I bet you didn't know Kiros' height is 193cm.

Hint for #2

My old Avatar came from this series.

Yeah that's because his battle stance is weird. And his victory pose also got stolen for another game.

I feel like I should say correct, even without saying the game it is obviously guessed right.

Did you know that in order to fully complete Zell's love sidequest you gotta make some truly audacious visit to the library while playing as Irvine as main leader?

Didn't know but sounds hilarious if it involves Zell.

Almost.

best game designer

If I look at my list, games from one designer are especially often to see: Ron Gilbert.

He was the mastermind behind the games The Cave, Indiana Jones, Monkey Island and was involved in the development of Day of the Tentacle. Other great games from him that didn't made my list are Maniac Mansion and Zak McKracken. Next year probably another game from him enters my list, Thimbleweed Park. So far I had no time to play it.

As honorable mentions: Masahiro Sakurai and Shigeru Miyamoto.

best gaming company

Well, it is hard to beat Nintendo in this regard. This is just a big company with outstanding talent and top notch quality control. Hard to beat that. 13 games on that list are from them, although some are developed by subsidiaries like Intelligent Systems or GameFreak (both are important as they create two of my favorite gaming series: Fire Emblem and Pokemon).

To my surprise Capcom is strong in my list. I am not always happy with Capcom. But with great games like Resident Evil, Okami, Zack&Wiki and Monster Hunter they just catch me.

As most of the games of Ron Gilbert were made at his time at LucasArts, it is obvious they are hitting my list quite often too. For a time LucasArts defined adventure-gaming.

Another company very strong in my list is Atlus. In comparison to Nintendo they are small, still they attract a lot of talent and have great polish and great games. Thanks to Atlus too.

#3 Freedom Force

Why did it make the list?
Freedom Force simply oozes style and charm.  Right from the very opening cutscene you are transported to a comic book world right out of the 1960’s.  And more than that, the game really plays up the story and characters.  I had a feeling that I was going to have a ton of fun even before I started playing the game, and that continues both throughout all of the gameplay and also through all of the cutscenes in between each mission.  Anyone who has played a Bioshock game knows that the guys at Irrational Games really know how to tell a story.  Well, here they are using all of that same talent to tell a story about Silver Age comics.
On top of the amazing story telling, Freedom Force just happens to be a really fun game.  The basic combat and interface is modeled after Baldur’s Gate, but they put the characters in a world full of interactable/destructible parts.  So, while your heroes are slugging it out in the city, someone can knock down a building or rip up a lamppost and use it like a baseball bat.  And of course, each character has their own super powers, which include things like flying, wall climbing, teleporting and all sorts of other things.  All of this is done in a tactical RPG format.  I really love tactical RPG’s, but I think Freedom Force is the only real time tactical RPG that I’ve encountered.  It’s both so very fun and so unique at the same time.


Original Experience:
When this game came out there was a phrase known as “the curse of the super hero game”, because before Freedom Force came out most super hero games were at best so-so.  Freedom Force was the first really good super hero game, and that is one reason it really sticks with me.  (Of course, not long after this game came out, more and more really good ones started appearing.)

On top of that there was a really amazing fan community around this game that made all sorts of optional characters and even storylines that you could play through.  The fans made several really fun stories where you could play as a lot of your favorite Marvel and DC characters.  So this added a ton of replay value to Freedom Force.  I think I went about 4-6 months or so where Freedom Force was the only game I really played.


How does it hold up today?
The main thing to know about Freedom Force is that it had a small but very passionate cult following in its day.  If you like comic books, especially comics from the 1960’s, then this game is worth a look.  I would also recommend it to any fan of tactical RPG’s.  And if you like both of these things (like I do), then you are going to absolutely love Freedom Force.  It is a very well-made game for a niche audience, and I just happen to fit into that niche.

A few hints to catch up on, more difficult since we are in the top 10

#6
Heaven’s gift
causes your greatest dreams to come true
but in a twisted reality
Can you fathom if this ends up in the wrong hands?

#7
Enemies never follow the law
so they don’t get the protection bonuses
Best for you to follow the law though,
but at least if you break it
the punishment is not as severe as in the past:
Life in Jail

#8
Don’t fix what’s not broken
Guess what they went ahead and did?
Fix what wasn’t broken
..and it worked out!
Colour me surprised

#9
Two become one via a bond
Tethered in battle
Each casting a spell
Fusing for a mighty blow

#10
The giant tree,
The source of pure water and land
A town formed around this rich land
Despite being surrounded by monsters
Best to leave an unknown traveller to take care of this uninhabited Tree

This looks quite charming. Really, I like this graphic style. You also control a team of super-heroes it seems, I like. And did you say basic combat is modeled after Baldur's Gate? I never had this game on the radar, maybe I should've.