The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky
Now I've already dedicated my very first blog post to why the Trails series is so special. Trails in the Sky holds the greatest shares of my heart, though. I have fond memories of coming home from work, sitting down on my futon with my laptop, and diving into the continent of Zemuria every night when I was playing Trails in the Sky SC. It was like wrapping myself in a warm blanket and I felt a comfort while playing I have yet to experience in any other video game. Sky just has that ability to pull you into its world despite it simplistic design and presentation. It tells its story just as much through the world and its vibrant inhabitants as it does through story cutscenes with text. The pacing is superb, never rushing the player to move on nor making it feel like the story is dragging on. The narrative is so character driven, and the characters so well written, that you find yourself craving the next bit of dialogue between them just as much as the next story beat. And that dialogue comes across in everything you do from talking to NPCs, completing requests, to participating in mundane side activities like fishing. Never have I felt a game world more alive than the continent of Zemuria, and I cannot praise the Trails series, and more specifically Trails in the Sky, enough for that.
The Witcher
Yes, you're reading that correctly, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you. I'm not talking about The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings nor am I talking about one of the most critically acclaimed games in recent years being The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. I'm talking about the original Witcher game that came out in 2007 for PC's. I played all three games back-to-back-to-back and the original was my favorite game of the trilogy, and I know I am in the greater minority in that regard. Don't get me wrong, I loved Wild Hunt, although I wasn't a fan of Assassins of Kings, but there was one thing the original had over its two successors: I felt the most like a Witcher while playing it. I don't mean the combat system, because even I can't argue for the original's excuse for one. I mean as far as preparations go, and how each action carried a weight to it not found in the other games. Every action I took felt methodical and meticulous, careful and deliberate. Predicting what dangers were to come and then creating potions at a bonfire from recipes you discovered yourself never got old for me. Prioritizing which potions to drink before adventuring out felt like actual prep work, while in Witcher 3 you could just press a button and Geralt immediately obtained the effects of the potion without so much of a drinking animation. I liked the self contained investigations each chapter brought that had a unique ebb and flow to them I didn't get in later games. I felt like The Witcher 2 & 3 were trying to pull me in too many directions at once but I always felt at complete ease while playing the original. If playing Trails in the Sky was wrapping up in a warm blanket, then playing The Witcher was akin to huddling up to a fireplace with a nice cup of hot cocoa.Super Mario Sunshine
I never had an N64 when I was young. I had a GameBoy and eventually a Dreamcast but never an N64 so I missed out on a lot of the fond early game memories gamers have of the console today. Instead, I hold those fond memories for many Game Cube games, which was my first Nintendo home console. Such is the case with Super Mario Sunshine, with it being the first 3D Mario game I played. I adored the tropical aesthetics of Delfino Island and I had an absolute blast with the mobility afforded by FLUDD. I enjoyed the fact all the levels were consistent with what you would find on a tropical island, yet very distinct at the same time. I loved the sheer amount of secrets to be found every step of the way and the volume of activities to take in. I relished in the music and how it can instantly take me back to any part of the game just by thinking about a tune. Playing Super Mario Sunshine as a kid was the first time I felt the feeling of not wanting a game to end. I realize many of the points I made for loving Sunshine are the same reason people love Super Mario 64, but Sunshine simply stole my heart away first and has kept a firm grasp of it ever since. (I have a feeling this will change when Super Mario Odyssey comes out, though.)
Toy Commander
Speaking of the Dreamcast being my first home console, a game for it that I hold fond memories of is Toy Commander. To this day I have yet to meet someone personally who has even heard of Toy Commander, much less played it, which is a true shame. Developed by Sega and released in 1999 as a Dreamcast exclusive, Toy Commander, as the name suggests, has the player take control of animated toy vehicles that range from trucks, tanks, airplanes, boats, subs, and much more. Missions took place in various rooms of a house where you would shoot pencil missiles, drop eraser bombs, and lay thumb tack mines as you paved the way to victory against the army of the demented Huggy Bear. If this all sounds like something a 6 year old would come up that's because the game purposefully evoked that feeling and just oozed charm from every aspect of its presentation. Missions ranged from the mundane, such as taking out enemy submarines in a bathtub or pushing eggs into a boiling pot of water, to the wacky, such as preventing UFO's from abducting toy sheep around the room. I played this game when I was six or seven years old and to this day the mission I remember explicitly was controlling an RC car carrying the equivalent of a nuclear payload down the drain of a toilet where a cockroach infestation was originating. From there you navigated the labyrinthine plumbing to locate the cockroach's nest where you detonated the payload and destroyed the problem at its source. Truthfully, the cockroach swarms freaked me out as a kid but I was having so much fun I didn't care. Toy Commander was the first game I ever played that captured my imagination and probably still is one of the most imaginative games to this day. One of my biggest regrets in life was letting my parents convince me when I was young to sell my Dreamcast and all my games at a garage sale, so now I'll never know just how well the game holds up today. But maybe that's for the best. Maybe pure childhood memories should always stay that way, bright and shining.
As a side note, Toy Commander also had a multiplayer mode and it was the only game ever that my dad played with me on a regular basis. There has never been a game since that has caught his attention like Toy Commander did.
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Truthfully, Breath of the Wild is probably my new favorite Zelda game after putting over 100 hours into it but I've already written at length about that game so I want to use this space for a different Zelda title. The Wind Waker was my favorite Zelda up until Breath of the Wild came around and like Super Mario Sunshine that may largely be due to it being my first 3D Zelda. Nostalgia or not though, the strengths of Wind Waker are readily apparent, with its sprawling blue ocean that was so lovingly crafted you could smell the salt breeze. Its characters had so much color, literally and figuratively, that they are easily the most memorable of any other Zelda title. The dungeon designs were short and sweet, concentrating all of Zelda's puzzle solving goodness into compact experiences that never overstayed their welcome. And then there's the soundtrack. Just listen to the track linked above, close your eyes, and tell me you don't immediately visualize that beautiful, sprawling sea. Yes the game was easy. Yes collecting the triforce pieces sucked. Yes sailing sometimes became tedious (although this was fixed in the Wii U HD remake). The highs were so high for me, though, that I was able to easily look past those lows and for the The Wind Waker will forever remain special in my heart. Even if it isn't my favorite Zelda anymore.
The World Ends With You
Winning the award for "Edgiest Title" on this list, The World Ends With You is a veritable gem of the original DS. It flew under the radar of many people during its release back in 2007 and truthfully, I probably would have passed it up too if it wasn't for the fact I saw it get such a high score in Nintendo Power at the time. Boy was I glad I didn't, though. The World Ends With You (TWEWY for short) was a brand new IP from Square Enix and is still one of their most unique titles to this day. From its bold art direction with heavy punk rock aesthetics, to its hoppin' soundtrack filled with songs straight from a rap or pop album, to its unique setting in modern day Shibuya. There was even a mechanic where each clothing piece had a brand associated to it, and depending on the current fashion trends of Shibuya certain brand names may receive bonuses or detriments to their stats. What really set TWEWY apart, though, was its one-of-a-kind battle system. Taking advantage of the DS's two screens, you controlled one character on the top screen using either the D-pad or face buttons, while simultaneously controlling a second character on the bottom screen using the stylus to input touch commands. Both characters shared the same health bar so if one bit the dust, so did the other. If this sounds extremely complicated, that's because it was. The first hour or so of the game will inevitably have you grinding you teeth in frustration as you attempt to parse out what this outlandish system wants from you. But all the while you feel yourself improving bit by tiny bit until you reach a point that battles become choreographed concerts with you the conductor using the stylus as a baton. The battles were immensely satisfying, with each and every victory feeling truly earned, which can't be said for the vast amount of JRPG's out there. Throw in a standout story and other mechanics that were ahead of their time, and TWEWY becomes a downright masterwork that deserved way more attention.
Only one question remains. Where. Is. My damn. Sequel?! You can't just tease one in the secret ending of the game and not deliver Square c'mon!
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
Much like The Witcher series, I pretty much played through the entirety of the Uncharted series straight through. It wasn't even with the Nathan Drake collection either. When I got my PS3 during a Black Friday sale I picked up all three Uncharted's and they just sat around and collected dust until 4 was around the corner and I decided to play them all. Playing through the original trilogy it was obvious to me why people loved the series so much with its high octane action and stunning set pieces. I can also understand peoples' complaints for A Thief's End, as it certainly takes a slower, more methodical approach than its predecessors and also lacks a supernatural element. What made A Thief's End shine for me, however, is how it made me care for a character I never thought I could care for. Nathan Drake was simply an avatar for me, the player, in the original trilogy. He was simply my way of interacting with the game world and that's all I saw him as, and there was nothing wrong with that. The original trilogy was plenty fun without any sort of character growth or powerful story. But then A Thief's End came around and showed me that it could make me care for Nate without detracting, in my opinion, too much from the action-flick feeling of the game. Here is a Nate who cares for his family above all and makes his decision for that family. Some scenes near the end game in particular stuck with and showed just how much he had grown from the reckless punk ass he was in the trilogy into a responsible adult. Not to mention the graphics, oh the graphics! I don't know how it's possible to make a game look so good. Someone at Naughty Dog must've made a deal with the devil. It's the only explanation.
Xenoblade Chronicles
After hard fought and lengthy battle in the form of Operation Rainfall, Monolith Soft's pioneer RPG title on the Wii finally came to the US in 2012 in the form of Xenoblade Chronicles. The title launched during turbulent times for JRPG's, when player perception of the genre was at a low after the poor reception of Final Fantasy XIII. With wide open, gorgeous areas to explore containing secrets around every corner, an engaging battle system that constantly keeps the player on their toes, and its distinctive setting atop the bodies of two colossal titans, Xenoblade Chronicles proved to be a hallmark entry for JRPG's that showed the genre was far from stagnating. The scale of the game was unlike anything seen before and demonstrated how Monolith Soft could deliver on its lofty ambitions to the highest possible degree. The times that I was in sheer awe at the game are innumerable and I always felt like I was working towards something greater no matter what I was doing. If I was able to scrub my memory clean of a single game to re-experience for the first time all over again, I would choose Xenoblade Chronicles in a heartbeat.
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