7. Super Mario Galaxy 2
What can I say, other than this expanded greatly on the original, while bringing Yoshi back. Everything I said about the first game applies here. Because this is a sequel a lot of the "tutorial" levels are thrown out, and this game just starts off at full blast and never lets up. A lot of people prefer Portal 2 to Portal for this very reason. That's about all I have. Read SMG's entry for further information.
6. Mass Effect 2
Mass Effect 2 streamlined Mass Effect's gameplay, by taking out the clunky menu system. From the beginning Mass Effect 2's storyline is interesting, and compelling. The game opens up with the main character dying, and then being brought back to life, by a mortal enemy. Said mortal enemy wants the main character to put together a team for a suicide mission. Everything you do in this game determines whether or not your suicide mission is successful. Several supporting cast members either end their character arcs dying for the mission, or rising above and living, depending on what you did through the game. Almost all of these supporting cast members are written perfectly, and are genuinely interesting. We have, a mad scientist responsible for genocide, trying to make up for his past mistakes, an ex-cop gone vigilante, a dying assassin, two science experiments gone wrong, a hivemind AI robot, and a girl who's entire species has huge immunodeficiency problems. Mass Effect 2 makes this spot for it's dynamic choice/consequence system that remembers everything you did, including your save file from the original game.
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'm 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.
