Your actual top 3/5/10/25/50/100 games franchises - have you ever?

There's series I'm more excited for / interest in now like Xenoblade because of Torna & 3, Metroid because of Dread, Monster Hunter due to Rise.

One's I've also got less interest in as well like Resident Evil, Halo after the last few games.

So still Zelda, Final Fantasy, Pokémon etc as top series.

Balladeer wrote:

Blimey, we last updated this in 2016!  Yikes.  I could swear it'd been more recently than this.

I genuinely thought this was a new thread!

masofdas wrote:

One's I've also got less interest in as well like Resident Evil after the last few games.

This is surprising - isn't the consensus that Resi is in a way better place now than it was in 2016?

Balladeer wrote:

3. Ace Attorney

I feel a bigger gulf between the original trilogy and everything after than you do, I think. Still, this would probably make a top ten.

Quote :

2. Xenoblade

I like the first game a lot, but even if 2 and 3 match it, I wouldn't put them above any of those other 5. But I'm considerably less of a JRPG fan . . .

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I thought I'd give this a BUMP, because I reckon my favourite franchises/series have changed quite a bit from when I was considering (checks notes) Rhythm Paradise for a top series.  . . .Has anybody else had a change of heart regarding the gaming series they're most excited for?  We've had two Metroid games since the last post, for example...

I barely recognised that list I'd previously written.

Spoiler:

There's some recency bias in why some of those Nontendo franchises were as high as they were, some dishonesty with myself leading to stuff not doing as well as it should . . .
Okay.

Honorable Mention: Elden Soulsborne
I obviously really love these games, although fitting them into the "franchise" label is weird; the best games are Dark Souls, Bloodborne and Elden Ring, which are technically three distinct and separate IPs. Really, this is "FROM games in that 3rd-person action mold" which I don't think counts as a franchise.
For similar reasons, through the best Platinum stuff in here. Bayonetta, Vanquish, Wonderful 101, Astral Chain. . .
Honorable Mention: Pikmin
The original Pikmin is an all-timer for me, I rate the 2nd and 3rd games, I've enjoyed Pikmin Bloom and I'd be so keen for a Pikmin 4, but this franchise is basically one really good game and then more of the same. It hasn't massively impressed when it has branched out and it isn't something I think about much when I'm not playing.
Honorable Mention: Mario Kart
Mario Kart games are a mainstay for me as a multiplayer thing, and 8 expanded that to also be a game I played a ton of solo. The thing is, 8 is a massive peak for me. On a best games list, Mario Kart 8 would do well but the whole franchise doesn't automatically rise with it.
Dishonorable Mention: Starfox
I still adore Lylat Wars and, as I said in 2016, I have had enjoyment from the other entries in the series, but . . . this is one good game and some also-rans. I don't think I can call this my favorite franchise. It's more like a bad relationship that was good in high school and I keep going back thinking this time it'll be different . . .

5: Splatoon
A series that didn't exist last time I wrote one of these lists, but is about to hit its third entry. I like the gameplay - this is a multiplayer shooter I can actually play! I like the vibes - this is a Nintendo game that's cool to people born in this millenium! I like the style - this is a game with a wide and fun range of dress-up options! I like the lore and world - this is batshit insane! And I like the perpetual flow of more bits and bobs without a subscription per se. The closest I'll get to a Destiny or whatever, and eternally a game I'll play when I have five minutes to kill.
4: Monster Hunter
Separating this and the next entry is difficult for me. I love the combat of Monster Hunter, I love the addictive loop of making armour and weapons, I love the sessions I had with the Mash Lads and some other friends in real life and cyberspace, I love the monster designs, the armour, the worlds and their atmosphere. I've found so much fascination learning about the creatures, their designs and their origins. I will almost certainly buy a PS5 for MH6.
3: Pokemon
But Pokemon just edges it out for monster-based franchise I obsess over. If this were a list of best fictional franchises overall, Pokemon might be the winner. Its been permanently lodged in my brain since I was 10 or so and, for obvious reasons, has become an even bigger part of my life over the last 4 or 5 years. The Pokemon world is where I wish I lived instead of this dying rock and I've found that it's a huge comfort for me to always have some kind of Pokemon game on the go. That's true of 5, 4 and 3 on my list, and is part of why I have to be honest with myself and put them in my top five.
2: Zelda
Zelda Breath of the Wild is the best videogame ever made and one of the pinnacles of human art. Before that, games like Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker were absolute standouts. I personally have a major soft spot got Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword.
This series is on the list for a different reason than the others; this is the series that will always be an event. When a new Zelda game is on the horizon, the anticipation is wild. When it arrives, the lights go off, I get myself comfortable and that's what's on my calendar. "Are you busy this weekend?" "Yes - I'm playing Zelda."
1: Mario
ALL THAT BEING SAID.
I love Zelda games, but I can't play them over and over and I need a break between them. I played through the original TLOZ on January 1st, 2021 and I haven't actually played any Zelda since.
I've played through all the Marios apart from Odyssey and Bowsers Fury back-to-back over the past 2 years and it never hasn't been fun. When I'm done, I honestly think I'll keep going back and dipping my toes back in here and there. A mario game - a real mario game - is the best feeling I've found in this life. The satisfaction of controlling the plumber, the exhilaration of just, by the skin of my teeth, getting him over one of those perfectly designed levels and the joy of those aesthetics and characters.
Cast your minds back to 2017. No, not the end of the year vote, when I was annoyed that Mario Odyssey won just because certain individuals were being edgy about BotW. Think back to April or May, when Zelda was out and everyone was already declaring it GotY. I said "Well, there's a 3D Mario coming" and was considered a madman for thinking the two might compare. Honestly, though, I think BotW was only received as well as it was because it was the first Zelda game to actually feel good in the hands the way Mario does.

Buskalilly wrote:

masofdas wrote:

One's I've also got less interest in as well like Resident Evil after the last few games.

This is surprising - isn't the consensus that Resi is in a way better place now than it was in 2016?

Well as an edgy individual, I've just not been into the newer Res Evil games like 2016 I was super excited for more Res Evil as we had RE7 to come in 2017 which was grand to be fair (In VR as well). Yet the remakes, especially RE3 I didn't think were good. Village I played till just after Lady Dimitrescu part of the map and never went back to it or felt like doing so, it was sort of game just there, like I've played worse games this year, yet they've had something about them whilst Village hasn't it felt like magnolia.

Then we've got ReMake 4 coming which might be good but RE4 is a masterpiece which is still going to be perfectly playable in 2023 with the multiple remasters it's had over the years. That this seems so unnecessary when you've got things like Code Veronica which could with a modern remake or I don't know Dino Crisis.

I also don't think they're that survival horror either or what I want from the genre, I look at The Medium which I feel if it had a well known IP attached to it that would have had so much more love then it did.

That's just touching on the games post 2016, remember I also didn't like RE5 as it's more Gears than Res Evil, didn't even bother with RE6 that if I did my list like I did at the start of thread my Res Evil thoughts look like this…

Resident Evil

Masterpiece: RE2 Classic, RE4 Classic
Great: RE Classic, RE3 Classic, ReMake, RE7
Good: Code Veronica, RE0, Rev, ReMake 2, Dead Aim, Outbreak, Umbrella, Darkside
Meh: ReMake 3, Village, Survivor, Mercs, Deadly Silence
Crap: RE2 Game.com, RE5, Survivor 2, Umbrella Corps
Not Played: RE6, Rev 2, Gaiden, Outbreak 2, Raccoon City, Resistance, Mobile stuff

I will think about doing a Top 5 or 10, just as I think we said before and looking at my Top 50 games it has like all the Metal Gear Solid games in it, but will we get another? Will I be bothered about it without Kojima? Where Zelda also has a few in my Top 50 and I know I'll get more games, that I do feel it be placed higher because of that.

Buskalilly wrote:

Balladeer wrote:

3. Ace Attorney

I feel a bigger gulf between the original trilogy and everything after than you do, I think. Still, this would probably make a top ten.

I'm absolutely sure you do, given that you like SoJ less than me and presumably haven't played AAI2. Also I met my partner through Ace Attorney (was going to say 'through AA' but that looks bad), so it'll always have that edge for me. Curious to see how TGAAC measures up for you to the original trilogy, by which I mean JfA.

Buskalilly wrote:

Quote :

2. Xenoblade

I like the first game a lot, but even if 2 and 3 match it, I wouldn't put them above any of those other 5. But I'm considerably less of a JRPG fan . . .

If you're considerably less of a JRPG fan then there's no way 2 will match it! I'm just amazed by the consistency of the series. For Mario for example, there's always a chance that the next game will be a New Super Mario Bollocks. For Xenoblade, the worst game they've released was the spin-off X, and that was still really good for the time. I know I'll love whatever game they pump out next, almost unconditionally.

Buskalilly wrote:

Honorable Mention: Elden Soulsborne
I obviously really love these games, although fitting them into the "franchise" label is weird; the best games are Dark Souls, Bloodborne and Elden Ring, which are technically three distinct and separate IPs. Really, this is "FROM games in that 3rd-person action mold" which I don't think counts as a franchise.

Sekiro also feels like it throws a spanner in these works. You can kind of tie those three together with a throughline, but from what little I've seen, Sekiro is still a FGIT3PAM but is very different in aesthetic and premise.

Buskalilly wrote:

Honorable Mention: Pikmin
The original Pikmin is an all-timer for me, I rate the 2nd and 3rd games, I've enjoyed Pikmin Bloom and I'd be so keen for a Pikmin 4, but this franchise is basically one really good game and then more of the same. It hasn't massively impressed when it has branched out and it isn't something I think about much when I'm not playing.

Also: Hey! Pikmin.

Buskalilly wrote:

Dishonorable Mention: Starfox

Ooft!

Splatoon is the only real surprise for me in that top five, the rest feels like peak Buska. I'm massively out of the Splatoon loop compared to other Nintendo franchises, so that might be why. Interesting to see Mario beat out Zelda, and you've explained why well. For me, not only is there the fact that unlike you I very rarely replay games (in fact I've replayed more Zeldas than I have Marios in any case), but the recent Mario lows are significant. Even not good at times. The last properly Zelda game I'd describe as not good was on DS: the last not good Mario was on Wii U, shuffled over to Switch. That said, "A mario game - a real mario game - is the best feeling I've found in this life" is the best line in that post. Top drawer.

I don't mind the New Super Mario Bros games, I enjoyed my time with all four, but they're not in the golden lineage of SMB>SMB3>SMW>SM64>SMS>SMG>SMO, which take alone is the most tremendous achievement.

He's right about Starfox you know. Lylat Wars is a classic but Starfox Assault, Starfox Command and Starfox Zero smell like a cross between a dirty foot and an arse.

Assault is particularly depressing because when it just does spaceship levels, they're smashing. Starfox Zero might have been good without the control scheme at the centre of it, though even then nothing special. Command is just weird.

The SNES ones are alright.

Then Adventure is the best one

Command is a banger and I won't hear anything bad said about it.

Yeah I've gotta stick up for Command here, was decent that, definitely a bit more niche with the flight path thing but the dogfighting was solid.

I'd agree with the overall view of the series though, it's never came close to Lylat Wars again and I don't think it ever will.

The Cappuccino Kid wrote:

He's right about Starfox you know. Lylat Wars is a classic but Starfox Assault, Starfox Command and Starfox Zero smell like a cross between a dirty foot and an arse.

Oh, I agree. Including with Command being pants, I don't want slow scratchy strategy from my dogfighting game cheers.