I've wanted to create this topic for a little while just as a fun challenge, but I was grappling with my own personal question with whether I wanted to do 5 or 3, and which is more challenging. As I list my own top 5, it should become apparent why that was a problem. I finally decided to do 5 because I'm not sure if I could narrow it to 3 and feel like I'm really being honest.
Simple rules: choose 5 individual games. You can name multiple games in a series, but each one has to count individually, so you can't name a whole series as one entry. Because this is meant to be sort of hard, but fun. It was hard for me, between 3 and 4.
I'll start.
5. Shadow of the Colossus - There's no game out there quite like it, period. It is entirely based on 16 boss fights, which are all puzzle-platformers against colossi that by rights should register your puny little stabs as splinters at best, if not for the vital spots. Each one is unique in design and beautiful to look at, and move slowly and ponderously (with the exception of the two "small" ones later in the game which are actually faster moving). The music all sets a great atmosphere, with the story definitely being minimalistic and more showing than telling, but still done brilliantly. It may not be for everyone, but it's unique and worth trying if you have a PS2 or a PS3 (and the PS3 disc version also comes bundled with Ico). For a long time, this one was my solid #3, until the next two listed below.
And now...oh how I hum. Oh how I oh. Oh how I ah, between 3 and 4, and what order these next two belong in. I honestly cannot decide. It is such a hard decision. It really is. And I fear my order presented here is biased by one being more recent in my memory than the other, as well as being replayed more often simply because it is easier to replay, but here goes.
4. Red Dead Redemption - I obtained this in spring 2013 at my boyfriend's recommendation. It sat on my shelf for a bit, until one night, when no game was quite clicking for me, I randomly put this in. What followed was a summer where I was basically playing this and nothing else. I got 100% absorbed into the world, the characters, the adventure and the exploration. The gameplay was fun and generally tight. And that powerful ending. The narrative focus on redemption, and what redemption is, and if some really consider redemption possible or if they consider their own skins more important than promise and humanity, is powerful. And then, if you do the epilogue mission, it again raises that question - what redemption is, or if it's just a vicious cycle.
3. The Last of Us - No game, ever, has (on first play through) made me want to play it while simultaneously repelling me from playing it. Nor has a game made me shed gamer tears as often as this one did on first play through. The introduction is the most effective in any game that I can think of, ending with the most heart-wrenching scene one can imagine. The game raises so many uncomfortable, unsettling questions (I like that kind of thing, if it's not obvious) about humans, morality and the human condition by its end, and what people can do when times are just truly desperate for everyone and when simple survival is at stake. The struggle is real for everyone, especially with the big decision at the end by one character. Her personal struggle comes to life if you take the time to find three collectibles cataloging her thoughts at the game's end. I also like the slightly different take on zombie apocalypse - yes, the infected in the game could be replaced by standard zombies with no real difference, but using a thing that actually exists (parasitic Cordyceps fungus, though mutated to infect humans and turned worldwide pandemic) and removing the supernatural element completely makes it more real (and tickles my public health nerd). Sure, the gameplay doesn't do anything very new, but it does what it needs to and it does it well. But the core, for me, is the emotional story and uncomfortable questions it makes you ask. I think this will be one of the most remembered games from the 7th generation of game consoles.
2. Okami - Once I got the past the introduction (which, admittedly, could be a lot shorter) and I got to start playing the first time it was immediate love. The controls are so tight, among the best and most responsive. The world and art style are absolutely gorgeous, and I still don't think that games today, even with the best graphics tech available, look as beautiful and alive as this game does. The characters are interesting and fun. The combat is well done and only gets better through the game as you acquire more brush powers and weapons. The boss fights are well designed without being overdone - this game still has one of my favorite boss fights in any game, ever. The brush powers themselves are, in my opinion, a great, creative mechanic that are generally implemented well and a fantastic way to enable the story to inform a core part of the gameplay. The soundtrack is easily one of my absolute favorites in gaming, and I have the whole thing in my iTunes library. If I really had to criticize it in some way, the first thing I would say is that the writing could use some editing, as some of the dialog is way longer than it needs to be. This is also the first game on this list that actually has an ending that isn't sad or ambiguous at best. IMO, a must play if you own a PS2 (though discs are hard to come by), PS3 (the HD version on PSN is the best) or Wii (only get this version if you don't have a PS2 or PS3).
1. Earthbound - I still couldn't tell you what, exactly, it is about this game that makes me love it so. And that might just make me love it all the more, I don't know. It might be the simple charm of it, seeming like it was almost made by a child most of the way through, but with a constant undercurrent of dark parody and surrealism. That darker side slowly came through, showing itself quite clearly about halfway through, and then largely disappearing back into the game's undercurrent until the very end with one of the most memorable boss fights in gaming. It's cute, it's charming, it's even downright funny, until that dose of cosmic, childhood trauma-inspired horror at the end. The gameplay really only has two major innovations (for the time), those being the rolling HP meter and enemy sprites being visible on the world map, but otherwise it's a fairly standard turn-based combat JRPG. The inventory system was almost spiced up a bit, with each character having their own inventory and you could trade items amongst the party members. But there's just SOMETHING there...that I still can't identify, that makes me name it my all-time favorite game.
Alright. Go.