So I finally made it to 200k gamerscore about a week ago, and I can confidently say that it has been quite a journey. I decided to cap off the milestone with a perfection of Batman: Arkham Asylum on Xbox One. Since then, I have been reminiscing about the 220 games or so that I have played and which ones were my favorite. That is just what this list is- my top 15 games that got me to 200k gamerscore. Of course, these are just my opinions about these games, and I wouldn’t even consider them real reviews. I also decided to only include one game from each franchise in order to maintain some variety. Nonetheless, the list contains reviews of games in aspects that I see fit. Now, I am proud to present my top 15 games!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the images used in this list. Credit goes to the artists themselves.
15. Steamworld Dig
Steamworld Dig just barely made it into the top 15, and I chose it over other games like ABZÛ or Valiant Hearts: The Great War because of the game’s style. Something about it reminded me of the handheld GBA games I played as a kid, like Donkey Kong and Pokémon. What made Steamworld Dig interesting to me was that the game was rather short (about 6 hours for a 100% playthrough), yet it had volume. I felt like at every moment I was playing, I was doing something that was important to my completion or strategy. At no point did I feel like the developers had added any unnecessary moments. The other aspect I enjoyed was the Master Prospector achievement, which required me to get all four gold stars in one playthrough. The primary concern was beating the game in under three hours, in addition to getting not dying, getting all upgrades, and getting a lot of gold. I had a lot of fun watching a four star speedrun and trying to mimic the strategy as best as I could. Overall, the game was fast and fun with a cool achievement list.
14. Wolfenstein: The New OrderImagine waking up and the Nazis were in control of the world! That is the magnificent setting that Wolfenstein: The New Order places you in almost immediately. I love history, particularly World War 2, and the concepts this game presented were very attractive to me. Because of an exploit that meant I only had to beat the last level on the hardest difficulty for the related achievement, I was able to cruise through the game at my own pace on the easiest difficulty. I remember having to explore every level for every collectible, use different weapons to get all the upgrades, and make choices that would affect the outcome of the story. The achievement list was a little repetitive, but overall the game was very fun to play.
13. Fallout: New Vegas
I liked the story better in Fallout 3, but I liked just about everything else more in New Vegas. The variety in locations and weapons was greatly improved upon from Fallout 3, and although the setting arguably wasn’t as iconic, Bethesda did a great job creating dozens of memorable locations and quests throughout the Mojave. Fallout: New Vegas was one of the first games I perfected on my new profile back in early 2014, and after playing about 200 more games since then, it still stands out as one of the most memorable. Why? Because so much of the story depended on your choices. In fact, there were four separate finale related achievements, which meant four playthroughs of the game. In to a wonderful base game, the DLC stands out as one of the greatest collections of additional content I have ever played in a game. Each of the DLC took a different approach to location and story, and each one consistently brought me closer to my character as I continued to play beyond the base game.
12. LEGO Lord of the RingsWhat do you get when you mix one of the greatest toy franchises and one of the greatest movie franchises? Yes, you also get LEGO Star Wars, but in my opinion LEGO Lord of the Rings just beat it out to make this list. I have a lot of nostalgia when it comes to LEGO Star Wars, but what makes Lego LotR just a little bit better is its massive open world gameplay. For me, it was almost like playing LEGO Skyrim. I was free to explore the locations of Middle Earth, do a large number of somewhat repetitive questlines, and interact with many different characters. Furthermore, the levels had great design and the use of movie dialogue blended smoothly with the cutscenes and gameplay. With any LEGO game of course, getting all the achievements means getting that 100% completion status, and therefore playing every level twice. However, this was one of the few LEGO games where I was not even bothered in the slightest with the idea of doing the same thing over again.
11. Bioshock InfiniteThis was the first game in the Bioshock series that I had the pleasure of playing, and what sets it apart from the original Bioshock is the setting. Rather than an underwater city, the game takes place in the Airborne city of Columbia. The scenery almost always caught my attention with the beautiful color and detail, along with a variety of locations and smooth transitions between them. The story was enthralling, and to withhold any spoilers for anyone who hasn’t played it, I will merely say this: The ending absolutely blew my mind away. For a while I did not know what to make of it, so I actually had to do some research online in order to understand it. This is also one of the few games on this list that I didn’t come close to perfecting, since I played through it just for the story. However, I do look forward to perfecting the remastered version on Xbox One.
10. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Of all the games on this list, this was the first one I played back in 2008. The plot of The Force Unleashed really stood out to me as an outstanding contribution to the Star Wars franchise. The birth of the Rebel Alliance was something I had never really thought about growing up, and the way it happened was just so fascinating. Darth Vader takes a secret apprentice. Secret apprentice hunts jedi. Darth Vader fakes killing secret apprentice. Secret apprentice told to create fake rebel alliance. Secret apprentice becomes good and actually creates rebel alliance. The entire game is a plot to gather all of the Empire’s enemies and get them captured, but the Sith foolishly created the enemy force they desired to prevent. As for the gameplay, the combat was always engaging and there was a sense of creativity in using the large variety of moves and combos. Plus, the game was a perfect challenge on Sith Master difficulty; it wasn’t easy in any sense, but it was fun and rewarding.
9. Dead Rising 2In a unique world where zombie outbreaks are controlled and executed on purpose, the Dead Rising franchise adds humor and tragedy to the setting. Dead Rising 2 stood out to me as the one in the series that was the best designed. A majority of the survivors I found throughout the game make me laugh either from cracking witty jokes or from how they were dressed. The psychopaths weren’t built up, but instead introduced immediately before their encounter, which gave me just enough emotion to feel sorry for them and still kick their butts. Although this achievement list required multiple playthroughs to complete, I never felt bothered restarting. I was able to keep my level and combo cards, and by my third playthrough I felt unstoppable. However, I never perfected this game due to the online achievements and the community itself being pretty much dead.
8. Rayman Legends
Rayman Legends is a game where it is easy to be good, but hard to be great. I tried to find all of the collectibles on my first playthrough to prevent another, and after finishing every level I felt like I had a pretty good grasp on how to play and that I could finish off the achievements with relative ease. However, getting gold medals on the challenges required perfection in some cases, and in even rarer cases that wouldn’t even be close to getting a platinum cup. To be an expert at Rayman Legends, you have to be flawlessly perfect. I would like to say after two months of grinding challenges for that last achievement, I have achieved that status, but I only got two platinum cups in that entire time of playing every day. Yet the challenge was still rewarding in the end. I also loved the level design and secret room placement, and I especially loved the music. Finishing off a painting with a level specifically designed to coordinate each jump an attack with the song was simply the best way to end a series of levels.
7. Sunset OverdriveI purchased the first release of the white Xbox One just because it was white, and it came with Sunset Overdrive. I hadn’t looked into the game at all and didn’t have any expectations to begin with. As soon as I started playing, I became addicted. The fluidity of moving around was easy to do and the weapons I was able to use each had their own advantage. I felt totally in control of the chaos that was constantly happening and that made the game very dun to play. The story was full of humor and the heroic finale was incredible.
6. Grand Theft Auto V
GTA V is probably one of my most played games on the Xbox One simply because of the time I’ve spent playing GTA Online with friends. Despite the countless moments of fun I’ve had, I took a look at the game as a whole and surprised myself by only placing it 6th. I love the story mode and have even replayed it several times. The concept of switching between three main characters was pretty cool. Gathering all of the collectibles was a pain, not to mention how frustrating the stunt jumps were, but it was rewarding in the end. The online mode was fun for a while with all of the missions, game modes, and customization options, but after a few years the gameplay became repetitive and the free roam became too dense. I think there’s just too much going on in free roam, and most new jobs require free roam gameplay, which is frustrating because of the online community’s villainous reputation. Not to mention the addition of the Doomsday heist, which took away a completion of the game’s achievements that I held for over two years. The new heist is poorly put together and the achievements associated with it are highly unreasonable, requiring three criminal mastermind playthroughs. These later additions are what moved this game from my number two spot to my number six.
5. The Walking Dead: Season OneI don’t think I’ve ever been as emotionally drawn to a story than with that of The Walking Dead: Season One. The game’s central theme of choices determining the course of the story are what caused this. Moral decision-making is not an easy task, and after every major choice I made, there was a part of me that felt some regret. And what The Walking Dead excels at is the balance between controlling Lee and simply watching the game, which lets you take in the story with your full attention. And don’t get me started on the ending. I’m not really a crier, but I’ll admit I shed some tears during the finale. Overall, the story was fantastic, the cartoonish graphics were perfect, and the cliff-hangers at the end of every episode made me want continue through the ten hour game in one sitting.
4. Dark Souls
The Souls series is notorious for being difficult, and the first Dark Souls is probably the most notable in that sense. Some people think the series is beyond difficult and just flat out unfair. I first played this game when it was free with Gold in 2014, and I didn’t get very far before quitting and agreeing with the general opinion. However, a friend convinced me to return and give it another try nearly four years later, and I ended up perfecting the game. What I realized is that the game isn’t actually that hard. Although some distinct sections did give me some major trouble, I think the majority of the game is fair as long as you are patient and are paying attention. Basically, you get out what you put in. The story never really felt prevalent to me as I progressed through the game, and I ended up reading the plot on the wiki for some understanding. What I did feel as I played was a marvelous sense of freedom and consequence. After the 2 ½ playthroughs I completed in my quest for every achievement, which took roughly 50 hours, I went out and bought Dark Souls III because I had so much fun. I highly suggest anyone reading to give the game a shot if you haven’t already.
3. Minecraft: Xbox One Edition
Although a simple game at face value, Minecraft is full of complex gameplay. I first picked the game up when it came out on the 360 in 2012 and I have been playing it consistently ever since. I watched it grow from the relatively early days of not being able to sprint and a lack of variety in items to a loaded game with a final boss, colorful blocks, dozens of biomes, and hours of replay value. I have perfected the game three times, on the 360, One, and One cross play respectively, and I had enough experience that I had the opportunity to post my first achievement guides on the new cross play edition! What keeps me playing Minecraft is the immense level of creativity. Every world is completely different from another and that leads to my creations being different from the past. Every world I start with making a shelter, but every new one is different and more advanced as I gather more and more ideas. Every survival world I play becomes littered with different buildings and creations, and something about doing it in survival mode adds proudness to what I’ve done.
2. Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
Yet another massive series that I have many memories playing, Halo: CEA just beat out Halo: Reach as the top Halo game. Halo 2A and Reach would probably have made the number two spot as well, but as I decided to only include one game per franchise, they sadly got left out. What sets CEA apart from the other Halo games is the design. The 2001 graphics actually look pretty good, the music is incredible and always hype up the gameplay, the challenge of playing on legendary is difficult but rewarding, the environment is diverse and beautiful, and the story is inspiring. Although I didn’t begin playing Halo until 2010 with Reach, something about CEA gives me high levels of nostalgia and makes me wish I experienced the release back in 2001. The Halo community back in the day was incredible, and Bungie was a great company when they made Halo, but by the time The Master Chief Collection rolled around the feeling of excitement when playing with others was gone and the attachment to the company extinguished. Yet MCC was where I put in a lot of hours trying to get the achievements, and CEA was a lot of fun learning to speedrun. Plus, the game itself carved the pathway for modern console first-person shooters. Where would we be without Halo?
1. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Here it is folks, my number one game: Skyrim. When it comes to Xbox games, my number two through six spots were relatively close in ranking, but Skyrim is by far my number one. I could talk for hours about why I love this game. The main quest is legendary. The music is soothing during downtime and epic during combat. The scenery is beautiful. The map is the perfect size. The leveling system is easy to understand and allows for vast customization. The NPCs are memorable. The exploration is addicting. The secrets are fascinating. The DLC adds incredible gameplay. And that just glosses over the magnificent experience this game has to offer. These are my opinions of course, but Skyrim is just that one game that keeps calling me back for more. I love the base game so much that I don’t even need mods to enhance my experience. I always feel compelled to give my characters some background each time I start over, and I often add to the roleplay experience in doing so.
I hope anyone reading this list enjoyed the read. Feel free to comment and say your favorite game or if you have a similar list yourself! Thanks for reading!
-Aco