Top 10 Video Game Meme

I've filled out a meme similar to this before: [link] but changed my mind on a couple things.

Blank meme: [link]

Here's the rundown, a lot of it is reiteration.

Psychonauts: still my favorite game. It's so well written, the humor is solid and the art style is nothing i've ever seen. Well acted, well crafted, well planned. Near perfection except a couple of the platforming elements that I notice people are hung up on, but you can go ahead and pass the controller to me ^^ I've got it down to an art except for that dumb inside-out rotating fire cage in the Meat Circus, I hate that thing.

Beyond Good and Evil: i love this game so much for its creative world and truly moving character elements. All the people in this game are unique and the relationships so touching you'll easily forgive them for being pig, goat and cat people. This is the only stealth-style game i've ever actually succeeded at, and I love Jade as a protagonist.

Silent Hill 2: the king of the Silent Hill games, this installment relies heavily on the psychological side of horror storytelling. EVerything in it is so purposeful, and while James kind of sucks at fighting and is a bit of a dunce sometimes, you feel like the challenges he faces lead him to some sort of goal as he slowly solves the mystery of his own mind. It's really a gem of the survival horror genre.

Halo (Combat Evolved): Really my love extends to the whole Halo series, but if I'm working this into a collection of game recommendations, I'd have to put CE first. It's a callback to a simpler time when the story wasn't so complicated and the fighting was smooth and easy to handle. All the really great characters are there (minus the Arbiter) along with those awesome H1 pistols and awful H1 warthogs. There are a couple levels in CE that I think qualify as some of the greatest moments in FPS gaming and while the multiplayer is now sadly offline, it was a pioneer in the field.

The Orange Box: This could be the best use of your dollars. It's got the Halflife2 games: some of the best acted pieces of interactive storytelling I've experienced, and Portal: one of the greatest games of all time. Halflife features a protagonist that doesn't speak but still has an identifiable personality as showing in the people he interacts with, a couple of nail-biting cinematic moments and a couple more tense emotional scenes that nearly got me to cry. Portal has GlaDOS... whose meme-ified promise of cake is as legendary as her sharp automated wit. The puzzles in this game are like nothing i've ever seen before. There's also Team Fortress 2 but I'll be honest and admit I haven't spent a lot of time with that one.

Digital Devil Saga: games 1 and 2 are two halves of one storyline but I could only feature one cover so 1 it is. This game is the best character development I've ever seen in an rpg. The combat is strategic, the acting is generally spot on and the story has enough random twists and turns to make any Shin Megami Tensei fan satisfied. The decidedly mature themes linger contemplatively on the nature of life, death, purpose and decency as well as the sacrifice it takes to do what you know is right. If you like JRPGs, especially Atlus's titles, I can't recommend these two games enough.

Castle Crashers: The best party game. It's challenging enough to have you screaming and running, yet simple enough that strangers to games can pick it up and play. Four-player coop has made for many a late night party with my buds and I, my buddy ~FelicisAstrum play near every weekday morning online and it's even brought me closer to my brother-in-law! It's got great visual humor and a real cute style. No matter how many times I beat it, I'm ready to pick a new character and do it again.

Rock Band 2: This game has awakened me to the breadth of the rock and roll scene. Before our bassist moved away, my buds and I would rock out every week. I miss those parties, but I'll always have this game and my plastic drum set held together by duct tape.

Dance Dance Revolution: You wanna talk about man-hours, the DDR series has been a staple in my workout plan for years. I used supernova2 because that's the one i'm playing currently, but I've been through volumes of DDR games. It's the only way I can dance with measurable success. I challenge you all to "Jesus of Suburbia" on heavy mode. Right now, throw in your gloves!

finally: Mass Effect: A relative newcomer to my collection of games, ~Raptorix loved it enoguh to send me a copy. I'm still playing the second game, but the first one had me on the edge of me jonesing for it when I was away. For weeks I've been devouring the thing and now I feel in tune with the universe, its races and its cultures. The good vs evil story builds to a satisfying crescendo and the confusing lack of direction is compensated by a distinct sense of accomplished badassery when you finally figure out how to kill things. It also pays attention to how you play the game, many of the decisions you make affect the in-game dialog and npcs. I've never had a game pay that much attention to me - not even Shattered Memories and the put the "analyze you as you play thing" on the box. In Mass Effect I honestly feel like my playstyle affects the game world, and that makes for quite the immersive experience.