGold Version

x. Portal

x. Ridge Racer

x. Sonic & All-Star Racing Transformed

x. Tekken Tag Tournament 2

x. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

x. Wipeout HD

I was going to write something for 8, 9 and 10, but I'm too tired for that

 

[Earthpainting]

1. Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime ; I never really thought about this too deeply, but I guess it’s a very simple and rudimentary MOBA game. Your base game is a cute and fun adventure game with exploration, but every now and then you’re thrown into an instanced battle arena where you and your crew have to break the enemy team’s core. The game is really creative and silly, and it’s just immensely accessible. I’ve played this game more times than I can count, and I’m probably going to play it much more in the future.
2. Super Mario Galaxy ; Super Mario Galaxy marks the first time Mario clicked with me in 3D. The levels are more linear than they used to be, but this allowed them to create a much tighter product. The game is as creative and beautiful as it is fun. Probably the peak of its genre to me
3. Half-Minute Hero ; If you like snappy, creative and bold games, then look no further. Half-Minute Hero is all about condensed versions of RPG arcs, because the world will blow up in roughly 30 seconds. You have to rush through all the steps of an RPG journey that would normally take 4 hours at a fraction of the time. You might think that its core gimmick would become tiresome, but the gameplay mixes up more often than you’d think, and the writing is strong enough to keep you entertained from beginning to end.
4. Bayonetta ; The first time a power fantasy game truly reached me, and it’s hard to separate that feeling from the game now. Bayonetta is a stylish action game where you feel like an untouchable badass. A good range of difficulty options, and a reward system that nudges you to do better, makes for a game where you always feel in control, but keep getting challenged.
5. Little King’s Story ; Ever wanted base-building, more exploration and more story in your Pikmin? That’s basically what Little King’s Story is like. As the little monarch, you expand your kingdom by toppling other kingdoms and unlock the secrets of the universe. Very cute and one of my feel-good games.
6. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective ; One of those games that I could not put down once I started. It’s a visual novel game with light puzzle elements, where you play as a crime-solving ghost. It’s got endearing characters, great writing, and excellent pacing. If you like things like Ace Attorney games, I’d check this one out.
7. Trauma Team ; I’m already a fan of the Trauma series, and Trauma Team is pretty much the pinnacle of the series. It’s the varied, overproduced, and just so proud of what it is. There’s some iffy motion controls here and there, for those that are allergic to that stuff, but if you can get over that, you’re in for something great.
8. NieR ; NieR is a lot of things, and not all of those things are great. What it does well though, it does masterfully. It’s one of those games where you best know as little about it as possible, so I shouldn’t be spoiling anything. Incredibly music, and one of the most memorable soundtracks of that generation
9. Portal ; Portal’s a puzzle platformer based around its titular “portals”. It’s short, but really creative, and it’s capable of more than you’d initially expect. Certainly one of the most important games of this generation.
10. Mass Effect 2 ; I like Mass Effect 1, but I love Mass Effect 2. It stripped away a lot of the fat its successor carried, and got turned into a more streamlined and focussed sequel. Pacing and characterisation improved immensely, and a greater emphasis on combat made them polish these systems up as well.

x. Another Code: R – A Journey into Lost Memories ; Not the most glamourous or exciting game, but it was the title that made me realise there was still room for me in this industry. When you’re not really into gun games, don’t care about realistic graphics, and roll your eyes at quips, Gen 7 was actually kind of exhausting and soul-crushing at times. Japanese development was making way for the might of western AAA studios, and I could see the games I liked slipping away. I had long stretches where I didn’t really like anything. If this feeling lasts too long, you get the feeling that the world has moved on, and you’re being left behind. Another Code: R was just the right game at the right time for me. It showed me that if I let go of the big releases, and put in the effort to dig a little deeper, the games for people like me were still out there. The game itself is an visual novel adventure game on the Wii that takes place in a camping ground near a lake. Its feel is a bit like your modern “walking simulator”, but a bit heavier on the puzzles and direct story telling. I enjoy it a lot.

 

[Tambini]

1. Super Mario Galaxy - one of the best games ever made, inventive and magical
2. Demons Soul's
3. God of War III
4. Xenoblade Chronicles
5. Uncharted 2
6. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
7. The Last of Us
8. Portal 2
9. Dark Souls
10. Ratchet and Clank: Crack in Time

 

[sixteen-bit]

1. Bayonetta - Best action game ever and it resonated so much with me. The recent release on Steam just cemented that fact.

 

[Nestunt]

1. Red Dead Redemption ; Rockstar had been doing cars for a long time, and still, they managed to make horse controls a lot better.

2. Bioshock Infinite ; Better than the original in almost every way. Better combat, better upgrades, better ending.

3. Dishonored ; The freedom and first-person sword combat were really surprising.

4. Mass Effect 2 ; It is the most balanced game of the best trilogy of that gen.

5. Assassin's Creed Brotherhood ; Whistling and building your guild made it a better game than 2.

6. Modern Warfare 2 ; Less focused than 1, but the perfect dose of over the top.

7. Super Street Fighter IV ; The perfect balance between Vanilla and Ultra.

8. Batman Arkham City ; When I was playing Asylum I always wanted bigger areas to properly feel like a super hero.

9. Skyrim ; At the time, you didn't even have to play it to know how grandiose this experience was.

10. XCOM Enemy Unknown ; When you beat a challenge you feel really smart (even long-term management).

 

[purseowner]

1. 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors - A exquisitely characterised narrative masterpiece with shock endings and atmosphere that will keep you awake at night.
2. Bioshock Infinite
3. Super Mario Galaxy
4. De Blob
5. Soul Bubbles
6. Sleeping Dogs
7. Borderlands 2
8. Mass Effect 2
9. Portal 2
10. Professor Layton and the Curious Village

 

[paragonpro]

1.) Mass Effect: i will be the first to admit this game has aged just about as well as milk tends to, yet despite that, there is still something that draws me in and makes me replay it year after year. Mass effect was a ground breaking title in terms of making the rpg, grow up on the xbox 360. While not all of its mechanics were good, bioware made a valiant attempt at re tooling the way we think about combat in an rpg, no longer did you have mmo like slashes that acted mearly to bring down numbers. Your guns, biotics, and tech all had heft and impact to them. This is is of course to say noting of the revolutionary dialogue system that many games since then had tried to ape. To me mass effect was the first true "next gen" rpg on the xbox 360, and to this day its my favorite videogame of all time

2.) Batman Arkham Asylum: before Rocksteady's arkham asylum hit in 2009, batman had become synomynous with mediocre to bad video games. I recall first seeing this game in game informer and immediatley getting hyped with its bloody imagery, and bold comic book art style. Arkahm asylum was a revolution for videogames and managed to spawn a multi million dollar franchise. Yet despite each sequel getting bigger, no game since then has had the impact that asylum had. Asylum was more than just a great super hero game, it was a well though out metroid like with tons and tons of amazing fan service for bat fans, while the story here is hit and miss there is certainly no denying the joy i felt hearing the voices of kevin conroy and mark hamil again. I know some bemone the akrham combat and its over use now aday but at the time it was a fun and revolutionary combat system that really made you feel like batman, and thats what this game does so well on top of being a very well crafted and paced videogame, it empowers you to feel like batman. This game may also have my favorite use of riddler challenges, there are just enough to not feel overwhelming, yet the ones that are there are a joy to find because Arkham island is a joy to explore

3.) Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts before i begin, yes im aware its completley lacking most of the platforming elements of its predecessors and one of those game is one of my faves of all time (kazooie, certainly not tooie), yet despite this, Nuts and bolts manages to not only feel like a love letter to banjo fans but it was also one of the most refreshingly creative games to come out of that era, and it was a microsoft game none the less. The vehicle creation gave you so much freedom to build. Wanna make a rocket ship with motor cycle wheels, so long as you could make it stand up you could do it. That was also neat, the ides that with this uninged creativity came some very real rules in terms of vehicle physics, much like a box car competition. Also worth mentioninf is just how nice it did and still does look. Rare is known for squeezing every last bit of juice out of a console and nuts and bolts is no different. Showdown town is heavily populated and detailed maticulously, and each world has its own style that feels entirely hand crafted and no ounce of it feels re used. The writing here is as sharp as its ever been and its a pure joy to hear orchestral versions of classic banjo tunes, going back to spiral mountain in hd with that music nearly brought a tear to my eye. Yes its not a platformer, but its still entirely worth your time.

4.) Bioshock: Talk about a game that managed to take me completley by surprise. Before grabbing it in early 2008 on sale at gamestop, this was a game i paid absolutley no attention, but in a way im so glad i did because i had such a fresh experience with bioshock. Bioshocked is steeped in classic pc simulations like system shock and with that comes an atmosphere and location that i feel is yet to be matched. Rapture is intimidating, its daunting oppressive and scary yet despite this those classic 1940's tunes just keep bringing you deeper into its bars, shopping centres, and living quarters. Though so much of rapture died during the downfall, it still feels alive at nearly every turn and its batman villain like inhabitants only act to further this notion and make your trip absolutley horrifying, few things are as scary to me in video games as the moment you meet your first spider splicer. The big daddy's and the morality decisions you must make around them also felt incredibly refreshing when morality decisions were typically a binary dialogue choice. Plasmids make fighting a joy as you have so many options to take out your foes, i would usually go for a shock jockey and wrench combination. You could also upgrade your character and these upgrades heavily effected the way you played the rest of the game.

 

[Jucksalbe]

Sorry, for the long list of honorable mentions, but they are all games I wanted to at least give a short mention. At least there'll be no huge images to scroll past for each one.

1. Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride; Wasn't sure if I should drop it a few ranks because it's "only" a remake, but it's the first time it was released (officially) in English and it's the first time I played the game, so I think it deserves to be judged as a new game and not just as a remake. This has it all, great characters, heartwarming story, fun battle system and nice music. I wouldn't even know what to criticize about it. Try this game if you want to get into the series (and then join the community thread, I heard there's a good one here on GAF).
2. Ys Seven; Yeah, I know, it's a bit looked down upon by "veterans" of the series, but I really, really liked this game. Playing this on Nightmare just felt perfect to me. Good thing I only learned about the supposedly game breaking moves after I beat the game, because dodging all boss attacks just felt great. And the music is excellent, that always helps.
3. Mega Man 9; Probably the unlikeliest comeback of the generation. I didn't think Capcom still had it in them to produce a good Mega Man game, but then they proved me wrong and released one of the best games in the series. It's a bit on the hard side, but that's okay.
4. Mushihimesama Futari; One of my favorite STGs. Great art and level design, plus it's easy to get into with a (relatively) simple scoring system (I got Espgaluda 2 at the same time and still haven't understood that one). Good music, too.
5. Super Mario Galaxy; I could never really get into Sunshine, so this was a big comeback for the 3D Mario series for me. Great levels, nice controls, just an overall fantasticly designed game. I wasn't sure if I should put this or the sequel on the list, but overall I found this to have the bigger impact and I just enjoyed it more, despite Galaxy 2 being bigger in every aspect.
6. Etrian Odyssey; Back before the genre became an assortment of pervy games, Etrian Odyssey brought back old-school dungeon crawlers. Modernized in just the right ways, plus some really good music.
7. Zero: Tsukihami no Kamen (Project Zero 4); My favorite game in the series. Great atmosphere, plus the control scheme actually works really well. Plenty of really scary scenes, too (coffin room....).
8. Mirror's Edge; You wouldn't think a first person platformer would even work that well, but somehow Dice pulled it off. Its focus on fast gameplay and speedrunning in general together with its great Time Trial mode is what makes this special. So special in fact that Dice themselves didn't come close with its sequel.
9. Another Code R; Wonderful adventure game with a great atmosphere and good characters. Its predecessor was a bit simple, but this one hits all the right marks. A shame this never got a US release, maybe it'd have gotten more recognition then.
10. Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin; I thought long about which DS Castlevania to include on this list. I loved them all, but overall I found Potrait of Ruin to be the best balanced one. Plus I like its bonus modes the most.

x. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney; Not easy to decide on a specific entry, but I think the first one stands out with its added case that introduces some interesting new mechanis and characters. Overall, it's just a great adventure game series with excellent writing. I actually played the first three games in a row when I got them. Don't think I've ever done that with any other series.
x. 3D Dot Game Heroes; A love letter (or ripoff?) to the old Zelda and Dragon Quest games with its own unique style. Plus some great music by Shinji Hosoe, too.
x. Silent Hill: Shattered Memories; A very unique "reimagination" of the original Silent Hill. They should have expanded on this instead of continuing with rather mediocre "old style" games afterwards. Great use of pointer controls!
x. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky FC; Great characters, nice music. A game (series) that still bothers to take the time to introduce its world and characters. I'd put SC above this, but I played that one on PC, so I can't vote for it.
x. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword; No matter what (most of) GAF says, the motion controls work great in this game and really add to the enjoyment. Plus this game has some of the best dungeons in the series. It can get a bit repetitive later on and the world just feels too separated, else this would have been higher on the list.
x. To The Moon; Simple in its mechnanics, but a strong and very sad story.
x. Half-Minute Hero; Genius idea and it plays really well.
x. Mario Kart Wii; Online mode was fun (before everything got hacked) and this has the best Time Trial mode in the series.
x. Fallout 3; Exploring this ruined world was great and always a bit creepy. I'm not that into the shooting, but the overall atmosphere made up for it. Plus, I loved the music on the radio stations.
x. Yakuza 3; Probably the best game in the series (that I played). Good story and characters.
x. Resident Evil DS; My favorite version of the original Resident Evil. It just plays really well on the DS as long as you ignore that new mode that has you (sometimes) slashing zombies with the touch screen.
x. Motorstorm: Pacific Rift; It's fast, it looks (or looked?) great, just a lot of fun.
x. Wipeout HD; This has just about everything you can wish for in a Wipeout game. Great comeback for the series.
x. The Pinball Arcade; Despite all the mishandling, it's still the best pinball simulation out there. But FarSight always managed to fuck this up in some way, so I can't justify to place this any higher on the list.
x. Wii Sports; This deserves a spot simply because it's one of the few games everyone I know loved to play, no matter if they usually play games or not. It's something I kinda miss from the Wii days in general.
x. Minecraft; It's the idea you wish you came up with yourself. Simple, yet elegant, and downright genius.
x. Midway Arcade Origins; I kinda had to put this on the list, despite most of it being rather shitty. But this has the best version of Robotron 2084 outside of an arcade and is also a good way to play Defender, so it deserves a spot.
x. Fortune Street; Great variation on Monopoly. It's a long-running series, but this is the only entry that ever got released in the West, so this automatically makes it the best entry in the series.
x. Kirby's Epic Yarn; One of the best coop games out there. It's rather easy, but this is also why this works so well in coop. Plus it looks absolutely lovely.
x. Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition; Finally a version that made me enjoy Resident Evil 4, somewhat.
x. House of the Dead: Overkill; Great comeback for the series and it looks like it was also the last hurrah for the whole genre.
x. Noby Noby Boy; It's stupid, it's unique, I had a lot of fun with it. And even though it took some extra multipliers, it was interesting to see how long this experiment went on.
x. Everbody's Golf: World Tour; Great golf game that unlike the usual simulation golf games is actually a lot of fun to play.
x. Akai Katana; Unlike Mushihimesama the scoring system in this is a bit more complex, but once I got into it, I really enjoyed it.
x. Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales; Simple and joyful. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this. Probably the best Chocobo spinoff game.

 

[The Artisan]

1. The Last of Us ; simply put, although this is far from my favorite, this is by far the best game I have ever played.
2. LittleBigPlanet 2 ; the quintessential couch, social gathering, and even multiplayer game. In my opinion this was one of the best Ps3 games ever with the 3rd installment being a huge letdown.
3. Metal Gear Solid 4 ; didn't play it for long but belongs on this list
4. Halo 4 ; one of the Halos definitely belong on this list...
5. Grand Theft Auto 4 ; coz I think GTA4>GTA5
6. Mass Effect 2 ; changed my life in video games forever
7. Uncharted 2 ; holds a special place in my heart for nostalgia purposes, I still remember when this game first came out as a freshman in college when the Ps3 had a tough time on the market
8. Bioshock 2 ; never played it, but it belongs on thislist
9. Skyrim ; never played it, but it definitely belongs on this list, perhaps higher
10. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 ; probably my most played game before Mass Effect 2 came along, this game was the example of how cod exploded for a few years

 

[Tali'Zorah]

1. Mass Effect 2; Just the greatest game ever made in my opinion. And yes, I even liked planet scanning.
2. Fallout 3; The game that introduced me to non-linear RPGs, fell in love with the aesthetic and the setting and it still retains a place in my heart
3. Halo 3; The perfect end to a stunning trilogy. The last mission is still fresh in my memory
4. Fallout New Vegas; Only below Fallout 3 because of my personal nostalgia for Fallout 3. Realistically improved on Fallout 3 in every way really, just a shame about the technical issues
5. Portal 2; Took everything the original Portal did and made it even better. Greatest puzzle game ever.
6. The Last of Us; Really showed what a video game with ridiculously high production values could be. The closest the medium has ever got to matching film.
7. Bioshock Infinite; I know it's often looked at as a black sheep in the Bioshock franchise but I adored it. The twists at the end especially blew my mind.
8. Red Dead Redemption; Never before has a game taken a historical period of time and absolutely nailed it quite like Red Dead Redemption. Fantastic atmosphere, gripping story, limitless freedom
9. Grand Theft Auto V; A masterclass in open world design. The fact it's still selling millions of copies 4 years later shows what a well designed game this was.
10. Mass Effect; Would be higher up but sadly hasn't aged well, but this is a true example of a great RPG

x. Deus Ex: Human Revolution; The aesthetic and general gameplay were spot on. If only the boss fights had been a bit better.
x. Dishonored; Stunningly good stealth action, a true cult classic
x. Far Cry 3; So much fun somehow crammed into one game. If only Vaas stuck around a bit longer to make the second half of the story a bit more interesting

 

[Memento]

This will be hard, except for the #1:

Spoiler

The Last of Us

 

[Widge]

1) Dark Souls; I don't think any game has ever been as captivating and enthralling as this. The interconnected world and refinements edge the game past Demon's Souls.
2) Uncharted 2; an outstanding experience. I will never go back and replay this game so my opinion stays frozen in time.
3) Mass Effect 2; fixed absolutely every single thing that was irksome from the original. A breathtaking spectacle from start to end.
4) Bioshock; I found a lot of FPS games a touch rudimentary up until this point. The atmosphere is unparalleled and the game compelling.
5) Valkyria Chronicles; rubbish demo, question marks over how engaging it was going to be from trailers, actually ended up being a firm favourite and one of the few titles that embodied everything I loved from previous gen jRPGs in a market that had very little on that thread.
6) Fallout 3; the only game I have ever platinum'd on PS3.
7) Fez; part of my love is the outstanding soundtrack, but so much of this game takes place in your heart.
8) Journey; I played through this end to end, resisting the urge for a pee break just to continue experiencing it. Not many games do narrative without words as good as this.
9) Batman Arkham Asylum; before the series suffered from bloat, its original incarnation was probably the best.
10) Warhawk; the hours I pumped into this. Absolutely fine tuned balanced battling.

 

[Joey Fox]

1. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - The best combination of atmosphere and dungeons in the series, and I enjoyed it the most on Wii.

2. Super Mario Galaxy 2 - Just a brilliant platformer

3. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - It was like playing a good movie. I loved the adventurous feeling of this game.

4. Xenoblade Chronicles - Fantastic exploration, combat and story.

5. Super Mario Galaxy - Brilliant.

6. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - There needs to be more lawyer games!

7. Metal Gear Solid IV: Guns of the Patriots - Memorable introduction (for me) to a great series.

8. Mass Effect - The Space RPG I was waiting my whole life to play.

9. Borderlands - Scratched the loot itch way better than even Diablo II or III

10. New Super Mario Bros Wii - My best local multiplayer memories are with this game

 

[Plum]

Don't have much time for long posts so forgive the relative lack of detail.

1. Dark Souls ; What can I say? This is, without doubt, my favourite game. It's a masterful mixture of gameplay, story and art to create a world that, unlike many others, manages to say something meaningful.
Its second half doesn't exactly reach the heights of those glorious first hours, but as a whole it's an experience I will never forget.
2. Super Mario Galaxy ; By far the best game Nintendo put out during the 7th generation. On deciding whether to put 1 or 2 in this spot I decided in favour of the former due to it being the first and it doing story so much better
3. Portal 2 ; Valve's last big single-player game and one of their best.
4. Fallout: New Vegas ;
5. Red Dead Redemption ;
6. Bioshock ;
7. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess ;
8. Halo 3 ;
9. Super Mario Galaxy 2 ;
10. Mario Kart DS ;

 

[creatchee]

1. Uncharted 2 - the best single player experience I've ever had in gaming.

2. The Last of Us - the second best single player experience I've ever had in gaming. Also, criminally underrated and underplayed multiplayer gave me SOCOM vibes.

3. Gears of War 3 - My favorite multiplayer component of the series. The series needs to return to this point and build upon it rather than starting from scratch with each new iteration.

4. Left 4 Dead 2 - possibly the best co-op game ever made, the best asymmetric multiplayer game ever made, and a painful reminder of how good Valve used to make games when they actually made games.

5. Rock Band 2 - I was always more of Guitar Hero player, but I had so much fun playing this with my family in person. The obscenely large and diverse DLC library kept it fresh. If you are wondering why I didn't put 3, I felt that the series lost its way with the addition of keyboards.

6. DmC: Devil May Cry - I didn't care that Dante was more "edgy" or that you couldn't do 1 frame cancels or that it ran at 30 fps, or that the combos were easier. It was the most fun that I've had in a hack and slash in terms of combat, story, setting, and overall experience.

7. God of War III - this would have been higher a few years ago, but a replay made me realize that my love for this game, while still strong, was so heavily influenced by the batshit crazy first 20 minutes of the game that I ignored a lot of the shortcomings of the rest of it. Regardless, it's still one of the best games of the generation.

8. Call of Duty: Black Ops II - the pinnacle of the series and the console competitive multiplayer FPS genre.

9. Grand Theft Auto V - it fulfilled dreams of open world games and completely exceeded expectations of what its multiplayer component would provide.

10. Burnout Paradise - ridiculous fun, loads of content, diverse modes, and a killer soundtrack. The need for a new iteration is real.

 

[Lostconfused]

Going to need to see some good lists first to poach games from them.

 

[AAK]

1. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots ; MGS4 is Kojima's magnum opus to the entire saga. The manages to somehow tie every plot thread of its rich saga while giving some of the most memorable stealth gameplay seen in Acts 1 & 2 until MGSV toppled it.
2. Tekken Tag Tournament 2 ; The most ambitious fighting game that was ever released and probably ever will exist. No other fighting game will probably ever attempt to providing as much depth and content within the fighting engine as this one and I feel privileged to be able to compete in a game as masterfully created as this.
3. Dead Space ; Took the few things wrong with Resident Evil 4 and made them right while capitalizing on everything it revolutionized. The gold standard for a horror themed third person shooter.
4. Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time ;
5. Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown ;
6. Deus Ex: Human Revolution ;
7. Mass Effect 3 ;
8. Wipeout HD ;
9. Soul Calibur V ;
10. Bioshock Infinite ;

x. Mortal Kombat 9
x. Uncharted 2: Honor Among Theives
x. Resident Evil 6
x. Vanquish
x. Rayman Legends
x. Guilty Gear Xrd
x. Brutal Legend

 

[blackMamba1187]

1. The Last of Us ; As time passes, I have no less desire to go back and enoy this one. The intro is g.o.a.t. material.
2. Rock Band 3 ;
3. Batman Arkham Asylum ;
4. Half-Life 2 Episode 2 ;
5. Uncharted 2 ;
6. Portal ;
7. Red Dead Redemption ;
8. Bayonetta ;
9. Crysis ;
10. Bioshock ;

Just Missed:
x. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood ;
x. Call of Duty 4 ;
x. Gears of War 2 ;
x. Geometry Wars 2 ;
x. Halo 3 ;
x. Mass Effect 2 ;
x. Mirror's Edge ;
x. Ninja Gaiden 2 ;
x. Resident Evil 4 - Wii Edition ; would have been top ten, but already high up on gen 6 list
x. The Walking Dead Season 1 ;
x. Wii Sports ;

More:
x. Alan Wake ;
x. Crackdown ;
x. Dead Space 2
x. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
x. Fallout New Vegas
x. God of War 3
x. God of War: Ghost of Sparta ;
x. Grand Theft Auto V ;
x. Guitar Hero 3 ;
x. Heavy Rain ;
x. Infamous: Festival of Blood ;
x. Journey ;
x. Kirby Canvas Curse ;
x. Left 4 Dead 2
x. Limbo ;
x. Meteos ;
x. N+ ;
x. Portal 2 ;
x. Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time ;
x. Resistance 3 ;
x. Saint's Row the Third
x. Saint's Row 4
x. Super Mario Galaxy
x. Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
x. Vanquish

 

[Dr. Feel Good]

1. Super Mario Galaxy ; An absolute platforming masterpiece paired with one of the most epic soundtracks of all time. Pure fun in its most simple form.
2. Lumines ; A new generations Tetris.
3. Geometry Wars ; The return of the arcade game.
4. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword ; Despite the horrid controls it truly is Zelda at its finest and sadly the last real Zelda as the series has veered off course.
5. Animal Crossing: Wild World ; The most perfect game designed for online play and connectivity. Addicting as all hell.
6. Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow ; Ingenious level and enemy design.
7. Elite Beat Agents ; Creative and addictive rhythm gaming.
8. GTA: Liberty City Stories ; A mind blowing experience at the time. How the technology worked was sheer craziness.
9. Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver ; The greatest games of all time... remade.
10. Wii Sports ; A revolution.

x. Marble Blast Ultra
x. Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition
x. Kirby Canvas Curse
x. Hexic
x. Tetris DS
x. Pac-Man CE DX

 

[BDGAME]

That is one of the most durable generations ever and, for some reason, the one I have less will to play games. But I play enough to, at least, make a top 10 with some of the good games that mark that generation for me.

1 - Super Mario Galaxy: Why choose it instead of the 2? Because the First game have the best balance between gameplay and story telling than the sequel.

2 - Portal 2: it's like the first, but bigger and better. I love the characters, the challenge and the charisma of the world of portal.

3 - Solatorobo: Red The Hunter: anyone played that cute RPG? For some reason, I can't stop to play until I finish it. I still remember with one of the best experiences I ever had in my DS

4- Kingdom Hearts 358/2 days: it's funny I put it in a better position than Birth to sleep, but that game have the best gameplay in the entire series. A must buy for any DS's owners or KH fans.

5 - Enslaved: one of the best games I played on my Xbox 360. It's sad it don't make the success it deserves.

6 - Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan: Best rhythm game I ever played (Sorry Elite beat and Guitar Hero). Funny from start to end. I love the songs so much.

7 - Super Mario Galaxy 2: It's lack the good story telling of the first, but have a lot more in gameplay. But it is too much close of the first to I considerate it better.

8 - Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep: the game that make me buy a PSP. The second best game of the franchise until now. Very charmingly protagonists and a nice story telling. Can you be a little tiresome finish then game 3 times, but the final can compensate for for it.

9 - Wii Sport Resort: I know lots of folks dislike these mii games. I myself don't like most of them. But WSR is a exception and a excellent kind of game that I played for a long time in the past generation.

10 - BioShock: these one of these games everyone needs to try. It is different than any FPS with a amazing and interesting world.

 

[Igama]

1. Persona 3 Portable: I played this game a couple of years ago. Never played any Persona or SMT game, just played it because I wanted something on my PSP and it was a JRPG with good reputation. Suddenly, I was incredibly amazed by this game: the music, the art, the battle gameplay, the characters, the story... What an experience. I remember when the ending was approaching and I was crying just because I didn't want it to end. Never happened to me before with a game.
2. Super Mario Galaxy 2: one of my favorite games ever. Built upon the first game, which was also incredible, it managed to go even further and deliver which is probably the best gameplay I have found on a game.
3. Xenoblade Chronicles: the atmosphere of this game was just amazing. Still remember the first time you go to Gaur Plains. Amazing music, good story and characters (Melia was the best), and beautiful artistically.
4. 999: a friend recommended this game to me, gave it a try a year ago. What a ride. One of the best stories in a game, interesting characters, plot twist after plot twist. Great game.
5. Pokémon Black/White 2: 5th gen is my favorite. I consider these games to be the best Pokémon games: a lot of content, including postgame and the PWT. One of my favorite Pokémon OSTs too.
6. Red Dead Redemption: while my favorite Rockstar open world game is still San Andreas, this game is really close. Very immersive setting and good story and characters.
7. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess: I think it was my second or third Zelda game. I really enjoyed it, it has great dungeons and Midna, who is probably the best Zelda character.
8. The World Ends With You: a very special game. The double screen gameplay was very imaginative, and the game also had a pretty interesting story, characters, art and music.
9. Super Mario Galaxy: if Galaxy 2 didn't exist maybe this would be my number two of the list. I prefer Galaxy 2 and I think it's better but there's nothing bad I can say about this game either.
10. Fallout New Vegas: my first experience with a game of this type, and still my favorite. Good writing, interesting sidequests, and the skill system was very fun.

x. Zelda: Skyward Sword.
x. Pokémon Black/White.
x. Pokémon HeartGold/SoulSilver.
x. Pokémon Platinum.
x. GTA V.
x. SolatoRobo: Red the Hunter.

 

[ngff02]

1. Mass Effect - The beginning of the sci-fi epic. Amazing cast, story, and replayability.

2. Mass Effect 2 - Takes what the first game did and made it better. Gameplay is completely refined, story is better and darker, and a memorable cast of characters.

3. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - Zelda grows up and we finally get the Adult Link game we been waiting for. Great gameplay mechanics, clever dungeons and items, and one of the greatest final boss fights ever.

4. Fallout 3
5. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
6. Diablo 3
7. Dead Space
8. Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
9. Battlefield: Bad Company 2
10. Elder Scrolls: Skyim

x. Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005)
x. Metal Gear Solid IV: Guns of the Patriots
x. Dead Space 2
x. Battlefield 3
x. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
x. Burnout Paradise
x. Deus Ex Human Revolution
x. Battlefield: Bad Company
x. Lumines
x. Gran Turismo 5
x. Portal 2
x. Borderlands
x. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
x. Tales of Vesperia
x. Medal of Honor
x. Spec Ops: The Line

 

[Giant Panda]

1. Bioshock - Amazing atmosphere, fun and intense gameplay that included great scenarios with traps, cool powers, and intimidating Big Daddies. The midpoint twist will never be forgotten. Really the only flaw was the lackluster ending.
2. Portal - Absolutely outstanding writing, and innovative gameplay make this game great. I only wish it was longer and had more variety in game mechanics that the second introduced.
3. Dark Souls - The most fun I had with a action-RPG from that gen.
4. Halo 3 - Singleplayer was good, but it was the unprecedented customization that the multiplayer allowed that led me to sink countless hours into this game doing local multiplayer with friends.
5. Red Faction: Guerilla - I was blown away by the scale of the destruction this game offered, and the way that it enhanced gameplay.
6. Gears of War - I was wowed by the graphics and the tight 3rd person shooting and cover mechanics. At the time that gameplay felt very fresh.
7. Super Smash Bros Brawl - Was great fun with friends as it offered even more content over Melee.
8. Dishonored - I loved the freedom and abilities that this game let you play around with. I was a bit disappointed with the last part of the game, but it was still amazing overall.
9. Locoroco - The most fun I had on PSP due to it's cute and colorful graphics, addicting music, and satisfying gameplay.
10. Civilization V - Had a very rough launch, but by Civilization V Complete it had become my favorite strategy game.

X. Spec Ops: The Line
X. Portal 2
X. Oblivion
X. Mass Effect
X. Advance Wars: Dual Strike
X. Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops
X. Just Cause 2
X. Metroid Prime 3

 

[mrmickfran]

1. Bayonetta ; My favorite game of all time. A true masterclass in game design. There are very few games that does it all like Bayonetta does. A combat system that is very easy to get into but almost impossible to master. Boss Fights that hit all the right notes in terms of pure challenge and pure epicness. A game that instead of leaving you satisfied after one playthough, it encourages you to keep coming back and rewards you for doing so. A plethora of unlockables that could have been a substantial DLC, but Platinum thought it was fine to just make it all unlockable. A game that just keeps on giving.

2. Super Mario Galaxy ; Nintendo's greatest game. A true masterpiece in the platformer genre. The game that set the standard for 3D platformers that, to this day, has never been met, not even by its sequel. A game with so much heart and magic that it feels like as if Disney made a video game. Their best soundtrack as well, no question

3. Xenoblade Chronicles ; The greatest RPG of all time. A deep combat system, a complex story, an absolutely incredible soundtrack, and an absolutely engaging world that rewards you for exploring every nook and cranny. Playing this game for the first time is an experience like no other.

4. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations ; An absolutely flawless end to an amazing trilogy. It is true that in order to understand Trials and Tribulations, one must play the first 2 games. But the reward for doing so is immense.

5. Sin & Punishment: Star Successor ; A fucking amazing ride. My God, where do I even start with this game? Do I start with its simple, yet difficult to master gameplay system? Do I start with the plethora of amazing boss battles? Or do I start with showing you an amazing display of high level gameplay footage? My first journey into stage 3 was the experience of a lifetime.

6. Donkey Kong Country Returns ; This game brought me back to my childhood (even though I never played DKC as a kid). I guess it was the creative levels, the tight gameplay, and the pure unforgiving challenge that made me feel like a kid when playing this game.

7. Vanquish ; VERY FAST MILITARY ROBOT MAN KILLS OTHER ROBOTS AT INCREDIBLE HIHG SPEED

8. Dark Souls ;

9. Catherine ;

10. Ghost Trick ; Another great Takumi game. An engrossing story, endearing characters, and a great premise. Also, one of the most insane plot twists ever.

Honorable Mentions:

x. Binary Domain
x. Valkyria Chronicles
x. Sonic Generations
x. Devil May Cry 4
x. Ninja Gaiden II
x. Kirby Canvas Curse
x. The World Ends With You

 

[DagnastyEp]

Ok, here's my list for the best games of Gen 7:

1. Mass Effect 2 ; Bioware built on the amazing story and characters of ME, with a revamped combat system that just made the game a pleasure to play. The cast was remarkable, and their loyalty missions were outstanding.
2. Mass Effect ; The gameplay wasn't perfect, but the story was incredible - best of the series.
3. Batman: Arkham Asylum ; Amazing action and combat, the "perfect" amount of side-quests, and a "just right" sized world. (I thought AC was too big and bloated for its own good)
4. Fallout 3 ; My first Bethesda RPG. I was blown away by the size, scope, and freedom. (I did enjoy NV, but had a lot of bugs and issues)
5. Dead Space 2 ; An amazing cinematic action horror game.
6. Dead Space ;
7. Mass Effect 3 ;
8. Portal 2 ;
9. XCOM: Enemy Unknown ;
10. Gears of War 2 ;

Honorable Mentions (in no order):
x. Enslaved ;
x. Limbo ;
x. Trials HD ;
x. Halo 3 ;
x. Assassins Creed 2 ;
x. The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings ;
x. Deus Ex: Human Revolution ;
x. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare ;
x. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 ;
x. Portal ;

Past Gen remaster that I experienced for the first time on gen 7 and loved:
x. Beyond Good and Evil HD ;
x. Resident Evil 4 ;

Never had a PS3, so I missed out on all of those games.

 

[Cornbread78]

Man, this is tough considering the crazy amount of time I spent playing games

1) Killzone 2: Around 500 hours played online, top 25 MP clan, countless hours playing tournaments and just messing around in custom rooms we would create... Did I mention the SP was pretty damn good? Yeah, this game defined the generation for me.

2) Resistance Fall of Man: "A whole new world." Yes, I felt like Ariel playing this game online. It was my fist MP game ever and really reinvigorated my love of gaming. I met lots of great people through my clan and had hundreds of hours of fun playing this game online. Yeah, this was awesome stuff!

3) White Knight Chronicles II: I'll just list 2 here since it came with one. Either way, as generic the story was and as many reused assets they utilized in WKC II, I had a ton of fun with the game and I loved the MMO aspect of the game and it's cross over with the SP game. Lots of fun and met lots of cool people along the way.


4) The Last of Us: Yeah, from the prologue until the final moments, this game gripped me. Outstanding story, presentation and gameplay. Nothing that I can say won't already be said in this thread.

5) Elder Scrolls: Oblivion; Bought this along with RFoM when I bought my PS3 and spent hundreds of hours wondering around the world. Lots of fun here.
6) Mass Effect 2; First time I got to play ME and had a blast with the characters and story
7) Tales of Graces f; My reunion venture with the Tales franchise put me in love again! Do you believe in Love?
8) Battlefield: Bad Company 2; Again, the SP was a good time and the MP was absolutely a great time. Well, outside of the 20 collapse building kills....
9) Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch; yeah, loved the presentation of the game and the story was equally as fun and engaging.
10) Uncharted 2 ; Just an amazing game through and through... Yeah, I loved this one.


Honorable Mentions:
x. Nier
x. Final Fantasy Tactics DS
x. Resistance 2
x. Resistance 3
x. Tales of Xillia 2
x. Crysis 2
x. Mass Effect
x. Mass Effect 3
x. Final Fantasy XIII
x. Star Ocean: The Last Hope
x. Little Big Planet
x. Disgaea DS
x. Halo 3

 

[emilioasis]

1. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii): Platforming perfection.
2. Xenoblade Chronicles (Wii): The Sequel to FFXII that we never got.
3. Batman: Arkham Asylum (PS3): The atmosphere, the combat, the voice acting.
4. The Last Of Us (PS3): Naughty Dog perfection.
5. Mass Effect (PS3): Maybe this vote shoulf go to the trilogy. Anyway, the story, the choices and the supoorting cast made this game an instant classic.
6. Uncharted 2 (PS3): A huge jump in quality coming from the first one. The setpieces are some of the best I've seen in a videogame
7. The Walking Dead (PS3): A truly mesmerazing experience.
8. Donkey Kong Country Returns (Wii): Tough as nails, but so much fun.
9. The Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii): Some of the perfect dungeons in the series.
10. Monster Hunter Tri (Wii): 300 hours later I can say that there are few things in gaming as satisfying as slaying a huge monster alongside three friends

x. Driver: San Francisco (PS3) Ubisoft, give us a sequel!!!!!
x. Portal (PC)
x. Journey (PS3)

 

[AniHawk]

Why the early cut-off for PC? Seems very inconsistent with allowing cross-generation titles like Life is Strange - basically it would be allowed if I played it on console but not on PC? Doesn't make much sense tbh.

it's consistent with previous threads:

gen 4: 1989-1993
gen 5: 1994-1999
gen 6: 2000-2005

 

[Gusy]

1- Super Mario Galaxy: Its joy printed on discs. Pure unadulterated joy

2- Mass Effect: Mass Effect was a dream game for me at the time. Finally we had an RPG with a cinematic, explorable sci-fi world with real time shooter mechanics. I loved the visuals and the way they were complemented with the amazing music. The characters, races and relationship between them. I loved exploring small moons, even if the side quests were super repetitive. I loved mixing shooting with special abilities. I loved the Mako. I loved walking around the Normandy and getting a feel for the crew, speaking to everyone. I felt like the real captain of that ship. Mass Effect is maybe the most successful genre mashup of the 7th generation and maybe the biggest accomplishment in world building.

3- Demon's Souls: This is one of the best examples of what a studio can achieve by sticking to a singular vision no matter what. One of the few games that makes you really learn its intricacies and earn your victories. A game that taught me a lot about resilience, perseverance, patience.. and fun. A spectacular Gothic masterpiece.

4- The Last of Us: The games that sums up the ridiculous amount of talent Naughty Dog has. This is the game that I still go to if I want to show a non-gamer what the medium is capable of. A beautiful, heart-wrenching experience from beginning to end.

5- Metroid Prime 3 Corruption: Shooting with the wii-mote pointer for the first time was a revelation back then and still holds up. Its a slight departure from the previous games but it managed to strike a perfect balance between exploration and action that in some ways surpassed its predecessors. And it still is a beautiful game. I loved how Retro didn't give a fuck about being on under-powered console and showed how important is art direction to the overall aesthetics of a game.

6- Bioshock: The wonderful thing that the power that 7th generation consoles brought over is being able to tell compelling stories using the environments themselves. Rapture couldn't have been possible in previous generations. This game made me interested in Objectivism and Ayn Rand enough that I researched and read about it. What more can you ask from a game... A wonderful spiritual successor of one of my favorite games of all time, System Shock 2.

7- Mass Effect 2: The best story-driven 3rd person shooter ever. Interesting characters, refined mechanics, bigger sense of discovery and exploration. Generally speaking its a beautiful and polished game and a perfect symbol of the incredible content that the 7th generation consoles were capable of putting out.

8- Batman Arkham City: The perfect melee combat system from Asylum mixed with super rewarding traversal and exploration in a bigger open world. Its less focused than its predecesor in terms of narrative but the amount of content and fun makes up for it. Its the closest a video game has ever come in making me feel like a super hero. Spiderman 2 for the PS2 being a close second.

9- Killzone 2: Its a beautiful, grim and intense 1st person masterpiece. The game feels like none other, because it has friction and weight to every action. Its what I call a 1st person experience. And while I appreciate the arcadey responsiveness of the Call of Duty games, they pale in comparison to the immersiveness this game provides. Its probably the biggest technical accomplishment for the PS3.

10- Dead Space: Few games can match the atmosphere of isolation that this game provides. The Ishimura reminds me of the perfectly designed Von Braun from System Shock 2. It was a great survival horror game to boot with great shooting mechanics. Its a super slick and polished game that I still feel it came out of nowhere. Also, probably has the best UI ever for a game.

Honorable Mentions:

- Uncharted 2
- Rachet And Clank: Tools of destruction
- Crysis
- Syndicate
- Skyrim
- Dead Space 2
- GTA V

 

[hidys]

Why the early cut-off for PC? Seems very inconsistent with allowing cross-generation titles like Life is Strange - basically it would be allowed if I played it on console but not on PC? Doesn't make much sense tbh.

You could just list games not not say which system you played them on. Nobody will ask.

Frankly the arbitrarily cutoff for PC games simply because the Wii U came out in 2012 is completely absurd.

it's consistent with previous threads:

gen 4: 1989-1993
gen 5: 1994-1999
gen 6: 2000-2005

Except that with all of those years baring the tail end of "gen 6" PC and Console games were for the most part completely different.

We are talking about the same game,virtually identical across platforms.

 

[Nocturnowl]

Galaxy 2 or Dark Souls... hmm...

This is my dilemma, though I think I know what I'm going for.

 

[RyanHardy101]

1. The Last of Us ; I came in late for the 7th gen, I actually bought a PS3 in 2013 and my gaming was very limited before by a very weak PC which I used to mainly play an MMORPG (and before that I owned a PS2), so when I got this console (PS3 is my favorite console of all time) and the first game I played was TLOU, I was blown away, pretty much everything in this game is perfection for me (I'm aware it's not perfect though), since Chrismas 2013, I've played the game 6 times, which I never do in Single Player games. And I still listen to the soundtrack almost everyday.

2. Metal Gear Solid 4 ; My oh my, what a ride this game was, I actually was insanely stupid and this was my first Metal Gear game, so as I was playing, during the cutscenes I was pausing them and looking up characters of the franchise on wikis, so I could see their plot in the universe, what a way to play, I don't regret it though. After playing it I bought all Metal Gear games and played them, now it's one of my favorite franchises ever. The ending brought me to tears even though my only connection with the characters were made in MGS4.

3. Mass Effect 2 ; Another mistake made, started with ME2 and didn't played the first one, no regrets. Characters, story, graphics, setting, Sheppard, Miranda, Jack, holy damn this game is good.

4. The Walking Dead Season 1 ; My first adventure style game, I didn't expect anything, and I got one of the most interesting story and characters in a game, I will never forget Lee and Clementine (season 2 was not the same).

5. Red Dead Redemption ; What is there to say? Everyone that played this game knows it's special, western is not my kind of thing, but after a few hours with RDR I was hooked, the moment in the story where "Compass" starts playing while you are going somewhere you were meant to go (not spoiling) is one of the most memorable moments I've had in a game (same with Far Away when entering Mexico).

6. Assassin's Creed IV ; Yes, I love the Assassin's Creed franchise, it had a lot of failures but never let me down, AC IV is just phenomenal, another game I expected to dislike because of the naval combat, and it won me over, the shanties are unforgettable, the ending is amazing and beautiful.

7. Bioshock Infinite ; I didn't like Bioshock 1 and 2, maybe it was the gameplay or setting but something about the game keeps me away from playing it, I tried many times, but after seeing Infinite and how beautiful it was, and where it was set, I had to play it. I love almost everything about it, it's one of the most divisive games I've seen, and that's a shame.

8. Journey ; 2/3 hours of perfection, it had to be on this list, everyone should experience it.

9. Metal Gear Rising ; Platinum games and my favorite franchise? Yes please, what a treat. Slashing the flesh of the enemies into pieces is the most satisfying mechanic used in a game ever.

10. Yakuza 4 ; My first Yakuza game, I've watched the first 3 games in movie format and they were amazing, after playing Yakuza 4 I was hooked to the franchise, so unique, so unusual from what I'm used to play, gameplay unexpectedly awesome, and the story is golden.

x. DMC Devil May Cry ; This game does not deserve the hate it receives, absolutely insanely fun to play, I've already played it multiple times on PS3, and soon I'll get the Definitive Edition for PS4. Pure fun.

x. Spec Ops The Line ; Mediocre gameplay, and one of the best stories in any game ever, play it.

x. Uncharted 2 ; I like the Uncharted franchise but it never really did anything special for me, not like TLOU, maybe that was because I've played TLOU first and then the Uncharted games.

x. L.A. Noire ; there is no game like it and the technology is still astounding to this day.

 

[Ridesh]

Game o' Gen 7

1. Mass Effect 2

2. Grand Theft Auto V ; The astonishing breathing city of Los Santos is the magnum opus of gaming. This game, RDR and TW3 are the only games that every so often make me put the disc on the console just to take a ride and enjoy the vistas and ecosystems. The amazing tech and art direction, the funny dialogues, I mean, few times I've laughed so much in gaming, and the really fun-and-varied missions, probably the best in the history of the saga. There's room for improvement? Sure, the story could have been more tight and the core gameplay still isn't the best for an open-world game (Sleeping Dogs has that title) but still, the best gaming I had in 2013.

3. Red Dead Redemption
4. BioShock
5. The Last of Us
6. Deus Ex: Human Revolution
7. Dark Souls
8. God of War III
9. Batman: Arkham Asylum
10. Dead Space

Honorable Mentions

x. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim ;
x. Sleeping Dogs ;

 

[Version 3.0]

If Dark or Demon's doesn't win, I'll lose faith in GAF forever.

We had a test run thread late last gen, and they did well. But, I predicted that they would split the vote (even though one is clearly superior), and ultimately lose to Naughty Dog fans rallying behind The Last of Us.

It'll be interesting to see how it plays out.

 

[Servbot24]

1. Demon's Souls; This game feels so ancient, mystical and otherworldly. It seems like the designers made it how they wanted to make it and didn't care how it would be received. I absolutely LOVE that. The difficulty level is simply a brushstroke that contributes to the full piece of art. Everything about it is uncompromising and true to a vision. This game really affected me and how I view game design.
2. Journey; This is the only media that has ever made me tear up from uplifted happiness.
3. Meteos
4. Dark Souls
5. Velocity
6. Portal
7. Metal Gear Solid 4
8. The Last of Us
9. Uncharted 2
10. Super Mario Galaxy

 

[hydrophilic attack]

We had a test run thread late last gen, and they did well. But, I predicted that they would split the vote (even though one is clearly superior), and ultimately lose to Naughty Dog fans rallying behind The Last of Us.

It'll be interesting to see how it plays out.

You're clearly talking about Demon's

 

[petran79]

I have to say I was dissapointed with this generation compared to the previous one, despite the graphical and animation improvements. One reason I stuck to indie games or middleware titles

1. Blackwell Unbound

Despite being a point and click adventure game following the 90s formula, Blackwell games deserve to be in the all time classics. Story, characters, dialogues, humor, emotion were among the best I've seen, even surpassing million dollar productions. I'll never forget those games. Due to the voting rules I pick the second game in the series Blackwell Unbound, which was slightly better than the rest in characters and atmosphere.

2. Ys Origin

Did not bother with action RPGs since NES Zelda 2, but this game managed to rekindle my interest in the genre, even for a short while. This and Chronicles were the only games I was in the mood finish till the end. Felghana was also good but Origin was overall a better game with more character variety.

3.VVVVVV

I finished that game on a netbook. I thought I was playing an old computer game (game was ported recently to C64). One of the best indie games I played. It was difficult but fair. Captivating retro atmosphere with an unforgettable soundtrack.

4. World of Goo

Never managed to beat the game but it was something the puzzle genre needed. Revolutionised indie games and its impact was undetestable.

5. Plants vs Zombies

I played the game much later but this was as important as World of Goo for the indie genre.

6. BlazBlue Calamity Trigger

At that time I was not interested in SF4 that much. Blazblue on the other hand caught my attention. I had missed Guilty Gear.Only played few matches in arcades in early 2000. So seing the HD updated graphics of Blazblue was as impressive as seing Guilty Gear Slash for the first time back then. I did not follow the story till later, but I liked that the game was favouring offensive gameplay, punishing you if you were turtling like in SF4 or were too defensive. Character design was also unique and characters were so different from standard 2D fighters. It took me years to figure out Rachel Alucard. Worth mentioning the crossplay between PC and Xbox360 players. Since game was delayed on PC and was hard to obtain, I was the only PC player online probably. Soundtrack is still considered as one of the most iconic in fighting games.

7. Melty Blood Actress Again Current Code

Similar to Blazblue, this 2D fighter overshadowed my interest in SF4 pretty quick. Fast paced gameplay, multitude of characters, amazing soundtrack. Graphics may not have been on par with modern fighting games, but they were rich in animation and expressions.

8. Back to the Future: The Game

First time I heard the name Telltale Games. I really liked their approach to that game, while trying to reinvigorate the point and click adventure game genre. Puzzles were relatively easy, hence game never got tedious. While Tales of Monkey Island and Sam and Max were for more experienced players.

9. Virtua Tennis 3

Last arcade game I devoted lot of time. Later I played game on PC and PS3. VT3 2009 is considered inferior. Game polished the controls of VT2 without straying too much from arcade gameplay, unlike VT4. Really one of the best arcade sports games I've played. Too bad Virtua Striker 3 did not follow the same route.


10. Machinarium

I have to admit, prior to playing Machinarium, I did not pay much attention to art in video games. That adventure game changed my perspective. Having also a fond love for Czechoslovakian animation and humor, this game struck my chords. Instantly lovable and charming with some of the most unique characters. Soundtrack was also very good. A game parodying the political situation in those countries. Probably remains Amanita's best game. Some puzzles were a little difficult but overall an unforgettable experience.



Honorable mentions:

-Grey Matter: a quality point and click adventure game involving Jane Jensen. I wish I had devoted more time to it.
-A Vampire Story: Following the trend of Lucasarts adventure games, this game should deserve more recognition. Too bad sequel did not come to fruition. Main characters were of the best I've seen in adventure games.
-Aquaria: A unique and atmospheric explolation indie game that made an impact. Underwater exploration at its best.
-Flying Red Barrel: Even today I cant finish that game even on easy and I cant reach ranked medals or high scores either. But I liked the cartoony art style and simple story. One of the best shmups I've played.
-Battle Fantasia: first 2.5d fighter, very underrated for its quality due to SF4
-SF4: whether I liked it or not, this game made 2D fighters popular again and lead others to port their titles to PC
-KOF XIII: Proved too ambitious for SNK in the long run but for a while it was regarded as the best 2D fighting game.
-Mortal Kombat 9: Like SFIV it revived the interest in the series and 2D fighting games.
-Valkyria Chronicles: an epic turn based strategy game, from the staff behind Sakura Wars
-Sonic Generations: a much needed 3D Sonic Game that did not suck. Rekindled my interest in the franchise after the mediocre Sonic Heroes
-Worms Reloaded: While not reaching Armageddon status, it is regarded as one of the decent Worms games.
-Professor Layton and the Unbound Future: combining puzzle solving with a captivating storyline and characters in such a charming way, was something I had not experienced before.
-Order of Ecclesia: I avoided Metroidvanias like the plague, but I played this game to the end. Shanoa was one of the most unique female leads. Though I still prefer the classic Castlevanias
-Corpse Party:I played the PC version much later, but I prefer this to the PSP remake despite the lack of full voiced dialogue and FMV clips. More minimalistic horror, it creates a tense atmosphere, reminding me of the earlier computer games.
-Virtua Tennis 4: Even more polished than 3, a little closer to simulation. Still I prefer VT2 and 3.