I think it goes without saying that this is one of my favorite games of all time. I could write an entire essay about this game, but I'll leave it at this; Elden Ring is the product of multiple years of FromSoftware mastering their genre combined with the legendary world building and story telling of George R. R. Martin. Infinite customizability, an enormous open world to explore, and the punishing but satisfying souls-like gameplay solidifies Elden Ring as what I believe to be one of the best games of all time.

Arguably one of the best games to come out of the 360, PS3, and Wii era, BioShock is another fantastic story driven shooter that combines strategic tactical combat with an amazing story. Set within the walls of an underwater dystopian civilization, the story is filled with various twists and an ending sequence that will blow your mind. With multiple weapons, upgrades and skills to unlock, there is seemingly limitless ways to pick and choose how you play the game. The environmental storytelling is revolutionary for the time and BioShock establishes just how effective level and world design can be in telling a great story. A testament to the golden age of shooters and one of the greatest games of all time.

This game bleeds with inspiration from the original settings of the first few FF games, and uses it to create what I believe to be the best lineup of characters in the entire franchise. Using the ATB system once again, combat is as classic and strategic as ever and exploring the various lands of Gaia is what keeps players drawn in.

What primarily makes this game shine for me is its characters. Every character in the game represents a classic FF job (with the exception of Quina) and their roles in battle are very clearly defined. There is plenty of grinding to be done with the ability system which allows for the 8 party members to learn new spells, passives and summons. Grinding levels and keeping each party member on par with the current stage of the game you are in is surprisingly satisfying.

The game is also not short of any content outside of the main story. There are plenty of side quests to pursue throughout the main story - with things like the Tetra Master card game, leveling up your chocobo and delivering moogle letters taking up a lot of your play time if you want to go for them.

Finally, the best part of the game is its world and story. A tragic tale of a war wrapped within a planetary struggle with 8 characters developing and discovering themselves while they try to save Gaia. I'm not going to go into the story really at all (I'll leave that to you), but I can assure you it is phenomenal. The world itself is fantastic, with the most charming and classic FF art style the series has to offer. The playable party members are diverse and come in all shapes and sizes which is contrary to the later and newer entries. (Not necessarily a dig at modern FF, but I've noticed that Square really does not care for non-human or humanoid party members anymore).

Overall, one of the best games of all time and for sure the best Final Fantasy game to date. A must play for any JRPG fan.

Arguably one of the best shooters of all time and one that has aged so unbelievably well. Half-Life 2 took what the first game brought to the table and ran with it, maintaining its fast paced and strategic gameplay while also completely shifting gears on its story. Half-Life 2 takes you through numerous locations ranging from the sewers of a dystopian city all the way to a town overrun with zombies. Utilizing the shockingly good physics of Valve's Source engine, Half-Life 2 set a new standard for what a shooter game should look and play like.

While the magic of exploring Hyrule was no longer there, Tears of the Kingdom takes the map we knew and loved from Breath of the Wild and adds extra layers in both story and terrain. With the new Ultrahand mechanic, there is even more player expression than ever before and gave players the tools they longed for in Breath of the Wild. Classic style dungeons were reintroduced but were still able to be traversed in any way the player wanted to. While the amount of things to do in this game may be daunting, anyone can pick up this game, start running in any given direction, and have an experience completely unlike anyone else. Once again, Nintendo made something truly special off of the magic of a game from 6 years before.

A game that I initially went into with doubts, Skyward Sword proved itself to deliver on what many fans desired out of the Zelda franchise for years. Considered by many to be "Wind Waker, but in the sky", this game uses flying around on a Loftwing as its primary gimmick. The dungeons and areas in this game are very fun to navigate and posed some great puzzles. The story is also very well defined and involves a very well thought out time paradox. A very fun game with a great atmosphere and even greater dungeons.

The first portable Legend Of Zelda game to rival the scope of what A Link to the Past delivered. While the dungeons and "minish" mechanics were enjoyable and provided a lot of intuitive level design, the majority of collectibles in this game felt as if they were an afterthought. The "kin stone" system was interesting at first, but got horrendously tedious towards the end of the game. Most collectibles and heart pieces were bound to the kin stone system which made any kind of unique puzzles that could've been implemented entirely out of the game. The game is still very good overall, but completionists will find themselves loathing finishing the game.