Entry Number 100: Archile's Top 10 Favorite Games

 This is so happening. But first, honorable mentions, I really wanted to put these two in, but there simply was
no room for them. Eternal despair.

 Honorable Mention #1: Zone of the Enders 2(Playstation 2, ZoE HD Collection on PS3/X360)

 I've played this game many times, and it never gets old. It has some of the most amazing set pieces I've ever played in my life, like the air battle in which you must take down the Battleships with the cannon, the epic battle on the dessert or just how badass using 0 Shift makes you feel. Epic falls short when describing this game.

 Honorable Mention #2: Gundam Extreme VS(Playstation 3)

 Everything I love in a game is here. Basically a fighting game, has a very arcade-like feel, pick-up-and-play but with many nuances to master, loads of playable units(Over 60!) and loads of content. This game is a blast to play, every time.

 Honorable Mention #3: Resident Evil 4(Nintendo Wii, also on PS2, PS3, X360, PC, GC)

 Everyone knows about this one, but why do I like it so much? Let's just say I didn't like Resident Evil(And I played all of the numbered ones, including Code Veronica) until I played this one.

 Honorable Mention #4: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne(Playstation 2)

 What I love the most about JRPGs is character developement, so I was a bit scared, with the HitoShura being the only playable (demi)human character, and he being a silent protagonist... Well, it didn't matter, the whole story of the game was incredible. From the world getting devastated, to how the few surviving humans saw the world and how they were motivated... it was a fantastic RPG from beginning to end.

 And now that that is out of the way, onwards with the list!

 Number #10: Orcs And Elves(Nintendo DS also on Mobile Phones)

 I first came across the series when I played Doom RPG(A Mobile Phone game). It was fantastic, a grid turn based, first-person RPG based on the Doom series, and it fit the mobile platform so well. On Mobile Phones, controls always suck, so being turn based, you never never handicapped by them. You could save anywhere and anytime. Needless to say, I played it many times, and never grew tired of it. Eventually I saw a trailer for a new game that would be coming out in a couple of months, Orcs and Elves, "Oh! Reminds me of Doom RPG", so I did some research and it turned out that Orcs and Elves were made by the same people and using the same engine, and this DS game was an enhanced port of the mobile version, which meant, I had to get it!. I played the hell out of Orcs and Elves Mobile, I liked it even more than Doom RPG.
 I bought the DS version at launch, and never regreted it. While I played and finished the mobile version way more times, it's due to it's more "I take my cellphone everywhere" nature, I finished the DS version loads of times on all difficulties.If I were to choose between versions, I'd go with the DS version anytime. Everything that made the original so good is here(Even the save anywhere anytime feature) but with better graphics(way better) and more content, it's a no brainer. It also had a sequel on mobile phones, and I also played it many times, however, making it work on my phone was a bit of a pain in the butt, so I never grew as attached to it as I did with the first one.

 Number #9: Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga(Playstation 2)

 SMT: DDS(Known simply as Devil Turner in Japan) is a two part game, so I picked it as one game. However, I find the first part to be more enthralling. The first part is the set up, you are introduced to a cast of entraniable characters, you'll soon grow fond of each every member in your party, even Cielo. In this first part, you take the role of Serph, the leader of Embryo, one of the many tribes fighting for dominance in a crapsack world. At the start of the game, everyone gets branded with a Demon Virus, which makes them turn into demons, and now have to devour each other if they are to grow stronger. The story is very interesting, and the way they are presented is incredibly memorable. One of my favorite scenes is during the ending, when a really short, but fantastic, musical piece plays as the whole cast gets separated... it's one of the best scenes I've ever scene, and I doubt I will ever forget about it!
 Part 2 takes off right after the first game ended, and provides characters with incredible moments of badassery and tearjerker scenes. It's, emotionally, a much stronger game, but I kinda missed the world from the first game. Also, I felt the last parts of the game got a little too insane, but it hardly blemishes this fantastic game. The second part also rebalanced all the skills, so you can't cheap out the extremely hard optional bosses like you could on the first game, heck, even the main game is more challenging.
 Digital Devil Saga is highly recomendable as a whole, but no part should be played without the other!

 Number #8: Half-Life 2(PC also on PS3, X360)

 I really don't know why I bought this game. I wasn't fond of the first part(Now that I've played it, I can say that it was quite good, but at the time I felt it was meh) so I don't know what got into my head, but thank god it did. This game has one thing in common with entry #5, which is something I love... It's one huge world, and you are  constantly moving forward, with no "breaks" or stage transitions. It's hard to explain, but it feels epic, it feels like a nonstop adventure!
 To be fair, I was never an Alyx fan or whatever, I just loved the game. The weapons, the setting, the gameplay, everything felt so good, I still have fond memories of bringing down the barriers that cut your way through the water. And the Magnum? My favorite weapon in an FPS, heck, it made me favor the Magnum in every other game I play. And who can forget the beginning of the game, when you are unarmed and must escape from the guards? The fact that the game never takes you away from Gordon's eyes helps get you invested in the game, even when the NPCs are talking and you've nothing to do but wait until they are finished, but hey, you can run around and throw things at them while they run their mouths. The game started with a bang and it only got better.

 Number 7: Pokemon HeartGold(Nintendo DS also on GB/GBC as Pokemon Gold)

 Look at that cover. It's one of my favorite covers of all time(It looks better in real life, trust me). I've said many times what Pokemon Gold means to me. I dare say that it was the best Pokemon game until Heart Gold came out. Sure, Ruby/Saphire/Emerald/FireRed/GreenLeaf and Pearl/Diamond/Platinum introduced many new things and commodities, but did any of them have two big regions to explore? Did any of them have better pokemon than the second generation(This is a matter of taste, and in my opinion, no they don't)? With every new Pokemon generation, you get more ZigZagoons and the value of legendary pokemon diminishes(Seriously, there's like 30 legendaries now).
 Regardless, I'm here to talk about what makes Heart Gold so awesome, and that I will. For starters, Pokemon Gold in it's entirety is here, looking better than never. All the commodities that the games after Gold introduced are added. And, for the first time since Yellow, you can have a Pokemon follow you around. This is the only Generation to include two regions, and if you grew up with Pokemon, there's the whole Nostalgia factor of seeing it again. Heck, it also worked for Pokemon Gold, going back to see what happened to the world you had explored in Red/Blue/Yellow!
 If you ever liked Pokemon, or had a passing interest in it, this is the game to play.

 Number #6:  No More Heroes(Nintendo Wii and PS3, X360) / No More Heroes 2(Nintendo Wii)

 I remember reading about this game even before I had a Wii, but I didn't really care about it, seems it was touted as the next big Wii game or something, and it had fairly divisive reviews. Eventually, I bought it and I played it... and I fell in love with it. Never had I played a game with so much personality. Every boss had an introductory secuence and a death secuence, and in just a couple of minutes, the game managed to make each one very memorable. And the main character, Travis? He is my favorite video-game character of all time, from his look to the fantastic work done by Robin Atkin Downes as his voice actor. This game just oozes style everywhere.
 It also got a Sequel and... I loved it as much as the first one. To be fair, No More Heroes 2 lost a bit of it's personality, the bosses are not as memorable(Not to say they are not, but I'm comparing it to the first NMH) but the gameplay got better. Heck, even the graphics got better, probably one of the best looking Wii games. I really couldn't pick one above the other, sure No More Heroes 2 lacks some of the style and personality( The game has so much of it that I just can't stop saying the word) the first one had, but it feels much better, as a game, it's better.
 Eventually, the first game was ported to the HD consoles, alongside some of the bosses from the second game and... I'd pick the Wii version over them. As incredible as it sounds, the motion controls on NMH feel very responsive and satisfying, while the analog sticks on the PS3 didn't feel as such. And while NMH Wii had slowdown... the HD port has it too, and it's simply inexcusable here, the game doesn't even look that good. Oh, and they gave Travis abs. Travis is a nerd, he doesn't have abs. Unforgivable.

 Number #5: Dungeon Siege 1(PC)/ Dungeon Siege 2(PC)

 Since I let NMH 1 and 2 take the same spot, I just had to make another exception for Dungeon Siege. So, without further ado, here's my story with Dungeon Siege. So I was young, and I saw this cover with a redhead holding a flaming sword and I said "I need to play this" so I bought it. This was the second RPG I ever played online and did I have adventures. I hold many memories of Dungeon Siege 1, I've played it a dozen of times, and I tried to replay it last year before the bugs, due to it's conflict with Windows 7, made me abandon the game. Sad times. But what sets it apart from other hack and slashes? The same thing I love so much about Half Life 2, you are always moving forwards. Sure, you can go back, but enemies don't respawn. There's no central Hub, there's nothing, it's an epic adventure to stop the Krugs.
 Dungeon Siege 2, just like No More Heroes 2, is a better game. They polished up the engine, made it prettier, added new weapons, new companion times, new spells and added special skills. It's a much better game... however, now it's just another Diablo 2 clone. The towns, one per chapter, act as hubs, and every time you reload your game, everything respawns. DS 2 is a better game, but it lost DS 1's personality... still, I had a blast playing it, and that's what matters.
 There's a PSP game, that I haven't played, and a third game, which I own but have yet to play. I did play the demo, and I liked it a lot, but I felt it was a Dungeon Siege game in name only. Still, they made a reference to the mules, so you gotta give'em points for trying.

 Number #4: Tekken Tag Tournament 2(Playstation 3 and X360, WiiU)

 The most recent game on the list, and the only fighting game(And I call myself a Fighting Game Lover!) featured here. Tekken Tag 2 is the ultimate Tekken game. My story with Tekken is a bit... odd. The first Tekken game was 2, and I didn't even know it was Tekken, I just knew it as "that arcade game with the guy that has the head of a tiger((It's a leopard, by the by)) and the robot with the hat" and I never payed much attention to it. Then I played Tekken 3, and it was one of the reasons I decided to ditch Nintendo, and instead to upgrading to a Gamecube, I jumped ship to the Playstation 2. I loved both Tag and Tekken 4, but since my PS2 was KIA, I never got to play 5 until much later. By the time I played 5, 6 was already out, but I only had a PS2. I didn't really like it too much, so I never cared much about it. Fast forward a couple of years later, a friend got a 360 and I played Tekken 6, and suddenly my love for the series returned, Tekken 6 was the reason I decided to get a next gen console.
 Tekken Tag 2 is the culmination of everything that is and was good about the series. Almost every character that appeared in the games is here, with rare exceptions( And they would've been clones anyways). It's also the second game to have tag mechanics in more than 10 years since Tekken Tag 1. And, hate the tag mechanics? You can play as one versus two. Or one versus one. This game has it all. And I'm not even mentioning the stuff that is a given on any Tekken game, the great character designs and their incredibly long movelists. The graphics are great, with each character having it's own unique musculature. There's also the tried and true gameplay that has been forged through over 7 iterations of the series....
 Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is, quite likely, the best Fighting Game that came out of this generation, and I doubt it'll be topped any time soon.

 Number #3: Super Mario Bros.(Gameboy Color and virtually every Nintendo console has it in some shape or form)

 I'm pretty sure this is the first game I've ever played, but seeing how I was about 3 and we had many of those bootleg 400-in-1 carts, I could be wrong. Super Mario Bros is a timeless classic, it doesn't matter how old it grows, it will never be obsolete. There's something elegant to the simplicity of it's premise and controls, this game comes from simpler times, and it's fun in it's purest form. To this day, at least for me, the game keeps being as fun as it was 20 years ago, and at this point, I seriously doubt I'll ever grow tired of it.
 As for why I picked GBC version, I feel it has the most content. Sure, I could've gone with All-Star Super Mario Bros+Mario World, but seeing how I never really owned it, I'm going to go with the version I actually own. Super Mario Bros Color has extra features, like racing against boo, or 3 hidden red coins on each level. Super Mario Bros 2(AKA The Lost levels) are also included, so really, what's to hate about it? Oh yeah, the screen was compromised, since the GBC's screen was a wee bit too small, but it never bothered me.

 Number #2: Shin Megami Tensei Persona 4(Playstation 2 and Playstation Vita)

 This was my introduction into the Shin Megami Tensei series, and what an introduction it was. Confession time, I got so hooked into it, that I would actually lock myself in my room, close all curtains and turn off every light source in order to better enjoy the game. I would actually tell my friends that I was "Busy" or "couldn't go out due to X reason" in order to play this game. I soaked in a good 80+ hours in my first run, and I enjoyed every last one of them.
 What made it so good? The setting. The believable characters. The mechanics. The presentation. Everything. Unlike other JRPGs, this one was set in a highschool. Every character in the main cast, heck, some of the minor characters too, got a lot of developement, and they were very believable, they made sense. And the mechanics? Brilliant. The One More was a fantastic idea, which I later found out was borrowed from Shin Megami Tensei 3(And Digital Devil Saga too). Then there was the presentation, from the JPopish music, to the bright colors everywhere, the game was very loud, in a good way.
 For a time, this was my favorite game ever, until I replayed Number 1 and realized that, nope, I liked number 1 a tiny bit better...

 Number #1: Final Fantasy VII(Playstation and PC, PS3)

 Was there any doubt? I mean, seriously. I've mentioned my love for this game time and time again. I've mentioned my story with the game time and time again. So I'm just gonna leave some closing words here.
 Final Fantasy VII is a game that I know almost by heart. I can recognize almost every song, I know almost every step in the game from memory, few secrets escape me. Last year, after I finished the game, for many days there after, I'd think to myself "Ah, I'll play some FF7 now" only to remember, and disappoint myself, that I had already finished it.
 I adore Final Fantasy VII.