JCC Gaming [It's Joever] The JCC's Top 100 Video Games of All Time - #5-1

The only one this round I've any contact with is Galactic Battlegrounds, which wasn't too memorable for me. $6 on steam.

So I'm up to 5 played, including 4 played and own, and 2 owned but haven't played.

 

I’d love to play Elden Ring, but my PC has been left behind by the newer games and I will need to buy myself a PS5 for anything current. I also will need to finish Witcher 3, as I struggle to play two games with similar combat systems at the same time. When I was playing Dark Souls 3 I found I couldn’t alternate with my newly-bought Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey as I would get confused in the heat of battle, leading to some stupid deaths.

 

Played: 6/25
On the "I should probably play that" list: 3/19 (Fallout, Star Fox 64, Elden Ring, Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds)

The N64 generation was my one time that I dropped my Nintendo Loyalty and didn't play it as much as the rival console. I bought a PlayStation and didn't look back, even though I came back to Nintendo full on for the GameCube (though I also had a Dreamcast, which is such an underrated console that deserved a much better fate). Alas, it lead to misses like Star Fox 64 never getting played. Is it available on Nintendo Online for the Switch? If so, maybe I'll rectify that?

Elden Ring looks amazing, but it just feels too big for me to try to play at this stage of my life where I can barely find time to sit down and play video games. I'm not sure how I didn't get around to playing Galactic Battlegrounds, given it came out when I was in undergrad, but ... here we are. I've never played anything in the Metal Gear series.

Dark Forces
Again, I'm freaking terrible at these types of games, but I remember almost beating this one because there was a cheat code you could use that would let you basically be invulnerable. I don't actually remember much of the game, except for what I've researched to help with various Jedi/Starfighter/etc. drafts. My memory tells me that despite sucking at it, I enjoyed this game, but how much of that was because my brain is hard wired to love anything Star Wars (until I take time to realize it's not actually good), or because the game is actually good is in serious doubt.

Inty's Rankings of the Games he's played:

(I'll spoiler it just in case it grows rather large)

Spoiler

1. Ms. Pac-Man
2. The Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker
3. Sonic the Hedgehog 2
4. Star Wars: Dark Forces
5. Doom
6. Baseball Stars

 

Elden Ring:
"I am Malenia, Blade of Miquella."

I'm on my third playthrough of it now and it's still incredible.

WoW I only played on a free trial as it's heyday was back when I had no real way of paying for a subscription and I didn't know anyone who played it. My only real lasting memory of it is the South Park episode.

I think I got Galactic Battlegrounds as part of a bundle, but it was around the time that Empire of War was out and I thought that was better.

MGS2 I just don't get the love. I think it's a genuinely bad game.

16 out of 25 played so far. Not bad. I'm going to struggle as we get further along this list and more Nintendo games appear, I think.

 

I did really beat that game before my brother. A big achievement for a kid lol. I can't really tell you what the game was about, the plot, the characters or anything. All I member is:
- Solid Snake. Not sure who he was but Solid Snake
-hiding in boxes,
-the alert emoji,
-looking at the pictures of the pinups in the lockers (ahem),
-getting jumpscared by a dead body in said locker trying to do that,
-Dying many times due to moving when all I had to do when talking to this prisoner was stand up, pull out weapon, and not move,
- making the character boxes move during the dialog in those communication screens
-the commander being a robot glitching out while my character was running down a hall naked getting shot at
-If you let that opening montage video play, but put the Spiderman 2002 movie theme music over it, it fits to a tee like made for it.

 

I understand, believe me, since I'm also not very good at games and tend to end up playing on easy mode in whatever game I'm playing. But I support From Software's decision to create the game they want to create and release it as they want it to be released. I don't think they're incels; I think it's a genuine artistic decision. They want their game to be a curated experience and they want that experience to be difficult. They would clearly make more money if their games were easier because a lot of people (myself included) just don't buy them because they know the reputation. So it's not the smartest business decision. I think it is an artistic choice and, while there are things I don't like about it, I respect it.

 

I've played some difficult games recently. Done right, it can be very satisfying once I get the hang of it. I understand if developers want to retain that kind of experience instead of letting people have the option to breeze through.

That said, I am fully persuaded by the accessibility argument. Jim Stephanie Sterling has a couple good videos on the topic. I thought the detailed difficulty settings in Control were great even though I stuck with the default. Devoting resources to different difficulty settings and accessibility options should be the norm, and the latter is thankfully gaining traction in the industry as a whole.

 

This whole discussion is misguided because, ironically, MGS2 is the only video game that is actually art.

 

Speaking as someone who’s a fan of FromSoftware’s games, I’d be perfectly fine with them implementing an easy mode (as well as a pause button.)

 

I didn't say FromSoft are incels. I'm referring to the players who think everyone who wants or needs to play games on easy settings is a loser. I have nerve damage in my right arm, so my reflexes simply aren't fast enough to play FromSoft games.

Imho, it's not just a creative thing. It's an accessibility issue. There's just no good reason to be excluding people with various disabilities from playing your game simply because the player base of a single player games doesn't want such "unworthy" people playing the same game as them.

The Jedi games are Soulsbourne games, and you can play them on a difficulty of that level... But you can also play them on varying difficulties with varying accessibility settings like increased parry timing, a necessity for me and many others who just physically can't play the game otherwise.

/Rant

 

75. Hitman 3 (2021, IO Interactive, PS4/PS5/PC/Xbox One/Xbox Series/Nintendo Switch)

6 points (2 votes)
Voter comments: Probably one of the best pure video game experiences ever made, Hitman III is somehow both a simulation of being the deadliest thing in the room at any given moment, your entire body a weapon, and a zany farce where an incompetent bumbler barely disguised as a gardener accidentally ricocheted his exploding duck off a window and has to flee forty armed guards. -Ramza

Had a blast with the first one and look forward to completing the rest of the trilogy.

74. Final Fantasy IX (2000, Square, PS1)

6 points (2 votes)
Voter comments: My top five can swap around their places, but if you were to put a gun to my head and pick my favourite game of all time this would be it. So much heart, a great story, a brilliant soundtrack and a set of characters that are yet to be beaten in a Final Fantasy game. Vivi is, for my money, the best character of any Final Fantasy game and Zidane one of the most likeable main characters. The return to the fantasy aesthetic was also welcome after the more sci-fi influenced entries of VII and VIII. It’s a shame I don’t trust Square enough any more to remake it and do it justice. -Mustafar_66

Just stupendous. A slow on the rails story to begin with but takes the approach of splitting characters up and creating their own tale as they travel. The game is brilliantly woven together and was another serious risk to my relationship status. -Fatburt

73. Diablo III (2012, Blizzard Entertainment, PC/PS3/PS4/Xbox 360/Xbox One)

6 points (2 votes)
Voter comments: The genre defining ARPG and to mind it still hasn’t been topped. Probably don’t even want to know how many nights I lost running Baal. -mnjedi

not the hipster diablo game to pick, but it's the only one i've played and i was pretty obsessed with it for a while. i'm a poser alright? -tom

72. Destiny 2 (2017, Bungie, PS4/Xbox One/PC)

6 points (2 votes)
Voter comments: If you've played a game for 3000 hours it's probably pretty fun. I just love the world and the weapons and the time spent with friends. -solojones

Easily the game I’ve played the most in my life. Well over 2000 hours split over PlayStation, Xbox and PC. Despite it’s numerous ups and downs I’ll always come back to it. Bungie managed to capture something special with Destiny, combining excellent gunplay with a world that just clicks with me. It’s raids and dungeons are often brilliant and joining a clan of like-minded people has been revelatory. Expansions like Forsaken and The Witch Queen show that Bungie haven’t lost the magic that made Halo such a success. Is it perfect? Hell no. But for all the games that have come along and tried to copy it none of them have stuck around. The only thing that’ll kill Destiny is Destiny and I hope that’s a long way off. -Mustafar_66

71. Contra (1987, Konami, Arcade/NES)

6 points (2 votes)
Voter comments: Just a fun run and gun game. -Guidman

A classic of course and one that set the foundation for more great side-scrolling shooters to come.

 

My #1 and #2 games in the same set of results. I can’t really say any more about FFIX or Destiny 2. I love them both dearly.

 

I put Hitman 3 at my #1 in part just to make sure it got on the final list. I've sunk hundreds of hours into the trilogy, trying to finish all the side missions, escalations, challenges, unlocks... and doing "kill everyone challenges" to blow off steam. Its weakest point by far is the always-online requirement which doesn't make sense for a single-player game (IOI likes monitoring player behavior, I think). Offline mode has everything if you use mods to unlock it, but that workaround shouldn't be necessary.

 

Almost a lockout for me, although I did play Contra back in the day.

 

I'm 0 for 5 on this set.

 

Only FF9 on this wave of games

Gone Mobile

 

Contra: Spread gun with turbo button or GTHOTB!

 

Okay, well, sure, people who just think everyone who plays on easy is a loser are just *******s. I agree. But I would say that I still think you're mischaracterizing From Software by saying that they're making games without an easy mode "simply because" they have a player base of *******s. I genuinely think they're doing it as an artistic statement. I don't think they do it to cater to incels. If they put an easy mode on one of their games, they would make way more money from all the casual gamers buying their game, excited to finally play a From Soft game, than they would lose money from people annoyed that they had "sold out" or whatever. Like I said, I don't necessarily like games having no easy mode because it means a lot of people can't play them, myself included; but I support the right of a developer to say, "Our game is a curated experience for you to take or leave, not a curated experience that we love and then five progressively easier nerfs of the experience we love." Because eventually who would be left playing the actual intended experience? Even the hardcore player base would one-hundred percent start knocking the difficulty down on some of those bosses that can literally take eight hours to beat or whatever. I just think I understand the point and I respect it artistically even as I think it's frustrating and annoying.

I'm just temperamentally unsuited to Souls-like games. I don't get the big endorphin dump of accomplishment when I spend hours and finally beat a big boss; I'm still pissed off and angry that it took so long and was so hard. So, I just can't play those games in general. I basically give up on any game if I hit a point I can't get past in 30 minutes because I know that even if I do get past it after that point, I'll just be so furious that I won't enjoy the rest of the game. It's just a sacrifice I have to make for my emotional stability; I've watched the last thirty to forty-five minutes of a lot of games on YouTube.

I 100% agree with this. I think devoting creative resources to different difficulty settings would honestly help a lot of developers be more willing to do difficulty settings. I think for a lot of people, both players and developers, the narrative is that "lower difficulty" basically means nerfing everything and there are way more creative and nuanced ways to approach difficulty settings than there used to be given how advanced the software is now. And I agree that a variety of difficulty settings should be the norm; I just also think it's okay that there be exceptions to that norm.

 

Looks like I accidentally put an extra I on my Diablo II vote. Which is fine, I’ve played a lot of three too, it’s disastrous launch aside, it’s a pretty fun game. I knock it a little because I think it’s progression is the shallowest in the series IMO and being real here, it’s storytelling is , well it’s not good.

 

Aw crap, no you're good. Not only did you put "Diablo II" you put "(2000)" as well. When I was compiling the votes I renamed all games with multiple votes to have the exact same title so I could easily add the points and I guess somewhere in that process I copy/pasted "Diablo III" onto your vote. Or maybe somehow I accidentally added an extra I? It's all Roman numerals fault!

My mistake folks. But the good news is all this does is add a new 100th game and everything below Contra and Destiny 2 move up a spot while those two remain in their positions. Not so good news though for mn and tom who won't see their respective Diablo games make the top 100. Sorry!

I am now drafting the apology tweet image with paragraphs of white text on a black background.

 

I think you mean this apology X

 

#CancelBF2k+1