The greatest games - A Personal list of Neocracker~

[Loony BoB]

144. Twisted Metal 2 (PS1) - Pretty sure I played
143. Twisted metal Black (PS2) - Might have played
141. Cool Spot (Genesis) - Pretty sure I played
140. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PS3/360/PC) - Definitely played
135. Pokemon (Any of them) - Definitely played
133. Mortal Kombat 3 (SNES) - Played on a different console than SNES.
132. Street Fighter 2 (SNES) - Might have played
129. Final Fantasy VII - Definitely played
127. Civilization (PC) - Definitely played
126.5. Mario Kart 64 (N64) - Definitely played
123. Warcraft 2 - Definitely played
122. Starcraft - Played a few matches
121. Diablo 2 - Definitely played
113. Goldeneye 007 (N64) - Definitely played
103. Toejam and Earl 2: Panic on Funktron (Genesis) - Definitely played
102. Valkyria Chronicles (PS3) - Played the demo for about five minutes
90. Twisted Metal 3 (PSX) - Might have played
87. Dragon Age: Origins - Definitely played
80. Super Smash Brothers Brawl (Wii) - Played a bit when Lev brought it over
75. Tekken 3/6 (PS1/PS3) - Might have played 3.
73. Batman: Arkham Asylum - Definitely played
72. Batman: Arkham City - Definitely played
50. Kingdom Hearts (PS2) - Played about five minutes
44. Final Fantasy V (SNES) - Definitely played
37. Final Fantasy IV (SNES) - Definitely played
31. Infamous (PS3) - Definitely played
27. Earthbound (SNES) - Might have played

EDIT: So about 18 definites.

[NeoCracker]

...Only 27?

I know there will be at least two more, but hell man, catch up!

[Loony BoB]

I think for the most part it comes down to not having the time and money you have, nor the same desire to play certain games. I definitely don't have a major interest in fighting games, for example, and you have a fair number of them in there. It probably doesn't help much that Nintendo barely featured in my youth. I grew up on PC and SEGA consoles before moving to PlayStation.

[NeoCracker]

While I have owned every console since SNES/Genisis, minus only a couple.

Well, and no XBOX, but I had a few friends with one. ;P

[Loony BoB]

Like I said, I didn't have access to that kind of money.

[NeoCracker]

Mine was more years of devoting way to much to my games then quantities of money.

And a few friends in the SNES, NES, PSX and some of the PS2 days. Having a small group of geeks goes a long way for spreading some gaming love without hitting your pockets too hard.

[Bolivar]

I actually think Heroes of Might & Magic is kinda similar to Ogre Battle; although there seem to be no story consequences, the way you wage your campaign does impact certain karma systems that relate back to gameplay. It's still an exceptionally unique game with a lot of complex systems, so complex I've never finished it because I think I screwed my stats up. But the big chunk I got through was awesome. The game does suffer from having almost no story, though, being told from the occasional character portrait dialogue I believe. That's why I think this game could use a remake more than any other property Square owns, since not only could we have a full Matsuno story to it, but the systems could certainly be revamped and explained and executed a little better.

To throw my genuine two cents in on Dragon Quest V, it was my #2 RPG the last time we did top ten lists, and the best 2D RPG I've ever played. It nails everything Dragon Quest does right (game balance, novel puzzles, fun dungeons) arguably better than ever but really made a compelling story, starting from your characters birth, his childhood into his adulthood and establishment of a family. This game also made my jaw drop on a few occasions because I couldn't believe they were taking the RPG genre, much less Dragon Quest, to the levels they did, with some very dark subject matter. Even though I have it ahead of DQVIII on my list, I'm interested in going back to that game to see how it holds up, because it was just so well done, I wouldn't be surprised if it edges it out.

[NeoCracker]

Point taken on Heroes, I completely spaced that series of games.

I've only played III, and a bit of V, though they would be on the lower end of 100 if I included them. Though yeah, probably the most comparable.

And I whole heatedly agree on it benefiting greatly from a remake.

[The Man]

Dragon Quest V really is close to a flawless game. I've only played the SNES version, but I really can't think of any significant flaws of the game. Anything I can come up with would just be nitpicking.

[NeoCracker]

14. Shin Megami Tensai: Devil Survivor (DS)
      This is a game that really showed this generation the RPG’s were strongest on the hand helds. Devil Survivor was a big game with a lot of content both story wise and gameplay wise. And it has a very fun take on your typical SRPG gameplay.

      Most resembling Bahamut Lagoon with it’s unit based movement around a grip map, this game gives you a lot more abilities to play with. From fighting at a range at the cost of counter attacks, customizable units, and a variety of movement effects you will never get bored discovering new tactics to overcome your foes.

      With Yuzu being the only exception, the cast is wonderful. It’s hard to find a game that has this much character depth with people like Haru, Gin, and Atsuro. And if I had to pick a favorite moment, and I admit this comes from my dislike of Yuzu, when Yuzu makes some kind of flippant comment about Midori being an Otaku, Atsuro just has this momentary freak out on her. And it was freakin’ hilarious.

      But yeah, considering the nature of the plot, the world basically being caught in a war between Angel’s and Demon’s, but your characters role in all this means that you have a huge say in the course of events, and you get to choose between a fair amount of endings. All of them a pretty awesome, and I get a huge kick out of Yuzu’s, if only because once again, I don’t like her, and it’s pretty damn obvious what will happen if you listen to her from the Get go.

13. Odin Sphere (PS2)
      This game is the greatest thing to have ever happened to side scrolling. I could end this description right here and be happy with it, but I’m sure I’d get pestered for an explanation, so I guess I can go into detail.

      You play through the stories of five different people, all of which with unique stories and play styles, all of which build up to the finale. If I were to pick the weakest story it would be Velvet’s, but even then it’s great.

       Gameplay is smooth and fast. Different spells for each character, as well as different speeds, weapons, and other abilities keep everyone feeling different, as well as a good variety within the individual characters. Gwendolyn, from a gameplay stand point, was probably my favorite to play as. Other then always being a fan of spear type weapons, her gliding was fun and very useful in battles if used right. Least favorite was Oswald, as I didn’t really care for his dark from shennanagins.

      Story wise the high point is really hard to decide, though I think I will go with Cornelius’s story. I loved learning of the war with Titania, as well as the book of transformations. It played out wonderfully. Of course, no part of the story compares with the end.

      No game I have played has done such a good job at making you feel like the world was coming to an end. The Atmosphere and design of everything was nothing short of magnificent. The armies of hell, raging inferno, the raging Cauldron, everything just added up to one of the greatest moments in gaming. Even in lieu of everything else this game does, this alone would have placed this game on my list somewhere. Conveniently everything else was wonderful too. :P

[Loony BoB]

14 - Not played
13 - Not played

[Bright Shield]

Devil Survivor and Odin Sphere are both amazing games. I do prefer Devil Survivor 2 to either of them though.

[NeoCracker]

12. Breath of Fire 2 (SNES)
      This game is old school JRPG perfection to me. Of course for this to make sense you would have to know what I view as old school. Predetermined classes, leveling to unlock abilities, interchangeable parties. Breath of Fire 2 hadn’t really done anything mechanic’s wise that other games haven’t done. What it did do, however, was do them better then any other.

      No party member is useless in this game, outside of arguably Jean and Spar, but even Spar has some decent spells, and it’s possible to make it pretty beastly if you give him the bonus spells from nomanda and the guy in your town that teaches magic. Even the simple act of being able to adjust party form can adjust your strategies.

      And given how old this game is, I’m going to go ahead and spoil a bit of this, I loved the reveal the church of St. Eva was behind it. Throughout the game, it does an absolutely fantastic job at showing you the reach and effect the church has in the land, and the moment you realize the church’s god is evil as smurf, you think back and realize just what this means. It’s actually kind of frightening when the hold this place has on the world actually sinks in.

      Not so difficult now, it was actually one of, if not the, most difficult RPG of the SNES era, beaten out by only games like Ogre Battle. Difficulty aside though, the gameplay is really only going to appeal you if you’re like me and love the old school gameplay. Great designs and story arcs, there is virtually nothing I dislike about this game.


And now, my response to Wolf Kanno in terms of character arcs of Breath of Fire 2 Vs. Xenogears! Let’s try to keep the discussion limited to this though.

What I will do here is compare character to character by the ones who had the most similar and comparable story arcs!

Ryu Vs. Fei - Okay I will start by saying Ryu was handled wonderfully for a silent character. You got a real feel for the guys personality and strength. But, in the end, I’m giving this to Xenogears. Fei was handled marvelously, and my dislike for the game won’t take away from the fact he was one of the best written leads of any RPG. Even if he was kind of an idiot.

Rand Vs. Bart - This pair was picked because both characters have the most arcs in the game devoted to their story. There’s the initial arc, an arc that shows up around the middle, and then a finish at the end. In terms of devoted time, they probably have the most of any side character in their respective games, and is one of the better handled ones in each as well.

However, this one goes to Rand for me. The reason being is by the end of Bart’s arc, I didn’t feel I really learned more about what kind of person he was. All of his motivations pretty much made sense by the end of his first arc of story. Rand seems to both grow more as a character, and become more complex as time goes on with his arc, as well as a much more emotional ending at the Church of St. Eva.

Nina Vs. Elly: I’ll start by saying Elly had some good arcs and premises with her character, and for the most part it was very well handled. That was, until, Disk two happened. We never get to see how she rose to be the hope of all those people, we are just told ‘it totally happened’. That seemed to be the big pay off her arc was building towards, and it’s another thing the games unfortunate cut’s dropped.

Now, in spite of that, even if the arc was fully developed, this would still go to Nina. The reason is Nina shows so much conviction in everything she does, every part of her arcs feel like the matter, and completely invest you.

Bow Vs. Billy: This was paired because the plight of both characters served more to expose the problems that were plaguing the world around you. Billy’s exposed the church, Bow’s exposed there was even something going on at all.

Just in terms of how well that was executed, it goes to Bow. I love how his opening bit started so much more, and grew from that, even if he wasn’t really involved. Billy’s did an alright job, but when you learn the church on a whole is a front, it’s pretty much immediately destroyed by Solaris.

In terms of pay off, you have Bow finishing his work with Trout, the story that got him into the mess in the first place, and then rejoining the group now that he realizes the extent of the problem. Comparably Billy was firing his dad. Now, this could have been a close call, except for once again Xenogears kills the moment. When it starts setting in that the attack should actually have killed Billy’s dad, he just walks in and goes, ‘oh I’m fine, I fixed that quirk a while ago.’ The game litterly goes, ‘He’s dead......NOT!’ in the span of 1-2 minutes.

Point for this one goes to Bow.

Sparr Vs. Esmarelda: Both of these characters have pretty short arcs, Esmeralda more so then Sparr. This pair was chosen both for this, and the purpose they serve. Not really to expose the problem, but the source causing the Problem. Sparr the Demon sucking life and his origins, and Esmarelda the Nano-Tech that the villain was going to use.

The thing is, assuming Krellian never handed Esmeralda over to you, which wasn’t necessary, what changes? You learn about the machines from Gaspard anyway. Your character already had flashbacks to previous lives, so Esmarelda wasn’t necessary for that. Her inclusion in the story is completely pointless.

Compared to sparr, while minimal, at least feels relevant to reveal something about the plot. So This goes to Spar.

Jean Vs. Rico: While I like Jean, Rico is the better character. That being said, I give this one to BoF as well, for actually Resolving the Jean story. And it was fairly funny.

Katt Vs. Maria: Okay, as a character I love Katt, and her introduction was handled wonderfully, but her arc later was pretty damn lame and badly handled. Maria had a decent intro arc, but for her that was it. So for both quantity of story, and quality of at least the initial arc, Katt wins.

Though even if Maria had more, one thing murdered her arc for me. That thing was Pupu. She’s scared to go out and face the man before her, even though she is the only one who can, and what happens? The comic side relief bunny grows to giant robot size and starts fighting.

Any drama was shot the smurf down.

Citan Vs. Sten: Okay, I like Sten and while his intro to the party was bad, his actual arc at highland was very well done and great. But this just isn’t smurfing fair. Citan’s a smurfing boss.

[Bolivar]

Oh no.

He didn't.

[NeoCracker]

I said this was going to happen back during my argument with Wolf a couple weeks ago, remember?

He's the one that had to go and bring up Breath of Fire 2 in that last discussion. Blame him for this.

Edit: Just a note, Jean is probably more comparable to Esmaralda as story wise they are both irrelevant, though Jean still wins that pair up. Why? At the very least his arc involves learning trout about the world, something Esmaralda is still unnecessary for. Plus we still get more time devouted to Jean then Esmarelda.