70: Darkstone
- Year: 1999
- System: PC
It fed my need for more Diablo. But it also filled a sort of general need for a role playing game. There wasn't this overarching hell is spilling into the world. There were fully populated villages to interact with.
There of course were randomized dungeons. Dozens of enemies and spells and weapons.
Darkstone wasn't better than Diablo, but in a time where Diablo clones were everywhere, Darkstone stood above the rest.
69 (noice): Dark Cloud
- Year: 2000
- System: PS2
I didn't know anything about Dark Cloud. I had a PS2 and no games. Dark Cloud had recently been 
introduced as the Greatest Hits line. So why the hell not, I could spend $20 and see a next gen game in action.
Little did I know, I had just picked up one of the Playstation 2's most iconic games. Dark Cloud blends live action hack and slashing, procedurally generated dungeons, and 5 hours in, city building where you have to try to fulfill the resident's requests as closely as you can.
We did get one sequel, also on the PS2, and a remastered version of the original came out on the PS4. We're about due for Sony to dust off this franchise. It would be a huge win for the PS5 to announce Dark Cloud 3.
68: Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
- Year: 2006
- System: Wii
This was the first (and kind of one of the few) big experiences on the Wii. Nintendo managed to use the waggle controls in a responsible way. You swung your sword, threw your boomerang, held up your shield.
It was peak Zelda weird NPCs. My absolute favorite.
And it played the greatest hits of the dungeons. Water, fire, forest, and air.
67: Gears of War 2
- Year: 2008
- System: Xbox 360
Gears of War 2 fixed the annoying parts of Gears 1. Things like not being able to get revived when
downed and split up. The story was better. The graphics better. The multiplayer maps better.
downed and split up. The story was better. The graphics better. The multiplayer maps better.
There was the abandoned factory horror area. There was tromping around the Fenix house.
And then there was the Cole Train. This one-man, one-liner machine.
When a new Gears of War comes out, people still think back to Gears of War 2, expecting to get a life changing experience like this.
66: NHL '95
- Year: 1994
- System: Genesis
I was so excited to boot up Sonic and NHL, but alas... we had church... and then family things.
That year, our family was hosting the extended family, so my solo Genesising would have to wait. But we did have an impromptu hockey tournament. I beat uncles and older cousins, and claimed the Stanley Cup with the Calgary Flames.
And from then on, NHL '95 was my favorite hockey game.
65: Resident Evil 4
- Year: 2005
- System: GameCube
Creeping toward the village, you see dozens of villages, seemingly going about their day, until you 
focus on the fire in the middle of the village where the two Spanish officers that were accompanying you were being burned alive.
You enter the village, eventually alerting the population to your presence. That's OK, you can take refuge in a house, cover the only entrance. Then you hear the chainsaw rev and the back window break.
The opening of Resident Evil 4 almost makes you forget about some of the ridiculous shit that happens later on. (A castle filled with parasite monks ran by a zombie Napoleon?)
64: Paper Mario: Thousand-Year Door
- Year: 2004
- System: GameCube
Why does Mario still have an 80s porn stasche?
And how often can the princess get kidnapped? It's like she likes it.
Paper Mario is fun, plain and simple. It gives just enough of a challenge to feel like it's difficult, but never sets you back far enough to rage quit.
63: Fallout: New Vegas
- Year: 2010
- System: PC
New Vegas solved this. There was a giant open world, with something you wanted to check out every 100 feet or so.
The story was much more intriguing. You weren't trying to save the world, you were trying to just figure out why you were left for dead, a simple courier.
Everything in New Vegas wanted you dead. There weren't any artificial walls, you could go anyway you wanted from the beginning, but the horde of death claws roaming the northern mountains might have something to say about it.
62: Vagrant Story
- Year: 2000
- System: PS1
Vagrant Story did something to my imagination. Lea Monde was this living, breathing location. I wanted to dig further and further into the catacombs to see what this once bustling city, now torn by earthquake had to offer.
The story had intrigue, horror, action, and betrayal.
And the boss battles were these epic fights of contrition. You may battle a dragon for 25 minutes, your MP completely empty, low on healing items, and it comes down to the last strike you have.
The menu driven weapon and armor selecting is dated, it would need a face lift to bring the franchise back, but I think the world is ready for another one.
61: Alan Wake
- Year: 2010
- System: Xbox 360
There was a drought of "horror" games going into the 360/PS3 era. Franchises like Resident Evil went 
more action. Silent Hill lost what made it creepy. Deadly Premonition had David Lynch weirdness, but not really horror. And you had Alone in the Dark (2018) which was promising and had it's moments, but didn't penetrate the greater consciousness.
Alan Wake was probably the best of these horror franchises during this generation. Alan Wake brought some weirdness where the forth wall was broken a little. It brought some action with the varied combat. And did interesting things with the use of light.
Alan Wake remains one of the few games I got all 1000 achievement points in. I played through it four or five times, and in all honesty, will probably play through it again at some point.
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