300 Games Bucket List
Inspired by Weatherby's "250 Retro Bucket List" ( https://www.backloggd.com/u/Weatherby/list/250-retro-bucket-list/ ), I did not limit my list to Retro games. One reason is because due to some quirks of how my life went, there was a period of about 10 years I couldn't really buy any new consoles (or a new PC), so my list of played games actually skews somewhat older to begin with. Plus I have so many games I want to play I didn't feel the need to limit myself. The basics of the list are the same: 300 games that I want to play before I kick that ol' bucket.
The first page, or Top 100, is the Top 100 games on this list I want to play, but there isn't any order within that Top 100. And while the games aren't in any super specific order besides that, I did try to make it overall aesthetically pleasing, or have some mini-themes here or there.
I'm rather undetermined in what I'll do as I actually beat these games. My first thought is to remove them to the list and do, IDK, a "Bucket List Games Completed" list while replacing it with a new game, which makes it a bit of an unending bucket list (given, after all, new games always be coming out). But maybe that's too much. But just leaving a game here after finishing it feels odd to me. What do you guys think?
I tried to avoid any games that were unreleased, or that I had what felt like "substantial" progress in, since that didn't jive with my mental image of what this bucket list is for. Funny enough, I got too far into Fire Emblem Engage to put it on, even though it was a game I thought of when making this list. Live A Live also would have been in the Top 100 if I hadn't started it already.
Later, I might I'll note down what systems the games first released on (or something) to show off that spread, and maybe which ones I actually have access to.
The first page, or Top 100, is the Top 100 games on this list I want to play, but there isn't any order within that Top 100. And while the games aren't in any super specific order besides that, I did try to make it overall aesthetically pleasing, or have some mini-themes here or there.
I'm rather undetermined in what I'll do as I actually beat these games. My first thought is to remove them to the list and do, IDK, a "Bucket List Games Completed" list while replacing it with a new game, which makes it a bit of an unending bucket list (given, after all, new games always be coming out). But maybe that's too much. But just leaving a game here after finishing it feels odd to me. What do you guys think?
I tried to avoid any games that were unreleased, or that I had what felt like "substantial" progress in, since that didn't jive with my mental image of what this bucket list is for. Funny enough, I got too far into Fire Emblem Engage to put it on, even though it was a game I thought of when making this list. Live A Live also would have been in the Top 100 if I hadn't started it already.
Later, I might I'll note down what systems the games first released on (or something) to show off that spread, and maybe which ones I actually have access to.
300 Games
Few game series were as important to me in my formative years without really playing the entries than Kingdom Hearts. While my RPing first began with Pikmin roleplay on GameFAQs, around the time I wanted to become a writer happened when I started doing Kingdom Hearts RP offsite.
The only game I had as a kid was Chain of Memories, but I knew so much about the plot it was very easy to follow. The theories for the post-game trailer were fun and intense. I ended up being right about Xigbar when Birth by Sleep happened.
So KH1/2 are basically requirements for me to play one day.
BTW, Chain of Memories is actually a really good game with a cool plot. Just make sure to play the GBA version, not the Re: version. The Re version breaks the game.
The only game I had as a kid was Chain of Memories, but I knew so much about the plot it was very easy to follow. The theories for the post-game trailer were fun and intense. I ended up being right about Xigbar when Birth by Sleep happened.
So KH1/2 are basically requirements for me to play one day.
BTW, Chain of Memories is actually a really good game with a cool plot. Just make sure to play the GBA version, not the Re: version. The Re version breaks the game.
Most likely via FF6 Advance. Up there with 12 and 7 in terms of Final Fantasies I want to play. It somehow still sounds rather unique all these years later, and I feel intimately acquainted with it due to stuff like repeated watches of Legends of Localization's Final Fantasy VI translation comparison stream. I highly recommend it, by the way:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8fufren85t_hZIk7nzF3EkbQHhexGOpa
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8fufren85t_hZIk7nzF3EkbQHhexGOpa
Up there with Kingdom Hearts and Tales of Symphonia for that teenage year brainrot, and the game that gave Sonic appeal to me. Somehow I got Sonic Adventure 1 and Sonic Heroes instead of it when I was younger. I don't know why.
Technically I am playing the Sonic Adventure 2: Battle version, but this version has the better cover art. So.
Technically I am playing the Sonic Adventure 2: Battle version, but this version has the better cover art. So.
Tales of Symphonia was big for me growing up and was one of THE Gamecube games I always wanted to buy, but could never find a disc of. One of my best friends growing up was a mega fan of it. The story seems cool, I love the art style, and Zelos is GOATed. I think when I finish both I might put Abyss above it, though.
I don't know if I have the stomach for the Demon Path, but damn if it isn't one of the games that most commits to it I've ever seen. This game's art style is also sick in the way those late era non-true-3D games were.
Also this game has amazing music guys oh hell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NAkEP68agk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkIGeP68ORA
Also this game has amazing music guys oh hell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NAkEP68agk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkIGeP68ORA
The Nintendo 64 was my first console and I am pretty happy about that in a lot of ways. It let me connect with my mom, who grew up with an NES/SNES, via the vast array of multiplayer games it had and make memories I can look back on more fondly than any good game experience would give me for example.
It also introduced me to a ton of excellent games right off the bat. Super Mario 64, Majora's Mask, Star Fox 64, Mega Man 64, Paper Mario, Kirby and the Crystal Shards, F-Zero X and even more obscure stuff like NBA Jam 99 and Toy Story 2.
You might notice a prominent game missing: Ocarina of Time. Despite being an N64 gamer who has Majora's Mask as one of their all time favorites, I have NEVER had the chance to play Ocarina of Time, merely hearing it in baited breaths on the GameFAQs forum as the game Majora's Mask must live up to.
Will it still hit as well for me 20+ years later? I have no idea, but it has been a game I wanted to play since childhood.
It also introduced me to a ton of excellent games right off the bat. Super Mario 64, Majora's Mask, Star Fox 64, Mega Man 64, Paper Mario, Kirby and the Crystal Shards, F-Zero X and even more obscure stuff like NBA Jam 99 and Toy Story 2.
You might notice a prominent game missing: Ocarina of Time. Despite being an N64 gamer who has Majora's Mask as one of their all time favorites, I have NEVER had the chance to play Ocarina of Time, merely hearing it in baited breaths on the GameFAQs forum as the game Majora's Mask must live up to.
Will it still hit as well for me 20+ years later? I have no idea, but it has been a game I wanted to play since childhood.
IDK how I have never played this when I love Mother 3 so much.
For some reason, this game especially sticks out for me among Classicvanias. I think it is the fact it sounds like innovations were made that are kickass and that were very well received at the time (multiple review outlets consider it a Best SNES Ever kinda game), yet fans seem to have turned against it and later games reverted more away from it with other acclaimed games such as Rondo of Blood. It really makes me wonder what, exactly, was happening there!
isn't this like the coolest cover art
Kreia's been one of my favorite video game characters to watch in videos and I ain't even played the game lol
The way I got started on the internet and found friend groups when I went from GameFAQs was freaking Digibutter.nerr so, like, is this even a surprise.
Saw this while looking through a random review channel, though it looked radical and the trailer is cool. This seemed like one of those smaller studio projects I thought would die, so I am glad it got a sequel. Plus, how many Taiwanese games do we really get?
GOAT Trilogy?
port this game to the switch already come on
One of those games that I got excited for due to a Youtube video, in this case NitroRad's coverage that makes this game look sick: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgQ4KbstZq0
The trailer, especially with its music, was enough to instantly sell me on this game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7XJxI0RZNo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7XJxI0RZNo
This and Analogue are the two games on here I feel most nervous mentioning really wanting to play but damn if they haven't embedded themselves in my mind palace of thought.
Zero's a top tier girl lets be real
AND THERE'S NOTHING MORE AMERICAN THAN BUYING METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE IN THIS WAL-MART OF A WORLD
Along with Excitebike 64, one of those games I saw when I was a kid and thought just looked really cool. It still seems like it is in a unique spot within the Wario World canon, too.
Hot Take: I actually prefer the controller aim of Metroid Prime 1/2 to the more Wiimote / Gyro aiming of the Trilogy. This is also true for the Pikmin games, where the New Play Control versions makes it utterly inferior in that case due to the lack of a C-Stick. This is a good part of why Echoes is on here, but Corruption is currently not.
Echoes also just seems pretty fun and has some kinda unique twists and Metroid Prime was great so.
Echoes also just seems pretty fun and has some kinda unique twists and Metroid Prime was great so.
wtf yoshitaka amanao combined with the persona guys to make a tactical RPG and NOBODY fucking talks about it??
I've wanted to play this since Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Lots of days with my Gamecube checking if Tales of Symphonia, Path of Radiance or Wario World were available. Somehow I never had any of them!
Story-wise, this is the Final Fantasy that might have me the most interested, and I already have multiple cutscenes memorized in my head from catching them on youtube.
Only thing is IDK if I'll end up liking the gameplay.
Only thing is IDK if I'll end up liking the gameplay.
SAVIOR.
BLOODSTAIN.
HELLFIRE.
SHADOW.
BLOODSTAIN.
HELLFIRE.
SHADOW.
I feel like I saw a text Let's Play of this game that seemed interesting and made me want to play it after like 3 pages but I can't find it anywhere.
A game I totally would have never heard about if not for websites like this. But it sure seems to have a lot of Vibes and when I was a kid, I thought Ridge Racer 64 was good but kinda wanted "Ridge Racer 64 But Better". So.
Also the sequel, but given they were one game cut in half due to size limits I'mma just put the first on. The first boy I had a crush on was a huge Golden Sun fan and it was always a fun looking RPG for the GBA, one of my favorite systems, too bad Dark Dawn sounds like a flop.
Way back when Operation Rainfall was a Thing, this was the game of the three that really interested me. While Xenoblade Chronicles has unsurprisingly been the one that went on to great success, Pandora's Tower nonetheless sticks to me in a way that makes me really want to play it.
Eternal Echo of the Thrilling Tour-our-our is one of the best boss themes in a while.
BUT YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO CUT ME OFF
MAKE OUT LIKE IT NEVER HAPPENED AND THAT WE WERE NOTHING
Japanese version
MAKE OUT LIKE IT NEVER HAPPENED AND THAT WE WERE NOTHING
Japanese version
I feel like the expanded, Perfect Historia version kind of misses the point of the original to a point. And also while I actually don't MIND the new designs per se (in fact, I'd say I enjoy them enough), they're so much less unique and not AS good. I mean just compared the first to the second here.
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/radianthistoria/images/c/c7/Eruca.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/250?cb=20120802043130
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/radianthistoria/images/4/4f/RHPC_Eruca.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/250?cb=20180416012703
Also, seriously, this game has some PEAK designs. Just look at Viola!
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/radianthistoria/images/4/48/Viola.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/250?cb=20120802044200
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/radianthistoria/images/c/c7/Eruca.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/250?cb=20120802043130
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/radianthistoria/images/4/4f/RHPC_Eruca.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/250?cb=20180416012703
Also, seriously, this game has some PEAK designs. Just look at Viola!
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/radianthistoria/images/4/48/Viola.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/250?cb=20120802044200
I was a major RPG fan who grew up with his primary console of the sixth generation (until I got a PS2 in my more late teenage years). So of course I had a lot of interest in Baten Kaitos.
But also, it has a card-based battle system! I like card games a lot! The plot twist sounds fun! It has quite the nice mix of things that interest me.
But also, it has a card-based battle system! I like card games a lot! The plot twist sounds fun! It has quite the nice mix of things that interest me.
With how much I enjoyed MML1 and have been deep into Mega Man lore, this is a game it'd be a crime for me to not play at some point.
This being left on a cliffhanger makes me so fucking sad.
This being left on a cliffhanger makes me so fucking sad.
This is one of those games I anticipate isn't necessarily amazing, but will just be a good time and has a very appealing art style. To be totally honest, I absolutely love going through those 7-8/10 games with heart, so this has personal appeal to me.
This game getting so many disparate sequels also is rather interesting.
This game getting so many disparate sequels also is rather interesting.
AFAIK this is supposed to be a fairly mid JRPG, but it has stuck in my mind a lot for some reason. Maybe because the premise seems rather wild? In its own way, it sticks out as unique to me. When do we get Beethoven's Last Night the JRPG?
Pikmin is one of my favorite game series and TBH the fact this is one of the first Switch games I purchased but have yet to finish it is kind of criminal.
I can't freaking wait for Pikmin 4!
I can't freaking wait for Pikmin 4!
This game seemingly being so ignored after Freedom Planet 1 got so much attention makes me sad.
This is one of those formative games I know so much about I feel like I've basically played it, but also I haven't actually played it and so REALLY want to.
Liam O'Brien's voice as Lezard Valeth is literally divine
Anyone else think of this and the Valkyire Profile series as connected despite the only connection in any way being the name?
I had a friend who thought this was one of the best games ever when it first came out and that's always had me interested, and I feel like the game's rep has only gone up with time.
I know it isn't necessarily the most accurate translation (although not as inaccurate as some people say from what I know) but "Don't blame us. Blame yourself or God." is one of the most raw lines in video games.
The Little Tail Bronx games and how much the devs have been working at it for decades is so cool man
I wish I had easier ways to play this.
This includes Trails to Azure, given they're a duology.
Consider this a stand-in for the entire Zero and ZX series.
Spyro and Crash Bandicoot are two of those platformers that were BIG when right about when I was growing up (I got my N64 when I was five, as I recall, give or take), although I did not hear much about them until later (since I mostly got plugged into gaming news as it went into the Gamecube/PS2 era). That's left me curious about what that Nintendo competition was up to, especially with how highly regarded both of those are. I'm a bit more excited for Spyro than Crash (plus I am partway through Crash 1, which has just been Okay so far), so he makes the Top 100.
It feels very Sega to produce a hit Tactical RPG at a time RPGs are on the rise, soon to hit their zenith, be one of the system's highest selling games, which is also critically lauded, and not even try to ever bring it overseas. Sony, you've got a hand in it too for blocking its PSP release for no reason.
I think at this point the sheer number of games in this style means it'd be safe to release it. Like, this was according to Sega their MOST expensive product to make at the time, and you don't even try to recoup some money on translation and sales? When it would surely cost much less than production?
Thank god for the fan translation.
I think at this point the sheer number of games in this style means it'd be safe to release it. Like, this was according to Sega their MOST expensive product to make at the time, and you don't even try to recoup some money on translation and sales? When it would surely cost much less than production?
Thank god for the fan translation.
The first Swordcraft Story is my favorite game ever (at the time of making this list) and the second is a pretty dang solid game in its own right. So of course I really want to play the third game.
Man, I wish more Summon Night games came over. I'd be all over them for their Tactical RPG mainline, too!
Man, I wish more Summon Night games came over. I'd be all over them for their Tactical RPG mainline, too!
I keep debating between this and the original, though.
Marx Soul's scream is the DS sequel to the great Neo Ridley scream from the GBA.
Marx Soul's scream is the DS sequel to the great Neo Ridley scream from the GBA.
The only problem with this game is that it is best played on original hardware and boy do I not have that. But this is a game I've wanted to play for an eternity.
Fun fact, in the Smash Bros. moveset theory contest I run, the only contest I won was for a set for Sho Minamimoto in the Brawl days. The set is horribly outdated now, but I'm still happy.
Fun fact, in the Smash Bros. moveset theory contest I run, the only contest I won was for a set for Sho Minamimoto in the Brawl days. The set is horribly outdated now, but I'm still happy.
This game came out and like 3 of the friends I know whose opinions on video games I kinda trust came to tell me it was based and super lit. So.
This is actually a game I have some complicated feelings about. It looks like it has a lot of style, but the story really seemed like it disappointed me and lacked some of the depth in 3 or even 4. But I also haven't played it, so judging it that way seems quite unfair. This is a 100+ Hour RPG, and I sure ain't seen my way through it.
Plus leaving all of that aside, it is Persona fuckin' 5. Persona 3 is one of my favorite games ever and has one of the best stories in gaming. Persona 4 is still a 10/10 game for me, even if it has more flaws. And Persona 5's critical reception has been MASSIVELY positive. It would be impossible for me to not be excited for and want to play it, even if I am skeptical.
Also not sure if Royal is even the better version tbh but such is life.
Plus leaving all of that aside, it is Persona fuckin' 5. Persona 3 is one of my favorite games ever and has one of the best stories in gaming. Persona 4 is still a 10/10 game for me, even if it has more flaws. And Persona 5's critical reception has been MASSIVELY positive. It would be impossible for me to not be excited for and want to play it, even if I am skeptical.
Also not sure if Royal is even the better version tbh but such is life.
Of all the old Fire Emblems, this is the main one I have a big desire to play. The story seems very fresh and cool.