#30 Ninja Gaiden Sigma
The first truly difficult hack n' slash! I remember playing Ninja Gaiden on Xbox dying fifty times to the Samurai Horseman boss. I was up until 4am fighting this bastard. Part of me wanted to just put the game away for good. Another part of me was determined to get revenge on the bastard for all my deaths. The game wouldn't let me progress without mastering two things. First I had to remember which attacks were blockable, and which were better off being dodged. Some attacks in the game were heavy attacks. Blocking too many of those attacks in a row would cause Ryu to stumble. Other attacks were too fast to be dodged, so you needed to block. Second, the game demanded I learn how to absorb enemy essence in order to quick charge an Ultimate attack. This meant killing smaller enemies that were backing up the main Horselord boss, while still dodging and blocking attacks coming from the main boss. Eventually everything clicked and the boss went down easily. This was just one example of how the game demanded you learn more advanced techniques or die. In 2004 this demand was new and innovative. It wouldn't be until 2011's Dark Souls that this level of "You had better learn to play this game" resurfaced. The PS3 Version is the best version with a ton of new enemies, and secrets to discover.
#29 Dragon Quest VIII Journey of the Cursed King
This is the best purely traditional JRPG on this list outside of Chrono Trigger, and Final Fantasy VI Advance. By purely traditional, I mean it doesn't do anything vastly different from the standard JRPG formula. It has turn based battles and towns, and a story revolving around the main cast. There are a few other JRPGs with a better place on this list, but those games deviate from the standard formula in one way or another. Dragon Quest VIII has a vast explorable world chock full of hidden secrets off the beaten path. Whether it's finding hidden mini-medals to turn in to a collector, building your own monster team, or trying out a new alchemy combination, there's tons of things to do. The combat is frequent with random battles every three or four steps, but it is also very fast paced. Animations are quick, and the game will go through a battle in 30 seconds or less, that most games would take 2 minutes for. The game has fantastic pacing. Just as you get tired of random battles you come across a new town to explore, and new people to talk to. And then once you need a break from talking to people the game knows just when to get you back to fighting stuff. The British cast does an excellent job of voice acting in this game, and the music is damned good as well. The cell shaded art style holds up well even today, and is one of the best looking games on PS2.
#28 Fallout 3 Game of the Year Edition
No, I haven't played New Vegas yet. Yes, I will play it in 2020. The PS3 version was an unplayable bugfest, so I haven't been able to try until now. Anyway, Fallout 3 is the best of all the Bethesda developed RPGs. Oblivion and Skyrim dumbed down the Bethesda formula by getting rid of a lot of skills or just flat out dropping attributes. Fallout 4 simplified everything in the leveling system, cutting perk choices in half. But Fallout 3? Yeah, that game lets you create a character with detailed stats and a massive variety of perks to choose from. The Pit, Broken Steel, and Point lookout were all beefy DLCs that made a big game even bigger. Honestly, I can't think of DLC that big since, except for the Witcher 3's DLC packs. I loved the VATs system allowing you to slow down time and take out individual body parts on enemies.
