#3. Dragon Quest 8

The greatest Dragon Quest game of all time. The greatest game Level-5 ever made. The best jRPG ever made. I could throw any number of superlatives at this game. It's deserving of all them. The jump from DQ7 to DQ8 was just about as dramatic as any there's ever been. It went from a PS1 game that looked like a 16-bit game to being arguably the best looking game on the PS2 with a fully orchestrated soundtrack and full voice-over acting. The game wasn't just a sequel, it was an attempt at RPG perfection and it's about as close as any game has come. The day the game came out, I took the day off of work. Nothing was going to keep me away from sitting in front of the TV all day to play it, and nothing did.

Sadness struck 7 years later though. My wife was part of an internet gift exchange group and asked if I had any old video games I could share. I gave her the names of a couple games she could send out (say goodbye to Herdy Gerdy) as well as the demo disc for Final Fantasy 12 that came along with Dragon Quest 8 if anyone wanted that. A few years later I decided it was time to play DQ8 again and when I opened the case.... it was gone. All that remained was the demo of Final Fantasy 12. DOH!!!!!!  Finally last year I did get around to getting the 3DS version of the game, and it's been a mixed bag. Overall it's still great. The new playable characters are good and it's nice to no longer have to deal with random battles, but the graphics definitely took a hit and the soundtrack went from the beautiful orchestrated score to MIDI. There is also a bit more story which is nice, so it's still a worthy heir. But the day S-E decides to give the game a proper remake (possibly with the DQ11 engine) with all the enhanced features and the restored soundtrack... well it'll finally be RPG perfection.

#2. Valkyria Chronicles

I have bought Valkyria Chronicles three times. I have played it even more. I have sunk countless hours saving Gallia with Squad 7. The first DLC I ever bought was for this game. I could not get enough of it. The hand-drawn HD graphics and the (sorta) real-time turned based strategy combat made it something I'd never seen before and immediately pulled me in. But it was the story of Squad 7's victories and losses on and off the battlefield that kept me gripped and wanting to play more. Sega really did a masterful job of weaving the stories of these characters amidst an epic European'ish war, and the end result is a line-up of character stories that you grow to become emotionally invested with. The main characters are all unique and memorable, but even some of the secondary characters find a way to shine with their character biographies and a few quick witty lines that come out during combat.

I've enjoyed every time I've played through Valkyria Chronicles, but I will say nothing ever quite matched my first run with the game. I would stand up in front of my television and study the map up close, figuring out where the enemies were and what strategies I would need to use so that I could continue to play without losing a single squad member. It really made me feel like I was this great military mind that could have easily been in charge of the European theater in another lifetime. Of course those moments would come crashing back to reality when my military genius was deflected by the brilliant manuevers of the "normal" difficulty level and kept me stumped on how to move forward (the first time I fought the Batomys tank I nearly quit the game for good), but eventually I'd bounce back and feel the rush of victory. It's an amazing game, and none of the sequels seem to have lived up to the first. Does remind me that maybe it's time to check in and see how that translation for VC3 has turned out...

SupremeAC said:

So how does VC4 compare to this?  It's released on Switch and it looks like an enjoyable anough game that, if I ever find the time, I'd like to give it a try.

TWEWY:

Hell is offensive? Is your wife from the bible belt?

Is the mobile version compatible with Android? I've always wanted to play TWEWY, but my DS's broken screen is now completely dead.

DQ8:

I came close to buying this on multiple occasions. That said, Herdy Gerdy is legit. Your wife fucked up on both counts.

Valkyria Chronicles:

One of the better war stories going around in any medium.

#1. Final Fantasy Tactics

And here we are, number one. After 20 years, and three different versions I think it's safe to say that this may very well be the greatest game ever. I've always considered it a stellar game. Originally it came out shortly after Final Fantasy VII and while everyone couldn't stop talking about how great that was, I was always trying to convince people that Tactics was in fact the better game. When I would describe the game to people I'd tell them, "it's like a new version of chess, except it's for smart people." Yes.... I cringe a bit thinking how many times I actually said that, but I stand by it being an amazing game. But it was last year during a cruise I took with my family that I think I finally appreciated just how great it was. I mean, here it is, more than 20 years since it's original release and I was still as caught up in the action and the story. Hell, I'm probably even more into the battles now than I was then. I was even able to look past trying to use the touch controls on a small device. Everything about it is just too engrossing.

The first time I realized just how brilliant this game was when I came across a random battle with a large group of Calculators, a character class that uses math to hurt you (sounds like a push-over right?). I was near the end of the game so my characters were pretty over-powered or so I thought. Turns out these Calculators were a surprisingly badass group. They have attacks that hurt people based on what level they're on, or particular spots on the board. THey're usually hard to pull off, but since they were controlled by AI these moves were smacking me from every angle. I put up a pretty good fight, but after an almost 30 minute fight my team was wiped out. Normally if I play that long and have nothing to show for it I get pretty upset, but I realized I was actually smiling. Even in a loss I was having a great time.

And the game has stayed good since then. 10 years later I played it on the PSP, with a better script and some FMV and it was even better. 10 years after that I had the newly released mobile version and it was just as much fun as it's ever been. This game is truly timeless. The graphics are still crisp, the music is still magical. And the story is still just complex enough with so many characters that I'll still probably have to have a guide to remind me of who the hell is who. ANyway, there it is. Best game ever.

robio said:

Well to be fair, "hell" isn't going to turn a lot of heads when an adult says it, but when a 4 year old drops it to their pre-school teacher it is looked at as a problem.

And I would recommend the mobile version of TWEWY aka Solo Remix. I enjoyed it a lot, though it's easier to play on a tablet than a phone. Also, a few of the boss fights took a bit of a hit due to limiting the screens from 1 to 2, but it's still an excellent experience.

Bloody hell you yanks are nearly as uptight as those pommy bastards! (How a 4 year old ought to speak here).

Bloody hell, cunt, you yanks are nearly as uptight as those pommy bastards! (How I hope they ought to speak soon enough.)

Archangel3371 said:

I was wrong.

Did I somehow miss it or was Star Tropics not in the list?

robio said:

Archangel3371 said:

I was wrong.

Did I somehow miss it or was Star Tropics not in the list?

it just wouldn't have been fair to compare Startropics to every other game ever made.

Phew. All is right with the world then.

Archangel3371 said:

robio said:

Archangel3371 said:

I was wrong.

Did I somehow miss it or was Star Tropics not in the list?

it just wouldn't have been fair to compare Startropics to every other game ever made.

Phew. All is right with the world then.

Star Tropics? What's that?