Top Ten Favorite Games

*Disclaimer: Not every game is in a hyper specfic order considering. I'm picking most of these titles from the top of my Head.*

I never had a computer as a kid, sure I've used the computer in schools to play flash games and watch YouTube. My family never had that much use for a computer at the time, but I did. I never played many p.c as a kid I was more big on to console games, and most of the time I would watch reviews about the games. From elementary on to college I played exclusively on console and the occasional handheld. I just never owned a powerful computer in years. Although in middle school I've seen my friends play minecraft in its absolute zenith. Although looking from a outsider's perspective it was boring and I never paid attention (thank god). Fast-forward to the start of 2019 I finally bought a relatively powerful laptop that can handle pretty much any thing. I create a steam and gog account (Good old games) and bought Numerous games for what seems like the price of chinese take-out. Now with 17 years of Video games knowledge under my belt, I want share my top ten favorites with the people at home.

 



 

10# Deus Ex: In the 2000's ion storm crated one of the greatest hybrid of rpg, first person shooter, stealth and sci-fi in games history. Sweeping award shows and showing the industry that even a mash up of concepts can fit when grinded to a polished sheen. The story follows an unspecfic future of 2052 New york city. In this specific universe all conpsiracy theories you heard about the goverment and life are true, absurd or other wise. the theories adds a bigger element dealing with society with it's problems economy, corperations, free will, augmented super humans. All of these ideas are viewed through the lense of one agent " J.C Denton". J.C Works for a anti terrorist organization that is investigating the hijacking of a cure for the grey death. To fully grasp the overall gravity of the cure. The in-game lore explaines it's no more a distance relative to the bubonic plauge. During this investigation J.C Denton discovers that his brother is a double agent for a rebel group and knowsa that the grey death was a man made virus sent to thin out the population so the goverment can seize more power. It spirals into chaos when unatco tries to kill J.C from knowing the truth. It's up to you to discover major secrets while watching your back from shadowy figures. Deus EX is a first person shooter and role playing game. You can utlilize a series of weapons that range from pistols, tasers, shotguns, grenades, automatic or sniper rifles ect. Not only are these weapons useful it's how you use them. Your also given augmentated abilites to Do you want to go loud and dumb, or silent and ghost like in nature. It all depends on you. The game amazing despite it being made in te 2000s. I do recommend getting the "Game Of The Year edition" expansion-as it adds a mission that cannot be accessed in game when you play the main campaign. I would also recommend the deus ex revision mod; it revamps the graphics to up the polygon count and gives the overworld and rooms a more modern look. The game goes on sale many times during the holiday season or just because gabe told it to do so.

 



 

9#)Marvel vs capcom 2 New age of heroes: This is by far one of my favorite 2d fighters of all time. I bought this on my Christmas break from 2002. At first, I never understood fighting games at all considering I couldn’t understand many game mechanics, except platformers or simple controls. It just took a lot of practice and muscle memory to understand fighters, now I can pick up any 2d and 3d fighting games. The game Is a crossover game with two titans of entertainment each famous in their respective fields.In America we have "Marvel comics" creators of iconic comic book heroes like the x-men, iron man, captain America, spider-man etc. Coming from the island nation of Japan is "Capcom" This video game company is well knowned for many legendary games such as; "Mega man", "Resident evil", "Street Fighter", "Dark-Stalkers" (Vampire Savior In Japan). It’s a three by three fighter with a 6-button layout for punches and kicks combined with the characters signature moves from there respective media's as well as a hyper combo. The game included six game modes: The arcade you will play 8 stages fighting 3 charater's at once then you will fight the main boss "Abyss" He will have three different stages so be cautious. Once you start the game there will only have a set roster of 24 characters to chose, as you play over and overthe game will give you points to spend on the shop for more characters and stages. There is also time attack, versus mode where you play against friends. Years later the game was released for ps3 and Xbox 360 with multiplayer so people can play against people around the world... Although now the game has been removed from "PSN" and "XBLV" due to the Disney buy out of marvel comics. The game is very expensive to play due to copies not being is massive circulation. But if you have a copy keep it clean and scratch-free.

 



8) Sly Cooper and the theivus racoonus: The star of the game is sly cooper a master thief and raccoon, He and his friends plan to steal back his family’s precious heirloom: a book of their family history of Being master thief's. Years ago, when sly was just a child his family were murdered by the fiendish-five who planned to steal the book. Each of the pages were split into five and scattered around the world. So, with his longtime friends: Bentley and Murray. They plan to take each member down and restore his family’s greatest treasure. The game is most reminsest of a cartoon you would see on tv cross-bred with a film noir motif.The First area you visit is paris france in a police station where you begin to learn the main mechaninics of the game. It's captures the dark-but light hearted setting the game is looking for in spades. You have your jump which is basic and sly's family heirloom " his cane" it's a multi-purpose tool taht is use for a single hit attack. Traversing the area can see you climbing on pipes, walking on tight ropes or parkouring on buildings. There are five areas to visit like the isle of wrath, utah, hati, china, and russia. Each area is unique to the area as well as the personailites of the main bad guy of the game. You can beat the game in 8 hours if you find all the keys, beat the time trails, find all the pages of the book and so on. You'll even get a few short movies and behind the scenes of how the game started, concept art and key art. Plus you can even see the commerical's that air on tv. Buy it for less than soda on lukie games.


 



8) In the sequel “Band of thieves” The gang is back at it again in a much more greather ephisis on the stealth and has a "Mission impossible" like feel to each mission and area. The game is bigger in scope with larger overworlds with more to explore. The level based structure is replaced with more of heist based goals with breaking and entering, robbery, demoliton and sabotage missions. These types of missions leads to a much more thematic climax once you completed and fight the main boss of the area. The story takes place after the events of "Sly Cooper" The cooper gang goes around the world again to collect parts from sly’s sworn enemy Clockwork.After their fated encounter each clockwork part is split between a group of thieves known as the Klaww gang. Each of these parts are very dangerous regardless if the individual is dead. The Klaww gang uses the parts for as tools for their criminal empire. You can explore throughout the overworld going on missions and stealing valuable loot. Missions will be highlighted to you as big markers of sly's or his team's face. Sly may work solo but he always has his friends. Bently and Murray are playable in the sequel. Bently and murray are playable with different move sets each spefic to there personaility. Bently is the smartest and weakest. He uses his bombs, sleeping darts and gadgets to incapatiated enemies. Murray is the strongest so he uses his fists and imtimidating size to take out guards with ease. The overworld Guards skulk around looking for intruders and will attack you on sight so stick to rooftops. It’s better to sneak around or knock them out plus you can pickpocket them for their jewelry and sell them on the thief net. The story is even better than "Sly 1" way more dramatic as it builds

 



8) In Sly 3 Honor among thieves sly assembles his old friends and new members to unlock his family’s vault from generations from ancient Egypt to his father. But Sly’s father had a team member that has become greedy and jealous of his family's fame. He turned an island into his fortress and will try to get in the vault. I remember the tv ads for the game and it was a priority one for me to play the game. The game is similar but different from sly 2 where the game still has the grand heist and outstanding locals like Italy, China, the Australian outback, Holland, even a pirate town. There are missions are considered gimmicks but add to the overall bigger scope the game wanted to feel. Missions that have you control large flatbed trucks to crush giant scorpions, pilot an airplane in a dogfight completion and pirate ship naval battles. The game is still fun to play and has similar ideas from a band of thieves. The sly trilogy is one of the best series developers sucker punch has ever created and is still noted as one of the best series in the ps2 library.

 



8) Jak and Daxter started as an action-adventure platformer. It began 1998 when naughty dog was creating crash team racing alongside it under the name project y. The first game had Jak and Daxter exploring the misty islands. A forbidden area that houses their enemies “the lurkers.” After sailing to the island, they find out the lurkers are going to invade Jak and Daxter's village. The duo finds a well of black ooze called dark eco. Dexter stumbles on to the ooze turning him into an otsel, this universe equivalent of a weasel. You're told by your parental figure the green sage to find another sage that can help but he is far to the north. You travel around the world doing odd jobs for power cells: a collectible in the game. these Power cells let you pass tolls that will lead to the next area. You can also find scout-flies if you collect seven you can get a free Powercell. You can also collect precursor orbs and give them to wandering NPCs that would need them. There is also a Powercell vendor. It has this booming voice that tells you to pay for the Powercell. After hours and a few boss battles Daxter never tuned back but if you 100% the game finding all the cells, orbs, and fly's you get a secret ending. What is it well play the next game to find out?

 



Jak 2:Naughty dog would come out swinging with Jak 2, only this time the game would take a fresh look for itself. The naughty dog took some influences from games like grand theft auto with its numerous vehicles and weapons buttoned down the mature aspect so it's appropriate for an E 10+ rating. In the events of Jak and Daxter, it turns out they found materials for an unknown vehicle and a large portal. The portal opens revealing a giant bug-like monster that has a grudge against Jak. The machine propels into the portal with Jak, Daxter, the sage, and his daughter Kira. They are separated and sent into what seems to be a dystopian future. Jak is taken prisoner while Daxter runs away scared. 2 years later Daxter breaks him out of prison Jak burst out in this beastly form and generates dark eco power. But once he's calmed down Jak speaks his first word. In the original game, Jak was mute. This was a decision by naughty dog for Jak to never speak in the first game. The game host a larger open world with weapons and vehicles alongside two new enemies the crimson guards plus the murderous metalheads. You even encounter the resistance who is fighting against both the metalheads and crimson raiders. Jak collects some powerful weapons like eco guns. weapons that use eco as ammo. You are also given dark eco powers. You can earn more powers by collecting metalhead tokens. The game was first seen as an odd departure, but fans loved it all the same and more.

 

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Jak 3 is considered the end of the mainline Jak and Daxter games. It increases its overall size in its over-world with the inclusion of the wasteland. Jak and Daxter are banished from haven city by the new government of haven city due to an incident where the metalheads and the Newley created crimson guard robots took over a sizeable portion of the city. Left for dead he is found by the wastelands; a society of outcast citizens that take solace in the desert. Jak also discovers a group of monks that have prophesied the end of the world. It's said that a star will descend to the planet annihilating all of existence... or could it be something else? In the third game the map has increased significantly with the dessert, haven city, the precursor ruins. Combat is still the same, you can still punch and kick enemies. When you play the game, you will find armor pieces for Jak. They will increase your overall health, so you won’t die easy. Your eco weapons get two new upgrades from there base form and can deal distinct types of attacks. These upgrades will waste more ammo, but it can be handy in heavy fire fights.

 

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  When I first got my ps2 it would be a long time before I could buy another video Game. It felt like my luck with getting a game filled up overtime like a meter bar, so I can ask my parents or grandma for a game. I bought ratchet and clank in 2004, I think. But In my time, I still wasn’t that skilled to get passed the game. That was due to roadblock that I will get to in a few. The plot is about a lonely alien name ratchet, he’s building a ship to escape his home planet in order to explore the galaxy. Due to lack of a robotic navigation system his ship can’t take off. But one fate encounter has him met with his ticket out of his planet and best friend “Clank.” The game has numerous planets with secrets to find with like hidden gadgets, and in-game secrets that you can find in the pause menu. You can buy weapons from a vendor that cost bolt. Bolts are this games currency. Certain bolts will be the equivalents of 1 dollar or 5, 10, 20, 100 plus the are in brown wooden boxes. Weapons will range from the bomb glove, blaster, pyrocitor, suck cannon, telsa claw. Some can be powerful but if you want a death wish try saving up for the rhino. The weapon has been known in game as the most dangerous in terms of sheer fire power and destruction the only way is to collect over 250,000 bolts. The game is a pretty fun and it can steadily ramp up the difficulty for the last stretch of the game.

   

  

  Racthet and clank Going commando:Insomniac games had this running gag for subtitling their games with innuendos so people who look at this game. I never had clue about the innuendos when I was watching did you know gaming; sadly, in Europe they only titled the games in numbers. Ratchet and clank have defeated chairmen drek and stopped his evil plans. Now they are herald as Solara's greatest heroes. They get fame, fortune, and fans but people don’t want a hero now. After doing a TV interview they are abducted by Mr. Abercrombie Fizzwidget CEO of megarorp. He gives ratchet military training to find “The Experiment” and clank is given an apartment and a job as an account for megacorp. But they are reunited as they suspect something evil about megacorp. The weapons are now even more powerful, when in use a bar in the top left corner will fill up and once it’s done your weapon will upgrade itself with a more powerful variant. Plus, one of the planets has a gagdettron shop and if you have a ps2 save game from ratchet a clank 1 you have a few of your old weapons like the bomb glove, or the telsa claw and more. In the sequel insomniac programed a few new features like the hoverbike race and the arena battles. These are in certain planets and will give money or items. Some planets are larger and less liner than others two vast with crystals to get a ton of bolts. Going commando is my favorite of the three ratchet and clank games.

   

  

  Ratchet and clank Up your arsenal: Up your arsenal is the third game of the series as well as a fan favorite. In truthI love going commando a lot more than up your aresnal. I still love it all the same, but it can get a bit lacking exploration and There is no hoverbike racing or ship combat. The story picks off months later when Ratchet and Clank save the galaxy. They taking some downtime to relax and reveals in their fame. A news report shows ratchets home planet is being invaded by a war-hungry alien race, Ratchet scrambles his supplies and his ship to hyperjump to the solana galaxy. Fighting the aliens head on, He and clank are recruited on the galactic rangers. The rangers are... really weak and stupid, they help but they will run away leaving ratchet with all the busy work. New features were added like the warzone in the main story and multiplayer modes for online competive play. In the mid-2000s, Sony wanted to show off the online capabilities of the ps2 and games play ratcher and clank were a perfect example to try.Your weapons can now be upgraded to level 5 as opposed to just one. A certain weapon I want to explain is the shock blaster- a shotgun type weapon: as you upgrade it can charge into a screen tearing blast that can clear a whole room. There are 22 weapons and 13 items to collect from vendors or exploration. The gladiator matches are back but now including new stages and challeges such as the obstacle courses, or boss rushes. The warzone act's as a battle ground for wars happening on other planets. These are mandatory if you wish to go to another planet and progress the story. Objectives in warzone have specific objectives like kill a set number of enemies, fight against the clock until reinforcements arrive. I liked these sections but i felt that it wasn't in good back then but it’s just annoying. Overall the game is fun but not my favorite of the ps2 era.

   

  

  7) Kingdom hearts: So, imagine mixing the family-friendly images of Micky Mouse, Donald duck or goofy as well as characters from Alice in wonderland, Hercules, peter pan at all the Disney iconography and combine it a jrpg ( Japanese role-playing game). Square soft are the creators of famous RPG like final fantasy, Chrono trigger, super Mario RPG, parasite eve, the secret of mana and so many underrated RPG games. This is the result of Kingdom hearts. So, the story is about this kid named Sora and his friends. They hang around an island built out of scrap wood and plan to make a raft so they can explore another world. But one day the island is invaded by shadow creatures called the heartless. Beings of darkness with no soul. His friend Riku seems to be excited about what’s happening to the island and Kairi disappears from existence! But suddenly Sora is given a keyblade the series main weapon. It's the only weapon that can harm a heartless. In Sora’s daze, he awakens in traverse town and meets final fantasy characters. Like squall or Leon as he likes to call himself, Cid, Aerith, Cloud, and Yuffie. They explain to sora that the key blade can help save other worlds from the heartless by locking them out. He also meets his new teammates Donald and goofy. Once you leave traverse town you can explore the world map and go to iconic Disney locations and meet famous Disney characters. All the while battling the heartless. To battle, You mainly use the x button for everything x to attack, for magic and for quick magic use left trigger you can use fire, blizzard, thunder, and cure magic all the while having summons. Creatures like Simba, Dumbo, Mushu, and Tinker Bell. In tradition RPG fashion when you battle enemies you gain exp points once you’ve collected enough you will level up in response the game will reward you with increased health, defense, magic or special attacks. The music in kingdom hearts is Amazing, my favorite track is the title song, dearly beloved and traverse town. Kingdom hearts is a long-running series that has over 10+ games. My favorites are the first and second games. The latest game came out a few months ago with kingdom hearts Three. I highly recommend anyone to buy the collection on ps4.

   

  

  6) Infamous:In 2009 Sly cooper devs sucker punch developed a new intellectual property in the form of Infamous. It begins with the start screen telling you to press the start button. Once you do that a huge explosion happens with a glowing blue field killing hundreds of people. That is how you start a game. Death and destruction. Cole Mcgraph a delivery man gets a call to deliver a package but no one to receive it. He opens it and a large explosion ravages empire city. But he is left alive in the rubble. Cole staggers in trying to walk. Almost dead he passes out and awakens to discover that he has electric powers. Weeks later the city becomes quarantine for a plague, the military has sacntioned off the city to the rest of the world. Empire city has devloed into it's own 3rd world country.The only authorities have run and hide from Factions taking control Like the reapers, the trashmen, and the first sons. This is where Cole comes in. Cole has honed his powers enough to be a superhero... or a villain. This is the unique aspect about infamous it gives you the ability to choose to do be good or evil and the effects ripple across the city where if you do a good deed like let people have the food they won’t starve or scare people and they will starve. Choices like this will affect the city and cole. He will act softer and nicer or a complete bastard in evil, his clothes will be brighter or blacker with his head having black lines on his head. His powers will also affect they will be blue lightning or red and black lighting, Speaking of powers they can be obtained when you restart a transformer in the sewers it ranges from grenades, sniper, rockets, and one I call thunder force where Cole summons a thunder strike from the sky. The game is so fun and only gets harder. The game is an Amazing experience plus it’s super cheap. Pick it up for the ps3.

   

  

  5) Fallout: New Vegas. Left for dead with a bullet to the brain, buired in  outskirts of New Vegas. In fallout new Vegas you are killed for no reason by a gangster by the name of benny. Awaken by a kind doctor that's patched you up and it gave you direction to where you want to go. It’s up to you to find out why or either doesn’t care and kill him for shooting you in the brain. You hear about the sin steeped street of new Vegas and that is your only lead. Things turn chaotic when you the courier is in the middle of a territorial gang war for the Mojave Desert. In this universes America nuclear war ravaged the American landscape mutating the people and wildlife. The few survivors created wither society's or gangs to gain control. You the courier can kill them with a multitude of weapons in wither a loud and messy fashion or silent and clean. Fallout can be played in first person or third person In fallout NV, you can create a new character with its own “Special” a series of skills that are affected by the number of points; such as strength, perception, endurance, charisma, intelligence, agility and luck. These are the skill will affect how your character plays. You can also use the trait chart and put in point for skills that you want to learn like small guns or explosives persuasion, lockpicking, medical. This game is huge weapons, NPCs, enemies and morally grey decisions that could define the fate of the Mojave Desert. It will give you hours of fun to just do whatever you want.

   

  

  4) Persona 3 , 4, and 5 I want to explain the plot of each series an only the gameplay in separate paragraphs. Imagine a Highschool simulator combines with a Role-playing game, it sounds stupid and it is but, in reality, it's one of the most beloved franchises of all time for its story, gameplay and memorable characters that have made a lasting impression for fans of RPGs, anime fans and people with odd fascinations with keeping schedule. Persona is a Japanese role-playing video game for the ps2 and 4. You play an unnamed main character that changes from each game in design. The main character is relocated to specific cities in japan either in a city or a small town, they will meet their new friends and get acquainted with their new surroundings. Until they have a fated encounter with supernatural beings that are not from this plane of existence. The main gameplay is based around killing creatures called the shadows. Many of these shadows are of unknown origin that only appear in metaverses they are neither human or even animal just black incorporeal blobs. Once you enter your persona shall awaken: a being of your soul manifested in physical form. These personas can vary to beings from mythology or history, some can vary from all religions. Each persona is given powers like manipulation of fire, ice, electricity, wind, light and dark magic. Even physical attacks. In this metaverse, you are greeted by a man named Igor the host of the velvet room. The vet room is a pocket dimension in which you can fuse your persona with monsters from various means. You can also have our friends help in the battle with their personas. To get your personas to be more powerful you must develop relationships with people that are represented of the 21-tarot arcana.
  

   

  

  Persona 3 fes:The player takes the role of a male high-school student who transfers to a new high school in downtown japan. He enrolls into his new school and his dorm where he will live with several other students. Three have relieved to the hero to be as the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad (SEES), a group of students investigating the Dark Hour, a time period between one day and the next that few people are aware of. Coffins rise up and people are sleeping inside but as a result the shadows rise and cause havoc. If people are outside the coffins they will transform into shadows. the player enters Tartarus, a large tower containing Shadows the tower ascends high into the sky and it’s up to you can your classmates to find out what is beyond the tower.

   

  

  Persona 4: Persona 4takes place in the fictional, rural Japanese town of Inaba, a boring town that has nothing major to do. Lately many unexplained murders have taken place in the small town, policemen find clues about the culprit but only the bodies are found dangling from television antennas and their cause of death being unknown. After goofing around in Applicance store with your new friends you find a portal to another world in you find a talking bear roaming around. they encounter Teddie, who helps them travel freely between the TV and real worlds. They awaken their Persona abilities, realizing that the murders stem from attacks by Shadows, beings native to the TV world created from repressed emotions, and rescue several would-be victims. You must spend your days investigating the tv world as well as how who the killer is all the while finding how the he killed his victims.

   

  

  Persona5: Persona 5's story revolves around a group of high school students who harness Personas, physical manifestations of their inner psyche. These students discover a meta dimension where they can see the manifestation of people’s fears, desires and ego as a caricature of how people act in real life. You can your friends must don disguises to steal their “heart” as the phantom thieves. You garner underground fame to international infamy from authority’s who view the methods of the phantom thieves.

   

  

  3) Tony hawk series pro skater to project 8: I love Skateboaring. Not much skill on my end but I can at least ride and jump without hurting my self.In the 90's and all through the mid 2000s Tony hawk was a household name, his games were spinning in disc trays no matter what console you own. playstation, xbox, gamecube or pc. It was everywhere, and it was the best. Each game imporved with new stages, tricks or just some mininal nonsenese that made you laugh or rage. pro skaters were added to the roster from world champions to underground legends. Customizble decks with art work by some of the sponsored companies. Sountracks that range from ska, punk, rock ,classic, metal, hip-hop, rap. This series embodied the alternative lifestyle in a fun way. My favorites of the bunch are American wasteland, Pro skater 3 and 4, underground 2 and project 8.

  It's super cheap for any system or download it for abandonware.

   

  

  2) Tekken Series: I can't express my whole thoughts on tekken without swearing like a madman. Tekken ROCKS, it rocks so hard it can replace all building structure and never have to deal with decay and cracks of foundation. what do you get; 3d fighters with numerous real world fighting styles and varies from nationalitys. Music is would send anyone into a break dancing fit, This game is a monster of franchise and will continute long before I shuffle off this mortal coil. Play it or be shuned, by society at large.

   

  

  Don't ask me for any information on the game. This is game that needs fresh eyes to experience