#5 Hollow Knight
Kind of rude of Team Cherry to come along and make a Metroidvania that spoils the entire genre for every other developer. This is THE bar to live up to, and the template for so many games coming after. It’s influence on gaming can’t be understated. It took an established formula and did it with such mastery that I could study it’s design for years and still be blown away by it.
But what IS it that makes Hollow Knight such a success? Is it the atmosphere amplified by it’s stunning art design and excellent character designs? Is it the tight gameplay with tons of variety and challenge at every turn? Is it the deep lore buried within it’s obtuse storytelling? Is it the exceptionally constructed world map overflowing with secrets, shortcuts, and alternate paths to take? Is it the exceptional score that bleeds through even the most frustrating challenges and creepiest sections to stick in your mind?
Yes, it’s probably all of those things.
My favorite aspect of the game is the pacing though. It never leaves you feeling stuck. The amount of different paths you can take at any time, even ignoring dev-intended sequence breaks that open the world up even more, mean that you’re never stuck at any point in the game. Can’t be the Watcher Knights (me neither)? Just go into Deepnest and suffer there instead. Tired of getting your ass handed to you by all those spiders and crumbling death traps in the ground? Go beat up the Dung Defender then feel really sad about it after.
It feels like every inch of the game is meticulously designed and perfecty laid out before the player.
No wonder Silksong is taking so damn long… (Edit: Keep reading the list to see how this played out…)
#4 Silent Hill 2
Coming off the original Silent Hill, I can distinctly remember reading preview articles about this game with fevered anticipation. Hearing the core concept of “man goes to Silent Hill after getting a letter from his dead wife” had me terrified already. It’s just such an excellent premise for horror.
What I didn’t expect was to go on a decades-long spiral into madness, which more or less established my lifelong love of being a pretentious asshole and over-analyzing video games as if they’re fine art.
In my teen years, I spent countless hours on these things called “forums” (your grandfather can tell you all about them, because we’re fucking old) throwing out wild theories and speculation about this game. Taking every tiny shred of detail throughout it’s dark, dingy world and finding deeper meanings therein.
Sure, most of it is probably over-reaching, and the game probably isn’t as deep as every other Youtuber and essayist blathers on about, but part of the fun is finding that meaning and applying it in your own head cannon.
But setting that all aside, the game is just a master class in true horror. Using atmosphere and the less-is-more approach to making sure that you’re on-edge constantly. And most if it is just your own mind messing with you.
I could play this game a thousand times, and still come up with new theories explaining a misplaced door knob or a tree that looks funny. It feels like everything that you encounter is there to dig deeper into your psyche and leave you breathlessly on edge and wondering if there is something more under the surface.
Not to mention, I still think it has one of the best twists ever achieved in gaming. Sure, in retrospect, it was pretty bloody obvious what was going on. Doesn’t help that throughout the game they’re constantly nudging you into the answer with every little detail and set piece. It’s a game that nails the second playthrough requirements.
Now if only I didn’t think the remake was modern horror drivel that completely missed the mark…
#3 Hollow Knight: Silksong
Is it possible to make a truly perfect sequel?
The original Hollow Knight managed to excel in every possible way, and I very much wasn’t sure a sequel could ever quite live up to it.
But then I played Silksong. Team Cherry took everything excellent about the previous game, and did it in new and exciting ways that kept me engaged all the way to the end. The challenge, the world building, the loveable characters, the expertly crafted movement and toolsets. It’s all here and then some. And the game even managed to kick my ass in new and hilarious ways.
But what’s most impressive is that none of it feels particularly rehashed. They managed to make it FEEL like Hollow Knight, but never rely on the same tricks as the first game. Everything feels new and refreshing and nostalgic at the same time. At no point did I feel like they were just regurgitating the same ideas they had before.
A true marvel of a game I doubt I’ll get over any time soon. Even after rolling the credits, I kept thinking back on various aspects of the game from lore to environmental details and just desired to play it again so I could absorb myself into the world of Pharloom once more.
Well worth the several years of silent development. Still not forgiving you for that friggin’ bench in Hunter’s March though.
#2 Final Fantasy IX
From the moment I first started Final Fantasy IX, I knew it was going to stay with me for as long as I lived.
It’s really hard for me to put this one to words, but there is just something warm about existing in the world of this game. Every town and map is slathered in so much beauty. The architecture of the buildings, the strangeness of it’s fantasy-heavy settings, the unique character designs, the perfectly framed scenery just constantly drags me deep into it’s clutches and never lets go.
At this point, Final Fantasy had a certain expectation when it came to quality, and Final Fantasy IX feels like a love letter to everything that came before it. Blending deeply enriching and thematically resonant storytelling with genuinely cute and funny character moments, it feels like the most Final Fantasy a Final Fantasy has ever Final Fantasy’d before.
And while some aspects of it feel slightly held back by the tech of the time, it’s remarkable what the game was able to achieve. A classic stage play within a video game. Painting an experience that feels completely original yet somehow nostalgic and familiar at the same time.
I feel like I could write an entire book on the thematic elements and how every character in your party fits them so perfectly well. How every random scene pulls at the fabrics of what it means to exist. A truly important work of art that stands the test of time, and will mean something different to you every time you play it.
The Mog Pile 