13- Shadow of the Colossus (Team Ico, Playstation 2, 2005)
When I think of the bygone era of the Playstation 2 and all the amazing games it had to offer, Shadow of the Colossus is generally one of the first games to come to mind. Although the graphics are grainy by today’s standards, it still stands out as one of the most beautiful and cinematic games I’ve ever played. The soundtrack is amongst the best that I’ve ever heard in a game, and the understated story does amazing things in how it shows rather than tells what’s happening.

The whole game is minimalistic. Other than the spirit sending you on your quests to destroy colossi and your own character calling to his horse, no one in the game ever speaks. You never go up levels, and you never find new equipment. The sword and bow with which you begin the game are the same ones with which you’ll finish. Your character’s only stats are his life meter and his grip meter. And while these can be improved by hunting lizards and eating fruit, this is neither spelled out anywhere in the game nor is it necessary to the game’s completion.

The colossus battles are epic, and the music and landscapes only add to the drama. I often found myself wanting to yell out loud when I found my character wildly scrambling and gritting my teeth to hold onto the arm of a hundred foot tall colossus who was flailing wildly to dislodge the human insect who was stabbing at him with a pinlike blade. yes – the game lends itself to flowery descriptions.

For a game with no dialog, Shadow of the Colossus has pathos. Nothing is ever spelled out, but as the game progresses, you find yourself asking whether slaying the majestic colossi is the right course of action. After all, what have they done? Whom have they harmed?

I won’t spoil any more for those who may still be considering returning to 2005 to play the game, but Shadow of the Collosus holds a well-earned place in my top 20 games of all time.

12- Resident Evil 2 (Capcom, Sony Playstation, 1998)
In many ways, Resident Evil 2 doesn’t hold up well. But I enjoyed the game so much that even after twelve years, it remains one of my favorite games of all time. In 1998, Resident Evil was still coming into its own. The first game had a bit of a haunted house vibe, and terrible terrible voice acting. This sequel improved the voice acting, improved the plot, and greatly improved the graphics. Plus, the scope was so much larger – rather than zombies haunting a house, the infection had spread to the entire city. The parallel storylines followed by the game’s two playable characters was a further stroke of genius.

The game’s story primarily involved learning about how the T-virus outbreak had occurred, and learning about the even worse G-virus that the Umbrella Corporation had been developing. The fun was in discovering new enemy types along the way and enjoying the scripted cheap scares, which were plentiful. Sitting in my room at night with the lights turned off, I ate that shit up.

I suppose the decision to place this game as highly as I have isn’t an entirely rational one. It’s more about the joy that the game brought me when I first played it.

11- Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (KCE Tokyo, Sony Playstation, 1997)
The aspect of Symphony of the Night which I’ve lauded most has always been its amazing soundtrack, but that’s far from the best thing about the game. Aside from the soundtrack, and aside from the fact that the graphics were absolutely outstanding in 1997, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night was a fantastic 2d platformer that gave you an open world, RPG elements, and so much more.

Symphony of the Night was the first Castlevania game to give your character levels and an inventory. As the game progressed, you could pick up artifacts that would grant you new powers such as a double jump, flying kick, and the ability to shapeshift into a wolf, bat, or a cloud of mist. You could gain familiars who would fly alongside you, casting spells, healing you, or just attacking everything in sight.

And the boss monsters in Symphony of the Night were memorable. Trevor, Grant, and Syfa from Castlevania III made a comeback, Waterbound Sylla from Greek myth was present, and as always in Castlavania games, Death himself made an appearance. But “Granfaloon” may be my favorite Castlevania enemy of all time: a giant sphere composed of corpses. The corpses fall off and rise up as zombies to attack you. And when enough have fallen off, Granfaloon begins firing freaking laser beams at you!

As the game progressed, you could learn magic spells or buy them from the merchant. These consisted of Street Fighter-like quarter circle motions, double button presses, or something similar. They were often difficult to pull off on a D pad, but they were very useful.

Symphony of the Night gave you two weapon slots, and two buttons with which to use them. You could dual wield weapons, such as a whip and a mace, or use a two-handed weapon, or use a sword and shield. One of my favorite magic items in the game was the shield rod, which when equipped alongside a shield allowed for a special attack: when you pressed both your weapon and shield button simultaneously, you’d trigger a magical effect based on what shield you had equipped – each shield in the game had its own unique effect. And there were dozens of shields in the game. In fact, the number of different magic items in the game was so huge that it would be nearly impossible to find them all. And many had totally undocumented powers. Many were the times I’d pull off some crazy effect and have no idea how I’d managed to do it.

As I progressed through the game and watched the completion percentage counter in the inventory screen approach 100%, I grew a bit sad. i didn’t want the game to be over. How amazing was it then when I reached what appeared to be the final room in the castle and found a second castle suspended upside-down atop the first? And the meter hit 101%…

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is available as a download on the Playstation Network. If you’ve never played, I highly recommend it.