PDA

View Full Version : Famitsu Readers Choose the 100 Best Games Ever



IMPress Polly
09-06-2017, 12:42 PM
Readers of the popular, and heavily preeminent, Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu have recently ranked their collective favorite 100 games of all time. Their list provides kind of an interesting window into what sort of experiences Japanese gamers (currently) like best. Here's the list (http://nintendoeverything.com/famitsu-readers-choose-the-top-100-best-games-of-all-time/):

100. Zelda: Majora’s Mask
99. Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer
98. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
97. Super Smash Bros. Melee
96. Hatsune Miku: Project Diva Arcade
95. Kowloon Youma Gakuen Ki
94. Arc The Lad II
93. Final Fantasy VIII
92. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
91. Lufia
90. Valkyrie Profile
89. Shiren the Wanderer 2
88. Tengai Makyo II: Manjimaru
87. Seiken Densetsu 3
86. Final Fantasy Tactics
85. Sonic Unleashed
84. Phantasy Star Online
83. Shadow of the Colossus
82. Final Fantasy IV
81. Shadow Hearts II
80. Kirby Air Ride
79. Dragon Quest II
78. MAG
77. Romancing SaGa 2
76. Steins;Gate
75. SaGa Frontier
74. Bloodborne
73. Animal Crossing: New Leaf
72. Wizardry
71. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
70. Metal Gear Solid 3
69. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
68. The Legend of Zelda
67. Pop’n Music
66. Ico
65. Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner
64. Machi
63. Phantasy Star Online 2
62. Demon’s Souls
61. Valkyria Chronicles
60. Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F 2nd
59. Final Fantasy V
58. Kirby Super Star
57. Sonic Adventure 2: Battle
56. Monster Hunter Freedom Unite
55. Dragon Quest IV
54. Kantai Collection
53. Sakura Wars 2
52. Dragon Quest VIII
51. Romancing SaGa 3
50. Final Fantasy VI
49. Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne
48. Final Fantasy XIV
47. Pokemon Red/Blue
46. Kingdom Hearts
45. Persona 4
44. Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair
43. Final Fantasy IX
42. Sakura Wars 3
41. NieR
40. Hatsune Miku: Project Diva X
39. Final Fantasy XV
38. Hatsune Miku: Project Diva Arcade Future Tone
37. Dragon Quest X
36. Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai Deluxe
35. moon
34. Kingdom Hearts II
33. Super Mario Bros.
32. Persona 3
31. Fate/Grand Order
30. Tactics Ogre
29. Sonic Adventure 2
28. Monster Retsuden Oreca Battle
27. Xenogears
26. Final Fantasy X
25. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
24. Dragon Quest V
23. EarthBound
22. Danganronpa
21. Danganronpa 2
20. Final Fantasy XI
19. Suikoden II
18. Xenoblade Chronicles
17. Okami
16. Persona 4 Golden
15. Otoca D’Or
14. Yakuza 0
13. Hatsune Miku Project Diva Future Tone
12. Shenmue 2
11. Danganronpa 1.2 Reload
10. Shenmue
9. Sakura Wars
8. Chrono Trigger
7. Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony
6. Final Fantasy VII
5. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
4. NieR: Automata
3. Splatoon
2. Dragon Quest III
1. Persona 5

Here's what I observe:

First of all, there's an obvious newness bias going on in the top 10, as often happens in gamer-made lists of "best games". I mean three games released this year made the top 10? And a fourth from as recently as 2015? That's almost half! Fortunately, beyond that, the list seems to be quite a bit more objective, by which here I mean not just a concentration of one particular time period or what have you.

Secondly, there are almost no Western-made games on this list. I count only one -- The Witcher 3, which came in 98th place, far behind such must-have items as Pop'n Music and Sonic Unleashed (:laugh:) -- though I'm told that there is one other buried somewhere in there. If there is, it's one I don't recognize it by title. Anyway, what I think this indicates is that Western developers do not understand Japanese gamers very well.

Finally, the aforementioned newness bias in the top ten nothwithstanding, this isn't a bad list, particularly for consisting almost entirely of titles from one specific country! I mean it certainly wouldn't be my list, but objectively speaking, these aren't bad choices! Sakura Wars and Chrono Trigger in the top 10? Very cool! And Okami made 17th! That really impressed me because it's a pretty obscure title that didn't sell well and I think has been long forgotten by most here in the Western world. That's defintely one of my all-time favorites.

For comparison's sake, here's the top 100 best games ever as chosen this year solely by the staff of the UK gaming magazine Edge (http://nintendoeverything.com/edge-ranks-the-top-100-greatest-games-2017-edition/):

100. Super Hexagon
99. Her Story
98. Super Monkey Ball
97. Final Fantasy XII
96. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
95. Hyper Light Drifter
94. Katamari Damacy
93. Animal Crossing: New Leaf 92. Resogun
91. Puzzle Bobble
90. F-Zero GX
89. The Sims 3
88. R-Type Final
87. Elite: Dangerous
86. Bomberman
85. StarCraft II
84. Pac-Man: Championship Edition
83. BioShock
82. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
81. Puzzle & Dragons
80. Tearaway
79. League of Legends
78. Super Meat Boy
77. Xenoblade Chronicles
76. OutRun 2006: Coast to Coast
75. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
74. Civilization IV
73. Battlefield 4
72. Metroid Prime
71. Hearthstone
70. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
69. Limbo
68. Towerfall Ascension
67. EarthBound
66. Batman: Arkham Knight
65. Transistor
64. Puyo Puyo
63. FTL: Advanced Edition
62: Persona 4 Golden
61. Mass Effect 2
60. Okami
59. The Stanley Parable
58. XCOM: Enemy Unknown
57. Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate
56. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt
55. Far Cry 4
54. Titanfall 2
53. Doom (2016)
52. Trials Fusion
51. Nidhogg
50. Fez
49. Overwatch
48. Super Mario 3D World
47. Journey
46. Dead Space 45. Dota 2
44. Vanquish
43. Super Mario Maker
42. Fire Emblem Fates
41. Inside
40. Shadow of the Colossus
39. Halo 3
38. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
37. Spelunky
36. Destiny
35. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
34. Kerbal Space Program
33. Dishonored
32. Splatoon
31. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
30. Rock Band 3
29. The Last Guardian
28. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
27. Ico
26. Super Metroid
25. Demon's Souls
24. Horizon: Zero Dawn
23. Advance Wars
22. The Witness
21. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
20. Ultra Street Fighter IV
19. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
18. Rez Infinite
17. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
16. Super Mario World
15. Red Dead Redemption
14. Super Mario 64
13. Portal
12. Bayonetta 2
11. Minecraft
10. Resident Evil 4
9. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
8. Super Mario Galaxy 2
7. Tetris
6. Half-Life 2
5. Bloodborne
4. The Last of Us
3. Grand Theft Auto V
2. Dark Souls
1. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Needless to say, the staff of a gaming magazine tends to have experience playing a substantially larger number, and wider range, of video games than the average gaming consumer does, so their selections reflect that fact. That's why you see slightly less newness bias in Edge's top ten picks than you saw in the Famitsu reader's top ten selections. Still, fully the majority of their top ten of all time were released within the current decade, so I say there's probably some newness bias to just about everyone really. Honestly, probably nine out of my own favorite top ten would be titles from the current decade as well. Go figure. However, I do think it's interesting that three of Edge's top ten picks were all made by the same developer/publisher (which is something I didn't see in Famitsu's list): Nintendo. That's probably not a pure coincidence, being as the current year has been deemed the official Nintendo comeback year in gaming culture.

This list is also quite a bit more balanced between Western and Japanese-made games and contains perhaps a few more games that I really like overall, such as Portal, Her Story, Inside, The Stanley Parable, Fez, Journey, and Hyper Light Drifter. Okami also makes this list, but in 60th place instead of 17th. Overall though, I think that comparing the Famitsu list with this one for me shows that Japanese gamers have better taste in Japanese-made video games. In particular, I feel that the Persona and Sakura Wars games, Chrono Trigger, NieR: Automata, Okami, EarthBound, and the Final Fantasy games deserve more credit than Edge is willing to give them and the likes of Mario a little less. I mean not that Dark Souls is a bad game or anything, but you get what I'm saying, I think.

Anyway, just thought I'd share that today!

Green Arrow
09-06-2017, 01:28 PM
I'm a little disappointed Dragon's Dogma didn't make either list. Particularly the Famitsu list, DD is pretty popular in Japan.

IMPress Polly
09-06-2017, 01:46 PM
Green Arrow wrote:
I'm a little disappointed Dragon's Dogma didn't make either list. Particularly the Famitsu list, DD is pretty popular in Japan.

I haven't played Dragon's Dogma myself before, but I can relate to the sentiment, as most of my truly favorite games ever didn't make either list. That's probably because a lot of my favorite games are fairly obscure though. I don't think I can actually craft a top 100 favorites list of my own, but I can do I top 10 favorites list for sure:

1) Gone Home
2) Papo & Yo
3) Night in the Woods
4) Beyond Good & Evil
5) Portal 2
6) Portal
7) Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor
8) This War of Mine
9) Undertale
10) Ori and the Blind Forest

I believe the original Portal is the only one there that made either list.

Green Arrow
09-06-2017, 01:53 PM
I haven't played Dragon's Dogma myself before, but I can relate to the sentiment, as most of my truly favorite games ever didn't make either list. That's probably because a lot of my favorite games are fairly obscure though. I don't think I can actually craft a top 100 favorites list of my own, but I can do I top 10 favorites list for sure:

1) Gone Home
2) Papo & Yo
3) Night in the Woods
4) Beyond Good & Evil
5) Portal 2
6) Portal
7) Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor
8) This War of Mine
9) Undertale
10) Ori and the Blind Forest

I believe the original Portal is the only one there that made either list.

Did you like Skyrim?

IMPress Polly
09-06-2017, 02:06 PM
Green Arrow wrote:
Did you like Skyrim?

I enjoy the amount of freedom that Skyrim offers. That and the sheer scale and beauty of its world are good enough to get it in maybe my top 40%, but certainly not the top 20%. It's got a wonderful aesthetic, but unlike the pattern you may have noticed in my top 10 picks, there's just not a lot of thematic depth to Skyrim that I can see. You may also be able to tell that I don't mind games being small at all if I feel like they've got something compelling to say. Or are just really unique in a way I find crazy fun, like Crypt of the NecroDancer. :grin:

The Xl
09-06-2017, 02:14 PM
Hard to rate games in different genres and different eras, but as far as PS1 RPGs go, Xenogears imo should be above both Suikoden 2 and even Chrono Trigger. The gameplay might not have been quite as good, and the 2nd disk is an unfinished mess, but the story was that good. Interesting list though.

IMPress Polly
09-07-2017, 05:36 AM
The XL wrote:
Hard to rate games in different genres and different eras, but as far as PS1 RPGs go, Xenogears imo should be above both Suikoden 2 and even Chrono Trigger. The gameplay might not have been quite as good, and the 2nd disk is an unfinished mess, but the story was that good. Interesting list though.

I like it better than Suikoden 2 as well. Whether I like it better than Chrono Trigger is a tough one for me because Chrono Trigger's time manipulation mechanics were so clever and innovative for their time and set an important precedent for future game design (though yeah I have a difficult time discerning the pertinence of its story :tongue:), but I liked Xenogears's story too. Especially for its time. Although I cringe at some of the cliches occasionally employed now (like, you know, falling "in love" with one's captor, which is a real thing and not actually healthy (it's called Stockholm Syndrome)), I remember being really surprised and impressed at its overall philosophical depth, and in particular by its surprisingly socially positive interpretation of Nietzsche's nihilistic worldview. One simply did not expect things like that from video games in 1998. Hell, one is somewhat hard-pressed to find comparable narrative depth in video games today for that matter!