#30: New Super Mario Bros U I think then.

#28: Uhmm, other big villains I thought could be The Joker, but I don’t think there’s a Batman game on SNES that uses Mode 7. Or like I initially thought Bowser, but he’s not really that across media. I had to look up a list of random villains to jog my memory, and there’s one that might fit the bill; Dracula.

Is #28 Super Castlevania IV?

Metroid Fusion is right!

My last few games have been guessed quite quickly, which is good, but it kind of gives me the excuse to make my hints just a tad more difficult.

In any case it seems the thread is more popular than last year, which is great!

EDIT: That add on mobile that keeps taking you to the Appstore with the search querry ‘puzzlegamesbyvgchartz’ has another problem besides being gigantically annoying; it breaks the mobile text editor if you aren’t fast enough. I had to rewrite this post twice because it would break off and open the stupid app store.

I'll try to catch up...

#50 - Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon

I know some Luigi's Mansion stans don't like this game because it's more level-based and less exploration-focused than the first game, but I think the levels and puzzles in this game are very very well designed, the atmosphere is great and the mansions have great variety, which is one of my favorite things about the game.

#49 - Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies

This game has a great job system (it's a shame that some of the jobs are hidden behind some tedious tasks, though) and a very fun turn-based battle system, I like that it's faster paced than its predecessors'. Like most other Dragon Quest games, this title focuses more on the little stories in each town rather than the overall plot, and some of these little stories can be really moving.

#48 - Bravely Default

This game features a super deep and engaging turn-based battle system and an addicting job system (which are very rare these days in japanese RPGs). The soundtrack is great and the art-style looks really good on the 3DS. It's a shame that the latter part of the game is so repetitive,  otherwise it would be waaaay higher in this list.

#47 - Dark Cloud 2

My favourite part of this game is the highly involved town-building feature, it's really fun to come up with design ideas and to make villagers go to live in your towns.  The sidequests you do to bring people to your towns really help to flesh out said NPCs. The soundtrack is top notch and the cel-shaded visuals have aged like fine wine. Also, I must mention that this game has my favorite fishing mini-game ever (sorry Ocarina of Time and Okami).

#46 - Ratchet & Clank: Up your Arsenal

This game features a great variety of weapons for you to use (hence Up Your Arsenal ) , most of which are actually useful. Just like most other R&C games, this game's gameplay is the definition of fun and the quality of the humor is actually pretty good. The variety of levels is really really good, one of my favorites being when

Also, it's easily one of the best games in the series content-wise (and well, overall).

Correct.

Oh, no, sorry if my hints were confusing.

Here are all my hints:

Hint 1: Lots of heights and climbing.
Hint 2: This franchise went open world last year.
(And to be clear, the game in question is not open world, only the most recent game in the franchise is.)

I have a bit of catch-up to do, so I drop hints for a few more games. But before that a quick look, on how the standings are on the predictions to my games. The_Liquid_Laser already has taken the lead with six correct guesses. Last year at this point he had only three and went on to guess 17. SanAndreasX is second with three guessed games.Jpcc86 is third with two. A lot of people have guessed one game so far: TruckOSaurus, RingoGaSuki, Agente42, Bofferbrauer2, S.Peelman, forest-spirit, Landale_Star, BraLoD and Farsala. Still 30 to go, so plenty of chances.

#33 Guessed by The_Liquid_Laser: Pikmin

#32 Guessed by Farsala: Final Fantasy X

#31

a) The king becomes consumed by the rot.

#30

a) The terrorist organization is back?

#29

a) Giant monsters vs. giant aliens!

#28

a) "Хорошо! Я буду работать на тeбя, проклятый капиталист!"

#27 Guessed by S.Peelman: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

a) The character the the games in this series is named after, isn't even in this game.

27: Zelda Link's Awakening? I wanted to say Majora's Mask at first but even though Zelda indeed doesn't play a part in that game she technically still has a short appearance through a flashback.

I could google the Russian quote, but I won't.

#31

Command & Conquer (PC)

Change From Last Year: -1

The original Command & Conquer is the game that made me a fan of real-time strategy, and although it's naturally somewhat dated by today's standards as the genre has moved forwards and introduced numerous new elements and tweaks to its gameplay, I can still go back and play it at pretty much any time and have a great time. I love the relative simplicity of the game, and even though nostalgia naturally plays a role in C&C's relatively high placement in my top 50, I can honestly say I prefer real-time strategy games from the mid-90s through to the early 2000s to most games in the genre today. I just find these older titles a much more enjoyable experience than most modern RTSs.

Besides the gameplay, I also really like the story in the game, and I still think Kane is one of the best villains in video game history. In addition, the soundtrack to Command & Conquer is great, and remains among Frank Klepacki's best works to this day.

Monster Hunter 4 was going to be my next guess.

Reposting because no one even tried to guess and the original post is now 2 or 3 pages back.

32. You never really die in this game, but if you get a game over, you get turned into a plant-animal hybrid.

31. A dethroned king becomes a pirate and kidnaps your uncle.

30. Blasphemy time. Our gracious host especially would regard the placing of this title on the list above another game to be an abomination.

28 is correct!

On 30, you are getting closer, but still not quite there.