My Top 10 Video Games of All-Time

Here's a list I've never done before, probably because it's too hard for me to pick just 10 or even remember 10 to be honest. I used to remember every game I played, but now, in my old age, not so much. I barely remember what happened in Dead Space 2 and I beat that like 5 months ago. Maybe because it's didn't have that much of an effect on me. Whatever the reason is, I've come up with ten video games that I love, games that made me a better gamer, and games that were just awesome to play. If you've just joined my blogging exploits, you should know my top three already, but now you'll know the seven that are behind them. Like I said on my Twitter, be prepared for Zelda, Final Fantasy, and of course, PERSONA!

10. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Ah, the first game I popped into my Nintendo 64 back on Christmas Day in 98. Good times. Can't believe that was almost 13 years ago. I remember playing this and not having any clue what to. Looking back at this game, it's easily the best video game ever made. Without this, I wonder where 3D action adventure games would be today? Everything about this game is fantastic. From the different environments to the epic boss fights, this game had it all. The time traveling storyline was a nice addition as well. I recently played this game again, just the first dungeon, and I'm sorry, it hasn't really aged well. Twilight Princess is the new OoT, but you can't deny that without this game, we wouldn't be able to enjoy some of the top games of today. This game also made me a lifelong Zelda fan and I blame my obsession with the series on this game solely.

9. Shenmue - This game is on the list simply because it was something different. When I played it, I had already played most of the top RPGs on PS1 and played both Zeldas on 64, so a game where I was walking around, talking to people about clues to who a person was, was refreshing for me. It wasn't the combat that made fall in love with the game either. It was just the fact of something different. I can't forget about the QTEs, which we would see in many popular video games to come. Unfortunately, the series never received it's deserved 3rd game, but I still have hope for it. A next gen Shenmue would make my dreams come true, but anyway, I love Shenmue because of the epic tale of revenge, the adventure aspect that was different, and the awesome battle/QTE sequences. If you haven't played the this game, I highly recommend giving it a try. You won't regret it.

8. Baten Kaitos - Hey, it's the first turn based RPG on the list! And it certainly won't be the last. So, why is a strange game like Baten Kaitos on my top 10 list? Well, like Shenmue, it was different. Gamecube was horrible for RPGs, but we did get a few gems like this, Tales of Symphonia, and Paper Mario 2. So when a hardcore RPG loving Fatman hears that a new RPG was coming out for the GameCube, I had to get it. I even overlooked the fact that it had a card based battle system. I definitely made the right decision. The game blew me away and past EVERY expectation I had. Out of all the games I got for Christmas that year, I played this the most. Now, there were some faults in the game, don't get me wrong. The voice acting was SUPER TERRIBLE. It was so terrible that it made me laugh, only making the game better for me. The only other problem I had was that the game was sometimes too difficult. I remember getting into the first 3-on-3 battle (I don't want to name names as someone MAY be still playing this game) and that if you saved nearby, you would be stuck in the dungeon until you beat said three bosses. Doesn't sound much of a problem, but you could only level up from certain save spots and that save spot wasn't present in the dungeon of course. It was a hard battle too and it didn't help that you have to fight these 3 TWO MORE TIMES and the next time it's BACK-TO-BACK. Besides the hard boss battles and terrible voice acting, the game was awesome. The storyline had a lot of twists and turns, the game was STUNNING to look at, the music was fantastic, and battle became a lot of fun once you got use to them. This is definitely a nice little gem that you should pick up. Also, it's a LONG LONG adventure. Worth the 50 bucks my mom paid for it.

7. Final Fantasy Tactics - FFT wasn't my first trip into the crazy world of strategy role playing games, but it's definitely the best one I played. Shining Force will ALWAYS have a place in my gaming heart for introducing me to this genre and both games on Genesis we fantastic, but Tactics just took the formula and made it better. The story in the game is still incomprehensible even after playing it as an adult. I'm not a fan of government corruption in RPGs which is probably why I'm not a big fan of Final Fantasy XII. Anyway, that wasn't the reason I fell in love with FFT. It was the gameplay. Shocker! What this game did better than Shining Force was the class system. I know SF had different classes for each character, but I couldn't make the hero a monk if I wanted to. FFT took the job class system of many FF games before it and used it in a SRPG fashion. All the different job classes were actually too overwhelming for me when I was younger and I didn't understand how to get different ones. I didn't realize that they tell you in the game HOW to get different classes, but anyway, the job class system was awesome and it made every different file I played unique. I also loved the music in the game. Antipyretic, Trisection, and Night Theme are some of my favorites. The addition of Cloud and eventually Balthier was cool. I always like when games do crossovers like that. Anyway, FFT will go down as my favorite SPRG of all time for its gameplay, its job class system, and its fantastic music. I'm not a big fans of ANY of the sequels but the original is where its at.

6. Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne - The first game I ever played in the SMT series. I'm going to be honest, I bought this game because it had Dante in it. I'm a turn based RPG lover, but seeing that Dante was in a RPG made me end up buying the game. It was a great decision on my part. When I first played the game, I honestly didn't know what I was staring at. It was so different than these traditional RPGs. It didn't have the traditional storyline, color, or story of say, the Final Fantasy series and that's why I loved it. Getting further and further in the same made me realize how hard this game was. It wasn't just the bosses like in Baten Kaitos but the WHOLE game was hard. I remember dying in normal battles many times. And don't get me started on bosses like Matador, Dante, and Lucifer. So, why like SMT: Nocturne? Like I said, it wasn't like other RPGs and for me, different is good. It had a great story that had 6 different endings, depending on your actions. It had some fantastic music in it. The battle/boss theme, the Dante theme, and many others were stuck in my head when I first played this. The demon negotiating and fusing was something different that I never experienced in a RPG. I remember just doing trial and error until I got something really powerful. And of course, the battle were awesome. It was traditional turn based RPG gameplay at its best. I loved the press turn system as well. Basically, if you hit an enemies weakness, you would get an extra turn, but if you hit the enemy with something it was strong against, you would lose all your turns. It's much more in depth and interesting than I'm making it sound, trust me. Nocturne is a classic on PS2. It's also pretty hard to find as well. If you got the money and a PS2, I strongly recommend playing this game. It's difficult, long, and a very very dark experience, but it's a fantastic post apocalyptic RPG that is different than other cookie cutter RPGs.

5. Final Fantasy IV - The 1st turn based Final Fantasy on the list. And I'm going to be honest with everyone, this will be the only one. So, why is this one on the list and not 6-8 or 10? In my opinion, Final Fantasy IV is just a more classic experience than the ones that followed it. Everything about it is classic. The story is the old and used boy doesn't know that he has to save the world but does it anyway, but there are a lot of interesting characters in the story to make it pretty good. The gameplay is nothing different from the first three FF games and there isn't a job system in the game, which I absolutely love. I know I praised the job system in FFT, but in turn based RPGs, I like just leveling up and getting new skills. I like very linear level systems in RPGs, call me crazy. Anyway, this game was fun, it wasn't too difficult, and I always felt like I knew where to go. My biggest gripe with the older FF was that they didn't have a sense of direction. I remember getting FF3 for DS and just walking around, talking to everybody, hoping someone would help me find where I was going. Not in FF4. There was a much bigger story than in past FF and that's probably the main reason this one is on my list more so than FF 6-10. It was the first of its kind and it wasn't confusing as 7, 8, or 10 was. No clones, someone who's already dead, or people who happened to live at the same orphanage and not remember it here. Just classic storyline, gameplay, and fun. Gotta love FF4.

4. Persona 4 - My favorite game from 2008, my favorite PS2 game, and my favorite game of the SMT series. Why though? Is it the amazing murder mystery story? The twists and turns in the story? The fantastic characters and the developments of said characters? The perfected turn based gameplay? The catchy tunes? Well, obviously, it's a combination of all these things. The story in the game is the best in the Persona series. The twists it takes are stunning and I love the real ending of the game. It was much better than Persona 3's depressing one. The characters feel real and are never annoying. Usually, there's always one playable character that's always a pain in the butt but not in this game. Everyone is loveable, from the hilarious Yosuke, to the sexually confused Kanji, to the lovable mascot turned human Teddy, there are some many interesting characters in this game. It's hard to pick just one. I swear, I was humming many of the songs in the game while I was in school. They are all so catchy but my favorite is The Almighty which is played when you face one of the last bosses in the game. The social links from 3 return but the best thing about social links is that when you get a party member's Social Link all the way up, their Personas evolve so it's like I control the whole development of my characters. I also like that you can become just friends with the girls in the game when you hit max OR you can do what I'm sure everyone did and date them all! The meat of Persona 4 is the gameplay and it's basically P3 all over again, but you can now control your party members. I think this makes the game a little easier, but the game is still pretty hard. Hell, ALL of the SMT games are, but it's never impossible. Persona 4 is a truly unforgettable experience. I know this wasn't the last PS2 game released, but it's definitely the swan song of the system. If you like RPGs, you'd be crazy to not pick this up. It's the last best JRPG to come out and that's saying something.

3. Breath of Fire 3 - Down to the top 3. Breath of Fire III is probably the first turn based RPG I really got into and that's why it's #3. I mean, I played all the Phantasy Stars on Genesis, but like I said, I NEVER EVER beat them. BOF3 though is a game I beat many times. The story is cliche but what JRPG from the 90s isn't? The characters are awesome. You really get a wide variety of different party members and there is a lot of variety with your party because of it. The gameplay is classic turn based combat. I like the fact you can learn moves from enemies. I remember facing those little nut troopers for hours trying to learn double strike from them. The battles were always fun and never difficult. I never felt like I would lose in this game, which I think is a bad thing, but whatever. The music in the game was crazy awesome. I'm not a fan of jazz but if more games included it like BOF3 did, then I would. Unfortunately, I don't own Breath of Fire 3 like I do my other top 10 ten, so my memories of the game are diminishing, but I do remember this being a fantastic game. The reason its in my top 3 is because it introduced me to the world of turn based RPG. Without this, there is no way I would have every played Persona 4, which changed my life forever.

2. Alundra - Alundra, until I played Nocturne, was the DARKEST game I ever played. When I first played it when I was 8, so imagine the kind of effect it had on me at that age. Why is this game #2? Why not? The story was awesome. It was definitely different. Going into peoples dreams? Sign me up! This game also messed my sleeping up because it scared me! Could dying in your dreams mean you die in real life? That's all I thought about when I laid down at night and it didn't help me sleep. I hope Catherine doesn't do that to me. Anyway, the gameplay can be described as a much more difficult Zelda. That's not necessarily a bad thing though because I think the difficulty makes it BETTER than Zelda. I never had a puzzle in Zelda stump me but Alundra had MANY puzzles that kept me at them for hours. Ice sliding puzzles, do I need to say more? I wasted HOURS pushing ice columns on icy surfaces. Anyway, the music was spot on for whatever situation you were in and did I mention that this game WAS DARK? You wash up in this village that's thriving with life, but like 15-30 hours into the game, most of the whole town is DEAD. They're dead from murders, accidents, and other crazy things happening in the village and Alundra is all to blame. It kills me to play through the game because I know a lot of people are going to die because of my actions. I think in the beginning there are 8-10 empty graves in the game. By the time you get prepared to go to the last dungeon, it's completely filled up. It made me filled depressed because no matter what I did, these people were going to die and I freaking loved it. This was the first time I felt emotion from a video game and that's why it's #2. Alundra taught me how to care in a video game and I love it because of that. It was also a fantastic game, though it borrowed heavily from Zelda, but it was still its own game. Alundra is available in the Playstation Store for 6 bucks. That's AN ABSOLUTE STEAL. If you have a PS3, but it IMMEDIATELY. You won't regret you're decision.

1. Castlevania Symphony of the Night - My favorite video game ever made. I've already touched bases on this game last week but I never get tired of talking about it! I played this game since it first came out and I haven't stopped. I play it yearly and beat it yearly and this is the ONLY game I can say that for. Why is it my #1 game of all time though? Because I keep coming back to it. I come back for the awesome music, many of the songs I have on my Mp3 player. I come back for the addictive Metroidvania gameplay. I come back for the beautiful graphics, which hold up almost 15 years later. I come back because THIS GAME IS AWESOME! Like I said, I play it yearly but you would think I would have it mastered right? Wrong! When I just beat it three weeks ago (in 3 hours and a half hours thank you very much) I found a weapon I didn't even know EXISTED. How can I play a game like a billion times, get 200.6% in it, and STILL not find this super awesome weapon? Because the game is AWESOME, that's why! SOTN is like a drug and I keep coming back to get a hit and I love it every time. I probably like the game so much because it has RPG elements. I guarantee if Metroid had level ups, I would be a HUGE Metroid fan. So, Castlevania is my favorite game of all time for a lot of reasons. It's addictive gameplay, its fantastic music, its beautiful environments, the surprises that I keep experiencing, and its pure fun. I have the most fun just playing this game. Castlevania SOTN is my favorite game of all time.

So there it is. What have we learned here today? I love RPGs, I have no life, and that I sure can type a lot. Thanks for reading and come on back on Sunday for my Money in the Bank reaction post! Let's Go Rhodes, Borune, and Punk!