Hello, first thank you all for reading and feedback. It has been a full year since I started this blog and I want to continue to improve my writing and reviews. With the year anniversary of my Blog being the 22^nd of December coming up I decided to make a list of my favorite games. In no particular order really these aren’t listed from my least favorite up rather just to make a list. Also, to prevent this list from being repetitive I decided to have one game per franchise. So while I like Pokemon XD Gale of Darkness and Shadows of Almia I can’t put them if another Pokemon game shows up. Finally, this is the last post of the year so Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year see you all in January.

10 – Spyro Reignited Trilogy

Spyro the Dragon was one of the first games I ever played along with Crash Bandicoot. So after several years of the Dragon being absent aside from a few games after the original three games that failed to capture what made them great then to just promote Skylanders and whatever the Legend series was, I was overjoyed to see both Crash and Spyro return and while I liked Crash’s series I always preferred Spyro.

9 – A Hat in Time

Another strange choice given I mostly play RPGs and Strategy with the odd Farm Simulator when I feel like it. A Hat in Time is a game that looks and plays like a Nintendo 64 platformer. This is on purpose as the entire point of the game was to call back to those older platformers like Mario 64 and Banjo Kazooie. Honestly, I actually prefer this game to any Mario game as indie games tend to be more imaginative and you can easily see this through amazing mechanics and fun level design.

8 – Pokemon Omega Ruby/ Alpha Sapphire

My first Pokemon game was Pokemon Sapphire for the Game Boy Advance and I later played all of the Gen 3 games. So when Omega Ruby/ Alpha Sapphire were announced I was happy to pick up the games again and even though challenges and routes felt the same so much was added to these remakes to make them feel new. First, it fleshed out some of the more one note characters from older games, then fixed a lot of what X and Y were trying and failing to do, and finally, added things like the Delta episode, megas, and the new Fairy Typing to Gen 3 which didn’t have them. Due to how Nintendo has reacted to Palworld I wanted to leave Pokemon off this list, but I’d be denying what series introduced me to RPGs in the first place and a game I’m extremely nostalgic about.

7 – The Legend of Zelda the Windwaker

I wanted to put either Ocarina of Time or the Windwaker as my favorite Zelda games. I probably cleared the both of them more times than any other Zelda games. While these two are some of my favorites I also wanted to keep this list different so I went with which one I liked more or had more fun with. The Windwaker is far from a perfect or good game, but if you want an introduction into the series it is a good start what’s more I feel like the cel shaded graphics and cartoon atmosphere lets both the gameplay and locations stand out. Characters are also more expressive than in other Zelda games.

6 – Undertale

There is a chance that I felt Deltarune deserved to be on this list more, but given that game is unfinished even if what is released so far is fun, Undertale is a more complete game. I enjoy the game for it allowing the player to decide what to do whether you go pacifist or not expect tough fights, fun gameplay, and amazing music.

5 – Story of Seasons Trio of Towns

For a game by the original developers of Harvest Moon this game really shows what they can do having multiple towns with their own festivals and crops. Further while I do enjoy games like Rune Factory 4 sometimes it is nice to have a more simple farm simulator. This game also gives me hope that eventually the Story of Seasons games will be more fun outside of the remakes.

4 – Nexomon Extinction

Just because I said one per franchise does not mean one per genre. Nexomon was already a great creature capture game and the sequel not only improves a lot on the original, but also is a fun game overall. With the third game in development it will be interesting where this series goes. I enjoy their focus on plot that is a breath of fresh air compared to other games in a similar genre and with being an indie game it has less restrictions and is more imaginative and creative taking the plot in areas Pokemon will never go.

3 – Dragon Age: Origins

If there was one reason I hated Veilguard so much was my love of this series. Varied races and classes and more emphasis on story. Origins brings a lot including explaining why the main character is there with each getting their own story to play through during the tutorial. It is nice to have motivations to do something rather than just do it. Further, future games gave closure to  a lot of what happens in Origins and the game is dark with many good and bad choices.

2 – Mass Effect 2 Legendary Remaster

Mass Effect 2 was a favorite game of mine though admittedly I played Andromeda first and could not tell what made the series so good. After, I tried the series again and Mass Effect wasn’t bad, but the combat needed work. Mass Effect 2 is a fun game and the best part is it emphasizes the need to help your companions to unlock upgrades and keep everyone alive so they appear to help in Mass Effect 3. Further the characters all have distinct personalities and are fleshed out as opposed to what Veilguard tried to do with a similar format.

1 – Fantasy Life

If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a million times. Fantasy Life is my favorite game. It has various classes and is an amazing game. Each character is charming and the ease of changing classes as well as using different equipment and skills for each is always a good time. The story was good and rather lighthearted for a RPG. The more cartoony graphics helps the different areas and dungeons stand out and even though you probably won’t run into a difficult fight the bosses more than make up for that. While I was disappointed that the sequel got delayed again I’m not mad if they need more time to make a follow up I still have the original to play.