21) Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time (PS3 / 2009 / Action Platformer)

My second favourite R&C game, and an extraordinarily good platformer and shooter in its own right. The full-blown return of the legendary Dr Nefarious, Clank's unique and interesting gameplay, Nolan North playing somebody who sounds nothing like him, an enormous galaxy to explore, and all of the exciting weapons that have become the hallmarks of the franchise.

Please, please, Insomniac, stop trying to make generic shooters and crappy R&C spinoffs and make another game like this. I know ACIT didn't review all that well (the worst thing Torillian has ever done was giving it an 8.3), but you don't need them.

Don't answer this, Smeags or anyone else from mod chat.

Clues for 20:
-Apple --> Life
-Flower --> Fire
-Feather --> Superman

Super Mario World

I hereby fire pezus as deputy VGC detective and hire you.

Well done

#22. Resident Evil 2 (PS1)

I started the Resident Evil series with this game, in fact it's a secret shame of mine but I've never played the original Resident Evil or its remake. The game starts off rough, you're thrown in the deep end and I died a couple of times before I figured out what to do and how the controls worked.

I quickly learned that you couldn't go around killing every zombie in your path and that ammo conservation was of the utmost importance. The fixed camera angles and the tank controls sometimes worked against you, hiding your enemies from your sight but all of this added to the tension that was present all the way through the game.

The story was told through the vision of Leon and Claire and while the locations were the same both playthrough were quite different in the enemies encountered and the weapons you could use. The story woud also differ slightly whether you played with Leon or Claire first adding replay value. The game also rewarded quick playthroughs with various bonuses, the best one being the infinite rocket launcher if you finish the game in less than 2½ hours.

#21. Final Fantasy II (SNES)

Love, hate, betrayal, drama, sacrifice, crystals, airships this game has it all. To this day the story of this game remains one of my favorite. Starting off with Cecil as a Dark Knight asked to do questionable things by the king of Baron and ending with a confrontation on the moon, the story covers many themes such as redemption, love triangles and sacrifice. Every character was fully fleshed out and you could easily understand their motivations.

On the gameplay front, we saw the introduction of the Active Time Battle system and characters each had their specific class. Rosa was a White Wizard, Rydia a Caller/Black Mage, Kain an easily mind-controllable Dragoon. I really appreciated that everyone felt different and had their own use in the party (except for Edward the worthless Bard of course).

The game clocks at just under 20 hours everytime I replay it and it's always a blast to experience.

Side note: I've played this game so many times that I started to notice how certain things were determined. One of those things was that the level of everyone on your final team (except Edge) was determined by Cecil's level when they joined the party. Knowing that, right before beating the Magus Sisters, I would kill off my whole party except Cecil and fight the puppet summoning enemies for a while. Using that method I'd get Cecil at a ridiculous level (around 60) and afterwards my whole party would join my ranks powered up and ready to kick ass (it also prevents you from leveling up Rydia who needs an insane amount of EXP compared to others).

Hint #20: A Final Fantasy game for people who know how to have a laugh.

X

*shakes head*

Game #20. Not eaten yet. Taste unknown.