• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

HG101 Presents The 200 Best Video Games of All Time (Available Now!)

O

orthodoxy1095

Banned
Leondexter said:
So include Ocarina and not Majora's Mask, then. Which is better is subjective (I would say Ocarina), but which is historically significant is not, and Ocarina is one of the most historically significant games in existence.
Click to expand...
What does historic significance have to do with anything?
By the way, they also snubbed Link to the Past. I suppose that's in favor of Link's Awakening. That's just trolling.
Click to expand...
Ugh.
 
V

ViewtifulJC

Banned
Cool will pick this up

Just looking at the 200 games and the honorable mentions this seems like the best one of these lists yet. No huge gaps, covers console/PC/arcade/handheld, Japanese and Western titles, almost all genres and eras accounted for in some way. And you tried to pick the best game in the series instead of the most influential, starting with the amazing Pacman CE compared to the quaint original
 
T

Thores

Member
Leondexter said:
So include Ocarina and not Majora's Mask, then. Which is better is subjective (I would say Ocarina), but which is historically significant is not, and Ocarina is one of the most historically significant games in existence.

By the way, they also snubbed Link to the Past. I suppose that's in favor of Link's Awakening. That's just trolling.

I suppose every major series could have a separate argument about which entry they picked, though. Like Sonic CD, Street Fighter, RE4 but no other RE games, Doom but not Doom II, no Dark Souls in favor of Bloodborne, which FF they picked, etc.
Click to expand...

HG101's whole MO is showcasing and giving appreciation to overlooked, less covered games. On top of that I believe the editor mentioned that their goal with this list was to be filled with quality games while also avoiding being redundant and the same thing we've all read before. If you want to see another list with Ocarina and LttP on it, you can try every other Top 100 on the Internet.

Link's Awakening is my favorite Zelda game so I'm okay with this
 
D

discoalucard

i am a butthurt babby that can only drool in wonder at shiney objects
Leondexter said:
Speaking of FF: I'm not a Final Fantasy fan, but are V and VI different enough to both make the list?
Click to expand...

A "system" Final Fantasy versus a "story" Final Fantasy. FFV has pretty much the best character creation system in any JRPG, but it lacks the drama that's distinctive of the series. On the other hand, FFVI has the best characters/story, and pretty decent everything else...but what's there is no Job System.

FFV was also picked to talk about Bravely Default, which WOULD have gotten the main pick slot if it weren't for the back half of the game.

Thores said:
HG101's whole MO is showcasing and giving appreciation to overlooked, less covered games. On top of that I believe the editor mentioned that their goal with this list was to be filled with quality games while also avoiding being redundant and the same thing we've all read before. If you want to see another list with Ocarina and LttP on it, you can try every other Top 100 on the Internet.

Link's Awakening is my favorite Zelda game so I'm okay with this
Click to expand...

Pretty much. It's not like we were going all hipster and intentionally snubbing popular entries - we've got still got RE4, Half-Life 2, etc. - but unless it was something we really wanted to write about it, we thought it better to use the space to discuss something less redundant. I picked Link's Awakening over Link to the Past as the "2D Zelda" slot. It's not a super common opinion but it's not like I haven't seen it argued in any other forum topics over the years.
 
B

bjork

Member
I see Pirates! in the list, and I have other HG101 books that I've reread a couple of times through, so I want to get this too. Maybe Santa can bring it.
 
N

neogaffer1

Banned
first time i'm seeing this but looking at that list as someone who's skewed a bit more modern than maybe the audience this is going for, i can't help but feel that there are some titles ignored or snubbed. again, i understand that this is going for a different audience, and that it's the "best" games and not the most influential games of all time, but not seeing Halo: CE on that list alone gives me pause. Say what you want about Halo as a franchise, you cannot deny that the original Halo was something incredibly special in a way that totally defined the FPS space for a very long time. Other stuff I see missing but I can understand not being there are the Arkham games (they might be the best superhero games ever but they don't bring that much to the table you can't find elsewhere other than the love-it-or-hate-it FreeFlow combat system), Dishonored (this I really understand as they have Thief 2 on there and even though I haven't played the old Thief games what I understand about them is that fans of those games enjoy them and view them in a better light than they do Dishonored for very well-defined reasons), and a CoD (not because it's the best series ever or that it sells the most but because it defined the whole console space for a long time, but this is more due to being influential rather than being the best, so it not being there is totally justified--reason I don't say the same for Halo is that Halo is actually one of the best console FPS games ever even outside of its legacy.)
 
O

orthodoxy1095

Banned
I don't know you all are ok with this excerpt being shared, but I wanted to say that I loved this ending to your Persona 4 writeup. You nailed it ^_^

Persona 4

On the title screen, the "Continue" option reads "Return to Inaba", as if you're revisiting a group of old friends rather than just restoring a save game. The universe Atlus has created does an amazing job of eliciting those feelings, to the point that even when the game is over, there is a huge sense of regret, as if there really isn't any other experience like it out there.
Click to expand...

Also, I'm just skimming right now before I dive in completely, but a big shoutout for using Days of Ruin instead of Dual Strike :p

This book is making me realize I have tons of games to get around to playing though...
 
S

SmiteOfHand

Member
neogaffer1 said:
first time i'm seeing this but looking at that list as someone who's skewed a bit more modern than maybe the audience this is going for, i can't help but feel that there are some titles ignored or snubbed. again, i understand that this is going for a different audience, and that it's the "best" games and not the most influential games of all time, but not seeing Halo: CE on that list alone gives me pause. Say what you want about Halo as a franchise, you cannot deny that the original Halo was something incredibly special in a way that totally defined the FPS space for a very long time. Other stuff I see missing but I can understand not being there are the Arkham games (they might be the best superhero games ever but they don't bring that much to the table you can't find elsewhere other than the love-it-or-hate-it FreeFlow combat system), Dishonored (this I really understand as they have Thief 2 on there and even though I haven't played the old Thief games what I understand about them is that fans of those games enjoy them and view them in a better light than they do Dishonored for very well-defined reasons), and a CoD (not because it's the best series ever or that it sells the most but because it defined the whole console space for a long time, but this is more due to being influential rather than being the best, so it not being there is totally justified--reason I don't say the same for Halo is that Halo is actually one of the best console FPS games ever even outside of its legacy.)
Click to expand...

I think it comes down to personal impact will always trump cultural impact when it comes to these things. I can recognize that Halo had a huge impact, but for me it was games like Goldeneye and Quake that defined that experience. If I made a best of list Halo would be completely absent, not because I think it is a bad game, but because the only reason for me to put it there would be because I recognize its significance.

Which is a boring reason to recognize a game, imo, because cultural impact is almost always self-evident. Introspection is the most interesting exploration of worth and the reason why the write ups are so important to this list. This isn't a list of the 200 best games, it is a look into what defines a small group of editors through the lens of video games.

The overlap of personal impact, or lack thereof, doesn't make us friends or enemies, and they definitely don't cancel each other out.
 
D

Deleted member 126221

Unconfirmed Member
Any way to buy this book in Canada without paying an exorbitant price for shipping?
 
O

orthodoxy1095

Banned
Leondexter said:
Wasn't my call, I just read the thread.
Click to expand...
Check the actual book. Jamix has no idea what the book's aim was.
Building the list was not particularly democratic. Basically, a bunch of us staff members started by listing our own personal favorite games and used that as a starting point. Then, we mapped out which genres we wanted to cover and how many entries to allocate to each. Additionally, each entry was chosen specifically to represent something. For late 90s/early 00s first person shooters, we chose Jedi Knight and No One Lives Forever, since those were the best representative of that era. Other lists select games based on historical importance, or its quality at the time of release, but we wanted this to be a list of games that were still worth playing today. The list we initially assembled had some gaps - for example, none of us had selected any real time strategy games - so we reached out to many of our other contributors to round out the list, as well.
Click to expand...
SmiteOfHand said:
I think it comes down to personal impact will always trump cultural impact when it comes to these things. I can recognize that Halo had a huge impact, but for me it was games like Goldeneye and Quake that defined that experience. If I made a best of list Halo would be completely absent, not because I think it is a bad game, but because the only reason for me to put it there would be because I recognize its significance.

Which is a boring reason to recognize a game, imo, because cultural impact is almost always self-evident. Introspection is the most interesting exploration of worth and the reason why the write ups are so important to this list. This isn't a list of the 200 best games, it is a look into what defines a small group of editors through the lens of video games.

The overlap of personal impact, or lack thereof, doesn't make us friends or enemies, and they definitely don't cancel each other out.
Click to expand...
Likewise, I recognize Halo's importance, but I don't know that it'd be on my hypothetical list. It could be, but I could see myself looking to other games as my "best" rather than picking Halo on some boring basis of historic significance.
 
T

Taborcarn

Member
Seems like a generally good list, and I hate complaining about other people's opinions...
but Bulletstorm?

anigif_enhanced-buzz-11860-1367655005-0.gif
 
woopWOOP

woopWOOP

Member
Sounds neat. If there's any BEST GAMES list I can expect to be balanced and informative it's gonna be from the HG101 folks.

Might get this.
 
T

Turin Turambar

Member
It's a great list, I can only complain of not having any Quake game (and instead they put Blood, uh) and no Master of Magic/Master of Orion.
 
R

Robert at Zeboyd Games

Banned
Leondexter said:
By the way, they also snubbed Link to the Past. I suppose that's in favor of Link's Awakening. That's just trolling.
Click to expand...

LttP is probably my favorite game in the series, but I'm not going to be upset at anyone who prefer's Link's Awakening - it's an amazing game, especially when you take into account the hardware limitations.
 
D

Dandy Crocodile

Member
I mean, I definitely understand that Ocarina and FF7 are HUGELY important but they've been on so many top games lists and I've read so many justifications for their spots there that it's sort of refreshing to see different games get a nice write-up like this.
 
H

Htown

STOP SHITTING ON MY MOTHER'S HEADSTONE
Freespace 2 is on this list.

These motherfuckers know what they're talking about.
 
V

Version 3.0

Member
orthodoxy1095 said:
Check the actual book. Jamix has no idea what the book's aim was.
Click to expand...

Ah, well fair enough, then.


Robert at Zeboyd Games said:
LttP is probably my favorite game in the series, but I'm not going to be upset at anyone who prefer's Link's Awakening - it's an amazing game, especially when you take into account the hardware limitations.
Click to expand...

The hardware limitations are the biggest reason I'd rank it lower. There are very few things in any video game as tedious and annoying as managing two item slots in a game as item-heavy as Zelda. Especially when those two slots include the sword and shield. It also necessitates the tiny, cramped view of the world and of course the ear-grating trademark Game Boy audio. The designers absolutely got the most out of that piece of junk, but the game is still severely hindered by the platform.
 
F

Fancy Clown

Member
Resident Evil 4, Half Life 2, Bloodborne, Last of Us, Metal Gear Solid 3

They pretty much got my top 5 in there. Rest of the list looks solid too. I would have thrown Metal Slug X over 3, but they're both the best of series.
 
E

Ezalc

Member
Loses points for having Earthbound on the list and having F-Zero X instead of the superior in every way GX. No Skies of Arcadia or Final Fantasy IX is also a travesty. At least they got God Hand, Bayo 2, MGR, Super Metroid, Metroid Prime, and Fire Emblem PoR though.
 
T

Taborcarn

Member
Turin Turambar said:
It's widely considered (by the people who actually played it) pretty good.
Click to expand...

I played and beat it, and it's an average to middling shooter at best. Combo system can be fun for a while but doesn't belong in a best of list. Really only memorable for the "dicktits" shock value.
 
S

SpotAnime

Member
I've been using HCG101 as a reference for years to discover a lot more Japanese games, as well as those games which are less appreciated by the mainstream. I'm looking for this book to do no different for me. I just ordered the color print version, I look forward to reading their analysis on both the games I'm familiar with as well as those which I am not.

Plus, met Kurt at TooManyGames this year, he's a great guy who truly loves games. I'll support them however I can.
 
S

Sir_Crocodile

Member
Robert at Zeboyd Games said:
Here's the games covered:



One of the best Top Games lists I've ever seen (with the criteria being I like a lot of the games on the list).
Click to expand...

Sir_Crocodile said:
UFO: Enemy Unknown/ XCOM: Ufo Defence is the best pc game ever so I'd assume it makes the cut lol

Hoping to see Shining Force 3, Panzer Dragoon Saga & Story of Thor. Speaking of Prince of Persia, wonder if the SNES port of the original will make the cut? Definitive version for me
Click to expand...

No thor, no shining. :/

On the plus side, ufo, saga and pop all make it. hope they talk about snes pop which is best pop
 
D

Duster

Member
Is there a list of the honourable mentions anywhere?

If not is Spelunky mentioned at all? Unlike other games (Tetris!) I can't see what would have taken it's place based on the similarities between them but naturally it's easy to miss something amongst 200 games many of which I'm not overly familiar with.

Good to see TxK on there and I'm glad they went with Link's Awakening too.
 
O

orthodoxy1095

Banned
Duster said:
Is there a list of the honourable mentions anywhere?

If not is Spelunky mentioned at all? Unlike other games (Tetris!) I can't see what would have taken it's place based on the similarities between them but naturally it's easy to miss something amongst 200 games many of which I'm not overly familiar with.

Good to see TxK on there and I'm glad they went with Link's Awakening too.
Click to expand...
It's mentioned in the "see also" section on the Rogue Legacy page! I think they view RL as the superior "Rogue-platformer hybrid."
 
T

Thores

Member
Got my copy today and skimmed the whole thing!

I've gotta say that this is a fantastic list. I was glad to see quality, underrated games like Ape Escape, Brave Fencer Musashi, and Chibi-Robo in the See Also and Runner-Up sections.

If I had one qualm, it'd probably be that not a single Pokemon game made it onto the entire list. Or even a game like it! For such a prominent sub-genre. you'd think to have at least included a "monster battling RPG" or two in the master list. Is the editing team just not super into that kind of game?

But yeah, A+ book overall. I'll probably gush about more specific stuff when I reread this more in-depth.
 
cj_iwakura

cj_iwakura

Member
Thores said:
Got my copy today and skimmed the whole thing!

I've gotta say that this is a fantastic list. I was glad to see quality, underrated games like Ape Escape, Brave Fencer Musashi, and Chibi-Robo in the See Also and Runner-Up sections.

If I had one qualm, it'd probably be that not a single Pokemon game made it onto the entire list. Or even a game like it! For such a prominent sub-genre. you'd think to have at least included a "monster battling RPG" or two in the master list. Is the editing team just not super into that kind of game?
Click to expand...

That's what SMT is there for. :p
I can't speak for everyone, but I'm not into Pokemon at all. (I had nothing to do with the SMT portions either.)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

[Metacritic] The Top 25 RPGs of 2023
42
2K
Raven117 replied
The Game Awards 2023 Fan Voted Player's Voice Award Voting Is Open
2
56
3K
Snowdonhoffen replied
DICE Awards 2024 Winners: The Full List
News 2
65
3K
Lupin25 replied
27th Annual DICE Awards Finalists Revealed
News
11
856
Thick Thighs Save Lives replied
  • Poll
So we've reached the point where it's pretty much unquestionable that 2023 is the greatest year ever in gaming, right?
4 5 6 7 8
396
19K
analog_future replied
Top Bottom