Okay write ups for 15-11, steadily nearing the top. 12 went unguessed this time but I can reveal now that "the one free man" was in fact Gordon Freeman and that the game in question was Half Life 2 (guess Half Life is obscure around these parts).
Placement/ Last Year | Write-up | (Box) Art |
#15 #16 | Final Fantasy VII As much as I love both IX and X (let’s call them honorable mentions), VII is my favorite FF game by a very wide margin. I’m not the biggest turn-based enthusiast mainly because I think while many turn-based games have fairly good gameplay, very few have great gameplay, but luckily VII is one of the few that manage the latter. This mostly comes down to the Materia system which is easily the best customization system the series has seen in my eyes and gives you a ton of freedom to combine moves and modifiers and change things up fluidly along the way, and on top of that it just has some of the coolest moves, spells and summons. But maybe I should also mention the absolutely amazing story with some of the most iconic characters and moments in all of gaming? … Nah, come to think of it you probably know about that already. |
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#14 #14 | God of War (2018) This not-quite-reboot is a major change from its predecessors and in my eyes a very positive one. As much as I love classic hack and slash combat the new system in 2018 clicked with me even more, the regular attack combos might be trimmed down but it has so many different elements that can be combined beautifully once you get the hang of everything, actually not completely unlike Astral Chain (#19). It’s also a game that keeps you on your toes and poses great challenge without ever feeling unfair (except maybe for that damn final Valkyrie). And let’s not forget the story and characters, which is no doubt where the series has grown most. The old games were mostly about tragedy and badass-ery and that hasn’t been lost here, but 2018 hits both wider and deeper on the emotional spectrum with Kratos going through a lot character development while struggling both with his past and his present. This is one of those rare games where I really think they knocked it out of the park on every front and struggle to find much of anything to complain about, and ultimately that’s what secures it its place up here among the best games I’ve ever played. |
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#13 #12 | Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Sitting just above its fellow game from 2018, we have the peak entry of one of my favorite series. But I have to start off a little tough on the game and say that while I do think it managed to be the best Smash game yet with the gameplay feeling better than ever, I think it fell short of truly being the ULTIMATE Smash game. It's very possibly the game that I’ve been most excited for in my life which I chalk up to the absolutely epic reveal trailer and an amazing showing at E3 later, and when I finally got my hands on it (an excruciating week late due to a shipping delay), I absolutely loved it. I loved unlocking the massive roster a bit at a time, I loved playing through World of Light and I loved the gameplay itself and the tons of content. But… With time I did start to notice the flaws and the things I wish had been there. There was missing modes, the new system for choosing rules is a hassle and spirits while kind of fun were pretty messy and more quantity than quality. World of Light was a great big helping of solid single-player content, but… it wasn’t Subspace. It did have a story sure, but not one that actually involved any of the characters. It wasn’t really the big cross-over adventure it could have been; it wasn’t the epic culmination to the series that this ultimate celebration of gaming deserved. And, while it doesn’t really take anything away from the base game, it didn’t help either that I was mostly disappointed by the DLC. Yeah, I’m definitely whining a bit here, the game was made in less time than any entry since Melee and they couldn’t possibly satisfy everybody on every front, but well… that isn’t going to change the fact that when I look at this game, I see something that didn’t quite live up to its full (massive) potential, though obviously it being here means that I still love it. Whenever I sit down to play it, I have a great time and in one of those practically-questionable “what game would you bring to a deserted island” scenarios, this is a strong contender. There was a time where I would have considered this my #5 or #6 of all-time and that ship has definitely sailed, but I do think it’s worthy of the spot where it sits now. |
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#12 #11 | Half-Life 2 I do like me a good single-player shooter and Half Life 2 is much more than just good. Valve really has (or had?) an uncanny knack for making incredible on-rails experiences that manage to stay varied and deeply engaging throughout despite simple core mechanics. In the Half Life games in particular the way they split the games into chapters that often have their own unique environments and twists on the gameplay is genius. There’s Water Hazard where you travel along a river in an airboat, Sandtraps were you have to stay off the sand on the beach if you don’t want to enrage the giant insects lurking below and of course Ravenholm, that legendary section where Half Life turned horror. And that’s without even including the expansions Episode One and Two, the latter of which I would argue is even better than the base game. Half Life 2 is one of the only games I have 100 % achievements in on Steam, achieved over several playthroughs, but that won’t stop me from coming back for more. |
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#11 #10 | Tales of Vesperia Just on the brink of the top 10 we have another entry in one of my favorite series, one that I only ended up playing a decade after the original release when the Definitive Edition came out. I knew Vesperia was considered one of the best entries and was both excited and a little nervous to find out if it lived up to its reputation but I need not have worried. Vesperia delivers on nearly every front with one of the best protagonists and casts of the series, engaging storytelling and excellent gameplay. While I had experienced it in later titles before, Vesperia was the game that introduced a double moveset by changing what arts you use when you hold down one of the triggers, which is a very welcome addition to already great combat. It also has a great customization system, solid dungeons and puzzles and A LOT of optional side content. As mentioned, the story is also excellent from nearly start to finish (with only a few weak parts in the last third) and there’s also a more moral ambiguity here than you often see in the series which is a very welcome change of pace. All in all, Vesperia is a JRPG at their absolute best and my biggest grievance is that I can no longer fit it in the top 10. |
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