VGChartz: Your 50 Favorite Games of All Time!

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NUMBER 50: DISGAEA 2 (PS2) -The best of the disgaeas, story wise imo, I particularly liked rozalin,  Improved mechanincs from 1 but early in series so game mechanics not yet boring 

NUMBER 49: PERSONA 3 (PS2) -The persona with the best story (and best persona and atlus game period imo), the psychological influences and archetypes are particularly cool, solid enough characters, and like disgaea 2, early enough in the series that the battle mechanics weren't yet stale

NUMBER 48:BLUE ROSES: YOUSEI TO AOI TOTOMA NO SENSHITACHI(PSP)- A great Strategy RPG for those who are bored of the same-ness of Disgaea, good game mechanics, good story and overall great game, surpasses even the best Disgaea IMO and 2nd best SRPG I have ever played.

NUMBER 47: ATELIER ANNIE (Emulated on PC)- The game that got me into the Atelier Series (of which I am now a HUGE fan), extremely good humour and a very different style of RPG experience. really showed what gust was capable of creatively (ar tonelico is all great (and all 3 are on my list) but its format is pretty standardised by comparison to atelier and its humour is much cruder)

NUMBER 46: FF12 REVENANT WINGS (DS) - Great story and awesome follow on to 12, Gameplay got a bit frantic at times making the game artificially difficult in places. would have been even better on psp or ps2/3

NUMBER 45: BRUTAL LEGEND (PS3) - all round solid game with great humour and excellent genre-meshing creativity in game mechanics. Controls were annoyingly clunky at times but great characters and good humour more than made it worth it.

NUMBER 44:ZELDA:OCARINA OF TIME (N64) - Despite being one of the most hyped games of all time (normally a bad thing) and by far the most hyped entry in the series currently it still ranks in the top tier of Zeldas and and incredibly enjoyable adventure game, the game is so iconic I can't say much that hasn't already been said about this one

NUMBER 43: SHADOW HEARTS (PS2) - A solid rpg from some of the old makers of Final Fantasy, at times feels like FF8 on the ps2 but still a great game and well worth a playthrough.

NUMBER 42: KINGDOM HEARTS: BIRTH BY SLEEP (PSP) - The Best KH game yet (and thats saying something!) and only beaten by FF7 Crisis core as the absolute best game on psp, an incredible (action) RPG experience

NUMBER 41: VAGRANT STORY (PS1) - An awesome adventure/action RPG. Even good enough to impress a normally action genre despiser like myself (though I have warmed up to them more recently). The fact it occurs in ivalice is even cooler.

NUMBER 40: 428 (Wii) - An excellent 'visual novel' game and adorable even to a hardcore mystery (novel)  fan like myself. Totally a statement of opinion here but what heavy rain should have been. Scored 40/40 in famitsu too, in the period before that started becoming a yearly occurance.

NUMBER 39: GOLDEN AXE (original) (AMIGA 500) - Until Bayonetta came around this was the only action game I truly ever loved. The most Brilliant game of its age, those little elves that keep robbing you while you sleep are soooo annoying though.

NUMBER 38: BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL (PS2) - the most underated and under advertised game of its era, so fresh and original you would never believe ubisoft made it, an all round excellent action/puzzler and one of the best of the genre.

NUMBER 37:PSYCHONAUTS (PS2) - Tim Schaffers best work, funny as anything and interesting psychology based story

NUMBER 36: CHRONO TRIGGER (Emulated on PC) - A great and timeless RPG classic well ahead of the era it was released

NUMBER 35: BALDURS GATE 2 (PC)  -  good in game choice offered, decent complexity that you could sink your teeth into (unlike NWN or anything after) and a decent length game. Only held back by poor characterisations and story but its D&D so you can't expect much (imo).

NUMBER 34: AR TONELICO 3 (PS3) - AT's next gen efforts lost some of the charm of its older editions imo but still a great game and continues A.T's intersting rpg systems. As a girl I struggle with some of gust's humor in A.T and this one was worse than most but still a good story and good game none the less.

NUMBER  33: FINAL FANTASY V (5) (PS1) - An amazing game system wise and brilliant debut of the amazing job change system. only held back by one of the weaker FF stories, still given its pedigree and the competition it is against (other FF's) it is still a good story by comparison to most other games

NUMBER 32 - IMPOSSIBLE MISSION (PC) (the original actually impossible one (Due to the bug which I only found out about 5 years later arrghhhh)) Brilliant action adventure and totally unforgiving

NUMBER 31: LEGACY OF KAIN: DEFIANCE (PS2)- awful action based game mechanics reduced this from a puzzler to almost a god of war style action game but made up for by an epic tear jerking (semi) finale to the series. Well worth it for the story alone

NUMBER 30: WIZARD OF WOR (1981 original) (ATARI 2600) - I can quite confidently say this is the only shooter on the market i will ever love, impossibly difficult 2 player co-op makes the game as intense as they come

NUMBER 29: NETHACK (PC) - an ascii rpg from my childhood that takes the mechanics from old D&D but drops the annoying tolkien ripoff story settings that seem to be so popular for D&D computer games. Epic scope and absolutely vast and brutally unforgiving game (with no saves, ever). Makes Demon's Souls look like the biggest cake walk in the world. To date still have never come close to beating nethack or wizard of wor (have beaten D.S twice so far)

NUMBER 28: ETERNAL SONATA (PS3) - As a ferderic chopin fan this was always going to be a hit with me. Loved the odd battle mechanics and how the battle system would change majorly as the party levels. Very fresh and inventive. Along with a dream theory story/'nature of reality' so good it absolutely destroyed any enjoyment of the movie inception for me as a psychologist.

NUMBER 27:FINAL FANTASY 4 (PS1) - The (chronologically) first FF with a truly gripping story and an absolutely amazing one at that. One of the coolest characters around in Kain Highwind and the first game that really showcased the wonders to come from the series. A deserved classic RPG

NUMBER 26: LUFIA (emulated on PC) - An rpg that really showed how a good RPG could be done, excellent story and only overshadowed by its sequel because that is one of the greatest RPG's ever. If you havent played this game and you are an RPG fan, you should... 

NUMBER 25: AR TONELICO 1 (PS2)- A very unique rpg with a very interesting story concept. Getting to dive into party members' heads and alter their psychology was most interesting. A really brilliant RPG in theory, If not fully realised in its execution, only hindered by an extremely easy difficulty and humour so crass in places it could almost be confused for a Japanese version of the movie American Pie.

 NUMBER 24: ZELDA - WIND WAKER (GAMECUBE/Wii)- A criminally underrated entry in the series and my personal favourite of the series. Using the boat and the maritime themed world combined with classic Zelda adventure made it the most charming entry in the series by far to me personally.

NUMBER 23: CASTLEVANIA - PORTRAIT OF RUIN(DS): - an incredibly awesome and atmospheric entry in the series, the soundtrack really captured the castlevania mood imo and getting to go into the pictures in draculas castle was just amazing for the eerieness factor. The idea of playing inside a painting in an ancient castle (and dracula no less!)  hooked me straight away. Liked the fact you could switch between male and female protagonist too.

NUMBER 22: ATELIER TOTORI (PS3) -  Despite being a sequel to Atelier Rorona (thank god) It couldn't quite reach the lofty heights set by its predecessor. It proved what they say though "shoot for the moon, even if you fail you will land amongst the stars" and this game certainly did that. Great in all the same areas Rorona was, Just bought down by relativity to its prequel. I would almost suggest playing the two out of order to anyone considering.

NUMBER 21 :FINAL FANTASY X-2 (PS2) - Yes I know most people despise this addition to the series and yes I am a girl and yes FFVII did not make my top 50 list so you may think my opinions are way off but this game was awesome. Best turn based battle system ever to feature in  a FF game, the job changing was brilliant and so non-linear that the mob whining about XIII's linearity should have been all over it. Despite being slightly 'charlies angels' and not having the strongest story  I felt it summed up the female condition perfectly and the fact that the overriding quest was to find a lost love meant that I became invested in it immensely. I would say that it was the best massively maligned game ever imo, but I would be lying when you see what is to come. A stellar game however and a personal favourite.

NUMBER 20: FINAL FANTASY X (PS2) - A game with ione of the greatest stories of all time only bought down by completely archaic battle mechanics. While I felt the battle system was a betrayal of the FF ideals (innovation and constant change) the Story was one of the greatest and most moving ever in to be present in a video game. This one in particular was not quite as good as a great novel but knocked so closely on the door of that, that it really showed me the power videogame storytelling could have, not to mention it horribly highlighted the limitations of movies as a serious art form and is probably the first game that really spolied them for me. One of the most moving endings ever too.

NUMBER 19: LEGACY OF KAIN-SOUL REAVER (1) (PS1) - The beginning of an amazing tale from the days when Amy Hennig was looking to do something different and new. Combat Mechanics are Clunky and Raziel is a Dupe for most of this iteration - story and character wise but he is still amazing. One of the greatest action adventure/puzzlers ever and a setting and story so bleak it makes Castlevania lords of shadow's atmosphere look like a party by comparison. The series as a whole is IMO the best video game story ever written by a westerner to this day.  Though your recent efforts haven't been great (imo) I will always adore you Amy, even if this series is the only one you ever do that I like. The story arc (in full) is so good it inspires irrevocable fandom and this is a brilliant beginning. (not counting Blood Omen story wise which I don't as I am all about Raziel)

NUMBER 18: CASTLEVANIA-SYMPHONY OF THE NIGHT (PS1/PSP) - A great castlevania that really just did everything right, great atmosphere and for its time of release, great graphics and sound that really pulled you into the action and adventure of the story. Of course being a Dracula (novel) fangirl might have helped too (but on a side note I DO NOT like twilight in the slightest, or any of the drac movies for that matter)

NUMBER 17: SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS (PS2) - Talk about a game altering the action/puzzler genre, amazing idea's amazing mechanics, amazing that it could run (albeit badly in places) on the PS2's hardware. Also somehow the creation of one of the most immersive worlds and most gripping tales ever considering there were very few spoken sections and a world with no monsters (outside of the 'boss' like colossi, towns or npc's). A miracle game, only real criticism I could level (in an attempt at being less biased/obsessive fan like) is it wasn't as good as Ico imo.

NUMBER 16: TOMB RAIDER (1) (PS1) - An amazing action adventure puzzler, redefined the genre and a benchmark title that all acrtion adventure puzzlers were judged by

NUMBER 15 : ATELIER IRIS (PS2) - Another amazing entry in the series, great RPG with great story, characters and humor. some people say it is the most generic (most similar to a standard RPG) of the atelier games but I still loved it. Plus getting to explore the world as a rabbit is just awesome!. Generally consuidered the most palatable of the Atelier games to the western audience and also one of the best in the franchise, extremely highly recommended.

NUMBER 14 : FINAL FANTASY VII: CRISIS CORE (PSP) - As not the hugest FF7 fan and holding a general ambivalence to all but very few games of the action genre I was sceptical on this one but upon playing it can say Zack Fair is a god and his story is beyond incredible. One of the greatest stories in a game since the very best of the mainline FF's, crazily gripping and the tear jerking moments come thick and fast in the last half of the game, the first time I have actually exhausted myself with emotion (angeal, aerith and zack, its all so epic). Plus the Relationship between Zack and Aerith almost rivals the legendary relationship between squall and rinoa in FF8

NUMBER 13: FINAL FANTASY VI (6) (PS1) - My first ever FF, Loved Terra as a character, kefka is an amazing bad guy and the first time i was ever exposed to a 'real' story in game form. It will always be held in high regard from me because of this. In a franchise famed for people never getting over their first one, this was a hard one to move past and only 3 (numbered) FF's so far have ever done it... Seeing as it is one of the most celebrated RPG's around I won't say too much here outside of I agree wholeheartedly with the praise

NUMBER 12: FINAL FANTASY TACTICS: WAR OF THE LIONS (PS1/PSP) - The height of The SRPG genre, and the PSP remake is even better than the original. all I can say is I love everything about this game. Somehow the story is amazing even though it lacks any real romances. Having the full 25 classes (including the great ones like mime and arithmatician) was just great and getting to see baltheirs family & ondores family etc is cool. The ultimate improbable after credits ending too. I still can't believe that actually happened. So poigniant I literally still think of it every birthday.

NUMBER 11: LUFIA 2 (SNES) - confirmation the ancient games never lose their shine, still one of the greatest RPG's ever made and a 'must play' for any RPG fan. Easily a decade ahead of its time, ahead of its time compared to many even today. held the honour of my favourite RPG ever until the mid-late PS1 days. 

NUMBER 10: NIER (PS3) - A real left field stunner here, Had no expectations (and knowing it was action based I really expected to be less-than-impressed) but was blown away by the amazing story and the way the gameplay managed to stay involved enough to keep an action based rpg interesting. Didn't get repetitive or dull at all which is a huge achievement for an action game (for me). I think I sum up the quality of the game when I say By the time I finished I just wanted to play again, which I am now doing...

NUMBER 9: ICO (PS2) again heavily celebrated so I wont say much more than I agree, Simply the best Japanese made action adventure puzzler ever. The epitome of innovation and brilliance in the genre with a gripping story as well.

NUMBER 8 : ATELIER RORONA (PS3) I have played both the english and japanese versions of this (english is better imo, but then japanese is a second langauge so I may have missed some of the meanings/jokes) and the English is better imo. A very original take on the RPG Genre, No quest, a party system where you can choose your party members where the characters don't feel paper thin and like props only there for you to try and hit on (cough*bioware and atlus*cough). slightly archaic battle mechanics but an amazingly charming coming of age story that will make you laugh ridiculously hard with (mostly) tasteful humour and characters so vivid that when you finish you will feel like you are losing friends. The best non-FF traditional styled (i.e not strategy RPG) RPG ever made hands down (imo).

NUMBER 7: GRIMGRIMIORE (PS2) Imagine if the japanese took Harry Potter, made it an RPG and made it work wonderfully, then you would have some idea of this game. One of the most out and out purely fun games ever made. Not sure if you would call it a traditional style RPG or a Strategy RPG but however you classify it is amazing and a one of a kind treasure. Vanillaware (studio) even trumps team ICO for artsiness, fun and immersion imo. Easily the greatest largely-unheard-of game ever made and one of the best games ever. 

NUMBER 6: BAYONETTA (PS3 and 360) From someone who is not an action genre fan to say this is simly one of the greatest games ever (and it is definitely an 'action' game) made just sums up how good this really is. The combat is fluid and interesting enough, Bayonetta as a character is absolutely amazing and the story, though much downed on, I actually quite enjoyed, while definitely not working with the greatest of premises, It didn't seem that nonsensical or hard to follow at all. The written notes actually made it a lot better too. And thankfully not an orc, elf, space marine (or other generic genetically enhanced super warrior) or spartan in sight. I think that is what shone the most about this game, Its sheer intense creativity and its not-so-serious over the top nature that very tastefully approached the line between humorous  and lewd. Came off like the love child of the best of Japanese popular humour and Monty Python's distinctly 'english' style of humour. 

NUMBER 5: FINAL FANTASY VIII (8) (PS1) The game that really got me into the FF series. In my (and just my) opinion FF6 was an extremely accomplished and a great RPG, 7 was an overhyped disappointment (but not terrible, just not great either) that I got so sick of arguing with people about I almost swore off the FF's because of it. But then FF8 came along and totally changed everything. The story pulled me in so much I cried from gaming for the first time with this one. It was a lot more immersive and thought provoking than either FF7 or FF6. Rinoa was so amazing I didn't just like her, I wanted to be her. To the point where I started wearing a lot of blue outfits, started learning the japanese language and bought a few black wigs in the style of her haircut which I would wear on occasion. I was truly obsessed with this game and with the story being pretty much a combination of Donnie Darko and the Butterfly Effect (2 of my favourite films which it predated by a few years and is FAR beyond both of them in concept and excecution imo) It was right up my alley. Simply put, such a great tale and great game that at the time it came out I could never see any game ever having the ability to eclipse this one in my eyes.

NUMBER 4: TOMB RAIDER UNDERWORLD (PS3 and 360) The best entry in the franchise IMO returning Lara to her roots of more action adventure style puzzles and minimal combat. Absolutely adored the fact that even the final 'boss fight' is a puzzle in itself. The need for a final 'beat em up' style boss fight is an issue I have long held with puzzle style games, I mean, you are playing for the puzzles so why not have a really awesome one to finish and skip the fighting. People who want a fighting (well shooting) game with extremely light puzzle elements will play uncharted and the like. As if the game wasn't good enough already with its amazing puzzling, range of acrobatic moves and general fludity of execution the story offers a shocking finale to the tale that began all those years ago in Tomb Raider 1 as well as wrapping up the cliffhanger left by legend. An amazing end to the story IMO. Its rare you see a hero get so thoroughly duped.

NUMBER 3: LEGACY OF KAIN: SOUL REAVER 2 (PS2) Light years ahead of its prequel in both gameplay and story this game really showed all that a game could be. With Raziel (finally) breaking out of his follower mentality, he starts to question the conspiracy and machinations he finds himself a pawn of. Along with the character the plot really starts to get going and Amy Hennig really shows her talent at story writing and her innate creativity (the fact she is now stuck with naughty dog doing such derivative stories in the Uncharted series is a tragedy) Quite frankly Soul Reaver has the best written story by a westerner in a video game ever imo and the fact it remains unfinished ranks it in the top tier of criminally unfinished works in the english canon (imo) beside the likes of Kit (chris) Marlowes unfinished (or did he?) Hero and Leander. Brilliant story, Brilliant gameplay, just brilliant in general, It is hard to find any weakness in a game like this.

NUMBER 2: FINAL FANTASY XIII (13) (PS3) In 1932 a largely disrespected and contreversial writer named Aldous Huxley wrote a book called Brave New World about where he saw the world in a few hundred years time (a utopian society gone wrong). A book so scary it makes Orwells '1984' look like a nursery rhyme. The introversion of the population meant they only knew of themselves and their own system despite it later being revealed that there are a few human 'savages' living elsewhere in the world and the interaction of one of these with the utopian society brings about the stories main events. At the time of release the book was widely rubbished for being too bleak, written by a known drug user, "these things could never happen", "totally anti- capitalist" etc etc. Nowadays it is one of the most celebrated novels in english literature and is arguably the greatest social commentary ever written with some of Huxleys predictions being frighteningly accurate. Being a fan of this work when I saw the premise for Final Fantasy 13 I automatically made the connection, Though not a direct 'knock-off' or rehash of the story the two are very much thematically similar and somehow Square Enix took this story and made it even better (and the 'mixed' western opinions on the game amde it even more ironic, very true to the original BNW release). With an amazingly socially relevant story. Extremely gripping and well developed characters. An atmosphere so dark it stayed true to the original theme (and turned a lot of gamers off). With a world, social order and characters so vivid it will make you feel like you have travelled and met new friends. I had always said that if Square took the intense story from 10 and combined it with the amazing battle system from X-2 they would have one of the greatest final fantasies, and games, ever. This game is that wish come true, the story is even better than X, the totally balanced weapons system (all weapons being pretty much equal and having various positives and negatives so you actually have to think about what to work on levelling up rather than just questing for the best weapons) is the greatest ever seen in an RPG imo and the battle system, while being cut down from X-2 is far faster and still great. Would have been nice if they cut the autobattle option though, that was unnecessary and I know it lowered the enjoyment of the game for many people. Only minor gripe is the savages (the Oerbans, vanille and fang) having australian accents (I am Australian born and bred), What is square implying!. Just kidding, haha. But to sum up a rather long winded speil. The fact that this game upstages one of the greatest novels ever written (and books are my favourite art form) really shows the power gaming is gaining as a medium and very much knocking on the door of being my favourite game ever.

AND as its the 31st for me today...

NUMBER 1: FINAL FANTASY XII (12) (and International Zodiac Job System) (Both PS2) Quite simply put, My favourite story, on any medium, ever, and as I play games mainly for the story it is pretty obvious why this tops my list. With gameplay mechanics so immersive and functional they border on almost perfect. The game has a massively open world that really "took you there" and is a Shadow of the Colossus fans dream with an extremely stong narrative runiing through avoiding it turning into an aimless wander like almost every other sandbox game experience. And a story very thematically similar to John Miltons classic 'Paradise Lost' (my favourite classic so its a no brainer why FF12 is too) but again improved on in so many ways and even more vast in scope of storytelling (a huge call when the original encompasses heaven and hell but I think with the variety (not to mention history) of races in ivalice and the occurian deities (and their histories, even though they are very zodiac based) tops it). Having been lucky enough to meet and speak to a few of the scenario concept designers for this game during my time in Japan only made me fall in love with the game more, the more I was told about it the more I loved it. My only complaint after talking to them is the sheer amount of background information omitted from, or hidden (in hunt text etc) from the final game (a lot of which does not even appear in the ultimania guides and the like, They should have omitted Vaan and penelo instead imo, haha). Ivalice has been around a long time as a world and square made the developers wait till FF12 (as the occuria (and ivalices underlying mythology) is based off the zodiac symbols, of which there are 12) to use Ivalice in a numbered FF. but in the end it was well worth the wait. I can not (and should not, as this is a family site) put into words my feelings for Balthier. He is my most adored character from anything, Fran rocks too, though my liking of her is slightly tempered by jealousy. Baltheir as a character, as well as ashes arrogant rich/powerful girl nature (sadly very much like myself at the time) really made me think about who I was as a person. Balthiers amazing example (and ashes awful one) made me truly question my personal ethics and values. I know it sounds cheesy but this was a genuinely life changing, eye opening and awe inspiring game. Being an admitted fashion victim this is when I finally took pride in being a gamer enough to let my friends know (I was one) and dropped any embarrassment I had about the gaming hobby.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!!!!!!