Not that one either. 7 was #18, and 6 was #16. It's a different series altogether.

Fair. They're greek/roman gods I can tell, but the all caps made me think of codenames of some sort.

Pretty much. There's a reason I write them in all caps.

Guessed by @UnderwaterFunktown

Not gonna lie, when I started making these lists all those years ago, I thought that maybe Tropical Freeze would be one of those recency bias titles that drops down significantly over time. I mean, it's just a traditional 2D platformer, with the most generic excuse for a "story" you could get in a game like this, it's exactly the kind of game that'd fade from my memory over time - case in point, the near total absence of Mario games for the past few years of me making these. And yet... Tropical Freeze holds on. More accurately, it holds up.

The reason it sticks around like this is pretty simple: it's just good. Like really, really good. This is "just" a level-based platformer, sure, but when every single level - and I mean every single level - is so unique, interesting, memorable and fun, there's no way you can just forget about it. I can't believe it's been over a decade since I first played this, and honestly have lost track of how many times I replayed it as it's become a bit of a comfort game for me. And yeah, I can probably remember every single level off the top of my head. Almost all of them have completely unique music, too, and wow did David Wise give it his best on this one. One of the best soundtracks ever. The best 2D platformer ever. Tropical Freeze is forever in my heart.

FULL LIST >>

#19

Uncharted 4 is a satisfying end to a franchise full of many thrills. I finally got to experience this series in full this year while playing through the Nathan Drake and legacy of thieves collections. And I enjoyed all the games. My favorite game being Uncharted 2. Uncharted 4 I would say is my second favorite.

It has my favorite chase sequence in the series in the Madagascar section, and many other moments that leave you on the edge of your seat. The grappling hook makes traversal more interesting and can also be used in a fight to do aerial take-downs. I can’t tell you how bad-ass it feels to fly through the air and drop down on an unsuspecting foe. The gun-play feels amazing and sound design is top notch. The visuals are stunning as well, The game arguably looks better than many games released since 2016. I found myself stopping and taking screenshots constantly. The story is great with plenty of interesting twist and turns although I felt like the pacing was not as well done as in Uncharted 2. Uncharted 4 is full of epic moments that make for an unforgettable experience.

#16

If you took God Of War 2018 and improved on every aspect of it you get God Of War Ragnarok. The boss fights are more varied and interesting with a greater variety of boss fights. The traversal is also better with Kratos being able to use the blades of chaos as a grappling hook to pull himself towards ledges or to grab enemies. You can also jump off ledges to attack enemies below you. All this makes the combat feel more dynamic and fun. I won't spoil it but there is a weapon you get later on that has a pretty interesting mechanic that i liked. You also get to play as Atreus in this game. I was a little worried at first as I thought he wouldn’t be as fun to play as Kratos. But Thankfully Santa Monica knew what they were doing and his sections are just as enjoyable as Kratos's.

One of my Favorite things about this game is the amount of amazing environments there is to explore. I’m a sucker for fantastical environments in games and God Of War Ragnorok has no shortage of them. You get to explore all nine Norse Realms as opposed to 6 the first game. The 6 Realms make a return and also look different than they did in the first game making them feel fresh.

The character writing is also well done in my opinion. The game has a large cast of characters yet it does a good job of making them all feel important to the story and developing them. It feels like every character grows in some way in this game and I think it’s impressive how well Santa Monica handled each one. I am really curious what direction this franchise takes next as this game is the end of the Norse Saga. This was another great chapter in this series and I look forward to seeing what Santa Monica Studio has planned.

Another clue then.

#15

• MINERVA
• AETHER
• DEMETER
• POSEIDON
• HEPHAESTUS
• All of the above are names of AI subsystems

#14 Final Fantasy VIII

• This game has a very obscure sidequest involving a black shadow in a lake, a talking monkey, strange clues all over the world, and colored rocks that point you towards treasure.

#13 The Last of Us

• This game's adaptation followed the plot quite accurately, while changing some key details, such as the story of Bill and Frank

#12 Dark Souls III

• The lords were summoned to fulfill their duty, but only one answered the call

#11 The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky

• Bracers in Liberl - part 1

#16

Change YoY: +1   My Rating: 9.4 / 10

Final Fantasy VI is the game that turned the whole franchise from "just" one of the better JRPG series around to arguably the vanguard of the genre, the one pushing it to greater heights that other series aspired to reach, a status the later games would eventually cement . For many years, for better or worse, where Final Fantasy went, others would follow. Every new entry carried heavy expectations to push the genre to the next level in one way or another simply because it was the biggest series of its kind. Fortunately, for quite a long time the series was in top form, capable of shouldering those expectations, and as far as I'm concerned the streak of exceptional games started here in Final Fantasy VI.

Earlier games in the series had contained various elements that approached true greatness. Final Fantasy IV had pushed the storytelling and character arcs to the forefront, but overdid the dramatics a little, as several times throughout the game a character sacrificed themselves in a heroic effort to save the others, only to get resurrected with little to no explanation somewhere down the line. Final Fantasy V had further developed the job system introduced in III to great effect, creating what is still one of the best gameplay systems in the whole series, but on the flip side the story and characters were much more straightforward and simple. Both games had some truly great elements, but fell short on others. Final Fantasy VI marks the first time in the series when just about every element came together to create something genuinely fantastic. 

The storytelling was more mature and felt more logical despite the increased complexity brought by the large cast, the characters had far more depth and felt more relatable, the music remains one of the all-time great scores in video games, as Nobuo Uematsu pushed the SNES soundchip to its limits with massive tracks like Dancing Mad and the opera sequence, and it features one of the best storyline twists of all time, when the villain effectively wins halfway through the game. Visually it has naturally aged somewhat, but much of the pixel art is still gorgeous today, and what few other shortcomings the game has can generally be attributed to the limitations of the technology. Final Fantasy VI is the best game on the SNES, and one of the best games of all time regardless of genre.

Hmm I can only think of two candidates: Forbidden West or Armored Core VI (neither of which I've played). I'm going with Forbidden West.

30) forgot to guess but this is a Tomb Raider game. Maybe 3?

20) second hint makes me think Tears of the Kingdom?

18) RE4?