Second week of Blaugust is upon us! This week is all about introducing ourselves and sharing our deepest darkest secrets. Our gritty underbellies, our vices, our innermost fears that keep us awake at night. So here is my top five favorite video games list!
- The Bioshock franchise. Do not say a damn word. I am fully aware of the cringey culture surrounding Bioshock from people that take the game way too seriously. Hear me out. I loved Bioshock for the unsettling atmosphere, the linear progression, and shooting up drugs for superpowers. The concept was so cool to twelve year old me that it made me branch out from Nintendo GameCube and consider The Xbox. I had to look up the release date for the original Bioshock and turns out it was launched on August 21, 2007. Happy early birthday, Bioshock! When Bioshock Infinite was announced I crapped myself. The only game I have played on my Xbox 360 was Skyrim and Gears Of War. Finally, some good fucking food. Plus the commentary of the bullshit America was built over -chef’s kiss-. I still have the insides of my Bioshock Infinite Collectors Edition. Sometimes I whip out the tiny artbook and reminisce about how I had gotten to the last ten minutes of the game and it bricked my Xbox. Ah, good times. I fucking hate you, Xbox.
2. Luigi’s Mansion. I played the hell out of this game. My first console ever was the Nintendo GameCube Zelda Collection Edition. I have kept it all these years in pristine condition, I am looking at it right now. My beautiful sunshine baby. Ahem, anyways. Luigi’s Mansion was the closest I could get to playing a horror game when I was a child. I got away with renting this game over and over from Blockbuster because I would lie and say I hadn’t beat it yet, just so I got to do another run of it. My mom also thought the Boos were cute, and she enjoys Ghost Busters, so this game got a pass. I never actually owned a copy until my adult years and my husband hunted down a disc. Eternally grateful.
3. Night In The Woods. I love autumn time aesthetics. It is a goal of mine to play Night In The Woods when it starts getting close to spooky season. In addition to its looks, the game is extremely relatable for me. The main character struggles with the fact that her friends are moving on with adulthood, finding her place in the world, haunted by the past, being raised in a small town with horrible secrets, and being a bassist. This game was first introduced to me through Jacksepticeye on YouTube, and I was blown away by it that I couldn’t watch his playthrough until I finished it myself. Also, the voice he does for Gregory is exactly how I think he’d sound. If Night In The Woods got a TV series, I highly recommend casting him as the little guy.
4. Cult Of The Lamb. Sorry in advance for the red logo on a green background, I couldn’t find a black version so it wasn’t not so hard on the eyes. Let me just say that I was obsessed with Animal Crossing even back in the GameCube era when the villagers were all extremely rude and called you ugly every morning. It was brutal. I even wrote an article about Animal Crossing and how the game actually helped people through rough patches of mental health. The article was written just before New Horizons and the start of The Pandemic. So, I’m sure I could write an entire update just on that event alone. However, I always felt Animal Crossing missed something, combat, and a cute player character. Yeah, okay, you can dress up your character cute but you can’t change the dead eye stare of The Villager. Stardew Valley just did not fulfill me with its dungeons but I loved the farm building and characters. Cult Of The Lamb was the solution to my problems. It has a kick ass aesthetic, the village management of Animal Crossing, the farm building of Stardew Valley, and the player model is adorable!
5. Persona 4 Golden. I have yet to put as many hours into a game than I have with this one. I had the privilege of playing on the PlayStation Vita which I honestly feel is the best way to experience it. I know that it is getting (already has?) a Nintendo Switch version but I have yet to purchase it. Nintendo has this habit of not putting the games I crave on sale for a decent price. What ever happened to the Vita? It was such a good little console. Now PlayStation has launched a tablet/controller option to stream PlayStation 5 games to, and I can not shake the feeling that it is just a worse Vita. Its not even a console. Wild times.
Hopefully this post was coherent enough to be readable. WordPress is saying otherwise. Let me know if you like any of these games as well!