My favorite puzzle game as of recent times. Timeless tetris gameplay and modes with the synesthesia and music Tetsuya Mizuguchi brings.

The fact that I essentially 100% this game is a testament to how unique this game was to me and how fun everything wrapped around together in a great package. A surprisingly solid and unique JRPG full of charm, great music and gameplay that manages to never get old during the 100 hours I've put into this game. Sad this game didn't get the love it deserved.

My former game of the year after some consideration because while there are genuine flaws and enjoyment to be had, I just mostly ended up enjoying NEO TWEWY way more but nonetheless, the pacing of the story is bad and the characters aren't as interesting as other megaten games but there's so much here I enjoyed so much to the point that I didn't mind the flaws of the narrative as much.

Feels weird adding an expansion to an MMO on this list but the content here rivals most games on this list as it is. A great conclusion to an 11 year arc with fun new jobs with another amazing soundtrack by Soken.

An extremely fast paced first person shooter taking inspirations from Quake and Devil May Cry to some extent to make a gameplay loop that is insanely addictive. Hoping the full game is just as good but would have felt weird not adding this here.

Following the vein of being into puzzle games with insane presentation and aesthetics, this fits the build pretty great and utilizes HD rumble pretty well if you're playing the Switch version. Simple gameplay but oozes that synesthesia that Tetsuya's titles usually brings.

My favorite Yakuza game albeit barely edges it out to Yakuza 7 at the moment. The pacing and how long this game is can put some people off but the amount of things and locations in this game makes this one of the most ambitious RGG games yet.

I might end liking this more over time and depends how Ichiban's story plays out in the future games. RGG going into a completely different direction with turning this game into a modern japanese turn based roleplaying game with some of the best characters in the entire series really makes this an amazing game.

What I think is Suda51's magnum opus, a lot to love in this game. The characters, the artstyle that still holds up well to this day, the gameplay gets a bit repetitive but it's still stylish as any suda game. A weird ass game.

In an era of first person shooters being mostly multiplayer affairs especially in the AAA scene, id manages to make something fast and fun with great music to boot. Along with Ultrakill, gratuitous violence gets the brain stimulated.

What I believe to be peak Metroid action here, the boss fights and controls feel and play like butter. Even though it's not completely open like the older games, Dread still encompasses what it's like to be in a dangerous planet with only your super suit.

Zero Mission is what is considered to be the best of both worlds for the two camps of Metroid fans, the game plays great and the handholding is at an minimum to the point you can ignore it and do it what you want. Despite liking Dread more, I feel like this is probably the quintessential Metroid experience.

A virtual museum exhibit that is based around Radiohead's 2 albums, Kid A and Amnesiac. The visuals are extremely well done along with the multi-layered music from the albums accompanying the whole experience. Definitely experience this if you actually are a fan of their music too.

In my initial interest for playing the Great Ace Attorney Chronicles, I almost ignored the original trilogy completely until a friend told me I should play it to enjoy the former more. I'm glad I did. The characters are lovable and you always love seeing them in another case, the music is great, the turns throughout the game keep you on your feet.

Josef Fares has become famous or infamous the past couple of years but it doesn't stop him from creating unique experiences you don't find often in mainstream gaming. An extremely fun co-op platformer that always changes things up and provides some amazing gameplay sequences where cooperation is king along with the artstyle and levels that give Psychonauts 2 a run for its money. Thank you again kiki for being my wife for this one, it was fun.

A long awaited sequel to the No More Heroes series that ended up being pretty fun despite a lot of people expecting ktp to be important in this one. The gameplay is the best in the series and huge technical problems aside, the swordplay is smooth enough where it matters. Nothing personally oozes out "fucking cool" getting the last hit and then hearing a garbled robotic voice telling you the name of the person you killed with a loud "KILL!"

Another fun entry in the Monster Hunter series, the aesthetic is great and the movement is unrivaled which make fights more active that gets my ADHD brain going.

The SNES remake has pachisi and that game should have its own spin off at this point. Other than that, an amazing JRPG that brought the revolutionary job system. Not much else to say other than this is a solid ass JRPG honestly.

A Fire Emblem game with some outdated maps and simple gameplay I didn't mind but amazing everything else. Really wish they go all out like this for the future of the series and probably has the best final map theme in the series.

I went through some trouble to play the DS version but I can't say I was a huge fan of the gameplay but everything else made up for it. The story and characters are amazing and full of charm, the soundtrack is varied and catchy, does some things different which I thought was cool too. I'd still say play the DS version anyway though.

My first tri-ace game and it did not disappoint. One of the best casts in a JRPG and the gameplay is a hard filter and incredibly obtuse considering I had to fucking plot triangles in a turn based battle system. Think of the story format as an anime and I stand by saying this is literally Cowboy Bebop: The Game. Big thanks to Chandler for this recommendation.

Still one of the most ambitious JRPGs in terms of world building and characters but forever stained with the 2nd disc essentially being a power point. I actually wouldn't mind the 2nd disc if it was cutscenes though.

A visual experience in the form of a rail shooter with amazing music and visuals albeit being short with you being able to beat it at one sitting. You can probably knock this out without leaving your chair.

Probably the most overrated underrated game with how many people sing its praises but don't really play it as often, me included sadly but the campaign was fun as hell and the multiplayer was cool until it got hacked earlier this year. Don't know how the game is now so exercise caution.

The beginning of one of Suda51's most popular franchises with great characters and themes about the fantasy of being a killer. I might be wrong about the themes but that is Suda for you. The best version of Travis is here and it's not even close.

I know what you're thinking and yes I did enjoy Fusion more than Super Metroid. The atmosphere and the whole premise for the setting really sold it for me along with the better controls the Game Boy Advance games brought.

Probably my favorite classic Mega Man game unless I like 11 a lot. The sprites are gorgeous and the gameplay overall is great. Big hitbox and the Wily Capsule hamper this game though a fair bit.

A quirky "third person?" puzzle game with great controls with levels based around a satirical view of japan with an amazing soundtrack with elements of shibuya-kei. Go play this game.

I sadly didn't get the play the launch difficulty this expansion was notorious for but it was still a decent challenge on Ultra-violence. More of Doom Eternal? Hard not to love it.

I get not liking this at launch when REMIND and Critical mode didn't come out but I had the fortunate pleasure of playing this in critical mode and it was really fun. The story really doesn't pick up until the final quarter but that's par for the course for Kingdom Hearts these days. Also gotta mention the game looks amazing in general.

Everyone's favorite game and for good reason. Exploration is unmatched and despite the gameplay being a bit more sluggish than the Game Boy Advance games, the game still holds up incredibly well and looks great.

A cool ninja action/platformer with great sprites and cool ass stages. Shit feels like playing a crazy ninja action movie and it was a dollar when I got it. Big thanks to Ex-SOLDIER for this recommendation.

Not too fond of 3D platformers but the humor and art style of the various levels is great. Didn't expect modern day Double Fine to knock the sequel to this game out of the park but they did.

A game that probably made a lot of childhoods to kids with Xbox 360s. The PC version is pretty solid with good controls, great weapon variety and just a great campaign in general.

Never understood the huge hate with this entry. I can understand the gimmick stages being off putting and Wily Stage 1 being Wily Stage 1 but I think some of the gimmicks work for me, the art in general is nice and the music is amazing here. I've also somewhat grown to like the voice acting, maybe in an ironic way I guess.

What is essentially a sequel to Persona 5 changing up the gameplay to what is a traditional musou. They did an amazing job replicating all the HUD and charm from the entry its based on and introduces one of the coolest characters that whole series ever got and what a surprise, it's an adult and not a high school teenager.

The final addition to this list and a game I didn't expect to like as much as I did. Amazing characters and premise, the turn based gameplay being unique albeit it got boring after a while. The music is overall good but I got my qualms about some of it too. You'll be surprised with what they pulled here. Also considering that the game is fresh in my mind, this might be higher later on.

After playing Drakengard and Nier: Automata, I was ready to give up on Yoko Taro completely as a game creator considering both those games didn't do it for me. The world, narrative, and characters are pretty good here along with the music and the gameplay is pretty fun for the first half. Sadly the way to experience the whole game is wrapped in tedium that made me want to rip my hair out.

A sequel that didn't live up to the original but is honestly still a good game. It has all the makings of a great JRPG just with some weird gameplay quirks, pacing issues and my playthrough just having the worst luck making the gacha system way worse personally than it really should be. The story and music is still really top notch though.

It's Pepsiman.

The second entry of the original trilogy that despite being the weakest so far is still a great Ace Attorney game. Some cases and characters drag on for way too long and the introduction of Psychelocks are a mixed thing for me but hey I actually liked Big Top and Moe.

Another great entry in the Yakuza series that introduces Akiyama and Saejima, really refreshing to play as different people in this game. Despite only really having Kamurocho as the only map, it's the variant with the most depth in the series. Awesome ass ending too.

Despite not being too high on this list, I enjoy the charm of this game a lot. I was get filtered for a bit in the mine cart sections but man, I really love gorillas and monkeys. Gameplay was good too.

Mega Man 4 and 6 are too close in what I consider to be my favorite NES Mega Man that these two might shift any other day. Today though, I prefer 6 over 4. Cool stages, music and rush adapters were a cool addition.

Again, this and 6 can swap places and any time and today I think 4 is the loser of this bout. Nonetheless, it's a still a great mega man with every power being useful and fun to use not to mention the charge shot being pretty good here. Toad Man is easy as hell but the rest of the bosses were decent.

An incredibly iconic game that started one of my favorite genres of video games. Simple in concept and execution but still feel and does not overstays its welcome. The definition of going out on an adventure on your own.

The game that probably slowly got me into visual novels this year. The execution and presentation is top notch and the writing is good. The music feels nostalgic as well as it sounds like some old electronic shit.

A first person dungeon crawler that has a surprisingly amount of depth in the gameplay I didn't expect with an amazing soundtrack I also didn't expect either. I am not big on the art style at all though and getting used to drawing my own maps can be pretty tedious but this game was pretty enjoyable as a chill game to play before bed. Will say that this game is also extremely difficult as boss fights actually felt like grueling challenges but it might also personally be a skill issue.

A melancholic beat em up of sorts based around being a delinquent in Japan. A lot of side activities to do and the pixel art is pretty good here in motion. Big thanks to Zoda for this recommendation.

A pretty fun third person shooter with a pretty great aesthetic. The gameplay itself was fun but it did get boring near the end and the story was pretty weird. Remedy still got it.

A run and gun game based around old 80s action movies. The schlock and dialogue here is pretty fun and the violence is pretty fun. Pretty difficult too but that might be the lag I had doing Steam Remote Play with my friend and again, a personal skill issue. Thanks to Ex-SOLDIER for carrying me through this game.

Kojima's sophomore effort as a director after Metal Gear. A visual novel that makes way too many comparisons to Blade Runner but with his own personal touch to it. The 80's campy voice acting is something I've grown to appreciate in this game as well. Great christmas game too.

A pretty good first person rpg that really doesn't come close to Deus Ex and have as many bugs and glitches as a Bethesda game. Still a good game nonetheless.

A game I've slowly started to dislike after playing it because of the gameplay just being boring after a while. That said, the scenario format is pretty cool and the stories in each of them are pretty interesting with the final one tying things up really well. Really wish there was a cowboy JRPG but I'm sure it exists somewhere.

A huge step up from the Halo 1 remake I played. Just honestly better in every way, the way a sequel should be. The Arbiter is pretty cool.

A pretty fun remake of Yakuza 2 with the obvious stain that it is missing an area. The area isn't too terribly important but they sorted most of the Dragon Engine jank in this game and brought back the Cabaret minigame which is fun but does make me feel this game is more for the 0 fans compared to the fans that liked the original game.

I know people love this game and I get why but I was actually liking the new direction 7 and 8 were going in. A return to NES form with great stages and incredible music. Only weird thing is that they removed slide and charge shot to appeal to the Mega Man 2 fans and I'm not too big on that game personally.

Really boring to play but it has some of Suda's best writing here. Probably more fun with a friend but didn't have that luxury sadly.

Watered down Xenoblade Chronicles but still fun with an incredible soundtrack and cool area. A lot of stuff was removed for this and prospectors literally tanked the framerate so much that I wish it wasn't a thing in a sense.

I played this for like 2 hours and didn't even understand the menus. It's just hard Tetris with a cool ass aesthetic and a cool monkey. That's really it.

One of the few games I managed to one shot in one sitting with a friend of mine. The funniest part was just sending her videos of Dragon Engine being complete jank like a dude spinning in the air like Sonic. That said, a good entry in the franchises and a great way to end Kiryu's story.

Stylish action game that took too much from Resident Evil despite its actual origins as an RE spinoff. The gameplay is fun, the music is good but the puzzles and the RE way of examining everything was getting annoying.

It's probably an extremely weird take to like Shin Megami Tensei over Shin Megami Tensei II which probably improved on a lot of things over the first game and didn't have guns be overpowered but there's just something about the premise and the way the story was executed that really appealed to me. The natural progression of things going bad is rarely seen like this. That said, this game and Shin Megami Tensei II are so close that this take might also change one day.

The most interesting mainline game in terms of themes and story marred by the amount of backtracking I had to do in this game that I almost wanted to quit. Great music, improvements to the gameplay from the first game and guns aren't completely broken here. Also really wish there wasn't a skill point requirement here to beat the game either.

The game is technically an improvement on paper to the first game but I feel like making things complicated isn't always better. Easy to get lost in but this is just a run of the mill JRPG to me and it's still good fun.

A good mega man game but I think it's overloved with how broken metal blades are and the boss design for a specific wily castle being the one of the worst things in gaming that is fortunately not repeated in the rest of the games.

Even though I still technically enjoyed this, a lot of annoying design choices really made this game not as good as it could've been.

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I think it's my least favorite Yakuza game but honestly still has a lot going for it. Gameplay is boring and the orphanage stuff took too long but the setting of Okinawa and the people in it are pretty great. Again this is still a solid Yakuza game.

A downgrade from the first game in every way except the gameplay. Playing as the other characters was also a nice change of pace. A fun romp on its own but not a good Suda game by its own definition.

Cool ass third person shooter that has the charm of the manga. Not much to say here. It was a fun and short game.

A cool collaboration between two puzzle games. Not too big of a fan with the presentation and I was hoping for more Tetris modes but it's still great for what it is.

A tech demo for Kingdom Hearts III that gives more into what happened with Aqua. Extremely short but the gameplay was decent overall.

Cool concept for a puzzle game that a real life friend loves the hell out of. Pretty fun for the few hours I've played but the game never personally clicked for me.

This game is only really worth 10 dollars maximum and it was pretty fun for the 20 hours of it I played. I liked the teamplay and the shooting of this one but it did technically got boring after a while. Didn't even touch the campaign or single player stuff nor have an interest to.

I didn't expect to like this one going in and I almost didn't. I think it sets some stuff up and some of the characters are interesting but I got bored of the gameplay pretty fast and the gameplay/cutscene split is pretty egregrious that I unironically fell asleep during playing this game. An average space JRPG with some cool ideas and I'll get around to playing the rest of the trilogy soon.

The definition of an average Mega Man game in every sense of the word. Felt like a DLC to 9 the whole time.

A portable Kingdom Hearts game with bad enemy design and bad pacing in part to the drop system that I know you can mitigate completely. Flowmotion was the saving grace of this whole game personally.

This is the game I show when I tell people "gameplay is more important than story/characters". The written stuff is great here but goddamn man this shit was boring to play and this is coming from a musou fan of all things. Also wish you didn't have to essentially 100% the game to beat it.

Barely remember playing this one but it's essentially an afk game with good music. Not really my thing.

I'll probably never understand the appeal of this game especially considering I actually liked the remake of the first game later this year. The gameplay felt pretty simple, the 9S mechanics are cool for a bit but got tedious after a while. The garbage format of replaying stuff is something I hate with a passion. The music is good but that's the only positive I can think of here. I might replay it in a couple of years with the context of the first game but it won't be a while until then.

My first Halo game this year and it didn't leave a good impression as I thought it would. The performance of this version is garbage on PC. The shooting is incredibly simplistic and the maps and levels were just too big and boring in general.

Probably the majority of my disappointment is tied to how much I actually liked the anime. The gameplay can be cool but also felt clunky most of the time. Cliffs are unusually finicky to the point of frustration and they couldn't even get the original voice actor for Mugen in this game. I still think Suda could do this series justice if given a chance now but who knows how that'll turn out now.

I actually like the gameplay of this game a fair bit but it just had no content at all. Felt like a demo more than anything and considering it was a Vita launch title, I wouldn't be surprised.

Introduced Rush and the slide but the weapons and stages weren't that good, Doc Robot filler didn't help either. But hey, it's a Mega Man game.

I'm willing to forgive a lot of its faults considering it was the first game of a long running series but slippery movement in a platformer is the most clunky shit to me no matter how old a game is. Not egregiously bad or anything but won't be playing it for a while.

Way too long for its own good and the gameplay didn't last for me at all here. The big impact of the content didn't hit for me either. I'm glad if you like it but this wasn't for me, sorry.

I'm not lying when I say I literally used the charge shot for the entirety of the game, it was way too good here and way too boring for me.

Everyone told me this game sucks and they were pretty much right, longest 4 hours of my life and glad I don't have to play it ever again.