I want the old N4G back.
CRank: 5Score: 56380

My top 15 games of the generation. (5-2)

Here are the games listed from past entries.
15. Tomb Raider
14. Xenoblade Chronicles
13. Dead Space 2
12. Batman: Arkham City
11. Final Fantasy XIII
10. Deus Ex: Human Revolution
9. Gears of War 3
8. Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
7. The Last of Us
6. Red Dead Redemption
…and now for my top 5.
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5. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
*2006 Game of the Year*

Technically this game is indeed a 7th generation title even though it was originally developed for the gamecube. Due to a ridiculous amount of delays it was pushed back as a release title for the Wii, with the gamecube version following shortly after. Anyway, I absolutely loved the dark, (time for an overused word) gritty, realistic art design, and the serious tones of this Zelda. Transforming to a Wolf added some interesting gameplay elements that worked great, a solid amount of thought provoking puzzles, fun boss battles, a nice woven story, and followed by a great sidekick that isn’t annoying.
Twilight Princess stands right there alongside of Ocarina of Time and A Link to the Past as one of the greatest Zelda games ever made.

Note: I have played Skyward Sword and I found it to be the worst game in the Series. Awful art direction made colors muddy, character design made Link look like the son of Michael Jackon, enemy design that made the game look childish, and a forgettable soundtrack. Unlike Midna, Fi was a nuisance and to epitome of the term “Captain Obvious”. Yes Fi, I know that the Forest is completely flooded...
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4. Mass Effect.
*2007 Game of the Year*

Although the game hasn't aged well when it comes to the technical side of things (glitches, late textures, and a buggy cover system) it’s still one of the best games I’ve played. It might not be as polished at the next 2 games but I find it to be the best in the series. The RPG elements were perfect giving you lots of freedom with the amount of customization that’s not found in the other games. The soundtrack was pure bliss, the story was by far above ME2 and 3, and a great deal of actual exploring (even if they used recycled parts), RIP Mako.

Note: Mass Effect 2 was pure trash. As mentioned above, EA destroyed this game by stripping out everything that made ME1 great. Dumbed down RPG elements made room for more action, and they took out planet exploration in favor for planet probing....great decisions. Mass Effect 3 was an improvement as I did enjoy it, but that ending! What a cluster you-know-what. Once EA got their grubby hands on the series it never felt the same…go figure.
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3. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.

Jaw dropping visuals, challenging and fun gameplay, witty dialog worth a few chuckles, and just hectic set pieces really make Uncharted 2 stand out. There is a nice pace between killing things; platforming, exploring and puzzle solving that gave the game great balance making repetition non-existent. It’s a pure blast to play and has aged extremely well as it’s still one of the better looking games from this generation. The leap from Uncharted 1 to2 is astonishing. It nearly had the 2009 game of the year award but was stripped by this next game…

Note: Of course I have played Uncharted 3, but to me, it was a big step back. It started off well throwing in some puzzles and all the other things that made Uncharted special, but about midway through the game it seemed to abandon the treasure hunting theme/expedition and puzzle solving for more action. Also, there was a chapter dedicated to walking, and, the final “boss” can be beaten by standing still…what more can I say?
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2. Demon’s Souls.
*2009 Game of the Year*

One of the hardest games ever concocted in a generation known for coddling the player, Demon’s Souls was a breath of fresh air. It’s med-evil themed, RPG gameplay, with a brilliant multiplayer component makes DeS a truly unique experience. Blood stains on the floor breeding caution, messages left behind to warn you of a trap (or that “sticky white stuff” message hilariously put in front of a female NPC), the ability to invade someone else’s game, or team up with 2 other players and assist the host. It’s one of the few games that I actually WANTED to obtain all the trophies to because it was just that pleasing, and even after achieving that, I recently went back to experience it all again with a new crowd while it was free on PSN. The replay value is insanely high.

It might not be the prettiest game, it might not have a great story, it might have some problems with targeting, and the framerate drops can be annoying but it did little to affect the pure enjoyment I received. The gameplay and challenge is the driving force behind this work of art and trumps all of its imperfections.

Note: I really enjoyed Dark Souls as well, but there were some tweeks to the gameplay that I didn't care for, and the MP didn't feel as 'tight'. The open world was great but it might have affected the MP.
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There's one thing that separates my top 5 from the rest of the game I've played, and it's the fact that I've beaten these games more than once, twice, hell, even three or more times. They are still enjoyable after all these years and that makes them a step above the rest.

Next up is obviously the last game on the list, my favorite game from generation 7.

Thanks for reading.

imtheman20133785d ago (Edited 3785d ago )

Nice blog!

Demon's Souls is such a great game. I remember renting it out of curiosity when it first released. I got to that first boss fight and died almost immediately... I wondered if I would ever be able to defeat him, then quickly realized that death was a core mechanic within the game. Demon's Souls really made me change my perspective on how I think about and play video games.

Since then, I play almost every video game on its' hardest difficulty. Because, after playing the Souls series, nothing really feels too tough. :)

newflesh3785d ago (Edited 3785d ago )

I agree about Mass Effect 2 being trash compared to the 1st. The original was a true rpg. About your first place I wonder what it'll be. For me the best game of last gen was The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

Number-Nine3782d ago

This is not the games fault but I could not play it for more than 10 minutes. The faulty hardware of the 360 back then made it impossible to progress because it froze every chance it got.

I was never able to get back into it.

newflesh3782d ago

Yeah, that was one of the few multi-platform games that were better on PS3. But I thought it was still playable on Xbox

Ilovetheps53785d ago

Oh how much I disagree with you on Zelda. I'm a huge Zelda fan and found Skyward Sword to be fantastic. I thought that the graphics in TP looked awful. It just looked washed out to me. I thought the controls were horrible with the waggling of the wiimote. I didn't find the wolf to be fun and just thought it was one of the worst in the series.

Skyward Sword is my third favorite in the series. I thought that the art style was fantastic. I prefer games with a really nice art style and that game had a fantastic one. The controls were just tons of fun. You actually had to be precise. My main issue with the game is that you had to resync the controller rather frequently. But Twilight Princess just didn't do it for me even though I beat it three or four times.

nategrigs3784d ago

The thing that amazes me most about this list is how few of the games I have played. I'm not much of an RPG guy, haven't yet played tomb raider, played the first two batmans but not origins....maybe I should think about adding a few games to my backlog.

I would have included portal 2, GTAV, mario galaxy/3d world, assassins creed 2, and bioshock in my top 15

jb2273784d ago (Edited 3784d ago )

same here, the rpg's are far too time consuming for me and I typically tend to lose interest after a couple hours of the same world w/o new mechanics and experiences to add variety...I like when games incorporate small aspects of the genre, but I can't get far into it in its more pure form. Sounds like you and I would have a pretty similar list...I'd also find a way to add Rayman to the ones you mentioned...also, Arkham Origins is well worth waiting for a goty edition, the amount of bugs at release coupled w/ the totally forgettable story and feel of the game (outside of really 1 or 2 short segments) made it by far the most lackluster of the series for me personally...can't wait to see what Rocksteady does next, hopefully they take the franchise back, but if their next entry is their last, WB Montreal could do a decent job at carrying the torch if they have proper time to dev & qa, and if they get Dini back! His importance to the series cannot be understated, and Origins was a good measure of how much his scripts add to the magic of the Arkham universe. Can't wait to see the inevitable leap in quality w/ the next generation, most of my favorite games and genres can only benefit from better processing and graphics coupled w/ the trend of proper mocap and involved and nuanced storytelling and world building.

CrashJones3782d ago

As Dark Souls 2 is now my most anticipated title, having not played Tomb Raider on PS3... I think I will have to get it for PS4... it is the only title I will be getting(depending on where I'm at with the Soul series) before March 11th 2014...Dark Souls 2...oh yeah!!!

I laugh at myself(and feel free to laugh at me too if you wish), that after getting a PS4 & XONE, I found Dark Souls and now a PS3 title is my most anticipated... don;t get me wrong...there are a lot of titles coming in March and onward for the "next gen".

CrashJones3782d ago (Edited 3782d ago )

I picked up Demon's Souls last night after a week at Dark Souls. I will go back to Dark Souls, but I wanted to do them in order.

Dark Souls 2 is now my most anticipated title, on ANY system... and I have a PS4, XONE.

I have a lot of Souls to capture and spend before March 11th!!!

nategrigs3782d ago

I hear a ton of great things about the souls games, but I played one(free on ps+) for an hour or two, and just couldn't get into it. Felt clunky and needlessly difficult. Maybe I'll give it another try at some point.

newflesh3782d ago

It's definitely not for everyone. I too tried to play Demon's souls and found that it had super hardcore difficulty for me, I just couldn't enjoy it. But at the same time for others this is the "thing" about that game

Show all comments (16)
170°

Fallout 4's 'next gen' update is over 14 gigs, breaks modded saves, & doesn't change much at all

We were expecting problems with mod support, but there are a lot of other issues.

isarai7h ago

Wow what the actual hell 🤣🤣🤣

just_looken7h ago

This is why you get the GOG version on gog you can select the version of the game to download.

On pc fallout 4 fallout new vegas and skyrim are all broken on steam because they all got the same "next gen" update.

Skyrim dec 2023
https://www.pcgamer.com/sky...

Can not find new vegas but anyone that modded it knows the script extender there was also broken

Valkyrye5h ago

Not accidental, they want modders to stop modding their older games to force them to mod Shitfield.

just_looken4h ago

There doing the same on starfield with a mods store and blocking mods

There goal is like blizzard and what they did with fallout 76 you make mods they can sell and you become a slave.

On skyrim they have "trusted" mod devs now basically a badge that lets your mod on the store you get a crumb of the sale when someone buys it.

Inverno2h ago

lol to the disagrees, the last Skyrim update broke mods too. They've been trying to kill mods to monetize them in creation club for years, it's not a stretch that they purposely put out patches just to break free mods.

porkChop1h ago

The disagrees are from people who have common sense. They aren't trying to kill mods. Most mods for any game will break with a new update because they rely on files/code that have been changed. This isn't new. Even with Bethesda this would happen way before the creation club. Mod support is literally one of the things that got Bethesda to where they are, and they're one of the only devs that releases comprehensive mod tools for each of their games.

Chocoburger1h ago

Over 14 GBs and doesn't change much at all? What? Taking up that much drive space for a pathetic 'remastering' is shameful.

Par for Bethesda.

Aussiesummer51m ago

It's not a remaster, it's a next gen update.

badz14928m ago

LOL people are actually expecting massive improvements or something? From Bethesda?? the same people who released Skyrim multiple times and the all look like shit? THAT Bethesda? are people for real?

110°

Why Monopolies In Gaming Must Not Be Allowed

As of right now, there are no monopolies in the games industry, and for the sake of the medium as a whole, they never should either.

thorstein6h ago

Shouldn't be allowed in any field.

Inverno2h ago

And yet the biggest tech companies in America are essentially that. They buy up all the small comps only to kill them off and steal what they have, and if they can't buy em they bleed them to death.

jwillj2k41h ago

Eventually they’ll realize the value is with the employee not the company. Buying an IP means nothing if the people who contributed are let go. They’ll get it one day.

MrCrimson45m ago

tech is different because they buy threats and then kill them. Twitter bought Vine and did nothing with it. Despite people seemingly liking it. Could've had tiktok a decade before bytedance. go figure.

Zenzuu1h ago

Monopolies shouldn't be allowed regardless. Not just for gaming.

MrCrimson47m ago

They buy IPs not talent. That's why these buyouts never work and the IPs die. Right now it's too expensive to develop games - but I expect that to shift maybe as AI tools can make it easier. The best games have been indie games for awhile as big developers fuck their ips to death with "games as a service" -

90°

Gears of War Voice Actor Hints At New Game Announcement Coming In June

A voice actor from The Coalition's third-person shooter series, Gears of War, has hinted at a new game announcement coming in June.

Read Full Story >>
twistedvoxel.com
Ra30301h ago

Hopefully Microsoft will go back to the original story line and get away from that woke nonsense from the last Gears game Gears of Woke! But were talking about Microsoft so all the betting money is on more of the same woke nonsense.

Sciurus_vulgaris0m ago

The Locust trilogy concluded with Gears of War 3. I don’t get how Gears 4 and 5 are “woke” .