Top Five Tuesday | Top Five Games Outside Your Comfort Zone

Can I include stuff like Lunar:SSS that changed my mind about an entire genre? I mean, shit that changed my perception of any given genre through my entire gaming life. Or recent feelings?

I think maybe it would be best to stick with currently. Stuff like your Lunar example could be used in another top 5, like the most important games to you (not necessarily favorite, but ones that changed what games you played).

Aight. I'm with Green on this. It HAS to be current with your supposed mind set. I mean, if we were to do a sub-genre then everyone would go Donkey Kong or Tetris, right?

I don't think it needs to be current gen. Like if I were to put a fighting game, it would be Soul Calibur 2. I don't think everyone would go for the same thing.

I got this on lockdown...I think-

5. Mutant Blobs Attack - Made me quit thinking mobile was crap.

4. Dead Island - Only game I dig randomly matching with people.

3. League Of Legends - Stopped thinking F2P was stupid.

2. The Walking Dead - Can't explain...I didn't pew-pew and liked it.

1. Angry Birds - Epitome of this topic.

There's my two cents; hope it made the criteria! If so, Kay, put another crazy asian under-booby sig. If not, well...I guess a crazy cosplayer will do. Or Green can post a link to "My cat's breath smells like cat food!"

Here's my list
1. Elite Beat Agents- Music games aren't normally my thing, but this game had me hooked for years. Half the songs were shit, but I didn't care, the gameplay was so addicting and the plots were so ridiculous

2. Persona 4- I wouldn't say it's the genre that made me unsure on whether I should try it, more of the anime aesthetic. But I ended up loving this game.

3. Phoenix Wright series- Playing as a lawyer sounded really boring at first. But this game did a great job of keeping things exciting.

4. X-Com: Enemy Unknown- Not a fan of SRPGs. But this game is insanely addicting.

5. Starcraft 2- Probably because of the people I play with, but I normally hate RTS games, yet love SC2.

Most of the games that I would consider for this category I played back in the 1980s and 1990s. At this point, there's nothing really new under the sun for me.

Anyway, here's mine.

1. Final Fantasy VII. Yeah, anyone who knows me knows this is my favorite game of all time and I don't shut up about it. Why did I pick it? Because it was the reason I bought my first-ever non-Nintendo console. And if you knew how much of a Nintendo fanboy I was up through the mid-90's you'd probably understand how big a step that was for me.

2. Final Fantasy Tactics - After this game, SRPGs became one of my favorite genres.

3. NBA Jam (1993 arcade version) - one of the very few sports games I ever liked.

4. Star Raiders - the first game I ever played and enjoyed that didn't take place on a single screen.

5. Virtua Fighter 2 - I used to swear I'd never play games that had anything but sprites in them. I didn't want to play as a bunch of blocky characters like in Virtua Fighter 1 and Star Fox on SNES. This game was the first game where I felt accepting of 3-D graphics.

Good topic. Need to think on this one.

You should finish Jade Empire first so you can put that at number 1.

Persona 4. A bad experience with JRPGs on the Super Nintendo turned me off of the genre. Combine that with Jpop and a big focus on social simulation, and it's not even close to what I'd want. But I ended up loving all of that stuff.

Battlefield 3/Killzone 2. Just the VS multiplayer. That drives me nuts in most games

Soul Calibur. Fighters aren't completely out of my comfort zone but I don't play that many, and I can't think of many that I really love.

KOTOR wasn't my totally thing combat-wise, but it was great.

I dunno about anything else. I guess SRPGs drive me up the wall and the new Fire Emblem game seems pretty good

This is going to be really hard for me, I pretty much try anything. Gonna need to think really hard...

I went to my local comic books store/hobby place yesterday and they have these pretty cool Alice action figures from Alice: Madness Returns. Thought it might be something you might like Kay.

1. Tekken 3 - Still not a huge fan of fighting games but I have a soft spot for Tekken 3 and the Tekken series in general after that game

2. Tie Fighter - my dad used to LOVE flight simulators and I could never get into them...until Tie Fighter. That game was the shit.

3. Total Annihilation - not a big RTS person but will always have a soft spot for this game...and its music.

4. Elder Scrolls: Skyrim - Usually I don't overly enjoy big, open world western RPGs but I got hooked on this game and had a great deal of fun with this game. That was after I disliked Oblivion too.

5. Plants vs. Zombies - It's not that I usually AVOID this genre I just usually don't pay money for this genre. But this game was awesome. Addictive, fun to play with friends, just good times all around.

On a random, but slightly related note I've yet to play a TRPG that has completely wowed me. Because either a. there's just nothing at all to do outside the combat so I get bored. or b. the story is great and I'm engaged but it gets inexplicably grind tastic at the end (devil survivor anyone...grrrr)

Silent Hill 2 - I struggle with survival horror. I play games mostly to relax and a game like this, where anxiety and mounting dread are sustained for so long, scares me off. It took me a full year to make it through a playthrough of this and I'm never returning to it. I admire what it does and I'll have memories and sensations to cherish. But I'm a sissy and this game knew what buttons of mine to push and it did with a patient, ruthless efficiency.

Also, fuck tank controls.

Final Fantasy Tactics - SRPGs are another genre that I admire but lack the commitment and general-like mind-set necessary to become reasonably adequate at. Yet I keep trying with the opening handful of missions, because I think/hope a light bulb will switch off and I'll see it.

BTW, I'd even like to play Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together some day. I'm out of my fucking mind.

NBA Jam - If I don't talk about sports that much, its because I don't follow regular news coverage of them. So games that thrive on the minutiae and up-to-date data have no appeal for me. This game pushes that aside and reminds me of the fun I had with my friends and I when we did pick-up ball games at school (and, also when I last gave a damn about sports).

Plants Vs Zombies - The only tower defense game I've ever bothered with simply because I'm never stressed while playing it. The humor goes a long way.

Red Dead Redemption - Rockstar wouldn't entice me with their open world entries until this beauty came along. Finally I saw a world worth inhabiting and a character who somehow retains honor and dignity through all of the rough acts he has to be involved with. The level of immersion here is one of the reason I treasure video games.

Final Fantasy VII: I don't enjoy JRPGs. However, the only one I've been able to sit through and truly like was FF7. After that, it was all too much melodrama, card games, leading men that look like Meg Ryan, and not nearly enough Wasteland.

Dance Central 2: Dancing and me go together like pudding and gasoline...which is not well, in case that confused you. But I'll tell you what - I will ruin you with The Humpty Dance.

The Legend of Zelda: Windwaker: I don't play Zelda games. I don't really like anything even remotely "fantasy", so I just kind of put a pass on these - except Windwaker. The cartoon-like art style really caught my attention and drew me in, and I'm glad it did, because the game is epic. For being "childlike", Windwaker has some mature shit in it - including the kick-ass final boss battle, where Link drives his blade right into Ganon's skull. Because of Windwaker, I gave Twilight Princess a shot, too. It was too Fantasy...so I gave up about 2/3's of the way through... Blah.

All-Pro Football 2K8: I suck at sports games, and sucked at this one too. But it was cheap, and I was willing to give it a shot. Dear god, I was terrible at it.

X-COM: Enemy Unknown: I hate strategy games - I hate them because I am awful at them. I have almost no strategic skills in my brain when it comes to games. I am not a chess man. Nevertheless, I gave X-COM a shot, and I LOVED it. I am quite terrible at it, but something about the game keeps me coming back. I don't think I've ever played a game where every decision is pretty close to being "the wrong decision", and still end up having a whole lot of fun.

5. Driver - I've never liked racing games or games centered around cars. The whole dynamic bored me to tears... until I played Driver. The game itself was OK but the bread and butter for me was the survival mode. Trying to evade the cops while avoiding horrifying crashes was so much fun. Playing this game is what ultimately got me to open up to games like Burnout... although the only one I really enjoyed was Burnout 2.

4. GoldenEye - If it weren't for this game I'd still hate FPS games. It took some serious getting use to but once it started to click, it was tons of fun. This opened the gate for Perfect Dark which kept the gate open up until now.

3. Tera Online - Tera was the first MMO I ever really invested a shit ton of time into. I tried other MMO's but they were always boring to me and I couldn't get over the idea of a monthly sub. Point, click, wait, attack, point, click, lather, rinse, repeat... very boring. As over exaggerated as I think Tera's tag lines were, they weren't lying when they said it would hold your attention. Even though I still find other MMO's to be somewhat boring, I will at least give them a try now and find some fun in them.

2. Mass Effect - I wasn't always a big RPG fan, I'll cover that soon enough, but ME did everything right to grab my attention. It had most of what I was looking for in a new RPG and the whole spacey sci-fi thing was a home run with me.

1. Final Fantasy VII - I know a lot of people consider this overrated and/or cliche but let me explain before your eyes roll out of your head and you can't finish reading this. I had all but stopped playing video games prior to FFVII. I lost interest, nothing excited me. I also hated RPG's. I hated the fact that there was, what seemed like, more dialogue (reading) than gameplay and through some warped sense thought it was a cop out... don't ask how I came to that conclusion, I wouldn't be able to explain it anyway. After a couple of months of my buddy trying to convince me to play FFVII, I caved and it reinvigorated my love for gaming. I don't know why, by my standards at that point, that game was everything I hated about video games and it was just so much fun. This post is getting too long but needless to say, if it weren't for FFVII I certainly wouldn't be as in to gaming as I am now, if at all. I don't think it's the best in the series but I do credit it for pulling me back in to gaming so it has earned its spot in my list.

Bannen has just described what makes Windwaker one of the best games ever. Fuck the haters, that game's artstlye still holds up well in this era. Plus I think it has one if not the best story from all the Zelda games.

This is hard.

I hate racing games: can't think of any that I like... aside from the Kart racers.

I hate fighting games: Dragon Ball Budokai is the only modern fighter I enjoy. I guess Marvel vs Capcom a little bit as well.

I hate cartoony platformers: The Sly series kind of has a soft spot in my heart.

Look at all these people hating FPS, competitive mp FPS, RPGs, strategy games... that's why the gaming world is just a terrible place.

Wait...are you saying it's good or bad they're hating these things?

Bad! Haha.

People hate all the best genres. It makes me happy that Xcom did so well but that genre is dead on consoles because no one likes it and it's a damn shame.

Nephilimi wrote:Bad! Haha.

People hate all the best genres. It makes me happy that Xcom did so well but that genre is dead on consoles because no one likes it and it's a damn shame.

I liked XCOM. My favorite game of the entire generation is Valkyria Chronicles, and both of these games showed how awesome strategy games could be on consoles. I wish Nintendo would do Fire Emblem on Wii U instead of 3DS.

So glad so many people are mentioning Final Fantasy VII. Makes me happy.

Cactus, I can agree about Final Fantasy VII making you more into games. I liked games growing up, but I didn't start to love games until that game.

5. Rock Band 2 - I don't really like music games or rhythm based games, but this was a great way to listen to my favorite songs (typically Nirvana or The White Stripes). It's sad they aren't making anymore songs to download.

4. Playtation All Stars - Fighting games used to be my favorite, and that ended around the PS1 era (Tekken 2 is still one of my favorites). Haven't loved the genre since, but I really like Playstation All Stars. It's a fun way to fight with some of my favorite characters.

3. Plants vs. Zombies - I don't like this genre, but this game is fun and easy to play.

2. Zelda Phantom Hourglass - It's not that I don't like Zelda, because I do. This isn't me stating Phantom Hourglass is my favorite (I haven't played enough to decide). What this is is me saying this is one of the only touch screen based games that I truly enjoy. I like games on my DS, but hate the ones that require me to touch too much. I loved all of the touch controls in this game. Just a really great game.

1. Final Fantasy VII - The first RPG I ever played. The best RPG I ever played. I know I'm supposed to pick games that are more current, but there is no better example than this game. I now love RPG games, but prior to this game I would have never have wanted to touch the genre. Something about it visually appealed to me. I remember reading Joe Rybicki's review back in the OPM days and decided I needed this game for Christmas. Next to my PS1, it's my favorite Christmas present ever. Final Fantasy VII, I fucking love you.

Also, Top 5 Video Game Related Presents (could be Christmas, birthday, Easter, etc...) would be a really cool top 5.

SanAndreasX wrote:

Nephilimi wrote:Bad! Haha.

People hate all the best genres. It makes me happy that Xcom did so well but that genre is dead on consoles because no one likes it and it's a damn shame.

I liked XCOM. My favorite game of the entire generation is Valkyria Chronicles, and both of these games showed how awesome strategy games could be on consoles. I wish Nintendo would do Fire Emblem on Wii U instead of 3DS.

How about SMTXFire Emblem?

@Bret If you liked Phantom Hourglass, try Spirit Tracks, it's so much better and if you liked the touch screen controls then you'll enjoy this one.

I played Spirit Tracks and I like it less actually. I hated traversing on the train. Still liked it, but enjoyed Phantom more.

Spirit Tracks dungeons are so much better than Phantom Hourglass's. I did like the train less though. Also Zelda in Spirit Tracks is pretty awesome.