Top 10 Game Franchises

[dreggnog]

Hot damn, when was the last time we had a Top Somethingorother List thread in this place. Some people might think that they're pointless and that there's too many of em in the world already but I like them and there haven't been too many on this forum so here we go!

Just list your Top 10 Game Series's here. There must be at least three games in the series, or two games with a third currently in production (so Mass Effect would count, for example cause we know there will be a third one). If you wanna give a little info on why you love them so much, that would be nice too.

So here's mine!


1. Silent Hill
SH has affected me emotionally more than any other game series. SH and SH2 are my two favorite games of all time, reeking with story and atmosphere.

2. Final Fantasy
RPG isn't my favorite genre of games but you might not know that looking at my shelf because it's my favorite genre that actually has a considerable amount of good games, and for me many of them come from the Final Fantasy series. Tactics: WOTL, VII, and VIII are my favorites.

3. Spider-Man
Spidey for ps1 was my favorite game when I was little and I loved Spider-Man 2 (ps2) for it's open worldness as well. This guy's just fun to play as.

4. Ratchet and Clank
My favorite platformer series. I thought this was gonna be an overcomplicated sci-fi trip, imagine my surprise when it turned out to be a simple fun 3D platformer with funny scenes and cool weapons.

5. Spyro the Dragon
One of my favorites when I was little and my second favorite platformer series, these games have a good graphic style, excellent level design and are very accessible, even my mommy liked Spyro.

6. Persona
Persona 3 FES has enchanted me with its excellent social system and combat and Persona 4 looks to match it.

7. Sims
I played the ps2 version of Sims for hours and hours years ago and The Sims 2 still sucks me in for long periods of time now and again.

8. Gran Turismo
A series that does a great job of maintaining its quality and my favorite in the racing genre. Frustration and unfair but amazing nontheless.

9. Harry Potter
I liked the crappy ps1 games when I was little and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets for ps2 is a favorite of mine. Exploring Hogwarts and attending mega lengthy classes that were like Zelda dungeons was amazing to me.

10. Twisted Metal
Twisted Metal 3 was, along with Silent Hill, a game I played on my sister's old playstation before I got my own. I also liked 2 and 4 and have spent much time with Black.

Honorable Mentions: Sly Cooper, Tony Hawk, Dragon Quest, God of War, Resident Evil

[Vaco Deus]

1: Silent Hill
Yeah, the first Silent Hill had a HUGE impact on my gaming experience. Thanks to SH I learned that games can be symbolic and philosophical and have deeper meanings without the game spoon-feeding you the answers. Sadly no other games to that these days

2: Final Fantasy
I loves me a good RPG and yeah, Final Fantasy has been questionable lately but that doesn't change the immense collection of classics credited to its name. Favorites are FFVIII, FFVI, and FF: Tactics

3: Dark Cloud
Sleeper hits on the PS2, Dark cloud lets you build your ruined world back to its former glory. With a great combat system and great story telling, I am eagerly awaiting Dark Cloud 3 on the PS3

4: Harvest Moon
I got addicted when I impulsed bought the original Harvest Moon for the SNES off of eBay for $37.50. There is something satisfying and wholesome about running a farm. Extending your chicken coop, harvesting hundreds of tomatoes, playing in the summer festival. Its a great series that has sadly fallen from grace with the all the new games Nintendo exclusives. A PS3 Harvest Moon would make me giddy.

5: Grand Theft Auto
Its a great series with excellent story telling. Yeah, its cheesey and crass, but thats part of its charm. The main characters are hard to like or sympathize but Niko Bellic in GTA IV changed that. I wanted him to win. I wanted him to get what he was seeking. Hopefully GTAV will also have a protagonist this likeable with I still remember when GTAIII came out, at the time, the 3D city was so immersive and alive I'd just drive around and take in the sights.

6: Xenosaga/Xenogears
Thanks to SH and teaching me symbolism I fell in love with Xenogears. It did what few games do, even today: challenge religion. It was a deep and mesmerizing storyline, albeit poorly translated. So when I learned that it was Episode V of VI I got curious to the back story. Luckily a few year later it was announced that Xenosaga would be made and it would tell all six parts of the epic across six games which would mean a Xenogears remake! Sadly lackluster sales killed the series after 3 Episodes and I'm still sour about that. It angers me that a game with a deep storyline and fantastic RPG gameplay gets canned because the ADD/MTV generation can't pay attention for more than 4 minutes.

7: Manhunt
A visceral intense game told through 2 unfortunate souls who have no control over their involvement in the game, although the creepy aspect of killing for some unknown snuff lover got dropped in the second. In the first you roam an entire city deserted and left to rot while gangs take control of every aspect. However, the second Manhunt did have a great Fight Club-esque storyline. The games have an amazing ambient soundtrack that challenges Silent Hills. It puts you on edge without blasting out your eardrum. A 3rd installment would be welcome but only if it went back to its root.

8:Mario
Now there is a rule to this one: This only applies to the 2D ones and Super Mario 64. Once he went 3D it kinda went downhill in my book. Super Mario World is in my top 5 video games of all time. They just did everything right with that one

9: Assassin's Creed
I'm into conspiracy angles and whatnot so Assassin's Creed angle of taking real life mysteries and involving it in its own mythology is really appealing.

10: Resident Evil
I wholly and fully endorse RE1-3. They're creepy and feeling of abandonment is top notch. RE4 and RE5 are also fun but not as much since your essentially a walking tank killing entire villages in the process.

Honerable mentions:
-The Chrono Series (Chrono Cross specifically)
-Digital Devil Saga

EDIT:
I missed the rules in the first post. There are rumors of Dark Cloud 3 and a Manhunt 3 and Assassin's Creed III has been confirmed to be in development

[Blackdog]

1. Silent Hill
Loved the first two. Very much enjoyed the third and fourth. Still saving up for the others. Totally amiss of me NOT to put SH top.

2. Broken Sword
Ever since I played the first one as a Demo I fell in love with this series. A point and clicker with bags of character.

3. Final Fantasy
I would say between all the games in the series I've played, the total time would amount to a solid months gameplay if not more. Highly addictive. Of course 7 is my absolute favourite.

4. Resident Evil
Seeing my brother plays this on the playstation started my love affair with the game and the machine. The further releases have been mostly of equal greatness. The Survival Horror Grandaddy of the gaming world gave me a sweetie and stirred my eternal love of it.

5. Myst
I am one of those that loves the cerebral type games, and the Myst series certainly makes you think. It's not the most interactive of games and relies more of working out hard puzzles then lots of puzzles but it's sumptious looks and challenges makes it a firm favourite of mine.
(Also Brad Dourif was in one of them)

6. Metal Gear
Besides horror and p&c games I also enjoy a good stealth game. Have played and enjoyed them all up to the third one and desperate to afford a PS3 so I can take on the next one. It's involving and has one of the best game plots in any game I've played.

7. Fatal Frame
Took my favourite game genre and twisted it into something new. Like the fact you have to rely on a simple camaera then collecting weapons all over the place. Gives that sense of edginess.
Third one is on my ever growing waiting list.

8. Grand Theft Auto
What can I say except once I put any of the series on I can't stop playing it. It's taken a long journey from stealing cars on a flat image of a city to sprawling buildings and lots of criminal action on the streets.

9. Monkey Island
Great, great humour, iconic characters and games that are utter fun to play. Low on my list due to the latter games losing a touch of the great quality of the first one.

10. Onimusha
When I want to just slaughter enemies then this is the game I pick up.
It's simple to play and gives my wrists a lot of work to do.
Shame though the games are so short.

~~~~~

Just shy of the list:

Breath of Fire
Alone in the dark
Devil May Cry
Grandia
Lemmings
Wild Arms

[Redemption]

i dislike numbers, numbers and me don't get along.

- Metal Gear
The storys are (genreally) fun, and i'll always love the gameplay. Great voice acting and music too. PLus there's nothing like sneaking up on some smuch, then decieding to have mercy on him, getting spotted and planting a tranq in there head. True story.

- Silent Hill

Lets face it, its the reason we're all here. I don't think it needs more of a explination then that. I use to like horror games, but i was too scared to play them. Silent Hill changed that since running was a good option.

- Bomberman

Things go boom. Bomberman has been great fun in multiplayer. I remember i was at a friends place once, and we spent half the night playing Super Bomberman against eachother.

- Prince of Perisa

I've always liked platformers, and i loved the original PoP, and Sands of Time aswell. It would be brilliant if they came out with another game that had that race against time feel of the original.

- Rock Band

It gives me delusions of stardom. Plus, the Beatles Rock Band got me to buy more of there albums. Gotta be thankful for that.

- Street Fighter

Its a classic. I never got much into the skill of it, but SF will always remind me of the kids gathered around a arcade cabnet, watching some poor fool get his ass handed to him. Good times.

- Kingdom Hearts

Easy going hack and Slash RPG action, and you've got Goofy by your side. whats not to love? II wasn't as strong as 1 in the story department, but it made up for it with Mulan and Tron themed worlds.

- Final Fantasy

Final Fantasy VIII is my favourite. Triple Triad got me into online communities. Outside of that, Final Fantasy titles you always get your money worth. Their made to be those big sprawing adventures. Though, due to the large number of Final Fantasy titles, its becoming easier to pick out ones you don't like.

- Zone of the Enders

Really liked the second runner, it got me to go out and get the original. I like the whole flying around and slashing/shooting things. on a side note, Sin and Punishment is another great series.

- Sam and Max

they bring the funny. weird stories, inventive solutions. Plus, Max is psychotic. Reminds me a little of me, with fur.

Honerable Mentions

Siren - GTA - Resident Evil - Fumito Ueda Collection (not technicly a franchise, but i'm labeling it here) - Dot Hack

[Dwz]

1. Prince of persia (ps2)
The best goddamn adventure game I ever played for the ps2 with the sands rewind system and great combat. Warrior Within had the best OST of all time for me so far.

2. Silent Hill
Must I really give a reason for this?

3. Resident Evil
I still recal those late nights with me sitting in my chair scared shitless while at the same time wanting to play more and more RE

4. Final Fantasy
Never was sold on FF7 but FF8, 10 and especially 9 are my best RPGs of all time, so many hours spent. I still play FF9 from time to time on the PC. The chocobo treasure mini-game is priceless

5. Digital Devil Saga
Pretty awesome rpg that really sucked me in and didn't let go until I beat it twice in a row, that's right.

6. Fatal Frame
Another series that just refused to let me rest and even when it rarely did I still couldn't help but want to go right back at it

7. Shadow Hearts
Another amazing RPG that really held its own ground with the ring battle system and fusions. Also had a pretty dark theme (the first two at least) that I always enjoy in videogames

8. Legacy of Kain ... the whole 5 games
While I didn't quite like the Blood Omen installments probably due to their very different and not very original gameplay, I absolutely worship Soul Reaver 1 & 2 as well as Defiance. Back then Soul Reaver was way ahead of its time with the seemingly open world and realm shifts, the story of the series in whole is amazing too.

9. Mortal Kombat (Deadly Alliance, Deception and Shaolin Monks)
The first two had me going at them for days upon days mainly due to the fact that I was dissapointed by MK4 and these two seemed so wow when I first put them in my ps2 that I just had to play and play and do every fatality As for Shaolin Monks ... that game is the perfect example of a game that you can play with ANY friend, regardless if he's a gamer or a fan of MK or not, so much fun was had with that one.

10. The suffering
The first was something new and had quite some scares but the second one really brought out the hidden potential that I was looking for with all those flashbacks, eerie characters that eventually were all connected to you and a load of awesome weaponry at your disposal


Honerable mentions

Vagrant Story ... didn't include it only because it was one game but it would be my number 1 if I were allowed to put it there.

Haunting Ground ... definition of survival horror


So you see the current gen has yet to impress me with games, some came really close to being included (Assassin's Creed amongst them) but they just don't hold up.

[Toadkiller Dog]

1: Street Fighter. The granddaddy of 2D fighters, and now the king of 2.5D fighters. In a word, as far as fighting games go, Street Fighter is perfect.

2: Silent Hill. What more needs to be said here.

3: Hotel Dusk. Yeah, the second game was only recently announced for Japan, but still 2 games at least make this a series. There is, in my honest opinion no better point and click/text adventure series out. My absolute favorite DS game, by far.

4: Mario. I love Mario, a lot of people love Mario, but unlike some others here, I love all normal Mario games. And even some of the spin offs as well. I love 2D and 3D Mario. Mario Galaxy as an example was a shining masterpiece of gaming.

5: The Legend of Zelda. There are few, if any Zelda game, at least ones in the main series that I dislike. This is another series I grew up with, and one that I always love and regard very highly.

6: Castlevania. There were a few bad Castlevania games, but not many. For the most part this series has always combined action/adventure and horror very well. The 2D games are easily the best, but even a few of the 3D ones weren't so bad.

7: Metal Gear Solid. While I've actually liked each installment of this series less with every sequel, I still thoroughly enjoy the series as whole. Damned fine action and story telling.

8: Final Fantasy. There have been pieces of this series I didn't care for much, but again on the whole I've enjoyed the series. Tactics stands head and shoulders as my favorite in the series.

9: Shin Megami Tensei. Huge fan of this series, that up until the past few years was otherwise extremely niche and unheard of. Great system mechanics, cool horror vibe.

10: Ace Attorney. Some call it Phoenix Wright, but in the last game, and the newest upcoming one, he's no longer the main character, so whatever. None the less these are excellent text adventure games. Nice writing and a quirky sense of humor on top of addicting crime solving court room mechanics.

[AlexY]

Series only? Hmmm, ok.

1. Final Fantasy

Do I need to explain? VII is personal, IX and XII are just behind.

2. Silent Hill

Another self-explanatory one.

3. Team ICO games

Yes, they are not connected per sé, but they still count. ICO and SotC are godsends.

4. Metal Gear Solid

It's just MGS. You love it or hate it. I love it.

5. Legacy of Kain

GOOD GOD THE DIALOGUE. AWESOMENESS INCARNATE.

6. Katamari Damacy

Because every sane person needs a bit of katamari rolling.

7. Shin Megami Tensei

The only reason why SMT is so low is because I need a whole new life to play them. I just don't have the time.

8. Myst

Having bought the entire collection recently, I'm in for a loooong ride. Gotta play IV, V and URU. The original, realMyst, Riven and Exile are all phenomenal mindbenders.

9. Clock Tower (+ Haunting Ground)

I always loved the fact you really can't do anything but run for your life. It's so frickin' intense!

10. SingStar

Not kidding. SingStar is one of the main reasons for organizing parties. Hillarious George Michael interpretation parties.

Honourable mentions: Zone of the Enders, the never-made Vagrant Story series, Gran Turismo, Sam and Max, Monkey Island, Resident Evil, Elder Scrolls, Half Life, Chrono series, Syberia, Broken Sword, Crash Bandicoot, Need for Speed (the good old NFS),...