Giles

I imagine Nintendo HQ to be like Wonka's factory. I suspect they're holding back a dozen games.

I'm of two minds on this one. A lot of people go around thinking sex is the best. Then again, Sekiro.

Game of the year for the single player quest alone.

I'm in the same boat but bigger. A few months ago my two boys pooled their birthday money together and bought a ps4 (I threw in an extra $100 for the pro so it would look good on our oled). Primarily a Nintendo man, I find myself with a PS for the first time since the original system. I'm now awash with the best games I've ever played: MSG V: the Phantom Pain, Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Resident Evil 2 Remake, The Last Guardian, Batman: Arkham Asylum, and more, and more. In a preverse twist, the games enter a contest with each other competing for my time, and like with war, no one wins. Nothing is played; nothing is completed. ... except for Sekiro. I play and I lose and lose.

Something everyone "knows": the best rails shooter is Rez The real reality: the best rails shooter is Killer7

And then Snake sneaks behind et al. and steals a top three place with a well deserved slot for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain — Videogame.

That's a great question. I've only played Stray briefly, so can't answer. Hopefully you may be willing to elaborate. On a possibly related, tangential note, I recently started with the lovely The Last Guardian. More than anything, it reminds me of the original Prince of Persia — a slightly janky, arthouse, puzzle adventure — and other games of that "genre," which for me includes Another World and Flashback.

The Goonies II. One of the strangest Metroidvanias, that added point and click rooms with an inventory system to its labyrinthine platforming. I loved it, then again at the time I was a big fan of Castlevania II: Simon's Quest.

One of the very best NES games — Little Nemo: The Dream Master. Also, are sports games in the category of licensed games? If yes, I'll list Tecmo Bowl.

Major League

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans The Last Laugh Baby Driver

Great topic, great replies. The only issue is this thread broaches too many ideas. Do books progress? Do movies? Either way, I do think our purpose in this life is to learn. FWIW, movies over the last 10–20 years seem less and less significant, while videogames continue to fascinate me more. Are they the art of the zeitgeist? I'm in awe of the of artistry and creativity that went into Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Baldur's Gate III, and Cyberpunk 2077. Games I couldn't of fathomed 10 years ago. Then again, my mind was similarly blown by Fallout 3 ages ago, and I generally expect to be amazed by the wizards at Nintendo. Overall, to the topic at hand, I think the biggest development in the last decade, as mentioned earlier in the thread, is the emergence of indie auteurs. I think it's shocking to see GOTY's from small titles like Celeste or Slay the Spire. I remember a 90's retrospective program about the movies. They interviewed famous directors on the future or demise of cinema. I think it was Francis Ford Coppola who prophesied a great future of film where masterpieces would be made by relatively unknown talent on cheap tech. At the time I thought his vision was impossibly optimistic. Go figure.

This thread has been a joy! Thank you! Thanks to everyone. It's helped me shift how I view the reading and writing of lists. Like the small treasure of passing by a stranger in a crowded city and exchanging a smile or greeting, these lists and in general all aesthetic opinings, are a great way to see and be seen. I say namaste.

1. EarthBound 2. Super Mario Bros. 3 3. F-Zero GX 4. Resident Evil 4 5. Super Monkey Ball (video game) 6. Skies of Arcadia 7. Flashback (1992 video game) 8. Final Fantasy IV 9. Wipeout HD 10. Mario Kart 8 11. Killer7 12. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night 13. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door 14. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes 15. Resident Evil 16. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past 17. Metal Slug 18. Super Mario Sunshine 19. New Super Mario Bros. U 20. Peggle

Alien: Resurrection is an excellent film, second only to Scott's original.