For the past several months I've been kicking this around and decide whether or not I should bother with this list. I don't play quite as much as I used to, and in particular the last few years I've played less than ever. Writing, even inconsequential stuff, doesn't come quite as easy as it once did for some reason so that's made things even harder. Then this ridiculous pandemic happened and suddenly I've had more free time and started playing a lot more than I had in years, and it's jump started my interest in gaming again in a big way.
Still, the writing part hasn't quite clicked, but after a few false starts I decided to say 'fuck it' and just force it. If it sucks, so be it. Hell, 5 people at most are going to read it so really cares?
So what will the top games be? What will be number one? Will I finish my list before Vader finishes his Top 100? To find out the answers to these questions and more STAY TUNED!!!!
Yeah, with the Switch, I say let handhelds die.
No, we haven't checked out Iceborne yet. My co-op buddy had his fill with the base game. Maybe we'll get to it in 2021.
I never had much issues with playing on the 3DS for longer periods of time. I do miss the stereoscopic 3D though. That was awesome and it's sad we'll probably never see it again.
Just checked and it’s Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate so I’m guessing that’s the kind of ‘best of compilation of all previous games’ you are referring to. I believe that it’s a spruced up port of Monster Hunter Generations that was on the 3DS.
Let's finish this up shall we?
#1. Final Fantasy XV
This game may have surprised me more than any other in the past decade. Despite once being a huge megafan of the series I had sworn off Final Fantasy games after FFX. I was left feeling very unimpressed with the stories, characters, and overall direction with the series was heading in. However, a while back I was reading one sentence descriptions of Final Fantasy games, and for XV it was, "A bachelor party goes very badly." For whatever reason, that amused the crap out of me and always kind of stuck in my head. Eventually it's probably what convinced me to get the game. And wow.... a road tripping action RPG with J-Pop dude bros. I never knew I needed that in my life. Truth be told, that's probably why I had such a connection with the game. Road trips across Texas were a big part of my life in college and into my early 20's. A lot of the areas in the early part of the game almost felt like a memory with the wide open spaces dotted with occasional gas stations and rundown towns. Its one of those things I wish I did more of then, and still did now.
But there was more to why I liked the game than just that. I know there were a lot of gripes about how the story was handled and the rushed feeling towards the end, but I kind of liked the way it broke down. The first 75% of the game is a slow trickle of story with lots of exploration and sidequests, and then when you're tired of exploring you pretty much tackle all of the story at once with the exploration taken out. That's sort of how I tackle open world games anyway, so this was perfect. And the story itself was actually kind of good. Its messy, but the characters are pretty well put together and grow. It's not all happy either. In fact, one of the most masterfully put together sections of the game was when the team suffers through some consequences of a giant battle. The "sad moment where the team has to rally together" is an RPG troupe almost as old as the genre, but in FFXV it's not the 5 or 10 minutes of exposition before things get good again. When things get bad.... you are forced to wallow in it. It's dark, depressing, and after a while you almost start to wonder if things are actually going to get better because even though you're still actively playing it feels like you've grinded to a halt. It's something you don't see a lot of, and once it was over it was a moment that was hard not to appreciate.
And despite being as big of a game as it was, it felt like it was designed with restraint. My biggest complaint about modern jRPGs is that they're too god damned long. Persona 5 was 90+ hours. Dragon Quest 11 was 90+ hours. And both of those games now have "ultimate editions" that push their run time well into the 100+ hour zone. I DON'T WANT TO PLAY A GAME FOR THAT LONG!!!!! It totally kills my interest in revisiting the games since I know I don't want to invest that much time. FFXV was a comfortable 50 hours, and if I wanted more I could easily continue in the post-game (or shockingly start over and enjoy some parts of the game a second time).
So there it is. Final Fantasy XV. A game I didn't expect to like or even play ended up being my favorite game of the past 10 years. I had a hard time putting it down and still really want to get back into it (soooo much backlog though). And when I look back at games, that's usually how I determine what the very best ones are. What's tough to put down? What do I want to go back to? What do I want more of? Definitely FFXV.
Damn, and I was so sure Xenoblade Chronicles would be your number one.
Yeah, I don't play rhythm games. Maybe one day.
Great list with a nice surprise for number one.
Second best game, well worth 200+ hours of your life. Best game, you're glad it was only 50 hours...
MHW, and most of the series for that matter, is a steady well-paced enjoyable game. But the high moments are very far and few in between. There is also considerable grinding, which is fun and challenging, but does get stale after a while. FFX delivered more fun and memorable moments in 50 hours and never overstayed it's welcome.
Plus the memes are fantastic.