My 11-20 Favorite Video Games

Forever ago, I wrote a top 10 favorite video games list.  I regret some of my entries (my top 10 now would have a few changes) but instead of rewriting it, I'm just going to leave it as is and talk about some honorable mentions.  Well, that was the plan, but this got long enough that I decided to just go with a straight 11-20 list.

I'm using the same rules as before, one game per franchise and no arcade cabinets which should be its own list.  Also, the last 3 or 4 (or, 17-ish to 20) get pretty fuzzy so this is more a list of what I think at the moment rather than something set in stone forever.

11.  The Last of Us

This was my final cut when I wrote my top 10 and I only really cut it because the game was only a year old by then.  I regret that because it's really the culmination of a lot of video game trends from the previous generation.  No video game "felt like playing a movie" more than this game.  I'm indifferent to the idea of games trying to be movies as long as EVERY game is not trying too.  I know some people hate this, and that's fine, I just like all sorts of styles of games.  The Last of Us is probably the best game trying to be a movie we may ever see since current gaming trends have moved more to open world and/or emergent storytelling, as well as desperately trying to convince us VR isn't just a fancier Nintendo Wii.

This game has great characters, great storytelling, a cliche setting, and solid gameplay.  The gameplay uses a great stealth system despite few actually considering this a stealth game.  Yeah...I don't know why Joel has super human hearing either but I didn't use it much and still stealthed my way around.  The gun play is straight up an Uncharted clone which is acceptable.  The setting is post-apocalypse zombie times but you rarely fight zombies in the game as the majority of enemies are rival human groups.  At least the zombies get a twist on their creation with a fungus actually found in nature.  They all look like grotesque human-mushrooms too.

Well, mushroom-esque.

The characters and story really sell this game though.  The first 20-30 minutes is notorious for getting players teary.  That has to be some sort of record for "fastest time to get players emotionally invested".  I personally really like the games softer periods during exploration/scavenging sections since they really build character.  It gives the player time to relax and appreciate some banter (can't be TOO relaxed though as sudden zombie/human attacks can happen).  Joel and Ellie's character arcs are fantastic and their relationship grows during the course of the game.  Spoiler but (highlight to read), Joel goes from hating Ellie and considering her "baggage" to eventually considering her to be his surrogate daughter.  The voice work is among the best ever done in a video game, if not, the best of all time I'm not kidding.  It's so good that the occasional weirdness with Ellie being an escort AI can seem more jarring here.  Unlike Elizabeth in Bioshock Infinite for example, there is no reason for Ellie to be mostly ignored by enemies.  She does occasionally get in trouble and requires saving but it's pretty rare.

Maybe the only game that makes you care about a character as a parent type.

That ending though!  Possibly my favorite ending in video game history.  A lot of people at the time seemed confused or hated it but that is because gamers are fucking stupid.  Ambiguous endings are fine and this one isn't even that ambiguous.  We know the fate of these characters and you'd have to be an idiot to not know.  No, the only thing ambiguous is, Spoilers again, did Ellie know Joel lied?  They must have spent a ton of time on that final shot cutscene because you can see Ellie thinking it over before saying, "okay".  Joel doubles down on his lie when pressured to tell the truth.  I think, Ellie knows Joel lied, but accepts it.  She knows Joel can't bare to lose another daughter...even if that means dooming humanity.  People also hated the ending because of Joel not being a perfect hero.  Why?  He is an anti-hero.  He has had questionable decisions earlier in the game.  I'm sorry a video game made you play a murder machine who isn't a bastion of good.

Finally, about The Last of Us 2.  I'm...torn.  I loved that perfect ending and now we might get resolution to something that didn't need it.  It would be stupid not to make another considering this game nearly swept game of the year awards and sold a fuck load, but hey man.  What about art?

12.  Resident Evil 4

RE4 is fantastic and one of the most influential games of all time...for better and worse.

It invented the over the shoulder camera for 3rd person shooters.  Actually, 3rd person shooter wasn't really a thing until this game.  Everything from Gears of War to Mass Effect to The Last of Us above owe a debt to inventing this camera angle.  It seems innocuous now but before RE4, 3rd person perspective was always behind the back and elevated even if shooting was a mechanic.  Many had to use a lock on aim mechanic and enemies became bullet sponges (sometimes, still are).  Think the early Tomb Raider games.

RE4 also popularized the escort mission.  These were awful until the AI improved and designers realized escort characters should be able to defend themselves or be mostly invincible like Ellie in The Last of Us or ALWAYS invincible like Elizabeth in Bioshock Infinite.  The escort character in this game is Ashley and she is, the worst usually.  You had some basic commands like wait/follow so "wait" was frequently used until you cleared an area of all danger.  Even then, there are scripted moments where you have to protect her while also fighting enemies attacking yourself like the elevated castle area where you protect her trying to pull levers to open a gate (if you played this game you know what spot I'm talking about).  Those scripted moments are tense but also frustrating.  It's weird.

Agreed.

The game also popularized, but did not invent like so many people think so....quick time events.  Failing these usually meant immediate death and some, like a long ass cutscene knife fight, required a dozen button presses.  It was annoying as hell.

Still though, this game is pretty awesome.  It seems to go through drastic tone changes in its 3 acts.  The village is the only part that has horror moments but even then, something about protagonist Leon Kennedy's lines seem a bit off.  After a super intense fight in the village, everybody leaves after the church bell calls them and Leon says, "Where did everybody go?  Bingo?"  AH YES.  This is the first, and so far, last Resident Evil to finally make fun of itself.  Act 2 in the castle gets super cheesy.  The main villain in this act is just....well, watch.  I mean.  Come on.  That is Premium Grade A cheddar.  Act 3 goes straight action as any pretense of this game being a survival horror game is thrown out the door with chain gun wielding zombies (they're not actually zombies but, they are).

Even with a game having fun with itself and being cheesy, there are still times when its horror roots appear.  Even in act 3, the Regenerators.....*shudder*, the breathing.  Oh god, the breathing.  I can't deal.  You always, ALWAYS, hear the breathing before you actually see one and panic sets in (they are really tough to take down too).

Also, the merchant.  The fuck is this guys deal?  Why is he here?  Why is he always ahead of me?  I'm pretty sure I'm his only customer yet he's so into it.  Possibly the most bizarre NPC in video games from a narrative stand point.  His existence doesn't even start to make sense but he's just so pleasant and a welcome sight in a game when upgrades and better weapons are really needed.  Fights are usually by the skin of your teeth (you can't take much damage, usually, and some enemies have one hit kill attacks).  This guy has not appeared in another Resident Evil because every game after this took themselves way too seriously.

You BETTER buy it at a high price.

If RE 1-3 are basically the same style, how come RE 4-6 messed up?  5 and 6 are basically the same as 4 in gameplay but it's missing the same "style".  They feel off.  RE7 looks to be the start of a new trend and WOW did they take a long time to go "indie horror game".  Or...lets do PT/Silent Hills since it got cancelled and make Konami look stupid.  I'm okay with that.

13.  Silent Hill 2

Out of any game I'm going to regret on this list, it's probably this one.  Most of my memories of this game center around the beginning and it's sort of twist that everything might be happening in the protagonists head (sorry to spoil a 16 year old game but you probably knew that)  It's weird to still like James Sunderland after all this time since his writing and acting is pretty awful.  The gameplay isn't really that great either with early 2000's cameras (yeah, remember those?) that would suddenly switch sides and disorient the player.  IF those were on purpose, and a big IF, is still up to debate.

The tone, setting, atmosphere, and general direction was so good its flaws felt lost in the fog (Ed note - come up with a better joke).  The opening 30 minutes is very quiet and very foreboding.  Silent Hill's iconic fog becomes thicker and thicker as you move through the park.  After you encounter the first monster, they appear after you are aware one is around you due to a radio static mechanic.  You don't know where, due to the fog, and it's so nerve racking.

A lot of people consider this the scariest game of all time but I don't think so.  What it does instead is make you wonder what person James is.  Is he hallucinating all this or not?  This game is famous for playing on psychological dread.  The beginning, in retrospect, should be a red flag since the story starts out with James getting a message from his dead wife to meet her in a park.  Uh, yeah, that's a ghost brah.  Also, the story shows that James might not be the best person...

Yeah I trust this.

I should note that this game has the first appearance of Pyramid Head (link is NSFW??) who is also in the Silent Hill movie and....just.....the worst*.  In the game, he is tricksy.  James shoots him a bunch from the closet in the first cutscene with him (you can actually see him through a gated hallway before hand and ITS VERY INTIMIDATING) and he just runs off like a little bitch.  It's okay though because he later just torments you via cutscene until a tough boss fight.  He's basically a plot device.

*I've seen an absurd amount of video game movies, yes, including some of the Uwe Boll ones.  I should...do a thing.

14.  Super Metroid

Back to old school stuff.  I didn't own a SNES but this is the game I played a lot off when I borrowed my friends (along with Chrono Trigger).  As far as the best game that FEELS Nintendo now, this is the best SNES game ever, even though I consider Chrono Trigger much better....does that make sense?

This game has two special aspects in my heart.  The first is the creepy intro with the awesome music and sudden boss fight with Ridley.  The other is its world style.  I have liked many games that share the same style of game world.  It's kind of like a 2-D open world but not really.

Super Metroid usually had gear/equipment requirements to get to a new area making it a bit more linear, but so many games have copied the "map".  Remember VVVVVV?  Same style of map. Castlevainia games also do this (but I never played those) hence the term, "Metroidvania" for these types of game worlds.  There are a ton of old Newgrounds games, Adult Swim games, and a personal soft spot of mine, Knytt Underground, that had the same world-style that I just adore.

This map.

And here is where I need to make a note considering the lack of Nintendo games in my top 20, as this is the last Nintendo game to be on here. - Mario and Zelda are never going to be that high on any of my lists.  Outside of my sister's NES, my friend's SNES, and a lazy babysitter/older cousin who just sat us in front of a NES, I haven't played that much Nintendo.  A friend of mine in high school (aging myself here) had a Gamecube and we played the shit out of some Smash Bros....the first one.  Another friend had a N64 and we mostly played Goldeneye (severely overrated game fucking fight me nerds).  But I also had a killer PC because my dad loved new tech so PC + Genesis/Playstation was enough.  I HAVE played most of the early Marios but very few to completion.  Zelda?  Not, a, single, one.  I've never played a Zelda game and honestly, have no desire too.  It seems like "My first action-RPG" and no thank you.  That said, Breath of the Wild looks cool.

Super Metroid failed to make me want to play more Metroid games.  It's spot on this list was introducing me to a game style that I really like and that many games have copied.  It invented a sub-genre that seems quaint now but it's that broadening of styles that I wish more games would do.

15.  Portal

I like clever puzzle games and Portal might be the cleverest.  "Lets make a FPS with sort of real physics and portals and puzzles," said nobody ever.  Yet, Portal happened.  I know that Valve bought the rights to a game that was basically the same thing and expanding it to "the cake is a lie" proportions but it's still clever.  (Ed note - Christ Jason!  These jokes are terrible).

The backstory to this game is astounding considering there is no codex or any dialogue outside of one character.  All speech comes from GlaDOS who is sneakily evil....the BEST kind of evil....while also being sympathetic.  She is a weird anomaly in media these days, GOOD VILLAINS.  But the hype around this game is sort of a negative too as emergent and "environmental" storytelling really takes off after Portal.  While I'm not against these things, not even a little, I hate it when they become the ONLY things that provide narrative.  Just because it worked in Portal doesn't mean it's going to work elsewhere.

Hey sweetie.

I seriously contemplated putting Portal 2 here instead but I just love the companion cube so much.  It's hard enough for games to make you care about characters yet Portal made you care about an inanimate object.  That....is kind of bizarre.  There is a weird loneliness vibe to this game that I haven't really felt since the original Doom games, 1 and 2.  (Okay....maybe Shadow of the Colossus as well).  The only real character other than Chell, yourself, is the villain so....*

*...I know there are other characters but none actually exist in the game world.  You don't meet any of them.

Valve hates trilogies though so of course no Half- Life 3 Portal 3.  If only developers could make a good third game.....

16.  Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

You knew this was coming assholes...uh...at least, one MGS game.

This is probably the only game in the MGS franchise that nailed the ridiculousness of MGS and the seriousness of its story line.  This was secretly the best stealth game ever made until Deus Ex: Human Revolution came along and was actually successful in hitting the player in the feels despite the ridiculous melodrama.

I have talked way too much about Metal Gear Solid on this blog so I'll leave this entry as this:  Birth of Big Boss is brilliant.  The Boss (different character) is the only person who explained the point of the entire franchise.  "Snake you've created a time paradox" comes from this game and actually makes sense.  And yes.  MGS has time travel that isn't stupid....well...it's more of an Ass Creed Animus thing but gahhhhh moving on.

17.  To The Moon.

Don't you roll your eyes at me.  This game is great.  While I know a lot of people know the title, I'm pretty sure a lot of you don't know what this game is actually about.

You play as two scientists named Evaline (Eva) and Neil who have sci-fi technology that allows them to manipulate peoples memories.  Old people on their death bed hire them to re-write memories so they can right a wrong or die happy or whatever.  (A misconception about this game is that they travel through time and change it.  They don't do that.  Reality stays the same they can just change memories).  A man named Johnny hires them so that he can go to the moon in his memories except...he doesn't know why he wants to go to the moon.

This game is on the list, and my highest rated indie game, solely due to the story.  It's really impressive as Eva and Neil learn about Johnny and his wife River in reverse order.  They have to reach his earliest memory to re-write it so he goes to the moon.  They start at his old man memories and work backward.  And as for the reason he wants to go to the moon?...oh my god.  I shit you not but this is the only game ever that got me straight up crying.  It's notorious for it.*  If you cry more from tragedy or sentimentality it doesn't matter because this game has BOTH.

*The game has a lot of really good humor too so don't expect it to be some depressing slog.

...I'm getting teary just looking at it.

Gameplay is mostly just exploration and clicking on things.  You get some light puzzles, most of which are panel flipping to "make a picture", but there is also a bizarre action sequence late.  The game is made in RPG Maker even though it doesn't use any 16-bit RPG staples other than "notes" that appear in an inventory screen and classic text bubbles.  This is yet another game that maybe shouldn't be considered a game but who cares.

Again, I cannot express the emotional impact this game has even if it seems manipulative in retrospect.  It is incredibly unique in this regard and one of only a few games that can provoke a strong emotional response like other mediums can.  Aerith dying in Final Fantasy 7?  Whatever, kid shit.  This game will leave everyone crying.

18.  Catherine

Yes, Alternate Covers.

Ha, WOW.  This is quite the tonal shift.

An Atlus game made by the same team that makes the Persona games, Catherine is unlike any game ever made.  The number of games I can say are truly unique I could count on one hand and this is one of them.  Catherine is a...um...anime TV show drama/psychological thriller/alcohol enthusiast trivia game with block pushing/tower climbing gameplay that also uses a player choice driven narrative?  Yeah....yeah that's kinda close.

I don't usually put puzzle games this high but along with Portal, this game is too good to ignore.  The puzzle sections, which is half the game, are really good.  The objective is to climb a tower of blocks by pushing or pulling blocks, usually with gravity defying physics, with a timer gradually taking lower levels away.  There are also different types of blocks like immovable ones, ice ones, bombs, spikes, etc.  For all the talk about the puzzles being super hard, they start pretty easy...but holy shit do they get hard and the timer/trap blocks just increase the tension.  Unfortunately some towers require you to move behind the tower via a hanging mechanic (like platform hanging) and the camera is balls when you do this as it doesn't follow you.  Also, for some stupid reason, the controls become reversed and it is super disorientating.  Still though, conquering each stage is satisfying as fuck.

This game has a very adult themed story and a story not really ever covered in games.  The story is about cheating on your girlfriend, as the cheater, only maybe you didn't?  Or you did?  Of course with the Persona team, the story is much weirder than a normal infidelity story*.  The game also has a forced confessional that asks you some...honestly, pretty tough binary questions about what you consider a relationship, emotional commitment, what you see in potential partners, and yeah, sex.  Whoever wrote these questions is a genius demon by the way as they start benign and kinda stupid, but they eventually get pretty tough.  Also, you can see the answers via pie graph of every other person who played the game and compare them to your own.  Some have a 80/20 split but others have close to 50/50.

Since sex is a major theme of this game, for once NO, the characters are not pointlessly sexualized.  

*The ending kind of ruins the story but I don't think it's that big of a deal.  The player's choices can effect who you end up with, or neither.  Spoiler (Highlight to read):  Catherine is a succubus so it makes the whole cheating thing cheap.  It would have been a stronger story if it wasn't clouded in demon nonsense but the player can manipulate choices to end up with her anyway.  Basically, the player can choose to be with the succubus.  

BTW, this game has 9 endings.  3 with Catherine, 3 with Katherine, and 3 called the "freedom" endings which ends up with the player with neither.  I'm not sure if that is a MRA joke or not.

Finally, you're probably wondering how a story about infidelity has anything to do with tower climbing and block moving.  It's actually super weird and kind of a spoiler but I will say the puzzle sections only happen after leaving the bar every night (with drink trivia) and occur in your sleep.  But if you die in your sleep you die in real life blah blah blah.  It...play the game it makes more sense.  Man I should replay this.  It's worthy of its own post.

19.  Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Not going to make the same mistake I did with The Last of Us.  This game absolutely deserves a spot on here and for once, a game I've written about before (twice).

Open world games are better off trying to copy this world than GTA or The Elder Scrolls.  Secondary quests are just as good in quality as the main quests.  Witcher contracts are surprisingly good as side quests as well.  There is dumb Ubisoft collect-a-thon icons on the map, a ton of them, but that is really the only big flaw of this game to me because #AllQuestsMatter.  Still though, the quality of the good stuff covers up the quantity of stupid shit really well.

The story is fantastic.  The characters are great too even if Geralt's line delivery is sometimes dull as a butter knife.  I know, "emotionless Witcher" blah blah, but it is weird when he does show the slight hint of emotion.  Everything with the Wild Hunt and especially Ciri are really, really top notch.  Even the love triangle is pretty good for a video game even though by other media standards it is pretty blah.  (Also, it's a subplot so don't be too weirded out that I bring this up after entry #18.  Just a coincidence I swear).  And I've mentioned this in the review but the Crones can go fuck themselves.  Great story there too but seriously fuck em.

I feel bad because if you clicked on my review links...I'm just repeating myself so moving on.

This game might move up my list in time depending on how this game ages and the ones above it age.  Honestly, Ultima was way too high, Sonic probably too high as well, and maybe Total War.  Nostalgia is hard to gage.  Even Shinobi 3 was hard because that game is seriously....too low.  I love that game man.

20.  Uh...Let's go...

I'm not going to do a 21-30 list because that would be dumb. I'm probably forgetting a game I will remember 6 months from now.  This will be slightly controversial but lets go,

Oxenfree

Get fucked previous entry I had here.

Just read my Oxenfree review.  This game is fucking rad.
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