Correct on all, 36 is Monster Hhunter World.

Correct.

#43

Change YoY: -3   My Rating: 9.1/10

There was a time once when real-time strategy was perhaps my favourite genre of video games, with series like Command & Conquer, KKND, Age of Empires, Starcraft, Warcraft, Total Annihilation, and many others occupying much of my gaming time. Out of all of them, the two that always stood out were Command & Conquer and Total Annihilation. They were the ones I spent by far the most time playing, and the ones that I still go back to play every once in a while. In terms of gameplay, Total Annihilation feels decidedly old-school today, but that's a large part of why I like it so much. There's still some level of complexity to it, but not too much to the point that playing becomes exhausting and focused too heavily on micromanaging everything. The music by Jeremy Soule is also excellent, creating just the kind of epic atmosphere perfectly suited for galactic warfare. 

In some aspects, Total Annihilation does show its age, the graphics are naturally dated by today's standards considering it was released 25 years ago and it was one of the first games of its genre to go full 3D, and the AI can be quite frustratingly stupid at times, but unlike so many other games of the era I can still go back and play it without issue and have a fun time.This is especially true if you have others to play with you, as these multiplayer matches can result in some of the most ridiculously massive battles I've ever seen in any RTS game, especially if you've installed some mods that raise the unit limit into the thousands per side. When you have five different players launching their attacks on each other at about the same time, the resulting chaos is something quite amazing to behold, and almost impossible to control, and nearly as difficult to survive.

Somehow I missed a couple of days, so here's #45 thru #42 in rapid succession.

45. Pokemon Snap (N64)

It's an on rail shooter for pacifists, with the photography focus being a good way of making players experiment with multiple playthroughs on the admittedly low number of courses. The game also deserves credit for bringing many Pokemon to 3D for the first time and having them act and react to stimuli in a believable fashion.

44. Hyrule Warriors (Wii U & Switch)

A good slice of fan service built on a foundation of addictive Warriors gameplay and with a massive amount of content to work away at. Tying most of the game's content to retro-styled World Maps is a great way to help visualize one's progress. Play it on the Switch to get the 200+ hours of bonus content.

43. Civilization IV (PC)

This game would have been rated higher a few years ago, but my taste in strategy games has changed a bit. Nevertheless, this is a solid turn-based strategy game that is fairly approachable for its history coat of paint, yet deep enough to play for years.

42. Batman: Arkham City (Wii U & PC)

I don't often play open world action-adventures, but I like this one's relatively condensed world, fairly fluid movement, and beat em up gameplay. A great use of the Batman IP.

Strongly considering restructuring my list midway through for the first time. I feel like I half-assed my theme of nostalgic games (the top 40 is pretty much an ordinary list) which feels a bit unsatisfying since I probably won't be making a list like that again. Not sure I'll have time for as big write-ups as usual either so would be nice to at least make the list unique. If I do restructure I guess I would leave the guessed games guessed wherever they end up and otherwise start from the bottom with my hints.

Just do what works for you.

I'm getting some good work done on my graphics (finally!) and should hopefully manage to do the big post tomorrow. Just before that, someone needs to guess my #43! (and I'll throw in a hint for #40 too, since it's coming up)

#43 - This sidescroller was much maligned for forcing you to constantly stop, wait, and press X.
Hint 2 - The next game by this studio kept this mechanic (but fine-tuned it) for their next entry, which became a beloved game in this series.
Hint 3 - Like the original, this remake has you exploring deeper and deeper into a cave system, killing all 40 of a specific creature inside.

#40 - She has nightmare eyes!

Thanks

43) Ahh that kind of press X! Metroid Samus Returns. I actually liked it though it was perhaps a bit overdone, not every enemy needed to be "counterable"