I'm going to get through my list of games, hopefully by the end of the year.

#10

Final Fantasy X (PS2, PS3)

YoY: =

I swear it's a total coincidence that Final Fantasy X is #10 on my list. This is the game I bought a PS2 for back in 2002, and I have not regretted that decision whatsoever. Since then I've played through the game at least four times, so basically every four to five years I end up going back to it, and I usually end up loving it more than before as a result. There's just something special about the world, the characters, the story, and the music of Final Fantasy X that I simply never get tired of it.

In general, I consider this to be the second best game in the series, the second best PS2 game ever made, and obviously one of the best games of all time. At this point very few changes are ever happening on my list. Eight out of the nine remaining games are on the exact same position as they were last year.

#2: Minecraft

#1: Portal 2

#9

Dark Souls 3 (PS4)

YoY: =

The culmination of one of the absolute best series of video games ever made, and if this ends up being the last Dark Souls game as it would seem like right now, then the trilogy went out on a wonderful note. In terms of gameplay its easily the best of the three, taking some clever influence from Bloodborne to make the combat faster and more varied. The bosses are also the best in the series, with some wonderfully designed monsters and fights that are among the most memorable in any video game.

In addition to the gameplay, the story and lore have always been something I've thoroughly enjoyed discovering in Dark Souls, both while playing myself and afterwards reading and listening through what other people have found out about the world, its history and people. Dark Souls III was a wonderful way to bring the series to a close, and an experience I will likely return to over and over again in the future.

I think it might be time for me to finally give up and just play the damn remake on Switch. I have it, but I've not gotten around to it because I've been infatuated with PS5 games all year. Between Skyrim and ghost of Tsushima and FFVII Remake and Ratchet & Clank and Deathloop and Kena and FIST....I just haven't had time. 

That said, I think it's time I play something that's linear. I need something that isn't an open world, 50+ hour game. I love Skyrim but man it's a lot of game. 

as for my final 3 guesses, I might as well come out and reveal them because I don't know how to hint any longer: 

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19 - I go after The sponge before the Gator so I can get a more powerful gun early.

 - The optional super weapon is from a fighting game. This game is not a fighting game. 

This game is Mega Man X2. Because if you do Wire sponge first, you can use its ability to get the upgraded mega Buster in Wheel Gator's stage. Furthermore, the 'ultimate' move, in the same vein as its predecessor's Hadouken, is the Shoryuken. 

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17 - Trust me, you don't wanna get the chip sets, because you can only have one at a time, but if you wait until the final levels you can have all four.

 - Why in the world didn't the cutting weapon cut the ropes? Why did you have to use some weird electric punch?! Makes no sense.

This game is Mega Man X3, which I actually do like a bit more than X2. In this game you get way more collectibles, including the armour sets, the mech suits, the heart tanks, the E-tanks, and the chip set. Each of the 4 chips enhances one of the 4 armour pieces. However, you can only have one of these at a time, and if you don't get any of the chip sets but get everything else prior to playing Doppler's lab, you can then get the gold armour which comes with all four chips. As for the second hint, there's literally a weapon in the game called rolling cutter that is like an orb with a blade around it that spins. there are also areas of the game where giant rocks are suspended by ropes and need to be cut down. it makes PERFECT sense that the solution is the cutting weapon, but no, you gotta use the electric weapon fully charged where you punch the ground and the...ropes....explode? It makes no sense.

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10 - This game also features almost all the content and DLC from its previous three iterations, making it a definitive edition of sorts.

 - I think it holds the record for most consecutive weeks of DLC. 2,553 pieces of DLC between now and November 2007.

This game is Rock Band 4. Because you can export all but a handful of tracks from Rock Band 1, Rock Band 2, Rock Band 3, Lego Rock Band, and Green Day Rock Band into the game. Plus, all but the RBN songs (The ones uploaded by indies and smaller bands outside of the official channels, think officially endorsed mods) are or were available in Rock Band 4. I currently have 2222 DLC songs in the game between exports and downloads. Sadly you can't export the old soundtracks anymore. 

As Minecraft was already taken I go with Tetris, as even something seemingly objective like sales number is open to discussion and complicated.

And here we have another masterpiece. Pandora's Tower was one the last big games for Wii, it was part of Project Rainfall together with Xenoblade Chronicles and The Last Story.

You explore long abandoned awe inspiring towers, that are now overrun with monsters. They are filled with big monuments, strange machinery and some environmental puzzles. With your chain you climb through these towers to the master beast, a being of majestic power. This all to save your loved one from the curse of the beast, which transforms her into a monster.

The game masterfully transfers a mood of sadness and mystery. The world seems to fall apart, the towers hanging by enourmous chains over a chasm that rips deeply into the world. Small hints, notebook entries, dreams help you slowly discover the mystery of what happened here. And the towers itself are filled with wonder. This all makes exploring so worthwile.

At the same time you shouldn't explore too long, because Elena will transform into a beast while you roaming the towers. Even if the timer isn't running out, she starts slowly to mutate and transform. And this makes her sad, a feeling transported both through her expressions, her dialogue and the music. If you return early though, you might find her in different activities that leave her happy and upbeat. So the game guides you to always keep Elenas well-being on the back of your mind and the will to return to her fast. So it is always a delicate balance between exploring just a bit more of the tower and to return to her early to keep her falling into depression. The interactions between your character Aeron and Elena are diverse, so it doesn't get old to be there for her.

This game is an underapreciated gem on the Wii. It came too late in the Wiis lifetime, further delayed in it's release in the West and getting way too less attention. After we now getting ports/remasters of Tokyo Mirage Sessions and Xenoblade Chronicles it is now definitely Pandora's Tower that is highest on my porting wishlist for Switch. This game deserves a second chance, it needs more exposure. But I am doubtful. I think this game will be left on Wii forever, never getting the exposure it deserves. Which is really a shame. At least it is available digitally on WiiU (in difference to Another Code R), and you should get it as long as the eshop is still open for WiiU.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgB48Bq8Rho

So before I post the #3 game, Super Mario 64, here's a list of Honourable mentions, 20 of them in alphabetical order. Obviously, I find these games to be excellent, and some have been in the main list for one or more years in the past. I raise my glass to these;

• Age of Empires, a great RTS that fuelled my love for history and will be remembered because of the sound the Priest makes.
• Age of Mythology, has been in the main list for most years, and like Age of Empires, fuelled my love for in this case, classical mythology.
• Anno 1404, sometimes in the list, a great city builder with great variety that gives you the ability to create beautiful things.
• Banjo-Kazooie, a clever and great looking platformer with lots of fun humour, which I appreciate as some entries in my list prove.
• Crazy Taxi, has been in the list most years, a racing game that suited me, probably because it's not a racing game.
• Dynamite Cop, has been in the list most years, a ridiculous beat-em 'up where you can hit people with basically everything in sight.
• Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, sometimes in the list, made me realise there's more series out there worth playing.
• Game #14: Gunfighter, has been in the list, an ancient arcade versus shooter game I played on my mother's old Videopac G7000 as one of the first things I ever played.
• The Legend of Zelda, the original Zelda game for NES, a milestone in game design, cryptic yet intriguing.
• The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, a unique game in the franchise with an awesome control scheme and some of the best dungeons.
• Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon, one of the greatest uses of a game of its parent system, in this case the 3DS.
• Missile Command, though I played more clones of it than I did the original, which I do own, this is the definition of 'less is more' in the gaming world.
• Professor Layton & Pandora's box, a great puzzle adventure with a unique story you can't really put down.
• SimCity 2000, the two successors made the list, but really my love for city builders started here.
• Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force, one of the other great 'Quake III-engine' games, games on that engine just worked well.
• Star Wars Shadows of the Empire, an underrated Star Wars game, that really kills it with the atmosphere, never mind the music in level 9.
• Step-On-It, has been in the list most years, an obscure puzzle game that is a clone of NES game 'Solomon's Key', that really made me think.
• Super Mario 3D Land, this game is better at being a 3DS game than 'Super Mario 3D World' was at being a WiiU game due to it's awesome use of the 3D effect.
• Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, a beautiful game almost at the level of its predecessor though I do like this one's story better.
• Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, a great RTS with unique yet balanced playable races of which I actually completed the campaigns.

Then, after Kakadu18 and Mnementh's suggestions, I'll go with Wii Sports for #2, because I guess it depends on what "individual" means.

This was indeed the correct answer. Tetris & Wii Sports solid guesses tho

Indeed