Here it is! The finals...with nary a single upset so far in the entire bracket! (Which raises the irritating question: should we even bother voting in the future?)
I've really enjoyed this particular Desert Island Draft, in part because video games are not the media arena in which I'm the most well-versed. That's made it a genuine pleasure to gather up so many recommendations from all of you that I intend to play in the months and years to come. It's also made it rather ironic that these playoffs are the deepest I've ever gone in a Desert Island Draft. Hah.
I thank all of those who decided to toss votes my way in the prior rounds and here in the finals. Considering just how varied taste in games have been amongst all of the drafters, I had no expectations regarding seeding and voting outcomes. That said, I'm quite proud of the list I created, and I'm happy that others have found appreciation in it, as well.
Good luck to @Löwenherz, who was very deserving of the #1 seed. Killer f***ing list.
I've really enjoyed this particular Desert Island Draft, in part because video games are not the media arena in which I'm the most well-versed. That's made it a genuine pleasure to gather up so many recommendations from all of you that I intend to play in the months and years to come. It's also made it rather ironic that these playoffs are the deepest I've ever gone in a Desert Island Draft. Hah.
I thank all of those who decided to toss votes my way in the prior rounds and here in the finals. Considering just how varied taste in games have been amongst all of the drafters, I had no expectations regarding seeding and voting outcomes. That said, I'm quite proud of the list I created, and I'm happy that others have found appreciation in it, as well.
Good luck to @Löwenherz, who was very deserving of the #1 seed. Killer f***ing list.
Squaring off against my #1 ranked list is bittersweet. But should I go down now, it’s all worth it to be able to hand over this long rusted and brittle Video Game Draft Champion’s crown no one remembers I have to Padrino.
Despite saying he just recently returned to the hobby, Padrino put together a diverse, deep, and artistically interesting roster that has something for everyone while also being authentically autobiographical and not sacrificing satisfyingly complex and rich mechanics and narratives.
Regardless of the outcome, I look at my own roster fully satisfied with a list that from top to bottom fills me with joy. On top of that, at minimum I’ve encouraged hrdboild to try Skies of Arcadia and Padrino to look at Bioshock: Infinite. That is all the victory I need.
My only regret being I couldn’t include Civ II, StarCraft, Valkyria Chronicles, Shadow over Mystara, and Mirror’s Edge (and Mega Man 9) to really offer a complete picture of my gaming journey for the past 35 years.
Here it is! The finals...with nary a single upset so far in the entire bracket! (Which raises the irritating question: should we even bother voting in the future?)
What I find interesting about that fact (which may not hold) was that you had said in the private participant lists the votes were all over the place and that virtually every list was someone else's favorite and least favorite. And yet chalk through the finals. So odd.
S Super Metroid GoldenEye 007 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
A Super Mario Bros. 3
Mega Man X Disco Elysium
B XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Chrono Trigger The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Mortal Kombat II Hollow Knight Citizen Sleeper
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Castlevania
C Bioshock: Infinite Mass Effect
Elden Ring Super Mario Kart
Hades Illusion of Gaia
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
D Dark Souls Remaster
Control
No Man's Sky Odin Sphere
Skies of Arcadia
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredders Revenge
Cyberpunk 2077
Persona 5 Royal Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition
What I find interesting about that fact (which may not hold) was that you had said in the private participant lists the votes were all over the place and that virtually every list was someone else's favorite and least favorite. And yet chalk through the finals. So odd.
I'm not saying my list makes sense beyond my personal preferences. I have many beat em ups on my console, but I don't think I'm in Shredder's Revenge's target audience.
I still voted for you. You were number 2 in my rankings behind Insomniacal Fan.
Here it is! The finals...with nary a single upset so far in the entire bracket! (Which raises the irritating question: should we even bother voting in the future?)
I don't have a gimmick or a scoring system this time. I did try going line by line and comparing the picks made in each round and Padrino came out ahead in that exercise mostly because of the picks in the middle rounds. But I didn't pick my games in the order I would have ranked them so that also felt a little too arbitrary for the finals matchup. Ultimately I think both lists are a great mix of old and new which feature some standouts in gameplay mechanics and also some stunning achievements in art direction. You both spotlighted your picks well too, which isn't a requirement but it does make it easier to get a read on the games I'm less (or not at all) familiar with.
Speaking of which... I've played 4 games on @Löwenherz' list, one of them only briefly (TMNT: Shredder's Revenge), one of them extensively (Chrono Trigger) and the other two enough to get the general vibe (Super Mario Kart, Super Mario Bros. 3). I've played only 3 games on @Padrino's list, one of them only briefly (Disco Elysium), and the other two quite a bit when they were new but not at all since (GoldenEye 007, Mortal Kombat II).
Where my enthusiasm gets a little muted is that both lists are lacking in the two genres that I enjoy playing the most, which are: (1) the low-key adventure game where there is no time pressure involved, no real threat of dying, no player stats system to tinker with, and the game provides you with an environment to explore and puzzles to solve at your own pace (examples being Riven/Myst, Stray, Oxenfree, Life is Strange, The Dig or Full Throttle) and (2) the sandbox of gadgets strategy game where you have an array of mechanisms you can build which cascade into each other and a general objective in mind but the game otherwise doesn't intrude upon you in forcing you down any particular path (examples being Settlers II, RollerCoaster Tycoon, SimCity 2000, Factorio, Zoo Tycoon, Windward).
Interestingly, I only used 4 of my own picks on these types of games so maybe they're a little too low-key to spring top of mind in this type of exercise? There are elements of those two genres running through most of my picks though, even if they aren't the featured attraction. Generally speaking, if I play a video game at all I'm not looking for a challenge -- I'm looking for a world that I can relax into. Padrino's list comes closer to meeting this goal with Disco Elysium and No Man's Sky being games where I can decide my own tempo. The Witcher 3 and Elder Scrolls V aren't high on my list of games to try but they appear to have enough exploration in them to keep that part of my brain satisfied. Perhaps Elden Ring too, though the way people describe that game sounds anything but relaxing.
Citizen Sleeper is an interesting case, enough to warrant a separate side panel. It seems like it should align with my interest -- especially with the bold art style and sci-fi theme as cherries on top-- and Padrino even gave me a shout-out in the write-up saying as much. I also play a lot of board games and one of the board games I own (called ISS Vanguard) is a similar mix of sci-fi adventure / rpg set in space with a dice placement mechanic. While I enjoy aspects of both, so far I've resisted the idea of the board game and video game spaces merging together because I have different expectations from each medium. If I'm playing a board game I don't want to have to look at a screen, that's half the point. Yes an app can potentially save with some of the tedium of book keeping but I'd rather designers find better solutions through game design (like maybe just eliminating the tedium?) instead of relying on technology to fix their bad gameplay. If I'm playing a video game I expect a certain level of dynamic movement and animation to make the experience more engrossing. If I'm sat in a chair (generally) by myself interacting with a screen for hours I want to be pulled into the experience not just reading text. Also, crucially, ISS Vanguard is a co-operative game which you share with 3 other people. That's not to say I wouldn't try Citizen Sleeper. But I probably won't be motivated to play it unless I find someone else to share the experience of playing it with.
The theme of Löwenherz' list appears to be the construction of a shelf of "best in class" modern classics with a heavy emphasis on selecting seminal examples of popular action genres. Hades for Roguelike. Hollow Knight for Metroidvania. TMNT: Shredder's Revenge for Beat 'em Up. Persona 5 Royal as a modern jRPG. Bioshock: Infinite as a FPS with a story or to get more buzz-wordy, an Immersive Sim. These are balanced out with the older classics like Chrono Trigger, Super Metroid, Mega Man X, and Super Mario Bros. 3 which are also at/near the top of their respective genres for most who have played them. Padrino's taste appears to run strongly toward action RPGs where the scope of the game world is the key feature and the goal is to immerse yourself in an environment. That describes Elden Ring, The Witcher 3, Skyrim, Dark Souls, Xenoblade Chronicles, and to a lesser extent Mass Effect. Both lists are loaded with games where skill progression is a significant gameplay element, which makes sense. If you're looking for games with depth and replayability to stash on a desert island list that's where RPGs shine.
I've thought more about video games over the course of this draft than I ever expected to in 2025. I've got a PS4 and a whole shelf of games for it that sit largely untouched. Same with my PS1 which is boxed up in a closet with all of the games I once played. My Steam library is mostly filled with games I enjoyed once upon a time but haven't played in awhile or games that I thought looked cool whenever I bought them but (to be honest) probably won't ever play. The best part about this has been seeing the broad scope of games that other people cherish and also getting a brief taste of a lot of titles that I probably would have otherwise overlooked. I don't think it matters too much who wins (easy for me to say!) so I'm not even going to tell you which list I picked, though I've probably dropped enough bread crumbs for you to guess. In terms of who has the best list, it's effectively a tie. You both crushed it. So it's really just a matter of taste at this point.
And with all that being said... good luck to you both!
S Super Metroid GoldenEye 007 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
A Super Mario Bros. 3
Mega Man X Disco Elysium
B XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Chrono Trigger The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Mortal Kombat II Hollow Knight Citizen Sleeper
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Castlevania
C Bioshock: Infinite Mass Effect
Elden Ring Super Mario Kart
Hades Illusion of Gaia
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
D Dark Souls Remaster
Control
No Man's Sky Odin Sphere
Skies of Arcadia
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredders Revenge
Cyberpunk 2077
Persona 5 Royal Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition
I certainly expected it to be closer. I mean, your list is just banger after banger.
That said, Persona 5 is currently on sale on Steam, and I just grabbed it. BioShock: Infinite is currently on my Steam wishlist, and I'll be grabbing that one, too, the next time it goes on sale.
The only thing that crossed my mind was it's a reference to Gal's cleavage, since it's probably the first thing somebody would notice watching Fight'N Rage gameplay. But I don't think I've ever heard "cheesecake" used like that.
The only thing that crossed my mind was it's a reference to Gal's cleavage, since it's probably the first thing somebody would notice watching Fight'N Rage gameplay. But I don't think I've ever heard "cheesecake" used like that.
Here it is! The finals...with nary a single upset so far in the entire bracket! (Which raises the irritating question: should we even bother voting in the future?)
I certainly expected it to be closer. I mean, your list is just banger after banger.
That said, Persona 5 is currently on sale on Steam, and I just grabbed it. BioShock: Infinite is currently on my Steam wishlist, and I'll be grabbing that one, too, the next time it goes on sale.
Dirty little secret - I can't see the results, because I haven't voted yet. I haven't voted yet, because I thought that I ought to give the finals the attention it deserved, and I haven't had a chance yet. Well...tonight I'm free...
So in my pretty low-effort, vibes-based rankings, Löwenherz and Padrino came out at #1 and #3 respectively (I'll keep my mouth shut and allow each and every fellow drafter the privilege of believing that they were #2...) But it's only fair to give a bit more consideration to the final matchup, even if the rumor is that the result is already decided. Besides, maybe it's interesting to see what a near-non-gamer thinks about the selections!
Of course, since I've only played three of these games, most of this ranking is going to be on the basis of whether I think I'd like to play them or not.
(1) Löwenherz - Super Mario Bros. 3: One of three games I've played on the lists. What do I have to say? Great franchise (I drafted the flagship) and better gameplay than the second installment. I loved the leaf-raccoon element and thought it brought a lot to this side-scrolling platformer. Pretty easy #1 for the Finals.
(2) Padrino - The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past: "Link" to the past! Get it?!? OK, fine, I'll get over it. I picked the first two games in the Zelda franchise! The gameplay video shows that this is basically the original Zelda on steroids. Would I play? HELL TO THE YES!
(3) Padrino - No Man's Sky: This pretty much goes down as the game with the best TITLE in the round. Maybe the draft. I have almost no idea what this game is about, but it looks cool as all hell. I'm pumped.
(4) Löwenherz - Super Metroid: Another franchise for which I took the flagship! Seems to have retained the classic 2D side-scroller action with a world map that - if anything - outdoes the original. I would always be down to give Samus Aran another shot!
(5) Padrino - Elden Ring: This is another of the three games on these two lists that I've played, so to answer the question "would I play it?" Well, yes! I would! I love the graphics, but it turns out that I'm not strong at the Souls-type mechanic. Ultimately I gave up on this one having cleared only the first world (Limgrave) after sinking more than 100 hours in, a lot of that farming to level up. In the end, the game was just better than me, and I let it win. Still, it gets pretty high marks because I WOULD play it!
(6) Löwenherz - Hollow Knight: I should honestly be scared off by the sound of "grinding difficulty". (See: Elden Ring) But the graphics really draw me in, and I love the idea of the wistfully contemplative enemy who will ignore you unless you actually attack him. This game just asks me to try it.
(7) Padrino - Mass Effect: Not really sure what the game play is like, but a beautiful 4K space adventure sounds like exactly what I need right now. Maybe there are too many dragons and not enough spaceships in the video gaming world.
(8) Löwenherz - Super Mario Kart: I played a lot, like a LOT, of Rad Racer and Rad Racer II on the NES. This looks like way more fun. 10/10 would try.
(9) Padrino - Citizen Sleeper: The idea of a modern video game depending on digital dice rolls seems a bit antiquated. But the graphics on this game draw me in hard core. I just want to see what's going on here. That's not too shabby, for a dice-roll game.
(10) Löwenherz - Chrono Trigger: This appears to be a game right in keeping with a style of games I've played before (e.g. the original Final Fantasy), turn-based strategy with a slight jump in graphics design relative to my alma mater NES. Never heard of it before this (despite the apparent accolades it gets) but yeah, I'd play.
(11) Padrino - Control: The trailer for this game has the distinct advantage of actually *increasing* my desire to play this game. Many of the games listed here sound kinda cool and then I watch the trailer and it's a bunch of cut scenes, and I'm like..."Eh..." But this trailer took a writeup that didn't thrill me and drew me right in. I'm intrigued.
(12) Löwenherz - Odin Sphere: for as much as Greek and Roman mythologies draw me in, the Norse versions have never really been my thing. Still, the idea that you play this game in turn as five different protagonists (who are not all necessarily allies) is pretty intriguing. I'm sold.
(13) Padrino - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: Dude, stop picking games with a colon in the title. Seriously! That's four in a row! This one is another open world game. Looks pretty cool, it's got that same D&D feel that something like Elden Ring does. I'd give it a shot.
(14) Löwenherz - Hades: I kind of wish Löw had included a game-play video in the writeup, because I really don't have a feel for how this game works. But the graphics look cool, and I'm always down for some Greek mythology, so I'm going to be reasonably optimistic on this one, given how little I understand about it.
(15) Padrino - Illusion of Gaia: OK, this looks pretty cool. The dude that only fights with a flute must be a hoot and a half. The graphics do sit in the uncanny valley between the terrible 8-bit stuff I grew up on and "real" graphics, so they seem to have the goal of trying to introduce shading and the like to the characters when it doesn't really work. But yeah, I'd give this a real shot.
(16) Löwenherz - Mega Man X: Oddly enough, despite being stuck in NES land for most of my gaming life, I've never played so much as a single Mega Man game. I don't know why. Just strangers passing in the night, I suppose. It's the kind of thing that's right up my alley, and I never went there. But hey, I'd try it, even if there's (oddly) little enthusiasm.
(17) Padrino - Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition: I guess I really don't understand how this game works. It sounds like a turn-based RPG, but not quite. I'm not exactly sure how that plays, but I do feel like modern graphics are a bit wasted on the simpler game styles. Could be fun, though!
(18) Padrino - Castlevania: And we've reached the third of the three games on these lists I've actually played. Castlevania is definitely up my alley, in terms of being a classic NES side-scroller. But this was a game I never played much. The music was fun, but the graphics were clunky even for 8-bit, and I didn't like the whip mechanic at all. Sure, on the Desert Island I'd probably play it, but only after I got real good and bored with Super Mario Bros. 3.
(19) Löwenherz - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: Obviously the fact that this is a Zelda franchise gives it some extra weight in my eyes, but the early 3D graphics really don't resonate with me. It's funny that I can live happily in a 2D, 8-bit world, but if you jump to the next level, I want a lot more. It is what it is. It's a Zelda game, I'd try it out, but the enthusiasm isn't there.
(20) Padrino - Disco Elysium: The Final Cut: Seems like a murder-mystery with, as described, little action and a lot of dialogue tree. I mean, I've played that kind of game, even drafted one (Stray). I'm not sure the graphics on this one suit me, but I'd give it a shot.
(21) Padrino - The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt: So the cut scenes have nice art, but I don't really get a feel for what the gameplay is like. Obviously this game has a bit of exploration, but in the end, this didn't get a great sales pitch. "Combat is a bit samey", "stops being novel very quickly", "Traversal seems clunky", "rough edges"...not really drawing me in.
(22) Löwenherz - Skies of Arcadia - OK, it's kind of a steampunk flying-ships thing. I can see it being kind of interesting, but maybe it doesn't fully float my boat. At least it will get me to muse on "Et in Arcadia ego" over and over...
(23) Padrino - Dark Souls: Remastered: I've already hit upon the problem with "Souls" games. I'm terrible at the mechanics. And didn't Padrino say that he didn't want to take multiple entries from the same franchise earlier in the draft? Ahh, yes... So I've got two reasons to downgrade this one...
(24) Löwenherz - Cyberpunk 2077: "Blade Runner" good. But - even if fixed - the idea that the game is buggy: bad. Also, with no real way to gauge the game play, I'm left with the graphics, and the zombie Hammer-pants girl is not impressing me. This looks like less smash and more pass.
(25) Löwenherz - XCOM: Enemy Unknown: Löw threw me for a loop here, because the first half of the writeup is talking about a turn-based tactical game and evidently...that's NOT what this is? This is a first(third??)-person shooter? That's too bad. The turn-based tactical game probably would have gotten a better ranking.
(26) Padrino - Goldeneye 007: It may be one of the greatest film-to-game adaptations ever, but that's not enough to excite me - especially if I didn't have any particular affinity for the film in the first place. And again, these graphics look clunkier than 8-bit graphics to me just based on expectations of 3D games. Not super interested.
(27) Löwenherz - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge: I was born a few years too early to get into TMNT. It was one of those things that the kids 3-4 years younger than me thought was awesome so I knew it was obviously juvenile crap. That is going to weigh pretty heavily into my ranking here, regardless of the fact that i know it shouldn't. I just have no interest in playing this at all.
(28) Padrino - Mortal Kombat II: Fact of the matter is, the Mortal Kombat genre just doesn't thrill me at all. (I was notoriously the biggest detractor among my friends of Mike Tyson's Punchout as well.) So basically this game is going to be the line between "might be tolerable" and "is obviously going to pee me off" in these rankings.
(29) Löwenherz - Persona 5 Royal: I'm not sure how a "turn-based dungeon crawling" game manages to have a menu screen so incredibly off-putting, but here we are. I'm pretty sure this one would irritate the crap out of me.
(30) Löwenherz - Bioshock: Infinite: "You got your politics into my video game!" "You got your videogame into my politics!" Damn, this thing doesn't at all sound as good as a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. I want to play video games to relax, there are plenty of other outlets for that crap. No thanks.
Padrino: 218
Löwenherz: 247
(Low score wins)
Welp, looks like my low-effort vibes-based rankings didn't hold up when I took a close look at every game. Sometimes, it goes like that. But congrats to both players on interesting lists. You'll note that the cutoff between "I want to try this game" and "pass" is in the low 20s, so all told you've definitely both got my attention!
Both of these lists were in my top 4, and I hadn't played a single game in either.
I voted Padrino for a couple of reasons:
A lot more PC games (my preferred platform)
More games that seemed to interest me to play (similar to the Captain's discussion/criteria, above) based on type of game (I've never played a "souls" game and would be interested in checking out at least one of them sometime, for instance, based on their popularity in this draft)
I hopped on Steam and based on his list selected several games for my wish list to pick up if they ever have a good sale on them
I haven't played enough games on either list to make any sort of comprehensive ranking, so I have broken this up into tiers. I reserve the right to come back and elaborate on my picks (but I probably won't; I'll have to see how I feel).
Games I haven't played, but I've seen played (mostly by my son):
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge
Hollow Knight
Elden Ring
Dark Souls: Remastered
GoldenEye 007
Games I haven't played or seen, but the write-up makes them sound intriguing:
Skies of Arcadia
Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition
... and the rest.
Giving every game a base value inverse to it's ranking (1 = 9, 9 =1) and assigning a multiplier of 5 to the first group, a multiplier of 2 to the second group and no multiplier to the third group ("... and the rest" are all valued at zero), I get a final score of:
Löwenherz: 182 Padrino: 88
High score wins. I can't make sense on why the poll is so lopsided, either.
I don't have a gimmick or a scoring system this time. I did try going line by line and comparing the picks made in each round and Padrino came out ahead in that exercise mostly because of the picks in the middle rounds. But I didn't pick my games in the order I would have ranked them so that also felt a little too arbitrary for the finals matchup.
This is important, and it's a big reason why the Top 5 lists have been effective for tiebreakers in the past... Had I participated, the only two games on my list that I would have drafted in preference order are Civ4 and FF6. The rest, I would have gone by feel, and which way the winds were blowing; For example, my #3 choice probably would have still been safe when it came time for my last pick.
Whenever I've done these you get a feel real quick which picks might be in jeopardy and act accordingly.
The first album draft, for example, I was going to have the Beach Boys' Little Deuce Coupe. This was a milestone album for me from the second my dad popped it in the 8-track, my life (and my brother's) were changed forever. But any serious ranking of the BB discography has this as a throwaway fluff album. So I just pencilled it in at 20, knowing that someone would probably take Pet Sounds and that's the last we'd see of the Beach Boys until my pick. Of course 10 years later I grabbed Pet Sounds because I self imposed a no-repeats rule. I am pretty sure I also grabbed Appetite for Destruction with my top pick because I missed out on it in the first draft and it is still probably a top 10 album for me. Maybe like 8-10, but I know quite a few of the others are safe.
(2) Padrino - The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past: "Link" to the past! Get it?!? OK, fine, I'll get over it. I picked the first two games in the Zelda franchise! The gameplay video shows that this is basically the original Zelda on steroids. Would I play? HELL TO THE YES!
As was often true of NES games with sequels on the SNES, this was such a huge leap forward for the franchise. A return to the now standard Top-Down 2D Zelda style after briefly experimenting with the side-scrolling platformer genre cemented Zelda’s identity. But unlike the original NES Zelda, LttP Hyrule is so much more vibrant, intricate, and alive. Instead of people seemingly living in caves and hollowed out trees, Hyrule had huts, and houses, and a castle, and a whole town (Thanks Zelda 2)! Dungeons were now complex labyrinths with their own themes and identities. Bosses were now giant imposing monsters with more involved fights beyond “hit weak point for massive damage” affairs than was capable on the NES. And for apparently no real reason beside pure awesomeness, had entire Light and Dark worlds that were ,.. ugh, do I have to? Sigh, OK … linked.
First ballot hall of famer that’s spawned countless copycats and deserves to be experienced by anyone interested in video games generally.
(3) Padrino - No Man's Sky: This pretty much goes down as the game with the best TITLE in the round. Maybe the draft. I have almost no idea what this game is about, but it looks cool as all hell. I'm pumped.
I’m pretty sure this isn’t “about” anything. The affable and gregarious Sean Murray, managing director of Hello Games, wanted to make a trippy little space exploration adventure and the marketing narrative spun itself into a frenzy. I don’t fully know what has been added in the near decade post launch, but I’m confident the roots of a “choose your own adventure” open universe exploration gem in the spirit of Spaceman Spiff is all there in the DNA.
(4) Löwenherz - Super Metroid: Another franchise for which I took the flagship! Seems to have retained the classic 2D side-scroller action with a world map that - if anything - outdoes the original. I would always be down to give Samus Aran another shot!
The original Metroid is groundbreaking if a little frustrating in hindsight largely due to forces outside of its control. Certainly aspirational in merging the side-scrolling platformer of Mario with the open-ended exploration adventure of Zelda, historical in making Samus a woman, and monumental in building an atmosphere of creeping dread with gameplay, art direction, and sound.
Super Metroid is everything you like about the original Metroid improved, refined, and perfected, and still holds up beautifully 30 years later.
Join the next mission with Samus. You’ll be glad you did.
(6) Löwenherz - Hollow Knight: I should honestly be scared off by the sound of "grinding difficulty". (See: Elden Ring) But the graphics really draw me in, and I love the idea of the wistfully contemplative enemy who will ignore you unless you actually attack him. This game just asks me to try it.
You’re coming in at just the right time. Hollow Knight: Silksong releases on Sept. 4th. Perfect chance to jump in and experience the franchise fresh with everyone else. It’s a standalone adventure for Hornet, a non-playable character in the original, so it shouldn’t matter if you never played the first and know nothing about the sad and detailed lore of Hallownest.
And even if it does matter, who cares? They’re just bugs.
(9) Padrino - Citizen Sleeper: The idea of a modern video game depending on digital dice rolls seems a bit antiquated. But the graphics on this game draw me in hard core. I just want to see what's going on here. That's not too shabby, for a dice-roll game.
Video games with dice mechanics are a moderately popular sub genre, particularly for Rogue-likes and Rougelites (which are different in ways I can’t articulate).
Dicey Dungeons is probably the most well known I can readily think of.
(10) Löwenherz - Chrono Trigger: This appears to be a game right in keeping with a style of games I've played before (e.g. the original Final Fantasy), turn-based strategy with a slight jump in graphics design relative to my alma mater NES. Never heard of it before this (despite the apparent accolades it gets) but yeah, I'd play.
(11) Padrino - Control: The trailer for this game has the distinct advantage of actually *increasing* my desire to play this game. Many of the games listed here sound kinda cool and then I watch the trailer and it's a bunch of cut scenes, and I'm like..."Eh..." But this trailer took a writeup that didn't thrill me and drew me right in. I'm intrigued.
I know right?! A subdued review steeped in malaise had me salivating as it explained the concepts in dismissive terms. Maybe it’s all sizzle and no steak, but I’m ready to bask in the sizzle.
(12) Löwenherz - Odin Sphere: for as much as Greek and Roman mythologies draw me in, the Norse versions have never really been my thing. Still, the idea that you play this game in turn as five different protagonists (who are not all necessarily allies) is pretty intriguing. I'm sold.
Ok ok ok, sweet. So, there are two versions: Vanilla Classic and Leifthrasir, which is modernized with flashy combos and faster arcade-style hack and slash combat and everyone but me seems to love the latter. I might be the lone weirdo who prefers the slower paced original that forces you to hold a button in the middle of combat in order to absorb phozons and power up your weapon. I think either way, you’ll still get the experience of the interwoven narrative, and I don’t know what other features Leifthrasir has. My lone complaint with Classic is its repetition revisiting old areas and re-fights with bosses.
Oh, and put slime from Titania in a jar whenever you have to take on Onyx. You’ll thank me later.
(14) Löwenherz - Hades: I kind of wish Löw had included a game-play video in the writeup, because I really don't have a feel for how this game works. But the graphics look cool, and I'm always down for some Greek mythology, so I'm going to be reasonably optimistic on this one, given how little I understand about it.
Sorry sorry, my fault. Isometric view like Disco Elysium, except an action rogue-like where the die-and-restart mechanics of the genre are baked into the narrative, because naturally, you’re the son of Hades and can’t actually die but rather get resurrected each time in what amounts to your dad’s front office.
It’s shockingly difficult to find simple raw gameplay footage in our modern YouTube era without a crudely flashy intro and breathless commentary from CyberMaster79 or some such, so I never really bothered with any of my picks..
(15) Padrino - Illusion of Gaia: OK, this looks pretty cool. The dude that only fights with a flute must be a hoot and a half. The graphics do sit in the uncanny valley between the terrible 8-bit stuff I grew up on and "real" graphics, so they seem to have the goal of trying to introduce shading and the like to the characters when it doesn't really work. But yeah, I'd give this a real shot
With all due reverence and respect to Padrino’s list, in my limited time with this one, I found it to be more of an acquired taste. I think as far as post-Zelda action RPGs on the SNES go, Secret of Mana is higher on the must play list. Maybe Secret of Evermore if you find a jank-riddled mess charming. I’ve also never personally played it, but have heard stellar reviews of Terranigma as well.
(16) Löwenherz - Mega Man X: Oddly enough, despite being stuck in NES land for most of my gaming life, I've never played so much as a single Mega Man game. I don't know why. Just strangers passing in the night, I suppose. It's the kind of thing that's right up my alley, and I never went there. But hey, I'd try it, even if there's (oddly) little enthusiasm.
Given your affinity for the NES, you should probably go Classic before X. Start here:
It’s where most people of our age began their Mega journey. Oddly, Slim and I both played MM3 first, which is another fantastic option.
Mega Man 11 is the latest “classic series” entry with updated visuals and is available on more modern consoles, but it has a much different feel than the original series. MM9 is amazingly good too, but don’t start there. It is middle finger hard, especially for newcomers.
(17) Padrino - Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition: I guess I really don't understand how this game works. It sounds like a turn-based RPG, but not quite. I'm not exactly sure how that plays, but I do feel like modern graphics are a bit wasted on the simpler game styles. Could be fun, though!
I have played and even own this, and I still have no idea how the game works. This crushed my brain quicker than Gravity Rainbow, but that’s just because I approached it in such an undisciplined manner. Too many options right at the start and I just kept running from shiny object to object like an enthusiastic golden retriever.
(18) Padrino - Castlevania: And we've reached the third of the three games on these lists I've actually played. Castlevania is definitely up my alley, in terms of being a classic NES side-scroller. But this was a game I never played much. The music was fun, but the graphics were clunky even for 8-bit, and I didn't like the whip mechanic at all. Sure, on the Desert Island I'd probably play it, but only after I got real good and bored with Super Mario Bros. 3.
The delay of the whip is meant to make Simon, and by extension you, feel underpowered and overwhelmed by the forces of darkness, but striving to fight through the imbalanced annd unfair odds all the same. Adds to the elements of horror and theme of overcoming insurmountable obstacles. That’s a lot of nuance with a split second delay between button press and whip lashing.
And sorry, you voted against me. So you’ll have Castlevania as your only NES game on the island and you’ll like it. Enjoy Death’s Hall and the even harder second quest.
(20) Padrino - Disco Elysium: The Final Cut: Seems like a murder-mystery with, as described, little action and a lot of dialogue tree. I mean, I've played that kind of game, even drafted one (Stray). I'm not sure the graphics on this one suit me, but I'd give it a shot.
Yeah, this should be way higher on your list here. A contemplative open-world adventure RPG with an art style inspired by oil paintings where success and progress is determined through a balancing of skill checks versus random dice rolls and a robust set of dialogue tree options,
Given what I’ve learned about your film and gaming tastes, this is your type of game.
(22) Löwenherz - Skies of Arcadia - OK, it's kind of a steampunk flying-ships thing. I can see it being kind of interesting, but maybe it doesn't fully float my boat. At least it will get me to muse on "Et in Arcadia ego" over and over...
(24) Löwenherz - Cyberpunk 2077: "Blade Runner" good. But - even if fixed - the idea that the game is buggy: bad. Also, with no real way to gauge the game play, I'm left with the graphics, and the zombie Hammer-pants girl is not impressing me. This looks like less smash and more pass.
Ironically, this is a very similar story to No Man’s Sky. Both were super hyped with impossibly high promises and expectations only to be released in states far short of those goals, causing the community to aggressively rebuke and revile them until years of dedication and tweaking by developers turned them into masterpieces.
Whereas I leaned into that aspect as the whole of my write-up, Padrino used it as little more than a prelude to celebrate No Man’s Sky’s current state and accomplishments.
And that’s why he’s an English professor and I am, well not that.
Yes, Cyberpunk 2077 still has glitches, bugs, and awkward technical moments, but no more than say #13 Skyrim, #7 Mass Effect, or even #3 No Man’s Sky. But because CDPR are a group of maniacs, those issues are generally minor quirks rather than unacceptable game and immersion breakers.
My apologies for the less than enticing screenshots. It’s the game on my own list I have the least personal experience, and rather than dwell in hypotheticals, I kind of punted. Plus, the gameplay I’d post should come with a graphic disclaimer.
Claims this video will make you want to buy Cyberpunk 2077. I’ll let you be the judge.
(25) Löwenherz - XCOM: Enemy Unknown: Löw threw me for a loop here, because the first half of the writeup is talking about a turn-based tactical game and evidently...that's NOT what this is? This is a first(third??)-person shooter? That's too bad. The turn-based tactical game probably would have gotten a better ranking.
Wow, I completely botched this write-up. XCOM: Enemy Unknown absolutely is a turn-based tactics game. The FPS I mentioned was the other game announced that pissed everyone off. It was eventually released as The Bureau: XCOM Declassified. I could have been more clear, but I partially blame trying to avoid naming titles that had not been picked yet - even if I thought there was no way in Hades it was ever going to get picked.
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(27) Löwenherz - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge: I was born a few years too early to get into TMNT. It was one of those things that the kids 3-4 years younger than me thought was awesome so I knew it was obviously juvenile crap. That is going to weigh pretty heavily into my ranking here, regardless of the fact that i know it shouldn't. I just have no interest in playing this at all.
No, that’s totally fair. I think pdxKingsFan would be OK with me assigning myself to the “Ninja Turtles” micro-generation for the elementary school kids of the era obsessed with all things TMNT from 1987 to roughly 1992. If you weren’t part of that, this game doesn’t hit the same.
But, even in saying that, it is at least on par with Streets of Rage IV in a classic 90s beat ‘em up lovingly resurrected and retrofitted into a modern masterpiece of the genre.
(29) Löwenherz - Persona 5 Royal: I'm not sure how a "turn-based dungeon crawling" game manages to have a menu screen so incredibly off-putting, but here we are. I'm pretty sure this one would irritate the crap out of me.
In fairness to me, I was still on vacation when I made this pick. In fact, I wrote the Hollow Knight pick a few days later on the plane back to California. So I wasn’t yet “all-in” on delving into the nuances and complexities of a 120+ hour fever dream of a JRPG in which a talking cat is both a party member and a bus the party uses to explore the shadow dungeon created by Tokyo’s collective psyche of negative desires pooling in the depths beneath the subway.
Instead, I slapped up a few overwhelming screenshots and said “trust me bro.”
But really, just trust me bro
To be honest there isn’t much more I can think to say than that. I’ll post some actual gameplay footage, but that doesn’t do this justice either. Shows the opening title screen and menus, Joker (protagonist) running around the city streets, meeting with the Phantom Thieves, exploring a “palace” from the negative desires shadow realm, and some battle mechanics.
Did that sell it to you? It wouldn’t to me and I love this game. In fact, a buddy once tried to use Persona 3 to convince me of the PS1’s superiority back in high school, and I hated it. Thought the social interactions mechanic was cool, but the dungeon crawling was just the worst. But after years of reading fawning reviews of Persona 5, I tried Royal and, well, it has one of the best prologue introduction levels / dungeons to fully teach the game without ever fully feeling like a tutorial, they kept and enhanced the social connections component, and made every part of the dungeon crawling engaging and interesting.
But I’m not going to convince you with words. I can only hope you have a change of heart.
(30) Löwenherz - Bioshock: Infinite: "You got your politics into my video game!" "You got your videogame into my politics!" Damn, this thing doesn't at all sound as good as a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. I want to play video games to relax, there are plenty of other outlets for that crap. No thanks.
Here are the only politics from Infinite you really need to know: Dimension-hopping sky racists are bad. You should shoot them.
Most people prefer to take down the spliced up freaks and Big Daddy’s of Rapture for that relaxing outlet and I don’t fault them for it. Fantastic game that is.
But as Arcadia, Columbia, and the Kingdom of Zeal are testament, I fetishize fluffy white cloud-islands soaring though wild blue skies as a backdrop for my adventuring, plundering, and other such high crimes and misdemeanors.
If I didn’t draft my island, I’d have drafted @Padrino’s
*Elden Ring is an all-timer.
*Link to the Past is the best Zelda game.
*Control is one of my favorite games ever and I can’t believe it slipped my mind.
*I own approximately 50 copies of Skyrim across every platform it’s ever released on, and they all have huge hours in them.
*No Man’s Sky is an absolute time/sink. I want to see all those crazy planets. I cannot wait to get a PSVR2 to play this in good VR.
*Closing the list with the Dark Souls, the game that eventually led to the masterpiece that is Elden Ring was icing on the cake.
The ones I haven’t mentioned are all great too. There isn’t a single game I wouldn’t play on his list, minus Mortal Kombat because I don’t do fighting games.
