Like the other thread, in celebration of the end of the Heisei era, what are your top ten favorite games released between 2000- 2009?
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Like the other thread, in celebration of the end of the Heisei era, what are your top ten favorite games released between 2000- 2009?
1. Persona 4
2. Persona 3
3. FFIX
4. FFX
5. Suikoden V
6. Suikoden III
7. Chrono Cross
8. MGS3
9. MGS2
10. DQVIII
Not a firm ranking. The first 6 in particular are all quite close and the last 2 or 3 could be displaced by something I've forgotten.
This is the decade in which Persona replaced FF as the series I most look forward to new entries in. Suikoden almost had the chance to become that series for a bit but by the time I stopped looking forward to new FF games so much, Suikoden was basically done.
- Final Fantasy IX One of the best JRPGs of all time.
- Ico So peaceful, romantic and unique.
- Final Fantasy IV DS The DS remake, I really love it.
- Jak and Daxter This is my "I'm feeling depressed, time to chill out !" game. Not a fan of what the series transformed into. The second one is one of my most disliked games ever, and the 3rd one is alright.
- Dragon Quest IV DS One of my most favourite DQ games.
- Castlevania Portrait of Ruin. POR got me into the Castlevania series.
- Zelda Wind Waker This is one of my favourite Zeldas.
- Final Fantasy Tactics A2 My favourite " FF Tactics " game.
- Sly Cooper. Shame this got overlooked by Ratchet and Clank and Jak and Daxter.
- Final Fantasy V GBA. I adore the improved English translation.
Honourable Mentions : Kingdom Hearts, Fire Emblem the Sacred Stones, Legend of Zelda the Minish Cap, Sonic Advance, Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga, Tales of Symphonia, Skies of Arcadia, Beyond Good and Evil, Soul Calibur III, and Final Fantasy X.
Gonna do another Top 5 instead of 10 >.<
5. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxNAwZ-A88w
My entry point into the Persona series, and what a great game it is; easily the most magnificently crafted game of the series I've played thus far. The later games perfected its gameplay loop but none weave it into the narrative and themes remotely as expertly as Persona 3 does. I hope to eventually play this game again with a female protagonist.
4. Ys Seven
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSgzp7aYu34
Definitely the most recent entry on this list as I've only played it a couple months ago, but I absolutely fell in love with it. The fast and smooth gameplay, the story, the characters and just the overall feel of roaming around Altago won me over pretty much immediately, and it consistently keeps up a solid pace of always uncovering new things while building on what already works. An overall just wonderfully crafted game and one I'll gladly return to to replay it on a higher difficulty down the line.
3. Touhou 11: Subterranean Animism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wEHo_uUgZ0
The Touhou series has its ups and downs, but one of the major successes in the series is definitely its 11th instalment. High difficulty, beautiful but very deadly boss fights, challenges that feel fair (while also being brutal) and an absolutely astonishing atmosphere and OST make this entry one of the very best in the series. It's as if ZUN set out to just make an incredibly good Touhou game, with no super weird gimmicks or anything. That's all I ever really needed.
2. Final Fantasy X
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0M2G8hVQlug
My favorite entry in the FF series, reaffirmed over and over again. It packs a gripping narrative with easily the best cast of characters in the series and a versatile and fun combat system as the cherry on top. This game is probably the main reason I became and still am a Final Fantasy fan today.
I'd have put the HD remaster that also includes the sequel in the 2010s section but that feels like cheating. And no matter how much I enjoy FFX-2, FFX is the game that has me thinking about it to this day.
1. Warcraft III
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-gDEjCG3as
Putting this game in any favorites lists of mine honestly feels like cheating because I never ever played this game for the base RTS, but instead always focused my intention entirely on the game creation aspect of it. There are so many things you can do with the World Editor in this game it's crazy, and you can have a ton of fun just playing different custom maps. The very existence of it has been a massive influence on my entire life, so it cannot be anything but number one.
This was the hardest of the three lists for me, there were a lot of games that could've taken spots 9 and 10. Also, 2000 was a pretty damn good year.
10. Shadow Hearts: Covenant
Shadow Hearts was a great series, and Covenant (the second entry) was the best one. Set in our world (except with supernatural stuff going on) with a cast of interesting characters and a fun and unique battle system.
9. Chrono Cross
I will always maintain that I like this game more than Chrono Trigger. Plus, that soundtrack.
8. Final Fantasy XI
I got into this pretty late, but it was great regardless.
7. Lost Odyssey
I'm largely unimpressed by Sakaguchi's post-Square works, but I'll give him this one. An excellent JRPG that should have been on a platform where it would have had a better audience.
6. Suikoden V
My favorite Suikoden game. Good stuff all around.
5. Final Fantasy IX
Self-explanitory, right? :p
4. Deus Ex
This game was mind-blowing to me when I first played it. All the choices, both in gameplay and in the narrative, while keeping up the quality of said narrative. An all-time classic if you ask me.
3. Ar Tonelico
One of my favorite franchises, and although I like its sequels more than the first game, the first is still really great. It hits all the sweet spots for me with its characters, story, world and music.
2. World of Warcraft
This is a bit of a weird one because currently I don't consider it one of my favorites. However, due to the nature of MMORPGs, that's not really a fair evaluation. Times change, I've changed, the game's changed. Back then, WoW was a big part of my life. I loved the game, I met many friends in it and I had many great times in it. Therefore it's only fair I give it a pretty high spot on this list.
1. Ar Tonelico 2
Combine my favorite soundtrack with a great story, a fun battle system and possibly my favorite game romance (they even sing a duet, which by the way is a great song), and what do you get? This, one of my favorite RPGs ever, definitely my favorite in the franchise. Pretty much an improvement upon the first game in every way. Sadly, after this one the series started to overindulge in fanservice. This game has some of it and innuendos, but nothing too gratuitous.
As a fellow Chrono Cross lover, I wish I could share your sentiment with respect to Chrono Trigger, but it just doesn't hold up quite as well for me. I really did like it more than CT on my initial run, but on second and third times through the blemishes really show. Chrono Trigger, on the other hand, while I don't feel it's as great as many think, has almost no blemishes even after some dozen or so times through. The high points of CC are without question to me better than anything in CT. The problem is there's too much filler between those points and I don't think the battle system works as well as CT either. Not to derail the thread into CC vs CT, but what's the point of just having lists in threads without some discussion, right? :p
10.Attachment 76183I know for many gamers, the premier choice of quirkiest Japanese game of the 2000s would likely got to Katamari Damacy, but for me, my choice is Gitaroo Man. I love musical rhythm games and Gitaroo Man combines all the best elements with a rocking soundtrack, challenging gameplay, and of course the quirky Japanese sensibilities that make you wonder what the design team was doing in the bathroom on their breaks. I only wish more people had tried out this gem of a title.
Gitaroo Man
9.
The second half of the Persona 2 duology, EP is the fantastic payoff to the first game with a twisted Twilight Zone-esque vibe to it's theme of Deja Vu. Like Suikoden, this entry works the best if you've played the prior entry and thus understand the references. Minor characters from Innocent Sin suddenly become major players in this entry and vice versa, and we ultimately get one of the darkest and most chilling entries in the whole franchise. The game also brought in a few lifestyle improvements to the overall mechanics and the group conversation mechanic is transformed into both a great gameplay feature and fun way to build on the game's excellent cast. Hell, this game even makes Persona 1 look fun to play as the game brings back the cast in some interesting ways. Added in is having two scenarios to play through and introducing the series theme of making one of the Velvet Room associates the game's super boss is also pretty chill. Despite how much the soft reboot entries borrow ideas and concept from the duology, it makes me sad the Persona Team doesn't give the games more references within their titles.
8.
My second favorite Zelda title and my favorite of the 3D entries. I bought a Wii just to play this game, and despite what some may say, I feel the Wii controls work nice for this entry. Course what I love about this game is the great dungeon design and the fun cast of characters, with Midna easily being my favorite companion character for Link in the series since her personality works as a strong contrast for Link's. The game also just had some great set pieces like the Spaghetti Western sequence in the Hidden Village or the climatic siege of Hyrule Castle. When I think of great Zelda dungeons and bosses, often I'm surprised how many of them come from this game for me.
7.Attachment 76185I was a late arrival for this series, but SH2 is a fantastic entry, and I'm not surprised why so many of the Western entries try to copy it so bad. James Sutherland is such an interesting and complex figure and his twisted journey through this haunted sleepy town will stay with you long after the credits roll. I feel as gamers, we don't really ever talk about atmosphere as much in terms of game design like we should but holy hell if Team Silent didn't get it right in this entry, especially with one of the series best musical scores next to Silent Hill 3.. The story and the claustrophobic psychological horror pretty much make up for the fact that the actual gameplay is clunky and often frustrating. This game is certainly more experience than just a fun casual play type of deal.
Silent Hill 2
6.Back when Square still made experimental leaps within the genre. They let Yasumi Matsuno take a shot at making his own style of game that wasn't a clone of one of his earlier works and they were rewarded with this entry. We the fans got to experience a dark fantasy Metal Gear title with one of the most involving gameplay systems of the PS1 generation and a story line that fans still debate to this day. In hindsight, I feel this game along with King's Field set the stage for Miyazaki's Dark Souls franchise as the aesthetics, design, and overall feel of the two franchises match up quite nicely. Ashley Riot is probably one of the most underrated protagonists from Square and it's a shame that VS will likely remain a hidden gem among Square's works.
5.Attachment 76188This entry has always surprised me a bit. Like FFIX before it, this game is basically a love letter to the whole franchise and brings back a lot of fan favorite elements after the more controversial third and fourth entries, and hey, it even brings in elements from those games that fans liked. While the game suffers from the usual low budget technical issues that mire most of the series and the designs fall a bit far into some of the less pleasant tropes of anime, the game's incredibly detailed political plot and excellent return to form in gameplay make this one of the best entries in the series. It's a shame the series will never continue the main plot pass this entry, but at least we can say the main series ended on a high note.
Suikoden V
4.Attachment 76189The sophomore effort of Team Ico is easily one of their most fantastic efforts and defining game for the PS2. The game beautifully mixes platforming, combat, and puzzle solving in a way few franchises short of Zelda have accomplished and considering how much Twilight Princess borrowed in that regard, it looks like even Nintendo noticed this game pulled off some superb design. There is a reason this entry has been remastered and remade every generation since it's inception and it may sadly remain as the crown jewel of the Team Ico game trilogy.
Shadow of the Colossus
3.Attachment 76190Easily the best of the new era Persona titles for me, while 4 and 5 were able to expand many of the concepts introduced in this entry, neither of them have ever been able to recapture the elegance of the game's interwoven design. The social links and calendar mechanics remained in the sequels because they were popular, but neither entry made them a central part of the narrative like P3 accomplished as it explores the themes of mortality, death, and the meaning of life. I also just vastly prefer having the main team's personal stories as part of the overall plot as opposed to being relegated to social link subplots. There is a more liveliness and nuance to the S.E.E.S. members than either of the Investigation Team or Phantom Thieves. Overall, it's the best designed entry in the franchise for me, with every element connected and feeding into each other.
Persona 3: FES
2.Attachment 76191Man, I needed this game in my life. Nocturne introduced me to the excellent MegaTen franchise, different means of story telling, and proved to me that Turn Based combat can be fun challenging, and tactical once again. It's rocking soundtrack combined with it's bizarre and haunting visuals made this a standout entry for me on the PS2. I still wish Kazuma Kaneko did the art design for the series cause I feel he's one of the more underrated artists, especially once his design evolved in the late 90s and early 2000s.
Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne
1.Attachment 76192Oh my goodness this game is ridiculously awesome. I never imagined another entry in the franchise would knock MGS1 from my favorite spot, but here we are, MGS3 took the tighter design of MGS2's overall gameplay structure and merged it with the better character focused narrative and excellent boss fights of MGS1 while wrapping the whole thing into a nostalgic 60s spy thriller package. I'm never surprised that this game is often in direct competition for the number one spot in fans hearts.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater