Spoony's Top 100 Games, #60-51

60. Slay the Spire (Megacrit, 2019)

A relatively novel blend of elements, Slay the Spire is one part deck-building card game and one part roguelike, melded together quite expertly.  Building your deck, thinning out your less-useful cards and acquiring various Relics to bolster your abilities (doing everything from restoring HP after battle to damaging enemies every few cards you play) become just as much of a focus as clearing out foes.  As you proceed up floors, defeating progressively tougher enemies, you also get a slew of randomized events - campfires to rest and regain HP or upgrade a single card in your deck, shops, and all manner of random events that can help or hinder you.  Tough and unpredictable as any good roguelike, but with enough of a strategic bent that encourages experimentation and gives it a ton of replayability.

59. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (Level-5, 2005)

Dragon Quest wasn't an especially popular series in the west for a long while; it survived as a niche series in the NES era, but then missed two entire console generations (well, other than a late and little-advertised port of VII on PS1, which looked and felt a bit dated by 2001 standards), so when VIII was announced on the Playstation 2, nobody quite knew what to think.  However, under Level-5's banner the series stepped into a new generation in style, with colorful cel-shaded graphics, expressive character animations in cutscenes and combat alike, and even full voiceover; a very stark contrast to earlier games, which featured the bare minimum for animations and sound design.  The gameplay itself remains faithful to series tradition - turn-based battles and random encounters are still the order of the day - but having a customizable skill set for each of your characters, as well as a new mechanic in "Tension" (basically, storing up strength for one or more turns and then using it to buff up one of your moves) added a new layer of strategy. 

58. Final Fantasy VII (Squaresoft, 1997)

A divisive game among series fans, and while I don't think it's flawless, I can't deny that it's a game that made a huge impact, both on me and on gaming as a whole.  A cinematic experience with stunning visuals (for the time), amazing music, a wonderful central storyline and an amazing cast of characters; I'll never forget the complex, flawed protagonist Cloud, nor the chilling and wicked Sephiroth and his unsettling alien puppetmaster, Jenova.  The gameplay is a bit less well-polished, but consistently entertaining, and the integration of numerous minigames and sub-quests added a lot of variety to the experience.  It may have been followed by a plethora of spinoffs of varying quality and knockoffs of mostly crappy quality, but Final Fantasy VII will always hold a special place.

57. XCOM 2 (Firaxis Games, 2016)

Having played several entries in the series, I can say that XCOM 2, in combination with its War of the Chosen and Shen's Last Gift DLCs, and  is easily my favorite.  While the original is a classic and Enemy Unknown was a great remake, XCOM 2 takes things in an entirely new direction.  Set in a universe after the first alien war was lost and Advent has overtaken the planet with the aim of launching a sinister, world-spanning project, means it's a much darker game, but also one where the odds - and time - are very much stacked against you.  Managing your squad abilities and time are key elements of the strategy, as are making the most of all four new classes and their abilities.  The expansions only compound this, adding in tougher boss characters known as "the Chosen", new recruits in the form of SPARK androids with their own abilities, and a number of customization options.  A game with a lot to see and do, but you can play it for months and not see it all.  And you probably will, because it's ridiculously fun.

56. Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo, 2017)

The Mario franchise was down-and-out for a long time, in my eyes at least.  Between Galaxy 2's general underwhelmingness, a slew of New Super Mario Bros. games that were light on challenge and heavy on recycled content and a severely underfeatured Mario Maker (replete with thousands of horrendous levels on the servers), I was skeptical that Mario would ever return to his former glory as the king of platformers.  It seemed like 3D Land and 3D World were the only decent oases in a desert of mediocre Mario games.  Odyssey proved me wrong in a big way, however.   Returning to the open-world format of 64 but incorporating elements of all things Mario and retaining the high level of polish that made the series a hit from day one, Mario Odyssey is an absolute thrill ride.  There is a huge amount of variety in the worlds and objectives, and all are absolutely packed to the brim with hidden secrets and easter eggs.  A game you can get lost in for weeks and still not see all it has to offer, Mario Odyssey is proof that Mario is - and always will be - the undisputed king of the genre.

55. Half-Life: Alyx (Valve, 2020)

Having lived through the brief fascination with virtual reality in the '90s (as well as a few very underwhelming forays into it like the VFX1 and the Virtual Boy), I scoffed at VR's return in the 2010's as being desperate and gimmicky.  All that said, Alyx was the game that made me a believer.  It incorporates Half-Life's brilliant blend of puzzle solving, creativity and good old gunplay in fine fashion and its atmosphere is top-notch, dropping you right into the oppressive and dangerous world of City 17 armed with only a few firearms, your Gravity Gloves (not quite as powerful as the good ol' Gravity Gun, but still a lot of fun to tinker with) and your wits.  The controls are surprisingly natural,  the dialog is wildly funny, and it had me absolutely hooked throughout its entire runtime.  It still isn't the proper third entry we've been clamoring for, but it's a wonderful new addition to the Half-Life universe and well worth getting immersed in if you have the means.

54. Metal Gear Solid (Konami, 1998)

A reboot of Kojima's stealth-driven Metal Gear franchise, which took the MSX and NES markets by storm with its deep gameplay and intricate storyline for the era.  Solid was definitely a sight to behold when it first came out too, not only for its high production quality on par with a good film (even in spite of the grainy graphical capabilities of the PS1), but for the sheer scope and ambition of its storytelling.  Set in a world facing the threat of widespread nuclear proliferation, terrorism and the eponymous super-weapon Metal Gear REX, Snake's story as a reluctant hero sent to defuse one such situation lends itself to a very layered and compelling narrative.  Throughout it all, though, it also never loses sight of its roots as a video game, making sly references to such and even breaking the fourth wall on occasion.  A true classic.

53. The Legend of Zelda (Nintendo, 1987)

Alongside Mario and Metroid, this was one of the big three games that really put the NES on the map and convinced everyone that console gaming wasn't dead after all.  It's not hard to see why, as Zelda is an ingenious blend of action, adventure and puzzle solving with some great atmosphere.  Action for its hordes of challenging enemies and gigantic bosses, adventure for its enormous dungeons and game environment laden with tons of hidden secrets, and puzzle solving for, well, having to find said secrets and plenty of hidden paths to navigate the dungeons.  You can't rest easy once you've cleared the final dungeon and defeated Ganon, either, as there is a whole new quest awaiting you with everything moved around and much more challenging dungeon layouts and enemies lying in wait.  Still, you don't mind redoing the whole adventure again with things made even tougher this time because the whole experience is so fluid and fun.  A true masterpiece even to this day.

52. Super Metroid (Nintendo, 1994)

While technically a sequel, Super Metroid also serves as something of a remake, taking the design of the original Metroid and expanding on it tenfold.  This comes in the form of a larger game environment, yes, but it also extends to the overall design, with numerous new powerups, countless new abilities for Samus (including the ever-popular Shinespark and wall-jump) and colossal boss battles that really showed off the power of the Super Nintendo platform.  All accompanied by the same moody score and bizarre alien environments of the original, as well as a captivating storyline despite lacking much of a spoken narrative.  Super Metroid is still the gold standard for the genre even twenty years after its release.

51. Mischief Makers (Treasure, 1997)

The first Treasure game I ever played, and once I did, I was hooked on the company for life. Equal parts over the top silly and awesome, the game has you playing as Marina Liteyears, a hyper-strong jet-propelled robotic maid out to rescue Professor Theo from his kidnappers, the Clancer army. The game's mechanics center on grabbing, shaking and throwing items to a variety of effects - grabbing missiles out of the air, shaking them to make them larger, and throwing them back at your enemies to name just one. Tossing enemies into one another, throwing bombs and items into a pot then shaking to "combine" them into one larger item to name a couple more. It even features some delightfully silly stages like riding a giant bee, outrunning a tidal wave on a tricycle and the ever-awesome missile surfing stage (pictured), as well as boss fights against some truly outlandish boss monsters. Hell, there's even a time trial system and a hidden gold gem in each stage that extends the ending cinematic slightly, giving it some considerable replay value as well. Another game that should be rereleased to a wider audience but still hasn't for some reason...

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