LoTR_Dan's Top 25 Games of All Time
by LoTR_Dan

Did you ever play Wind Waker. Ok, now imagine that, but get rid of all the sailing sequences, add a plot about aliens taking over the planet and a government conspiracy, replace Link with a female reporter and give it more "normal" graphics. What do you get? The best damn game of 2003 and what Wind Waker SHOULD have been. It does an incredible job of presenting both story and game, and makes you really care about the cast of characters. Oh, and the music is pretty good too. Also of note, Jade is one of the few really strong female characters that isn't an incredibly sexualized bimbo or a man hating harpy in video games. So yeah, that alone is worth playing for.



The best Final Fantasy. Hands down. Fuck 7. This is the epitome of 16-bit Final Fantasy. It told a darker story, moved the setting to a steam punk-ish world and had a main character even attempt suicide at one point after the party fails, yes fails, to save the world. Also, it has hands down the BEST villain in the series. Fuck Sephiroth. I could go on and on about this game, but hell, Pat already did that elsewhere on this site. So, go read that.



Ok, so if you didn't guess, I love fighting games. But they are a bitch to pick up. It's hard to learn how to do all the different moves, let alone learn how to do parries and fucking dreamcancels. And don't even get me started with Guilty Gear. This means it's a bit tough to find people to play with. But you know what everyone wants to play? Smash Brothers. C'mon, it's Mario, Link, Pikachu and Kirby slashing, smashing, throwing and exploding each other. It's easy to pick up and play, but surprisingly deep. There is a reason are still playing it to this day. 'Cause it's awesome.



Oh my God. This game is so good. It's an RTS set in the universe of Warhammer 40K, a universe full of Space Orks, Space Marines and more. And man, does Relic do the setting right. The art design is phenomenal, the animation is superb, and the voiceovers both in skirmish mode and campaign mode are just insane enough to be perfect. I have never played an RTS where the actual units fighting has been as much fun to watch. And this isn't even talking about the gameplay. Instead of focusing on base building and defense, it takes a cue from the Battlefield games and makes you control strategic locations around the battle to get more resources. So the fighting is fast and constant. The 7 different sides are all incredibly different play experiences. The Space Marines use their powerful and versatile Heavy Infantry, The Necrons use slow moving, almost indestructible undead androids that can come back to life and The Orks just rush you with an absurd number of powerful melee fighters. Yet even with all this variety, the game is balanced so that any side can win. This is hands down the best RTS I have ever played.



This game is so incredible I don't know how to begin. Sure, I could say it's a D&D based RPG where you travel the world slaying monsters and getting loot. But that doesn't even begin to scratch the surface. There is so much to do in this game I still don't think I've experienced it all. And I don't mean Elder Scrolls, hey look here's a random quest, now go trek through the wilderness to go kill something and come back sort of stuff. I mean complex plots with twists, moral conundrums and strategic combat. You don't just go to the castle and kill the trolls. You rebuild an ancient weapon inside the castle, save the servants hiding, distract the huge monsters, befriend the castle's hier and then control the castle as your own with the servants you rescued. And that has nothing to do with the main plot. All of the different NPC's are fully realized and will banter with you and bicker with one another. Your actions have a huge effect on the progressing storyline, so you are actually participating and not just watching. I could go on and on. Suffice to say, this is the best CRPG ever made and quite possibly the greatest game ever made.