dragonofwind was doing a journal for his favorite games and showed it to me, and it got me thinking "what would my favorites be?" I thought it'd be an impossible task to come up with a top 10 list, but, I found it easier than I thought. Here are my top games of all time. Maybe it will let you know a little more about me.

Number 5: Mischief Makers
I still hear "shake shake" in my dreams. As well as that sound the grenades make before they explode, that weird "shing" sound. This game is one I mostly discovered by accident; as a purchase I made for my sister when I was trying to show her not all video games were about shooting people or my beloved fighting games, I found this after being asked to find a game with a female protagonist for her. She didn't care for it, and gave the game to me, and it's had a special place in my heart ever since. Also, fuck Vertigo! That level can die in a fire.

Number 4: Baten Kaitos
I got excited for this seeing it shown off at, I believe, an E3 conference. I already loved the characters and the way the story seemed to be from the initial trailers and such. The end result is a strange product, and I can understand if people have their dislike for it, because it does unusual things, such as having all of the characters have this permanent weird echo to all of their voiced dialogue, or be a card game that's also an RPG (which is less unique now I suppose, but stuck out to me back then). I don't think I ever completed the game, because the trio fight with Giacomo and his 2 goons on an airship prevented my progress, but, I loved everything about this game. I just don't like the game they made afterwards, a prequel that entirely lacks soul and ruins everything.

Number 3: Final Fantasy 9
My favorite Final Fantasy to date, I love this game more than I can put into words. And it's not only my favorite in the series, but it stands as the pinnacle of it in my eyes. I feel like it's a perfect marriage of the old ideas and the (at the time) new ones, embracing its past, present, and even its future a bit. Not only were its gameplay ideas done very well, the world and characters felt very alive and fleshed out. I feel like Kuja is a lot stronger of a villain than many give him credit for, as we not only see what he does, but we come to understand who and what he is, and why he is the way he is. He's clearly doing something evil and wrong, but, you can almost sympathize with him. Your own party members are just as fleshed out however, all of the characters have these dedicated time pieces to help you learn about them more and experience who they are, and watch their growth. If you're curious about what FF is as its core, you absolutely must give this a play to completion.

Number 2: Front Mission 3
I love robots, a lot. And I got this game from an uncle of mine, who also loves robots, and gave the game to me one day saying "hey, I think you'll like this game, it's like Armored Core, but an RPG." I silently thank him forever for it, because this game is one of the most enjoyable experiences i've had. I won't deny it has problems (the writing's a little dry and dumb, full of translation issues i'm sure, and it has aged VERY poorly), but I will always love it. You can swap out various pieces of your robot, but this not only gives it different stats, but also different abilities to be learned from those body parts. These abilities are stored in the computer, provided you have the points, and lend to your customization even more. Let's use a sniper unit as an example. Do you want your sniper to aim at the body of the enemy? There's an ability for that. Or perhaps you could make your sniper more accurate, All kinds of abilities for all kinds of builds, and you can truly make it your own. You also don't need to keep the initially setup classes, so you can make anyone excellent at whatever.

Before I finish, I kind of want to turn this into a top 10, but i'm not sure what order these 6-10 would before me:
Capcom vs SNK 2: This game is one that's so good, even people who don't play fighters enjoy it when I put it on. It's not balanced, but it's amazingly fun. It's such a smooth game, and there's a ton of characters, plus it has some deep systems in its 6 different default styles of play, plus your own 2 customizable styles.
Fighter Destiny 2: This fighter has one of the moves unique scoring systems i've ever seen, and I absolutely love the strategy it adds over just "hit until dead." Plus, if you keep going in one mode, you unlock more moves for your character, and make them statistically stronger in different areas.
Megaman X4: I always loved the Megaman games, and this is just my favorite. It feels powerful and memorable, and is just the peak of the franchise. I guess it was a bit more "anime" than previous Megaman games, but I always come back to it.
Castlevania Circle of the Moon: Another game my uncle let me play, I love Castlevania, and this game was what got me started. I love Castlevania for how different the games can be from one another, yet still almost always enjoyable.
Wild Arms 2: A sudden purchase at Toys R Us one day because my parents told me I had 5 minutes to pick a game for my birthday or I was getting nothing, I ended up picking this game with the cool boxart, not knowing what it was. It's weird, being a mix of wild west, sci-fi, and magic, but it manages to balance all of those traits well, and it enriches the world so much more for it. You want to know more and more about it, and you generally get to. Provided you have that spark for exploration and experimentation, there's a lot to find in this game. Even if you don't, the game is great, but it's that much better with the lore (and extra power) you can get from the game's copious secrets.

Number 1: Legend of Dragoon
Most people seem to either not know of this game, or not like it. Developed and published by Sony, this could have turned into a great series, but it might be for the best that it didn't. This game starts with an air of intrigue, a sudden night raid to kidnap a girl, followed by our hero, Dart, going in pursuit of her. What started off as just a quest to save his family turned into something more, as Dart discovers more circumstances and his own purpose and calling, and sets out to save the world. I won't proclaim it's unique in its story, because it's not really. The gameplay is what you expect of an RPG from the late 90's/early 00's, and stories of saving the world aren't exactly uncommon in RPGs. However, it does everything well; with the likable characters, a beautiful world that would honestly be enjoyable to live in were it real (even with all of its mystical things and mysteries), and very solid gameplay, it just strikes something in me that makes me love it and hold it dear in my heart.