32. Valkyria Chronicles (PS3)

STOP! In the name of love! Before you break my heart by missing this awesome game! (Unless you've already played it, that is. In which case, carry on.) Valkyria Chronicles was the reason I finally broke down and bought a PS3, a system I previously had zero desire to own. (I came for the Valkyria Chronicles, but I stayed for the Flower.) The promise of a strategy RPG that was this visually arresting was just too much to resist. But with that much riding on it, it had to be nothing short of spectacularly epic in order not to disappoint... and it is that, in every way, shape, and form. Valkyria Chronicles tells the tale of the Gallian Civil War, a sort of pseudo-World War II, with a basic good guys vs. evil empire premise that is executed with such beautiful presentation and enough humanity and panache as to not seem horribly clichéd. On the contrary, it's actually quite an engrossing story. The 50+ characters (across five different class types) at your disposal are a very personable lot on balance, perfectly fitting the Sega Blue Skies aesthetic of the game, and endearing enough that you'll find yourself genuinely rooting for them.

Charm and good looks aside, every SRPG lives or dies by its gameplay, and here, too, Valkyria Chronicles is a smashing success. It's a truly deep and well-balanced strategy title, and its crowning achievement is the innovative BLiTZ system which provides hugely engaging mix of turn-based strategy with real-time action on a character's turn. It can be pretty tense to sprint across a battlefield to the next piece of cover with enemy soldiers firing at you, and it's downright terrifying to round a corner in a cramped city only to run into a hulking enemy tank. Additionally, the many characters' personalities are also one of the more interesting elements of the game, as this character's dust allergy or that character's tendency to turn into a chatterbox when a friend is near adds flavor and an extra wrinkle to battles by lowering your accuracy while another's ability to sometimes attack twice or move twice as far on a turn can be a potential lifesaver. There is just so much for strategy hounds to love here.

So how do you follow up on such a lovingly crafted and critically acclaimed title with over 1 million in sales worldwide? Well, if you're Sega, you kill it by putting two sequels on a system that is dead everywhere but Japan and then rape its beautiful corpse with social game spin-offs until everyone forgets that you ever made such a staggeringly wonderful game. Good job, douches.

32. No More Heroes, Wii (2008) Ubisoft (USA Distribution) Marvelous/Grasshopper Manufacture (last year 31)

Generally i don't go in for "artsy" games, which is what makes this game unique. It's an unflattering commentary on otaku and gamer culture alike, wrapped up in a vestige of fun violence and pointless minigames. Travis Touchdown's journey through an empty world filled with other interesting assassin personalities is just a unique experience all around

Clue for 31: Boom 2^6

Hint for 31: This game was revolutionary in it's genre, almost every game in it's genre after it came out use the innovation that it created. Also this game is less than 10 years old.

My #32, as guessed by Smeags, is Beyond Good & Evil.

Tragically ignored by consumers, Beyond Good & Evil was a financial disappointment despite critical acclaim. Set on an alien world, Beyond Good & Evil follows the exploits of an investigative reporter named Jade, who stumbles upon a massive conspiracy. Stealth is an important component of the gameplay in Beyond Good & Evil: while Jade does carry an offensive weapon, she often has to embrace a clandestine approach when faced with overwhelming enemy forces. One of the most engaging and immersive elements in the game is the ability to take photographs with Jade’s camera. The camera can be used to photograph evidence of the conspiracy or simply to snap pictures of the fauna on Hillys.

Please, Ubisoft, give us Beyond Good & Evil 2.

Excellent detective work, and correct on all counts.

42 according to the works of Douglas Adams.

9 because he counts Talos among the Divines.

4 because of Uncharted, my second favourite new IP (first is Mass Effect).

Which does, indeed, make 47, which represents Hitman: Blood Money.

32) Hitman: Blood Money (PC / 2006 / Third-Person Shooter)

I only picked this up and played it very recently, a few months ago, and I was amazed by how enjoyable it was. It actually did put an emphasis on stealth, unlike so many other modern "stealth" games. The story was interesting and surprisingly well-told, and there was an excellent variety of missions. I especially loved the disguise mechanic, which the developers went on to completely butcher in Absolution. Ah well.

Clue for 31: An owl and an egg, and a twist that people usually hate but not in this case.

#32: Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn (2007)
Last Year: 36

Fire Emblem is a great series, and I believe that Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn is the pinnacle of the series. Radiant Dawn is the direct sequel to my other favorite Fire Emblem, Path of Radiance, and like any great sequel, it improves on it in all areas. The actual adventure is enormous, with four major acts that could be seperate games by themselves... but together they come together to create something very special. The culmination of the three parties coming together to face a great crisis was awesome, and the final assault into the capital city and the goddess' tower was full of great battles and daunting bosses (including my favorite... another one on one showdown with the Black Knight!). In the end, Radiant Dawn was an incredible experience, and one I'm glad I played.

That's now three games in a row from 2007 (four total). What a great year for games.

Hint for #31:

A rare treat goes retro.

32th -

Pokémon SoulSilver was the game I waited for a long time and it did not dissapoint. Of course, I thouht that the game was better at first, but for some reason the game was lowered to this position.

The game was rich of content and it was good content but after having played Gold so much before, the game saw less playtime from me than other games. I can not blame this game for it and at least I put a decent time on the Pokéthlon which I enjoyed quite much. Since this game is on the list I have eliminated Gold from the list altogether as this is the superior game.