Every once in awhile, I’ll see a trendy tweet pop up in my timeline asking an interesting community style question. I actually have had quite a bit of fun with these, but since it is Twitter I only have 120 characters to work with.

Clearly, that is no where near enough for me!

Starting with this post, I am going to start answering some of those questions with my own level of detail. To start things off, here are 5 Games that Depict My Style!

1 – Chrono Trigger

Part of this selection is to impart no so much my age, but my experience and how long I’ve been a gamer. There are very few things that are truly original, especially after so much has already been done. Pardon the curmudgeon, but there are many time when a game will be promoted using the fluffiest of language to make their new product sound as leading edge as possible when in reality it is either the recycling of or the modernizing of an existing system. Going back in time a bit (PUN!) you can still find examples of genuine ingenuity.

Chrono Trigger was one of those games that really brought a fresh experience. It was part turn based combat, but enemies still strolled around a bit. Rather than random encounters, you fought what was on the screen and had the opportunity to avoid combat if you were quick enough. What really stuck out to me was the Technique system that built as you played with different allies. The more certain allies fought together, the more special combo attacks would unlock culminating into a final three-way combo of destruction!

Oh ya, and there was that whole time travel thing too. Really fun to see how completing tasks certain eras affected the overall story!

2 – Assassin’s Creed

Even if we didn’t get to use a crossbow, it was still a great game!

Political Intrigue! Social Manipulation! Present Day Sci-Fi! Jumping off massive spires and landing in a hay bale, only to pop out completely unscathed! All this, but no swimming.

Assassin’s Creed was a slow burn for me at first, but once I got going there was no stopping me! Sadly, the game has steadily moved away from its stealth roots to take on a more open combat approach. While I may disagree with these decisions, I am obviously in the minority since the game is still massively successful. One of the things that I allowed myself to get swept away in was the dialogue in the game and how they handled the conspiracies and how our trusted institutions are giving us the illusion of choice. In discussions with friends, I have described this series as the dramatized struggle between Chaos and Order, with the Brotherhood of Assassins actually representing Chaos. Let that simmer in your brain stew for a bit!

3 – Mass Effect (Original Trilogy)

The first game franchise that I completed multiple playthoughs for the sole purpose of exploring different gameplay options

Mass Effect was my first entry into the anything produced by Bioware, and I didn’t get into the series until everyone was going absolutely bonkers over Mass Effect 3. I was looking for more mature content at the time and there were plenty of deals on used copies of the game, so I gave it a whirl. I would say that from that point on, I never looked back, but the truth is that is exactly what I did: For the sole purpose of playing the game in a completely different playstyles and dialogue choices, just to see how the story would change! While there is still much controversy over the (original) ending of ME:3, I still thoroughly enjoyed the ride and still use it as a prime example of how in-game choices can affect the outcome. Some choices were more significant than others, and some choices spoke more to the character of the player rather than the Game Devs!

4 – Borderlands

The Franchise that inspired my only Cosplay thus far: Handsome Jack!

There is so much to love about this franchise, even the Tell-Tale series, Tales From the Borderlands! It combined the fast paced action of an FPS with the skill tree system of Diablo. Hidden beneath layers of empty bullet casings, smeared Skag spit, and a steaming puddle of Joy Puke, was a dark story of workforce exploitation, insatiable lust for power, and the most internally twisted and conflicted super villain, Handsome Jack. For example: About midway through BL:2, you learn that the pass phrase into the BNK3R, the chamber where he kept his daughter to power an ancient alien relic known as a “Vault Key”, is simply….”I love you”. The humor in the writing ranges from hysterical to “Wow, that’s a deep cut!” and has references to soooo many pop culture trends. Also, I am yet to see a system that rewards multiple playthroughs and characters like the Badass Rank!

5 – Destiny

You MUST have known this was coming! AND with the original Dinkle-Bot!

As should be evident by my Twitter feed, I have absolutely no shame in constantly fanboying over this franchise despite it’s ups and downs. Whenever content begins to feel dry or stale, I simply go on to other games and come back once there is a new content drop. But for the purpose of this post, the question is, “Why?”

Because it has everything that I am looking for.

As my tastes have matured, I began demanding deeper background and developed stories and histories in my entertainment. While I was of the community that believed that Destiny had ZERO story, that all changed after I started watching some Lore videos on Youtube. Sweet Sejenus, the amount of backstory and history that the writers put into this game was astounding and its only expanding. At this point in my tenure with the game, I have absorbed as much as my brain can handle and personal time allows. I even plan on starting my own series of Lore Vids to help newer Guardians get up to speed and recount established lore through the lens of what we know now. For example; I will be starting with the Books of Sorrow. I’ll read a few passages then explain what was just read with the additional knowledge of other relevant information and lore that has come out since the release of The Taken King.

On top of all that, it has a perfectly balanced social aspect that fits my level of intensity. By default, all game chat is disabled and a player must opt in to hear the other players. Through playing with certain friends, I have actually made more as we explore the galaxy together working towards common goals. Given the inherent Co-Op emphasis of the game it tends to attract a less toxic community, at least in my experience.

I could go on, but the post is long enough already!

So What About You?

What are Five Games that encompass your gaming style? Sound off in the comments, or drop a link to your own post!