Top 7 franchises this gen

[platformmaster918]

My personal favorites so nothing to do with commercial success.

1. Ratchet and Clank: Disregard the last 2. The first 3 Ratchets released this gen were amazing and the masterpiece that is ACiT is still my favorite game of the gen. It's still the only game to have an ending that made me cry tears of joy and sorrow just seconds apart. ToD convinced me to buy a PS3 and I haven't looked back. The last 2 have been terrible and I wish they would have let the series have a break instead of making them, but now I'm hoping Insomniac gears up for another fully fledged title for PS4.

2. Batman Arkham: What can I say that hasn't already been said? I love the mix of comics and the animated TV series. The voices are nostalgic and perfectly done for me. The environments perfectly capture that awesome gothic feel of the show and comics. The predator sections are absolutely a blast to play as you toy with them and feel the power of Batman. Just an excellent series with excellent writing as well.

3. Uncharted: I replay these games at least once a year. They are so cinematic and have such awesome set-pieces I just love it. I also love how ND didn't sacrifice SP for MP as I feel every installment has been better than the last. U3 was my favorite with Uncharted 2 close behind and Uncharted DF just behind that but they have been so fundamentally solid and breathtaking they deserve every bit of praise they get

4. GoW: Tried to avoid single game installment for this gen series but I couldn't think of a seventh when GoW was standing there for me to point out. I platinumed every game in the series this gen because of HD remakes and they all hold up wonderfully. I guess it should be primarily about 3 though as it's the only one made originally for PS3 and boy did it deliver on that massive cliffhanger that 2 left off on. That alone was impressive but it managed to show the superior power of PS3. I didn't think that scale was possible on these platforms, but damn was I proved wrong. I went media blackout on it and I'm so glad I did because that Cronos battle literally had my jaw dropping. The epic showdown with Hercules is my favorite boss of the series as you just slug it out with a person your size for once (not saying those other ones weren't awesome but it was a nice change of pace). They wrote a massive check and they delivered. Can't wait for Ascension.

5. Infamous: I love this series because it feels like it could be a comic or movie and work amazingly. The way that you have no idea what you're capable of at the beginning of the first one and slowly discover and grow your powers, then get slammed with a late game shocker of a moral choice and a twist that no one saw coming just wowed me. Then the second game just made you feel like you're becoming superman with how they just let your powers grow until you could practically fly and the emotional ending had my tears coming out.

6. LBP: A strange one for me because I'm such a SP focused guy, but damn did I love the online here. 2 especially with its amazing video function and different genre creating just showed what the PS nation could do when given some basic tools. I never create levels but I enjoy the hell out of the top rated ones when I go back to visit every month or so.

7. Assassin's Creed: Another strange one because I don't really like the combat, but the other parts of missions and the cities just won me over with each installment. I felt they all improved upon the last other than Revelations, but that's not what endeared me to Ubisoft. It was the way they always took chances. The first game was a big leap and had a lot of technical issues, the second added some fast travel and a better setting and protagonist, the third added assassin recruits and tower assaults, the fourth tried tower defense and having templars fight back (a little too micromanaging for me which is why I got annoyed with it as I just want to not have to worry about defending everything), and the fifth changed setting and added ship combat and hunting to the equation with some fun mini games. I respect that they don't just iterate without giving a second thought. They try new things for better or worse.