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Instead of doing a massive ranked list of my favorite games of the decade, I thought is would be more interesting (and organized) if I listed my 10 favorite games of each year of the decade.
Of all the years I've been playing video games, the year 2000 was my biggest off year. I was graduating high school and starting college, so playing video games was not exactly a top priority of mine. And while I certainly played a fair share of games that came out that year, I feel there are so many games that I haven't nearly spent enough time with.
These are some 2000 releases that would most likely have made this top 10 list had I actually got around to playing more of them. I have barely played any of these games released in 2000:
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Deus Ex
Shenmue
No One Lives Forever
The Longest Journey
Ogre Battle 64 (This is terrible considering I love the first Ogre Battle so much.)
Valkyrie Profile
Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete (Again, I consider its predecessor one of my all time favorites.)
So which games made the cut?
Brad says:
And here is my Top 10:
10. Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2
9. Power Stone 2
8. Resident Evil: Code Veronica
7. Final Fantasy IX
6. Perfect Dark (hint: way better than Goldeneye)
5. Vagrant Story -- Described at the time of being Metal Gear Solid meets Final Fantasy, this Squaresoft release was of course at the top of my "DO WANT" list leading up to its release. I was surprised to find a deep and amazingly well realized story set in the world of Ivalice created by none other than the great Yasumi Matsuno (Final Fantasy Tactics). The real tragedy here is one you will see a few other of these Top 10 lists -- I never finished this game due to a loss of save data. One day I will play through the whole game.
4. Tekken Tag Tournament -- This would be higher on this list, but the version of this game I played the most and preferred was not this PS2 release of the game. The arcade version of Tekken Tag came out in 1999, where it of course sits in the number 1 slot. I still consider Tekken Tag the best fighting game ever made. There are people out there who love Tekken 3, and consider it among the best fighters ever. Those people did not play Tekken Tag.
3. Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn -- This game would be higher if I had actually finished the game. I have a love/hate relationship with these old Bioware games. I love the characters and writing, but I absolutely hated the combat and path finding. One day I will actually complete this game and it might sky rocket up onto my favorite games list. I have a hard time ranking story based games I have not yet completed highly on these lists.
2. Front Mission 3 -- I was SO fucking skeptical of this game at first. I thought that there was no possible way that a game about robots and robot parts could have the sheer depth of options and customization comparable to Final Fantasy Tactics, a similar game with a job class system set in a fantasy world. Well, I was wrong. This is easily one of my favorite strategy RPGs ever, and it's a shame that more of this series has not been localized (I would kill to see Front Mission 5 finally brought over). The upcoming Front Mission Evolved is a fucking embarrassment and will solidify the Western lack of interest in this once great franchise.
1. Diablo 2 -- My 4th favorite game of all time and with good reason. This is the most addictive game I have ever played with its brilliant loot system, diverse skill trees, and click based combat that is so fucking stupidly satisfying. I could talk for an hour on why Diablo's loot system is not only the best loot system ever created, but also why every game with loot should emulate it.
2001 coming soon.
Brad
Comments
14 years, 11 months ago
Since you liked Hitman, I'd suggest going back for No One Lives Forever. It's a great series, as I remember.
And Majora's Mask? The fuck is wrong with you, Brad?
14 years, 11 months ago
Nice list. Vagrant Story and BG II are must-finishes, great fucking creation system and story, respectively.
Oh, and I suggest you get on Valkyrie Profile. I've only played about 10 or so hours of it, but it's really addicting. Get your hands on the PSP port, I hear the voice acting is better and the translation is fixed, because the original VP has awful versions of both.
Either way, awesome list.
14 years, 11 months ago
Cool concept. Should be exciting to see the next few years. Also Perfect Dark is awesome, though it was critically praised and pretty much universally loved I still can't help but feel people's memories of it are overshadowed by Goldeneye. I will admit Goldeneye was more revolutionary concerning FPS and Consoles and such but Perfect Dark improved nearly aspect of it and went above and beyond expectations. Hell to this day it may be the only game where I enjoyed death-matches consisting of all bots.
14 years, 11 months ago
I still play Diablo 2. Blizzard knows how to do Expansions. Each time I play through Diablo 2, it's like I find something different. I agree, it was one of, if not the best game of 2000. I would take my copy to college, install it and then play it after class, do a few Pindle runs, some Hell Mephy, then I actually managed to solo Hell Diablo and Hell Baal. Oh, those were the days. Sorc's combined with a Pally were just an amazing combination that would leave destruction in their path. Toss in an elemental Druid, a Trap assassin, and an Amazon done right and nothing would stand in your way.
14 years, 11 months ago
I played Front Mission 3 for about 15 hours straight (my first SRPG) and I was so involved in the experience, I forgot to save and on one the last missions, a scientist died and I lost all my progress. Probably my worst moment in gaming and I have yet to pick it up again, but if I ever come across it, I'll definitely try it again.
14 years, 11 months ago
Fuck yea, Diablo 2
14 years, 11 months ago
I had to recently kick the d2 habit. Its far too addictive for me.Fun gameplay with free online...hell yeah. Diablo 2 is bittersweet as its probably going to suck compared to D2, if its anything like torchlich. Torchlight was fun for what it was but under no circumstances is is a viable replacement for D2 and D3. Not only are the graphics less appealing but the gameplay aswell.
14 years, 11 months ago
I was really busy with college around that time too, and I missed so many great games that I'm only now having the opportunity to experience (mostly from the N64 and PS1 eras). I suppose it's a little disappointing that I missed these games when they came out, but I'm actually having a great time revisiting the classics. In fact, I just finished the original Suikoden tonight after 50+ hours.
Regarding Baldur's Gate 2: on modern systems, it's possible to jack up the number of pathfinding nodes for a somewhat better experience. Also, there's a very active modding community around those old Infinity Engine games, many of which make that 2nd edition AD&D ruleset a bit more tolerable.
14 years, 11 months ago
Ah, Diablo II. Indeed, after all these years there is still no game that has done it better; the loot system, the addictive dimensions of game play, the randomly generated elements of enemies and levels that lend a touch of the unexpected to even the most intimately familiar sequences.... it's just as you've said Brad. What a miraculous game. I'm not surprised it ranks so high on your all time list.
14 years, 11 months ago
lol wat
14 years, 11 months ago
oh yeah, final fantasy ix, but i prefer viii and x, where all the better love stories are at. diablo 2 is good, but i hope diablo 3's gonna be better.
14 years, 11 months ago
A good top 10 list, I certainly agree that Baldur's gate II and Diablo 2 more that qualify to be a top ten of the year 2000. I strongly recommend finishing Deus ex and Majora's mask, without a doubt those are 2 of my most favorite games of all time (I prefer Majora's mask to Ocarina)
14 years, 11 months ago
[...] on my Top 10 decade lists. But I’ll be cranking these out a lot quicker now. Here is my year 2000 list in case out missed [...]
14 years, 10 months ago
[...] list. So here are my favorite games of 2002. And in case you missed the previous lists: 2000 and [...]