1. Shadow of the Colossus
It has an incredible atmosphere, challenging game play and deep pathos. It's hard to capture a mood with a game and this game captures it perfectly.
2. Silent Hill
I played this game in Japan while healing from a broken clavicle. The way it uses sirens and background noise to evoke dread in the player is unmatched. The game set a tone and kept it throughout. It was like diving in into my favorite horror stories. It was the first game that felt truly cinematic and the first that scared the shiatsu out of me.
3. Legend of Zelda
Without complication this game rewarded exploration. By eschewing experience points it created a simple mechanic of hearts that was easy to understand and powerful. I still remember burning a tree and finding the Level 8th dungeon, before my neighbor did.
4. Castlevania
The challenge of this game was incredible! The music was pulse-accelerating and you had to be precise, alert and on point. Its delay on the whip was fantastic because it rewarded intelligent playing not just mashing the controller. Not only that, but the monsters and the art were fantastic for the time.
5. Warcraft 2
This game introduced me to the cruel God that shines the sun on your face at 6:00am after spending all night gaming. The real-time strategy and the team-dynamics when you played 3 on 3 was awesome. It was the first networked game I played and one worth staying up all night to do so.
6. Team Fortress 2
This game combines cooperativeness and competition in a fast-paced fun multiplayer game that values player's individual styles of play. It's both collaborative and competitive and just plain awesome.
7. Dungeons and Dragons
I know this isn't a video game but I have to put it here because it's the first mayor cooperative game I ever played. All other games were competitive. There was always a winner and a sore looser, but not in D&D where the whole party could win, and it required teamwork. And when that team-work dynamic was working well was when the game was most effective.
8. Final Fantasy VII
This is the first game that had the balls to make you fall in love with a character and then kill it. It really made you invested in the story and the characters. The emotional hit was massive but mature, the game expected you to play like an adult. Its complex story went beyond merely good vs. evil and had compassionate enemies too. I still miss Aerith.
9. Myst
A huge hit when it came out, this game had no enemies, just a fully immersive world, great audio that pulled you in and for the time great graphics. It was the first game I played where you couldn't be killed. It truly transported you to different worlds and made you feel like you inhabited them with amazing use of audio and (at the time) beautifully rendered graphics.
ED: I just added a video tribute to Myst that's beautiful and I realized something: Myst is one of the origins of 'steam punk.' For that in itself it belongs in a top ten list.
ED: I just added a video tribute to Myst that's beautiful and I realized something: Myst is one of the origins of 'steam punk.' For that in itself it belongs in a top ten list.
10. (Insert game here)
I don't have a 10th one yet.... comments are open for suggestions though. What do you think? Civilization? Poker? Strip-poker! If I didn't get your favorite put it below. Maybe I haven't played it yet.
However, the hardest
game to play is real life. And that game for sheer enjoyment should be in the
top ten games of all time.
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