A proper finish: My 10 Favorite Games

This is my last blog post. Sorry to disappoint you. If I wanted to truly disappoint you I would make this article something like my 10 least favorite things about call of duty (Here's a rough draft I came up with at this moment):
1. Repeating the same game over and over again
2. Repeating the same game over and over again
3. Changing the same tiny details over and over again
4. Repeating the same game over and over again
5. Changing the same tiny details over and over again
6. Repeating the same game over and over again
7. Changing the same tiny details over and over again
8. Repeating the same game over and over again
9. Changing the same tiny details over and over again
10.  Repeating the same game over and over again

This type of post would be considered extremely anticlimactic. This is the last blog post before fabricating an online portfolio, so wish me luck. Before we go any further, if you happened to notice  the post about my 5 favorite single player games, I have 3 things to say to you:

1. Thank you for reading my blog. I put plenty of time and effort into it and I am glad that someone is appreciating my efforts.
2. Please pretend you did not see that blog post. I have a more thought out list this time.
3. THIS LIST ONLY INCLUDES THE GAMES I PLAYED. So I am sorry if I seem biased to the action genre (well guess what I don't want to play walking simulators like Elder Scrolls because I want big action throughout). So if you see your favorite game that means I simply don't care about it (no need to start flooding the comment section) or I completely forgot about it or I didn't have enough room for it.

Anyhow, let's get started!

10. Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus- To me, kids/family friendly video games are always brushed off too soon. This video game came out around the same time as other popular titles and it was ignored. I of course had doubts about this game, but when I actually played it, I was impressed by the variety and the humor of the game. Most kid titles to me seem like the same sort of humor over and over again (speaking from experience of a year of helping out my little brother with Skylanders), but this one had humor that was actually not half bad. What truly impressed me was the difficulty. To a kid, this might seem like a fairly big challenge, but to an adult, it is a breeze. Yes there were missions where I quit purely out of rage (I still don't want to replay the Miss Ruby boss, as I am useless in all rhythm games), but for the most part, I did not feel frustrated. Remember, the list has only begun.

9. Mirror's Edge- For one thing, this game certainly does not look to impressive upon first glimpse. It's just a game about parkour you think. Well, it was certainly designed around parkour, but it was intended to be an action game that blended urban action from a shooter with the platforming of games like Mario and Sonic. As with all other EA Dice games, the story was short (and also confusing), but where this game shines is the Adrenaline Rush you get through playing. While other video games choose only to give you pure adrenaline through one scene, this one keeps the flow through every chapter by gradually turning up the heat until you are well into the frying pan. It is also worth noting for the difficulty, since much of the game is about perfect timing (sometimes due to obstacles, other times due to glitches), and also, the shooting sequences make the enemies extremely annoying (but the shooting is not the main focus). In fact, there is an achievement for going through the game without shooting enemies (I got it on my first run through because I paid no attention to the tutorial). There is a sequel coming out, and it is one of the few games that I have a preorder down for. If there is anything that worries me, it will be that EA Dice will keep up their legacy of buggy launches.

8. Sonic Adventure- Sonic the Hedgehog is a franchise that is hit or miss, and very lately, it has been one miss after another (with exceptions being given to Sonic Generations and Sonic Colors). I still like to remember Sonic Adventure for being a nice little cinematic adventure into the world of our favorite blue hedgehog. While the stunts are not too impressive, they sure are memorable (of course being chased by a whale is still fun!). Despite the camera problems and the time I got frustrated by the maze in the forest, I still think this game is a fun adventure (and plus one of few kids games which I can play without breaking my controller in half).

7. Halo 2- Strangely enough, I really find the 343 Industries (new developer) installments preferable to those by Bungie (old developer). This is the only Bungie installment which I enjoyed all the way through. After Halo CE microsoft could have just grabbed the franchise and thrown into the trash. But like with most good sequels, they blow open the first one, keep what was good with their predecessors and add in what was originally missing. This is one of the only video games which does the "Two sides to every story" plot correctly, and it kept me hooked in the whole ride. Ten years later, it got a complete graphic overhaul for the Master Chief Collection, and is visually stunning (especially the cutscenes). Ultimately, this is one of the best console exclusives, and it certainly helped me to stay with the Xbox.

6. Tomb Raider (2013)- If there is anything that the Tomb Raider franchise was missing, it was a story (I'm sorry if it has a story!). All it looked like was a treasure adventure game without the adventure. The franchise was iconic and to me it needed a second chance. When they rebooted it, I did have my doubts, but I dove in, and it was plenty of fun. This game gives Lara Croft the justified background of a hardened survivor of being kidnapped by a cult and having friends to save. It has few glitches, a good story, and great action. One of the best games of all time to me.

5. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2- It is to be considered a rare sighting when I complement Call of Duty (speaking of, economists believe that Battlefield 2016 will beat Call of Duty 2016). This is one of the few installments that went close to perfection. The only problem I have with it is that it does slow down a bit near the end. However, this game had a good plot, nice gunplay, good action variety, good voice acting, and was overall just a fun game (I even dare say it was better than Halo 3 (MY OPINION)).

4. Uncharted 3 Drake's Deception- This videogame is the one which brought me into shooter. I wanted to try it out since it seemed to have a healthy mix of gunplay and platforming (As demonstrated by Mirror's Edge). It had a thorough story, plenty of good cinematic moments, awesome puzzles, nice platforming segments, and great gunplay. It was hard to choose between Uncharted 2 and 3, but 3 emerged victorious because it found a perfect balance of every type of scene. My favorite chapter, "As Above So Below" demonstrates the best parts of the game perfectly on a nice meat and cheese platter, and best yet, it contains little spoilers. The only thing that I felt was missing from the chapter was a caravan ambush scene (which does appear later, and boy is it a good one). The one thing that I felt was missing from the game were hints for the puzzles. Yes, the puzzles will point you in the right direction if you seem to be lost, however, the hints were either useless or just revealed the whole puzzle, making wall tile puzzles feel unsatisfactory. The sad part for me is that I am an Xbox gamer and Uncharted 4 is one of the few Playstation exclusives which actually make me feel like I chose the wrong side (#TeamMasterChief).

3. Portal 2- I was indeed impressed by the first Portal. However, the second installment  truly shines through. For one thing the first Portal was a bit short and felt like more or less of a developer demonstration. However, the second game really impressed me with the thorough story. It's like Valve suddenly cranked up the plot and all of a sudden it felt like I was in a whole new world. I was particularly impressed with the puzzle style, as for most of them, you have to take time to think (such as puzzles where turrets must be eliminated systematically so that one of their friends does not spot you in the act of murder). I also felt really happy with the plot, as even though it started out with a typical jailbreak, it ended up with you having to form an uneasy truce in order to escape before the facility self destructs. Besides, the game has both Stephen Merchant and J.K. Simmons starring, and celebrity credits in video games are (almost) always a good thing.

2. Grand Theft Auto V- Rockstar North makes no sacrifices when it comes to the Grand Theft Auto series, and this game truly pulled me in. It is true that this game is super violent. However, I feel like this is one of the very few games that truly deserved it's 10/10 from IGN. This is my first Grand Theft Auto game, and I was astounded by the thorough story and Hollywood-esque stunts. It had a perfect variety of cinematic heist missions and rescue missions and is more than deserving of your time. While several people can say this game was not what they hoped for, I truly felt like this game was a perfect escape atmosphere. It was not just about action, but also had a healthy deal of drama as well. To me, this game is a perfect mishmash of concepts from other games.

1. Super Mario 64- What sort of gamer would not have a Mario game in their top 10 list? (A gamer with tastes as horrible as ----! (excuse the language please)) Super Mario 64 deserves a rightful spot in everybody's library, since it is considered the first successful 3d game, it is one game that appeals over several generations, and it is always a good challenge. While there is not too much in the story department (other than rescue Princess Peach and celebrate by baking cake), the gameplay is more than satisfactory. It is well designed platforming, has a really chilled score, has plenty of variety, and overall is just the best game ever made. I can not emphasize the part enough about the challenge. It might seem simple, but certain tasks such as "Fly Mario Over The Rainbow" were absolute nightmares (I honestly can not recall if I beat it or if it is just wishful thinking, but something tells me I actually did beat it.).

Anyhow, before I close off the blog, it's time for another Amazon link! No, this is not to a video game, but since it's my blog I can do whatever I want. This leads to Amazon Student, a free trial of Amazon Prime lasting 6 months, and renewal only cots $50 (Yes, they do auto-renew, so kiss your wallet goodbye!). This includes the awesome 2 day shipping, unlimited photo storage, Amazon Music (great alternative to Spotify, except not as many songs or good song definition), and if you renew, Prime Video is thrown in too (great Netflix alternative, but it does make you miss out on exclusive series like Daredevil). Also, my favorite benefit: 20 percent off of video game pre-orders (you can still get the discount as long as it was released within the past 2 weeks). Now, it's only $48 dollars for a video game, which in my opinion is a very agreeable price tag. Sign up through my link and I get a $5 Amazon credit and you get one too! (Why use my link? Because I spend at least 2 hours writing my posts, and I'd love to have some spending dough, and I'm sure you would love some too.) This is only available with a ."edu" email address. (I.E. JonDoe@institution.edu)

Anyways, this will be my last weekly post for a while, so if you want to browse around the other posts I have made, feel free to do so! It's been a fun time writing up posts, so if I find time and enough boredom in my daily life, I'll be here! Thanks for viewing my blog!

Game on

-Jacob Bacci