Guessed by @drbunnig

Ah... Amaterasu. Origin of all that is good and mother to us all...

...Where to even begin with Ōkami?

This was for many years my #1 game on here, and in my heart it still kinda is, because the other one almost feels like cheating, heh. Seriously though, this is a total masterpiece. One I couldn't fully appreciate at first, because my first two playthroughs of it were on the Wii version, and yeah, it made a big difference when I played the amazing Switch port. The improved motion controls, the 1080p, the HD rumble of all things (I know!), and especially, having a proper ending with actual end credits and post-credits scene (even if still missing the original credits song), it all made for a much improved experience and led to this becoming my favorite game of all-time back in 2018.

As is usual for these games near the top of my list, Ōkami made me cry. A lot, of course. I think this may be one of those games where I couldn't fully grasp how impactful it was until it hits you with this insanely heartfelt cutscene right at the end. That moment will forever live on as possibly the greatest moment in a videogame for me. Sometimes I go on Youtube just to watch that moment again, to feel a feeling, shed some tears, and smile. And that moment brings the entire game together in a way that makes you realize how meaningful the entire journey was.

Ōkami is the kind of game that toys with your feelings almost like someone lifting "laugh!" signs at a crowd. Seriously, some conversations with NPCs in this game will go from full laughter to strangely heartfelt or even tragic themes in the blink of an eye, even the music changes dramatically and suddenly, it should feel forced but can you really say it's forced if it works every single time? Because well, at least for me it does work. Maybe it's the stellar writing. But that stuff made me care for just about every character in the game, which is so important in a game about making the world a better place.

I think that's the most beautiful thing about Ōkami, really: it's always about making the world a better place. It's about making people's lives better, bringing life back to the wildlife, making dead trees blossom again. Amaterasu herself makes flowers blossom wherever she runs, and how elegantly she runs. For a game entirely based on mythology and folklore, Ōkami really does make you feel like a god playing your part in a legendary tale.

I can't say I ever expected that it'd be getting a sequel, but that's a long time away, so let's just keep our hopes up that it can be anywhere near as legendary as this.

FULL LIST >>

Guessed by @UnderwaterFunktown

- the soundtrack to me getting ready to do another write-up on this masterpiece -

Dude, this game flarking rocks.

Maybe that's a cringe way to start this, but it's probably what the developers would want someone to say about this game, because it's the vibe it exudes. Yeah, I suppose it can be cringe from an outside view, but this game is extremely unapologetic in how it goes about its business, it's completely unashamed of being what it is, and that is Guardians of the Galaxy through and through.

It's not exactly a secret how much this franchise and these characters mean to me, what with me sporting Rocket avatars on this site ever since the first movie blew my mind back in 2014, but that isn't to say a game gets #1 on this list for free just for having the Guardians of the Galaxy name attached to it - and I thank the Telltale game for existing, because it proves my point by being nowhere on the list at all. And I don't even dislike the Telltale game or anything, I actually enjoyed it quite a bit! Just shows that, even with the Guardians, I can still be critical.

Hell, if anything, it's with Guardians that I'm the most critical.

The movies have given me a depiction of these characters that I've grown so fond of, so attached to, and in whom I believe so much, they feel like real people to me. And because of that, it's so hard for any other depiction of them to impact me much at all, it's so hard for any other depiction to not feel like a derivative wannabe. More than hard, I thought it was impossible. That is, until this game came out.

It's so apparent from the first second, even from the title screen, that this is a game the developers put their hearts into. People complained at the time that Eidos-Montréal was being "forced" to work on this licensed IP game instead of finishing their Deus Ex trilogy (and don't get me started on them being shut down while working on said Deus Ex game...), but clearly no one at the studio felt forced because this game is a work of love through and through.

You start the game and the first thing you see is young Peter Quill, in his basement bedroom, listening to an album by the metal band "Star-Lord" (yes, made entirely for this game), until getting interrupted by a mother with the most 80's hairdo you'll ever see. And already in this first scene, you can see the nuance in her emotions, the incredible performance by the actors and animators who were so dedicated to making this story as amazing as it could be. Yeah, this can be kind of a "movie game", and those aren't usually the thing I'm into, but there's nothing that matters more to me in Guardians of the Galaxy than characters I can believe in, and they absolutely delivered on that here.

Sharing a spaceship with these weirdos was the experience of a lifetime. I love the Guardians so much. Yet for much of this game, it feels like you're trying to keep together magnets that keep pulling away from each other, it feels like the closer you try to bring them together, the more likely they are to explode. And with how deeply I cared for these characters, that feeling made a lot of the game feel incredibly tense, as the group's leader it makes you feel like everything that goes wrong is your fault, even when things are clearly scripted to happen that way anyway (though sometimes you don't know, with how good this game is at giving the illusion of choice). But then, when things start to turn around towards the end, well, I can't even put in words how it made me feel. Actually being able to bring this group together to save the galaxy was as thrilling and rewarding of an experience as it gets.

I can't even begin to express how well these characters were portrayed here. Jon McLaren is Star-Lord. Alex Weiner is Rocket. Jason Cavalier is Drax. Kimberly-Sue Murray is Gamora. Robert Montcalm is Groot. All of them completely embodied these characters and made them so real, so deep, so compelling, so likeable... and so did all the other actors for the other characters too. The whole thing is written unbelievably well, it's easily the best writing I've ever seen in a videogame. You hear thousands upon thousands of voice lines throughout the game, these guys seriously never shut up, yet every single thing they say feels meaningful, everything adds to their character in some way, and they pretty much never repeat a voice line ever, except for a few ones common in combat.

I'll never forgive Square-Enix and Embracer for what they did to this studio and this game's future. Because yeah, while the story here does come to a decent enough conclusion, there was so much room for an even more amazing sequel and just about everyone involved with this game expressed an interest in making that sequel, which now feels nearly impossible. A pipedream of a pipedream. And that's the only thing about this game that makes me genuinely sad.

Still, I'm so grateful we got what we got.

For years, I used to daydream of what a Guardians of the Galaxy game could be like. I knew one would get made at some point, but I always figured it'd never come close to being as good as I dreamed up in my head. Instead, we got a game that made my dream look like a joke. It's seriously that good.

This is the most special game in the world to me. If it never gets a sequel, it'll always be. The Guardians are in my heart forever. These Guardians. I love you guys.

Happy new year's.

FULL LIST >>

Yup, I posted my #1 early. Sorry for the spam, everyone! I had to catch up as I'll be leaving on a trip for new year's in just a few hours. Hope the massive write-ups weren't too much - hope y'all are preparing even longer ones for your #1's, heh.

On the contrary thanks for the write-up spam, some good reads! And happy new year!

Had to look up the name admittedly as I can never remember it, but it's Freespace 2

That's the one, and that is also all of my games guessed. Now just need to finish the last few write-ups.

#10 Pikmin 1 [97/100]
#9 Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door [97/100]
#8 The Legend of Zelda: WindWaker [97/100]
#7 Pikmin 4 [97.5/100]
#6 Pikmin 2 [97.5/100]
#5 Super Mario Odyssey [98/100]
#4 The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask [98/100]
#3 The Last of Us: Part I [98/100]
#2 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild [99/100]
#1 The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom [99/100]

(Pikmin + Zelda sweep!)

Great write-ups! @mZuzek

#3

Change YoY: =   My Rating: 9.8 / 10

I've always been more of a console player than a PC one, but there have always been certain games and genres that have drawn me to playing on PC. Whether it was various real-time strategy games, tactical strategy games, simulator titles or, as in the case of this game, space combat sims, certain genres are just inherently better on PC. At the top of my list of great PC games sits Freespace 2, one of the first games that ever made me truly notice the importance of great storytelling in video games. Not that the rest of the game is any less excellent, but there was just something about the constant feeling of uncertainty that this game instilled on you during its various missions that made me take notice. Whatever the mission briefing may have told you about your tasks or goals, there was always the sense that everything could change in an instant. You just could never be sure.

Whether it was a new enemy appearing to disrupt the mission, an unexpected discovery in uncharted space, or a call to immediately return from the mission due to something happening elsewhere in the galaxy, you were always kept guessing as to what exactly might happen next. It's just a shame that the cliffhanger that the story ends in has never, and probably will never, be resolved. While the main storyline of the game was concluded, the overarching story that had begun with the first game and continued here never received a proper ending. As a result, there are several mysteries surrounding the game's antagonists, for example, which will likely remain as ones for good.

The rest of the game is just as great, from its gameplay to its music, even after nearly 25 years since its release I can easily go back and replay it whenever I feel like it. The one aspect that hasn't held up, the graphics, have been vastly improved by fan-created mods, as the game's original source code was released by the developer for everyone to use in 2002. Freespace 2 is a masterpiece, the best game of its genre I've ever played, and probably the one unresolved video game narrative I would want to see concluded more than any other. Sadly, I doubt that wish will never come to fruition.

Games #50 to #41
Games #40 to #31
Games #30 to #21
Games #20 to #11

Now, I begin with the top 10:

#10 Shadow of the Colossus

This game is one of the most unique experiences I've had in gaming, mainly due to the desolate and mysterious atmosphere of its overworld, which I found captivating, and the majestic battles against the colossi. Said boss battles are each like their own big puzzle, and are just incredible and frenetic experiences, climbing over a colossus and fearing that you'll fall, while trying to find the correct strategy to defeat it evokes so many feelings that not many other games are able to evoke. This game really gave me a lot of adrenaline rushes. While your aim is to defeat the colossi to revive Mono, as you progress through the game you start questioning the morality of your actions, which takes me to the game's subtle storytelling being one of its biggest strengths. While playing, I was always imagining what could have happened to that ruined place the protagonist was stuck in. The ending is incredibly memorable and one of my favorites in gaming, I cried the first time I saw it.

#09 Tales of the Abyss

I love what this game does in terms of character development and worldbuilding. The plot is highly engaging from beginning to end, with many impacting moments. Having said that, what I loved the most about the story are the topics of self-discovery and growth that it touches upon. It's really great to see the way the main protagonist Luke grows as the story progresses; but not only the protagonist changes, the relationships between the other characters also evolve over time, since they don't get along very well at first, but as time passes they actually become very good friends. The ending of this game is also very emotional and satisfying. Abyss also does a great job at fleshing out the villains, their motivations, and their relationships with the protagonists. I also love how deep the lore of the game's world is, as well as the whole concept of the setting. The game also has a good amount of side content, a lot of of which gives you deeper insights into the party members and the NPCs.

#08 Hades

This game's gameplay loop is just so addicting to me, every run feels different from the previous one, especially if you choose a different weapon, and you will always be acquiring different abilities on each run. I also really like how I always felt like I was progressing and getting stronger after each run. The combat system is incredibly fluid and engaging, and all the weapons feel very different to use from each other. Even if I love the gameplay flow, the game wouldn't be this high on the list if it wasn't for all the incredibly likable and memorable characters that it has, I really like how you build affinity with them as you talk more with them or give them gifts, which at the same time allows you to learn more about their backgrounds and personalities. Learning more about Zagreus' background while doing more runs was also highly satisfying to me. I also LOVE the game's setting (one of the main reasons I bought it) and the art style. Finally, it must be said that the soundtrack reeeeeally rocks.

#07 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

This was the first Zelda game I played, and it was an experience that truly blew me away, remaining my favorite Zelda until I played certain other one. Ocarina of Time is one of the most well rounded experiences of the Zelda series, not only it's the best-paced game out of the pre-BOTW 3D Zeldas, but it also features some of the best dungeons in the series, which shine mainly thanks to their well designed and intricate layouts, as well as thanks to their atmospheres. The boss battles are also very well designed and engaging to fight (I particularly love Twinrova), and while the items are nothing particularly innovative, they're fun to use. The story, while simple, features some really moving and memorable moments that I will never forget. Overall, Ocarina of Time's highs are probably not as high as those in other games in the series, but it doesn't have any particularly low lows or tedious stuff either. To finish, I want to say that this game has my favorite soundtrack in the series.

#06 Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age

Dragon Quest XI is one of the most memorable JRPG experiences I've had, it's just filled with a lot of moments that evoked a lot of joy and sometimes sadness on me. The cast of characters in this game is probably my favorite in JRPGs, or at least in the top 3. All of the party members have very charming and fleshed-out personalities, and I became really attached to them. A big part of the game's story, and what makes it memorable the most, is seeing how the characters develop and grow as people, as all party members have their own deep character arcs, which are also well incorporated into the main plot. The game also has a lot of memorable and endearing NPCs, who are fleshed-out and I actually became fond of them. Just like in previous DQ games, each town in this game has its own story arc or "vignette"; these vignettes are well written and help make you feel attached to the NPCs, they are a big part of what makes this game memorable. Also, this game has my favorite towns from any JRPG.

Now I only have the top 5 left but I'll post it tomorrow.

Oh boy. You lot are really doing your top games justice with these write ups.