Kevin Shields
Member
I've played both ps2 and ps3 versions, yes.
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GAF Games o' the Generation (DC/PS2/GBA/GC/Xbox/PC 2000-2005) Voting Closed
- Thread starter AniHawk
- Start date
I've played both ps2 and ps3 versions, yes.
ah cool. thanks!
woopWOOP
Member
Yeah, whoops! Thanks for the heads up!
Secret Character
Member
Alright, here we go...
1. Outrun 2 (and it's subsequent updates)
Have you ever played a perfect game? Outrun 2 is as close to perfection as a single game could ever get. Sega produced this tour-de-force on the X-Box dervied Chihiro hardware and it still looks absolutely incredible today. From the moment you press start, you're given amazing visuals and sounds. The game controls like a dream and the different play modes shake it up and later challenge missions give even expert players a run for their money. In the updates to the games, they added more cars, motion cabinets, 2 player single car driving, and more areas to explore. This game was THE reason to go to the arcades in the mid-2000s.
2. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
MGS 2 is a game that helped define an entire console generation. The technology was incredible for the scope of the PS2, and the way information was released about the game will go down in history as the greatest deception to gamers. While the plot unfolds, you learn of the bigger message that the narritive of the game is trying to convey and it lands hard in the last hour of the game. Its actually pretty frightening to see how some of the topics discussed have begun to surface now in society. Truely one of the greatest games of a generation.
3. Katamari Damacy
The concept is simple: Roll a ball around and pick things up that stick to it. Make the ball as big as you can. I remember this game being discussed when it released in Japan and was very surprised to hear that Namco had decided to localize it and offer it at a budget price. What ended up coming from it was magical. ROYAL RAINBOW!
4. Virtua Fighter 4: Final Tuned
This generation was huge in the name of 3D fighting games. You had huge contenders like Tekken, Soul Calibur, and Dead or Alive all trying to become the best. VF4: Evo made huge waves on the PS2 domestically, but the update to the arcade version, Final Tuned, took the already honed gameplay and sharpened it to a razor's edge. The graphics are incredible, the gameplay is about as balanced as a fighting game could be, and it still stands as probably the best installation of the series.
5. Halo: Combat Evolved
I'll get this out of the way: I don't like Halo. I'm not a big FPS guy, but while this was out, there were many sleepless LAN nights between me and my friends. The gameplay was tight and responsive and the game itself was very polished. Not my favorite game at all, but overall one of the most important games in modern gaming.
6. REZ
This is the game version of feeling euphoria. The music and visuals blend together to create an amalgamation of the senses that is still very unique to this day. Play Rez HD right now if you haven't. You won't regret it.
7. Gran Turismo 4
I was blown away by Gran Turismo 3 when I got it. I can't tell you how many hours I sunk into it and it always felt rewarding. When Gran Turismo 4 came out, it was an even bigger sensation. The clean menus, the exceptional tracks and car selection, the graphics that looked unreal for the console, and the killer soundtrack. I couldn't get enough. I still preffer this to GT5 and 6. Easily the best entry in the entire series.
8. Shadow of the Colossus
Poetry in motion. So much has already been said on this game that adding more would feel like taking away from something special. Beautiful, tragic, and intense.
9. Resident Evil 4
Another game with many things said about it already. Such a huge step in the right direction for the series.
10. Initial D: Arcade
This game did something absolutely incredible for the time. It suddenly created a reason for plenty of non-arcade gamers to start going. The excitement of the Initial D series was huge when it first came out. Where the only games that had lines used to be DDR and the rare fighter, Initial D would have players waiting to duel against another drifter on a course pulled straight from the manga for hours. Many won't remember this title going forward, but it certainly left its mark on many arcade gamers.
Honorable Mentions:
x Zone of the Enders 2: The Second Runner
x Unreal Tournament 2003
x Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan
x Capcom vs. SNK 2: Millionaire Fighting
x Half Life 2
x Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
x Yakuza 2
x Dodonpachi DaiOuJou
x Mechassault 2: Lone Wolf
x Guitar Hero 2
1. Outrun 2 (and it's subsequent updates)
Have you ever played a perfect game? Outrun 2 is as close to perfection as a single game could ever get. Sega produced this tour-de-force on the X-Box dervied Chihiro hardware and it still looks absolutely incredible today. From the moment you press start, you're given amazing visuals and sounds. The game controls like a dream and the different play modes shake it up and later challenge missions give even expert players a run for their money. In the updates to the games, they added more cars, motion cabinets, 2 player single car driving, and more areas to explore. This game was THE reason to go to the arcades in the mid-2000s.
2. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
MGS 2 is a game that helped define an entire console generation. The technology was incredible for the scope of the PS2, and the way information was released about the game will go down in history as the greatest deception to gamers. While the plot unfolds, you learn of the bigger message that the narritive of the game is trying to convey and it lands hard in the last hour of the game. Its actually pretty frightening to see how some of the topics discussed have begun to surface now in society. Truely one of the greatest games of a generation.
3. Katamari Damacy
The concept is simple: Roll a ball around and pick things up that stick to it. Make the ball as big as you can. I remember this game being discussed when it released in Japan and was very surprised to hear that Namco had decided to localize it and offer it at a budget price. What ended up coming from it was magical. ROYAL RAINBOW!
4. Virtua Fighter 4: Final Tuned
This generation was huge in the name of 3D fighting games. You had huge contenders like Tekken, Soul Calibur, and Dead or Alive all trying to become the best. VF4: Evo made huge waves on the PS2 domestically, but the update to the arcade version, Final Tuned, took the already honed gameplay and sharpened it to a razor's edge. The graphics are incredible, the gameplay is about as balanced as a fighting game could be, and it still stands as probably the best installation of the series.
5. Halo: Combat Evolved
I'll get this out of the way: I don't like Halo. I'm not a big FPS guy, but while this was out, there were many sleepless LAN nights between me and my friends. The gameplay was tight and responsive and the game itself was very polished. Not my favorite game at all, but overall one of the most important games in modern gaming.
6. REZ
This is the game version of feeling euphoria. The music and visuals blend together to create an amalgamation of the senses that is still very unique to this day. Play Rez HD right now if you haven't. You won't regret it.
7. Gran Turismo 4
I was blown away by Gran Turismo 3 when I got it. I can't tell you how many hours I sunk into it and it always felt rewarding. When Gran Turismo 4 came out, it was an even bigger sensation. The clean menus, the exceptional tracks and car selection, the graphics that looked unreal for the console, and the killer soundtrack. I couldn't get enough. I still preffer this to GT5 and 6. Easily the best entry in the entire series.
8. Shadow of the Colossus
Poetry in motion. So much has already been said on this game that adding more would feel like taking away from something special. Beautiful, tragic, and intense.
9. Resident Evil 4
Another game with many things said about it already. Such a huge step in the right direction for the series.
10. Initial D: Arcade
This game did something absolutely incredible for the time. It suddenly created a reason for plenty of non-arcade gamers to start going. The excitement of the Initial D series was huge when it first came out. Where the only games that had lines used to be DDR and the rare fighter, Initial D would have players waiting to duel against another drifter on a course pulled straight from the manga for hours. Many won't remember this title going forward, but it certainly left its mark on many arcade gamers.
Honorable Mentions:
x Zone of the Enders 2: The Second Runner
x Unreal Tournament 2003
x Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan
x Capcom vs. SNK 2: Millionaire Fighting
x Half Life 2
x Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
x Yakuza 2
x Dodonpachi DaiOuJou
x Mechassault 2: Lone Wolf
x Guitar Hero 2
after a few months, i was thinking about fifth gen. that one has by far and away the most obvious winner (ocarina of time).
pm me your original list and your changed one and i will adjust the points as needed.
Stabby McSter
Member
Never done something like this. But my number one I feel pretty passionately about, so I gotta give it props.
1. Resident Evil 4 ; To this day, I don't think this game has been topped. Everything is great: The pacing, the atmosphere, the combat, exploration... I could go on if I was better with my words. I still think it's one of the best looking games, too. I've played this game at least ten times, and I don't ever plan on stopping. #RE4forlife
2. Super Smash Bros. Melee ; This game took a huge chunk of my life, even to the point where I thought about playing it at a competitive level. I never did, but I think that's what makes the game so great. It's great for us filthy casuals, but enough for all the Foxes in the world to final destination all day.
3. Halo: Combat Evolved ; I was always a fan since that MacWorld reveal. I didn't pick it up at launch on the Xbox, but waited until the PC/Mac version came out because I was young and "FUCK M$" amirite!? I loved playing the game so much, I eventually saved enough money to buy an Xbox with Halo: Combat Evolved, pretty much in preparation for Halo 2. I'll never forget those LAN parties.
4. Metal Gear Solid 3 ; I always thought this game was one of the original games you talk to your friends about and no one ever has the same story. Everyone has a different way to approach encounters, and it was always enjoyable to read and listen to what others were saying. Also, I actually liked the multiplayer in the Subsistence edition. :x
5. Elite Beat Agents ; I remember showing this game to my friends when it first came out. Things turned from "WHAT IS THIS GAME, THIS IS DUMB THESE SONGS SUCK" to "WHY IS THIS GAME GREAT?" I want a sequel badly.
6. Counter-Strike ; I was a young teenager getting trolled by idiots in CS. What better way to get back at them than to shoot them in the face?
7. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker ; I might be the only one to enjoy the vastness of sailing through the empty oceans. Plus, this game is beautiful.
8. World of Warcraft ; I played a lot of WoW more than I'd like to admit. If I think about it, this game was more of a thing to do while I talked to my friends. Still number eight on the list, though, so I can't exactly attribute all of my enjoyment to my friends.
9. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas ; FINALLY, I HAVE A CAMERA STICK!
10. Diablo 2 ; I'll never get that summer back I spent playing this game with my cousin. I guess I should immortalize it in this top ten list.
x. Phantom Dust ; Sorry, Phantom Dust. You were so close.
x. Rhythm Tengoku ; I should at least mention it, because this game is pretty great.
x. Marvel vs. Capcom 2 ; I bumped this game down for Counter-Strike. GOOD JOB CS
1. Resident Evil 4 ; To this day, I don't think this game has been topped. Everything is great: The pacing, the atmosphere, the combat, exploration... I could go on if I was better with my words. I still think it's one of the best looking games, too. I've played this game at least ten times, and I don't ever plan on stopping. #RE4forlife
2. Super Smash Bros. Melee ; This game took a huge chunk of my life, even to the point where I thought about playing it at a competitive level. I never did, but I think that's what makes the game so great. It's great for us filthy casuals, but enough for all the Foxes in the world to final destination all day.
3. Halo: Combat Evolved ; I was always a fan since that MacWorld reveal. I didn't pick it up at launch on the Xbox, but waited until the PC/Mac version came out because I was young and "FUCK M$" amirite!? I loved playing the game so much, I eventually saved enough money to buy an Xbox with Halo: Combat Evolved, pretty much in preparation for Halo 2. I'll never forget those LAN parties.
4. Metal Gear Solid 3 ; I always thought this game was one of the original games you talk to your friends about and no one ever has the same story. Everyone has a different way to approach encounters, and it was always enjoyable to read and listen to what others were saying. Also, I actually liked the multiplayer in the Subsistence edition. :x
5. Elite Beat Agents ; I remember showing this game to my friends when it first came out. Things turned from "WHAT IS THIS GAME, THIS IS DUMB THESE SONGS SUCK" to "WHY IS THIS GAME GREAT?" I want a sequel badly.
6. Counter-Strike ; I was a young teenager getting trolled by idiots in CS. What better way to get back at them than to shoot them in the face?
7. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker ; I might be the only one to enjoy the vastness of sailing through the empty oceans. Plus, this game is beautiful.
8. World of Warcraft ; I played a lot of WoW more than I'd like to admit. If I think about it, this game was more of a thing to do while I talked to my friends. Still number eight on the list, though, so I can't exactly attribute all of my enjoyment to my friends.
9. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas ; FINALLY, I HAVE A CAMERA STICK!
10. Diablo 2 ; I'll never get that summer back I spent playing this game with my cousin. I guess I should immortalize it in this top ten list.
x. Phantom Dust ; Sorry, Phantom Dust. You were so close.
x. Rhythm Tengoku ; I should at least mention it, because this game is pretty great.
x. Marvel vs. Capcom 2 ; I bumped this game down for Counter-Strike. GOOD JOB CS
Dion Blaster
Member
I would award negatives votes if I could to Okami, Mario Sunshine, and Twilight Princess.
1. Shenmue: Many people focus on the story but, while the story is certainly intriguing, the highlight of the game was the world itself. Never before had I seen a videogame world as immersive and fleshed-out as the one in Shenmue. The atmosphere, the mood, the naturalistic representation of everyday life, the interaction with fleshed-out NPCs that at the time felt like actual human beings, the engrossing feeling of being part of a fictional, living world. Shenmue felt like participating in an interactive work of literature, it used presentation and game design in ways that, weren't necessarily "fun", but tried to take advantage of the unique aspects of the medium in order to communicate with the player. It's true that Shenmue isn't a very "fun" game to play in fact, it can even become tedious but it's incredibly engaging, absorbing and memorable. And, while many of the things that it tried to accomplish back then are quite common in many games nowadays, the fact remains that Shenmue attempted to walk into uncharted territory. It truly felt like experiencing something unprecedented at the time and, for that reason, it remains one of the most ambitious and mind-blowing experiences I've ever had in videogames.
2. Metroid Prime: Sophisticated level design, stunning art-direction and graphics, incredible soundtrack, gripping atmosphere, unparalleled level of immersion, excellent environmental storytelling and an engaging lore to explore during your journey. Metroid Prime did for Metroid what Ocarina of Time did for Zelda. It didn't just succeed in transitioning the series to 3D, it made the transition in a way that was grand, by offering one of the best games ever made. Metroid Prime is a masterpiece and the ultimate proof that you don't need to "sacrifice gameplay" in order to explore videogame aspects that go beyond level design and mechanics. I really wish Nintendo made more games like this.
3. Resident Evil 4: Even though I'm not very fond of the action-centric approach that RE4 introduced to the series, it's impossible for me to not appreciate how amazingly designed this game is. RE4 is incredibly enjoyable, masterfully paced, and excels in pretty much everything it tries to accomplish.
4. Half-Life 2: My favorite FPS campaign, by far.
5. F-Zero GX: Everything about F-Zero GX was absolutely incredible, the course design, the fluid controls, the intense challenge, the insane sense of speed, the technical aspects, the multiplayer. Additional challenges like the story mode, and features like the ability to build your own vehicle, were just the icing on the cake. F-Zero GX offered hardcore, adrenaline-filled, fun at its purest form. It's the pinnacle of arcade racing and it deserves an HD remaster with an online mode.
6. Skies of Arcadia: This, along with Xenoblade, is my favorite JRPG in the post SNES/PS1-era. Skies of Arcadia features a cast of likeable characters, an awesome setting, a great soundtrack and a series of memorable events during the main quest. The overworld is filled with quests, lots of interesting things to discover and many different locations to explore. I know that the battle-system is simplistic and the high number of random encounters can become quite tedious but, frankly, no other game has ever managed to evoke such a grand sense of adventure, exploration and discovery. The sense of adventure in Skies of Arcadia is simply unparalleled, even open-world WRPGs, like Elder Scrolls and Fallout, haven't matched it for me.
7. The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind: It has lots of problems, including a combat-system that is downright awful, but the role-playing part is great, the scale of the world was unparalleled at the time and, design-wise, it just does a great job at communicating a strong sense of freedom and adventure to the player. At the end of the day, the good parts more than make up for its shortcomings.
8. Shadow of the Colossus: An allegorical journey in a world that evokes a sense of wonder and mystery, as well as a strong feeling of somberness. Stunning art-direction, amazing soundtrack, memorable locations, awe-inspiring boss fights and excellent environmental story-telling. An unforgettable experience.
9. Metal Gear Solid 3: Intriguing story, memorable characters, excellent boss fights and a vast improvement over MGS2 in terms of controls, level design and mechanics. MGS3 is, by far, the best game in the series and one of the best games ever made.
10. OutRun2: This was a very special game for me, a completely unexpected sequel to the game that made me fall in love with arcade racers as a kid. The course design, the colorful and vibrant art-style, the exotic locations, the soundtrack, the drifting mechanics, everything in OutRun2 was just perfect.
Honorable Mentions:
x. Deus Ex
x. Jet Set Radio
x. Panzer Dragoon Orta
x. Soul Calibur
x. Metropolis Street Racer
x. Project Gotham Racing
x. Project Gotham Racing 2
x. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
x. Ninja Gaiden Black
x. Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath
x. Silent Hill 2
x. Ikaruga
x. Gradius V
x. Burnout 3
x. Viewtiful Joe
x. Jak & Daxter
x. ICO
x. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
2. Metroid Prime: Sophisticated level design, stunning art-direction and graphics, incredible soundtrack, gripping atmosphere, unparalleled level of immersion, excellent environmental storytelling and an engaging lore to explore during your journey. Metroid Prime did for Metroid what Ocarina of Time did for Zelda. It didn't just succeed in transitioning the series to 3D, it made the transition in a way that was grand, by offering one of the best games ever made. Metroid Prime is a masterpiece and the ultimate proof that you don't need to "sacrifice gameplay" in order to explore videogame aspects that go beyond level design and mechanics. I really wish Nintendo made more games like this.
3. Resident Evil 4: Even though I'm not very fond of the action-centric approach that RE4 introduced to the series, it's impossible for me to not appreciate how amazingly designed this game is. RE4 is incredibly enjoyable, masterfully paced, and excels in pretty much everything it tries to accomplish.
4. Half-Life 2: My favorite FPS campaign, by far.
5. F-Zero GX: Everything about F-Zero GX was absolutely incredible, the course design, the fluid controls, the intense challenge, the insane sense of speed, the technical aspects, the multiplayer. Additional challenges like the story mode, and features like the ability to build your own vehicle, were just the icing on the cake. F-Zero GX offered hardcore, adrenaline-filled, fun at its purest form. It's the pinnacle of arcade racing and it deserves an HD remaster with an online mode.
6. Skies of Arcadia: This, along with Xenoblade, is my favorite JRPG in the post SNES/PS1-era. Skies of Arcadia features a cast of likeable characters, an awesome setting, a great soundtrack and a series of memorable events during the main quest. The overworld is filled with quests, lots of interesting things to discover and many different locations to explore. I know that the battle-system is simplistic and the high number of random encounters can become quite tedious but, frankly, no other game has ever managed to evoke such a grand sense of adventure, exploration and discovery. The sense of adventure in Skies of Arcadia is simply unparalleled, even open-world WRPGs, like Elder Scrolls and Fallout, haven't matched it for me.
7. The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind: It has lots of problems, including a combat-system that is downright awful, but the role-playing part is great, the scale of the world was unparalleled at the time and, design-wise, it just does a great job at communicating a strong sense of freedom and adventure to the player. At the end of the day, the good parts more than make up for its shortcomings.
8. Shadow of the Colossus: An allegorical journey in a world that evokes a sense of wonder and mystery, as well as a strong feeling of somberness. Stunning art-direction, amazing soundtrack, memorable locations, awe-inspiring boss fights and excellent environmental story-telling. An unforgettable experience.
9. Metal Gear Solid 3: Intriguing story, memorable characters, excellent boss fights and a vast improvement over MGS2 in terms of controls, level design and mechanics. MGS3 is, by far, the best game in the series and one of the best games ever made.
10. OutRun2: This was a very special game for me, a completely unexpected sequel to the game that made me fall in love with arcade racers as a kid. The course design, the colorful and vibrant art-style, the exotic locations, the soundtrack, the drifting mechanics, everything in OutRun2 was just perfect.
Honorable Mentions:
x. Deus Ex
x. Jet Set Radio
x. Panzer Dragoon Orta
x. Soul Calibur
x. Metropolis Street Racer
x. Project Gotham Racing
x. Project Gotham Racing 2
x. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
x. Ninja Gaiden Black
x. Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath
x. Silent Hill 2
x. Ikaruga
x. Gradius V
x. Burnout 3
x. Viewtiful Joe
x. Jak & Daxter
x. ICO
x. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
the new rule for this one is that only i have negative points and it's just enough to wipe jak ii off the list.
Dion Blaster
Member
That one slipped my mind actually, sounds fair to me!
InfiniteCombo
Banned
TL;DR alert.
1. Resident Evil 4 ; (PS2). Simply put, the greatest game ever made. Simultaneously managed to revive an aging series and redefine the way we play -- and what we expect from-- third person shooters to this day. Its importance in gaming history simply cannot be neglected. Holds up extremely well today. Why?
4. Grand Theft Auto III ; (PS2). Mind = blown. My friend was a big GTA fan back in the day, and I was aware of the top-down titles of the PS1. But when this came out, the regular third person view, coupled with how much we could just DO around in the city, was definitely shocking. We weren't ready from that much "freedom" in a game and spent most of our time harassing NPCs and being chased by cops. I have to say, I didn't care much for Claude, but whatever shortcomings the main story had were made up by everything else you could do in Liberty City. Definitely an example of a game where the sum is much greater than the individual parts.
Since I was largely a fighting game guy through most of that gen, the rest of the entries heavily lean towards fighting games.
5. Guilty Gear XX ; (PS2 -- Japanese import. US name: Guilty Gear X2). Hands down my most played game of that generation. The game had a unique combination of skill requirement, offensive and defensive options, and an absurd amount of technical precision/timing in its controls that appealed to me very much. Hands down the fighting game I've ever been the most technically proficient at.
+ A varied cast of characters, in which no two characters felt/played the same (no "Shoto" roster spamming like Capcom games)
+ Good number of offensive options - Combos and pressure galore!
+ Good number of defensive options, including -- (1) most (all?) characters had moves with a couple of frames of high/low invinciblity; (2) Obviously, Dust; etc.
+ Smart use of the tension gauge
+ The greatest hard rock/heavy metal soundtrack of not just fighting games, but any game period
+ A fairly involved "Story" mode that heavily deepened the Guilty Gear lore
+ Impressive colorful, "clean", pretty visuals
- As with any fighting game, there were some roster balance issues. Poor Zappa :-(
- If anime aesthetics turn you off, run away from this game, fast. It's got an unapologetic, in-your-face anime art style. I'm not a huge fan of that art style myself, but those graphics are oh-so-purdy that I don't mind.
6. Capcom vs SNK 2 ; (Arcade, DC, PS2 -- I played all three versions extensively) Still remains my favorite "cross-over" fighting game.
+ An amazingly large roster from both companies.
+ Several fighting modes ("grooves") that simultaneously payed homage to their original games, gave the player a good variety, and added fun. K-Groove for life, yo.
+ Ratio system made fighter order fun and strategic
- Soundtrack was ass
- Some game mechanics were utterly broken (roll-cancel can go die in a fire)
- Capcom either mistakenly -- or purposely -- enhanced their grooves while downgrading SNK's. The C or A grooves (more or less equivalents to the Z-ism and V-ism in Zero 3) were broken. Rolling? Rolling was an SNK concept, yo. Stop aping their shit, Capcom.
7. Street Fighter II: Anniversary Edition (PS2 -- Japanese import) Still my favorite version of Street Fighter II to date, over the infinite iterations of Super Turbo. Why? The free-for-all concept was really awesome. Guile "I can jab you dizzy for life" from World Warrior vs. Zangief "I press 3K, can't touch my legs" from Hyper Fighting? Oh man, awesome match!
+ Choose any character from any of the 5 Street Fighter II games
+ The soundtracks you know and love (including CPS1 versions of the New Warriors crew)
+ Seemingly "simple" fighting mechanics that have a lot more depth than they give off, and remain timeless. "Less is more" sort of thing.
- Single player only pits you against Super Turbo AI opponents.
- You quickly find out how unbalanced those games were. Hyper Fighting Ryu, Super Turbo "Original" Sagat, Super Turbo Dhalsim (actually, any version of Dhalsim), and Dash Dictator eat everybody else for lunch.
8. Soul Calibur II ; (PS2, GNC -- I played both, and trust me, if I could deduct points for the GCN version, I would) Not as hard-hitting (to me) as its predecessor on the Dreamcast, but still a very solid fighting game.
+ Amazing visuals
+ A varied set of characters; the overall roster is slightly less clone-prone than that of SC1
+ Probably the most engrossing game mechanics of any Soul game
+ Great soundtrack
- "Nerfed" is not a severe enough term for what happened to the designs of Hwang and Rock. "Assassin" and "Berserker," seriously??
- The GameCube versions exists. With that controller pad and button layout, that console did not deserve any non-Smash fighting games ported to it, ever.
9. Garou: Mark of the Wolves ; (DC, PS2 -- Japanese import). If Fatal Fury was Street Fighter II, and Real Bout was Alpha, then this was definitely SNK's "Street Fighter III." And, what a damn fine game it is! The Just Defense and move cancelling add a great strategic dimension to the game, and the roster of characters is lively and fun.
10. Halo: Combat Evolved ; (Xbox) There was a time where I seriously could not avoid this game. Everywhere I looked, evereyone was playing this game. So in college, I gave it a try, and I could see its appeal. I watched my college roommates play lots of multiplayer, and watched plenty (oh yes plenty) of my brother playing the single player campaign, and at the time, this game did blow me away, in a way that GoldenEye had not been able to do in the previous generation.
Honorable Mentions
x. The King of Fighters 2002 (PS2, JP import)
x. Tekken 5 (PS2)
x. Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution (Ps2)
x. Tekken Tag Tournament (PS2)
1. Resident Evil 4 ; (PS2). Simply put, the greatest game ever made. Simultaneously managed to revive an aging series and redefine the way we play -- and what we expect from-- third person shooters to this day. Its importance in gaming history simply cannot be neglected. Holds up extremely well today. Why?
- Top-notch satisfying third person shooter mechanics
- Awesome pacing
- Great atmosphere
- Memorable villains that pose a rewarding, skill-based challenge.
- Great soundtrack.
- Assortment of weapons for all play styles, that are enhanced by one of the best weapon upgrading systems around
- Between increased difficulty modes, side-story modes, and the thrilling Mercenaries mode, the game has essentially infinite replay value.
- Immensely improved graphics over its arcade counterpart
- A varied set of fighters with their own personalities and back stories
- Namco has, to this day, not produced a better soundtrack for any of the subsequent Soul games
- High replayability due to (1) obviously being a fighting game, (2) fun modes like Missions Mode
- And, most importantly, deep and rewarding fighting mechanics, such as High/Mid/Low striking, blocking/parrying, 8-Way-Run, positioning, Ring-Outs, etc.
4. Grand Theft Auto III ; (PS2). Mind = blown. My friend was a big GTA fan back in the day, and I was aware of the top-down titles of the PS1. But when this came out, the regular third person view, coupled with how much we could just DO around in the city, was definitely shocking. We weren't ready from that much "freedom" in a game and spent most of our time harassing NPCs and being chased by cops. I have to say, I didn't care much for Claude, but whatever shortcomings the main story had were made up by everything else you could do in Liberty City. Definitely an example of a game where the sum is much greater than the individual parts.
Since I was largely a fighting game guy through most of that gen, the rest of the entries heavily lean towards fighting games.
5. Guilty Gear XX ; (PS2 -- Japanese import. US name: Guilty Gear X2). Hands down my most played game of that generation. The game had a unique combination of skill requirement, offensive and defensive options, and an absurd amount of technical precision/timing in its controls that appealed to me very much. Hands down the fighting game I've ever been the most technically proficient at.
+ A varied cast of characters, in which no two characters felt/played the same (no "Shoto" roster spamming like Capcom games)
+ Good number of offensive options - Combos and pressure galore!
+ Good number of defensive options, including -- (1) most (all?) characters had moves with a couple of frames of high/low invinciblity; (2) Obviously, Dust; etc.
+ Smart use of the tension gauge
+ The greatest hard rock/heavy metal soundtrack of not just fighting games, but any game period
+ A fairly involved "Story" mode that heavily deepened the Guilty Gear lore
+ Impressive colorful, "clean", pretty visuals
- As with any fighting game, there were some roster balance issues. Poor Zappa :-(
- If anime aesthetics turn you off, run away from this game, fast. It's got an unapologetic, in-your-face anime art style. I'm not a huge fan of that art style myself, but those graphics are oh-so-purdy that I don't mind.
6. Capcom vs SNK 2 ; (Arcade, DC, PS2 -- I played all three versions extensively) Still remains my favorite "cross-over" fighting game.
+ An amazingly large roster from both companies.
+ Several fighting modes ("grooves") that simultaneously payed homage to their original games, gave the player a good variety, and added fun. K-Groove for life, yo.
+ Ratio system made fighter order fun and strategic
- Soundtrack was ass
- Some game mechanics were utterly broken (roll-cancel can go die in a fire)
- Capcom either mistakenly -- or purposely -- enhanced their grooves while downgrading SNK's. The C or A grooves (more or less equivalents to the Z-ism and V-ism in Zero 3) were broken. Rolling? Rolling was an SNK concept, yo. Stop aping their shit, Capcom.
7. Street Fighter II: Anniversary Edition (PS2 -- Japanese import) Still my favorite version of Street Fighter II to date, over the infinite iterations of Super Turbo. Why? The free-for-all concept was really awesome. Guile "I can jab you dizzy for life" from World Warrior vs. Zangief "I press 3K, can't touch my legs" from Hyper Fighting? Oh man, awesome match!
+ Choose any character from any of the 5 Street Fighter II games
+ The soundtracks you know and love (including CPS1 versions of the New Warriors crew)
+ Seemingly "simple" fighting mechanics that have a lot more depth than they give off, and remain timeless. "Less is more" sort of thing.
- Single player only pits you against Super Turbo AI opponents.
- You quickly find out how unbalanced those games were. Hyper Fighting Ryu, Super Turbo "Original" Sagat, Super Turbo Dhalsim (actually, any version of Dhalsim), and Dash Dictator eat everybody else for lunch.
8. Soul Calibur II ; (PS2, GNC -- I played both, and trust me, if I could deduct points for the GCN version, I would) Not as hard-hitting (to me) as its predecessor on the Dreamcast, but still a very solid fighting game.
+ Amazing visuals
+ A varied set of characters; the overall roster is slightly less clone-prone than that of SC1
+ Probably the most engrossing game mechanics of any Soul game
+ Great soundtrack
- "Nerfed" is not a severe enough term for what happened to the designs of Hwang and Rock. "Assassin" and "Berserker," seriously??
- The GameCube versions exists. With that controller pad and button layout, that console did not deserve any non-Smash fighting games ported to it, ever.
9. Garou: Mark of the Wolves ; (DC, PS2 -- Japanese import). If Fatal Fury was Street Fighter II, and Real Bout was Alpha, then this was definitely SNK's "Street Fighter III." And, what a damn fine game it is! The Just Defense and move cancelling add a great strategic dimension to the game, and the roster of characters is lively and fun.
10. Halo: Combat Evolved ; (Xbox) There was a time where I seriously could not avoid this game. Everywhere I looked, evereyone was playing this game. So in college, I gave it a try, and I could see its appeal. I watched my college roommates play lots of multiplayer, and watched plenty (oh yes plenty) of my brother playing the single player campaign, and at the time, this game did blow me away, in a way that GoldenEye had not been able to do in the previous generation.
Honorable Mentions
x. The King of Fighters 2002 (PS2, JP import)
x. Tekken 5 (PS2)
x. Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution (Ps2)
x. Tekken Tag Tournament (PS2)
TaroYamada
Member
thanks. in the future if you update it further, pm me both your original and changed post so i can adjust the points.
i haven't added anything up since post 701 so you're good.
Incendiary
Banned
Alright...after much debate, I've officially narrowed my games of the generation down to the top 10. It was hard. I had to cut some games I absolutely loved....but this is it. Okay, here we go.
1. Persona 4; I was pretty sure this was going to be my number 1 game of the generation. The fact is, I put more time into this game than any other game on the PS2. The game has a well-rounded cast of characters, all your party members interact in fun and unique ways...the social links to me are just as fun, if not more fun than the battles and dungeon crawling. Plus the music, oh god the music. This is definitely my favorite JRPG outside of the the "golden" generation of JRPGs on SNES (Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VI, etc.) and the production, gameplay and overall story are executed miles above everything else. Can't say enough about how amazing this game is.
2. Metal Gear Solid 3; While MGS2 was the game that I bought a PS2 for, MGS3 was the game that perfected everything. It capitalized on everything that makes the franchise great, from strategical boss battles to weird, campy humor, to dark twists and turns that keep you guessing about the story. And best of all, it didn't make things super convoluted. The action sequences were amazing (the motorcycle chase sequence is one of my all-time favorites in gaming) and walking through The Sorrow's river still sends chills up my spine. Kojima out-did himself with this game.
3. Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando; While some people think that Up Your Arsenal is the best PS2 Ratchet game, Going Commando has always had a special place in my heart because it cemented my love for the Ratchet franchise. It was everything from the first game, but dialed up to 11. The humor was fantastic, the worlds were fun to explore, and the guns...well, the guns blew shit up. Also R&C:GC has one big thing over UYA: Grind Boots. The grinding sequences are pretty much my favorite thing about the R&C games and their absence in the third game is a chief reason why GC is just so, so much better.
4. Midnight Club II; This game is probably my favorite racing game of all time. It's the only racing game I've ever 100%ed. This shit was my jam, I would love to just turn this on and cruise around the city, doing races just for the hell of it. The soundtrack was probably the best racing soundtrack I've ever heard. Rockstar's sequels have been alright, but this to me was the peak of their foray into the racing genre. Everything about it just felt right.
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5. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas; While a lot of people were attached to Vice City, the 90s soundtrack and wide open spaces of San Andreas made this my favorite GTA on the PS2. Driving through the countryside to Tom Petty's Running Down a Dream until I crashed into the side of a tanker truck? That was a good way to spend a weekend. My friends and I goofed off and tore up shit for hours upon hours upon days in this game. For this generation, it was the ultimate sandbox of things to do.
6. Psychonauts; One of the most underappreciated platformers of the generation. Or at least undersold. Psychonauts was perfect Tim Schafer humor. The platforming was a little frustrating at times, but overall the game was just flat-out, balls-to-the-wall hilarious. So many little easter eggs and weird extras that made you realize how much love was put into this game. And of course, the milkman conspiracy still sits up there as one of the greatest and funniest levels I've ever played in any game.
7. The Suffering; Everybody has a game they played during a generation that stuck with them as awesome, but it was never praised or lauded or accepted as an awesome critically appreciated game. The Suffering is that game for me. Pure action horror that managed to freak me out on several occasions (the opening was pretty terrifying the first time I played it), I loved this fairly straightforward game about an inmate trying to escape a really, really fucked up prison. A very solid game that I enjoyed immensely, and what I consider to be one of the overlooked gems of this generation.
8. F-Zero GX; Another amazing racing game of this generation, F-Zero GX was pure adrenaline converted into a game. The races were fast, the music was awesome, the tracks were crazy, the racers were weird...and some of the most infuriatingly challenging races in story mode. I spent an hour doing a time trial in this game, just to relax. Great, amazing, wonderful experience I can always go back to.
9. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door; Rawk Hawk's theme. Pretty much ensures this game is in my top 10, right? Oh, don't forget about the great story and side characters, and how well developed the paper world is in this game. Plus your typical Mario RPG humor. A must-play.
10. Kingdom Hearts II; I liked the original game well enough, but KH2 just blew the first game out of the water to the point that it's impossible to go back and play it for me. The inclusion of Drive forms, the improved combat and more extensive worlds and abilities, the better gummi ship stages....everything was just A+ about this game. Plus I cared way more about Organization XIII than I did any of the Disney worlds. One of the few games that I willingly rebought an updated version of (and Final Mix+ is just as amazing as the original game, if not more so).
Honorable Mentions
x. Super Smash Bros Melee; This is a game that, if we'd done the voting immediately after the generation ended, it would have probably been in my top 5. As is, though, I think that Smash Bros 4 has topped Melee as my favorite Smash game to the point where I went back and played Melee and just wasn't feeling it anymore. Still an amazing game that I spent many hours playing in college. But harder to rank in my top 10 when what I consider a superior version has come out later.
x. Shadow of the Colossus; Another game that would have probably been on the list if the voting was done several years ago. As is, this one was actually hurt by the HD remaster. I tried playing it again and just didn't have the same magic as the first time I went through, attacking all the colossi. Still a great game, but trying to replay it made it lose some of its glamour for me.
x. Devil May Cry 3; This game got me into the action genre. Hadn't played either of the first two, but I loved this game to death even though I was absolutely horrible at it. This paved the way for me to fall in love with Bayonetta later, though, and deserves an HM.
x. Max Payne; An amazing noir story that twists and turns and supplies great action and bizarre humor at times. Plus, it's the best Matrix game in existence. It was honestly between this and KH2 for #10 on my list, but KH2 edged it out just barely.
x. Final Fantasy X; FFX has probably my favorite JRPG battle system ever. If I'd enjoyed the story more and the sphere grid had been slightly more awesome, it probably could have cracked the top 10. As-is, though, still a very, very solid game in the FF franchise.
---
And there you have it! That's my list, I think I'm happy with it. AniHawk - I posted a list earlier in the thread here but it was just me collecting my thoughts and figuring out which games I was going to consider for the final top 10. I believe you mentioned it was invalid - I can go back and remove it from my post if you want to eliminate confusion.
1. Persona 4; I was pretty sure this was going to be my number 1 game of the generation. The fact is, I put more time into this game than any other game on the PS2. The game has a well-rounded cast of characters, all your party members interact in fun and unique ways...the social links to me are just as fun, if not more fun than the battles and dungeon crawling. Plus the music, oh god the music. This is definitely my favorite JRPG outside of the the "golden" generation of JRPGs on SNES (Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VI, etc.) and the production, gameplay and overall story are executed miles above everything else. Can't say enough about how amazing this game is.
2. Metal Gear Solid 3; While MGS2 was the game that I bought a PS2 for, MGS3 was the game that perfected everything. It capitalized on everything that makes the franchise great, from strategical boss battles to weird, campy humor, to dark twists and turns that keep you guessing about the story. And best of all, it didn't make things super convoluted. The action sequences were amazing (the motorcycle chase sequence is one of my all-time favorites in gaming) and walking through The Sorrow's river still sends chills up my spine. Kojima out-did himself with this game.
3. Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando; While some people think that Up Your Arsenal is the best PS2 Ratchet game, Going Commando has always had a special place in my heart because it cemented my love for the Ratchet franchise. It was everything from the first game, but dialed up to 11. The humor was fantastic, the worlds were fun to explore, and the guns...well, the guns blew shit up. Also R&C:GC has one big thing over UYA: Grind Boots. The grinding sequences are pretty much my favorite thing about the R&C games and their absence in the third game is a chief reason why GC is just so, so much better.
4. Midnight Club II; This game is probably my favorite racing game of all time. It's the only racing game I've ever 100%ed. This shit was my jam, I would love to just turn this on and cruise around the city, doing races just for the hell of it. The soundtrack was probably the best racing soundtrack I've ever heard. Rockstar's sequels have been alright, but this to me was the peak of their foray into the racing genre. Everything about it just felt right.
5. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas; While a lot of people were attached to Vice City, the 90s soundtrack and wide open spaces of San Andreas made this my favorite GTA on the PS2. Driving through the countryside to Tom Petty's Running Down a Dream until I crashed into the side of a tanker truck? That was a good way to spend a weekend. My friends and I goofed off and tore up shit for hours upon hours upon days in this game. For this generation, it was the ultimate sandbox of things to do.
6. Psychonauts; One of the most underappreciated platformers of the generation. Or at least undersold. Psychonauts was perfect Tim Schafer humor. The platforming was a little frustrating at times, but overall the game was just flat-out, balls-to-the-wall hilarious. So many little easter eggs and weird extras that made you realize how much love was put into this game. And of course, the milkman conspiracy still sits up there as one of the greatest and funniest levels I've ever played in any game.
7. The Suffering; Everybody has a game they played during a generation that stuck with them as awesome, but it was never praised or lauded or accepted as an awesome critically appreciated game. The Suffering is that game for me. Pure action horror that managed to freak me out on several occasions (the opening was pretty terrifying the first time I played it), I loved this fairly straightforward game about an inmate trying to escape a really, really fucked up prison. A very solid game that I enjoyed immensely, and what I consider to be one of the overlooked gems of this generation.
8. F-Zero GX; Another amazing racing game of this generation, F-Zero GX was pure adrenaline converted into a game. The races were fast, the music was awesome, the tracks were crazy, the racers were weird...and some of the most infuriatingly challenging races in story mode. I spent an hour doing a time trial in this game, just to relax. Great, amazing, wonderful experience I can always go back to.
9. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door; Rawk Hawk's theme. Pretty much ensures this game is in my top 10, right? Oh, don't forget about the great story and side characters, and how well developed the paper world is in this game. Plus your typical Mario RPG humor. A must-play.
10. Kingdom Hearts II; I liked the original game well enough, but KH2 just blew the first game out of the water to the point that it's impossible to go back and play it for me. The inclusion of Drive forms, the improved combat and more extensive worlds and abilities, the better gummi ship stages....everything was just A+ about this game. Plus I cared way more about Organization XIII than I did any of the Disney worlds. One of the few games that I willingly rebought an updated version of (and Final Mix+ is just as amazing as the original game, if not more so).
Honorable Mentions
x. Super Smash Bros Melee; This is a game that, if we'd done the voting immediately after the generation ended, it would have probably been in my top 5. As is, though, I think that Smash Bros 4 has topped Melee as my favorite Smash game to the point where I went back and played Melee and just wasn't feeling it anymore. Still an amazing game that I spent many hours playing in college. But harder to rank in my top 10 when what I consider a superior version has come out later.
x. Shadow of the Colossus; Another game that would have probably been on the list if the voting was done several years ago. As is, this one was actually hurt by the HD remaster. I tried playing it again and just didn't have the same magic as the first time I went through, attacking all the colossi. Still a great game, but trying to replay it made it lose some of its glamour for me.
x. Devil May Cry 3; This game got me into the action genre. Hadn't played either of the first two, but I loved this game to death even though I was absolutely horrible at it. This paved the way for me to fall in love with Bayonetta later, though, and deserves an HM.
x. Max Payne; An amazing noir story that twists and turns and supplies great action and bizarre humor at times. Plus, it's the best Matrix game in existence. It was honestly between this and KH2 for #10 on my list, but KH2 edged it out just barely.
x. Final Fantasy X; FFX has probably my favorite JRPG battle system ever. If I'd enjoyed the story more and the sphere grid had been slightly more awesome, it probably could have cracked the top 10. As-is, though, still a very, very solid game in the FF franchise.
---
And there you have it! That's my list, I think I'm happy with it. AniHawk - I posted a list earlier in the thread here but it was just me collecting my thoughts and figuring out which games I was going to consider for the final top 10. I believe you mentioned it was invalid - I can go back and remove it from my post if you want to eliminate confusion.
thanks for the heads up!
Jawbreaker
Member
1. Skies of Arcadia ; I can't think of another game I've re-played more than this one, which is saying a lot considering it's a 50+ hour JRPG. I'm pretty sure I've played from beginning to end at least 13 times now. The sense of discovery, music, characters, ship battles and secrets all drew me in like no other game. Everything about this game is just so memorable and a joy to revisit, I couldn't keep myself from awarding it my top spot.
2. Metroid Prime ; As someone who grew up on Super Metroid, you could say I was extremely skeptical about it going first-person. However, I was absolutely floored when I saw the amount of praise it was getting once the reviews dropped, and even more taken aback of course, upon playing it myself. The atmosphere in this game was unmatched. They absolutely nailed the Metroid feeling and gameplay. It was honestly a perfect adaptation of the Metroid series into 3D and they did an incredible job with the music, which was no small feat.
3. Shadow of the Colossus ; This game. The entire concept behind it blew my mind as I had never played anything like it before (and to this day, still haven't). There's this utterly huge world seemingly devoid of life aside from yourself, tiny lizards and a voice in the sky. You don't have much of a purpose aside from reviving your lover, but that's all the motivation you need as you eventually go on to face towering creatures almost too fearsome to overcome. The sense of scale is ridiculous. Each battle is a puzzle onto itself and each colossi unique. All of this is happening while your speakers blare a soundtrack for the video game ages.
4. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas ; It needs to be said that this game introduced me to some fantastic music I otherwise wouldn't have known or cared to research. It truly felt like a marriage of joy and chaos in a large, varied world full of things to do and RPG-lite mechanics. It was just pure, unadulterated fun where one minute you could be flying a jet, jumping out of said jet into a parachute descent, stealing a fucking bike and losing some calories as you hit the countryside doing wheelies before getting reamed by a truck and landing fifty feet on the side of a road in bumfuck, nowhere.
5. Resident Evil 4
6. Half-Life 2
7. Katamari Damacy
8. Persona 3
9. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
10. Phantasy Star Online
Honorable mentions:
x. Metal Gear Solid 3
x. Super Smash Bros. Melee
x. F-Zero GX
x. Ico
I will write descriptions for the rest if I find some time later.
2. Metroid Prime ; As someone who grew up on Super Metroid, you could say I was extremely skeptical about it going first-person. However, I was absolutely floored when I saw the amount of praise it was getting once the reviews dropped, and even more taken aback of course, upon playing it myself. The atmosphere in this game was unmatched. They absolutely nailed the Metroid feeling and gameplay. It was honestly a perfect adaptation of the Metroid series into 3D and they did an incredible job with the music, which was no small feat.
3. Shadow of the Colossus ; This game. The entire concept behind it blew my mind as I had never played anything like it before (and to this day, still haven't). There's this utterly huge world seemingly devoid of life aside from yourself, tiny lizards and a voice in the sky. You don't have much of a purpose aside from reviving your lover, but that's all the motivation you need as you eventually go on to face towering creatures almost too fearsome to overcome. The sense of scale is ridiculous. Each battle is a puzzle onto itself and each colossi unique. All of this is happening while your speakers blare a soundtrack for the video game ages.
4. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas ; It needs to be said that this game introduced me to some fantastic music I otherwise wouldn't have known or cared to research. It truly felt like a marriage of joy and chaos in a large, varied world full of things to do and RPG-lite mechanics. It was just pure, unadulterated fun where one minute you could be flying a jet, jumping out of said jet into a parachute descent, stealing a fucking bike and losing some calories as you hit the countryside doing wheelies before getting reamed by a truck and landing fifty feet on the side of a road in bumfuck, nowhere.
5. Resident Evil 4
6. Half-Life 2
7. Katamari Damacy
8. Persona 3
9. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
10. Phantasy Star Online
Honorable mentions:
x. Metal Gear Solid 3
x. Super Smash Bros. Melee
x. F-Zero GX
x. Ico
I will write descriptions for the rest if I find some time later.
Dr. Feel Good
Banned
I meant to ask this earlier but how is Ohantasy Star Online being tracked? Dreamcast they released Ep 1 and 2 seperate but on GameCube and Xbox they were one game.
Beelzebufo
Banned
Game A: Metroid Prime- Easily the best Metroid game, and that's saying something. Cohesive world, compelling lore, interesting enemies, and all without the weird animefication that started in Prime 2. Plus it's really fun to play to this day, the graphics still sort of hold up!
Game B: Resident Evil 4- This is one of those landmark games that spawned a lot of copycats, and I'm sure everyone knows at least something about this game. It gets ported everywhere and is still fun to play, and turned the RE series around (for better or worse)
Game C: Time Splitters 2- I love this game! Lots of humor for a shooting game, and was one of the last great arcade shooters before everything became like call of duty. Unlockable characters that you actually want to unlock, great gameplay modes, and map maker!
Game D: Super Smash Bros. Melee- This is one of the few games from that generation that people are still religiously playing today, and it's really not hard to see why.
Game B: Resident Evil 4- This is one of those landmark games that spawned a lot of copycats, and I'm sure everyone knows at least something about this game. It gets ported everywhere and is still fun to play, and turned the RE series around (for better or worse)
Game C: Time Splitters 2- I love this game! Lots of humor for a shooting game, and was one of the last great arcade shooters before everything became like call of duty. Unlockable characters that you actually want to unlock, great gameplay modes, and map maker!
Game D: Super Smash Bros. Melee- This is one of the few games from that generation that people are still religiously playing today, and it's really not hard to see why.
1. Metal Gear Solid 3 ; Kojima's magnum opus, it's a tribute slash love letter to his influences as a film buff. Expands and improves the MGS gameplay in every way possible, and has some of the most charming and entertaining supporting cast assembled in a vidya game...only to retcon the shit out of them later on, but I digress.
2. Shadow of The Colossus ; Ten years later, still no game has matched let alone improved upon SotC's epic boss battles. Ten years later, still no sign of The Last Guardian ever being released, either. COINCIDENCE!?
3. Ridge Racer V ; THE best arcade racer ever made, with THE most satisfying drifting mechanics every devised. At the highest difficulty levels and most high-end racers, the experience is downright exhilarating. It has a small roster of cars and an even smaller roster of tracks, but it all works out to its favor. Each car controls distinctly different from one another, and they're pretty much embedded with a personality of sorts thanks to this. And being able to memorize each track rather quickly makes it easier to devise the most efficient drifting routes.
4. Metroid Prime ; A miraculous re-invention from a debut dev team. Single-handedly justifies the existence of the Gamecube.
5. Resident Evil 4 ; The best RE game. Stops attempting to be a poor excuse of horror and re-invented itself into a masterful action game. Mikami's high point inspired an entire generation of third-person shooters.
6. Prince of Persia: Sands of Time ; Wonderfully charming reboot of Jordan Mechner's classic title. Well written, well designed, has one of the most endearing romantic relationships put forth in a game.
7. Devil May Cry 3 ; The ultimate game in the Stylish Action genre as far as I'm concerned. Marries top-tier combat design with an exciting single-player campaign that doesn't a) repeat itself at the halfway point and b) have a garbage storyline I gives no fucks about. That's right, fuck DMC4.
8. Final Fantasy XII ; Lots of people will disagree, but I loved the shit out of being able to "program" my characters into doing exactly what I wanted them to do. The MMO-inspired gameplay was great, and an interconnected semi-open world was even greater. Such a shame that they took several hundred steps backwards with the sequel.
9. Metal Gear Solid 2 ; Kojima at his most insane, there's a certain creativity and boldness to the plot of this game. The gameplay also shines when you play for pure stealth and for dog tag collection.
10. Dragon Quest VIII ; DQ games are simply the best for when you yearn for a simpler time and retro goodness.
2. Shadow of The Colossus ; Ten years later, still no game has matched let alone improved upon SotC's epic boss battles. Ten years later, still no sign of The Last Guardian ever being released, either. COINCIDENCE!?
3. Ridge Racer V ; THE best arcade racer ever made, with THE most satisfying drifting mechanics every devised. At the highest difficulty levels and most high-end racers, the experience is downright exhilarating. It has a small roster of cars and an even smaller roster of tracks, but it all works out to its favor. Each car controls distinctly different from one another, and they're pretty much embedded with a personality of sorts thanks to this. And being able to memorize each track rather quickly makes it easier to devise the most efficient drifting routes.
4. Metroid Prime ; A miraculous re-invention from a debut dev team. Single-handedly justifies the existence of the Gamecube.
5. Resident Evil 4 ; The best RE game. Stops attempting to be a poor excuse of horror and re-invented itself into a masterful action game. Mikami's high point inspired an entire generation of third-person shooters.
6. Prince of Persia: Sands of Time ; Wonderfully charming reboot of Jordan Mechner's classic title. Well written, well designed, has one of the most endearing romantic relationships put forth in a game.
7. Devil May Cry 3 ; The ultimate game in the Stylish Action genre as far as I'm concerned. Marries top-tier combat design with an exciting single-player campaign that doesn't a) repeat itself at the halfway point and b) have a garbage storyline I gives no fucks about. That's right, fuck DMC4.
8. Final Fantasy XII ; Lots of people will disagree, but I loved the shit out of being able to "program" my characters into doing exactly what I wanted them to do. The MMO-inspired gameplay was great, and an interconnected semi-open world was even greater. Such a shame that they took several hundred steps backwards with the sequel.
9. Metal Gear Solid 2 ; Kojima at his most insane, there's a certain creativity and boldness to the plot of this game. The gameplay also shines when you play for pure stealth and for dog tag collection.
10. Dragon Quest VIII ; DQ games are simply the best for when you yearn for a simpler time and retro goodness.
Updating it later, Have to run.
1. Zone of the Enders 2nd Runner
As a Mecha fan, this scratched an itch. It was more of an action game than the typical mech sim, but it brought the feel of Gundam, Eva, Macross and others on to the console.
2. Devil May Cry 3 SE
Best action game ever created. Nothing particularly comes close to how well refined the combat system is.
3.
1. Zone of the Enders 2nd Runner
As a Mecha fan, this scratched an itch. It was more of an action game than the typical mech sim, but it brought the feel of Gundam, Eva, Macross and others on to the console.
2. Devil May Cry 3 SE
Best action game ever created. Nothing particularly comes close to how well refined the combat system is.
3.
AuthenticM
Member
1. The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind ; Possibly my favorite game of all-time and simply a masterpiece. Nobody makes the kind of games Bethesda makes.
2. Metal Gear Solid 3 ; A masterpiece of gameplay design and storytelling.
3. Halo ; Completely reinvented the first-person shooter for consoles and simply one of the greatest games ever made.
4. Final Fantasy X ; The first Final Fantasy with voice actors. One hell of a journey.
5. Resident Evil (2002) ; Flawlessly-designed with an unmatched atmosphere.
6. Resident Evil 4 ; Completely remade the third-person shooter genre.
7. Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 ; Westwood's Swan Song before being dissolved by EA.
8. Metal Gear Solid 2 ; An ambitious game that fooled everyone.
9. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City ; An improvement in every way to the previous game.
10. Freedom Fighters ; A game that came out of nowhere and managed to stand on its own as a fantastic third-person shooter.
2. Metal Gear Solid 3 ; A masterpiece of gameplay design and storytelling.
3. Halo ; Completely reinvented the first-person shooter for consoles and simply one of the greatest games ever made.
4. Final Fantasy X ; The first Final Fantasy with voice actors. One hell of a journey.
5. Resident Evil (2002) ; Flawlessly-designed with an unmatched atmosphere.
6. Resident Evil 4 ; Completely remade the third-person shooter genre.
7. Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 ; Westwood's Swan Song before being dissolved by EA.
8. Metal Gear Solid 2 ; An ambitious game that fooled everyone.
9. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City ; An improvement in every way to the previous game.
10. Freedom Fighters ; A game that came out of nowhere and managed to stand on its own as a fantastic third-person shooter.
1. Kingdom Hearts II ; I really liked the original Kingdom Hearts but I thought the gameplay and camera controls were very clunky. This game improved on them and beyond. It's just the perfect action-RPG (well, before the Souls series came along) and is a joy to play from start to finish. Now I wait for its true sequel!
2. Final Fantasy X ; The first (and only) game to have made me cry buckets of emotions. One of the best turn-based battle systems ever made. Lots of content and tons of superbosses to enjoy.
3. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker ; I was unfortunate to be relegated to a spectator when OoT came out, watching my brother traverse the world of one of the most revolutionary games of its time. When Wind Waker was released I smiled at all of the references made towards OoT. I was only 8 years old at the time so the game was simple enough for me to enjoy and complete (except that certain fetch quest, I'm sure everyone hates it lol).
4. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles ; My favourite cooperative offline multiplayer game of all time. It was just so cool going through the different dungeons with my siblings collecting the rare weapons, although I was always the designated healer They really need to make a console version similar to this again.
5. Sonic Adventure 2: Battle ; Seriously, what the hell is wrong with SEGA? All they have to do is make a smartphone version of Chao Garden with microtransactions and they'd be making millions (ok, maybe leave out the microtransactions). In all honesty, apart from the Sonic/Shadow levels, this game really blows. It's the Chao Gardens that make this a classic.
6. Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire ; I put a ton of hours into Ruby when it came out, even going as far as to skip my karate classes just to play it. I finally acquiared the diploma, and I still believe you can catch Jirachi by going to the space station and flying to the moon. Also Deoxys by fighting your mum who would have all 356(?) Pokemon...
7. Sonic Advance 3 ; I could've chosen Advance 2 as well but I thought this game had it all. Not only was it a genuine fast-paced experience, you could also co-op with a friend and complete the game together.
8. Super Smash Bros. Melee ; Great game. Lots of content. I remember when I first unlocked Mewtwo, I just couldn't believe it.
9. Kingdom Hearts ; I actually only bought this when Kingdom Heart II came out, and I'm glad I didn't just skip it. IMHO, it is the perfect children's game. The host of Disney and Square Enix characters is very nostalgic, and it's also an action-RPG, my favourite genre.
10. Super Mario Sunshine ; The fludd mechanics made the game a whole lot more fun. Isle Delfino is a great place to explore and the levels are just plain fun. I distinctily remember that theme park level being very fun, and also encountering Yoshi for the first time was pretty surprising.
Honourable Mentions:
- Star Fox Adventures ; Graphics were way ahead of its time. Dinosaur Planet was a very scary place to explore for a 7 year old.
- Pokemon Emerald ; Very similar to Ruby/Sapphire but still a great game on its own. The best part was that you could use GameShark codes on an Xploder device and they would work in this game! (Disclaimer: I no longer endorse cheating).
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ; uhh... I can explain...
All in all, this generation was during a time when I had absolutely no clue which games were good, which is why my list doesn't include actual good games, but these were the best games of the generation in my opinion and I'm glad I played them.
2. Final Fantasy X ; The first (and only) game to have made me cry buckets of emotions. One of the best turn-based battle systems ever made. Lots of content and tons of superbosses to enjoy.
3. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker ; I was unfortunate to be relegated to a spectator when OoT came out, watching my brother traverse the world of one of the most revolutionary games of its time. When Wind Waker was released I smiled at all of the references made towards OoT. I was only 8 years old at the time so the game was simple enough for me to enjoy and complete (except that certain fetch quest, I'm sure everyone hates it lol).
4. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles ; My favourite cooperative offline multiplayer game of all time. It was just so cool going through the different dungeons with my siblings collecting the rare weapons, although I was always the designated healer
They really need to make a console version similar to this again.5. Sonic Adventure 2: Battle ; Seriously, what the hell is wrong with SEGA? All they have to do is make a smartphone version of Chao Garden with microtransactions and they'd be making millions (ok, maybe leave out the microtransactions). In all honesty, apart from the Sonic/Shadow levels, this game really blows. It's the Chao Gardens that make this a classic.
6. Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire ; I put a ton of hours into Ruby when it came out, even going as far as to skip my karate classes just to play it. I finally acquiared the diploma, and I still believe you can catch Jirachi by going to the space station and flying to the moon. Also Deoxys by fighting your mum who would have all 356(?) Pokemon...
7. Sonic Advance 3 ; I could've chosen Advance 2 as well but I thought this game had it all. Not only was it a genuine fast-paced experience, you could also co-op with a friend and complete the game together.
8. Super Smash Bros. Melee ; Great game. Lots of content. I remember when I first unlocked Mewtwo, I just couldn't believe it.
9. Kingdom Hearts ; I actually only bought this when Kingdom Heart II came out, and I'm glad I didn't just skip it. IMHO, it is the perfect children's game. The host of Disney and Square Enix characters is very nostalgic, and it's also an action-RPG, my favourite genre.
10. Super Mario Sunshine ; The fludd mechanics made the game a whole lot more fun. Isle Delfino is a great place to explore and the levels are just plain fun. I distinctily remember that theme park level being very fun, and also encountering Yoshi for the first time was pretty surprising.
Honourable Mentions:
- Star Fox Adventures ; Graphics were way ahead of its time. Dinosaur Planet was a very scary place to explore for a 7 year old.
- Pokemon Emerald ; Very similar to Ruby/Sapphire but still a great game on its own. The best part was that you could use GameShark codes on an Xploder device and they would work in this game! (Disclaimer: I no longer endorse cheating).
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ; uhh... I can explain...
All in all, this generation was during a time when I had absolutely no clue which games were good, which is why my list doesn't include actual good games, but these were the best games of the generation in my opinion and I'm glad I played them.
still not sure on that myself. as of now i have them separate. i actually cannot remember if the gc/xb version was pay for the online, but i think the dc one was free. right now that's the reason i have separated the two kinds.
Confused Cheeseburger
Member
1. Jet Set Radio Future
It's hard to really say which Jet Set is better in my opinion, but you always remember your first and mine was JSRF as an 11 year old. To some degree I feel both games are one package. Semantics, what's important is the fact that JSR was part of a phantom era for SEGA. An era where they had more creative ideas for games than any other dev, while they were descending into an early grave. The Jet Set Radio series is the godfather of games like hotline miami and sunset overdrive. II's bursting with style so lavish that it actually becomes substance.Truly, Jet Set Radio was a quiet revolution for what games could be, pop art beyond pixel counting but so stylistically and audibly striking that the its synergy with gameplay creates a universe unlike anything else. And JSRF is highest point in the series.
2. Smash Bros Melee
3. Resident Evil 4
4. Halo 1
5. Viewtiful Joe
6. Super Mario Sunshine
7. Marvel vs Capcom 2
8. Mario Kart: Double Dash
9. Soul Calibur II
10.SSX 3
It's hard to really say which Jet Set is better in my opinion, but you always remember your first and mine was JSRF as an 11 year old. To some degree I feel both games are one package. Semantics, what's important is the fact that JSR was part of a phantom era for SEGA. An era where they had more creative ideas for games than any other dev, while they were descending into an early grave. The Jet Set Radio series is the godfather of games like hotline miami and sunset overdrive. II's bursting with style so lavish that it actually becomes substance.Truly, Jet Set Radio was a quiet revolution for what games could be, pop art beyond pixel counting but so stylistically and audibly striking that the its synergy with gameplay creates a universe unlike anything else. And JSRF is highest point in the series.
2. Smash Bros Melee
3. Resident Evil 4
4. Halo 1
5. Viewtiful Joe
6. Super Mario Sunshine
7. Marvel vs Capcom 2
8. Mario Kart: Double Dash
9. Soul Calibur II
10.SSX 3
A Black Falcon
Member
Phantasy Star Online 1.0 for Dreamcast had free online, but PSO 2.0 for DC required a monthly fee. Episode 2 is PC/Xbox/GC only though, that's not on DC; 2.0 for DC is just episode 1 with some stuff added (I forget what).
ah okay. yeah i think i'll just keep it separate. no one voted for pso v2 when talking about the dc version so far.
GoldCrusader
Member
1. Tales of Symphonia; the best jrpg I ever played and to this date still the best tales of game out there..nothing can beat Kratos Aurion in badassness
2. Fire emblem Path of Radiance; The best SRPG out there and probably the game that sealed in stone my love for this series...AND to this day the Black Knight is still the best antagonist ever!
3. Megaman X collection; The only megaman game i had played before were X6 and Battle Network...When i played through all the 6 games on this collection it was settled! Megaman had won my heart
4.Tales of the Abyss; the second Tales games I played and also my second favorite Jrpg in the Ps2/GCN era
5. Megaman Battle Network 6; Even if people said the BN series went down in quality I always believed the 6th was the best of them all! Giving me both over the top transformation and some of the best characters design at the same time it pierced its way too number 5 on my list!
6. Sonic Adventure DX: The first Sonic game I played and it's still one of the best game I played of sonic and his friends.
7.Sly 2: One of the best games on the playstation and the reason my brother and I got our Ps2
8.Mario Kart Double Dash: My first Mario Kart game and probably my favourite of the series...gosh how much time me and my friends spent on this game.
9.Megaman X Command Mission: One of the best Jrpg out there featuring one of the coolest characters ever must I say more?
10. Fire Emblem the sacred stones; this game introduced me too the series and I still believe that to this day it's one of the best Srpg the GBA had.
Honourable mentions: Sonic Heores; Tales of phantasia, Megaman Zero, Pokemon Fire Red, Sonic advance 2, Sonic adventure 2 battle, Sonic riders, MS saga, Gundam Seed Battle Assault and Soul Calibur II
I'm telling you having to choose torn my heart apart
2. Fire emblem Path of Radiance; The best SRPG out there and probably the game that sealed in stone my love for this series...AND to this day the Black Knight is still the best antagonist ever!
3. Megaman X collection; The only megaman game i had played before were X6 and Battle Network...When i played through all the 6 games on this collection it was settled! Megaman had won my heart
4.Tales of the Abyss; the second Tales games I played and also my second favorite Jrpg in the Ps2/GCN era
5. Megaman Battle Network 6; Even if people said the BN series went down in quality I always believed the 6th was the best of them all! Giving me both over the top transformation and some of the best characters design at the same time it pierced its way too number 5 on my list!
6. Sonic Adventure DX: The first Sonic game I played and it's still one of the best game I played of sonic and his friends.
7.Sly 2: One of the best games on the playstation and the reason my brother and I got our Ps2
8.Mario Kart Double Dash: My first Mario Kart game and probably my favourite of the series...gosh how much time me and my friends spent on this game.
9.Megaman X Command Mission: One of the best Jrpg out there featuring one of the coolest characters ever must I say more?
10. Fire Emblem the sacred stones; this game introduced me too the series and I still believe that to this day it's one of the best Srpg the GBA had.
Honourable mentions: Sonic Heores; Tales of phantasia, Megaman Zero, Pokemon Fire Red, Sonic advance 2, Sonic adventure 2 battle, Sonic riders, MS saga, Gundam Seed Battle Assault and Soul Calibur II
I'm telling you having to choose torn my heart apart
1. Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter ; This game gets a lot of flak from many Breath of Fire fans. It drastically changed itself from the previous entries of this JRPG series. It's difficult to even really talk about it too well in such short form. The highly strategic combat and the d-counter preventing the player from using dragon form too often were hugely dividing. This BoF game had the most powerful dragon of any games by far. If you were using it, you were probably in a bad situation. It probably got you out of it. But there was a great cost to using dragon form. The d-counter shot up so quickly from many of the abilities. If it hits 100%, it's game over. What is with these old Capcom games perfectly nailing suspense? It's slightly stressful at the beginning of the game knowing that your time to complete the game is limited. By the time you're nearing the end, your d-counter is likely near its limit. Yet so many tough fights are ahead... It's incredible the pacing and atmosphere this game has. I doubt many people were even able to beat the game on their first play through. I know I didn't.
2. Call of Duty ; The first time I couldn't put a game down. I played this game so much it literally made me ill. My team went undefeated for six months before members stepped down to focus on their work. This game made me great at FPS games.
3. Counter-Strike: Source ; A great game, but it didn't encapsulate me as the aforementioned FPS. I was on a professional team for a brief time (less than one year) before getting bored with gaming in general and quitting them altogether for a few years. The flashbangs in this game used to give me migraines if I played for more than a few hours straight.
4. Skies of Arcadia: Legends ; A great JRPG. It's one I still replay every couple years.
5. Final Fantasy X ; I consider the PS2 the last great era of JRPG games, and I consider FFX the last great FF game. It's the last to make my mouth drop. It's the last time I managed to finish a FF game.
6. World of Warcraft ; I was there on release. I still consider Vanilla to be the best time to have been playing the game. People can argue how great arenas or raids were in the BC era, but the world and community populating it has never been the same since flying mounts were integrated. I truly believe flying mounts were one of the worst things ever implemented into this game. I truly want to know how the idea of them was brought up and what went through people's minds as they approved the idea. It's one of the great gaming-mysteries in my opinion.
7. Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker ; The last 3D Zelda game I enjoyed. Hopefully the Wii U one impresses me if I end up owning the system.
8. Metroid Prime ; I'm not a fan of console shooters. This game is an exception. The level design and general gameplay is just too great to ignore.
9. Luigi's Mansion
10. Suikoden III
; For any era of gaming, I have to say that this is the one I found most enjoyable by far.
2. Call of Duty ; The first time I couldn't put a game down. I played this game so much it literally made me ill. My team went undefeated for six months before members stepped down to focus on their work. This game made me great at FPS games.
3. Counter-Strike: Source ; A great game, but it didn't encapsulate me as the aforementioned FPS. I was on a professional team for a brief time (less than one year) before getting bored with gaming in general and quitting them altogether for a few years. The flashbangs in this game used to give me migraines if I played for more than a few hours straight.
4. Skies of Arcadia: Legends ; A great JRPG. It's one I still replay every couple years.
5. Final Fantasy X ; I consider the PS2 the last great era of JRPG games, and I consider FFX the last great FF game. It's the last to make my mouth drop. It's the last time I managed to finish a FF game.
6. World of Warcraft ; I was there on release. I still consider Vanilla to be the best time to have been playing the game. People can argue how great arenas or raids were in the BC era, but the world and community populating it has never been the same since flying mounts were integrated. I truly believe flying mounts were one of the worst things ever implemented into this game. I truly want to know how the idea of them was brought up and what went through people's minds as they approved the idea. It's one of the great gaming-mysteries in my opinion.
7. Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker ; The last 3D Zelda game I enjoyed. Hopefully the Wii U one impresses me if I end up owning the system.
8. Metroid Prime ; I'm not a fan of console shooters. This game is an exception. The level design and general gameplay is just too great to ignore.
9. Luigi's Mansion
10. Suikoden III
; For any era of gaming, I have to say that this is the one I found most enjoyable by far.
More_Badass
Member
1) Resident Evil 4; playing this again recently only confirmed that this is perhaps the most masterfully paced action game I've ever played.
2) Shadow of the Colossus; atmospheric, emotional, and boasting some of the most memorable enemy encounters in any game I've experienced.
3) Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas; my first GTA and between the three cities, gang warfare, wild weapons and cheats, memorable story, Samuel L Jackson, and all the other little pieces and mechanics, it's arguably the most expansive in the series
4) Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory; the GOAT stealth game as far as I'm concerned, Hitman introduced me to the genre, but Chaos Theory made me a fan of stealth.
5) Burnout 3: Takedown; the best arcade racer ever made
6) God of War; Kratos' debut and it redefined action with its crazy gore and massive bosses.
7) Vampire: Masquerades - Bloodlines; an engrossing story, meaningful choices, an a fascinating world of vampire societies and factions to learn about
8) Half Life 2; the ominous foreboding atmosphere is up there with the best in the genre and the story and varied missions stand out to this day
9) FEAR; best AI and most satisfying shooting in any shooter
10) Facade; more of a personal choice because it solidified my love for indie games, and the "type your dialogue" design remains unique a decade later
2) Shadow of the Colossus; atmospheric, emotional, and boasting some of the most memorable enemy encounters in any game I've experienced.
3) Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas; my first GTA and between the three cities, gang warfare, wild weapons and cheats, memorable story, Samuel L Jackson, and all the other little pieces and mechanics, it's arguably the most expansive in the series
4) Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory; the GOAT stealth game as far as I'm concerned, Hitman introduced me to the genre, but Chaos Theory made me a fan of stealth.
5) Burnout 3: Takedown; the best arcade racer ever made
6) God of War; Kratos' debut and it redefined action with its crazy gore and massive bosses.
7) Vampire: Masquerades - Bloodlines; an engrossing story, meaningful choices, an a fascinating world of vampire societies and factions to learn about
8) Half Life 2; the ominous foreboding atmosphere is up there with the best in the genre and the story and varied missions stand out to this day
9) FEAR; best AI and most satisfying shooting in any shooter
10) Facade; more of a personal choice because it solidified my love for indie games, and the "type your dialogue" design remains unique a decade later
The Xtortionist
Member
Neff
Member
1. Resident Evil 4 - What does one say about a game that rocked the gaming world to its core, redefined and popularised an entire genre, and has been endlessly debated and praised over the last ten years? Not a lot, other than it being a worthy contender for not only the greatest game of its generation, but of all time.
2. Resident Evil (2002) - I spent an unpleasant Gamecube-less year or so after the release of this game without getting to play it, so I had to settle for delicious spoilery sips of info to stifle my hunger. What I ended up with was quite the surprise. The mansion layout had not only been built upon, but the game's mechanics and puzzles had been extensively reworked. It's a more tense, heavy game than the original, trading in the 1996's Mary Celeste 'lived in' feel for a more decrepit, gothic ambience. It's probably the definitive videogame remake.
3. Resident Evil: Code Veronica - Always unfairly maligned, I feel, and my first real full-on love affair game with Dreamcast. RE went full 3D for the first time, and despite showing its age probably more than the prerendered PSX games do, it still manages to conjure up a forboding, interesting environment. Its reuse of locales is masterful, turning previously visited locations into entirely new maps via varying geographical changes. The sibling motif is awesome, Claire and Chris' wholesome outlook contrasting sharply with Alfred and Alexia's twisted aristocratic cruelty. It's just a really damn good old-school RE.
4. Final Fantasy XII - FFX let me down, so I put hopes on FFXII delivering a classic 3D Final Fantasy experience. I didn't get it. And you know what? I'm glad that I didn't. I hated it initially- way too much brown, portentousness, and way too many english accents. I think I got to the Tomato hunt and quit, unimpressed. Going back several months later, determined to give it a second chance, it clicked. I understood the Gambits, I was levelling, I was venturing on an epic adventure in a massive world. Before I knew it, hours were turning into minutes and days turning into hours. I played it solid for a week, stopping only when necessary. Final Fantasy XII is a wonderful, wonderful game.
5. Devil May Cry - Didn't like this one either at first. I was totally blown away by it after seeing it on a friend's PS2 after he bought it from Japan, but when I got my hands on it for myself I didn't really get the appeal of the gameplay. It felt grindy, simplistic and stilted. But as per the norm with Kamiya action titles, repeat play is the key, and going back to it, getting better grades, more orbs and powerups allowed the game to open up for me. I can really see how revolutionary it was for its time, and even now there's nothing quite like its marriage of (obvious) RE level design and aggressive, brutal stylish action.
6. Metroid Prime - I'll be honest, I didn't think a Western FPS Metroid was going to work, at all, and I was very much against the idea. But Metroid Prime is so insanely well designed and polished from top to bottom that I think it's inevitable that it'd win anyone over given the chance. The feeling of being on an ancient alien world might even be better done than in Super Metroid, and there are just so many great moments, powerups, locations and bosses. I do think it's the weakest of the Prime Trilogy, since the combat is kind of monotonous, and the endgame key hunt is a huge drag, but it's probably the most purely 'Metroid' of the Primes.
7. Sonic Adventure - Say what you will about it, but the first game I played on my Dreamcast, as a Sonic fan, was pretty magical. There is just so much to see and do in Sonic Adventure, it's ridiculous. 6 characters, 6 overlapping stories, tons of unique levels, minigames and emblems to unlock. It still looks great, and the soundtrack is a killer. It's not without its share of jank. There are notable bugs, and some sections are very rough around the edges. But what it achieves at its best is probably the most thrilling the Sonic series has ever been. The definition of flawed masterpiece imo.
8. Ninja Gaiden (2004) - Got to the guy with the chucks. Said 'FUCK THIS', and shelved game indefinitely. Went back with some balls and kicked his ass, just barely. Learned some moves, searched every nook and cranny for powerups, exploited the shit out of Flying Swallow, Izuna Drop, and the free UT charge on landing. Beat it like a boss. One of my favourite all time games.
9. Soul Calibur - Switched it on. Saw the graphics. Shit myself. It's also one of the greatest fighting games ever made, and one of the few occasions where the console version of an arcade game is exponentially superior.
10. Shenmue - An odd, warmly nostalgic, profoundly unforgettable experience, but not one I'm often keen to relive, for many reasons. It's very repetitive, for one, and the presentation, despite the impressive visuals, is lacking. It's bloated when it should be focused, random when it should be cinematic, awkward when it should be sincere, and is rarely ever not unintentially funny. For something attempting to be as story-based as it is, it's lacking any kind of emotional pull outside of the opening scenes. But that's kind of ok, because walking around Japan in the '80s is a blast. I first played it with a friend who had recently returned from Japan, and he was constantly pointing things out, saying "That's it! That's exactly what that's like!". I've since been to Japan myself now, and it really does recreate that special something unique to the country, better than any videogame I've ever played. It's easy to throw away hours collecting egg-toys, learning Karate, speaking to random people, making money, etc. It managed to scratch gaming's open-world itch before it started itching, and sadly never managed to get people's attention like today's sandbox games do. I couldn't hand-on-heart say it 100% works as a videogame, but it absolutely works as a gaming experience, the kind that comes along rarely, if ever.
2. Resident Evil (2002) - I spent an unpleasant Gamecube-less year or so after the release of this game without getting to play it, so I had to settle for delicious spoilery sips of info to stifle my hunger. What I ended up with was quite the surprise. The mansion layout had not only been built upon, but the game's mechanics and puzzles had been extensively reworked. It's a more tense, heavy game than the original, trading in the 1996's Mary Celeste 'lived in' feel for a more decrepit, gothic ambience. It's probably the definitive videogame remake.
3. Resident Evil: Code Veronica - Always unfairly maligned, I feel, and my first real full-on love affair game with Dreamcast. RE went full 3D for the first time, and despite showing its age probably more than the prerendered PSX games do, it still manages to conjure up a forboding, interesting environment. Its reuse of locales is masterful, turning previously visited locations into entirely new maps via varying geographical changes. The sibling motif is awesome, Claire and Chris' wholesome outlook contrasting sharply with Alfred and Alexia's twisted aristocratic cruelty. It's just a really damn good old-school RE.
4. Final Fantasy XII - FFX let me down, so I put hopes on FFXII delivering a classic 3D Final Fantasy experience. I didn't get it. And you know what? I'm glad that I didn't. I hated it initially- way too much brown, portentousness, and way too many english accents. I think I got to the Tomato hunt and quit, unimpressed. Going back several months later, determined to give it a second chance, it clicked. I understood the Gambits, I was levelling, I was venturing on an epic adventure in a massive world. Before I knew it, hours were turning into minutes and days turning into hours. I played it solid for a week, stopping only when necessary. Final Fantasy XII is a wonderful, wonderful game.
5. Devil May Cry - Didn't like this one either at first. I was totally blown away by it after seeing it on a friend's PS2 after he bought it from Japan, but when I got my hands on it for myself I didn't really get the appeal of the gameplay. It felt grindy, simplistic and stilted. But as per the norm with Kamiya action titles, repeat play is the key, and going back to it, getting better grades, more orbs and powerups allowed the game to open up for me. I can really see how revolutionary it was for its time, and even now there's nothing quite like its marriage of (obvious) RE level design and aggressive, brutal stylish action.
6. Metroid Prime - I'll be honest, I didn't think a Western FPS Metroid was going to work, at all, and I was very much against the idea. But Metroid Prime is so insanely well designed and polished from top to bottom that I think it's inevitable that it'd win anyone over given the chance. The feeling of being on an ancient alien world might even be better done than in Super Metroid, and there are just so many great moments, powerups, locations and bosses. I do think it's the weakest of the Prime Trilogy, since the combat is kind of monotonous, and the endgame key hunt is a huge drag, but it's probably the most purely 'Metroid' of the Primes.
7. Sonic Adventure - Say what you will about it, but the first game I played on my Dreamcast, as a Sonic fan, was pretty magical. There is just so much to see and do in Sonic Adventure, it's ridiculous. 6 characters, 6 overlapping stories, tons of unique levels, minigames and emblems to unlock. It still looks great, and the soundtrack is a killer. It's not without its share of jank. There are notable bugs, and some sections are very rough around the edges. But what it achieves at its best is probably the most thrilling the Sonic series has ever been. The definition of flawed masterpiece imo.
8. Ninja Gaiden (2004) - Got to the guy with the chucks. Said 'FUCK THIS', and shelved game indefinitely. Went back with some balls and kicked his ass, just barely. Learned some moves, searched every nook and cranny for powerups, exploited the shit out of Flying Swallow, Izuna Drop, and the free UT charge on landing. Beat it like a boss. One of my favourite all time games.
9. Soul Calibur - Switched it on. Saw the graphics. Shit myself. It's also one of the greatest fighting games ever made, and one of the few occasions where the console version of an arcade game is exponentially superior.
10. Shenmue - An odd, warmly nostalgic, profoundly unforgettable experience, but not one I'm often keen to relive, for many reasons. It's very repetitive, for one, and the presentation, despite the impressive visuals, is lacking. It's bloated when it should be focused, random when it should be cinematic, awkward when it should be sincere, and is rarely ever not unintentially funny. For something attempting to be as story-based as it is, it's lacking any kind of emotional pull outside of the opening scenes. But that's kind of ok, because walking around Japan in the '80s is a blast. I first played it with a friend who had recently returned from Japan, and he was constantly pointing things out, saying "That's it! That's exactly what that's like!". I've since been to Japan myself now, and it really does recreate that special something unique to the country, better than any videogame I've ever played. It's easy to throw away hours collecting egg-toys, learning Karate, speaking to random people, making money, etc. It managed to scratch gaming's open-world itch before it started itching, and sadly never managed to get people's attention like today's sandbox games do. I couldn't hand-on-heart say it 100% works as a videogame, but it absolutely works as a gaming experience, the kind that comes along rarely, if ever.
Man, I have some good memories of this gen, as it was the first one where I lived independently (college!) and could buy my own games and play in my own time. I had been in boarding school for years and years, and we weren't allowed play games there, while at home there were no games stores within 525 miles (honestly), so college was an opportunity to catch up on all the wasted childhood I'd missed and waste my college years instead. It was also the first generation I ever bought a non-Nintendo console. The Gamecube droughts were real and painful, and pushed me to a PS2, as much as I didn't want to play that Sony garbage. Man, I didn't know what I had been missing, it blew me away.
Also note that World of Warcraft would have been my number 1, but I experienced it in 2006 and it doesn't "feel" a part of this generation to me, to me it's a part of the start of the 360/Wii generation because of how I experienced things. Bear that in mind.
1. Resident Evil 4: What can I say that hasn't already been said? A game with design so refined it appeared to have appeared, fully-formed, from the future. A game that rewrote the ruleset for third person action games for the decade following. Possibly the best-paced videogame of all time. Incredible atmosphere, memorable locations, humorous characters, amazing boss-fights, and not a single bad stretch in the game. No one has ever done it better.
2. Metroid Prime: One of my favourite games of all time, and if I'm honest, more beloved to me than Res Evil 4, but its weaknesses in combat and boss design (you shoot yellow pac-pellets half the time and bosses are crazy bullet sponges) let Resi 4 take the crown. It really is a masterpiece, though. What I loved about it was years before Gone Home and other 'walking simulators' this was the game that put you into the shoes of bounty hunter armed like a small army and somehow made being an archaeologist, a botanist, a xenozoologist more appealing and interesting than blowing things up could ever be. Fuck, xenozoologist sounds cool, but being one was even cooler. Samus Aran: The naturalist space warrior. That is, and always will be, Prime's legacy to me.
3. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas: The game I betrayed Nintendo for, and my god was it worth it. Never had so much pure fun in my life. I had dreamt of open world gameplay with vehicles from the moment I played Super Mario 64. Here it was, in reality, and it was more fun than I had ever imagined (and had more Easy-E / NWA than I ever imagined, too). The overall story wasn't the greatest, but the characters were fantastic, and the voice acting was great. Humour is one of the hardest things to get right in a video game but this one had me laughing from start to finish. As an open-world game I thought it might never be topped, but GTAV finally dethroned the king. What a reign, though.
4. Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence: Still probably my favourite story in gaming history. After MGS2 (which I utterly, utterly hate) I had mixed feelings about 3 going in, but the concept of jungle ops with camo gameplay reeled me in. I'm so glad it did, because this is the game in which Kojima is most focused, most edited, most concise, without losing any of his genius for action, pathos and absurdity rolled into one. I actually played Snake Eater first before Subsistence, but obviously Subsistence is the superior game.
5. Pro Evolution Soccer 6: Probably the best sports game ever made. A decade later, they still haven't topped it. Did they fluke their way into the balance they found with this game? How is it possible that ever game felt so different, that every goal was unique? I sank hundreds of hours into this on my own in Master League and with my brother and friends on the couch. Everything a sports game, or a videogame in general should be.
6. Smash Bros. Melee: Still the king for me. Justfied my Gamecube purchase within minutes of turning it on. The jump from 64 graphics to Cube will forever be one of my all-time graphical 'whoa' moments, and the addition of characters like Zelda and Bowser felt so momentous. The gameplay was weighty but fast, and easy to pick up. The animations were buttery smooth, demanding you go to practice mode to see them at 1/4 speed. The music, stages, fanservice - everything was beyond my wildest expectations of what a sequel to Smash Bros could be. I remember thinking that I didn't know how they could top it, and to be honest while the games have gotten bigger, more content heavy and more feature rich they never really have.
7. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker: Half of a masterpiece. Had the game remained on the trajectory of its first half, it would have ended up at number 1. Instead, the second half falters badly in almost every area before a great last half hour. Setting sail into the Great Ocean was one of the most incredible moments in my gaming life; realizing the sea only had four main islands and tons of filler almost as deflating. But in the end the game is so charming and daring, and the high points so goddamned high that I forgive it its flaws.
8. Pikmin: Played it once for about 2 hours and hated it. Wondered what Miyamoto had been smoking out in his back garden. Ugly ground textures, nonsensical controls for an RTS, ugly little creatues... it made no sense. Came back 6 months later and it 'clicked', and from then until the end it was astonishing. As someone who loves nature, Nintendo games. and RTS's it's incredibly bizarre that such an unlikely game design ended up being made by a AAA game dev. It feels like someone made it just for - to appeal to me and me alone. For that it will always be special. But on top of that, the controls were tight, the environments clever, the writing charming, the bosses spectacular.
9. Shadow of the Collosus: I spent a lot of this game frustrated. Frustrated at being lost, frustrated with the empty world, frustrated with the really difficult controls and camera blur. But when my arrow connected with the back of that first Collosus and he slowly whelled around... My god. Don't think I've ever been so transported into a gameworld as I was a that moment. Somehow to the game found the way to raise the stakes again and again and again with each fight, and solving them was so satisfying. Yes, they were puzzles as much as battles, and all the better for it. The fact that the story became a kind of a haunting picture of loss before time, denial and youthful hubris was just the cherry on the cake.
10. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time: I have no idea how well this game would hold up today, but it was incredible at the time. Basing a game so massively around platforming like this was a bold gamble, and Ubisoft had the animators and level designers to make it pay off. The combat wasn't great, but those were just the interludes between platforming genius, genius defined by the Prince's astonishing acrobatics and the wonder of the Dagger of Time and its reversal mechanics, which allowed the game designers to put in some truly astonishing feats of daring without worrying that the player might lose an hours of progress. The colour palette was gorgeous, and the palace felt like a coherent location. The story was surprisingly moving, too, with Farah instantly likeable and the prince instantly dislikeable (back when this was surprising in a hero) but coming around over time. Makes me sad where the franchise would go after this, but I'm just happy that this game happened.
Honourable Mentions:
x. F-Zero GX: Yes, I 100%'d this incredible game. Fuck you, I'm still proud of that.
x. Final Fantasy 12: If it hadn't devolved into typical JRPG nonsense in the second half it would have been top 5 material. Gameplay was incredible.
x. Gran Turismo 4: One of the greatest racing games of all time. Not sure how it could have been better, but this top 10's a tough one to make.
x. Katamari Damacy: A contender for soundtrack of the generation and most bizarre / innovative design of the generation. A tactile delight.
x. Psychonauts: Mediocre gameplay carried by the most charming set of locations and characters ever put in a non-Nintendo game.
x. Soul Calibur 2: Took the crown as my favourite fighting game of all time.
x. NBA Street Vol 2: Hours and hours of fun with this one. When did this sense of fun and style leave modern sports titles? Classic characters were awesome too.
x. Viewtiful Joe: An amazing adventure that really asked you to master its systems. Such a memorable art style. Didn't care for the story, though.
x. Eternal Darkness: Maybe a bit overrated, and I didn't like where the plot went in the end, but it was properly unsettling while it lasted.
x. Wave Race Blue Storm: Up there with F-Zero as my favourite arcade racers ever. Just wished it had a bit more content.
x. Super Mario Sunshine: A really great game, but some odd decisions and dodgy stars keep it from the top 10.
x. Metroid Prime 2: A worthy sequel, marred quite a bit by the terrible Dark World.
x. REmake: Best pure survival horror ever, but had some seriously clunky design even back then. (Inventory, gah!)
x. Pikmin 2: Brilliant, but weaker than the first due to less time pressure and abstract dungeon diving levels.
x. Animal Crossing: Charming but dull. But charming. But dull. I loved this game, but I got bored of it quickly. But I loved it. But...
x. Super Monkey Ball: Wacky fun. Actually one of the best minigame collections ever, probably better than the main game.
x. Skies of Arcadia Legends: Really solid JRPG. Finally a JRPG where I love the basic premise of the world and the characters. Story was still weak, but it was a fun play.
x. Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour: Best golf game ever until Everybody's Golf stole the crown.
x. Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance: Can't believe I forgot this one. With better visuals and maps it would have been top 10, but it was slow at times.
x. Fire Emblem: I don't even know how this didn't make the top 10. Seriously, the game is almost flawless, and it's one of my favourites ever.
x. Metroid: Zero Mission: So smooth and silky compared to Super. Loses points for introducing the Zero Suit bullshit.
Also note that World of Warcraft would have been my number 1, but I experienced it in 2006 and it doesn't "feel" a part of this generation to me, to me it's a part of the start of the 360/Wii generation because of how I experienced things. Bear that in mind.
1. Resident Evil 4: What can I say that hasn't already been said? A game with design so refined it appeared to have appeared, fully-formed, from the future. A game that rewrote the ruleset for third person action games for the decade following. Possibly the best-paced videogame of all time. Incredible atmosphere, memorable locations, humorous characters, amazing boss-fights, and not a single bad stretch in the game. No one has ever done it better.
2. Metroid Prime: One of my favourite games of all time, and if I'm honest, more beloved to me than Res Evil 4, but its weaknesses in combat and boss design (you shoot yellow pac-pellets half the time and bosses are crazy bullet sponges) let Resi 4 take the crown. It really is a masterpiece, though. What I loved about it was years before Gone Home and other 'walking simulators' this was the game that put you into the shoes of bounty hunter armed like a small army and somehow made being an archaeologist, a botanist, a xenozoologist more appealing and interesting than blowing things up could ever be. Fuck, xenozoologist sounds cool, but being one was even cooler. Samus Aran: The naturalist space warrior. That is, and always will be, Prime's legacy to me.
That and the fact that I was so down on this game before release that I picked it up with Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance on a trip to New York and was more excited for that game. Yes, really.
4. Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence: Still probably my favourite story in gaming history. After MGS2 (which I utterly, utterly hate) I had mixed feelings about 3 going in, but the concept of jungle ops with camo gameplay reeled me in. I'm so glad it did, because this is the game in which Kojima is most focused, most edited, most concise, without losing any of his genius for action, pathos and absurdity rolled into one. I actually played Snake Eater first before Subsistence, but obviously Subsistence is the superior game.
5. Pro Evolution Soccer 6: Probably the best sports game ever made. A decade later, they still haven't topped it. Did they fluke their way into the balance they found with this game? How is it possible that ever game felt so different, that every goal was unique? I sank hundreds of hours into this on my own in Master League and with my brother and friends on the couch. Everything a sports game, or a videogame in general should be.
6. Smash Bros. Melee: Still the king for me. Justfied my Gamecube purchase within minutes of turning it on. The jump from 64 graphics to Cube will forever be one of my all-time graphical 'whoa' moments, and the addition of characters like Zelda and Bowser felt so momentous. The gameplay was weighty but fast, and easy to pick up. The animations were buttery smooth, demanding you go to practice mode to see them at 1/4 speed. The music, stages, fanservice - everything was beyond my wildest expectations of what a sequel to Smash Bros could be. I remember thinking that I didn't know how they could top it, and to be honest while the games have gotten bigger, more content heavy and more feature rich they never really have.
7. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker: Half of a masterpiece. Had the game remained on the trajectory of its first half, it would have ended up at number 1. Instead, the second half falters badly in almost every area before a great last half hour. Setting sail into the Great Ocean was one of the most incredible moments in my gaming life; realizing the sea only had four main islands and tons of filler almost as deflating. But in the end the game is so charming and daring, and the high points so goddamned high that I forgive it its flaws.
8. Pikmin: Played it once for about 2 hours and hated it. Wondered what Miyamoto had been smoking out in his back garden. Ugly ground textures, nonsensical controls for an RTS, ugly little creatues... it made no sense. Came back 6 months later and it 'clicked', and from then until the end it was astonishing. As someone who loves nature, Nintendo games. and RTS's it's incredibly bizarre that such an unlikely game design ended up being made by a AAA game dev. It feels like someone made it just for - to appeal to me and me alone. For that it will always be special. But on top of that, the controls were tight, the environments clever, the writing charming, the bosses spectacular.
9. Shadow of the Collosus: I spent a lot of this game frustrated. Frustrated at being lost, frustrated with the empty world, frustrated with the really difficult controls and camera blur. But when my arrow connected with the back of that first Collosus and he slowly whelled around... My god. Don't think I've ever been so transported into a gameworld as I was a that moment. Somehow to the game found the way to raise the stakes again and again and again with each fight, and solving them was so satisfying. Yes, they were puzzles as much as battles, and all the better for it. The fact that the story became a kind of a haunting picture of loss before time, denial and youthful hubris was just the cherry on the cake.
10. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time: I have no idea how well this game would hold up today, but it was incredible at the time. Basing a game so massively around platforming like this was a bold gamble, and Ubisoft had the animators and level designers to make it pay off. The combat wasn't great, but those were just the interludes between platforming genius, genius defined by the Prince's astonishing acrobatics and the wonder of the Dagger of Time and its reversal mechanics, which allowed the game designers to put in some truly astonishing feats of daring without worrying that the player might lose an hours of progress. The colour palette was gorgeous, and the palace felt like a coherent location. The story was surprisingly moving, too, with Farah instantly likeable and the prince instantly dislikeable (back when this was surprising in a hero) but coming around over time. Makes me sad where the franchise would go after this, but I'm just happy that this game happened.
Honourable Mentions:
x. F-Zero GX: Yes, I 100%'d this incredible game. Fuck you, I'm still proud of that.
x. Final Fantasy 12: If it hadn't devolved into typical JRPG nonsense in the second half it would have been top 5 material. Gameplay was incredible.
x. Gran Turismo 4: One of the greatest racing games of all time. Not sure how it could have been better, but this top 10's a tough one to make.
x. Katamari Damacy: A contender for soundtrack of the generation and most bizarre / innovative design of the generation. A tactile delight.
x. Psychonauts: Mediocre gameplay carried by the most charming set of locations and characters ever put in a non-Nintendo game.
x. Soul Calibur 2: Took the crown as my favourite fighting game of all time.
x. NBA Street Vol 2: Hours and hours of fun with this one. When did this sense of fun and style leave modern sports titles? Classic characters were awesome too.
x. Viewtiful Joe: An amazing adventure that really asked you to master its systems. Such a memorable art style. Didn't care for the story, though.
x. Eternal Darkness: Maybe a bit overrated, and I didn't like where the plot went in the end, but it was properly unsettling while it lasted.
x. Wave Race Blue Storm: Up there with F-Zero as my favourite arcade racers ever. Just wished it had a bit more content.
x. Super Mario Sunshine: A really great game, but some odd decisions and dodgy stars keep it from the top 10.
x. Metroid Prime 2: A worthy sequel, marred quite a bit by the terrible Dark World.
x. REmake: Best pure survival horror ever, but had some seriously clunky design even back then. (Inventory, gah!)
x. Pikmin 2: Brilliant, but weaker than the first due to less time pressure and abstract dungeon diving levels.
x. Animal Crossing: Charming but dull. But charming. But dull. I loved this game, but I got bored of it quickly. But I loved it. But...
x. Super Monkey Ball: Wacky fun. Actually one of the best minigame collections ever, probably better than the main game.
x. Skies of Arcadia Legends: Really solid JRPG. Finally a JRPG where I love the basic premise of the world and the characters. Story was still weak, but it was a fun play.
x. Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour: Best golf game ever until Everybody's Golf stole the crown.
x. Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance: Can't believe I forgot this one. With better visuals and maps it would have been top 10, but it was slow at times.
x. Fire Emblem: I don't even know how this didn't make the top 10. Seriously, the game is almost flawless, and it's one of my favourites ever.
x. Metroid: Zero Mission: So smooth and silky compared to Super. Loses points for introducing the Zero Suit bullshit.
hemtae
Member
1. Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn ; The quintessential party based cRPG. It could be argued that this is the Chrono Trigger of the western RPG world. Everything in it is at a B level or often greater and theres a lot of stuff in it. With an unmatched amount of meaningful quests, some of the best tactical combat ever, a decent story, it is one of the best games ever, not just of its generation.
2. Deus Ex ; The gold standard for FPS level design. Combined with the character system it let the player tackle objectives in whatever way they saw fit and didnt pigeonhole them into that way for the entire game. It understood the immersive sim genre in a way that no other game has since in fifteen years and that is enough to overcome some of its shortcomings and propel it to the top of gaming.
3. Gothic II ; This gets the nod over its generation and genre peer Morrowind because apart from the general alienness of Vvardenfell and eurojank of Gothic II, Gothic II is the better game overall. The world is better designed, the characters inhabiting it feel more alive and the combat is easily better. The Witcher 3 will be in good hands if it sticks to this game as its inspiration and doesnt go chasing the Skyrim money.
4. Thief II: The Metal Age ; The best stealth game ever made arguably sharing the title with its youngest and ineligible bother Thief: The Dark Project. Like with Deus Ex, the level design is marvelous. So much so that two sequels and a spiritual successor hasnt been able to reproduce its greatness. Hiding in the shadows from guards in the desolate levels are some of the most atmospheric moments Ive had in gaming.
5. Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines ; Its like a Deus Ex with vampires and good dialogue. However where Deus Ex was able to somewhat seem like a cohesive stealth FPS hybrid, this seems more like an unholy concoction of gameplay elements distilled into a shooter. In the first two thirds or so of the game before things start falling apart, theres some of the best written dialogue in video games and some of the most atmospheric ambience in games. It also deserves note because of how it showed the worth of good facial animation combined with good voice acting.
6. No One Lives Forever ; A great game that managed to combine most of what came before it into an FPS/stealth hybrid, although individual mechanics were done with varying degrees of greatness. The game is never boring with its brilliant AI, charm oozing everywhere, and the great humor injected into it. The sequel is probably more polished but loses some of the soul. Or maybe Im just confusing jank with soul. Either way both games are definitely some of the best FPS released that generation and well worth a playthrough if those issues with WB ever get solved.
7. Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne ; One of the best jRPGs ever and what I consider the best in an era that had noteworthy JRPGs releasing what seemed like every month. This is kind of what I imagine Pokemon would be if the Team Bad Guys succeeded in destroying the world with its collectible monsters, challenging turn based battles that tend to go south quickly, and even breeding moves requirements. If youre hopping on to the Atlus bandwagon for Persona 5, this is definitely something you should play.
8. Psychonauts ; An incredibly charming platformer (and the last great Double Fine game, prove me wrong Broken Age 2) in what was a down era for platformers as a whole with Nintendo having a minor stumble with Super Mario Sunshine, Naughty Dog heading on the road to full heel with Jak 2 and 3, and everybody else either not willing or unable to fill in the hole. This game also has a level of detail that is practically unheard of nowadays with almost everybody having something to say about almost everything you can collect.
9. Shadow of the Colossus ; I really should not like this game as much as I do. The framerate is horrid to the point that its distracting and detrimental to gameplay. The plot is barebones and not in the good way either although all that the player really needs to know is to kill the big things and save the girl. There really isnt much there as a game either as theres a sword, bow, a horse, and sixteen enemies although Id argue simplicity isnt inherently a negative. However, despite all that, I still love this game. The Colossi battles are epic and theres even a few moments that manage to tug on the heart.
10. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess ; Even if not the most aesthetically pleasing of the two Zelda games last gen and the Tears of Light hunt was just as tedious as the Triforce hunt, it still wins over it because of the items and dungeons. Even if it tried too hard to emulate Ocarina of Time, the atmosphere and mechanics of riding Epona through Hyrule field beat sailing through the ocean. Also that Hidden Village music is so good.
x. Metroid Fusion ; Ah they dont make em like this anymore. Its such a shame that this is the last 2D Metroid the gaming world has gotten. The prime games never quite managed to capture the sense of speed Samus had (I blame it on being shackled to a controller) although Other M made me appreciate the Prime games so much more. Metroid Fusion is no Super Metroid but it does manage to hit all the right notes of the series especially with the SA-X encounters that managed to be scary without going all Zero Suit Samus.
x. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic ; It gets the honorable nod over its sequel because despite being written a little worse, its still finished. It also has all the stuff you could ever want in a Star Wars game. Making decisions about light side vs dark side. Lightsaber duels. Chats with the crew on a Millenium Falcon like spacecraft. A major twist near the end. It doesnt get much more Star Wars than that.
x. Baten Kaitos Origins ; Monolith Softs best game, Xenoblade be damned. Its improved over the previous game in the series in pretty much every way and Im convinced that this game would have made a big splash on even the jRPG rich PS2 but instead fate decreed that it land on the Gamecube after a mediocre first outing and everybody praising it looked like they just liked it because it was the only liquidy thing in a desert.
x. Okami ; The last game of Clover Studios which had some of the important people that would leave to found GAF darling, Platinum Games. Also the only one including the history of Platinum Games to ever appeal to me. Had Twilight Princess not existed or been Wii only, it would be this game sitting in the number ten spot but now I just have to hope that the GAF love for Platinum will also extend to its predecessor.
x. Half-Life 2 ; The only pure FPS I have really liked. Its got well designed encounters, atmosphere (I have played it a criminally low amount of times because once through Ravenholm was enough for me), and the gravity gun which makes all the difference compared to the run-of-the-mill FPS. This was also the first game where I was impressed by the graphics itself. Itll also probably be the first game I play in VR whenever Oculus Rift officially comes out.
2. Deus Ex ; The gold standard for FPS level design. Combined with the character system it let the player tackle objectives in whatever way they saw fit and didnt pigeonhole them into that way for the entire game. It understood the immersive sim genre in a way that no other game has since in fifteen years and that is enough to overcome some of its shortcomings and propel it to the top of gaming.
3. Gothic II ; This gets the nod over its generation and genre peer Morrowind because apart from the general alienness of Vvardenfell and eurojank of Gothic II, Gothic II is the better game overall. The world is better designed, the characters inhabiting it feel more alive and the combat is easily better. The Witcher 3 will be in good hands if it sticks to this game as its inspiration and doesnt go chasing the Skyrim money.
4. Thief II: The Metal Age ; The best stealth game ever made arguably sharing the title with its youngest and ineligible bother Thief: The Dark Project. Like with Deus Ex, the level design is marvelous. So much so that two sequels and a spiritual successor hasnt been able to reproduce its greatness. Hiding in the shadows from guards in the desolate levels are some of the most atmospheric moments Ive had in gaming.
5. Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines ; Its like a Deus Ex with vampires and good dialogue. However where Deus Ex was able to somewhat seem like a cohesive stealth FPS hybrid, this seems more like an unholy concoction of gameplay elements distilled into a shooter. In the first two thirds or so of the game before things start falling apart, theres some of the best written dialogue in video games and some of the most atmospheric ambience in games. It also deserves note because of how it showed the worth of good facial animation combined with good voice acting.
6. No One Lives Forever ; A great game that managed to combine most of what came before it into an FPS/stealth hybrid, although individual mechanics were done with varying degrees of greatness. The game is never boring with its brilliant AI, charm oozing everywhere, and the great humor injected into it. The sequel is probably more polished but loses some of the soul. Or maybe Im just confusing jank with soul. Either way both games are definitely some of the best FPS released that generation and well worth a playthrough if those issues with WB ever get solved.
7. Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne ; One of the best jRPGs ever and what I consider the best in an era that had noteworthy JRPGs releasing what seemed like every month. This is kind of what I imagine Pokemon would be if the Team Bad Guys succeeded in destroying the world with its collectible monsters, challenging turn based battles that tend to go south quickly, and even breeding moves requirements. If youre hopping on to the Atlus bandwagon for Persona 5, this is definitely something you should play.
8. Psychonauts ; An incredibly charming platformer (and the last great Double Fine game, prove me wrong Broken Age 2) in what was a down era for platformers as a whole with Nintendo having a minor stumble with Super Mario Sunshine, Naughty Dog heading on the road to full heel with Jak 2 and 3, and everybody else either not willing or unable to fill in the hole. This game also has a level of detail that is practically unheard of nowadays with almost everybody having something to say about almost everything you can collect.
9. Shadow of the Colossus ; I really should not like this game as much as I do. The framerate is horrid to the point that its distracting and detrimental to gameplay. The plot is barebones and not in the good way either although all that the player really needs to know is to kill the big things and save the girl. There really isnt much there as a game either as theres a sword, bow, a horse, and sixteen enemies although Id argue simplicity isnt inherently a negative. However, despite all that, I still love this game. The Colossi battles are epic and theres even a few moments that manage to tug on the heart.
10. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess ; Even if not the most aesthetically pleasing of the two Zelda games last gen and the Tears of Light hunt was just as tedious as the Triforce hunt, it still wins over it because of the items and dungeons. Even if it tried too hard to emulate Ocarina of Time, the atmosphere and mechanics of riding Epona through Hyrule field beat sailing through the ocean. Also that Hidden Village music is so good.
x. Metroid Fusion ; Ah they dont make em like this anymore. Its such a shame that this is the last 2D Metroid the gaming world has gotten. The prime games never quite managed to capture the sense of speed Samus had (I blame it on being shackled to a controller) although Other M made me appreciate the Prime games so much more. Metroid Fusion is no Super Metroid but it does manage to hit all the right notes of the series especially with the SA-X encounters that managed to be scary without going all Zero Suit Samus.
x. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic ; It gets the honorable nod over its sequel because despite being written a little worse, its still finished. It also has all the stuff you could ever want in a Star Wars game. Making decisions about light side vs dark side. Lightsaber duels. Chats with the crew on a Millenium Falcon like spacecraft. A major twist near the end. It doesnt get much more Star Wars than that.
x. Baten Kaitos Origins ; Monolith Softs best game, Xenoblade be damned. Its improved over the previous game in the series in pretty much every way and Im convinced that this game would have made a big splash on even the jRPG rich PS2 but instead fate decreed that it land on the Gamecube after a mediocre first outing and everybody praising it looked like they just liked it because it was the only liquidy thing in a desert.
x. Okami ; The last game of Clover Studios which had some of the important people that would leave to found GAF darling, Platinum Games. Also the only one including the history of Platinum Games to ever appeal to me. Had Twilight Princess not existed or been Wii only, it would be this game sitting in the number ten spot but now I just have to hope that the GAF love for Platinum will also extend to its predecessor.
x. Half-Life 2 ; The only pure FPS I have really liked. Its got well designed encounters, atmosphere (I have played it a criminally low amount of times because once through Ravenholm was enough for me), and the gravity gun which makes all the difference compared to the run-of-the-mill FPS. This was also the first game where I was impressed by the graphics itself. Itll also probably be the first game I play in VR whenever Oculus Rift officially comes out.
Nocturnowl
Member
I'm still pondering whether this game makes my top 10 or not but in any event this summary here is incredibly in line with my own.
Part of me loves it but it drops off so damn hard in the back end.
Let me try
1. Devil May Cry 1 ; Everything Dahbomb said , genre redefining
2. Devil May Cry 3 ; Refined DMC experience but less refreshing and not as Gothic
3. Shadow Hearts Covenant ; imo the best jrpg ever , awesome ring system gameplay and DAT ending theme
4. Final Fantasy X ; the last Squaresoft FF , I love Yuna design the first time she was introduced with CGI performing faith had me mesmerized
5. No One Lives Forever 2 ; This game has charms .
6. Diablo 2 ; A game I've spent countless of hours co-op with friends . Atmospheric as f**
7. Half Life 2 ; The FPS I've enjoyed the most out of the big 3 , what a ride from start to finish
8. Resident Evil GC REmake ; The best RE of all time .
9. Star Wars ; Knight of the Old Republic : Who would've thought an RPG Starwars game to be so awesome ?
10. Fatal Frame 2 ; keeping me at the edge of my seat all the time yet I crave to play it more until the end
1. Devil May Cry 1 ; Everything Dahbomb said , genre redefining
2. Devil May Cry 3 ; Refined DMC experience but less refreshing and not as Gothic
3. Shadow Hearts Covenant ; imo the best jrpg ever , awesome ring system gameplay and DAT ending theme
4. Final Fantasy X ; the last Squaresoft FF , I love Yuna design the first time she was introduced with CGI performing faith had me mesmerized
5. No One Lives Forever 2 ; This game has charms .
6. Diablo 2 ; A game I've spent countless of hours co-op with friends . Atmospheric as f**
7. Half Life 2 ; The FPS I've enjoyed the most out of the big 3 , what a ride from start to finish
8. Resident Evil GC REmake ; The best RE of all time .
9. Star Wars ; Knight of the Old Republic : Who would've thought an RPG Starwars game to be so awesome ?
10. Fatal Frame 2 ; keeping me at the edge of my seat all the time yet I crave to play it more until the end
sketchsanchez
Member
1.Resident Evil 4
This game is pretty much in my top 5 of all time, it's a no-brainer for the top spot for the entire generation. It's just the perfectly designed game, filled with tension and amazing action.
2.Halo: Combat Evolved
This game holds such a special place to me I dont even know where to begin. This was the game that had my friends hounding me to bring it over along with my entire xbox just so we could all play deathmatch. It was THE party game to us and at first I was the only dude with an xbox but it eventually lead to all of us getting our own xbox (thankfully keeping me from lugging that beast on the bus). Know what funny? I didnt even want this game. I bought an xbox for Jet Grind Radio but my brother was at a toys r us one day and he was like "they're having a sale, pick a game you want" and he lists off a few games, one of which was Halo. None of the others interested me so I was like "Halo, I guess." Best decision ever made.
3.Ninja Gaiden
The first time I beat Alma I spiked my controller like a football and di a little touchdown dance. It totally came down to the wire and i'll never forget that moment.
4.Jade Empire
As a huge fan of Shaw Bros Kung Fu films this game was as close to playing one of those movies videogames would get.. Behind Mass Effect for my favorite bioware game.
5.Guilty Gear X2 #reload
Those same group of friends that I played Halo with? We were also huge fighting game nuts and I could almost populate this list with nothing but fighting games. Two games stand out the most all these years later. I loved everything about this game, and it's one of the few game soundtracks I'll listen to independently of the game.
6. Freedom Fighters
One of my fondest memories of this game is from the later portions where you can practically have a small army rolling with you as you take out commie scum. Very badass.
7.Capcom vs. SNK 2
See #5
8.Guitar Hero II
This is the game that turned me into the Rock Band nut I am today. While I played 3 more, I only played it on the 360 unfortunately otherwise it'd be on this list instead.
9.Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction
Awesome game, great engine. Just played this recently (made a thread about it here) It's still great and the fact that some of the building could be destroyed were mind blowing at the time.
10. Civilization IV
I almost feel like this is cheating because I started getting into this 3-4 years ago and the next thing I know 12 hours had gone by. I could stop for a while then come back and boom, just lost 8 hours to this masterpiece. For this alone I just couldn't not put it on the list. Everything else on this list I played at the time of release, I tried to stick to that idea but I had to put this here.
Stuff I cut off this list aka honorable mentions
x.Doom 3
x.Red Dead Revolver
x.Resident Evil Remake
x.Halo 2
x.Marvel vs. Capcom 2
x.SSX Tricky
x.Tony Hawk's Underground
x.Crazy Taxi
x.Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal
X-Men Legends
X-Men Legends II
x.The Suffering
x.Street Fighter II: Anniversary Edition
x.Jet Grind Radio
This game is pretty much in my top 5 of all time, it's a no-brainer for the top spot for the entire generation. It's just the perfectly designed game, filled with tension and amazing action.
2.Halo: Combat Evolved
This game holds such a special place to me I dont even know where to begin. This was the game that had my friends hounding me to bring it over along with my entire xbox just so we could all play deathmatch. It was THE party game to us and at first I was the only dude with an xbox but it eventually lead to all of us getting our own xbox (thankfully keeping me from lugging that beast on the bus). Know what funny? I didnt even want this game. I bought an xbox for Jet Grind Radio but my brother was at a toys r us one day and he was like "they're having a sale, pick a game you want" and he lists off a few games, one of which was Halo. None of the others interested me so I was like "Halo, I guess." Best decision ever made.
3.Ninja Gaiden
The first time I beat Alma I spiked my controller like a football and di a little touchdown dance. It totally came down to the wire and i'll never forget that moment.
4.Jade Empire
As a huge fan of Shaw Bros Kung Fu films this game was as close to playing one of those movies videogames would get.. Behind Mass Effect for my favorite bioware game.
5.Guilty Gear X2 #reload
Those same group of friends that I played Halo with? We were also huge fighting game nuts and I could almost populate this list with nothing but fighting games. Two games stand out the most all these years later. I loved everything about this game, and it's one of the few game soundtracks I'll listen to independently of the game.
6. Freedom Fighters
One of my fondest memories of this game is from the later portions where you can practically have a small army rolling with you as you take out commie scum. Very badass.
7.Capcom vs. SNK 2
See #5
8.Guitar Hero II
This is the game that turned me into the Rock Band nut I am today. While I played 3 more, I only played it on the 360 unfortunately otherwise it'd be on this list instead.
9.Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction
Awesome game, great engine. Just played this recently (made a thread about it here) It's still great and the fact that some of the building could be destroyed were mind blowing at the time.
10. Civilization IV
I almost feel like this is cheating because I started getting into this 3-4 years ago and the next thing I know 12 hours had gone by. I could stop for a while then come back and boom, just lost 8 hours to this masterpiece. For this alone I just couldn't not put it on the list. Everything else on this list I played at the time of release, I tried to stick to that idea but I had to put this here.
Stuff I cut off this list aka honorable mentions
x.Doom 3
x.Red Dead Revolver
x.Resident Evil Remake
x.Halo 2
x.Marvel vs. Capcom 2
x.SSX Tricky
x.Tony Hawk's Underground
x.Crazy Taxi
x.Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal
X-Men Legends
X-Men Legends II
x.The Suffering
x.Street Fighter II: Anniversary Edition
x.Jet Grind Radio
Dion Blaster
Member
1. Shadow of the Colossus; My number one by a mile. Music that fit the mood perfectly, a beautiful landscape, and incredible boss encounters washed away any ill will towards the choppy frame rate. Plus Aggro is probably my favorite sidekick of all time.
2. Beyond Good & Evil; Narrowly edging out Wind Waker, this is the best non-Zelda Zelda game I've played. Even though the stealth was a bit simple I found it really fun and fair. Surprisingly good story as well, the last section of the game was perfect.
3. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker; Another game with amazing music. Would have placed second (maybe even first!) if there was less filler and better pacing in the second half of the game. Can't beat stabbing Gannondorf straight in the head though.
4. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City; Use of licensed music rivaled only by Tony Hawk.
5. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas; So much fun stuff.
6. Metroid: Zero Mission; Initially had this near the top, would have been perfect except I found the "mysterious items" items really annoying, very un-Super Metroid-like.
7. Ico; Same great atmosphere as Shadow of the Colossus, very unique puzzle platforming. Almost like the Braid of this generation (or vice versa).
8. Metroid Prime; I still find Metroid combat in 3D pretty boring but the game is undeniably genius.
9. Halo 2; Not my type of game anymore but it was definitely my multiplayer game of choice at the time.
10. Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition; Haven't finished the game yet but it just bumped God of War II off my top 10.
x. God of War II
x. Jet Set Radio Future
x. NBA Street Vol. 2
x. Metal Gear Solid 2
x. The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
x. Half-Life 2
x. Psychonauts
I'm sure there's still something I'm forgetting!
2. Beyond Good & Evil; Narrowly edging out Wind Waker, this is the best non-Zelda Zelda game I've played. Even though the stealth was a bit simple I found it really fun and fair. Surprisingly good story as well, the last section of the game was perfect.
3. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker; Another game with amazing music. Would have placed second (maybe even first!) if there was less filler and better pacing in the second half of the game. Can't beat stabbing Gannondorf straight in the head though.
4. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City; Use of licensed music rivaled only by Tony Hawk.
5. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas; So much fun stuff.
6. Metroid: Zero Mission; Initially had this near the top, would have been perfect except I found the "mysterious items" items really annoying, very un-Super Metroid-like.
7. Ico; Same great atmosphere as Shadow of the Colossus, very unique puzzle platforming. Almost like the Braid of this generation (or vice versa).
8. Metroid Prime; I still find Metroid combat in 3D pretty boring but the game is undeniably genius.
9. Halo 2; Not my type of game anymore but it was definitely my multiplayer game of choice at the time.
10. Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition; Haven't finished the game yet but it just bumped God of War II off my top 10.
x. God of War II
x. Jet Set Radio Future
x. NBA Street Vol. 2
x. Metal Gear Solid 2
x. The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
x. Half-Life 2
x. Psychonauts
I'm sure there's still something I'm forgetting!
I was pc exclusive during this period. Actually i was pretty much 1-game exclusive, so it takes my top easily.
1. Diablo 2 ; this game kept me grinding for years. I actually went back to Diablo 2 after the disappointment that was D3 and found that it wasn't just rose colored glasses for me. D2 was fun for me because the end game content was the right balance of difficulty. You could scrape by with the most haphazard builds or crush with a perfect one. I spent most of my time seeing if this crazy build or that crazy build would work, generally based on a single unique drop that leveled obscure or unobtainable skills into relevancy within your skill tree. Couple this with bite sized farming runs and you had my perfect game.
2. Mechwarrior 4: vengeance ; A fantastic single player experience for this mech game. I actually think this might be my favorite campaign for a shooter ever as crazy as this sounds. Open map sandboxes with your own set of weapons and mech lances. Awesome. Would buy a sequel day 1.
3. Star wars knights of the old Republic ; i don't really care for star wars, but this game
Demonstrated the power the medium had for story telling. The twist blew my mind.
Edit. Read the rules again and needed 3 games to qualify. Updated post.
1. Diablo 2 ; this game kept me grinding for years. I actually went back to Diablo 2 after the disappointment that was D3 and found that it wasn't just rose colored glasses for me. D2 was fun for me because the end game content was the right balance of difficulty. You could scrape by with the most haphazard builds or crush with a perfect one. I spent most of my time seeing if this crazy build or that crazy build would work, generally based on a single unique drop that leveled obscure or unobtainable skills into relevancy within your skill tree. Couple this with bite sized farming runs and you had my perfect game.
2. Mechwarrior 4: vengeance ; A fantastic single player experience for this mech game. I actually think this might be my favorite campaign for a shooter ever as crazy as this sounds. Open map sandboxes with your own set of weapons and mech lances. Awesome. Would buy a sequel day 1.
3. Star wars knights of the old Republic ; i don't really care for star wars, but this game
Demonstrated the power the medium had for story telling. The twist blew my mind.
Edit. Read the rules again and needed 3 games to qualify. Updated post.
Dion Blaster
Member
Dang, the top 3 is set in stone I assume, but I think SotC could make the top 5. Edit: skimming the thread again I severely underestimated how many mentions it's getting. Glad it was just as memorable for others! Replying it this week (this time in HD) was so mesmerizing that I couldn't get to visit all the games I wanted to before voting. So simple, just jump, grab, and stab, but so satisfying. Not to mention riding around that beautiful desert collecting fruit and lizard tails.
i'm not sure what exactly pulls me into video games. i think it's new ideas, or the exploration of new ideas. or maybe just exploration in general. i can vividly recall what it felt like to fly for the first time in super mario bros. 3, or uncover a secret exit in the first super mario bros. game. when the legend of zelda: link's awakening had a story and a different perspective for an action-ish game (i had never played anything like it before aside from adventure on the 2600), it was the first time i was sucked into a game as a world. the n64 generation was the first console generation where i was there as it was happening. even though i arrived late for mario and goldeneye, i was there for ocarina of time and rayman 2.
what was great was that every game felt like a new experience back then. and it afforded the ability for me to be picky and even feel glad that sega posed no threat to my status quo of preferring a nintendo platform (in 1998, i thought the playstation was some cheap knockoff console - i was pretty uneducated on the market as it was in the late 90). that changed in 1999 with the dreamcast. i first had actually seen it in the earlier part of the year, when some guys at a game shop had imported it and were playing soul calibur. i didn't realize what i was looking at, but i thought the game looked nice. it wasn't until that summer that the family was on the east coast, and i happened to see sonic adventure at a toys r us kiosk that i had my mind blown again. at that time, i think i was starting to become used to the idea that every new game was one of the best things ever, but seeing sonic in 3d like that had me a dreamcast fan from that day onward.
at work, i was asked if i was ever drawn to any specific console, and at the time i said no. but looking back, i think the only one i really preferred with fervency was the dreamcast. while the n64 and the ps2 and the wii all had great games, some being my favorites ever, none were an embodiment of how cool and interesting and dynamic as games could be as the dreamcast.
i think part of it too was a bit of myself growing up. while the n64 had experiences that were readily available, the dreamcast was my first attempt at going outside of my nintendo-friendly comfort zone and trying out many new things i probably would have never attempted otherwise. i think it was this that eventually led me to get over myself and buy a ps2 and xbox and just enjoy those games for what they were despite how much i might have disliked what the first-parties of those platforms represented.
this preamble (more like preramble lolol) is inspired by just what the hell i was thinking when i was compiling this list. especially when there are so many other critically-acclaimed games or things i loved not represented.
honorable mentions
x. Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando - i remember playing ratchet & clank the same time as jak and daxter. both were entertaining, but i far preferred jak and daxter's style of buddy-platforming to ratchet & clank's. the level design was better and the world felt more fully-realized. when jak ii and going commando came out within a month of each other, i immediately put my time into jak ii. going commando, i thought was going to be some sort of diet jak ii. no. it was a full fucking buffet. the structure of the game, its tone, the incredible advances to the gameplay in under a year were astonishing. and after you beat the game, there's still so much to do. i played this game for sixty hours, and beat it six times before i finally grew tired of it.
x. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time - aside from the 'no wait, i didn't fall to my bloody death, i grabbed there ledge and pulled myself up. oh, and you were there!' aspect of the game, sands of time was surprisingly put together for what was honestly a aaa-style game back in those days. my only complaint isn't directed at the game, but that this was the series that ubisoft chose to save over another that launched around that time...
x. Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria - just beautiful to look at and wonderful to play through. the battle system was tons of fun, and i really appreciated the 2d perspective outside of battle. it also has a deceptive villain who is a blast by the end of the game, and makes the final climb up the final level just that much more satisfying.
x. Katamari Damacy - this has got to be the best budget game of the generation. it's a creative and fun game, but i don't know how else it would have taken off without that $20 price point. not that it should have needed it.
x. Persona 4 - persona 4 was bought on a whim in 2009 after hearing so many god damn things about it. holy shit were people ever right. what a kick ass experience. social links, dungeon crawling, and persona fusing was all fantastic. my lengthy playthrough wound up being the swan song of the ps2, and for me, the generation.
x. Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat - contender for my favorite platformer of the generation. once you get into the right rhythm, beating a level with the unorthodox drum controls is pretty strange but feels oh so good.
x. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - the best metal gear solid, snake eater manages to find heart in its own ridiculousness to balance itself out, instead of playing it off as cool in the twin snakes, or trying too hard with being silly in sons of liberty. there are many multiple moments that stand out, including the lengthy intro, the final boss fight
, and the best damn ladder-climbing sequence in video game history. and subsistence is even better, with improved camera controls, and some really funny bonuses as well. this was metal gear solid at its peak.
x. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 - LIGHTS OUT. GUERILLA RADIO.
x. Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic - i bought an xbox and ninja gaiden in 2004 on a sort of really unimpressive version of ferris bueller's day off. the employee recommended kotor. since it had actually dropped in price that very day, i picked up knights of the old republic too. to this day, i have never played ninja gaiden. kotor on the other hand, was one reason the xbox purchase was completely validated. pc games were alien to me, and the design philosophies here were brand new. the xbox became a weird combo of sega games and pc games, and knights of the old republic was the start.
x. panzer dragoon orta - the only panzer dragoon i've played to completion, this was the on-rails shooter of the generation for me, and i played and enjoyed rez kind of a lot too. a damn shame this wound up being the end of the series, but considering the performance of the others, it's fortunate we got it at all.
x. Final Fantasy XII - in 2006 i gave ffxii a chance. after about getting to level 20, i was pretty much done with it. too boring, no interest in the characters, and i was too underleveled where i was. a year later, i gave it another shot and everything clicked. i was way more interested in exploring the world, hunting bounties, and discovering caves and monsters. i never grew to care about the story or most of the characters, but when i was done, it was one of my favorite final fantasy games.
x. Jet Grind Radio - this was one of those games that defined the difference between the dreamcast and other gaming platforms. fun, light, and arcadey, and loose while it was actually pretty polished. there was a feeling around first-party sega games at the time like they were really good sketch drawings while nintendo may have had computer-colored 2d art work and sony had 3d computer graphics. it felt a little rough around the edges, but in a good way, and sold me on the concept of cel-shading a lot better than nintendo did at the time.
x. Half-Life 2 - so my first experience with this was the xbox version of the game. that meant many, many, many load times. however, i enjoyed it quite a lot. what made me really love it though was the replay of it in 2007 or 2008 after i bought the orange box. i do recall thinking in 2005 that after playing halo, halo 2, medal of honor frontline, and other first-person shooters of the generation, that maybe i had grown out of love with the genre. after playing this, i realized that nope, it was just that those games simply didn't live up to my expectations, especially with regards to level design, which is something this game nailed.
x. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door - i think that the gc/gba generation was the one intelligent systems shined the most. it happened to coincide with a rather lackluster ead and gutted retro studios (and absent rare), so their consistency really made me respect them as a team. while i was a fan of paper mario, i loved the thousand-year door. it's the best mario's ever been in the rpg genre.
x. Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader - i honestly cannot remember anything about this other than it being the first game i played on my gamecube in november 2001 and how awesome the death star trench run was.
x. Super Smash Bros. Melee - melee might be the most fun i've had with a smash bros. game. the recent 3ds release actually comes close, but melee was probably the biggest step up over its predecessor other than paper mario for a nintendo game that generation.
x. Seaman - continuing on a list of dreamcast games that wowed me was the strange virtual pet game seaman. it worked surprisingly well, providing lasting memories about the general experience, although nothing specific. what's great though is that you can replay it at different parts of your life and the experience will be different thanks to the variety in seaman's responses.
x. Crazy Taxi - i actually first played this at an arcade in 1999 and sunk about $20 in quarters into the machine. the dreamcast version was a guaranteed purchase then, and i even got quite good at it. it was fun having friends from school over and trading the controller back and forth, seeing if we could beat each other's high scores.
x. Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil - i had heard only a few things about klonoa 2 at the time i bought it, but they were good things. actually, i had purchased it much on a whim after buying into the hype for virtua fighter 4 and being utterly disappointed with it. it was essentially a straight trade for klonoa 2 when i got store credit for it at gamestop and man what a great decision that was. klonoa 2 was like the rayman 2 of the generation: an unexpectedly great a-b platformer.
top ten
10. Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay - i purchased chronicles of riddick: escape from butcher bay when it was $10 at a circuit city. my only exposure to the game was this thread from june 2004. it's actually escape from butcher bay that had me first reexamine my derision towards nintendo's emphasis of metroid prime as a first-person 'adventure' game instead of a first-person shooter. there's a lot of fun in riddick: stealth moments, hand-to-hand combat, and level design that leads to environment interaction. when finally given access to a gun, it feels earned and extremely powerful.
9. The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap - i am a giant zelda fan, and in a generation full of action-adventure games, it's a little weird to be putting the most forgotten main title up here. i wasn't huge on flagship's attempt with oracle of seasons, but i liked oracle of ages a good deal. i had also mildly enjoyed four swords adventure, which was slightly more frustrating when playing with a non-zelda player. expectations on the minish cap were thus low. it's probably this that led to my accepting the first half of the game as rather ho-hum, and helped create the disparity in the latter half which wound up being one of the best zelda games i've ever played. the final three dungeons were a spectacular ramp-up in creativity and difficulty that hasn't been done in a zelda game since.
8. Shadow of the Colossus - ico never did much for me, but shadow of the colossus was an experience. in a generation filled with sandbox world design, this felt the most complete. where san andreas felt like a condensed version of california, and the wind waker was empty aside from some islands dotting the horizon, shadow of the colossus felt like a small chunk of a bigger world. the emptiness felt deliberate and carefully crafted. i found enjoyment in just riding my trusty steed, artax, to the edge of the world, just taking in the view of the ocean as waves crashed against the cliffside. that's nothing to say of the various little challenges and things to climb along the way, or the main drive of the game: its many bosses, what it took to get to them and how much it took to finally slay them.
7. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King - maybe quaint is the best way to describe this? despite being later in the generation and after i'd been through many rpgs, i liked the general tone and atmosphere of journey of the cursed king for being traditional and new at the same time. almost like if an nes style rpg was made into a full-fledged ps2 game. it's just a joy to wander the overworld, and strangely fun hunting down rare metal slimes. the true end was rather satisfying to accomplish as well, and for seven years, this was the most time i had ever put into an rpg: 76 hours, and somehow it had been done in the span of a week.
6. Pikmin 2 - i was not a fan of nintendo's ead/r&d teams in the gamecube era. it felt like they were rushing projects and half-assing it with ideas since they completed majora's mask. super mario sunshine, the wind waker, and mario kart: double dash were all disappointing follow-ups to classic games. in that time there were also smaller interesting games that were fun, but nothing to make up for the loss in ideas. pikmin was one of those games. i had no expectations for its sequel and yet the adjustment from an almost arcadey beat-the-clock collectathon to a strategy-based dungeon-crawler turned out to be a welcome one. just slowing down the pace let the player take in their surroundings better and appreciate the world more. it might have some of ead's most fun writing too. i always looked forward to olimar's description of things we take for granted, putting an alien spin on our own world.
5. Grandia II - there were two rpgs i'd heard a lot about for the dreamcast in 2000. one of them was grandia ii. i actually picked this up as one of my later dreamcast purchases, on an april trip in 2001 to arizona, at a funcoland. there was no case, just a green sleeve, but i wasn't picky back then, seeing as it was the last one, and really just wanted to play it (i had brought the dreamcast with me to arizona). until now, i had played my fair share of rpgs, especially the classics, but this was the first one i played that was clearly about being fun. the battle system was something of a revelation in that it was super enjoyable and not just flashy. it was almost like playing a cool fighting game or a cool action game or even a cool platformer. i had never experienced anything quite like it. it was also the first rpg i played with voice acting throughout, and that also left a strong impression. though the story may not have been great, i was engrossed by it and loved the characters, to the point where i enthusiastically recommended it to friends at school.
4. Shenmue II - shenmue might have been my first real disappointment in gaming. yeah, i'd been fooled by marketing before - i had hoped glover would be better, or that the cruis'n games were any good, but shenmue was the first to really leave me wondering what people had seen in it. the drive behind the main character is completely at odds with what happens in the game. there's very little fighting. there's very little 'roleplaying,' and everything takes a long time to do. still, i was on board for shenmue ii as the dreamcast's last hurrah. i needed something in late 2001 as a final celebration for the machine, as my gamecube would soon replace it. microsoft and sega made sure that would not happen, so with no small amount of bitterness, it was the european import of the dreamcast game that was purchased instead, with a cheat device i would never use except to boot the discs for shenmue ii.
to say that shenmue ii improves on shenmue is an understatement. shenmue ii is the actualization of what shenmue wanted to be. if that's what 1980s hong kong was, well, i believe it. there's still no shortage of things to do, like in the first game, but there is also a sort of reason that ryo is only slowly moving forward. it didn't make sense in the first game that this guy who everyone seems to know would have a hard time getting information. put him in a strange city full of strangers and it's a lot more believable. there are other improvements too, like being able to skip ahead to a time when an appointment will take place, or let the locals take you to a location you may not otherwise know (and the game even gives the player the ability to skip that entirely once they start walking). training sessions are actually fun, and fighting is much more frequent and badass. playing the dreamcast version turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as the awful american voices were nowhere to be found. it also has one of my favorite boss fights of all-time, and ends on one hell of a cliffhanger. while sega would go on to make other games that i loved, this really turned out to be a last hurrah in ways i was not expecting. i recommend it to anyone.
3. Beyond Good & Evil - in 1999 i asked for and received rayman 2 for christmas. having only played the original rayman in stores, i had no idea what to expect, other than apparently a good platformer. that same christmas, i had also received donkey kong 64 (my parents were very kind to us). when i got back to school, the one game i kept talking about was rayman 2. there was something about the colors and the level design and the music. in 2003, i had heard a lot of beyond good & evil. earlier in the year i had been burned by hype regarding jak ii and viewtiful joe, so i waited until beyond good & evil was $10 at best buy before taking the plunge. it was amazingly good. in fact, on gaf, i remarked that i hadn't felt this way about a game since rayman 2. it was a couple months later i found out the two games were done by the same people.
beyond good & evil is the game that naughty dog has been trying to make with every uncharted. it's an action-adventure game with good level design, likable protagonists, and fun setpieces. it doesn't overstay its welcome. actually, it left me wanting a whole lot more. i played it on the ps2 again in 2008, and it was this play through i realized that home sweet home wasn't just music from the credits. i mean, how many video games have music as beautiful as this for their introduction to the overworld?
2. Resident Evil 4 - resident evil 4 was unique in that i don't usually play horror games, and yet here was one that challenged me to think of various solutions to ever-changing problems. there probably is no greater start to a game from this generation than that first village. keeping track of people climbing through windows, up ladders, and making sure you have enough bullets makes for one hell of a tense experience. the game is insanely polished and everything feels good and right, whether it's jumping through a window, popping a shot off from a magnum, or combining and upgrading weapons into something even more deadly and useful. it's a game i originally had to play just an hour a night before i was too unnerved to keep moving forward. one hell of a time to be sure.
1. Skies of Arcadia - skies of arcadia wasn't my top choice for the generation as the generation was happening. i liked it a lot, and it obviously left a large impression (15 years later and i still have a ramirez avatar). it's only looking back that i think it earns the top spot. to tie it back to my original point at the top of this thread, it happened at a time in my life when i was branching out and discovering things for myself. at the time i played skies of arcadia, i was just getting into rpgs, and had only played pokemon red, pokemon silver, final fantasy vi, shenmue, chrono trigger, terranigma, and super mario rpg. it was my first traditional rpg in 3d, and what i think some may consider mundane, i consider timeless. the cliched story and characters are charming, the battle system is traditional with just the right twist, and the world begs to be explored. discovering new civilizations, fighting incredible ship battles in the sky, and building your crew provided further incentive to keep playing. it seemed like there was always more around the corner. i think it was the scale that made it feel so unique and alive. i think that's what i appreciate the most: that extra effort that makes it adventuresome, intriguing, and wonderful.
top ten
1. Skies of Arcadia;
2. Resident Evil 4;
3. Beyond Good & Evil;
4. Shenmue II;
5. Grandia II;
6. Pikmin 2;
7. Dragon Quest VIII:
8. Shadow of the Colossus;
9. The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap;
10. Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay;
x. Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando;
x. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time;
x. Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria;
x. Katamari Damacy;
x. Persona 4;
x. Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat;
x. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater;
x. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2;
x. Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic;
x. panzer dragoon orta;
x. Final Fantasy XII;
x. Jet Grind Radio;
x. Half-Life 2;
x. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door;
x. Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader;
x. Super Smash Bros. Melee;
x. Seaman;
x. Crazy Taxi;
x. Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil;
what was great was that every game felt like a new experience back then. and it afforded the ability for me to be picky and even feel glad that sega posed no threat to my status quo of preferring a nintendo platform (in 1998, i thought the playstation was some cheap knockoff console - i was pretty uneducated on the market as it was in the late 90). that changed in 1999 with the dreamcast. i first had actually seen it in the earlier part of the year, when some guys at a game shop had imported it and were playing soul calibur. i didn't realize what i was looking at, but i thought the game looked nice. it wasn't until that summer that the family was on the east coast, and i happened to see sonic adventure at a toys r us kiosk that i had my mind blown again. at that time, i think i was starting to become used to the idea that every new game was one of the best things ever, but seeing sonic in 3d like that had me a dreamcast fan from that day onward.
at work, i was asked if i was ever drawn to any specific console, and at the time i said no. but looking back, i think the only one i really preferred with fervency was the dreamcast. while the n64 and the ps2 and the wii all had great games, some being my favorites ever, none were an embodiment of how cool and interesting and dynamic as games could be as the dreamcast.
i think part of it too was a bit of myself growing up. while the n64 had experiences that were readily available, the dreamcast was my first attempt at going outside of my nintendo-friendly comfort zone and trying out many new things i probably would have never attempted otherwise. i think it was this that eventually led me to get over myself and buy a ps2 and xbox and just enjoy those games for what they were despite how much i might have disliked what the first-parties of those platforms represented.
this preamble (more like preramble lolol) is inspired by just what the hell i was thinking when i was compiling this list. especially when there are so many other critically-acclaimed games or things i loved not represented.
honorable mentions
x. Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando - i remember playing ratchet & clank the same time as jak and daxter. both were entertaining, but i far preferred jak and daxter's style of buddy-platforming to ratchet & clank's. the level design was better and the world felt more fully-realized. when jak ii and going commando came out within a month of each other, i immediately put my time into jak ii. going commando, i thought was going to be some sort of diet jak ii. no. it was a full fucking buffet. the structure of the game, its tone, the incredible advances to the gameplay in under a year were astonishing. and after you beat the game, there's still so much to do. i played this game for sixty hours, and beat it six times before i finally grew tired of it.
x. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time - aside from the 'no wait, i didn't fall to my bloody death, i grabbed there ledge and pulled myself up. oh, and you were there!' aspect of the game, sands of time was surprisingly put together for what was honestly a aaa-style game back in those days. my only complaint isn't directed at the game, but that this was the series that ubisoft chose to save over another that launched around that time...
x. Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria - just beautiful to look at and wonderful to play through. the battle system was tons of fun, and i really appreciated the 2d perspective outside of battle. it also has a deceptive villain who is a blast by the end of the game, and makes the final climb up the final level just that much more satisfying.
x. Katamari Damacy - this has got to be the best budget game of the generation. it's a creative and fun game, but i don't know how else it would have taken off without that $20 price point. not that it should have needed it.
x. Persona 4 - persona 4 was bought on a whim in 2009 after hearing so many god damn things about it. holy shit were people ever right. what a kick ass experience. social links, dungeon crawling, and persona fusing was all fantastic. my lengthy playthrough wound up being the swan song of the ps2, and for me, the generation.
x. Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat - contender for my favorite platformer of the generation. once you get into the right rhythm, beating a level with the unorthodox drum controls is pretty strange but feels oh so good.
x. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - the best metal gear solid, snake eater manages to find heart in its own ridiculousness to balance itself out, instead of playing it off as cool in the twin snakes, or trying too hard with being silly in sons of liberty. there are many multiple moments that stand out, including the lengthy intro, the final boss fight
get it
x. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 - LIGHTS OUT. GUERILLA RADIO.
x. Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic - i bought an xbox and ninja gaiden in 2004 on a sort of really unimpressive version of ferris bueller's day off. the employee recommended kotor. since it had actually dropped in price that very day, i picked up knights of the old republic too. to this day, i have never played ninja gaiden. kotor on the other hand, was one reason the xbox purchase was completely validated. pc games were alien to me, and the design philosophies here were brand new. the xbox became a weird combo of sega games and pc games, and knights of the old republic was the start.
x. panzer dragoon orta - the only panzer dragoon i've played to completion, this was the on-rails shooter of the generation for me, and i played and enjoyed rez kind of a lot too. a damn shame this wound up being the end of the series, but considering the performance of the others, it's fortunate we got it at all.
x. Final Fantasy XII - in 2006 i gave ffxii a chance. after about getting to level 20, i was pretty much done with it. too boring, no interest in the characters, and i was too underleveled where i was. a year later, i gave it another shot and everything clicked. i was way more interested in exploring the world, hunting bounties, and discovering caves and monsters. i never grew to care about the story or most of the characters, but when i was done, it was one of my favorite final fantasy games.
x. Jet Grind Radio - this was one of those games that defined the difference between the dreamcast and other gaming platforms. fun, light, and arcadey, and loose while it was actually pretty polished. there was a feeling around first-party sega games at the time like they were really good sketch drawings while nintendo may have had computer-colored 2d art work and sony had 3d computer graphics. it felt a little rough around the edges, but in a good way, and sold me on the concept of cel-shading a lot better than nintendo did at the time.
x. Half-Life 2 - so my first experience with this was the xbox version of the game. that meant many, many, many load times. however, i enjoyed it quite a lot. what made me really love it though was the replay of it in 2007 or 2008 after i bought the orange box. i do recall thinking in 2005 that after playing halo, halo 2, medal of honor frontline, and other first-person shooters of the generation, that maybe i had grown out of love with the genre. after playing this, i realized that nope, it was just that those games simply didn't live up to my expectations, especially with regards to level design, which is something this game nailed.
x. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door - i think that the gc/gba generation was the one intelligent systems shined the most. it happened to coincide with a rather lackluster ead and gutted retro studios (and absent rare), so their consistency really made me respect them as a team. while i was a fan of paper mario, i loved the thousand-year door. it's the best mario's ever been in the rpg genre.
x. Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader - i honestly cannot remember anything about this other than it being the first game i played on my gamecube in november 2001 and how awesome the death star trench run was.
x. Super Smash Bros. Melee - melee might be the most fun i've had with a smash bros. game. the recent 3ds release actually comes close, but melee was probably the biggest step up over its predecessor other than paper mario for a nintendo game that generation.
x. Seaman - continuing on a list of dreamcast games that wowed me was the strange virtual pet game seaman. it worked surprisingly well, providing lasting memories about the general experience, although nothing specific. what's great though is that you can replay it at different parts of your life and the experience will be different thanks to the variety in seaman's responses.
x. Crazy Taxi - i actually first played this at an arcade in 1999 and sunk about $20 in quarters into the machine. the dreamcast version was a guaranteed purchase then, and i even got quite good at it. it was fun having friends from school over and trading the controller back and forth, seeing if we could beat each other's high scores.
x. Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil - i had heard only a few things about klonoa 2 at the time i bought it, but they were good things. actually, i had purchased it much on a whim after buying into the hype for virtua fighter 4 and being utterly disappointed with it. it was essentially a straight trade for klonoa 2 when i got store credit for it at gamestop and man what a great decision that was. klonoa 2 was like the rayman 2 of the generation: an unexpectedly great a-b platformer.
top ten
10. Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay - i purchased chronicles of riddick: escape from butcher bay when it was $10 at a circuit city. my only exposure to the game was this thread from june 2004. it's actually escape from butcher bay that had me first reexamine my derision towards nintendo's emphasis of metroid prime as a first-person 'adventure' game instead of a first-person shooter. there's a lot of fun in riddick: stealth moments, hand-to-hand combat, and level design that leads to environment interaction. when finally given access to a gun, it feels earned and extremely powerful.
9. The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap - i am a giant zelda fan, and in a generation full of action-adventure games, it's a little weird to be putting the most forgotten main title up here. i wasn't huge on flagship's attempt with oracle of seasons, but i liked oracle of ages a good deal. i had also mildly enjoyed four swords adventure, which was slightly more frustrating when playing with a non-zelda player. expectations on the minish cap were thus low. it's probably this that led to my accepting the first half of the game as rather ho-hum, and helped create the disparity in the latter half which wound up being one of the best zelda games i've ever played. the final three dungeons were a spectacular ramp-up in creativity and difficulty that hasn't been done in a zelda game since.
8. Shadow of the Colossus - ico never did much for me, but shadow of the colossus was an experience. in a generation filled with sandbox world design, this felt the most complete. where san andreas felt like a condensed version of california, and the wind waker was empty aside from some islands dotting the horizon, shadow of the colossus felt like a small chunk of a bigger world. the emptiness felt deliberate and carefully crafted. i found enjoyment in just riding my trusty steed, artax, to the edge of the world, just taking in the view of the ocean as waves crashed against the cliffside. that's nothing to say of the various little challenges and things to climb along the way, or the main drive of the game: its many bosses, what it took to get to them and how much it took to finally slay them.
7. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King - maybe quaint is the best way to describe this? despite being later in the generation and after i'd been through many rpgs, i liked the general tone and atmosphere of journey of the cursed king for being traditional and new at the same time. almost like if an nes style rpg was made into a full-fledged ps2 game. it's just a joy to wander the overworld, and strangely fun hunting down rare metal slimes. the true end was rather satisfying to accomplish as well, and for seven years, this was the most time i had ever put into an rpg: 76 hours, and somehow it had been done in the span of a week.
6. Pikmin 2 - i was not a fan of nintendo's ead/r&d teams in the gamecube era. it felt like they were rushing projects and half-assing it with ideas since they completed majora's mask. super mario sunshine, the wind waker, and mario kart: double dash were all disappointing follow-ups to classic games. in that time there were also smaller interesting games that were fun, but nothing to make up for the loss in ideas. pikmin was one of those games. i had no expectations for its sequel and yet the adjustment from an almost arcadey beat-the-clock collectathon to a strategy-based dungeon-crawler turned out to be a welcome one. just slowing down the pace let the player take in their surroundings better and appreciate the world more. it might have some of ead's most fun writing too. i always looked forward to olimar's description of things we take for granted, putting an alien spin on our own world.
5. Grandia II - there were two rpgs i'd heard a lot about for the dreamcast in 2000. one of them was grandia ii. i actually picked this up as one of my later dreamcast purchases, on an april trip in 2001 to arizona, at a funcoland. there was no case, just a green sleeve, but i wasn't picky back then, seeing as it was the last one, and really just wanted to play it (i had brought the dreamcast with me to arizona). until now, i had played my fair share of rpgs, especially the classics, but this was the first one i played that was clearly about being fun. the battle system was something of a revelation in that it was super enjoyable and not just flashy. it was almost like playing a cool fighting game or a cool action game or even a cool platformer. i had never experienced anything quite like it. it was also the first rpg i played with voice acting throughout, and that also left a strong impression. though the story may not have been great, i was engrossed by it and loved the characters, to the point where i enthusiastically recommended it to friends at school.
4. Shenmue II - shenmue might have been my first real disappointment in gaming. yeah, i'd been fooled by marketing before - i had hoped glover would be better, or that the cruis'n games were any good, but shenmue was the first to really leave me wondering what people had seen in it. the drive behind the main character is completely at odds with what happens in the game. there's very little fighting. there's very little 'roleplaying,' and everything takes a long time to do. still, i was on board for shenmue ii as the dreamcast's last hurrah. i needed something in late 2001 as a final celebration for the machine, as my gamecube would soon replace it. microsoft and sega made sure that would not happen, so with no small amount of bitterness, it was the european import of the dreamcast game that was purchased instead, with a cheat device i would never use except to boot the discs for shenmue ii.
to say that shenmue ii improves on shenmue is an understatement. shenmue ii is the actualization of what shenmue wanted to be. if that's what 1980s hong kong was, well, i believe it. there's still no shortage of things to do, like in the first game, but there is also a sort of reason that ryo is only slowly moving forward. it didn't make sense in the first game that this guy who everyone seems to know would have a hard time getting information. put him in a strange city full of strangers and it's a lot more believable. there are other improvements too, like being able to skip ahead to a time when an appointment will take place, or let the locals take you to a location you may not otherwise know (and the game even gives the player the ability to skip that entirely once they start walking). training sessions are actually fun, and fighting is much more frequent and badass. playing the dreamcast version turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as the awful american voices were nowhere to be found. it also has one of my favorite boss fights of all-time, and ends on one hell of a cliffhanger. while sega would go on to make other games that i loved, this really turned out to be a last hurrah in ways i was not expecting. i recommend it to anyone.
3. Beyond Good & Evil - in 1999 i asked for and received rayman 2 for christmas. having only played the original rayman in stores, i had no idea what to expect, other than apparently a good platformer. that same christmas, i had also received donkey kong 64 (my parents were very kind to us). when i got back to school, the one game i kept talking about was rayman 2. there was something about the colors and the level design and the music. in 2003, i had heard a lot of beyond good & evil. earlier in the year i had been burned by hype regarding jak ii and viewtiful joe, so i waited until beyond good & evil was $10 at best buy before taking the plunge. it was amazingly good. in fact, on gaf, i remarked that i hadn't felt this way about a game since rayman 2. it was a couple months later i found out the two games were done by the same people.
beyond good & evil is the game that naughty dog has been trying to make with every uncharted. it's an action-adventure game with good level design, likable protagonists, and fun setpieces. it doesn't overstay its welcome. actually, it left me wanting a whole lot more. i played it on the ps2 again in 2008, and it was this play through i realized that home sweet home wasn't just music from the credits. i mean, how many video games have music as beautiful as this for their introduction to the overworld?
2. Resident Evil 4 - resident evil 4 was unique in that i don't usually play horror games, and yet here was one that challenged me to think of various solutions to ever-changing problems. there probably is no greater start to a game from this generation than that first village. keeping track of people climbing through windows, up ladders, and making sure you have enough bullets makes for one hell of a tense experience. the game is insanely polished and everything feels good and right, whether it's jumping through a window, popping a shot off from a magnum, or combining and upgrading weapons into something even more deadly and useful. it's a game i originally had to play just an hour a night before i was too unnerved to keep moving forward. one hell of a time to be sure.
1. Skies of Arcadia - skies of arcadia wasn't my top choice for the generation as the generation was happening. i liked it a lot, and it obviously left a large impression (15 years later and i still have a ramirez avatar). it's only looking back that i think it earns the top spot. to tie it back to my original point at the top of this thread, it happened at a time in my life when i was branching out and discovering things for myself. at the time i played skies of arcadia, i was just getting into rpgs, and had only played pokemon red, pokemon silver, final fantasy vi, shenmue, chrono trigger, terranigma, and super mario rpg. it was my first traditional rpg in 3d, and what i think some may consider mundane, i consider timeless. the cliched story and characters are charming, the battle system is traditional with just the right twist, and the world begs to be explored. discovering new civilizations, fighting incredible ship battles in the sky, and building your crew provided further incentive to keep playing. it seemed like there was always more around the corner. i think it was the scale that made it feel so unique and alive. i think that's what i appreciate the most: that extra effort that makes it adventuresome, intriguing, and wonderful.
top ten
1. Skies of Arcadia;
2. Resident Evil 4;
3. Beyond Good & Evil;
4. Shenmue II;
5. Grandia II;
6. Pikmin 2;
7. Dragon Quest VIII:
8. Shadow of the Colossus;
9. The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap;
10. Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay;
x. Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando;
x. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time;
x. Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria;
x. Katamari Damacy;
x. Persona 4;
x. Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat;
x. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater;
x. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2;
x. Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic;
x. panzer dragoon orta;
x. Final Fantasy XII;
x. Jet Grind Radio;
x. Half-Life 2;
x. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door;
x. Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader;
x. Super Smash Bros. Melee;
x. Seaman;
x. Crazy Taxi;
x. Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil;
PanicFreak
Member
1. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic; KOTOR was the first game that I remember where I had to pick my jaw up off the floor because of the story twist.
2. Halo; I picked this game up at launch of the Xbox along with three other games. It was the last game I played when I got home but if immediately fell in love. The story was awesome, the world was unique and mysterious and the fighting felt like every encounter could be different. Halo is still my favorite franchise.
3. Diablo 2; I played this game for years and I never got bored. I would have probably played it for longer but my computer crapped out on me and I lost all of my characters.
4. Shadow of the Colossus; I didn't own a PS2 but I made sure to play this game. I beat it in a weekend. It's still one of the more unique games I've ever played.
5. Skies of Arcadia; Skies is literally the only JRPG I've ever loved. The dungeons were fun, and the bosses were cool. I especially loved the ship battles.
6. Half-Life 2; Great game with a great story. It felt like I was playing a roller coaster. It would probably be my top game ever if not for the loading screens.
7. Halo 2; I didn't like Halo 2 nearly as much as Halo but it had online multiplayer. The cliffhanger was a real bummer at the time but I actually played through it again for a second time in the MCC and it did have some great encounters.
8. Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory; Splinter Cell without the instafail missions. I played through some of these levels 20 times.
9. Resident Evil: Code Veronica; I was a huge Resident Evil fan back in the day and this one was the game I was most excited about for the Dreamcast. It was the first one with 3D backgrounds and it was a looker.
10. Shenmue 2; I liked the first Shenmue but I loved this one. You had more freedom in the second game and there were more fights. I wish we could get some closure on the series.
Honorable mentions
-Powerstone; I had too much fun playing this game with my friends to not include it here. Four person battles were so much fun.
-Splinter Cell; replaced my love for MGS.
-Metal Gear Solid 2; not as good as the first, the bosses sucked compared to the first game but it still had good gameplay.
-Shenmue; the original. Not as good as the sequel but an interesting start to an awesome story.
-Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow
-Soul Caliber; Loved this game. Nightmare was a beast!
-NFL 2K series; Never forget.
-GTA Vice City; My favorite of the pre-GTA V games.
Edit 1: Forgot about Diablo 2. Sorry Powerstone.
Edit 2: Beefed up the honorable mentions
2. Halo; I picked this game up at launch of the Xbox along with three other games. It was the last game I played when I got home but if immediately fell in love. The story was awesome, the world was unique and mysterious and the fighting felt like every encounter could be different. Halo is still my favorite franchise.
3. Diablo 2; I played this game for years and I never got bored. I would have probably played it for longer but my computer crapped out on me and I lost all of my characters.
4. Shadow of the Colossus; I didn't own a PS2 but I made sure to play this game. I beat it in a weekend. It's still one of the more unique games I've ever played.
5. Skies of Arcadia; Skies is literally the only JRPG I've ever loved. The dungeons were fun, and the bosses were cool. I especially loved the ship battles.
6. Half-Life 2; Great game with a great story. It felt like I was playing a roller coaster. It would probably be my top game ever if not for the loading screens.
7. Halo 2; I didn't like Halo 2 nearly as much as Halo but it had online multiplayer. The cliffhanger was a real bummer at the time but I actually played through it again for a second time in the MCC and it did have some great encounters.
8. Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory; Splinter Cell without the instafail missions. I played through some of these levels 20 times.
9. Resident Evil: Code Veronica; I was a huge Resident Evil fan back in the day and this one was the game I was most excited about for the Dreamcast. It was the first one with 3D backgrounds and it was a looker.
10. Shenmue 2; I liked the first Shenmue but I loved this one. You had more freedom in the second game and there were more fights. I wish we could get some closure on the series.
Honorable mentions
-Powerstone; I had too much fun playing this game with my friends to not include it here. Four person battles were so much fun.
-Splinter Cell; replaced my love for MGS.
-Metal Gear Solid 2; not as good as the first, the bosses sucked compared to the first game but it still had good gameplay.
-Shenmue; the original. Not as good as the sequel but an interesting start to an awesome story.
-Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow
-Soul Caliber; Loved this game. Nightmare was a beast!
-NFL 2K series; Never forget.
-GTA Vice City; My favorite of the pre-GTA V games.
Edit 1: Forgot about Diablo 2. Sorry Powerstone.
Edit 2: Beefed up the honorable mentions