Written By:
Tyler Selig
Well folks, here we are. We’re down to the Top 10 games of this
generation. I hope you enjoyed the ride because I could hardly contain my
excitement. Or something.
There are a few games in the Top
10 that are a part of a series, and it was difficult for me to pick just one
for each series.
But let’s do this.
10: Batman: Arkham City (PS3, 360)
It’s really astonishing what
they’ve done with Batman… just in general. Christopher Nolan starts making
legendary (yes I said it) Batman movies, and then the same starts happening in
video games.
Arkham Asylum was a great start
with a story focused around my favourite Batman comic. But it was a little
limited in scope compared to Arkham City, which took everything I loved about
Asylum and opened it up more, meaning now you can actually move around the
city. But it doesn’t sacrifice story for it.
The fighting mechanics are the
best thing to happen to ‘beat ‘em up’ in a long time. It’s a simple system, but
it is so fine-tuned it allows a lot of excitement and different things to
happen. Yes, you will see a lot of the same moves, but every now and then,
Batman will do something that maybe you haven’t seen before. Above all else, it’s
an easy system to get into, and they build on the possibilities of it as you go
on.
I always love a good superhero
story, and they paid a lot of care to it here.
And what would Batman be if he
wasn’t creeping in the shadows? Yes, you can do that here too, which makes
stalking your enemies a hell of a lot of fun.
This is pretty much a perfect
game. This could be closer to 1 than it is, but this is how I felt on the day I
finalized the list.
9: Xenoblade: Chronicles (Wii)
One of the best RPGs of the last
10, 15 years, bar none. The story is really interesting, and I especially love
how the world is built on top of a God.
The battle system is intense and
frantic, but not overly so. Battles happen quickly, but they’re easy to follow.
The levelling up is just deep
enough for me to mention it, and the fact you can build relationships between
characters that allow you to upgrade your character even more is a nice touch.
It got a lot of recognition from
critics and whatnot, but since it’s on the Wii, I feel many people overlooked
it.
8: Lollipop Chainsaw (PS3, 360)
Many – if many read this blog –
will criticize me for including this, but I’m a bit of a Suda51 homer. I don’t
think everything he has made is awesome, but his games don’t get real glowing
reviews for the most part.
I think people approach his
games in a different way than they’re meant to be, a lot of the time. He is
ultimately a style over substance type of guy, and that’s great once in a
while, but that style is a hell of a lot of fun. His games are almost always crazy, and most of the time you aren’t
entirely sure what’s going on.
Lollipop Chainsaw gets
criticized for the same things a lot of his games do. People say it’s just a
stupid hack n’ slash button-masher. I don’t know when being a button-masher is
a bad thing. Am I to believe that the only way to have an action game is to
have a real in-depth battle system? Can’t some games just be Dynasty Warriors?
Sometimes that’s just a lot of fun. But Lollipop Chainsaw isn’t even that
simple. You can upgrade yourself, which allows different possibilities in
combat… but yes, it’s more of a button-masher than some.
That didn’t bother me because a)
I just said I enjoy that sometimes and b) because of the sheer silliness of
what was going on. You play a hot cheerleader who ends up carrying her
boyfriends’ head around with her. Oh yeah, she hunts zombies.
Lollipop Chainsaw is grindhouse
with glitter. I can’t remember where I saw that, but it’s true. It’s
over-the-top with raunchiness, sexiness and violence, but that’s the appeal. Mix
in the soundtrack and you have a different type of experience.
I’m well aware that many won’t
see it my way and call it a shitty game, but I stand by Lollipop Chainsaw
because I was never bored by it.
7: Yakuza 3 (PS3)
I didn’t know whether to pick
Yakuza 3 or 4. I picked 3 because you play solely as Kazuma Kiryu, whereas in 4 you play as four different people, and playing
as Kiryu is the most interesting to me. He’s the badass of the series, though there are many.
Before
GTA and its numerous mini-games/activities to play/do, there was Yakuza… a
melodramatic tale of gangsters that are known for having a lot to do. Yakuza is
part beat ‘em up, part RPG, part GTA-style sandbox, and the story is a hell of
a lot of fun to follow.
You’ll
laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll hit people with bikes, and Yakuza is amazing for it.
6: Nier (PS3, 360)
My, this list has a few pics of
games that only got mixed reviews, isn’t it?
I stand by Nier. I didn’t think
it was going to be anything special, but I was blown away.
It’s another game, like Lollipop
Chainsaw, where maybe the actual fighting isn’t as deep as it can be, but I
think people overstate the complexity of some games anyway.
Nier is an RPG, and as such, it
should have a memorable story. It does. What starts as a heart-warming tale to
find a cure for your kid, becomes much much more.
Nier blends a few genres
together… there are moments of side-scrolling platforming, moments of
over-the-top shooter, and even some text adventure.
Oh, did I mention that the
soundtrack is one of the best ever, bar none? You can take all your favourite
video game OSTs, and make Nier compete against them and Nier stands strong. It
may not be the best, but it can make the claim convincingly.
People need to pay attention to
the games that don’t necessarily get the best ratings, because there are
sometimes absolute gems in here. Games like Nier prove that theory.
5: Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)
Speaking of games with crappy
ratings… just kidding, obviously.
The Smash Bros. series have been
my favourite fighting games since I played the first one, and they keep getting
better.
I like how it operates on a
different system than most others. You technically have a life bar I guess,
only it’s a percentage and when it hits 100 it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re
out of the fight.
On top of that you have stages
that morph and change as you do battle, and you can have four people fighting
at a time. What I’m trying to say is, Smash Bros. gets intense.
Plus you get to play as classic
Nintendo characters.
4: Earth Defense Force 2017 (360)
Sick of games that try to tell a
decent story and have a triple A budget? Yeah me too! That’s why I play Earth
Defense Force.
What started as just renting a
game because it was two-player, grew into a deep love. I didn’t know whether to
pick this or Insect Armageddon because they both have elements I approve of
(Insect Armageddon and the different classes), but in the end I picked the one
that got me to the dance.
I know I haven’t made a
convincing argument yet, but here it is. If you’re one of these people that
think games should be fun, above all else, then this is a game for you. You
want silly, stupid entertainment? You want the video game equivalent of a movie
like Shoot ‘Em Up (in style, I’m not saying it’s the best movie ever), then
here you go. I’m going to give a basic rundown of what happens in this series.
Pick your guns (pick something
explosive because buildings literally just collapse), start the level, shoot
ants, spiders, robots, etc. Pick up weapons. Blow up buildings (especially if
it’s your first play through because it’s amazing at first), shoot ants,
spiders, robots, etc. Go underground, shoot ants, spiders, robots, etc. Pick up
weapons. Fight giant Robot on beach. Shoot ants, spiders, robots, etc.
My point is… this is a GAME in
the purest sense of the word. It doesn’t need great graphics. It’s funny and a
blast to play. Every single person I’ve shown this to loves it. Give it a
chance.
3: The Last of Us (PS3)
And now a game that is sort-of
the opposite. I think people overstate how movie-ish it is, because there is
plenty of gameplay. Most of it is scrounging around for stuff, but I feel they
do put enough gameplay in here.
But that’s not why you come to
this. You come to it for the story, and it succeeds wonderfully. It tells a
story that isn’t that uncommon, but does it with such finesse that it’s one of
the best video game stories ever told.
The Last of Us is as good as
critics say. So far it’s Game of the Year and I’m not sure if that’ll get
changed or not.
2: Killzone 3 (PS3)
I figure a lot of gamers that
play a lot of games and don’t just play one genre have a favourite multiplayer
shooter. The FPS is so popular it’s hard not to pick a side. Games like Halo
and Timesplitters (release a new one please) are games I adore for this, but
Killzone is my king, which means I can sit down at any time and play it.
What I like most about KZ as
opposed to others is how it feels. It feels heavy, it feels good to shoot and
throw grenades. It doesn’t feel like paper, like Call of Duty. It hasn’t been a
perfect series, but it gets most right. I also love class-based multiplayer as
opposed to just picking your weapons and loadouts.
I picked Killzone 3 because it’s
the one I spent the most time with, because I played it with my brother. Killzone
2 has better maps, though.
So, Killzone is my jam and I
await Killzone: Shadow Fall. Launch day baby!
1: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3)
Anyone who knows me knows I’m a
massive Metal Gear fan. It’s my series, and it always wins these types of
lists. I’m a fanboy, I have a hoodie with Foxhound on it.
What got me to this point was
the story, ultimately. The story of Solid Snake and all the crazy
(nanomachines) things that happen is compelling and emotional from game to
game. It’s also silly sometimes. That’s one of the things I really like: it
tells a serious story about war, but it has a sense of humour and it remembers
that it’s a game.
What I mean by that is, it has
incredible stealth-based gameplay, but even with the bosses… it doesn’t try to
be realistic. It wants to give you the kind of bosses that only video games
will. It doesn’t concern itself with reality, it gives you memorable bosses,
every time.
I always say that Metal Gear is
a perfect example of games as art, but unlike some games that claim that, it
also is well aware that it’s a video game. It strikes that balance perfectly.
There are so many memorable
moments within the series that it hurts.
I don’t know which Metal Gear is
the best in the series. Old-school purists could go with Metal Gear 1, but I’m
more of a Solid guy, so it comes down to either Metal Gear Solid 1 (which has
the single best story of all the games), 3 or 4. I love 2 as well, I ain’t
hatin’ on it. So basically any Solid could get picked.
But Guns of the Patriots was the
only one released this gen, so I don’t have to pick.
Some hate that as the game goes
on, it has less game play and cite the first couple acts as what Metal Gear
Solid should be. I can see that. But I’ve always loved the story so much that I
can watch hours of it. It does still allow you to play, but I admit it’s less
frequently later in the game.
But returning to Shadow Moses?
Amazing. The part where you have to tap the button and basically break your
finger while Snake crawls through a furnace? Amazing.
I just love Metal Gear. Metal
Gear Solid V will kill.
I wasn’t aware how much of a
Playstation fanboy my list would make me look like until I saw the Top 3 games.
Thanks for reading, let me know
what you think in the comments!
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