The top five games I've never played (according to other people).
THOUGHTS ON #13: BLIND SPOTS IN GAMING
I’ve been avidly listening to Simon Parkin’s ‘My Perfect Console’ podcast since having it recommended to me – this is the moment where you’re meant to leave here and go and listen to it. Back? Good. Isn’t it great? As far as gaming content goes, you’ll find little better. My listening to it was rather recent (or it was when I first drafted this post), so while I’m clearly behind the times, I do have the privilege of having a bit of a backlog to listen to. Whilst enjoying the fantastic interviews, I, like I imagine most listeners do, begin to work up my own lists. There are so many games I’d want to pick, and it truly would be a challenge to condense so many fantastic titles into a list of just five choices. In light of my indecision on what my favourite games would be, I thought that perhaps it would be somewhat fun to think of games I haven’t connected with over the years, and to devise a list of the best games I’ve missed out on, rather than the best games I have played. But this isn’t just a list of some games I’ve yet to play, these will be the games that are considered to be the best of the best (in the few categories I’ve picked). This will definitely reveal me as the chump that I am. After you’ve read this you’ll realise I have zero credibility when it comes to writing about games, but perhaps I’ll eventually get around to playing some of them for upcoming posts…? In order to select these, I’ll be using the Metacritic master list of highest rated games ever - possibly not the definitive resource, but it will do fine, and will hopefully reveal gaps in my gaming knowledge. As for the categories, they have come about basically by down the list from the top until I reach a game I haven’t played - ignoring that NFL game that’s in 15th place, because who gives a shit about NFL. I got the 51st game in the list before I managed to fill all five slots - again, ignoring NFL, as well as a Persona game, and something called The House in Fata Morgana, which I’ve never heard of.
JAPANESE QUESTING (JRPG):
The first, and probably most glaring omission in my gaming experience is… cue drum roll… actually you almost certainly already know what it is from the image, so let’s do away with the suspense. It’s Final Fantasy. And not just one or two, I’ve played none of them. I know these games are a global, multi-generational phenomenon, but I have never had the inclination to play. From the outside, I have never seen any appeal in the design, the gameplay, nor the characters. Don’t get me wrong, I know I’m stupid for thinking this way. Like I say, I’ve never played the games, so how can I dismiss them? Well, I can’t can I. My only real interaction with the series is watching a friend play one of the PS1 titles. My contributions, other than a few gameplay suggestions I made while eating a ham sandwich his mum delivered to us in his room was handing him the next disc at the appropriate moment. I don’t even know what game it was, but after looking up release dates, it seems as though it would have been either XII, XIII, or IX. Regardless of which it was, it was one of only a few games I ever recall watching someone else play and having absolutely no desire to play it myself - the other time this happened was watching a lad in my class play his new tobogganing game on the N64 for his birthday… you can read more about that here.
The problem I face now is where the hell to start. I know each mainline title is its own story (or at least, I think that is the case), but over the generations, they have changed dramatically, and each game offers wildly different experiences. The choices available in the late 90s were enough to drown in, and that lake has since turned into an ocean. In light of this, I think the best course of action is to pick what is seen, at least critically, as the best in the series. For this, as I mentioned at the start, I’ll use Metacritic’s list, and as it happens, according to the site, Final Fantasy IX on the PS1 is sitting on top. This is convenient, and it may well be the title I dismissed as a child. Will I ever play it? Only time will tell. But for now, it takes up the first of the 5 slots in my un-played collection, and a small bite out of my bank balance as I pick it up on eBay…
CLASSIC HORROR:
The second game on my list, and this too is a biggie, is Resident Evil… I played a chunk of the first game on PS1, which my uncle gave to me along with Theme Park World, and an old pager when he was having a clear out… Anyway, to my shame, I never finished it, and I never played the subsequent releases (only watching some bits and pieces of the latest releases on YouTube). Unlike the Final Fantasy series, with Resident Evil, the theme and setting does very much appeal to me. Like I say, I’m a little more familiar with the recent titles and remakes, but as for the original set, it’s certainly a blind spot, and that isn’t good enough! As for which title I should pick here, well, I’ve heard that the Resident Evil 4 remake on the GameCube is a stand out of the series, and as we’re using Metacritic as a choosing system, that too agrees. Also, as I have no nostalgia for the original fourth entry, I’m not opposed to picking a remake, and I’m sure it will go some way to countering the dated controls that are undoubtedly rife in the original. Second slot filled!
PEAK PLATFORMING:
Ok, lets get this out of the way. I have, of course, played several Mario games over the years. Having not played Final Fantasy is odd, but if I’d have had no exposure to any Mario games over the years it would likely mean that ending the blog immediately would be the best option. Luckily (or unluckily, depending on your opinion of the blog), shutting it all down isn’t necessary. I’ve played quite a few over the years, Mario 64, Sunshine, Mario Bros, Smash Bros, Luigi’s Mansion, Mario Kart… I wasn’t particularly a Nintendo obsessive growing up, but I’ve played a fair share of titles over the years. My exposure to them ended after the GameCube offerings however, and since then, I’ve missed out on all things Mushroom Kingdom. Metacritic tells us that, of all the Mario games, it’s Galaxy 1 and 2 that are the best. I don’t know what differentiates them, so I guess I’ll pick the first one. That means Super Mario Galaxy on the Wii takes the third slot!
PUNCHING SIMULATORS:
Fighting games are another blind spot in my gaming. Growing up, I was obviously exposed to them, and amongst the horde were the like of Street Fighter, Golden Axe, that questionable Star Wars game - Masters of Teräs Käsi, Mortal Combat, and Super Smash Bros. Wrestling almost toppled Pokémon as top talking point at school, and as such wrestling games were also tagged in. The WWF games were fun, but I don’t think I ever owned one (same goes with Simpsons Wrestling), but I never really got too into the genre, despite pridefully owning a Kane figure, which got bashed about a considerable amount when he entered the ring at a friends house. I suppose that this might be because I grew up mostly as an only child, my sister, being older, was living her life, and my cousin, who I spent most afternoons with after school, never played videogames. I didn’t have a brother to either beat up or be beaten up by and I was reliant on my peers for that, and while my friends and I had very healthy gaming lives, it was games such as GoldenEye, Mario Kart, Perfect Dark, Time Splitter, and Halo that were the mainstay when visiting one another. And when the friends were gone, single player games dominated, and I never found fighting games appealing when just playing solo (the one exception being Super Smash Bros. Melee). So, why? Well, I dislike combos, so that’s a bad starting point, and repetitive strain injury is less than amusing. Still, I know that I’m missing out on some truly excellent gaming. So what title do I pick? There are so many to choose from, and many series have multiple entries. I initially thought of Street Fighter, but taking cues from Metacitic again, Tekken 3 sits atop the pile, and who can argue that? Slot four is tekken… I mean taken!
ARDUOUS ACTION (RPG):
Role playing games have been the basis for my gaming fun for most of my life. Games such as Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, Mass Effect, Divinity, the Witcher, Dragon Age, Knights of the Old Republic… The list is near endless and I could go on, but you get the gist. I’ve played a lot of them over the years, but most notably western in design (likely why I never gelled with Final Fantasy), and often lacking the action element of the ARPG. So what is an ARPG with Japanese roots? Well, one should immediately think of FromSoftware in this instance, and what are they most famous for? The Souls games, of which I have played absolutely none. Unlike the Final Fantasy games, the Souls games very much appeal, at least aesthetically (if not quite so much with the relentlessly difficult gameplay). I’ve played souls-like games, but never something from the original menu. So what title should I pick? There are a fair few, but Metacritic puts the latest entry on top, so it’s Elden Ring that takes the fifth and final slot!
In putting this together, I wasn’t aware of how starved of Japanese influence my gaming diet was… quite shocking actually. This is clearly something I need to rectify -not before completing the premise of the post though, that being the all important question of what manner of console would home these greats? Well, it’ll either be, as my naming conventions are unchangeable and utterly uninspired, the TomStation, the Nintendo TOM, or the TOM BOX... Entirely new experiences await! I suppose, given the cultural leaning in this selection, we can discount the latter, as it’s too western.
I don’t know when I’ll get around to playing all of these, but by Jove, I’m (possibly) going to give them a proper good go. I mentioned above that I picked up Final Fantasy on eBay, and I have since managed to round up all the rest too, save for Elden Ring, which is surprisingly the most expensive of all the games on the list. What’s going on with the used market at the moment?? Anyway, here are my new additions, along with the Steam page for Elden Ring, which I will pick up when my desire to play it arrives (along with a considerable discount).
Have you got any glaring holes in your gaming experience? Have you played any of the games I’ve picked here? Am I in for as good a time as I’ve been led to believe? I hope so! Also - make sure you check out Simon Parkin’s ‘My Perfect Console’ podcast, you won’t regret it!
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