The community was really creative with this map editor and also didn't limit itself to the genre of the base game (RTS) but was going far, far beyond that. Incredible!

36:

34:

Well, I just lost a huge post going through my 43-35 in detail after my browser closed unexpectedly on literally the last fucking sentence of 35. FML. That's what I get for always procrastinating on posting this stuff. Can't be asked to type it all out again tho, so I'mma just leave the list, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask.

I'll also add real quick, which I forgot to do last time, that I'm limiting my list to a single entry per franchise. Just my way of spreading the love to more different games, as otherwise, certain names would show up over and over, which I think is a little less interesting. Anyway, here we go;

43. Fallout NV

42. Shadow of the Tomb Raider (I fully expect to get some questions on this one lol)

41. Super Smash Bros. Melee

40. Dead or Alive 3

39. Ninja Gaiden Black

38. Cyberpunk 2077

37. Fable 2

36. Pokemon Silver/Gold

35. Ori and the Blind Forest

Guessed by @Ultrashroomz

Probably the best Pokémon game all-around. "All-around" in this case meaning it has shit tons of content, most of which is fun, has a solid story that doesn't get in your way too much, a great soundtrack, lots of cool Pokémon to catch and things to do both before and after seeing the credits roll.

Honestly, just listening to a song or two and typing a couple lines of text about it already make me reminisce. Like, the moment you remember what it was like to be playing this back when it was new, it's so glaring and depressing how far this franchise has fallen (and also apparently it's been 10 years, what the hell). This was Pokémon at its very peak, and it still blows my mind to see just how quickly they went from their best ever form, to the shitshow it's been ever since. For the past few years or so, I often forget I ever even cared about these games, but whenever I go back to replay these, it's always a great time.

Top 50 >>

Guessed by @Ultrashroomz

Splatoon 2 was stuck in a weird spot for me this year, what with getting a sequel and all, I thought about dropping it a bit lower, or getting it off the list entirely, but ultimately it made it's way here. The thing is, there's a lot I disliked about it, and maybe back then I tolerated these gripes, but now with Splatoon 3 exposing those issues and fixing many of them, it's that much harder to think more positively about it. Most of the times I had with the multiplayer were purely frustrating, I wasn't a fan of the map design and how it favoured shorter range weapons, the specials were generally boring and annoying to deal with (ironic in that they tried making weaker versions of the specials from the first game, but somehow they ended up even more of a pain to deal with). Honestly it just wasn't much fun at all, and I wasn't into Salmon Run either, so, what's there to like?

Well, turns out there was plenty. The base single-player campaign was fine, maybe a bit worse than the original's, but once Octo Expansion dropped, everything changed. It may not be a masterpiece or anything, but that is easily the best single-player content we've had in the Splatoon series and, much like how Splatoon 3 exposed the issues in this game's multiplayer, Octo Expansion exposes the shit out of the sequel's campaign. The whole setting and vibe was amazing, how the story slowly built itself around this obviously suspicious scenario, the music was amazing, and the ending was exciting as hell. And it was hard when it wanted to be, which I appreciated. Even outside of the single-player campaign itself, it revitalized Splatoon 2's universe with all the octolings running around and such, and the final splatfest was incredibly memorable.

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Guessed by @Ultrashroomz

We were just talking about this the other day here on VGC, but the first Splatoon game really was amazing and might still be the best entry in the series. I hadn't really touched it since I got my hands on its sequel, but this year I went back to play some of it again and it holds up, the multiplayer still has enough people to find matches quickly and playing it is still a blast even after the third game in the series. There's something about it that hasn't quite made its way into the Switch games, it feels raw and wild, freeing even. Or maybe it's just it having better netcode and gyro controls that makes it feel more magic than its sequels, but either way, it is lots of fun to play, even all these years later.

And that isn't even getting into how exciting it was back then, how fresh and original it felt. To be fair, sequels can never match up in that department, but they haven't come close either. Everything about this game was a breath of fresh air, the Splatfests were a magical time, what with the silly Miiverse posts lighting up the sky (an aspect that has been thankfully maintained, to an extent), the soundtrack was wacky in all the best ways, and living the game as it evolved with each of its many updates felt like you really were on a journey along with the game itself, unlike now where it just feels like they're holding back content (and this may as well have been the case already, but it really felt like it was all being made as the updates came out). And there was the single-player campaign, full of interesting and creative ideas, maybe not quite realized to their full potential, but eventually leading up a final boss that was an absolute delight.

This game was great to live in, and it is still great today. It is undeniably the console-defining game of the Wii U, and it's hard to argue that the series hasn't lost at least a little of its shine outside of the system it was born in. I was wrong to write it off last year's list, that's for sure.

Top 50 >>

Not too hard to figure out this one, I imagine.

I need to stop sniping your hints, but I felt somewhat obligated to get this one at least

Guessed by @Ultrashroomz

If the first game is arguably still the best because of its gyro controls and netcode, Splatoon 3 is the best because of everything else. It has a unique vibe that feels unlike either of the previous games, while also bringing back some of that wacky wild spirit of the original. It has the best soundtrack in the series (Anarchy Rainbow is an absolute joy), and obviously looks the best, even if it does show the Switch's age a little. The single-player campaign doesn't quite live up to the Octo Expansion, but it is still very good and we are likely getting another DLC campaign that is hopefully even better. Even Salmon Run is something I can have a bit of fun now, because of one minor change that made a world of difference (being able to throw the golden eggs around). I'm not a fan of them replacing Squid Beatz with Tableturf Battle, but the new mini-game isn't too bad either. As a whole package, it delivers for sure.

Obviously though, the multiplayer is the star of the show, and boy does it star. I mean, once you get past the 2 minute waits for each game, the communication errors, and the awful laggy netcode, all of which sucks. But apart from that, it's great. The new specials are super fun to use and mostly not too annoying to deal with, and the ranked modes are as balanced as ever. The map design seems to be getting some criticism from some corners, but personally I love nearly every stage in the game (only dislike the returning ones from Splatoon 2), I absolutely dig the more linear approach that brings back long range weapons into the meta. It just doesn't feel like Splatoon if you're not hopelessly trying to evade the E-Liter half the game.

Most crucially for me, however, was the timing of this game. Both of the previous games were great multiplayer experiences I had fun times with, but they always took a backseat to Smash as a competitive game. Since the release of Ultimate, though, my opinions on Smash have been dwindling, and having nearly dropped the game back in 2020, I've finally stopped playing it entirely earlier this year. It was fine having nothing competitive to play for a few months, but it meant that by the time Splatoon 3 came out, the door was cranked wide open for it to take over my life. I'm not sure I'll get to the point of taking it seriously, but it does feel nice to get into a competitive game that isn't riddled with broken DLC characters and comeback mechanics, for once. And the way this game came storming into my life really made me realize how much the Splatoon series means to me, and how awesome these games are - hence why I ultimately decided to list all three.

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I mean, it's not your fault if no one else is guessing them. With Splatoon I fully expected it to be you every time and I'm glad you got all of them. As for the next hint... I won't post it yet, there's a while to go, so nothing for you to snipe yet.