Next batch of write-ups ready to go. We're very high on the list now.
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#20 #22 |
Super Mario Galaxy I had the great pleasure of replaying Super Mario Galaxy last year for the first time in a looong time and yeah, it’s still amazing. It might not have the openness of 64 or Odyssey (#32) but it makes up for it with excellently designed and highly varied levels. It’s also just one of the most charming and pleasant games to sit down and play out there and little elements such as the hub and Rosalina’s story book are really the icing on the cake. It wouldn’t call it a completely perfect game, but it’s not hard to see why both critics and players fell in love with it back in 2007. |
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#19 #18 |
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim I might not have visited the world of Skryim in a while but what a world it is. In some ways I think it’s still the best open-world out there or at least in the top 2 or 3, there’s something to do everywhere and just going exploring can be a blast. It’s a game that gives you so much freedom but in terms of where you go and what you do and how you shape your character, the skill tree is kind of ingenious in just giving every aspect its own little segment and letting you level up damn near all of them if you want to and put in the time. Whatever Skyrim might lack in terms of its combat or its main story (which are both actually pretty good just not amazing) it makes up for by simply being the best fantasy playground you could ask for. |
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#18 #17 |
Super Smash Bros. Brawl Yep, Brawl is amazing. Smash is always a blast and this is my most played one, in many ways I still like it’s roster the best and Subspace is probably still the highest bar for a cross-over, a real characters-actually-interacting-cross-over, in a game, one that I’m not sure will ever be topped. But enough about how great Brawl is because this time I want to take this opportunity to talk about my Home Run Contest addiction. Seriously when that mode arrived for Ultimate, I spent a couple of days doing almost nothing else, and I’ve played it even more in Brawl. If you look at the total amount of hours I’ve spent in Smash games, I’d bet at least 30 % of it has been in Home Run Contest, hitting some dumb sack over and over. There’s just something extremely (and dangerously) addictive about trying to land just the right combo, when you know it’s possible but the perfect execution is just out of reach, I’ve spent dozens or hundreds of tries setting some of my records, some of my best we’re with Ice Climbers in Brawl and Shulk in Ultimate. But yeah, I haven’t touched the mode in a couple of years now because even though I love it, I kind of hate how easily it can suck up so much of my time (and how it hurts my thumbs). |
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#17 #16 |
World of Warcraft World of Warcraft moved up a bit on my list this year despite the fact that I haven’t played it in years but I think it deserves some acknowledgement for being the game that has sucked up the second most hours of my life, and I loved it. There are so many elements that make up WoW like raiding, PvP, the lore, clans, etc. etc. and it all adds to the experience, but I think my favorite part of the game was starting up as a new character. Getting to experience new starting areas and quest lines and starting from scratch as a new class was always awesome to me. My Warrior was always my main, but I think I leveled up most classes fairly high and they were all pretty fun to play is in their own way. Like I said it’s been a long time since I’ve played the game by now but I hope Classic is still there when I one day get the time and the will to revisit the game. |
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#16 #15 |
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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