#15

-The intro sees your teacher defect to the enemy's side

-In the end the teacher is just a scapegoat, branded a traitor and killed

#13

-Fragments of the primordial man causing chaos in kingdoms throughout history

-"Seek strength, the rest will follow."

#12

-Searching for the greatest pirate treasure of all time

-A pirate utopia fell to ruin due to in-fighting among its leaders

13 - Dark Souls 2? 

12 - Uncharted 4

Continuing where we left off

17) Magical beast, magical leash.

Hint 2: Or to put it more accurately: otherwordly.

16) "Eight. Eight. Eight. Eight."

Hint 2: The broom closet ending was my favorite.

15) *picks flower petals* "I know my past. I don't know my past. I know my past. I don't know my past..."

14) Gravity is nothing before the might of a horse.

Did someone already guess Astral Chain for this?

This game was the groundwork for a lot of similar titles. Strategic base building and research in real time, but turn-based tactical missions if UFOs turned up. That was a very enticing and addicting mix.

This game led to my first all-nighter. I had the mindset: I only do this, just one more UFO mission, I need to get to the end of the month funds to build just one more building. And then it started to get bright outside and birds started singing. I just hadn't noticed how the time was gone.

I still remember the horror of the terror missions. Because these civilians just ran randomly into the aliens and were killed. And I got punished in the rating. That was unfair, they just had to hide behind my soldiers!

But it was so satisfying to shoot down the UFOs, explore them and finally even storm their bases.

The game was called UFO: Enemy Unknown here in europe, but X-COM: UFO Defense in the US. There were quite a few direct sequels in the 90s, starting with terror from the deep. Then in a phase the focus of the industry shifted and the series was forgotten, until Firaxis remade this original game as XCOM: Enemy Unknown, which probably a lot of you know.

The original game is still available on platforms like GOG.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ttggec6eJFY

No, so you're the lucky winner!

Correct on both.

#15: Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

That's the one.

Now we're on the top 20, I should probably start writing these up again...

20) Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

It always takes a couple of years until the potential of a console generation is realised. Drake's Fortune was a great early tech demo for the PS3, and an interesting foray into new territory for Naughty Dog. Uncharted 2, however, was the game that really showed what a huge leap forward the console was technologically, and was an early indication of the legendary status that Naughty Dog has now rightfully earned. The cast of characters is fully fleshed and has some great interactions; the environments see a huge amount of variety and the Himalayan setting is just stunning; the gunplay feels a lot cleaner and integrates much more seamlessly with the platforming; and the multiplayer is astonishingly good. This game completely swept the 2009 GoTY awards, which makes it all the more remarkable...

19) Uncharted 4: A Thief's End

... that Naughty Dog actually managed to best it, again by pushing a new console to its limits. I loved the new open world setting, giving you the ability to drive between locations rather than just blinking and missing the transition. We learn a lot about Nate's origins and his relationship with his brother Sam, who is hands down one of the best supporting characters in the series. The amount of action on the screen makes Uncharted 2 look primitive by comparison; and the ending is just beautiful. I'd almost say this is the best game Naughty Dog had made to date, except...

18) The Last of Us

I just replayed this recently, to get warmed up for TLOU2 earlier this year. There's a good reason why Joel and Ellie are two of the most beloved protagonists in gaming history - they feel completely real. I think the narrative depth of this game marked a genuine transition for gaming as a medium, and is a big part of why we have much higher standards for characterisation and storytelling than we did a decade ago. This game is absolutely stunning in every way - in the stories it tells, in the environments it presents, and in the gameplay it lays in front of you. Survival horror games can so easily descend into a trudge where you just sneak around corners or gun down hordes of zombies; this game offers a bit of both but also a hugely broad swathe of gameplay in between - short bursts of stealth, followed by a quick combat to take down a couple of enemies, before running away and hiding so the rest of them don't swarm you. I know opinions vary on the sequel, but the fan reaction to the events of its story just shows how attached an entire generation of gamers grew to this game and its cast.

17) Assassin's Creed II

I also like some games that aren't made by Naughty Dog. The original Assassin's Creed is a funny one in that, on paper, it should be really good. The concept is solid, the dual-era story is genuinely original and captivating, and who wouldn't want to play as a medieval assassin? But it took a sequel to really realise the original game's potential. Renaissance-era Italy was incredibly beautiful and it's amazing to see it captured so faithfully in a game; the platforming and exploration were the highlights of the original, and are just that little bit better in a setting that's worthy of them. Countless books and TV shows tell tales of Florentine intrigue but none of them let you take part in it as a key player. There's a huge amount more gameplay variety this time around, and just as importantly a genuinely likeable protagonist with clear origins and motivations. Plus this was before they completely wrecked the modern storyline, so I also loved the mystery of the impeding apocalypse and how Desmond and friends were going to avert it. It's a real shame this series went on to suck for nearly a decade after this game came out (direct sequels aside - I actually quite liked Brotherhood and Revelations).