2015 "BEST GAME EVER!!!" Nomination Thread

[The Shoemaker]

35. Heavy Rain (PS3)
Superb mystery thriller with multiple outcomes. Every minute was a ride (even though I already knew the main antagonist due to an unfaithful visit on a message board).

That's too bad, the realization of who did it was really shocking and crazy as I slowly understood what was going on. Still must have been neat being able to see all of the foreshadowing.

[Niahak]

Hadn't been around to check the forums in a while, so I haven't had the chance to catch up on this thread, but might read through and reply later on!

I'll throw some in the mix for the time being:

Suikoden II (PS1): I've come to appreciate its sequels as much as this one (and really can't decide whether I prefer 2, 3 or 5 best), but I have the strongest emotional attachment to Suikoden II. I love its pseudo-historical setting, the relatively subdued importance of the main character, the regional nature of its conflicts, as well as

Spoiler

the little bits of emotional conflict other games don't have (say, Flik threatening to kill Fitcher in Greenhill to protect him), and the emotional height of the big confrontation with Luca

. I love its little references to Romance of the Three Kingdoms, too!

Europa Universalis IV (PC): I've always liked some strategy games, having grown up with the Koei classics, but EU4 really grabbed me in ways that no other game has. Playing each nation is substantially different, and the freeform nature of picking your own challenge (by picking a nation and tweaking a few parameters) really lends itself well to the genre. Everything is a number, but nothing is pre-ordained. Beats even Civ V's "one more turn" factor, since it trades it for "one more war", "one more mission", and so on. The only game I have ever lost track of time while playing.

Dark Souls (PS3/XB360/PC): Bottled lightning that I think Demon's, Dark 2, and Bloodborne didn't quite match. I'm sure others have elaborated.

Der Langrisser (SNES): Not a particularly amazing game (the first in the series is tighter although DL is more polished), but the various routes and characters, particularly the Independent route, really separate it from most fantasy games while the gameplay hits a good balance between strategy and RPG. Not as tedious as tactical RPGs, but still has a strong character focus.

Mount & Blade: Warband (PC): Lost hundreds of hours to it. A bizarre mix of action, strategy, and RPG that was almost too ambitious. At times a sandbox like Pirates!, at others a trading simulation, but your focus gradually grows until you are able to sustain your own empire (at which point the game starts to break down). Very moddable - with many mods completely changing the game, particularly The Last Days (originally for "base" M&B but inspired many features of Warband).

Space Rangers 2 (PC): Like Mount & Blade, a bizarre mix of genres, but this one mixes Pirates! With a more strategic, turn-based game in a sci-fi world much more in flux. Special missions even introduce text adventure and RTS mini-games. The rapid development of technology makes the task ahead go from "impossible" to "dumb easy", but as it is, still makes for a fun "choose your own adventure" on a grand scale. The sequel even introduces a second pirate conflict in addition to the Dominators. Great music, too!

Opoona (Wii): It's hard to describe exactly what it is I like about this game. It does a fantastic job of atmosphere, with colorful graphics, varied locales, and incredible music (hard to believe the same composer also led up the bland FF12 soundtrack). If I had to say in one word, it's uncomplicated - it can even be controlled by simply the Wii nunchuk (one analog stick, two buttons). I found it at a time where every game seemed too busy and feature-rich, which I know sounds ironic given the last too entries, but it was a refreshing change and I have found myself engrossed in the game multiple times since then, making it a great palate-cleanser. What may be surprising to some is that it's not the cheery kids-tale it appears to be; it's more of a coming-of-age story, and the protagonist himself even fails at times only to be helped by friends.

/edit: forgot one important one!

Destiny of an Emperor (NES): Got me hooked on RPGs for real (Dragon Warrior 3 was good, but not this good), created an obsession with Three Kingdoms, and led to one of my biggest passion-projects, Destiny of an Editor. Despite going off the rails around Yuan Shao, its adaptation of RTK along with a really damn good translation for its time made for one of the better plots for an NES game despite being bare-bones.

[Kiwi the Tortoise]

Legend of Grimrock II
Suikoden II
Final Fantasy 6
M.U.L.E
Civilization V (Gods & Kings/Brave New World)
X-Com Enemy Unknown/Enemy Within
Hearthstone
FTL
Etrian Odyssey 4: Legends of the Titan
NetHack
Ogre Battle - March of the Black Queen
League of Legends
Sim City
Chrono Trigger
Kentucky Route Zero
Dragon Quest V
Jagged Alliance 2
Frog Fractions

Shining Force

Because, duh?!


Turrican 2

It stands no chance in the actual contest, but holy cuss, did I play a lot of it.
And the soundtrack was amazing.

[pdSlooper]

Opoona (Wii): It's hard to describe exactly what it is I like about this game. It does a fantastic job of atmosphere, with colorful graphics, varied locales, and incredible music (hard to believe the same composer also led up the bland FF12 soundtrack). If I had to say in one word, it's uncomplicated - it can even be controlled by simply the Wii nunchuk (one analog stick, two buttons). I found it at a time where every game seemed too busy and feature-rich, which I know sounds ironic given the last too entries, but it was a refreshing change and I have found myself engrossed in the game multiple times since then, making it a great palate-cleanser. What may be surprising to some is that it's not the cheery kids-tale it appears to be; it's more of a coming-of-age story, and the protagonist himself even fails at times only to be helped by friends.

I have a copy of this, I picked it up CIB for $10 because I heard good but non-specific things about it. You make it sound like something I want to pick up sooner rather than later, though I haven't played a single player console gamer in years.

[Kong Wen]

Opoona (Wii): It's hard to describe exactly what it is I like about this game. It does a fantastic job of atmosphere, with colorful graphics, varied locales, and incredible music (hard to believe the same composer also led up the bland FF12 soundtrack). If I had to say in one word, it's uncomplicated - it can even be controlled by simply the Wii nunchuk (one analog stick, two buttons). I found it at a time where every game seemed too busy and feature-rich, which I know sounds ironic given the last too entries, but it was a refreshing change and I have found myself engrossed in the game multiple times since then, making it a great palate-cleanser. What may be surprising to some is that it's not the cheery kids-tale it appears to be; it's more of a coming-of-age story, and the protagonist himself even fails at times only to be helped by friends.

I have a copy of this, I picked it up CIB for $10 because I heard good but non-specific things about it. You make it sound like something I want to pick up sooner rather than later, though I haven't played a single player console gamer in years.

I was just thinking the same thing. I'm going to have to dig up my Wii collection and pop this in.

But... I thought the music in FF12 was great! It fit the world. Sakimoto does a certain thing very well, so I'll be interested to see how the music in Opoona fits since it seems like a different kind of game.

[White Rider]

Der Langrisser (SNES): Not a particularly amazing game (the first in the series is tighter although DL is more polished), but the various routes and characters, particularly the Independent route, really separate it from most fantasy games while the gameplay hits a good balance between strategy and RPG. Not as tedious as tactical RPGs, but still has a strong character focus.

Out of curiosity is there a reason why you nominated Der Langrisser and not Langrisser 2 for Genesis? I went from L2 to DL and I felt that DL was more clunky. Don't get me wrong though, I like Der Langrisser (and Langrisser 2, and Warsong) a lot.

[Niahak]

I was just thinking the same thing. I'm going to have to dig up my Wii collection and pop this in.

But... I thought the music in FF12 was great! It fit the world. Sakimoto does a certain thing very well, so I'll be interested to see how the music in Opoona fits since it seems like a different kind of game.

The one thing I don't like about Opoona is its translation is pretty bad. It's good enough to understand what's going on but is missing a lot of flavor and there are some weird gaffes (like using "Star" in place of "Planet" several times). It could've been Earthboundish in feel if it received more love in that department.

I thought FF12's music was pretty darn bland aside from Rabanastre's theme. I'll admit I haven't revisited much of it in years (aside from via Theatrhythm), but I love a lot of his other work (Gauntlet 4 GEN, Crimson Shroud, Ogre Battle/Tactics stuff) so maybe I should give it another shot. Opoona really shows off his range - it's a completely different feel from the medieval stuff and the main theme is worked into almost every track in some way. It might be my favorite soundtrack. It's soothing and relaxed, but there's plenty going on to focus on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auFOQLnI1cg (Tokione's theme)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAO10cObdCs (Intelligent Sea)

Out of curiosity is there a reason why you nominated Der Langrisser and not Langrisser 2 for Genesis? I went from L2 to DL and I felt that DL was more clunky. Don't get me wrong though, I like Der Langrisser (and Langrisser 2, and Warsong) a lot.

Honestly, it's because I haven't played Langrisser 2. Never invested enough in Genesis stuff to pick up any JPN games, and I never emulate games I don't physically own. I understand the story is the Light path from DL, and I've heard it is closer to Warsong's battle style, so it does sound interesting for sure. Some things about DL are annoying for sure - I much prefer the leader combat styles from Warsong, and the sound effects and graphics in DL are a little too cartoony.

I actually never replayed Der-Lang after the translation came out, either. I should get around to that since the translation looked pretty good.

[Kong Wen]

I thought FF12's music was pretty darn bland aside from Rabanastre's theme. I'll admit I haven't revisited much of it in years (aside from via Theatrhythm), but I love a lot of his other work (Gauntlet 4 GEN, Crimson Shroud, Ogre Battle/Tactics stuff) so maybe I should give it another shot.

A few of the songs are definitely right out of the Final Fantasy Tactics playbook, Giza Plains in particular. It's also quite dynamic. Also, while the Dalmasca Westersands theme is definitely what some people would describe as bland, I thought it did the job it was meant to do (conveyed the mood it was meant to convey) very effectively. (It also reminds me so much of "The Sun" by The Pretty Things that I can't not hear either song when I hear the other. It's seriously crazy.)

Damn... I might have to nominate that now!

Out of curiosity is there a reason why you nominated Der Langrisser and not Langrisser 2 for Genesis? I went from L2 to DL and I felt that DL was more clunky. Don't get me wrong though, I like Der Langrisser (and Langrisser 2, and Warsong) a lot.

Honestly, it's because I haven't played Langrisser 2. Never invested enough in Genesis stuff to pick up any JPN games, and I never emulate games I don't physically own. I understand the story is the Light path from DL, and I've heard it is closer to Warsong's battle style, so it does sound interesting for sure. Some things about DL are annoying for sure - I much prefer the leader combat styles from Warsong, and the sound effects and graphics in DL are a little too cartoony.

I actually never played Langrisser 2 other than a cursory glance at it on a ROM years and years ago, either. I did play through the translation of Der Langrisser, and I thought some of the storylines/paths were a little bit over the top. In fact, I may have only enjoyed the light path, so Langrisser 2 might be right up my alley. Overall, I think I had more fun with Warsong than Der Langrisser...

Damn... I might have to nominate that now!

[White Rider]

Oh dang, I didn't know there was a translation for Der Lang. Now I need to make time for that.

[Jordan]

Nominations:

Sengoku Rance
League of Legends
Civilization V

I'll second Kiwi's nomination of League of Legends, but with a caveat. The game is in a constant state of flux. Season 2 (when I started out) League of Legends is hardly comparable to how the game functions currently, for instance.

League of Legends is a game that I play on and off. I used to be very consistent about it, but then skimped on it for a year and now only touch it casually. The fact that it perpetually evolves is a mixed blessing. On one hand, the frequent changes prevent the game from going too stale. On the other hand, sometimes I like certain metas better than others. Also, every now and then Riot will release a patch that breaks a champion or item or creates annoying bugs/problems. The fact that it's never the same game from one week to the next makes it a very strange game.

I'll also nominate Civilization V. I'm a massive history nerd and the Civilization series panders to my tastes quite well. I started playing these games with Civilization II, skipped Civ III, enjoyed Civ IV and really loved Civ V, which I feel is the best in the series. I do enjoy other strategy game series like Europa Universalis, but I find Civilization V to be the easiest historical strategy game to actually pick up and play. I'm a pretty lousy RTS player and can sometimes find Paradox's titles overwhelming by contrast.

Civilization V is addicting to the point of being dangerous. Sometimes I'll start up a new game, reckoning that I'll just play for a couple hours, only to find myself totally invested in the growth of my civ. I'll then waste the whole day!

Last but far from least is my favorite game of all time: Sengoku Rance. As a H (porn) game with some very disturbing things in it, it is pretty likely to be unheard of by most gamers. However, it is actually an amazing turn-based RPG/strategy game hybrid. It falls under a very specific genre known in Japan as "conquest SLG" (conquest simulation game I think). As Rance, you go around conquering some goofy parodies of Sengoku-Jidai era clans. The gameplay, story, characters and music are all fantastic. It is easily the best H game ever made, and in my opinion is also one of the best games ever made as well. I have given this game over a dozen playthroughs, completed all the routes, completed the game on every difficulty level and finished a few challenge runs as well just for the hell of it. It has an immense amount of replayability and also possesses Civilization's "one more turn" deal. I don't expect Sengoku Rance to get anywhere in this, but I figured I'd give it a mention anyways.