Game of the Decade Countdown: Personal Nominations

So tomorrow we’ll be posting up our number one game of the decade as decided between our writers, but today we’re talking about our own personal number ones.  Each one of us made a personal top ten list, and we compiled the top five from there.  Below are the games that each of us put at the top of our very own lists, and the reason why we love them so much. If you’re interested, then

Jess: Legend of Zelda – Twilight Princess

Pardon? I say pardon?

Ah, Zelda. It was the best of times, it was the…well, only ever the best of times for me. Ever since I hired that one gold cartridge from our local video store last century, I don’t think I’ve played a LoZ game that I didn’t like, and Twilight Princess is my favourite (pipping WindWaker at the post purely on hours logged).

Nintendo have had years to get the formula right and it works. The journey from A to B is what usually hooks me, the way it’s presented and Zelda, for me and my simple tastes, has always hit the mark. But Twilight Princess somehow had a line directly into my brains, giving me alternate dimensions, wolves, pixies who are princesses, evil shadow monsters plus all the usual characters. And music! Always a big part of games, it’s nice to see the different ways they intergrate it into the plot. The graphics were decent, the gameplay simple and while not necessarily scaled to difficulty, who cares about that when you’re playing for plot?

Simply put, of all the games I played this decade, it was Twilight Princess that I loved the most. And because in this one, the ‘fairy’ was USEFUL.

Mark: Diablo II

Diablo: The original Baal run

OK, OK, I know this was our official number five, but for me it will always be my number one.  And woe, the countless hours I’ve spent on this game.

I’m very much a one-play-through guy; when finished, I’m bored with it. But Diablo II has at least three or four run-throughs initially, and at least a couple of nostalgia plays as well.

That, and the bone spear.

A truly awesome game in both scope and playability. The levels were unique every play (the first Diablo‘s offering to the world), and the classes varied and fun to play, with something for every playing style.

Matt and I still start up a session every now and then, if we’re a little hard up for titles to play, which is probably a testament to just how great a game it is.  It’s almost ten years old after all.

Really (read: reeeeeaaaaaallllllyyyyy) looking forward to Diablo III, but with a confirmed release date of the end of time, I’ve got a few D2 play-throughs to do.

Matt: The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind

I don’t think I’ve ever spent so much time playing an RPG as much as I played Elder Scrolls: Morrowind.  The sheer scope and freedom of the game are staggering.  It took what worked in the previous installment, Daggerfall, and added a vivid 3D environment that players could explore every nook and cranny of.

So much loot got crammed into this room that I kept accidentally spawning Overflow Loot Bags. Terribly annoying.

In fact, Morrowind was the kind of game that rewarded explorative gameplay.  I was kind of disappointed to see the fast travel feature return to Oblivion, because so much of Morrowind‘s enjoyment was to be found travelling the roads and countryside.  And if you were in a hurry, there was always the network of silt-striders and the trusty Mark and Recall spell.

Jess hated it.  To this day she’ll cringe if she hears the opening orchestral theme.  This is because, thanks to me and a like-minded housemate, she lived in a household that played the game non-stop for around six months.  If I wasn’t playing it, my housemate was, and vice-versa.

But for a certain type of gamer, the completionist/grinder type, Morrowind could just suck you in for days on end.  I still count the craziest and most pointless thing I’ve ever done in a game was to spend upwards of forty-eight hours or so adorning my manor with my treasures … and then stealing almost every lit candle in the entire kingdom to make my bedroom look pretty.  No shit.  Here, I’ve attached a screenshot for you to judge me silently with.

In the end, Morrowind is one of those games that provided me with pure satisfaction at every turn … and left me with a deep-seated distrust of Cliff Racers.

Moose: Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

Driving around, shooting people, drinking booze and getting with the bitches.  I know I’m expected to go into it in more detail, but if you don’t get it off that, you really aren’t going to get GTA: Vice City at all.  In fact, you should probably leave right now, before my Miami Vice looking partner messes you up.  I know what you’re thinking!  My partner is black, crashes his car, gets attacked and clubbed and has sex with a lot of women … it’s not Tiger Woods.

Most of my votes were based around games that I felt were good in a group environment.  I know, this is not what you would firstly associate with this game, but believe me, it works.  This is more the type of game that was perfect for you and a bunch of your mates to sit around and get drunk, and laugh at everything that was happening.  Alternating at the end of a life or mission, whichever came first.  Funny and snappy dialogue kept you laughing, while the story line was interesting enough that you could treat it like a movie and follow along.  Perhaps, in later versions, if you were young and head-strong, you might believe your friend when they told you that your character had a reserve chute and that you could totally let your character drop from there for a bit … for example.

The game was well constructed and built strongly on the base that GTA III had created.  With such brilliant storylines and ingenius variations for each missions it’s not a shock that it was such a hit.  It was just so goddam BOSS!  Prowling the streets as Tommy Vercetti and attacking those that got in your way (metaphorically and physically … this one jerk bumped into me in the street, so I shot him.  That’s just how Tommy V rolls, baby).  A variation of guns and a relatively large landscape to explore, this game really kept you interested.  The replay value was good as well, as you never really tire of screwing your friends out of their cut.

GTA III started the series in it’s current form.  GTA: Vice City started the phenom!  I would have no problems going back to this bad boy and giving it a play right now … in fact, you know what?  I think I just might.

P.S. There is NO reserve chute!

Stu:  Mass Effect

I reckon this just might have been the best game that loads of people never got around to playing.

Mass Effect was almost the perfect game in my eyes.  The storyline was brilliant.  The visual and sound design was fantastic.  It was vast in scope.  It was KOTOR but with way better combat.  It was Star Control 2 but with better everything.  It was… it was…

Classic FPS RPG action!

I’m rambling.  Seriously though, this game came out of nowhere and smacked me right upside the head with its awesomeness.  How awesome?  I’m still playing it through for the third time having a look at stuff I missed the first (or second) time through and exploring the alternative story arcs.  And trying to get that damned shotgun kills achievement.  I can’t really say that about any other game of its type – at least not since Diablo II. KOTOR and Jade Empire had both bored the piss out of me within a couple of hours of starting my second play through.

Mass Effect was a truly adult game too.  And I don’t just mean the much-hyped sex scenes.  Gone were the issues like “buy the poor starving person some food or kill them”.  Instead they were replaced with genuine dilemmas and choices that (we’re told) will affect your character not just in this game but in the ones to come.  Jade Empire started a lot of these things, but Mass Effect actually got them right.

I’m eagerly awaiting the release of the sequel in January next year.  Moar dammit, moar!

And so all that remains is to announce the title that took our #1 Game of the Decade spot!  Check back tomorrow, and all will be revealed!