ImmortalSaiyan's Top 25 games of last gen Part 1 (25-21)

I always played video games but it was not until about 2004 I got really into them. That was when I got into Gamespot and from there Giant Bomb. I spend a whole lot of time either here, or playing various video games. Last gen coincided with high school for me which was a time when I had ample free time and the money to buy games. Thus I was playing as many games as I could manage and as a result ended up playing a lot of quality titles.

Always one to enjoy reflecting back, I thought it would be fun to think about which of those games had the biggest impact on me personally.

For anyone interested, I have only included one game per series and only games from last gen systems so if you wonder why no Persona on this list, that is why. I plan to add a next blog in the series every couple days or so.

Without further ado, lets get started.

25. Mass Effect 2

Mass Effect is probably the best series to come out of last gen. Where most others overstayed thier welcome with too many releases or just bad sequels, Mass Effect managed to be great throughout and was bold to try telling a tale with player input over the course of several games. To that end, Mass Effect is a huge accomplishment. In a decade when people look back on this gen Mass Effect will be talked about.

Ultimately I felt it best to pick one and ME2 is my favorite. The cast of characters, is so much more interesting than the first becoming more than vehicles for expository dialogue. The combat became something you do, to something I really enjoyed and the world was just as fascinating.

24. Halo Reach

For many people Reach was probably just another Halo game albeit a well crafted one. To me however it was the first game the series really clicked. I enjoyed Halo before, but this one, for whatever reason, grabbed me and did not let go for months.

The campaign was awesome and I even beat that sucker on legendary alone. Which was actually a ton of fun but Where I spend the most of my time was in the multiplayer. I eventually got half decent at the game too, rocking the power armor load out, and DR.

23. Pokemon Black/White

As a child there I loved nothing more than Pokemon. Be it the cards, game or show I was all over it. I played the games all the time with a fervor few games since could replicate. After silver however I dropped off and could never find enjoyment in the newer gens.

That is, until Black/White. This was most drastic change the series seen in years and everything they changed was for the better. Keeping it familiar yet feeling fresh. I appreciated there being entirely new Pokemon so not every cave was a den of Zubats, of course there was Woobat, but Woobat is awesome and I will hear nothing to the contrary.

22. Dead or Alive 4

I always had a thing for fighting games. Often terrible ones because I never knew any better as a kid and found them all fun. DOA4 was the first one to inspire me to actually learn the inner workings of how the genre works and make an earnest effort to improve.

Before that DOA was my favorite fighting series because even when you don't truly know what you are doing the series is satisfying to play, but it turns out there is a share of depth to it as well. After several hundred games my lowly Dragon kicking Jann lee became somewhat respectable, netting me some wins. The online community for the game was pretty solid too, good times were had in those odd squid filled lobby's.

21. Journey

Journey is a game of elegant design and simple yet evocative mechanics. Your only ways of interaction are jump or make a noise but the beauty is in what those elements express when intertwined with the sublime audiovisual presentation.

The path may be linear but each Journey feels unique due to the other wanderers you can come across. I still recall the loss of a long time travel partner during a snow storm because of a misstep on my part and how lonely that felt. If you never played Journey, you owe it to yourself because it is truly something special and we need more of that in this medium.