The greatest games - A Personal list of Neocracker~

[NeoCracker]

Well, considering I know nothing about your post past the first line, I think I'm keeping pretty damn close to that promise!

Were it not for the fact I'd rather not have two pages of posts one one smurfing game people stopped talking about in this thread quite some time ago I'd continue the conversaton.

33. Lufia 2: Rise of the Sinestrals (SNES)
      I both love and am frustrated by this franchise. The writing in Lufia 2 is wonderful (I don't have the first game listed, I will say it has not aged nearly as well, and would actually end up really low on the list, but higher then I placed Legends of Lore). It comes from the bad position of the company going under and getting bought out by people who didn't feel it was nescessary to explain who the smurf Arek the Absolute was. Pay no attention to the fact he may well be the single most important person behind the events of the franchise, yet we know virtually nothing about him. Yeah, Imma move on before I make an even worse case for this game.

      Regardless of lack of explanation of Arek, you do get the full story presented in Lufia 2. A struggle between the Sinestrals and man about who it is that truly deserves to rule the planet. One of the only games where you actually end up having a kid (There are a few others mind you. ). This game is pretty much full of amazing characters, even the least interesting of which are more intriguing then a lot of games at the time. It's easy to get wrapped up in the fate of these people, and care about the outcome. It's also easy to rally against the villains. While rather clique, the villains fill thier roles wonderfully. They truly feel like the threat the game had been building them up to be.

       Combat is really great, making use of the IP system. You would build up a bar by getting hit, and use the stored energy as it were to activate special abilities from your gear. This actually gives you a bit of customization, picking gear based both off stats and IP abilities. Pair that with the Capsule Monster, evolvable monsters that fill your fifth character slot, the only one you have control over, helps give you a lot of options even with a mostly story determined party.

      Though what I love most is the puzzles. Oh god the puzzles in this game were so fun to solve. Were it not for the fact solving them all a second time is so easy, making the solving puzzle joy diminish on subsequent play through s, this game would be higher on the list as well. Regardless, I'd love to see more games make such splendid use of solving puzzles to advance.

32. Infamous 2 (PS3)
31.Infamous (PS3)
      I was surprising excited when I say the trailers for Infamous, yet when I finally got the game it was better then I had thought it was going to be. I know some people will disagree because of the Arkham games with Batman, which were amazingly well crafted, but to me Infamous is the definitive Super Hero game. This game captures everything great about the comic book super hero.

      The gameplay for starters is superb. With two different paths to alter your power growth you end up with quite a few play styles, and best of all both paths are very viable. Regardless of your path, there is a wide array of abilities, and the wall climbing mechanics, while bothersome for travel purposes, are amazing when exploited in combat. Enemy AI is actually pretty solid as well. I love how when you've spotted an enemy, they won't come out of the same cover in the same spot to shoot at you, and while actually re-locate and try to catch you open.

      We also come with some great characters. Cole and his faithful sidekick Zeke, who fills in as comic relief and later on a big source of Coles worries. These two have some absolutely wonderful interactions with each other. What I ahve said up to this point applies to both games. So I guess I'll go into some of the reasons I pick Infamous 1 over 2 as the better game.

      The big reason is the Villains. All three villains in the first game are absolutely wonderful. Kessler being a personal favorite, and one of the best final boss's in any game I have ever played. That final fight felt like it was the final fight. That's a feeling I don't get from a lot of games. Kessler really was the best part of this entire series. The villains, while still good in 2, lacked in comparison.

      The big thing on two, however, that almost won it out was an absolutely wonderful ending. There were two differnt ones, neither of which could really be considered a 'good' or 'bad' ending, though both of which carry a certain level of sadness that I loved. I won't spoil it for you guys who haven't played it, but god it was a wonderful way to end it. I'll just say I'm glad the new Infamous game seems like it's a different continuity from the first two.

      One last think I'll bring up though is the thing that keeps this from being higher. This is a game that I think is actually hurt by the moral choice system it implements. While two handled it better, Cole always seemed like a guy with a predetermined personality, so the choices didn't really make sense. Worse yet you get choices that the only reason you would make is for the pure purpose of being a dick, which really doesn't set in well with the vibe of the game. So yeah, the moral choices I feel do more to damage the narrative then anything else. Likely would have been 2-3 places higher on the list had they dropped it.