Top Ten Games by Franchise/Developer

I didn’t get into Okami until recently, but it plays like a Zelda game with random encounters. Sort of. It’s an incredibly fun game, great story, amazing artwork, just a generally good game. You play as the sun goddess, as a wolf, and go around saving the world from darkness. There’s a lot more to it, but it gets complicated, so I’m just going to leave it at that.

Incredibly fun to play with friends, and one I’ve played for a long time, I have to say there’s a bit of bias with this one because it was one of my first games. All the Mario Kart games are great to play with friends and alone, but the thing that makes me pick this over the others is having two characters. No more deciding between favorites, you can have two on one team. That feature also makes for some fun multiplayer competitive and co-op play. Fun as in I drive and my friends throw items.

…come on, do I really need to explain this one? On this site? Great plotline, loads of replay value with different starters to be, tons of missions and after story events, and one of the best soundtracks in any game I’ve played. The gameplay can be a little bit repetitive at times, but it’s fun and a highly enjoyable experience each time I play it.

I’m not one for visual novel games, or that style, but this game was mind-blowing. You play as Junpei, a college student who is abducted and placed on a sinking ship with eight other people, and forced to play the “Nonary Game”, and after that, everything gets complicated. It’s like Saw meets a Point and Click Adventure Game, and there are tons of paths to take in the game, and puzzles to complete. With several endings, and new information revealed in each path, this game requires multiple playthroughs, and there is absolutely no chance of getting the true ending on the first time playing. Complete with an amazing story and huge twists, this game seemed to go under the radar on the DS, but it was fantastic.

This game came out days ago, literally days ago. And I’m confident enough in putting it on this list. Yeah, I love it that much. It’s the usual Super Smash Brothers formula, with new characters, updated movesets, HIGHLY improved online play(looking at you Brawl), a few new and old game modes, and on a portable platform. For once I can actually take Smash Brothers on the go to play, and that alone makes it get on this list. But the gameplay itself is great too, it could have gone horribly wrong moving onto a portable platform, but it works incredibly well, even if it takes a little getting used to.

Probably one of the most cinematic games I’ve played that was actually good, The Last of Us is a modern day Survival Horror game that, at least to me, perfects the third person survival horror technique Resident Evil 4 and Dead Space made popular(some other obscure games probably did it before them, that just seems to be the general popular consensus.). You play as Joel in a world struggling to stay together after a fungal disease strikes, turning all that are infected into crazed, zombie-like creatures. The game delivers in stealthy gameplay and tense atmosphere, but it really shines in the characters and the story. Accompanying Joel on his cross country trip is Ellie, a young girl who grew up after cordiceps struck. Her interactions with Joel, and their story together are amazing to see, and saying much more about it would verge into spoiler territory. Not to mention that this game is beautiful at some times, and downright freaky in others. A really great balancing of environments.

The Uncharted series was my first Naughty Dog game series I ever played. I had just gotten the PS3 and was enjoying the games on it, when my friend let me borrow his copy of Uncharted. I was absolutely blown away, this was the most realistic looking game I had ever played, and the characters and story were fun, and the gameplay was great even if it did have one or too many gunfights, and a certain gameplay shift occurs later on that anyone who has played it knows about that scared me for weeks. And then Uncharted 2 came out. Uncharted 2 was the first game I had ever really closely followed the development of, and I was psyched for it. When it came out, I was blown away yet again. Uncharted 2 follows the story of our familiar treasure hunter Nathan Drake, and his exploits searching for an artifact around the world. This game introduced more memorable characters to the cast, and improved on everything Uncharted had problems with. Gunfights weren’t as often, and yet when they did come, the action felt more present than before. There were several beautiful set pieces, one of the best being the train sequence. The writing in this game is just incredibly witty and entertaining to me, and the story is great as well. On top of all of that, they added multiplayer, and it was incredible. I spent a whole summer playing Uncharted 2 multiplayer, and it was worth it.

It was a hard choice on what Metal Gear game I picked. Metal Gear Solid 1 was a great game with memorable boss fights and a story that set up the rest of the Solid series. Metal Gear Solid 2 turned everything up and confused everyone, all while delivering a great story full of commentary on society today. Metal Gear Solid 4 managed to solve all the loose pieces left in Metal Gear Solid 2, a feat in and of itself, and provided one of the best conclusions to a saga ever seen. But in spite of all of that, Metal Gear Solid 1 was good, and 2 and 4 were somewhat confusing. Metal Gear Solid 3 took the series back to a new start after the mind blowing plot twist factor and confusion that was Metal Gear Solid 2. Going back to before any of the series had started, Snake Eater stars Naked Snake, the man who would go on to become Big Boss, the villain of the original Metal Gear games, and takes place in the Cold War. No prior knowledge on the other games is needed to enjoy it, but knowledge of them helps with the various jokes inside it. This game simplified everything, and managed to balance camp and tragedy into one story. Saying exactly how would verge into spoiler territory. The game explores themes of loyalty, justice, how the times change, while making you fight a man who can control bees. The story is one of the best I’ve ever seen in a game, and the emotions hit hard during some points, especially the ending of it. The gameplay itself is fantastic and gives so many options. You can go in guns blazing, you can sneak by, you can tranquilize enemies, you can do a combination, anything is possible. One side piece of the game has a house in the jungle that you can check out and take supplies from if you want. It’s not even necessary, and yet you can take it numerous ways. You can crawl underneath it and get in, climb a tree and come in through the roof, simply go in through the door, anything is possible, and this isn’t even a mandatory part of the game. You have a stamina and hunger meter that you have to keep filled by eating wildlife, which you can use to poison enemies as well. Storage sheds can be found that you can destroy, causing guards to be weaker and starving in other areas. This game is immersive, and dear god, the boss fights too. This game has crazy boss fights. One specific one that comes to mind is the fight with The End, a 100 year old sniper who is part tree. You can take him down three ways. Early on in the game, you see him from a distance. If you have a sniper with you, you can simply snipe him and kill him there, avoiding the boss fight. You can take the grueling sniper duel that can take hours if you don’t know what you’re doing. Or, you can save, turn the system off, and come back over a week later to find that The End has died of old age. I have to stop now, but this game has an incredible story, amazing characters and boss fights, immersive and clean gameplay and level design, and it’s just loads of fun to play though. The soundtrack is one of the best ever too. I can’t describe everything about it here. It’s amazing.

As much as I gushed about Metal Gear Solid 3, it’s not my absolute favorite. Now, I acknowledge I cheated a bit by putting both these games down, but it’s justified. Resident Evil 2 takes place during 3 in the same exact location and setting, just with different characters. All the events are connected, so it’s like one big game. I really couldn’t decide between them. Resident Evil 2 features Leon S. Kennedy, a rookie police officer, and Claire Redfield, the college student sister of one of the protagonists of the original game, meeting each other by chance traveling into Raccoon City, which unbeknownst to them, has been struck by a T-Virus infection, a virus that turns all who come into contact into zombies. Their paths are split by a zombified trucker, and the two both make their way to and through the local Police Station, where they are joined by a partner character, the mysterious Ada Wong for Leon, and the little Sherry Birkin for Claire. Their paths cross during their adventures occasionally, but they have their separate stories. Being a Survival Horror game, this game is full of scares and unsettling environments, although they are somewhat aged as the game was for the Playstation 1 back in 1998 or so. Ammunition and weapons are scarce, as are healing items, and so it’s up to you to find them and decide when it is best to use them. The music is unsettling and pulse pounding at different times, whenever it needs to be, and while the story is somewhat simple the gameplay is great. And, this game has huge replayability value. You can play as either Claire or Leon first, and whoever you play as first, you will play their “A” scenario. Once you beat it, you unlock the other character’s “B” scenario, which takes place during the same time as the previous character’s “A” scenario. This results in four different stories to play, Claire A, Leon B, Leon A, and Claire B. This game introduced the lickers, a staple enemy of the series, and introduced an unsettling feature in Mr.X, the nearly unstoppable giant humanoid that would stalk the B scenario player through the game, attacking at several different points. All in all, it was a great game to play through, and fun to play over and over again, with plenty of self imposed challenges available.
Resident Evil 3 starts before Resident Evil 2, following one of the two protagonists of the previous game, Jill Valentine. The only member of her team to stay in the city, she is caught up in the outbreak and begins her escape from the city, joined by a soldier named Carlos Oliveira. The game ends after the end of Resident Evil 2, and finishes the story of the Raccoon City Outbreak in the main games. While Resident Evil 2 balanced survival horror and action, this game has slightly more action, but definitely has the same horror it had before. Playing in the same tank controls as the previous games, it improves on several mechanics, adding guns, gunpowder mixing to create bullets, and the ability to walk up stairs without having to press a button. It also added the Nemesis, a hulking creature that stalks you throughout the game. Mr.X did the same in Resident Evil 2, but he comes only at certain times, and they never change. The Nemesis can come at any time in any place, and when he shows up is randomized except for a few specific events, so you never know when he’s going to show up except for the music cues. He’s nigh impossible to bring down too, and unless you want to waste all that ammunition you picked up, you’re going to be running a lot. Both of these games are fantastic, and like the previous game, Resident Evil 3 has multiple events that happen depending on what route you take, leading to one of two different endings depending on the choices you make, though they are very similar endings. I always find myself playing through these games just to do so when I’m bored, and I enjoy it every time.

I had a hard time picking a number one, but Windwaker had to be it. It was my first Zelda game, and was my favorite game when I was younger. It still is, picking anything else feels like a betrayal to it. It’s a Zelda game, plain and simple, but the cell shaded animations are incredibly nice looking, the dungeons and boss battles are great, and items are awesome too. It has plenty of stuff to do in it besides the main quest, so even when you finish the game, you’ll probably have more to do. It was a great game, and one I have many awesome personal memories with. Including the Tingle Tuner. The Tingle Tuner was one of the greatest things ever.