It's been a long, long road throughout the last three months of writing this gigantic list, and despite the amount of time it took to produce, I enjoyed every second of writing it. Also, I have to thank everyone again for the overwhelming support that they have given me. I don't think that my list would have turned out half as good without the confidence that everyone gave me. This list is insanely long, so I would suggest bookmarking it so that you can read it at your own pace until you're finished. I thought it would be worth compiling all 100 entries into one list to make it easier to browse through for you all, so with that, I did, and I'm surprised that my computer didn't explode my loading it all up.
On another note, I've revised my #100th entry with a new game that's barely cracked my list, so sorry Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, but there was a better game out there. Also, check back later for my honorable mentions list, as well as Thunderbird's next interview, since I'm the interviewee. Well, there isn't much to say beyond this point, only for readers to keep in mind that this purely a personal list and in no way am I speaking on the behalf of everyone else with my entries. It's quite a wall of text to read through, I know, so please treat my 100 entries as 100 reviews as well, as sit back, relax, and enjoy!
100. Beyond Good & Evil
Starting off my Top 100 Games of All Time list with a revision from my original list, Beyond Good & Evil just barely cracks my list, and pushes Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin just barely out of my Top 100 list. That's right everyone, I'm giving you a bonus (and I'm not just putting the game here for the sake of doing it. I played it while writing up my list, and in my honest opinion, it was good enough to just barely enter it)! What makes this game so worthwhile of entering my Top 100? How about a great story with amazing presentation, possibly the best female protagonist that I have ever seen, and gameplay that is a mixture of The Legend of Zelda, Metal Gear Solid and Ratchet & Clank.
Beyond Good & Evil takes place on the planet of Hillys (a planet composed mostly of water with many islands), where an insect-alien race known as the DomZ that abduct residents of Hillys whenever they can to drain them of their life force, or to convert them as one of their own. At the time of this pandemic, a sudden military squad known as The Alpha Sections, takes charge of defending the residents of Hillys, but they never seem that proactive about preemptively attacking and stopping the threat, rather than just sitting around defending the populace, in which they are not always successful. You play as Jade, a young photographer/reporter who lives and protects a local orphanage at a lighthouse. Alongside her guardian figure, Pey'j (a pig-like human [there are lots of non-human races on Hillys too]), they join and underground network of journalists called the IRIS network, as there is suspicions that the DomZ and Alpha Sections may be related to each other, and it's Jade's new job to expose the truth of the matter.
The game is quite cinematic, often conveying strong emotions within the characters and a nice, strong, presence of mystery throughout the game as Jade unravels the truth. The whole game feels like a mature, 3D animated movie most of the time, not only through the expressive and well-acted cutscenes, but even through the use of the game's camera quite often in order to make the experience feel more movie-like (most notably the stealth scenes). Overall, while the story isn't the most deep and complex that I have ever seen, it genuinely made me care throughout the whole game, and gave me a sense of devotion and urgency when key moments happened in the story for me to see the game through to the end. Like I said before, Jade makes for an extremely good female protagonist in this game, by being responsible, confident, a good leader, talented, and athletic (but not in a stereotypical ass-kicking chick sort of way. She can kick ass, but she's not overpowered just so that the game can supposedly remain as far away from being sexist as possible). Even her attire is tasteful and has a lot of character to it. The story also moves along at a brisk pace, right up to an epic presented final boss fight that relies on reflexes rather than whittling down a life bar.
Gameplay-wise, it's really addicting. Beyond Good & Evil has an over-world and dungeon designs that are somewhat akin to The Legend of Zelda (not in how the world looks, but by how clever that puzzles and area progression works). It's addictive to explore, and solve puzzle after puzzle throughout dungeon/fortress-like areas, which gives a very rewarding sense of accomplishment when you figure things out that have been stumping you for quite some time. The game is quite a collect-a-thon as well, with you needing to constantly acquire currency and pearls in order to progress in the game (pearls are used to buy new devices to upgrade your hovercraft in terms of the abilities it can pull off, to eventually upgrading it into an aircraft, and then into a spaceship). Currency can be used to buy some of the pearls as well as upgrades for Jade's maximum health as well as your vehicle's health (currency can be earned as payment for sidequests, or by breaking open containers). Pearls can be earned by taking on certain challenges/sidequests (such as races or air hockey), by finding them in secret areas around Hillys or the main dungeon/fortress areas or taking pictures of every species on Hillys with your camera (by taking at least 8 new species photos, your data is transferred to your employer, who pays you with a pearl). Aside from the story, you're always in a constant state of collecting, earning and upgrading, which can be quite addicting outside of the story-related action sequences. It felt a little like Ratchet & Clank with the addictive-ness of it's collecting, but near the end of the game, collecting currency can be a pain in the ass, if you've already expended a ton of your cash and have done all of the missions and taken all of the photographs (leading to lots of crate-smashing).
The main bit of the action and stealth in this game comes into factor whenever you're embarking on a story-related mission to a dangerous area (or sometimes stumbling on a dangerous soldier-heavy area in the world, who happen to be guarding pearls). There are a few missions within the game that revolve around teamwork with Pey'j, to fight against different enemies and bosses, and to solve different puzzles, but a quarter or third through the game, a lot of stealth elements are introduced (the previous elements are still there, but just not as strong as before). This leads into a little bit more of a Metal Gear Solid-like feel, without the radar. You'll have to use your wits, memorize enemy patrol patterns and create distractions or find safe places to surprise and pick off soldiers if you want to survive and progress (while solving various puzzles all the way). It's really fun and fresh at first, but I won't lie that it started to get a little tedious (and downright frustrating at a few parts) near the very end of the game. However, the tedium doesn't arrive too early that the game stops being fun, but I did feel as if the game could have ended a few hours earlier.
Finally, going back to the presentation of the game, Beyond Good & Evil may be old, but it's world is extremely original and fresh, it's visuals have a unique and well-polished style to them (as well as being very well-animated and uses a great ambient colour scheme). The music, while not incredibly memorable, does suit each scene very well, and I can remember the tunes of the epic, orchestrated final boss battle music, as well as the powerful music that brings a lot of emotion to some important cutscenes. All of these factors makes it a cinematic experience. To end this entry off, Beyond Good & Evil is pretty short...possibly around 10 to 15 hours. However, you can find it dirt cheap nowadays, and I highly suggest picking it up before it's gone, becomes rare, and gets pricier (I got mine for under 10 bucks). Beyond Good & Evil provides a lot of value for your dollar. Just make sure that you're the patient type when playing this game (while being someone who values a well told story), and you should be satisfied.
99. Panzer Dragoon Orta
Another first in a series for me, Panzer Dragoon Orta is one of the best on-rails shooters that I have ever experienced. Developed by Smilebit, Orta takes you on a Starfox-esque journey through beautiful landscapes, gunning down creatures and army fleets on the back of your transforming dragon. While this game will only take you a few hours to run through, it offers great variety in terms of multiple pathways to take in each level, the ability to shoot in front of you, to your sides and behind you while you’re locked on rails, the element of using strategy in battle to change between your three dragon forms (Glide, Base and Heavy) depending on your situation, as well as the ability to upgrade each form by touching experience orbs with your desired form that you would like to upgrade.
The levels and atmosphere in particular was what drew me into this game the most. It has a certain charm and impact on the player just through it’s art and design that can’t be matched by many games (similar to the effect that Okami, Shadow of the Collosus, seeing Jet Grind Radio for the first time has on people). Orta will take you through an imperial city during a storm in which other dragon riders are trying to take you down, through forests and waterfalls, deep and complex canyons, fighting a bunch of imperial warships in the bright blue sky (as your dragon won’t just fly straight, but fly at all different altitudes while weaving around ships avoiding gunfire), running through a snowy mountain during a snowstorm, flying through futuristic tunnels and combating an epic multiphase boss fight during sunset. Also, as I’ve mentioned, the use of multiple pathways will ensure that you have new content to experience through multiple play-throughs of the game.
Orta also contained a great deal of challenge and strategy. Even the easiest difficulty had some very tough moments, such as the final boss. The ability to change your dragon’s form on the fly was an excellent key element in this shooter. You started out in your Base Wing form, which is the medium size for your dragon, and is the all-rounder within your arsenal. This form contains a decent speed boost (and speed boosts are also used as a head on attack, aside from being used to dodge attacks), decent homing and regular fire capabilities. When you changed to your Glide Wing form, you could boost longer and use it more frequently, but lost your homing capability in trade for a higher rate to regular machine gun fire (which was essential for destroying volleys of missiles headed your way). Finally, the Heavy Wing had no boosting as far as I can recall, but still had a lock on ability (although it couldn’t lock onto as many targets as the Base Wing). However, it had the most damaging attacks, which was crucial for large enemies and bosses). Finally, you could also eventually build up a super attack, which depending on your form you choose, will launch it’s own destructive attack, easily wiping out enemies and taking chunks out of bosses. Using a fully upgraded Heavy Wing form’s super attack to decimate a boss was so satisfying.
From a personal standpoint, Orta was a visual treat, and an addictive fast paced shooter that felt like you never stopped shooting. It’s one of those quick games that you can dive into, that you don’t feel like you have to give a large commitment just to beat it. You can even just beat a level or two, call it a day, and felt like you had fun and accomplished something. It also feels quite retro for an XBox game, giving a sense of nostalgia to the old shoot-em-ups on the NES/SNES. Sometimes, it’s just plain fun to play a shorter game that relies heavily on skill, strategy and reflexes, rather than a long game in which the only determining factor towards beating it is the amount of time, level ups, and the amount of resources you collect. After hearing about the disappointment known as Lair, I’m glad that there’s at least one series out there that allows you to ride a dragon and shoot the f*** outta things.
98. Odin Sphere
While were on the subject of artsy games, I cannot stress enough about how phenomenal the visuals are in Odin Sphere. Believe me, I’m one of the last kinds of people who would believe graphics make a game. Gameplay is the most important aspect. Luckly, Odin Sphere’s gameplay matches it’s original and beautiful visual design. The best of both worlds merge together, on top of a great story that is told Shakespearian-style.
Describing stories is not really my strong suit, so I’ll briefly sum it up. The story starts off with a girl named Alice, sitting in her attic, reading books about the five protagonists in this game. Each book follows their individual stories, followed by a sixth book that will contain their final battles and the conclusion. The plot involves Demon Lord Odin and the valkyries in his realm, waging war against the forested realm of Ringford, which is home to the leader Elfaria and her fairy subjects. He wages war over the Crystallization Cauldron, which is the source that creates the Psypher Crystals (as shown attatched to the protagonists weapons). The stories take place from the points of view of the valkyrie Gwendolyn (Odin’s daughter), the shadow knight Oswald, the prince of Titania named Cornelius (who has a spell cast on him, turning him into a rabbit-like creature known as a Pooka), Elfaria’s daughter known as Mercedes, and an uncursed survivor of the ruined kingdom of Valentine, Princess Velvet. Since all of the characters come from different sides of the war, and some are caught in between, it creates a lot of interesting situations, and allows you to piece together how the story went inside your own head before the final showdown. I love the aspect of how the story is shown from different viewpoints, and seeing each character’s side of the story as well as how they interact with the rest of the cast, provides significant character development. You can even choose who will fight which bosses in the final battle (a word of warning, as only one specific combination of characters can unlock the true ending).
In terms of gameplay, it’s mostly addictive with an interesting way of levelling up and managing your inventory, and has fast paced and frantic combat. However, it does have it’s small share of downs, such as some absolutely frustrating (and I’m not confusing frustrating for challenging) boss fights, as well as backtracking through many of the same environments and not having much in the means of the way of interacting with them. Starting with the good aspects, the way that you progress in Odin Sphere constantly encourages you to collect, absorb phozons, and manage your inventory. You can either choose to level up your max HP or your Psypher (your weapon with the crystal attatched), and balancing what you want to level up can mean the difference between life and death depending on your play style. Leveling up HP is critical to survive, but levelling up your Psypher not only increases your damage that you deal, but also gives you access to new spells/special attacks. Phozons are also the pink spirit particles left behind from killed enemies that you can absorb into your weapon to level up your Psypher, but phozons can also be used to grow fruit (that will increase your HP) that you can either buy or obtain from the plentiful amount of treasure chests around the field. When you plant a seed, the phozons on the battlefield will be pulled into the ground automatically to grow a fruit (or sheep) tree, in which you can pick the items from the branches, and choose to consume the item right away for the experience to level your HP, or to keep it in reserve to restore health when you need it, and gain the exp later. Since your inventory is limited (but your inventory space can be increased by buying a limited number of larger satchels to carry them in), you have to constantly manage your resources (ex. Choosing to consume a fruit for the exp, so you can buy/pick up that new potion that restores 200 HP). You can even use alchemy in this game to create new potions/items which are critical to survival, by combing two items together (also a good way to manage inventory space).
Wow, that was a lot of talk about inventory management, but it seriously is a fun and addictive aspect of Odin Sphere, encouraging a frequent necessity to create/consume items to help your character grow. Since mentioning all of that took so much space to write, I’ll just briefly touch on everything else. The fighting engine is fast and fun, and feels a little similar to the “Tales of” RPG series, only with more emphasis on aerial combat and a larger amount of enemies. Also, each character has their own individual fighting styles, weapons, and have access to some spells/special attacks sooner than others.
As for the negative aspects of the game, there are some insanely frustrating boss battles (I’m looking at you Skuldi), that seem next to impossible, even with a large accumulation of level grinding, HP potions and other helpful/critical items for the situation. Take for example, a wizard named Skuldi. The guy will summon two large shadow monsters that are impossible to injure, as well as jump over without getting hurt. He can call and cast away these creatures at will, and will constantly trap you between the two as they will close in and leave Oswald bouncing back and forth between them, constantly taking huge chunks of damage with hardly any recovery time. Meanwhile, Skuldi will send a constant wave on spells your way to hit you between the creatures, freezing you, setting you on fire, poisoning you, transforming you into a toad that you have to wait about 5 minutes for the spell to wear off). If you do manage to get out of this jam and rush toward Skuldi, you can’t hurt him by physically by attacking him. He will summon and throw a line of swords toward you (in which you will have to be standing at the exact right distance to have enough luck for him to actually cast it), which you must attack and send flying back at him to injure him, in which you must follow up with an attack right afterwards. Like I mentioned, if you stand too close to him, he’ll either teleport across the stage (making you try to avoid the damn shadows again), and if you stand too far back and he doesn’t cast the swords, the shadows will catch up to you and attack you again. Plus, the time frame between hitting him with the swords and doing a follow up attack is so small, you won’t do much damage, or the shadows will get summoned in front of you before you can get your follow-up attack on him. As AVGN said, “you’re really pressed between a bag of piss and a pile of shit on this one”.
Anyways, there are at least three to four boss fights in total that are almost as annoying as Skuldi. Aside from those, all of the boss fights are challenging (even on the normal setting) and truly epic. Not only that, but the bosses and environments are beautifully designed, as if they were all painted right on the screen with bright, vivid colours. This is probably one of the most artistic games you will ever set your eyes on. On the audio side, it also has wonderfully orchestrated music and great voice work. Fans of RPGs/Okami need to pick this game up. Oh, and finishing up on the negative aspects…even though the environments are absolutely stunning, there is quite a bit of repetition in them. Since you play all of the five character’s stories separately, you’re going to cross all of the same environments with every character, as well as having to start from scratch, levelling each one up. The settings are also mostly a backdrop for the combat itself, often having little affect on your gameplay experience. Based on these negatives, Odin Sphere has ended up on the lower ranks on my Top 100 list, but that doesn’t stop it from being a very engaging and fulfilling game. Even though the environments may seem repetitive with not much interaction, the character growth system is absolutely fun and addictive, and I still haven’t even scratched the surface on all of the features yet. This RPG won’t be shown on store shelves for much longer, and I encourage anyone who is a fan of RPGs to pick it up.
97. Tales of Legendia
Like Castlevania, so far I’ve only played two games from the Tales series (Tales of Legendia, and then Tales of Symphonia), and despite Symphonia being more popular among the masses, I’ve got to go with Legendia. I’m not sure if it has anything to do with being the first entry from what I’ve played in this series, but I found Legendia to be a more challenging and longer game than Symphonia, as well as a more complex and fluid one. To me, the plot was a little less cliché, and the characters were far more likeable and had better voicework. While the art style isn’t as powerful as Symphonia, I did appreciate the character design even more. And how much more fun is it to fight through a quest with your fists for your own selfish reasons, instead of the generic sword-wielding main character fighting for world peace?
Legendia was also one of the first RPGs that I have played that featured such a large content of voice work in it, which really helped flesh out the characters. I also felt that this game had characters that had better dialogue between each other, creating stronger and more interesting character relationships than in Symphonia. Remember the little skits that play out on the field in Tales games? Legendia had great ones, and really got me caring about my party. Even though the story was a little generic, I find that a great game or show can truly stand out if the cast is an interesting one. Hence, this is a very strong point for Legendia.
Two other things really made this RPG stand out for me than many others, which are the challenge and the length. It’s also kind of odd saying that, because in some RPGs, the creators can lengthen the game out to absurd levels by adding in too many useless plot points and fetch quests just for the sake of making their game longer. They can also add in an absurd level of challenge that requires you to do nothing but dwell in a boring battle system for hours on end as you try to level grind to beat that one particular boss. However, with Legendia, it never felt like a chore to me, because there was always so much to do that would actually benefit me. Quests wouldn’t only lead to extra items/ultimate weapons, but also to new skits and interesting plot points/dialogue for your characters. The battle system constantly encouraged you to use different skills in order to learn new ones. Workshops encouraged you to combine items to make powerful new ones and bakeries were around to create restorative items to use outside of battle so that you wouldn’t waste your good healing items.
Best of all, after you defeat the final boss in the game and see the ending…it’s not really over. You can partake in a portion of the game which is pretty much like a second half of the game. What it involves is embarking on different character quests for each member in your party. Your team will embark on an added quest that revolves around each character, providing further development, as well as an added challenge. This part of the game is much harder than the main quest, and is much more satisfying to complete. After finishing your character quests, your final quest revolves around defeating the source of evil, which is the most challenging quest that will test all of the skill and effort that you had put into your characters, pushing you to your absolute limits. All in all, I can use one word to sum up the whole experience of Tales of Legendia for myself. Satisfying.
96. Kirby: Canvas Curse
Possibly one of the most original DS games out there, Kirby: Canvas Curse relies completely on the touch screen to control Kirby around the environment, by drawing a rainbow-coloured pathway for him to roll on. Since Kirby had a spell put on him that turns him into a ball, it’s up to the player to guide him around with just the stylus. The most important and fun part of the game relies on it’s control. Draw a line under Kirby and slope it upward to make him travel along it upwards, or do it vice versa. You can send him through loops. Draw quick vertical lines in front of him to bring him to a halt. Draw lines in front of projectiles to block incoming attacks at Kirby. Tap on Kirby to roll him at enemies to attack them (when you don’t have a copy ability, you can just roll into an enemy that has one to copy it), or to activate your power-up that you already have. Last of all, while the game starts off easy, it can get ridiculously hard in the last few levels. However, there is a nice learning curve. Just don’t let the cute looks deceive you.
There isn’t much more I can say about this game, other than it’s just pure, colourful, happy fun in it’s simplest form. Kirby: Canvas Curse is a perfect pick up and play handheld game that could only be accomplished on the DS, and is one of the least mentioned Kirby games from what I’ve seen. In case you’re wondering, “why does Kirby score higher than the other games, when the other games play mechanics are so deep?” Because games are supposed to be fun, and sometimes simplicity is the highest form of fun.
