Now the top 20 (I wanted to post up to the #1, but accidentally I clicked "submit" instead of "preview" :P)
#20 Super Mario Galaxy 2 - My favorite platformer ever, the level design in this game is just so brilliant, it takes the concept of the first Galaxy game and fleshes it out even more. This game has my favorite Mario power-up, Cloud Mario, which allows for some really creative platforming. I used to complaint about Mario Galaxy 2 not having the observatory like the first game, but when I replayed Mario Galaxy 2 last year, I really liked that I could select the level I wanted to go to without having to walk from one dome to another (like it happens in the observatory).
#19 Kid Icarus: Uprising - I love this game's fast-paced gameplay and how the enemies require different strategies to defeat them, the levels are very well made and I liked both the rail-shooter parts and the on-foot gameplay. The story is really engaging, with some interesting plot twists and I love the dialogues between Pit and the other characters, which made me feel more attached to them (Viridi ftw). The weapon fusion mechanic is incredibly deep and selecting the right weapon is important to beat a level. The visuals are incredible for a 3DS game.
#18 The World Ends With You - One of the most unique j-rpg's I've played and I think it's one of the games that make the best use of the DS touch screen. The game's battle system is very deep and selecting the right pins is important to win a battle. I reeeeally love the game's setting and and I found the story to be really engaging. Another thing that I liked about this game is how Neku grows-up as a person as you advance through the plot and, overall, I liked a lot the characters in the game (particularly, I think Joshua is really cool).
#17 Final Fantasy XII - This game's world is amazing, there's tons of exploration (without the game feeling overwhelmingly open), and each city has its own lore and story. The game is full of details that make the world feel really alive, for example, you can see monsters fighting each other or NPCs battling monsters to defend themselves or to hunt them. I loved the political tone of the story and I found the characters to be awesome, with the exception of Vaan and Penelo who are kinda boring. Particularly, Balthier is my favorite video game character of all time. I found the battle system incredibly engaging, with the Gambit system being one of the deepest customization systems I've seen in a j-rpg.
#16 Kingdom Hearts - The first game in one of my favorite video game franchises of all time, the sense of adventure and mystery that I got from playing this game for the first time was truly something else (though, curiously, it wasn't actually my first KH game :p), I loved visiting the different Disney worlds and I like that there's more room to explore them than in KH2 (many people complaint about the platforming in KH1 but personally I liked it). The game's combat is not as fleshed out as the one in KH2, but I still thought it was really enjoyable. I also like a lot the game's story, mainly because of its simplicity compared to the other games in the series.
#15 The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker - I replayed this game last year and thanks to that in jumped up a lot of positions in my list. Firstly, the game has a really great sense of adventure, maybe the ocean could have been more fleshed out, but it still gives you the feeling that you're in a grand exploration adventure. Wind Waker just has a lot of charm and I loved the characters, especially Tetra and Medli (though it's a shame that Tetra becomes a damsel in distress after certain event). Also, it got some really nice side-quests, especially in Windfall. Its story it one of my favorites among the Zelda games and it has my favorite incarnation of Ganon.
#14 The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds - I love the freedom that this game gives you to do whatever you want at any time and you can even beat the dungeons in any order like in Zelda 1. ALBW has my favorite overworld from any Zelda game, because of how amazed I was at all the stuff that you can find in it and how well designed it is. The dungeons themselves are relatively short but they are very well designed and I like them more than the ones in ALTTP. I think they did a fantastic job with the wall merging mechanic because of all the interesting puzzles that they made with it.
#13 Tales of the Abyss - My favorite Tales game, I found its story to be incredibly engaging as I always wanted to know what would happen next and I loved the whole concept of the game's world. The characters are kinda divisive among the fanbase, but I like how their relationship evolves during the game: at first, they didn't get along very well, but by the end of the game they are very good friends. Just like in Tales of Symphonia, they nailed the interactions between the characters, mainly through the skits. Something that I also like a lot about this game is the character development that Luke gets during the story. The battle system is really fun and I loved the addition of the free run mode, as well as the growth system. Also, I think this game's soundtrack is really underrated (+ the theme song is super awesome).
#12 Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep - I love this game's story and how you can see it from the perspective of 3 different characters: Ventus, Aqua and Terra. The characters all play very differently and the combat system is super fun, even though it doesn't feel as fluid as KH2's. In this game, you can select which commands you want to take to battle by customizing your "command deck", instead of having fixed commands in the menu. The command melding is another gameplay mechanic that is incredibly addictive to use and I also like how there's some light platforming in the levels, which makes them feel less plain than KH2's.
#11 Final Fantasy VI - This game has my favorite cast of characters from any j-rpg, all the characters have back-stories that are very well developed and endearing. The main story is full of memorable moments, such as the amazing Opera scene or the Phantom train, among many others; but not only the main story is great: the side-quests are all incredibly memorable and really help to flesh-out the characters. The ATB-based battle system feels very fast paced and fun, and the esper system is a very flexible growth system.
#10 The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask - One of the most unique Zelda games ever, mainly thanks to its dark atmosphere and its 3-days system, which allows every NPC to have their own routine and thus it helps to make the game's world feel more alive and believable. Majora's Mask shines mainly thanks to its amazing side-quests, which are incredibly memorable and make great use of the game's time system. The mask-based transformations are another mechanic that makes the game unique and widen its gameplay possibilities. Majora's Mask may have less dungeons than the other 3D Zeldas but, overall, they're well designed, with the Stone Tower Temple being one of the most amazing Zelda dungeons ever.
#9 The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - Easily the most divisive 3D Zelda, but one that I really loved. Yes, it has its fair share of problems but to me its highs completely overshadowed those flaws, and honestly most of the flaws didn't really bother me that much (I feel people exaggerate them a lot). Anyway, this game has some of the most amazing and well designed dungeons in the whole series and its puzzles blowed me away many times thanks to how brilliant they are. In particular, the Timeshift Stone based puzzles are the most original and amazing puzzles I've ever seen in any game. The boss battles are great, with Koloktos being one of my favorite bosses in any game ever. I also loved the motion-controlled combat and the items, which don't suffer from being underutilized during the game (like it happens with some of the items in Twilight Princess). Another aspect I love about this game are all the sidequests that you can find in Skyloft, which is one of my favorite towns in Zelda games.
#8 Shadow of the Colossus - Oh man, this game, THIS GAME. SotC has some of the most amazing boss battles I've ever seen in a video game, each colossus is like a puzzle by itself and they're very brilliantly designed. Then there's the amount of feelings I got while battling them, nothing can compare to that. The colossi are intimidating and dangerous, yet for some reason I ended-up feeling bad about killing them (well, with the exception of the colossus 9, screw that thing :p). The game's world is big and open and, while it's mostly empty, it still feels incredibly captivating, like, there's a story that the game's different locations tell you in a very subtle way. The ending is probably my favorite in any video game and it made me cry (like ICO's ending). The soundtrack is so incredibly amazing and I think the visuals are some of the best on the PS2. Fumito Ueda is such a genius.
#7 The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - Another 3D Zelda that is not exactly the most popular (I guess some people will tell me "you have bad taste in Zelda!!" :P) but I absolutely adored it. Firstly, its dungeons are all so incredibly well designed, with places like the City in the Sky and the Snowpeak Ruins being some of the most original Zelda dungeons in terms of concept. Overall, Twilight Princess is my favorite Zelda game when it comes to the dungeon design. The game also has some of the most awesome and epic boss battles in the series, such as Argorok and Stallord. Regarding the items, this game is one of the best in the series, too. I particularly loved using the spinner and the double clawshot, which is my favorite item in any Zelda game (though lamentably some of the items weren't very used outside the dungeon where you found them). Twilight Princess also has my favorite Zelda character and one of my favorites in any game: Midna. She's is just so awesome and captivating, her whole story arc and development are two of the highlights from the game.
Edit: sorry if there's too many grammar or spelling errors xD.
Last edited by Keybladewielder - on 02 January 2018
Essay Pro