5 games that best represent your tastes

[thadudette]

I was gonna make this a prompt, but since prompts/polls aren't really existing at the moment ... :3
As the title says, what are five games you would list that you say best represent your style of gaming? It's kind of interesting because it's not exactly the same question as what your favorite games are, though there's definitely overlap :3

I've probably forgotten some good ones, but of the ones that come to mind I'd go with:

1. Mabinogi
2. Legend of Zelda: Windwaker
3. Pokemon
4. Ace Attorney
5. WarioWare

Basically, I guess I like colorful games that have a certain balance between the speed and complexity/amountyouneedtothink of its gameplay xD There's more to it than that, but too lazy to write out reasons why for each of them :3 Something more like a 2D platformer might fit better in the last slot than WarioWare, but ... man, I just had so much fun with the two WarioWare games I played xD Smooth Moves was a fantastic party game, too, so that adds some points to it :3

[Admin]

Can't mention any specific titles but I love playing RPGs and Zelda-esque adventure games. I like taking my time and don't mind grinding or other things normally considered boring or tedious by the community.
I also love character creation games of any kind. Making my own protagonist makes the game infinitely more enjoyable for me.


- Admin

[kolpool]

This is difficult to distill down to just 5 genre defining games, several games kinda fit the same categories for me.

1. Chibi Robo GC / Chulip / Katamari (Basically quirky unique games)
2. Pokemon / Dragon Quest Monsters (Monster collectors / RPG's with a lot of party customization)
3. Paper Mario TTYD / Dragon Quest (Story driven RPG's preferably with unique combat variations and interesting characters)
4. Sonic Adventure 1 & 2 / Grafiti Kingdom (3D platformers with added bits for replay-ability)
5. Kirby and the Amazing Mirror / Sonic Mania or CD (2D platformer with lots of exploration or methods of movement through levels)

[Deleted]

1) Persona 3/4/5/SMT in general

2) Danganronpa

3) Dark Souls/Bloodborne

4) Undertale

5) Fire Emblem

With the exception of Fire Emblem those would all be my favourite games as well. Fire Emblem just encompasses more of my tastes even though I'd probably put Zero Escape, Nier Automata, some of my childhood games like Skies of Arcadia and Paper Mario, and a few others above it.

[Stove]

Mar 16, 2019 11:16:31 GMT Admin said:

Can't mention any specific titles but I love playing RPGs and Zelda-esque adventure games. I like taking my time and don't mind grinding or other things normally considered boring or tedious by the community.
I also love character creation games of any kind. Making my own protagonist makes the game infinitely more enjoyable for me.


- Admin

Can’t mention any specific games, hmm? How about the 500 times you’ve played Xenoblade Chronicles?


As for me...

1) Super Mario Sunshine
2) Super Smash Bros
3) The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (I almost put Arkham City here instead, both are applicable for the same reasons.)
4) Sonic Adventure 2
5) Dragon Ball FighterZ

I’ve talked about all of these games a fair bit before, but to explain briefly what I look for in a game, it comes down to four factors; Complex, rewarding movement, intense competition, good game mechanics (in particular, ones that allow many different ways of play), and the ability to break the game and do things in a way the game didn’t intend. All five of these games have at least two of these qualities, and they’re all among my favorite games as a result.

[Deleted]

Mar 16, 2019 19:36:44 GMT @alberenza said:

1) Persona 3/4/5/SMT in general

2) Danganronpa

3) Dark Souls/Bloodborne

4) Undertale

5) Fire Emblem

With the exception of Fire Emblem those would all be my favourite games as well. Fire Emblem just encompasses more of my tastes even though I'd probably put Zero Escape, Nier Automata, some of my childhood games like Skies of Arcadia and Paper Mario, and a few others above it.

Oh right, I forgot to explain why I like these ones, and since Steve mentioned it I guess I should also say Xenoblade gets a 6th spot.

I think what all these games have in common besides being long japanese or Japanese inspired games is that they all pull me in with their atmosphere, aesthetic, and storytelling and then pay it off in a satisfying emotional way that feels life affirming. I can't really stress how games like these have probably saved me from wanting to end my own life, they give me a purpose nothing else does.


That's certainly the case with persona, which applies fantasy RPG tropes and mechanics to a real setting in order to highlight the little things in life that all contribute to the larger picture. Not just the social links and the literal plot, but the small things like how choosing what to do after school gives you a stat upgrade that benefits long term. As such you look forward to every day in persona even if the routine is repetitive, because every action feels like it matters, and that no part of life is really wasted. Its gameplay mechanics incentivise se you to live out a realistic healthy lifestyle without forcing you to live it. You can still beat the game if you only ever do dungeons, for example. I think that's a beautiful thing.

I love Danganronpa because of its impeccable structure, premise, and aesthetic. I literally cannot think of a more perfect premise for a story aiming to maximise on the sheer entertainment value a story is capable of offering. The premise is endlessly repeatable and endlessly interesting and it sparks so much of the imagination. I generally think Danganronpa does a good job exploring the possibilies, short of providing multipule endings and combinations of murders and deaths per chapter depending on player choice, as is DR only offers a linear story in each installment. Much like phoenix Wright, the work is only improved by being a game as it forces you to be thinking critically at all times rather than passively watching an onscreen detective watch the case. I genuinely think video games are an inherently superior medium to present mystery fiction in, and that there is basically no reason to make them any other way.

DR surpasses even those merits via its metafictional themes and characters that meditate on the purpose of storytelling and how best to write them. While all the games have this theme, DRV3 ends the series in a huge blowout ending that covers topics from consumer passivity to fan culture to writers burnout and the ever present coporatisation of art, and how that twists genuine messages into token, hypocritcal platitudes that say and mean nothing.

There's more to say about DR, but the general point is that it's there on my list to represent not only visual novels and mystery games, but games that get better the more I think about every element of them. Also it provided me with Tsumugi Shirogane, one of my favourite characters ever.

Dark Souls is there for the atmospheric reasons described above, but also because it provides the emotional catharsis I'd get out of a narrative and express it in gameplay terms instead. It's not so much that dark souls is difficult, but rather that it's difficulty is so perfectly tuned so as to hit that perfect balance of fairness and unfairness. Fair enough that you don't give up, but unfair enough that it always feels like you just barely beat the odds, leaving you short of breath. In short, Soulsborne is everything I look for in an action game.

Undertale is there for the sheer perfection expressed in every facet of the work that all contribute to one of the most cathartic and important messages ever produced by the medium. If I were to put it in the most pretentious way possible, Undertale is an excellent examination of 'The Gamer Condition'. Even just watching the final boss fight or listening to the song that plays can cause me to burst into tears. Undertale is on the list to capture that rare passion project of a game that comes out of nowhere and sticks with you forever.

Fire Emblem is where things get much less emotional and more casual. I just like its brand of turn based tactics, and I really like the Tellius games as narratives even if they don't make me cry or anything. Sometimes I just casually like games of other genres besides JRPGs or action games, and that's okay. Not every game has to be the best game I've ever played, and it would be exhausting to play nothing but masterpieces anyway.

Nier Automata and Xenoblade Chronicles are masterpieces in my opinion, but not so much different that I'd be willing to go in depth now, there's only 5 spots after all and this post is long enough.

[Stove]

Since Al went in so much detail I don't see any harm in explaining each one individually instead of generalizing them.

Super Mario Sunshine might be a bit of a bias for me over something like, say, Odyssey, since both have complex movement. Indeed, Odyssey's movement is a joy to use and I appreciate it a lot, and it's overall probably the better game. However, Odyssey's movement may be complex, but I don't find it rewarding in the same way I find Sunshine's. Odyssey's movement is incredibly well crafted in a way that someone like myself would start to learn and master it through one playthrough, and, while there are small optimizations that one could make to make this movement better, it's not very hard to get near its peak. This makes Odyssey feel somewhat hollow for me, now; it was extremely fun at first, but it doesn't give me quite the feeling I'm after. Sunshine, on the other hand, encapsulates this perfectly. The sheer amount of momentum based tricks this game has allows movement to feel more deliberate and weighty as opposed to a game like Odyssey which essentially just lets the player have all the vertical movement options in the world and the game's advanced movement is just...slightly faster ways of doing the same things you were already doing. Sunshine's movement has a lot of interesting quirks to it that make it far harder to master (but not in a frustrating way), and I find it far more interesting as a result.

It's also horribly broken and I adore that.

Next, Super Smash Bros. In particular, Ultimate, but Melee applies too. These games are a joy to move in and have a large variety of tools at your disposal, allowing for a lot of freedom from neutral to combos and everything else. They're great games to compete with others in and are a blast...though I find the poor online netcode downplays this a bit online.

Next, Breath of the Wild. Versatile mechanics abound here; there are tons of ways to take on challenges, and that freedom is one of the most important things that excites me in a long single player game such as this. In addition, and this is something I know everyone's aware of at this point, I take great joy in breaking the game's many shrines and just generally doing things in ways that weren't intended. They're clearly made more open for this purpose, but they're still difficult enough to break that I find the concept of breaking them enthralling, and I get to do this many, many times over the course of this game.

Fourth, Sonic Adventure 2. While this game's movement is all kinds of satisfying (even the mech sections are satisfying with enough practice; they're much more weighty but they can still carry a feeling of speed and are very fun as a result), this one's definitely just on here because it's rife with fun glitches to abuse. Nearly every stage has something to abuse that's relevant in at least one of their missions, and it's a joy to use them to their fullest.

Lastly, Dragon Ball FighterZ. This one lacks the glitchiness that the other four games have, really; this game is rock solid through and through. Its movement is beautiful in a way that no other fighter is; even heavy characters feel extremely fast in this engine, and air movement is so free, yet things such as airdashes are so incredibly weighty that they feel like I feel like an airdash should feel like in all fighters; a quick burst of momentum that keeps the user close to the ground. Everything just feels natural, and the game's mechanics are wonderful in a way that no other fighter's mechanics are. Combos feel impactful, but not too incredibly damaging like a game like cross tag or marvel, and almost every game-specific mechanic is well implemented.

It's also absolutely gorgeous and it scratches my DBZ nostalgia itch in all the right ways.

[yuurei]

Ultimate Marvel VS Capcom 3.

Dark Souls 2.

Majora's Mask.

Gotcha Force.

Dunno, WoW maybe?

I like bright and colorful things that have depth behind them and lots of stuff to keep track of.

[njayhuang]

In no particular order:

1. Gotcha Force
2. Binding of Isaac
3. Undertale
4. Guacamelee
5. Mega Man X

Explanation:
- Presentation-wise, I like colorful artstyles with weird or unique settings/designs
- Gameplay-wise, I like 2d platformers or action games with simpler controls. For turn-offs: turn-based RPG combat tends to be a little too simple and uninteresting for my taste
- Although I do appreciate interesting/deep plots over stereotypical ones, I think I would rate a standard plot with self-aware humor and witty dialogue a little higher than a serious plot with intriguing twists and thought-provoking themes
- Good music is a plus

1. Gotcha Force - The story may not be that deep or compelling, but all that aside, there's something about the presentation and designs that just clicks with me. The bright colors, cartoony look, and the wide variety of character designs from cowboy gunslingers to dragons to blood-sucking knights to transformers to futuristic time travel birdpolice etc. I could almost include Overwatch and Skullgirls for that same reason, but my tastes lean towards the simpler action of Gotcha Force over the more precise and technically demanding gameplay of FPS's and fighting games.

Call me a filthy casual, because I guess I am.

2. Binding of Isaac - I've got well over a thousand hours on Isaac across all the different versions and I've actually thought a lot before about why I like it so much. The controls are simple to learn (WASD to move, arrow keys to shoot) but the game has a lot of depth and is difficult to master. The original soundtrack by Danny B is just this perfect balance of melodic and dark/creepy without being overbearingly "horror creepy".

A big draw is also the way it tackles serious and morbid themes in an ambiguous way while being wrapped in this cartoony artstyle, and the way it themes items/enemies as a result of its household/religious/occult/body horror setting where attacks are mainly tears or blood. E.g. Where other games might increase your attack speed by finding a lighter sword or picking up a faster shooting gun, Isaac finds the rotting body of his dog or a family photo with his absentee father torn out, which makes him cry more. Instead of the "giant, slow, but powerful weapon" being a 2-hand broadsword or an axe or something, Isaac gets a cyclopian mutation that leaves him with one giant eye. And so on.

I know that just putting a different skin on an item doesn't do anything to change the gameplay in any way, but thematically it works for me. Finding a bottle of unmarked pills is way more interesting to me than finding an unidentified magic scroll in traditional roguelikes, even though they're both just different skins for "the mystery item with a random effect that could help you or hurt you".

3. Undertale - What more needs to be said about Undertale that everyone on the internet hasn't already said? Undertale manages to balance goofy/witty meta-humor and dialogue with serious plot elements and themes. The soundtrack is really great as well, and I'm not just talking about Meme-alovania. The way the leitmotifs sneak into songs throughout the soundtrack and the different variations on themes really ties everything together in a satisfying way, whether you notice it conciously or subconciously. The gameplay of course is a unique mix of RPG elements with bullet hell, and it keeps things fresh by mixing up its gameplay mechanics, like Papyrus' BLUE attack, the rhythm game-y Undyne fights, etc.

4. Guacamelee - Guacamelee has a really striking and colorful Day of the Dead-inspired presentation that's really appealing to look at. Setting wise, I love the Mexican culture interpretations of standard video game elements e.g. instead of bats and skeletons as your standard cannon fodder enemies, you have bug-eyed flying chupacabras and ranchero skeletons in colorful ponchos and sombreros. The game also has that goofy sense of humor and its fair share of references, and the combat is a platformer beat em up where you can basically cancel everything into a special move or throw. It may not be deep or technical, but it has a really satisfying make-your-own-combo feel similar to Smash Bros, but much more forgiving on the player. The soundtrack is nice too, and having 2 slightly different versions of each song for living/dead world is a neat touch.

5. Mega Man X - amazing soundtrack and simple but super fluid controls. Mega Man X is like my comfort zone for 2d platform shooter in terms of movement and controls.


And honorable mentions, because why not

SPOILER: Click to show

1. Overwatch and Skullgirls - like I already mentioned in the Gotcha Force section, I really like the overall presentation and the interesting variety of character designs that both of these games have. They're some of the few games that made me branch out into genres of games that I'm not super into or familiar with.

2. Super Mario RPG and Super Star Saga (and probably the other Mario RPGs/Paper Mario too but I haven't played them). I'm repeating myself a lot here, but yeah I love the colors, weird settings, and overall presentation of the games. Mario music is always on-point, and of course the goofy dialogue and sense of humor makes the Mario RPGs just that much more amazing. Combat-wise though... it's okay. Timing your button presses on attack and defense does make battles slightly more interactive than traditional RPG combat, but I'm still not feeling it completely.

3. But enough of me ragging on RPGs. Radiant Historia is an RPG that has good music, a serious complex plot, and time travel mechanics that I really enjoyed, but where I think Radiant Historia really shines is its combat system: youtu.be/w5IXodRtO_s?t=26

I love that they've added some more depth of strategy on top of the traditional RPG combat system. Being able to see the upcoming turn order, the risk-reward system of deferring your turns so your characters can combo their actions together, and the push/pull mechanics on the field grid... it all comes together to make combat really engaging. I usually enjoy RPGs that don't utilize turn-based combat (like Undertale and TWEWY) or I enjoy RPGs for reasons unrelated to combat (like Final Fantasy 6 and Chrono Trigger), but Radiant Historia is an example of turn-based RPG combat that I actually like.

4. The World Ends With You. Maybe it's recency bias because I started playing it again, but I was reminded that this game really does have many elements that I like. A cool artstyle, distinct urban hip hop setting, good music, and an... interesting and unique action combat system that I don't think I've ever seen in any other game.

[Admin]

Mar 17, 2019 22:18:00 GMT Stove said:

How about the 500 times you’ve played Xenoblade Chronicles?

I can't believe they haven't released Xenoblade X on the Switch yet!


- Admin

[Carigun]

I think since the start of the year only games I have played is Diablo 3, Borderlands 3, Forza Horizon 4 and Assassins Creed Odyssey. Can't remeber when I beaten Outer Worlds. I doubt I should be counting the game as part of the collage course that I have finished, game is still being worked on, but just needs a few tweaks and menus.

[cjcybertsuyoshi]

Here's mine lol

1. Need For Speed
2. DDR
3. GMod
4. Puyo Puyo
5. Marvel VS Capcom

I guess you can say that I like games that are really fast paced, games that have really cool character designs, games that let you express yourself and/or do whatever you want (and that includes modding the absolute hell out of it), and games with really cool soundtracks

[cjcybertsuyoshi]

also I was gonna include DMC in this but narrowing it down to 5 games was kinda hard lol