4. Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II, GC/XB (2002) Sega/Sonic Team
I'm really not sure why i was so eager to buy this game, but i was. And it was one hell of an investment, needing to buy a GC Modem and plunk $15 a month in subscription fees, and later i invested in a keyboard as well. But it was all worth it, as i played this game a great hell of a lot, and it helped me develop a lot of the patience to play RPGs (though due to all the cheating that went on in the game, not all the patience was needed). It was a simple enough game: get together with up to four people and take on the reasonably short main story: Four areas, 10 levels for Episode I and four areas, 10 levels for episode II. Add in lots and lots (and lots and lots) of different weapons, a panoply of spells if you chose a caster type, and lots of worthwhile sidequests, you had a game that inspired infinite playability in a manner similar to Monster Hunter (and part of the reason i love Monster Hunter so much, but this game got there first, so will likely always have this higher position).
One of the fun-but-naughty things you could do to troll other users was acquire one of the music CDs, and then play them right when a lengthy boss-fight was starting, getting people stuck in the song of your choice.
Monster Hunter: pissing me off since 2010.
