Gaming is my biggest hobby. Though I haven’t really seriously been a gamer since a young child like most people who are as into them as I am, I’ve been playing and collecting them for quite some time. As a result, I’ve played a ridiculous amount of games; my collection spans beyond 300 titles over many systems. Games have helped me through extremely difficult times, and they’ve taught me many things (I can especially thank my love of JRPGs as a kid for helping improve my vocabulary and teaching me how to read quickly since the nature of school and trauma had turned me away from being the avid reader I once was.). They helped me learn about various subjects, shaped my personality, taught me to think critically, and most of all helped me reach out to people and make friends. As a result of my love for games, I have a LOT of favorites. And When I replied to a journal made by  Yosh-E-O he asked me what mine were. So I decided to try to come up with a list that narrows them down to 10.

Of course, I couldn’t include them all, and as time goes on taste changes, so it’s not a permanent list. However, I did try to narrow the list down to favorite games of mine that have stood the tests of time and remain games that I will never, ever get tired of. Prepare for an essay much like this one because I can’t write about this stuff without writing an essay to go with it apparently.

1. Pokemon Red (GB)

This game literally changed my life. Although I had played games before this (Pac man, Excitebike, Chips Challenge, Ski Free, Pipe Dream, and various PC games for children such as my beloved childhood game Gregory and the Hot Air Balloon) this was the first game that I could call mine. I got it, along with a red gameboy, for my 9th birthday. I have so many memories and stories associated with that game, so many that I could not possibly write all about them here. The Pokemon series is so very dear to my heart, and while my obsession didn’t start with the game, it did start my love for games, and JRPGS (which I called “walk-around games” at the time.)

People say that gen 1 games are only liked because of nostalgia. I feel they are wrong. While I do have nostalgia for the game, it is not the sole reason I love it. In fact, I still play it regularly and still enjoy it to this day. I cannot judge older games upon modern standards, and I think it’s wrong to do so. It does have a lot of things that are tedious which I won’t go into detail on, believe me I am well aware of the games flaws, and boy does it have a lot of them. However, the music still holds up today, and the composition of said music is so interesting and well-done that even many games of today don’t even come near. They worked with the limitations of the system beautifully. The coding is a mess, which makes the game even more fascinating to me as you’d think it wouldn’t be able to run smoothly at all, but it does. The game was probably a major contribution to my strong ability to easily memorize information, as it was a requirement for the time. It’s not the best Pokemon game ever (Honestly that would go to Black and White) but it’s still my favorite. Not to mention how much fun it is that new glitches and exploits are still being discovered to this day and they are by far the most interesting glitches in any video game. I also need to mention the music again. The way the melodies work together to create such nice sounding harmony that you will remember in general is just isn’t done anymore as many game soundtracks nowadays are made more for background noise than anything, focusing on fancy techniques and high quality sound over making memorable and harmonious tunes.


2. Final Fantasy 10 (PS2)

This was my first Final Fantasy game, and unlike Pokemon, I can tell you right now that a big part of my love for the game is nostalgia. There’s this saying that goes your favorite final fantasy is whichever one you played first, and for many people including myself that seems to hold true. Of course, that doesn’t mean 10 isn’t a good game. It’s still a great game, and I consider it the game with the second best soundtrack of all time (yes of all time). Unlike Pokemon Red, however, I can’t find as great of an enjoyment playing it today as I did then, which is why I say that its likely nostalgia that I like it so much. I played it during an interesting time in my life. It was about a year after my father had passed, I was still in grade school and had been bullied relentlessly by peers and teachers alike since Kindergarten, only at the time just starting to get away from being the “target” and going on the road to becoming the “invisible”. One of the reasons I was such a target was because I was, in their words “a crybaby”, and crying was something I was often punished for in both school and home. I was still young, but very aware that I was an outcast. Then comes along Tidus. Tidus was dealing with similar issues that I was. He cried easily, and he was mocked for it, especially by his father. He, like myself, was both in a state of wanting to be like his father, and feeling resentment towards him for what he had done. In addition, he had found himself in a strange land and didn’t belong anywhere. He didn’t understand the worlds customs, which got him into a lot of trouble, similar to my autism and failing to understand social norms. Despite being the main character, the party responds to him as someone who is just kind of tagging along and often outright show dislike towards him. And yet, despite all this, he tries so hard to be strong. He wants to be someone people can look up to. He desperately puts on a happy-go-lucky act despite constantly dealing with flashbacks a traumatic childhood, putting on a smile despite being horribly depressed and lonely. Yuna too, dealing with similar issues, due to her position having to keep a smile despite knowing that every success would bring her closer to sacrifice, and not having the heart to explain to Tidus what was really going on.

It was the first time in a game I felt something for the characters, they weren’t just generic placeholders or characters with one or two traits, these characters had depth, and it made me feel things. I rooted for Tidus, I was so angry with Seymour when he took Yuna away from him, that part of the game had a huge impact on me. The first time I played it, I remember hating Lulu because of how she treated Tidus, but the second time I played it a few years later, I had gotten farther and learned more about her and why she was the way she was, allowing her to become my favorite Final Fantasy character. Except for 9, none of the other Final Fantasy games have really impacted me much emotionally. (Before you ask, no, I felt absolutely nothing regarding Aeris' death in 7.)

3. Harvest Moon 64 (N64)

Harvest Moon is another childhood obsession. 64 wasn’t my first Harvest Moon game, but to this day still stands as my favorite. Music, as you can see, is a common theme to what makes me like a game, and while I wouldn’t put it on any “best video game music ever” list, it’s still very good and definitely helps set the moods. It’s simple but complex at the same time, as its very limited in many aspects due to its age, but there is so many secrets to discover and it’s one of those games that tend to be different every time you play. It was also rather challenging and stragetic, as it has you rushing around trying to get everything done each day, and the modern HM games completely lack that challenge since they give you so much time and the games are paced so slow. The fast pace of the game is part of what made it so addicting and fun. The characters are very loveable, and one could consider the character Maria as my first crush, whom I married the first time I played it and many times after. The world feels alive, the characters don’t repeat themselves as much as the other games in the series. It was the first game for me to play it long sessions, up until that point I had never played a game for hours at a time, but HM64 changed that. I specifically remember one time playing for 4 hours straight, because the game crashed on me, and I assumed the system had overheated due to me playing for so long. Nowadays it’s not unusual for me to play that much or more, but at the time it was the first.

I had played this game so many times, it was the first game for me to set specific challenges for myself, such as “raise only cows” or “use only crops”. It was tons of fun. In one playthrough I even played out a sort of story the player character spends every night at the bar getting drunk and becomes an alcoholic, and his wife (which i believe was Elli) not being so happy about his habits. …Perhaps that a testament to the more disturbing nature of my childhood, making a fun little game of something like that considering the young age I was when I played it. Ah well.

4. Tales of Graces F (PS3)

Yes, this times it’s a more modern game! Originally released on the Wii in Japan, the game’s port with added content was brought over to the US on the PS3. Until this point, my favorite Tales game was Tales of the Abyss, but this game outclassed it in almost every way. Despite stemming from a tragic tale of misguided parents and tensions between countries, it managed to keep a generally upbeat mood. And boy does it do that well, the game is hilarious. Most of the games humor comes from the optional “skits” that are triggered during playing the game. The game h s a lot of skits, and unlike Abyss, they are actually voiced! This makes them much more enjoyable. Most of them aren’t so much related to the plot of the story, but allow you to get a better understanding of the characters. The characters in this game are for the most part great, and the interactions between them are tons of fun to see. The overall story is kind of bad and cliche to be honest, but it makes up for it with the hidden depths of the characters. Especially the character Hubert Oswell, who is one of my most favorite characters of all time. Another character who I see a lot of myself in, he struggled with being intelligent yet cowardly as a child, and having a hard time convincing others despite his superior knowledge, as he was dismissed as just being a coward. He was given up for adoption in attempt to give him a better life, but the trauma of his life with his adopted father led his personality to completely change. Many of his personality traits after the timeskip (the majority of the game) stem back to being forced to grow up far too fast, and that is something I can deeply relate to. It’s not all sad though, in fact all the funniest moments of the game to me involve Hubert.

Despite me vastly preferring turn based over real time combat, and struggling with the battle system of older titles, the combat system in this game is a lot of fun. I really loved the battle system. This time around the music isn’t a huge contributor to my love of the game, but, as to be expected by my favorite composer Motoi Sakuraba, it’s quite good. It has a more “anime” feel especially compared to older games in the series, yet surprisingly, it doesn’t have an anime series unlike Symphonia and Abyss, which severely disappoints me and I desperately hope there to be one someday. I just love this game so much. I can go on about it forever, but I'll stop here.

5. Gitaroo Man (PS2)

This is literally the game that got me into rhythm games. Rhythm games are my favorite genre of game, and I’m quite confident with my skills with them. I feel its the most unique rhythm game out there, and it’s a huge shame that it’s basically unknown. Its one of the few rhythm games with a completely original soundtrack, and it definitely takes advantage of it as the music in each stage is centered around the character being fought, especially interesting is how the majority of the songs have no lyrics and are just instrumentation, which leads to some epic songs. Most unique of all is how it’s not always the same every time. Each song has parts that are swapped at random, so you may think you have the commands memorized, but then it does a bait and switch on you, and you have to be prepared for that. You’d think it would sound forced, but it flows completely naturally. It’s challenging as hell too, in fact it is the one of the only rhythm games that I haven’t ever been able to complete in hard mode. It’s rather short though the challenge of it makes it so you likely won’t be able to beat it in one sitting until you know the game well. The games story and English voice acting is VERY campy, the voice acting being pretty awful but thats actually another part of the games charm, as its not bad in a “bad” way, but bad in a funny way that overall enhances the experience. As much as I like the English track, it is sad it doesn’t the option for dual audio. The characters are all great too, despite most of them showing up rather briefly, they’re very likeable. It’s definitely a little-known game that I wish was more known, because it’s actually really good.

6. Sonic Adventure 2 (Dreamcast)

It was difficult to choose this one, as I find it on near even standing with Sonic Adventure. However, Sonic Adventure 2 had a bigger impact on me overall, and I didn’t want to put both, so I’m putting this one on this list. Although I played Sonic Adventure first, it was Sonic Adventure 2 that got me to level of absolute obsession. I can’t even begin to describe the level of obsession I had for Sonic. My love for the series is what led me to learn to navigate the internet in search of as much information as possible. At one time, there was nothing regarding the Sonic the Hedgehog series that I didn’t know. I had memorized all of the information I had learned. I even had the script of the game near memorized. The soundtrack was another incredible part of the game. Sure, it had some major flaws that were apparent even during its time, but even then it was still an amazing platformer. At the time of playing this game, I had grown suicidal, and I credit my love for the series as one of the things that kept me going, as almost nothing else could calm me down and take my mind off of my suicidal tendencies at the time. I loved the story and the way the characters interacted, and Shadow was the first character that I had fallen in love with, it was a very deep love that lasted many years until his game came out and ruined his personality (a story for another time.) Anyway, his dedication toward his long lost friend Maria was very inspiring to me. The way he constantly struggled with flashbacks on his path to doing what he thought was right at the time was something I could relate to. And the fact that he was lost in the world, having lost his only friend Maria, was also relatable, as my only friend, who happened to introduce me to Sonic through Sonic Adventure, had recently moved away and I felt lost. I was so depressed at the time, that I felt I had nothing to live for other than my love for the Sonic series. Whenever I would feel at my worst, I could just pop in Sonic Adventure 2 and remind myself to be strong like Shadow was. To never stop holding onto what I believe in. To be loyal to those who have gained my trust, and to do whatever it takes to keep the promises I had made. This game is part of what shaped the values that I hold dear to this day. And of course, to always “hold on to “what if”. Even if the Sonic series has become a mess since Heroes, I will always remember how much of an impact the last great Sonic game had on me.

7. Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (GCN)

This is the game that got me into Fire Emblem. I had played 7 in the past, but disliked it at the time due to its difficulty and permadeath being too much for me to handle due to my lack of skill at the time. Path of Radiance changed that, as it was far easier and allowed to eventually enjoy the concept of permadeath and enjoy the frustration that the series can bring. Like other Fire Emblem games, it has a huge cast and each character, no matter how seemingly unimportant, has a story. It is one of the very few games where the protagonist is one of my favorite characters, and I even wrote about him in an assignment in high school to write about a hero that we look up to. Still, my absolute favorite character in that game has to be Soren. Like the other characters I enjoy, I find him relatable. But unlike the others, his personality mirrors my rl personality, which, while with the other characters I related to their experiences, with Soren, I could relate to the core of who he is as a person. His loyalty towards Ike because Ike was the only person to treat him with any sort of decency was something that resonated with me. In addition to that, he comes off extremely abrasive, but ultimately means well and is actually quite sensitive, which is just like myself. This game is also an SPRG, which is a genre I love. The story is really great and is one of the better stories in video games as a whole. No other Fire Emblem game before or since have been able to compare to PoR in terms of story and characters, and this remains my favorite Fire Emblem title to this day.

8. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (DS)

This was the game that sparked my interest in the visual novel genre. Although the game is a lot more interactive than your average visual novel, it’s still considered part of the genre. I remember seeing a trailer for it being shown on X-play, back when that show and TechTV still existed. I could very well say this is one of the things that “I liked before it was cool” to use the hipster phrase, as I was into it from the day it was released in localized form which was years before the series became a cult classic in the West. The cast is so loveable, especially the main character Phoenix and his rival Edgeworth. Despite dealing with murder cases, the game is overall very silly and hilarious, and extremely quotable. It does a very good job at switching between silly and serious, and makes you feel for the characters. Learning about Edgeworth’s past through the 4th case was heartbreaking. You also learn about the memory that drove Phoenix to become a lawyer, a story that is similar to events in my own childhood. The methods Phoenix Wright employs to figure out if someone is being truthful or not has influenced my own ability and tactics to spot liars. The series as a whole is dear to me, but the first game is definitely my favorite.

9. Shining Force (Genesis)

Although its a genesis game, I first played it through a Genesis compilation on the PC, as I didn’t and still don’t own the system. It was the first SRPG I ever played and lead to my love of the genre. The music in the game is really awesome, and has some of the saddest 16 bit tunes you’ll ever hear during certain parts. The designs of the characters in the game are quite unique, and nowadays have a really cool oldschool feel to them, and the battle animations are pretty cool. It’s definitely one of the most charming games I’ve ever played, even if certain aspects of it haven’t aged well. Some of the things I like about it are its age though, like the poor translation (which was standard fare at the time) and low character limits leading to funny abbreviations. Also, I love how the subtitle of the game is “The Legacy of Great Intention”, it amuses me. It’s sad they don’t make games like this anymore, and even sadder that they don’t make proper games of the series anymore since the third one. They’re in the “Shining” series in name only and have no relation to this or the game that came before it.

10. Splatoon (Wii U)

This is the best game on the Wii U, and probably the best game to have come out in many, many years. Normally I hate shooters, and Team Fortress 2 was the only shooter I would ever even touch. That all changed with Splatoon, with its cute art style and surprising depth to the gameplay. It has a cool platformer-esque singleplayer mode, though its rather sort and serves more as a tutorial for the core of the game being multiplayer matches. Every action in this game just feels so satisfying, and it has huge mass appeal from young children to the older hardcore competitive types. Theres a huge amount of weapons to choose from and all of them feel unique which is super cool. It’s also the most balanced multiplayer game I have ever seen. Sure, there are things that are OP, but its not as unbalanced as say, Pokemon or League of Legends. I love the gear system, the clothing looks really cool and I find fun in trying to get the optimal combination of skills while still looking cool. It’s also one of the few games to make me rage, and I actually love that about the game because I express so little emotion irl now as an adult, and almost never get angry, that for something to make me so passionate about it that I actually get angry over a loss is extremely surprising due to how indifferent I am otherwise. At the same time, the difficulty of ranked mode can really make you feel accomplished. Of my time playing, I’ve managed to keep a steady A+ for a while which, while not the highest ranking possible (that would be S+) still makes me feel accomplished.

Those are my top 10. But, there were a bunch of games I feel could be on the list, had it been longer, so I wanted to add some honorable mentions.

Honorable mentions:

Baten Kaitos (GCN) - This was the first extremely long JRPG I played (main story took me over 100 hours), and this game is what holds the title of best video game soundtrack in my mind, being another soundtrack being composed by Motoi Sakuraba. However, I cannot tell of the game has held up since, due to the timesink, I haven’t gone back to replay it.

Okage: The Shadow King (PS2) - Has aged extremely poorly, but has an incredible soundtrack, hilarious and charming dialogue and characters, and moments of unexpected sadness.

DDR Extreme 2 (PS2) - I have many, but this is my favorite of the DDR series. Before I had MS, there were times would I play this all day. I have a lot of good memories associated with this game. It’s also the best of the console English releases.

Space Channel 5 Part 2 (PS2) - There isn’t much to say on this one other than that it’s another rhythm game that I love and if you haven’t played it you should. For the best possible experience, play it with a DDR pad. Its a little harder but oh so much fun.

Sonic Adventure (Dreamcast) - This is the game that introduced me to the Sonic series. In terms of level design, it was probably better than SA2 in that regard. It also had great music. I feel a lot of nostalgia towards this title.

Pokemon Trading Card game (GBC) - I’ve played this game a lot, another game I love the music for. But There isn’t really anything super special about this one for me aside from just simply being tons of fun.

Donkey Kong 64 (N64) - This one’s got a funny story to it in that I wanted Majoras Mask, but it needed an Expansion pak. But this game came with it, and getting this game would be cheaper than getting it by itself. My mom convinced me to get it for this reason, even though I actually didn’t want it because the cover made it look like a scary game. Turns out it wasn’t scary and dark like I thought it would be aside from a few parts, and ended up one of my favorite games. Meanwhile, I didn’t like Majoras Mask and absolutely terrified me and despite having played several horror games, remains the scariest game of all time to me. Its often compared to Banjo Kazooie as a worse version of it, but oddly enough I hated Banjo Kazooie. Unfortunately, having to beat Jetpak and the original arcade version of Donkey Kong twice to unlock the final stage meant I was never able to reach the ending of the game, despite trying for years. Sigh.

Kirby 64 (N64) - This was my first N64 game and first Kirby game, and also the first game I ever managed to get 100% completion on. Its still my favorite Kirby game. It’s so cute! I love the dual power ups in the game too. And of course the music, some of which are remixed from Kirby’s Adventure on the NES (another great game).

And that’s it. If you cared enough to read through this whole thing, I’m honestly actually rather impressed. Of course, there are tons more games that I love in addition to this, but if I mentioned every single game that I love, we’d be here forever. So I’m just going to end it here. Thank you for reading if you did :)