Pumpkin's Top Games of All Time Ever

[Pumpkin]

We have now reached my top 25 Very excite!

25. Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland (PlayStation 3)
tsKYTBN.jpg

Atelier Totori is about a young girl named Totori who has studied to become an alchemist and now works to gain her adventurer's license so that she can go out and find her mother. Her mother was a famous adventurer but one day she never came home. Totori and her friend Gino work hard so that they too can become adventurers.

There are a few elements to this game. The first obviously being alchemy. You combine ingredients to make items that you can use to make more items or equip or bring with you to heal or attack enemies. This game also operates on a time limit, and you have a few in game years to do certain tasks like renew your adventurers license. There are also multiple endings depending on what you accomplish during the time frame. The battles are RPG style, with a battle party of 3 members which you can switch by going and speaking with other available characters. In battle there is a turn order and different characters have different skills they can execute. Alchemists are the only ones who can use items, which range from healing to bombs which deal damage. Most actions in game take up a certain time, from alchemy to battles, to gathering materials, to traveling. You can also take on requests.

lWffpWR.jpg

General impressions:
This is the Atelier game I wanted most because it has Totori and Totori is adorable. I ended up buying it a while after finishing Meruru, even this one comes beforehand in the timeline. It was interesting to see the characters and how far they'd come from this game to Meruru and also to discover some backstory. Overall I found this game to be easier and more lenient with the time frame. Some stuff it did worse like the slow world map travel, but I preferred the story much more and found it much more investing.

Story:
The story still isn't the main focus and this is more of a gameplay and character driven game, but I did actually really like this one. I liked wondering where Totori's mother was and uncovering secrets about her that Totori didn't know. I also liked the aspect of going from a small town to a big city and they did a good job of conveying the feeling, I felt. It also had some really touching moments.

OJQ4ZNj.png

Gameplay:
I thought it was a lot of fun. It put less emphasis on battle than the other two I've played, having only one mandatory boss fight (if you got that far in the game). The time frame was easier to follow and less stressful overall, I was better at making equipment and managing my time, and I felt things were given to me slower so I could adjust to them more easily. Overall the game was really fun and I could waste hours on it without even noticing.

CoDKEUn.jpg

World:
Not as bright as in Meruru, but still very upbeat and cheerful with a good range of different locations. I still liked the little gathering bubble icon. The towns were fun to explore and I liked when new areas opened up to see what they had to offer and see the new things I could find.

apM2uDe.jpg

Characters:
The best part of the game. Even a lot of non-playable characters had good personalities and a good sense of humour and the people really did feel like coworkers and acquaintances that you would see over several years. I liked learning more about everyone and there was a good variety of playable characters for different play styles.

Favourite character: Totori f6Tynyv.jpg
Honourable mentions: Rorona, Melvia cNiP2wp.jpgnuHN7B5.jpg

Totori is of course my favourite. I liked seeing her grow and mature and gain more confidence in herself. I really liked how determined she was and how she never gave up even when she would fail several times. She was also very caring and gentle. I like Melvia because she had a good sense of humour and wasn't afraid to be who she was. I liked Rorona a lot because she was just so ditzy and weird that I couldn't help but laugh. She was less mature than her student.

Overall it has a touching story, fun gameplay, and an amazing cast of characters. It's a sweet little adventure and it has some beautiful art.

VuOtbrC.jpg

[Pumpkin]

24. Eternal Sonata (Xbox 360)
Hu4w9Uk.jpg

Eternal Sonata is the story of Frederic Chopin's dying dream. In this dream, we meet a young girl named Polka who has a fatal illness, but also grants her magical powers. The dream world is ruled by the comically evil Count Waltz, who is pushing something called Mineral Powder on his citizens, and all of our heroes have reason to stop him.

This is a somewhat unique RPG in terms of gameplay. Each characters turn has a time limit during which you can move and attack until time runs out. When attacking you'll build up a combo bar or sorts, which is always a good thing. Another unique aspect of the game is that there are light areas and dark areas which will affect skills. For example, if you're in a sunny field, a certain skill might be a healing one, but if you move under the shade of a cloud that healing skill will become a different skill. Each battle area will have access to light and dark areas. Like a dark ship having light pools from the hanging lights. There are 10 playable characters total in the Xbox version, one temporary and/or missable, and 12 playable in the PS3 version.

2xJD4gA.jpg

General impressions:
I want to start by saying that I had no idea this game had a PS3 version until AFTER I bought the Xbox 360 version. Then I moved and lost it and said this time I will get the PS3 version, since it has extra characters, switchable outfits (I think), and is on a console I can more easily access. But I couldn't find that version until after I caved and bought the Xbox version again. The whole thing is quite frustrating. It's super cheap now so maybe I'll end up with the PS3 version someday anyway. Anywho, about the actual game, I think it's incredibly charming, beautiful, and has some great characters. Music in video games has never been the most important thing to me but if you're in to that this game has some beautiful music. Since one of the main characters is Chopin and all. Speaking of which, between the chapters you get some neat little info history sections about his life with some of the wonderful music playing in the background. It's a nice touch.

Story:
This is the weak point of the game to me. I was much more invested in the individual characters than I was in the main story and it's honestly pretty forgettable overall. I wouldn't say it's bad, just doesn't stand out. The part that does stand out is that they took a real person from history and invented a fantasy world for him, and spend the game trying to figure out if the people and the world in his dreams are real or not. That part was pretty neat. But the whole Mineral Powder story seemed more tacked on just to give it a goal.

FcCrTTW.jpg

Gameplay:
It's pretty fun and more involving than a lot of RPG's where you stand there and select a command (not that I dislike those at all). I really liked the light and dark element and how that could affect the battle, especially in places where the light or shadow would move, so one second you're using one attack and then the cloud moves and you have to adapt really quickly. I also liked the aspect of manually shooting the Viola's bow, but I sucked at it, so I wasn't the best. But overall very fun and involving gameplay.

QU6D1Rp.jpg

World:
Beautiful world, one of my favourite video game worlds ever. Some of the locations are breath taking and I have a hard time narrowing down my favourite areas. Each new spot brought something different and there were just so many that I can't wait to see again when I replay the game. If I had to pick favourite areas, it would be Baroque because pretty snow city, Elegy of the Moon for it's uniqueness, and Ritardando despite it's stupid name.

7T5WShO.jpg

Characters:
I loved the characters. A lot of them are cheesy cliches, but I don't even care, they're cliches that make me care about them and make me invested in their story. Even the annoying ones didn't really annoy me that much, and the whole cast just made me smile. I also liked how often the party would switch, giving you different perspectives of the story and seeing different people and areas. They also all had cute musical names.

Favourite character: Viola rmiKjn8.png
Honourable mentions: March, Polka, Claves JrOlCK2.png4Bsz4sW.pngnZml6Kt.png

Viola kicks butt, she's strong willed, and she doesn't take crap from anybody. But she's still sweet. Plus she's an awesome archer which we know I love. March was very useful in battle and was quiet and sweet, it's just a shame she doesn't join until later on. Polka is dying and hated by everyone, but that doesn't stop her from being sweet and kind and helping everyone she can. And I'll be honest, a lot of why I like Claves is actually her look and femininity.

Overall this is a cute sweet game with some touching moments but an overall forgettable story. But the gameplay is fun, the characters are sweet, the music is great, and the world is beautiful. It's a very magical adventure.

IyluRDA.jpg

[metagloria]

Wow. I enjoyed that game, but 24 is awfully high! I agree with all the stuff you said pretty much. Thought it got pretty weak in both story and gameplay near the end. Once you can do 5-6 harmony chains, combat is a joke.

[Shauna]

haha weak story is putting it mildly.

It made approximately no sense and then had like a three hour ending FMV which tied it up nicely. And by that I mean didn't explain anything.

[Pumpkin]

I really liked the game

Oh well that's why these lists are subjective huh

[Shauna]

I really liked Eternal Sonata.

[Scotty_ffgamer]

Any game where you get to play as Chopin mowing down enemies with musical names is a top game to me.

[Pumpkin]

I really liked Eternal Sonata.

Misunderstood your comment, my mistake

I was half asleep

[Pumpkin]

23. Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht (PlayStation 2)
jFKRFPc.jpg

It's thousands of years in to the future and humanity is now in space somewhere, a log way from Earth. The story follows Shion, a young engineer, her android KOS-MOS, and some other peeps as they have an absurdly long journey through space trying to get to one planet. Along the way they're attacked by alien type creatures known as Gnosis and in some cases have to face up to their past to move forward.

Xenosaga is a pretty unique RPG in terms of gameplay. It would take a while to explain it all. Basically to attack, you press triangle or square and to open the menu for ether (magic) and items and such you press X. Depending on certain conditions, you can also press O for a stronger attack, known as a Tech Attack. Characters also have boost gauges which when used will give them the next turn, unless the enemy boosts over that. You can also fight in big mechs called A.G.W.S. if you so choose. There are 6 playable characters and two temporarily playable characters.

1E08tkK.jpg

General impressions:
I wasn't expecting to like Xenosaga as much as I did. My mom bought it shortly after I moved back in with her, a few years after it came out. She figured I would like it because there were a lot of girls on the cover, and even at 12 I've always preferred female characters. The funny part was we thought chaos was a girl looking at it. Anyways, it looked way too sci-fi for my tastes but I gave it a try and I'm really glad I did. It's one of my favourite game series ever and I think that it tells an amazing story and it does it better than most games. As an added bonus, I learned a lot playing the games, because I constantly had to look up references (like Albedo, Nigredo, Rubedo) and what they really meant. It also prompted me to start looking at things differently and notice deeper meanings in certain stories, something which also applies to video games, and if I'd never started doing that thanks to this game then my games list would look a whole lot different today.

Story:
The story is the bread and butter of this game. It tells an amazingly complex and interesting story, it presents it beautifully, and it always leaves me wanting to know more. The cliffhangers were annoying because I wanted to know what would happen so much. The whole game keeps you on your toes and guessing, and it really sucks you in and leaves you at the edge of your seat. A lot of people complain about the hours of cinematics, which I can see be annoying for some, but for me it made the game that much better. Sometimes I didn't care about playing the game, I wanted to watch this amazing story unfold. There are some beautiful and touching moments, and the ending still makes me cry. It also allows you to go back and play after you finish the series and look at things in a different light. The story is amazing, one of the best I've ever come across in a video game.

zcloh7F.jpg

Gameplay:
The gameplay was the weak point for me. If you enjoy more unique systems then awesome, but not so much for me. I've gotten used to it over the years, but especially at first it was hard. The tutorials aren't super clear, leaving you to figure some stuff out on your own, stuff like why you need to switch your techs to Hi ASAP because it will make a world of difference. I made it almost the whole way through the game the first time without realizing that and I gotta tell ya, it made it a massive challenge. And I am not a fan of challenging games. I found the combat system to be unnecessarily complicated, basically. It also has a very big difficulty spike around the Song of Nephilim and some absurdly difficult bosses to fight. I couldn't comment on the A.G.W.S. Because I never used them. The game is also very linear but I honestly never felt it because the story was so interesting. I only noticed after it was pointed out to me and I thought about it for a while. The mini games, especially poker, were super fun.

sBf7iDd.jpg

World:
You're in space. Honestly while some of the cinematics are stunning, the world itself is generally not. You get some nice places here and there, but most of it is grey corridor, inside of giant space whale alien, more grey corridors, some white corridors, aaaand some more grey corridors. But although they may not have been visually appealing, a lot of areas had interesting stories behind them, which I really liked.

eghpjBD.jpg

Characters:
On the whole I like the characters. I'd say this game is more story driven than character driven, but that doesn't mean the characters don't get a fair amount of attention. Their personalities are varied, their backstories are interesting and mostly heartbreaking. The biggest fault would be just how much the game focuses on Shion, leaving the others to almost always take a backseat, although Shion is actually pretty likeable in this game.

Favourite character: MOMO SC8jdBx.jpg
Honourable mentions: Jr. JwuNxqy.jpg

MOMO was my favourite because I mean come on. She's a sweet robot girl who whose father is widely regarded as a psycho and whose mother can barely even look at her. Despite this she still tries so hard to make friends and be useful. And she's incredibly smart, which is to be expected. Jr. got better in the sequels but even in this game he has an interesting story. And he's got some of my favourite tech attacks.

Overall this is not a game for everybody. Both the plot and the gameplay are convoluted and complicated, but if you enjoy sci-fi fantasy with psychology and religious references and deeper hidden plot points and some robots then I'd definitely say give it a try. Really the story is glorious if you get in to it.

EJJE8zr.jpg

[Egami]

I loved Xenogears but never played a Xenosaga game...

[Madame Adequate]

I wasn't took taken with Ep 1 so I never played the second or third, but I've always intended to revisit the series at some point, and your post on it reinforces that intention!

[Scotty_ffgamer]

Episode 1 is still my favorite of the trilogy! It was so good!

[Pumpkin]

22. Final Fantasy V (Gameboy Advance/PlayStation)
uI7uFcU.jpg

Final Fantasy V starts with a mysterious meteor crashing near where Bartz is chillin with his Chocobo friend Boko, when things start to go awry. The Wind Crystal shatters and they have to work hard to prevent the next three from falling to the same fate.

This is played like a lot of Final Fantasy games. In battle you select from a list of commands ranging from attack to item when it's your turn. This game has job classes that you can switch freely between outside of battle. You will have access to different skills and abilities depending on your characters jobs. You'll also be riding in a wide variety of cool rides, such as boats, airships, and Chocobos!

AeHa51x.jpg

General impressions:
I think V was my first pre-PS1 era Final Fantasy game, so I wasn't too sure what to expect going in to it, but I ended up loving it. The strange thing about V for me is that I seem to like it more when I'm playing it then when I'm looking back on it, and it's usually the opposite. But this was a charming little game, it had a good sense of humour, and it had the beloved job class system. Hard to go wrong with this classic Final Fantasy game.

Story:
Not the strongest story in the series, but still very solid and it kept me interested. There were some wonderfully touching moments, like going to Bartz's home town, learning more about Galuf, and the moments between Faris and Lenna that I absolutely loved, and this game did get me teary eyed at certain spots, like most of the scenes with Syldra. Tugs at the heart strings. This game does an amazing job of having those touching moments and still having a good sense of humour and making me laugh along with them. So while the story isn't the strongest on its own, the story-telling is wonderful.

gK8DgTC.png

Gameplay:
A lot of fun, sine I'm a big fan of the job class system and this is one of the games that did it best. I loved the little outfits, I loved the wide variety of jobs, and none of them were impossible to master, although some took some time. The game was also pretty easy overall with a few more difficult things thrown in here and there. Overall it was a good deal of fun, especially for a big fan of the series.

Wf8b7et.jpg

World:
Pretty good. You do get several different world maps, which adds some variety, and there was a good deal of locations to explore with some good diversity. It even had a Moogle's Forest which was really cute. It didn't stand out to me too much but I don't really have any complaints either.

lNkj9IJ.png

Characters:
Very much a strong point. I'm usually a fan of larger casts of characters and this one is pretty short on them, but the characters were were given were all very strong and made the story one hundred time more awesome. I liked every single one of them and they each had moments that made me care about them and feel for them. They worked great as a group as well.

Favourite character: Lenna lGamix8.png

I'm not going to put an honourable mention because it boils down to ALL OF THEM and then it's not really an honourable second best character mention anymore. They're all just awesome and I have such a hard time picking favourites. I liked Lenna a lot because she was sweet and sacrificing, risking her life for others and doing her best to be supportive of everyone. Faris was great for being one of the strongest people there, and not compromising who she was, Bartz was great for his positive attitude, Galuf worked great with the others and had his (SPOILER)badass dying scene, and Krile was great for being a strong little lady who did her best for her grandfather.

Overall great game, fun and easy to play with one of the best examples of the job class system this series has to offer. But where it really shines is the characters and how they could bring humour to the situation but still have their touching and memorable moments.

bXM8xxV.jpg

[Egami]

Good one Pumpkin! FF V is a really great and charming game. My favorite of the SNES era. What did you think of (SPOILER)ExDeath as a villain and the last part, the Cleft of Dimension?

[Pumpkin]

Good one Pumpkin! FF V is a really great and charming game. My favorite of the SNES era. What did you think of (SPOILER)ExDeath as a villain and the last part, the Cleft of Dimension?

(SPOILER)I liked ExDeath okay, I don't think he was a particularly weak villain. Plus awesome name I mean really. The Cleft of Dimension never particularly stood out to me so I'd say so-so. Some final dungeons are tedious and some are great, this one was kinda in between for me