Ladies and gentlemen......it is the end of an era.

On November 11th 2006, the Playstation 3 was released in Japan, officially starting the Consoles Wars between the PS3, the Xbox 360 & the Nintendo Wii. At the time I was but a young age of 14, and the only seventh gen console that I owned was a Wii. I was considering getting an Xbox, but because of the seemingly ridiculous pricing and what felt like the unnecessary conclusion of the Blu-Ray, I proclaimed that I would never buy a PS3.

Fast forward 7 years, and I not only own all 3 consoles, but I would honestly say my PS3 is my favourite console overall to use. Oh the irony...

Now it is 2013, and on November 22nd the Xbox One will be released, and the 8th generation console war will officially begin. Anyone who goes online though would probably think it had already begun, and now at the still young age of 21, the whole console war thing seems silly now, but it does go to show just how passionate people are about gaming and how loyal people are to certain companies.

But enough talking about the future, let us talk about the generation that will officially be ending this week. It’s certainly been a wild one; this generation arguably more than any other has changed how gaming is treated by communities and how it is marketed. Truly gaming has been changed...for better or for worse.

But today we’re not here to talk about the bad, we’re here to talk about the good, and what this generation has given me lovingly. With this countdown, I will be revealing my Top 30 favourite games of this generation. Now, I am restricting this list to only Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3 games because:

A. For most of this generation they are what I have used and what I have most of a connection with.

B. They are the consoles that have been in the centre of the console wars, unlike
the handhelds and Steam, and to me have defined this generation more than any other.

C. Honestly, I don't play a ton of hanheld games, and don't consider any as personal favourites. As for Steam, I've only just gotten into it; I still have some classic I've yet to play and for me it'll be something more of an '8th Generation' thing.

With that addressed, some other bits of info to keep in mind:

A. All the games on my list HAVE to have been on any of the three consoles.

B. I also had to have played the console version of said games. For example Bastion was on the Xbox Arcade, but I played it on PC.

C. This list is COMPLETELY subjective. Whilst how a game has impacted the medium will have an effect on my preferences, the list is completely based by how much I like-or later on love-said video game.

D. There will be no HD remakes of the previous generations on my list. These are games that first came out THIS generation.

With the nitty gritty, out of the way, this is part 1 of my countdown!

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Nukid101’s Top 30 7th Generation Games: 30 – 26

Number 30...

Lollipop Chainsaw (2012)

Ooooh boy do we already get off to a weird start!

Anybody who knows their games has at least heard of Suda51, and while it was in last gen that he got started with his beloved cult classic Killer 7, it was this generation where Suda truly became noticed. This won’t be the last time we talk about Suda, but what I’ve realised about Lollipop Chainsaw is that, much like its creator, this games bizarreness hides a surprisingly clever game.

Oh, don’t get me wrong, this game is beyond silly and rarely likes to take itself seriously, and frankly when I first heard played it I thought it was one of the stupidest games I had ever played.

Still loved it despite that mind you. Hell, I partly loved it because of that.

But...with this being made by Suda51...is anyone surprised that Lollipop Chainsaw is actually a satire on video-game and zombie genre conventions, and a fun one to boot?

Suda51 admitted that with this game that he wanted to create something a bit different from the standard zombie fare. As part of what he brands "a piece of pop zombie entertainment", he intended to push the limit of how deeply Pop Music sensibilities could be blended into a zombie-themed Beat 'em Up. What we get is a game that satirises both vastly different mediums in true Sude51 style...in the most fun way possible, of course.

Here’s where I might surprise some of you however, and this is regarding the main character, Juliet Starling. If one was to look past the overly sexualisation of her-which frankly done to such a comical degree that it feels less like genuine perversion and more like the product of a miniskirt-fetishist on a mescaline binge-then...

Honestly? Juliet Starling is surprisingly progressive in the world of female gaming character.

Think about it: She’s almost always in control of the situation, has a healthy family life, she’s never the subject of an attempted or implied attempted rape scene (looking at you Tomb Raider) and therefore never forced to feel motivated to protect her.

At the same time however she’s never suggested that she should be something women should inspire to be. Likeable character or not, it’s clear she’s not all there and it’s possible that behind her bubbly, optimistic personality is someone mildly psychotic. At the very least she’s something of a parody of the over sexualised and overly capable female warriors that we’re clearly supposed to want to be like.

Hell, I’ll take this one step further. It’s been argued that Nick, the living severed head and Juliet’s boyfriend (roll with it...) is something of a metaphor for the objectification of women in gaming. He’s an accessory for Juliet, a toy for her sisters, completely powerless to do anything, treated condescendingly by pretty much everyone, and his wishes to die are ignored by Juliet because SHE loves him and doesn’t want him to change or leave her. I’ll link an article in the description below that goes into a bit more detail on this.

To me this is an absolute fun little game, but it does have one issue: it’s admittedly too short. It’s quite easy to complete it in one day, and while I would argue that there is a ton of replay value, I do see why people are disappointed with its length.
Regardless, I do really enjoy this title and feel that it arguably deserves more credit than it is given. Check it out if you can I daresay you’ll have a blast!

Also, it was written by James Gunn. For perhaps some of you I have instantly sold this game to you.

Number 29...

Lost Odyssey (2007)

The only Xbox360 exclusive on my list, and get this for a line up:

Behind this game, you have Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of Final Fantasy, Nobuo Uemetsu, the composer for many games in said series and several others, and Takehiko Inoue the mangaka behind legendary series Slam Dunk and Vagabond.

Have I got your attention?

Lost Odyssey was the second console title by Sakaguchi’s studio Mistwalker, and detailed the story of Kaim, an immortal who has lived for over a 1000 years but remembers little of it, as he struggles with allies-immortals and non-immortals-to stop a world ending threat in a ‘magical industrial’ setting.

Contrary to their next big game The Last Story, Lost Odyssey is unapologetically retro in its gameplay, sporting a very familiar but still entertaining turned based system that does just enough to make it its own thing. It’s a somewhat old school title in terms of gameplay that-unlike Ni No Kuni-doesn’t SUCK.

Without a doubt one of the best settings I’ve seen in a JRPG, it’s therefore not surprising that it’s one of the better told ones as well, and arguably one of the more mature. But let’s just cut to the chase and talk about what everyone whose played this game remembers the most:

A Thousand Years of Dreams

Penned by an award-winning Japanese short story writer, Kiyoshi Shigematsu, A Thousand Years of Dreams are several stories from Kaim’s past which are activated whilst Kaim is roaming the world, and certain things in a city or a field may provoke a forgotten memory of the immortal Kaim to return.

And they are......breathtaking.

They are absolutely beautiful. Each story seems to have its own message and moral, but the tone of each one was constantly different. Some of them are endearingly happy and optimistic, others are heart wrenchingly sad; all told with just text, Uemetsu impeccable music, and the perfect sound effects.

So good these stories were that they eventually got sold separately as a novel in Japan. In fact, I have to admit that the writing is so good in these short stories that the actual main plot pales in comparison.

But regardless, the story is still very good, the setting is great, the combat is delightfully retro, and I really like the characters. Without a doubt one of the best JRPGs of this generation...though not THE best...

Number 28...

Binary Domain (2012)

Here are two good ways to describe Binary Domain:

What happens when Japan tries to make a typical Western Military Shooter.

And...

The best Terminator video game ever.

So in short, A military shooter that is filled with camp and quirkiness, whilst you blast through thousands of robots!

All joking aside, Binary Domain does indeed have more than a few similarities to the Terminator franchise, but to its credit it does enough to never feel like it is ripping off the said franchise. Naturally though pretty much all of the game is you fighting through hordes of killer robots, some the same size as humans...

...Others the size of buildings.

And you get to take them down.

It’s that kind of awesome.

This is one of many games on my list that is just pure fun. As sadistic as it sounds, there is this great joy that comes from seeing your bullets blast a robots metal body to pieces, as the broken shards heap onto the floor. The game is third person, probably closest to Gears of War in terms of gameplay, but the game separate itself with its various different robots of various different sizes, all of which have great designs.

Binary Domain is a title that went mostly ignored by the masses. Being a Japanese game it was unlikely that fans of series like Call of Duty, Gears of War or Halo would give this game a second look, but frankly, I would take this game over any of those franchises.

Why? Well for starters there is the story and the characters. The story is by no means a masterpiece, but it is engaging and it did keep my interested, unlike Halo which honestly lost my interest quickly. Heck, I’d even say the game does bring up some decent questions about whether its right to create robots, or whether robots can be like us, etc.

Furthermore, I like the characters. On the surface they look horribly generic, but to be honest while not all of them become fully three dimensional they do have enough personality to them and even good backstories and motivations. There’s even a fair bit of genuinely good comedy and banter for added bonus.

I think my point overall however is that despite the games generally grey and white colouring...there is life in this games narrative and its world. Thanks to the above mentioned Japanese campiness, we have a game that is serious but never afraid to have a little bit of fun too. On a personal level I just feel more motivated to play it, and I certainly have more fun with it than I do with most popular shooter series today.

There’s nothing else to say really. It’s just a fun, fun, fun little title about tearing giant robots up.

Number 27...

Catherine (2011)

Admittedly, I think I like the concept of this game and the themes it tackles more than the game itself.

Of course, the gameplay itself is entertaining as hell and a great challenge for any puzzle enthusiasts...but really, my love of this game does stem almost completely from its tone, its story and the incredibly mature themes it addresses.

Has there ever been a game like Catherine? Has there ever been a game that has tackled themes such as adultery, relationships and what we either want or need in life? Perhaps there have been, but never to great extent of Catherine.

Trust Atlus- the same mad geniuses behind Persona 4- to come up with such a thought provoking title. The game does ask some incredibly poignant questions about being in a relationship and what it is in life that makes you happy, but what I appreciate the most about this game is how it does not give you on definitive answer to these questions.

If you decide to stick to your committed relationship, things could work out for you. If you decide to break up in favour of someone else, things could still work out for you. If you decide to not commit to either and follow a new path, things could STILL work out for you. I like that game offers happy endings to all these various answers and doesn’t really say one is right over the other. Frankly with something like relationships, there is no one true answer, and the game exemplifies that.

There is admittedly something of a ‘save the world’ too, but it’s honestly the weakest part of the game. No, what makes this game great, besides its horror-like setting and brilliant boss fights built right from our main characters psyche, is the games mature and deep look into romance, adultery, commitment, sexuality, and all other issues we often like to not talk about.

Number 26...

Dishonored (2012)

Anyone who has played this game knows that Dishonored is far from perfect. I don’t personally care much for the character designs, and the story-especially towards the end-is pretty damn shaky with a rather abrupt ending(s).

But despite that...how many games in their first try gets so much right?

Dishonored is often compared favourably to old classics such as Deus Ex and particularly Thief in how it gives you this fascinating world to explore and lets you explore it how you want through your arsenal of powers. Rather than just explain everything through minutes of exposition, Dishonored simply gives you several areas to explore and lets you take in the world you are venturing through, taking in the grittiness, the desolution, the starvation and slow death that is plaguing this fascinating world.

With several unique and incredibly entertaining abilities, Dishonored is a game which gives you a lot of freedom to tackle a mission. Do you use teleportation and slow down time to pass through unsuspecting guards, or do you mind control them to kill one another or have them eaten by mad rats? Dishonored gives every situation multiple options to each situation and each one gives its own pleasure.

There are consequences to how you tackle the game however, but here is where I may feel differently to some. To be perfectly honest I LIKE the morality system in Dishonored because it isn’t just determined by a few set moments. EVERYTHING you do in this game contributes to the ending, and I personally like the fact that in order to get the happiest ending you have to work harder to use non lethal-and therefore harder-methods in tackling your problems. Makes for a harder but more rewarding game.

I don’t really have anymore to say here ladies and gentlemen. Chances are you’ve already played this gem, and chances are you love it as well.

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And that’s part one of my countdown. Stay tuned for further parts which I will try not to be a lazy ass with and get out soon. Until next time then!