Time for my top 3

3. The prime primate, the thriller gorilla.
2. A pirate theme for the sequel
1. Open the disc tray, do over, do over, do over, do over, do ove-damn I just missed it, do over, do over, do over......

3. Donkey Kong Country

2. DKC 2

1. ?

A Link to the Past is correct.

DKC and DKC 2 are both correct

2. I'll guess Final Fantasy X for that one.

1. Is the Falco clone Revali?

Entering the top 5 now, these are games that I love in just about every way. I wouldn't change a thing about them, beyond giving them more content so they never had to end. Every game here is absolutely perfect, there is nothing separating them beyond my personal preference as to characters etc.

DQXI is a masterpiece of game design, and S is the best example in all of gaming of how to do extra content right. With an incredible, lengthy story full of a fantastic cast of characters that are all given plenty of opportunities to show of their personality and grow across the story, DQXI is perfection. Its world is vibrant and alive, gameplay deep and engaging, customisation options varied and fun, there are no negatives here.

Then from there, DQXI S did what all revised versions of games should - it polished the game and added a huge amount of additional content. The game is easily the most beautiful on the Switch, and is worthy of everybody's time, regardless of whether you like RPGs or not. I finished every quest and collected every collectable in the game, something I've never done in RPG this size before. I just didn't want it to end. DQXI is a game that I will come back to again and again, it's comfortable, fun and welcoming. It is a beautiful game that everyone needs to try. I put it in this position after playing roughly halfway through the Switch version (played 3DS at launch) - next year it is going to be higher up.

Pikmin 2 is perhaps the most unique game I've ever played, and certainly one of the most charming and intriguing. It's world was an achievement for the time, and remains stunning today. Exploring an abandoned Earth, documenting the creatures there and collecting 'treasures' (the remnants of long-lost human civilization) is enthralling. For a game with so little dialogue, Olimar's letters from home provide a fascinating window into his life and struggles that make me empathise with Olimar more than I have any right to. Louie's culinary depictions of the world's monsters add a ridiculous amount of charm to the bestiary too.

Pure gameplay wise, Pikmin 2 is incredible as well. The frantic resource management is toned down from 1, but still present, and the anxiety as you rush to complete a goal before sundown is as heightened as ever.

More than anything else, Pikmin 2 (and the series in general) absolutely nail atmosphere. There's no other game that draws me in anywhere near as much as Pikmin does, that makes me feel like I'm there and my decisions matter. It is fantastic.

Dragon Quest V is the pinnacle of traditional JRPGs. Not only does it have the best-paced narrative in all of gaming, but one of the most engaging tales of growth too. As you follow the hero from childhood quests with his father and childhood friends (Bianca and Saber), you see the world change and grow around you, then right at the end it hits you with the best twist I've ever seen in games.

Gameplay wise, it expanded the party out to 4 characters, pioneered the monster capturing mechanic (inspiring Pokemon in the process), created an incredible expansive world, and featured an incredible soundtrack to boot.

DQV is JRPG perfection, it is one of the best games ever made.

All with zero guesses, guess my hints were too long to read hahahahahahahahahahaha.

6-Romance of the Three Kingdoms IX

This game was surprisingly good for me after trying to enjoy it many times. It took maybe 50 hours before I actually enjoyed this game. Eventually I came to appreciate this game as the finest in it:s series due to many reasons. The first problem was the barbarians, for me they are player prejudiced so after defeating them I decided in future games to weaken them significantly. After adjusting them and it is an actual three kingdoms game and not barbarian game, I really enjoyed managing my officers throughout the realm. It is very important to have your warriors on the frontline but they can also be useful for improving domestic capabilities. Formations are important with those in the front more likely to proc their abilities, but other formations also helped when fighting. For example, a pathetic officer could be used to lead a guard formation to waste the enemies time, while you flank him with your beastly officers. Of course plots are important too, nothing more funny then misleading one of their best 10 times and then he just flops. Survival at the start is of the upmost importance and as time goes on your economy management becomes more important. I could go on and on about the different aspects of this game, but I am just glad I stuck with the game after quitting it so many times.

5- Dynasty Warriors 3

What can I say I enjoyed this game too much. I beat every character's individual story at least 3 times each, each person's story can take 3-8 hours each. And with 32 characters that had stories as well as 9 more bonus characters, it was simply quite addicting. But playing my favorite characters was something else. Gan Ning could mow down enemies while running around like a madman. I made it my mission to get his ultimate weapon every time, which requires meeting certain conditions. His ultimate weapon added lightning to his special attacks. When using his full combo he shoots wind cutters from his sword and that can hit multiple enemies and with the extra lightning effects it was simply amazing. The voice acting was poor, but entertaining, and I genuinely liked the few VAs for my favorites. Gan Ning again was a madman in this game with tattoos and shirtless appearance, in actual history he was a pirate and a murderer, so I think it kind of fits. As the legend goes he wore bells into battle so that the enemy would know that he was coming. Oops, did I just gush about one character out of 41? Well there are certainly many other entertaining characters, but instead lets talk about the game.

Unlike modern Warriors games, the ai are actually pretty strong. If you sit around surrounded by fodder, you will die very quickly. Of course the different levels of enemies matter. For example a private hits you once or twice, a sergeant hits you thrice, and a major does a full combo. A lieutenant or a minor officer will have many combos, and an actual officer of note will be very strong as long as you don't outstat them. Speaking of which, you gain experience like in a jrpg by simply defeating enemies, and you can get stat boosts from the items that they drop. You can also equip items, which serve specific purposes. One item improves your attack or can save you from a volley of arrows, make your musou even stronger, or even improve your bodyguards. Bodyguards in this game start out pathetic, but like yourself you can level them up and eventually you go from 2 privates to 8 lieutenants. That is to say that they get so strong that they can beat all the enemies besides the bosses for you. Other details to note is if you are playing an officer of note in the battle, then you have your own troops, and these troops will follow you wherever. So say I am playing the leader then that means I have a massive amount of troops, at least 5 battalions of elite troops will follow me plus my personal bodyguards and they will simply wreak havoc in any battlefield.

So sometimes you want to charge in head first into the 100s of crossbowmen, who can destroy your life. If you don't bring any troops then that makes the game really difficult, but you can play it strategically by allowing them to come and then you don't have to kill nearly as many crossbowmen by yourself. Another aspect of the battlefield is if you follow history then you can easily help your allies win the battle. This game introduced me to the three kingdoms lore so it is quite interesting and I am very happy it launched me into the other 3 kingdoms games in my top 50.

4- Digimon World

I already mentioned all the great things the developer decided to put in. And I already mentioned in Digimon World 2 that they threw all that away, both are fine games regardless. But the way you go through this game exploring and unlocking the world as well as building up your city is just so fun. I am sad that games do not try this concept more often. Imagine a skyrim esque game where you go around defeating enemies, doing quests, and recruiting new allies to join your city and your city grows little by little from a small village to a bustling economic powerhouse. That is essentially what this PS1 game did back in the day. The amount of decisions one can decide to do in this game is just too fun. As is standard one can do the main story. Or one can get lost trying to find each and every single digimon to digivolve to (gotta catch em all eh). Or one can do the tournament arc. Or one can fill out the city with every digimon. Or you can get into card trading. Or one can find all the items or techniques. Or you can register the strongest digimon ever to beat your friends. It doesn't matter, everything is fun.

#5 Dark Souls

In most games dying doesn't mean much other than loading up your save file, and trying again. The Souls series brilliantly changes all that by constantly saving for you, and forcing you to play on a single save file. Dying once will make you drop all your XP and Money in a pool of blood. If you can get back to your old corpse before dying a second time you get your experience and money back. Dying twice in a row means you lose all your hard work since your last level up. This adds a very real element of consequence to the game, that most games these days are lacking. Add in an online element that allows other players to hunt you down, or help you out, and the tension becomes very real. Dark Souls is often billed as a hard game, but it isn't hard so much as it forces you to pay attention. Carefully probing a new area, while well stocked with supplies, and summoning other players for boss fights will let almost anyone beat this game. Dark Souls is an open world game ala Metroidvania titles, meaning everything is interconnected, and there are shortcuts abound. The story of Dark Souls isn't told in game, but rather in the lore written on items. I've always enjoyed this method of storytelling, because it let's the player play the part of detective instead of being told outright how the game's story goes.

#4 Hollow Knight

Hollow Knight is huge, and I mean fuckin huge! You know how in most Metroidvania games you have to do a ton of exploring to reach a boss and then get a new power up or ability? Yeah, see Hollow Knight has 34 bosses! No Zote doesn't count! And even after your standard 34 bosses there's secret challenge versions of several bosses as well. So just imagine how big this game is. Hollow Knight is also gorgeous! Just look at this screenshot. Everything is hand drawn or at least made to look that way. The world of Hollow Knight is this foreboding whimsical land of an old kingdom of bugs that fell years ago. As you explore this bug kingdom you'll kill thousands of crazed and cursed kingdom inhabitants. Every once in a while you'll come across a sane bug that is willing to give you a quest, sell you stuff, or just talk to you. You know that weird feeling you get whenever you come across an NPC in Dark Souls? Yeah it's like that. Hollow Knight also uses the Souls as currency, and lose all your souls on death gameplay concepts. The combat in this game consists of a combination of bullet hell, and swordplay. Most of the time your little character will be using his Nail to slash at enemies, but with each hit you build up a spell meter. You can consume this spell meter mid fight to either heal yourself or cast a spell at enemies. If you time your Nail slashes perfectly you can parry enemy attacks, which will knock you back slightly. You can even do this mid air, by aiming down and slashing just as an enemy is slashing up towards you. Landing a mid air slash like this will knock you up if the enemy is below you. There's also a double jump which refreshes every time you hit something with your nail. So during a lot of boss fights you'll be dashing, parrying, and double jumping like crazy. At first this might sound like too powerful of a main character, but once you play the game you'll realize the bosses are just brutal. Some of them just come into the fight throwing around a thousand projectiles, or two bosses will team up on you. Here just look at this crazy boss fight!

@mZuzek Your review of the game made me finally take it off the back burner and play it.

Damnit I was going to get into Astral Chain. But my Switch and DS copies of these games are calling!

It is my top 3 hints now, this time short and sweet.

3- The best love story in gaming.
2- Imagine that your religion brought disaster to the world, ending the modern world as we knew it.
1- 100+ hours of grinding experience! Finally I can start grinding for items now!