10. Golden Sun (5)
This classic RPG with plenty of twists leaves a more memorable experience than most games in its genre. The story of the elemental stars perched atop the lighthouses gives you a general next destination throughout the game without telling you how you'll get there, and leaving you waiting for the next climatic battle with Saturos and Mendard's group. The battles would be ordinary but for the djinn you have to find as you roam the world, adding a Pokemon like mechanic, which you select to set to characters, affecting the moves you can use in battle. Using them instead for summons causes you to give up their other moves for a short time in return for a big attack, a decision which must be balanced throughout the course of the game. Perhaps the most wonderful part of the game is the ability to use psynergy outside of battle to do everything from solve dungeon puzzles by growing vines, freezing columns of ice, etc. to reading NPC minds.
Primarily an RPG player but have interest in any game that will make me think.
