#35 One of the last great adventure series starred these two main characters

The first game in the series start with an unusual inheritance triggering a long journey

#37

Change YoY: NEW!   My Rating: 9.1 /10

Control is something of an out-of-nowhere favourite of mine, as I must confess that I was never massively interested in most of Remedy Entertainment's previous games. I've played several of them, but neither Max Payne nor Alan Wake ever stayed with me to the extent that they clearly have with many other people. Even with Control, I didn't actually play it until earlier this year, and still only because it was offered as one of the free monthly titles on PS Plus. I was just expecting to get a decent enough game that I'd enjoy while playing and the forget soon after. I was somewhat mistaken on that.

Not only is Control the most fun game to simply play that Remedy has ever made, it also features one of my favourite settings in all of video games to date. The Oldest House is wonderfully cryptic and strange place, and the wider world it begins to reveal during the story as well as the various side quests and optional collectibles. I also found the characters far more well-rounded than in previous Remedy games, Jesse Faden being a great main character driven by an excellent performance by Courtney Hope. The rest of the cast is great too, a particular highlight being Ahti the janitor. Finally, I'd be remiss not to mention the Ashtray Maze, one of the single best levels in any video game in recent memory. Combined with the track "Take Control", it's a genuine highlight in an already excellent game.

Syberia. I've played the first two and really liked them too. I need to play the rest of the series at some point.

OK, I am very much behind, because of time constraints, but let's start off with some honorable mentions.

Halls of Torment (2023, Windows)

There are quite a lot of games recently, that follow the success of Vampire Survivors. I tried some of them and Halls of Torment is a noteworthy addition. It has the basic gameplay you know of Vampire Survivors, but puts it into a more dark, gritty, gothic setting, not unlike to the original Diablo. It also adds equipment and quests. A lot of fun, if after Vampire Survivors you still aren't burned out.

trailer

Starfield (2023, Xbox Series)

Yes, I list Starfield here (which means it isn't in TOP 50, hint). Yes it has gotten quite some critcism, and I share a lot of it. But despite all that we shouldn't forget, that at the core we still have a fun play if you let it work on you (and you can see online, a lot of people do have fun with the systems). It is just released in a year with really great bangers of games (and you will see that reflected in my TOP 50). Still i think it is worth mentioning Starfield and I think it is great if you want a more realistic space game. NASA-punk if you will. That realism works at times against the fun, but sometimes it is what makes it worth. Not a game for everyone, but still a good game.

wikipedia, trailer

SimCity/Micropolis (1989, DOS)

OK, last year I had Cities: Skylines as a honorable mention, but I thought I also include from where it all started. When I played Cities:Skylines it all felt familiar, because not too much has changed to the original SimCity (and most of these changes happened in SimCity 2000). So back in 1989 Will Wright already developed the bones for a great game. Initially they wanted to call it Micropolis (a fitting name) but, that name was already trademarked back then, so they switched to SimCity, starting the Sim*-branding that they used a lot going forward.

The original game already let's you build your city, see it go stuck in traffic, have it hit by events like earthquakes and... Godzilla. It could thrive or you could go bankrupt for mismanagement. A lot of fun back then.

The source code has been released in the open and the game is now Open Source and ported to more modern platforms. As the brand SimCity is owned by EA, the name was switched to Micropolis, which now was free of the previous trademark. So if you want to play it today, Micropolis might be the best way to go.

wikipedia, Micropolis

Sid Meier's Civilization (1991, DOS)

And if we go down memory lane to games that started a genre, then I should also add Civilization. It kicked off a genre of it's own and still is relevant today as a series, because again the core mechanics are that great, that they still work 30 years later. And I will never forget that intro movie, that showed the formation of earth, the start of life, the evolution and the civilization growing on the earth.

wikipedia, intro

Little Inferno (2012, WiiU/Switch)

Games by Tomorrow Corporation can be pretty weird, but they are also always unique because of that. Little Inferno is no different and has a pretty simple and straighforward gameplay loop: you sit in front of a fireplace and burn stuff. If you burn stuff you get money, which you can use to buy more stuff - which you then set on fire. Burning certain items together can result in combos, which are the achievements. And overall you get a (pretty dark) story told through letters (and a very surprising ending). And that is all there is to it. That may seem simple - and it is - yet somehow it manages to be a compelling concept. The items you buy can become really weird and the physics effects involved in burning them interesting. Was pretty perfect for the WiiU gamepad actually, in off-TV play.

wikipedia, trailer

As a reminder, here are my honorable mentions of the past years:

• 2017: Wii Sports Resort (Wii, 2009), Dune (DOS, 1992), Hearthstone (Android, 2014), Chaos Overlords (DOS, 1996), Dillon's Rolling Western (3DS, 2012), Micro Machines (DOS, 1991), Bravely Default (3DS, 2012) and Duke Nukem 3D (DOS, 1996)
• 2018: Undertale (Switch, 2015), Oxenfree (Switch, 2016), Darksiders II (WiiU, 2012), Unreal Tournament (Windows, 1999), Doom reboot (Switch, 2016)
• 2019: Into the Breach (Switch, 2018), Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (WiiU/Switch, 2014), Wacky Wheels (DOS, 1994), Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Switch, 2018), FreedroidRPG (Linux, 2011), The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (Switch, 2015), Sid Meier's Colonization (DOS, 1994), Blockout (DOS, 1989)
• 2020: Beyond Good & Evil (PS2, 2003), Doom 64 (Switch/Stadia, 1997), Human Resource Machine (WiiU/Switch, 2015), Worms (DOS, 1995), Hitman (Stadia, 2016), Battle Chess (DOS, 1988)
• 2021: Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise/Rhythm Heaven Fever (2011, Wii), Ys IX: Monstrum Nox (2019, Switch/Stadia), Battalion Wars 2 (2007, Wii), Project Zomboid (2013, Linux), Eledees/Elebits (2006, Wii), Wunderland (1994, Telnet)
• 2022: Balrum (2016, Linux), No Man's Sky (2016, Xbox Series), Diablo (1997, Windows), Cities: Skylines (2015, Xbox One), Falling Skies (2014, WiiU), Brigandine: The Legend of Runersia (2020, Switch)

That's right!

Anyone want to take a stab at #44?

Maybe a visual hint will help:

The Witcher? Probably 3.

I think it's Shadow of the Colossus, but I hope I'm wrong, 'cos 44 is very low!

Completely agree with all of this. It was the first Remedy game I bothered with (basically gave it a chance after reading coolbeans' review) and I ended up being very pleasantly surprised, for all the reasons you mention. It went straight into my top 50 too.

Correct. The third one is not quite as good as the others, however the most recent one, The World Before is coming along further up in my top 50 :)