@Bright Shield - Yeah, I've come to except I'm one of the only people who hates Xenogears. Hell, if I didn't want this thread to be 90% me arguing that I would have kept responding to Wolf.

Oh, and Speaking of Dark Souls....

20. Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (N64)
      What you do is Take Ocarina of Time and think about everything in that game that was good. For Majora’s Mask, make all of that even better then it was before. This game was an amazing upgrade to an already solid title, and did a lot to add to the mechanics.

      The big one, of course, was the masks that changed your race. Between Link, The Deku, The Goron, and Zoran you had a lot of different ways link would be played throughout. Not to mention all the effects different masks would offer, even the non transformation ones.

      There are two other things that sold me though. Firstly being the story. The towns and world have never felt as lively in Zelda as they did in Majora’s Mask. It felt like so much more work had gone into making you care about the lives around you, and it really helped to make the plot seem important. Not to mention a great Villain in Majora’s Mask and it’s fairly tragic Puppet. They went a much more original route this run, and I loved the change from Gannon as the villain.

      The other big thing was the Time Travel Mechanic, resetting the world every three days. I had never seen a Mechanic quite like this in a game, and it made sense in terms of story. Hell, it added a lot to the Narrative and Atmosphere. This, for me, was the most unique and refined title offered up by Zelda and a big part was due to this very mechanic.

      Best of all this ending up being the most challenging
Zelda launched. And, of course, a person who enjoys a good challenge this is a big plus for me. So yes, best Zelda game created ever.


19. Dark Souls (PS3/360/PC)
      I admit to probably over-ranking Demon Souls since it came out at a time which I felt there wasn’t really a challenge in the games getting released, but in no way do I feel I am over rating Dark Souls. What this game is gameplay wise is Demon Soul’s with practically all of the systems improved upon and smoothed out.

      In addition the story and world are more detailed and developed then Demons Souls was. There is a lot more personality amongst the NPC’s this time around, though that isn’t may favorite improvement.

      That honor goes to the art design. If I were judging this purely on aesthetic appeal, Dark Soul’s would be the number one on my list. There is not a single place in this game that doesn’t look wonderful. So much variety and color compared to the last game, and still manages to create a better atmosphere and feel. A personal favorite monster design is tied between the Maw Dragon and what I dub the most awkward boner I’ve ever gotten, Chaos Witch Quelaag.

      Even the equipment upgrade system became better, being more user friendly then It was before. The difficulty is still very high, yet unlike Demon Soul’s it never feels like the game was being cheap and unfair. Then there is one more odd thing to note on this game, and that is the community.

      I have never scene such a nice community in an online game in my life. So willing to help people out, and more so then necessary. All you need to do in the online is assist people in progressing the level, yet this guy just gives me a +5 Lighting weapon. The online guys even put themselves in harms way prior to you. Usually to detriment of themselves. True, if you die when summoning mission ends, but it’s not like they get anything if they die either. There is this odd comradely that comes from the games difficulty, and it’s smurfing wonderful. Get this trout now.