Oh my gosh all of them are amazing! It depends on your tastes but none of them are going to be disappointing. I'd say of those the hardest to get into might be Crash 1 as it has a bonkers save system, but every one of those series is excellent.

But father, what if something happens to you?

Kind of reminds me of Yakuza 1 on PS2.

My top 10 games of 2023!
Only counting games I for the first time this year.

Bonus: Soul Blazer: Dark Genesis
- This fan game would be very high on the list, but I don't really count it as a full game since it's only a single chapter. But it sure was a great time. There's not much else quite like Soul Blazer.

10.) ChaoS;HEAd Noah
- A strange, foreboding, and weird psychological thriller about a comically anti-social weaboo. Felt like I was in a trance every time I played it.

9.) The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
- One big improvement over the last game is this one's fun boss battles. Coupled with some elemental dungeons, this game thankfully felt a little bit more like Zelda. (The hairdo and outfit granted by the Ocarina of Time amiibo certainly helped the illusion.)

8.) Super Mario Bros. Wonder
- A step up over the New Super Mario Bros. series, but far from being as good as Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World. Daisy's inclusion is a huge plus.

7.) Astro's Playroom
- Brimming with creativity and fan-service; Makes you use the controller in so many different ways. Consistently joy-inducing throughout its very short playtime.

6.) Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line
- The revamped controls are more complex than the touch controls of the 3DS games, but it's still just as fun as ever. The impressively large track list helps make this one of the best rhythm games I've ever played.

5.) Wonder Boy in Monster World
- Been on my to-do list forever, and it didn't disappoint now that I've finally played it. It is every bit as good as The Dragon's Trap.

4.) Super Adventure Island II
- Played this hoping for more Wonder Boy-esque fun, but found something I enjoyed even more. The fun I had exploring this world is something I'll remember for years to come.

3.) Mega Man Legends 2
- Better than the first game in nearly every conceivable way. If I had known the game would be this fun, I'd have played it sooner. Great towns and addictive dungeon exploration.

2.) Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name
- A mid-tier Yakuza game, but a Yakuza game nonetheless. Came out at just the right time for me personally. Had a very poignant finale.

1.) Resident Evil 4 (2023)
- The standard all remakes need to live up to. Improves on the original game in nearly every aspect. Extremely replayable; I'm already on my 5th run!

I actually played Diddy Kong Racing back in 2009 or so, around the time I first got into Project 64. I only just recently played it on console for the first time though, thanks to the EverDrive. It's awesome! The Adventure mode is a lot of fun, but those silver coin races get pretty damn hard. I'm focusing more on F-Zero X at the moment, but I might get back into it.

Man, I have to say that it was a blast reading through your impressions of the initial TTYD HD announcement and the amount of joy it brought you knowing that the original Paper Mario formula is soon enough going to be brought back on a modern Nintendo console! Seeing the footage in that Direct had me absolutely floored too, as I was convinced Nintendo was never going back to the classic turn-based style. For all of us (myself included) that haven’t experienced this revered game yet, having an accessible version of TTYD to play on Switch was terrific news all on its own! Seriously can’t wait to play it for the first time once the release date is upon us, as my only real exposure to the Paper Mario series so far in life has been…Sticker Star. Not a terrible game on its own IMO, but I could understand the frustration that it essentially buried what fans found appealing about the series in the first place.
I’m really happy for you friend about TTYD and its long awaited remake, next year can’t come soon enough! Fingers crossed tight that both the Mario RPG + TTYD remakes do well enough that it encourages Nintendo to dip their toes into producing more turn-based Mario RPGs for their home consoles eliciting the same charm / creativity of those classic titles. We could potentially be witnessing the dawn of a new era of Mario RPG very soon, and I’m all here for it!

A pleasure as always to engage in some fun conversation with ya Dekumonz, hoping that life on your end has been treating you well throughout the year! With a lot of free time on my hands now, I plan to make the most of it relaxing and playing catch up on some games without a care in the world. Ah, and I just wished to mention that I saw you just recently completed the Mario RPG remake. Woohoo! I’m curious to hear what are your thoughts on it, and how does it compare to the original SNES release?
Wishing you all the best these upcoming holidays, as well as the new year! Let’s finish 2023 off strong! (6/6)

If it does happen that WotHN ends up capturing your interest enough then there is no shortage of additional Nasuverse content to dive into including: Tsukihime, Fate, Garden of Sinners, and more! All of it being superb stuff, not to mention all the dedicated fans putting in the work to translate works that never left Japan!
No indication as of yet when the revised script will be available as a console version update, but you can bet that when it happens I will be there to re-experience that fantastic story again. 🤩

I’ve heard a lot of good things about Steins;Gate over the years, and there have been a couple times where I’d meant to look into reading the VN or at least watching the anime adaptation, but just haven’t yet due to getting sidetracked with other fixations. I see it regularly listed among the best visual novels ever released so I certainly want to check it out sometime to experience the story for myself and seeing what the hype is about…one of these days!

I feel like that’s exactly it when it comes to horror games, with the main ‘scare’ factor not often coming from the actual game’s content itself but the growing expectation that something will come around the corner and get you good. And as you mention, being limited in resources in titles such as REmake add all the more to that tense feeling while playing as you’re never quite sure if you’re fully prepared to take on the next set of obstacles to get in your way.
When playing OG Silent Hill, a lot of rooms you explore in the early-game locations (Midwich Elementary School comes to my mind vividly) are void of enemies but I could never shake off the constant feeling of anxiety that a monster would pop out from the darkness or fog. It left an incredibly strong impression on me with its ever-present ominous atmosphere, which I wasn’t expecting another horror game to have on me so soon coming off playing REmake earlier this year. I was presuming the game’s tank controls / camera to give me more grievance coming from an earlier era of 3D game design, but I managed to get accustomed very quickly!
If SH had implemented stricter resource management or a limited save system as seen in the early RE games, goodness knows how much longer it would’ve taken me to get through the entire game! Horror games like that I think I could only handle playing...every so often, lol.
If you’re ever looking to scratch the horror game itch, I would for sure give Silent Hill a high recommendation! (5/?)

No worries at all if Harmony of Dissonance didn’t have the same impact on you as the other ‘Metroidvania’ titles in the series had. Given how far removed it is from even the other two GBA titles (especially Aria of Sorrow) in terms of visuals and audio quality, I suppose it’s just that kind of divisive game where it's either ‘you really enjoy it or don’t’. Having replayed Harmony myself not too long ago, I can understand where you are coming from in terms of the execution for the ‘Inverse’ castle.
Thematically speaking I think it’s great, as it demonstrates how Maxim’s soul is corrupted by Dracula’s power and split into similar (yet distinct) halves, but I could see how from a gameplay perspective it could be a chore, effectively having to re-explore the same areas you've been to not long ago again with only that slight variation in color palette and enemy types to distinguish the castles as you’ve mentioned.
Thinking on it now with a more objective lens, Harmony’s second castle isn’t anything too mind-boggling (bearing in mind its legendary PS1 predecessor) but on my first playthrough I was awed with seeing those differences and how some actions you’d take in Castle A would affect how you progress in Castle B. Truthfully speaking, even if it is your least favorite of the GBA titles I’m pleased all the same that you at least played through one of my most beloved games of all time and gave it an honest, fair shake. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

Ayy that’s pretty neat! Always nice to go back to a traditional book now and again to spice things up. It’s alright if you haven’t yet had the chance to try out WotHN, as with the recent Steam release I’ve learned that errors that were present in the English translation on the console versions have been fixed! They weren’t too rampant or anything if you were to have read the VN when the localization first dropped, but the ones that did occasionally pop up were rather apparent so hopefully the second editing pass that's been made is enough to now to make WotHN an enjoyable reading experience for all! (4/?)

I heard about the live-action Zelda movie too, and even now after all this time since the initial announcement am I still coming to terms that it’s actually a very real project currently in the works! I would’ve loved for the Zelda movie to be animated, just as the recent Mario movie was, so it wouldn’t contend with the limitations inherent to live-action filmmaking but heck if it doesn’t intrigue me regardless to see how Nintendo will pull this one off. The cast reveal announcement for the Mario movie was one for the history books; I can only fathom how the internet’s reaction is going to be for the reveal of the Zelda live-action cast. Will the long running memes come true and they’ll have Tom Holland play our legendary hero, Link?! We’re a ways off from hearing any concrete news about it I’m sure, but in any case I’m leaning towards being…cautiously optimistic!

I don’t know all that much about the director who’ll be in charge of the Zelda movie, not much of an avid movie watcher person myself to be honest. That said, I’ve read up a brief plot overview of the first ‘Maze Runner’ movie and I’ve gotten somewhat curious to check it out. I faintly remember the first Maze Runner being a popular topic when I was still in High School, had no idea about the other sequels that came out after it. :o

I said something similar earlier, but great things take time to fully manifest right? It’s cool to hear that you’re continuing to go ahead with your ‘Best of 2022’ video, even now that we’ll soon be coming up on 2024! I’m sure the subscribers won’t mind learning about what your top gaming picks for 2022 were even once we reach the end of the current decade. After all…it’s never too late to sing some well-deserved praise for Phoenotopia: Awakening and make more folks aware of its sheer awesomeness!!
I, for one, will be interested to see how this epic video in-the-making shapes up to be once it’s completely ready to hit the limelight! (3/?)

Is that so?! Makes me glad to hear that I ain't doing so bad with communicating what makes the games I love, such as DQVII, shine!
You played through DQIX before when it first came out? I never knew that, that's awesome! The similar 'vignette' story structure to VII is what I've been enjoying most of what I've played of DQIX thus far, though truthfully it has yet to reach the highs of the former in my eyes. From my experience with it, DQVII's writing consistently hit home with getting me heavily invested with the circumstances of the notable NPCs for each town, and so I wish for something akin to that in IX further along into my current file.
Here's to real fun playthroughs when you revisit either entry in the future! DQVII will undoubtedly be long as heck even if you're not grinding out a bunch of the advanced / monster classes (like how I did), but it's a treat in every sense!

I would’ve loved to have poured in even more hours playing Persona 4 from when I first picked it up via eShop back in August to now, but oof having to constantly juggle college work put a damper on my mood for playing longer games. Now that I’m on break for the holidays though, I’m looking forward to revisiting Inaba and making further progress on getting a certain delinquent lad out of a steamy sauna! That’s some real golden praise too I see that you’re giving to P4. Hoping the game makes a similar impression on me as it did for you by the time the credits roll since so far it’s been nothing but constant fun being around the main cast, my main man Brosuke for sure as well as Yukiko whose personality has grown on me a lot after she officially joined as a party member!

Wait, has Nintendo yet to drop Golden Sun on GBA Switch Online ?! I-I thought they had already put it on there a long time ago(...). That’s a darn shame to hear, as I’ve been recently mulling over hopping on the Expansion Pass and trying out some heavy-hitter N64 / GBA titles, and Golden Sun was one such game I was interested in trying out first. We can only hope that it gets added to the GBA Online lineup sometime soon, maybe early 2024? (2/?)

Other than Kirby's Return to Dream Land DX, Pikmin 4, Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, and the physical version of Witch on the Holy Night (if that counts?) it's true that I haven't hopped on many of the year's hot releases. When I get around to drafting my top game picks for 2023, it’s going to be largely dominated by a bunch of older games!
I stacked more than a few looong RPGs on my current backlog plate in recent months, which I kept piling on to for some reason even with less free time to spare. It’s something I’ll likely have to work on next year in order to make more meaningful headway on my overall backlog, haha!

I had a great time with the DQM demo when it initially dropped on the Switch eShop, with my only real concern being its overall performance in terms of the frame rate. I loved the gameplay loop, and can definitely see myself putting in some serious hours scouting every monster I encounter and fusing 'em together to create more powerful allies! Planning on getting it for the holidays, keeping my fingers crossed that any issues that were present in the demo have been addressed for the full release. I was planning on snagging that new DQ Dai game as well, but have heard that it turned out to be quite the dud unfortunately.

Hold up, you said Yuji Horii spent time playtesting DQIII HD-2D?!?! THAT. IS. AMAZING !!! I hadn’t been keeping up with any news regarding the series too closely lately as I was busy gearing up for my Uni finals. Was wondering just recently too, before this year’s Game Awards, if we'd hear a peep at all about DQIII before year's end. It’s without a doubt exciting stuff (THANK YOU for letting me know), and perhaps this could be an indication that we're sure to get a steady info. stream in 2024!! I'm hoping the same with regards with DQXII and that we learn something about its development status soon, next year too sometime at the earliest! 🙏

Giving shape to great art takes time, and your Torneko piece was certainly a clear example of that in my humble opinion. Completely understandable. Rooting for ya whenever the desire to make more art comes back! (1/?)

Breath of Fire 1 and 2 are very similar and then the series takes a leap onto the PS1, so Breath of Fire III and IV are very similar. Honestly, I would say any of them are good starting points as they don't exactly have a coherent story line throughout, but I do say that Breath of Fire 1 is by far the simplest.

Yeah, the story is interesting to say the least. You can take it from the surface or you can go really deep into it with all of the references and Philosophical/Psychological terms. I think there is one cutscene that is like 30 minutes long, but that is the longest, so they are spread out in the game. But, yeah, classic and great turn based battle system. Nothing too fancy and you don't even have to use the MECH's if you don't want to.

Yeah, I really loved so much of Radiata Stories. The story doesn't take itself too serious. I love the Day/Night cycle in the game. How you can recruit characters like in Suikoden and each character has their own schedule like in Majora's Mask, but that battle system isn't that great. They were just a bit boring and repetitive. If you can get past the battles, then the game has so many other positive qualities.

Yeah, Golden Sun was pretty freaking awesome. I am very interested in picking up the sequel, especially since the first one left off on a cliffhanger. It was just classic, home cooking, warm bed JRPG goodness that I love so much!

Yeah! Lotsa great dialogue. A personal favorite of mine is that miner talking about that not so fresh feeling.

Super Adventure Island II is a good pick, as far as being a semi non-linear adventure game goes. You could also dive into somma Falcom's collaborated earlier works like Legacy of the Wizard or Faxanadu. Or, you could go indie and pway Rabi-Ribi. I hear the sequel, Tevi, came out not too long ago.

Been watching an LP of TTYD recently, and maybe I wil just wait for the remake. There's waaaaay too much backtracking. Twilight Town, secret party member, and Far Outpost. ESPECIALLY that last one. Also, I hate that fucking creeper computer.

I've heard of Danger Mario, but never bothered to do a run myself.

Well, we can't stop this JRPG Train. Might as well ride it to the end.

So, I wouldn't put much stock into my opinion of Breath of Fire III. I was going for a , so I had to collect all skills which had me grinding for hours in some areas. It was a different experience from when I first play it. Honestly, its hard to tell III and IV apart for me. So, if you like one, you will like the other. I think III is simpler, so its the better one to start. I think giving it a try would be a good idea. It takes a slow start, but if you like the changes compared to the SNES ones, then I think you will like it.

Oh, there are many of cut scenes in Xenosaga. I think there is more cutscenes than gameplay. For gameplay, its surprisingly rather simple. Kind of your basic battle system and character development. That is kind of why I picked it. And, after playing through all three games, its fun to watch scenes and see characters and plot lines used in later games. But, yeah, if you are not in the mood to watch long scenes, Xenosaga is not for you.

I think Baten Kaitos Origins is a better start, so if you want to try it again, that would be your best option. However, graphics, story, characters and music are pretty much on par to the first game. Also, I wouldn't say the Battle System is that more exciting as well. So, I don't know if it will change your opinion. Plus, they are also like 60-80 Hour games, so there is a huge time commitment.

Yeah, I never have gone for the RE4 completion. I think Professional Mode has always been too daunting in my eyes. But, a part of me really wants to just because of how over powered you become with the machine gun and rocket launcher. I think that game does extra playthroughs so perfectly.

Oh Man, I'm so excited to play Twilight Princess. I think that will be so much fun. I recently picked up Link's Awakening on GB and I haven't played that since I was a kid, so I'm excited to start my playthrough of Zelda games that I missed.

I saw that you tried Radiata Stories. I loved every aspect of that game except for the combat. I loved collecting party members, they having their own schedules, the story, the graphics and the music, but man I wished the combat system was better. I kind of wished it was turned based and not a lesser version of Tales/Star Ocean.

[Link] I mean, it's played for laughs, it was on an April Fools episode, but also it's when their writing has gotten more cynical, so it's a tough call there. Actually, now that I think about it, they might have liked Viva Pinata?

Marvelous was good overall. Lots of two step forward, one step back moments, every time I got lost I felt I had to check a walkthrough and some dealings with item management were a tad cumbersome, but it did what it set out to do and I think it succeeded. Didn't Zelda: Tri Force Heroes (from Nintendo's dark period) base itself on Marvelous?

"From Rare, the makers of Donkey Kong Country" - Grabbed by tbe Ghoulies commercial

And so began Rare's downfall.

"Funny how a company called Rare hasn't put out a good game in five years" - Adam Sessler, Meet the Sess, 2005

You've got a fever of a hundred and three?

I actually only played Aria because the other two GBA games didn't really grab my attention. "Circle of the Moon" almost did, but not enough to make me want to keep playing honestly. Aria just grabbed me by the throat for like, three days until I it Really fun game! Should probably go back to the DS sequel... bah, one thing at a time! I'm in the middle of Ace Attorney Investigations, Castlevania can come next!

New Super Mario Bros. 3? Is that how you're looking at Wonder? That's like how another user describes Sonic Superstars as Sonic the Hedgehog 4.

Aria of Sorrow is such a great game! Hope you enjoy that one!
(I need to play the sequel still...)