The Discussion Thread - The 14th Annual Greatest Games Event

[psychicscubadiver]

14. Hollow Knight
There is something utterly compelling about the atmosphere of Hollow Knight. Part of it is the art style, part of it is the environmental design, part of it is the music, but in the end the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. From the few minutes of the game I felt draw to explore Hallownest, to plumb its depths and seek out its secrets. And the game both rewarded me with strange and interesting things: badges, characters, locations, mysteries and punished me when I grew careless or hasty. But being killed only made me more determined to press on. Few deaths felt unfair, it was almost always my own fault which made me want to return and prove that I could do better. I don't know what it is about the melancholy world of Hollow Knight, but I enjoyed it immensely and still can't wait for the sequel.

13. Banjo Kazooie
It's shocking to realize how small the levels of Banjo Kazooie are as an adult. What felt vast and expansive as a child is tiny compared to almost any other game that takes place in a 3D space. But those worlds are densely packed with unique and amusing characters. Everything from an orange-tossing gorilla to a hippo pirate crying over his lost gold to a turtle choir to a camel that is constantly abused for hoarding water. The challenges and collectibles are great fun, but it's the humor that suffuses every interaction that really sells it to me. That was honestly the biggest let-down of Yooka-laylee: the bland copy-paste characters that never had anything interesting to say.

12. Arkham City
I think I've mentioned that I love to explore somewhere in this write-ups. That refrain is about to be repeated a lot more as I head into my top games, but even so Arkham City deserves its spotlight for it. I enjoyed Arkham Asylum. It remains one of my favorite superhero games. But Arkham was very segmented, divided. The free-flowing map of the city where a hundred different distraction awaited was something quite else. Everywhere you looked there was a Riddler challenge or a clue to one of Batman's many rogues doing something dastardly. It was never overwhelming, as I would complete a level for the main quest then dart around the city doing side missions until I felt like resuming the real story again. The combat did a great job of making you feel like a badass while still providing a challenge and the stealth sections were great fun. It's cliche at this point to say that the game 'made you feel like Batman', but if that isn't what making fictional henchmen piss themselves in fear feels like, then I don't know what does.

11. Chrono Trigger
The two essentials for any RPG is the story and the battle system. One is the core gameplay loop and the other is what motivates you to keep playing. In terms of story Chrono Trigger had it all, epic scope, personal tragedies, relatable characters, and a compelling threat driving the characters forward. Similarly the battle system was a joy to play with positioning being important and combo attacks between your teammates mattering. It also helped that none of the team members felt useless compared to others. I often switched up my team and played with the full variety of my available characters. The animated cut scenes and designs from manga great Akira Toriyama are just icing on the cake. It really is the quintessential JRPG for me.