50. The Unfinished Swan (2012)

Despite its critical praise, I’ve always found The Unfinished Swan to be an underrated game. It’s so unique in so many ways, from its startlingly monochromatic presentation early on to its surprisingly affecting story that you really only uncover as you progress. The puzzles are mostly simple, but are far more varied and fun than you might expect. This is a vibes-based game through and through, and the vibes are good (and sometimes melancholic).

49. South Park: The Stick of Truth (2014)

The 2017 sequel, The Fractured But Whole, is a good game but wasn’t a contender for this list. Its reliance on newer South Park humor connected with me less. But the original game plays so well with both fantasy and video game tropes, and does amazing service for long-time fans of the show. It ran away with my 2014 Game of the Year award, despite some overly simple combat systems.

48. Cult of the Lamb (2022)

The visual style and personality in Cult of the Lamb are what make it stand out among so many other games of the dungeon crawly genre. It’s cutesy and violent and dark and wacky in all the right ways. And beyond the combat, which mixes some fun rogue-like elements to the weapon and ability unlocks, the camp and people management systems were actually my favorite part. Getting married, sacrificing my spouse, and then bringing them back to life just to keep picking up poop was undeniably fun.

47. Final Fantasy VI (1994)

To me, Final Fantasy VI is an improvement on IV in basically every way. It has the same active time battle system and pixelated, artfully designed graphics. But it tells a more “grounded” story that focuses on its much better cast of 14(!) playable characters. Sephiroth often comes up when talking about the best Final Fantasy villains, but there’s a strong case to be made for Kefka.

46. Super Metroid (1994)

The best 2D Metroid and the overall best entry in the series, Super Metroid improves on pretty much everything from the first two games. The graphics easily look the most advanced, and the new grapple beam weapon was a game-changer. One change I didn’t remember until doing research for this article was the new ability to shoot in every direction while moving. Simpler times, man.

45. Shadow of the Colossus (2005)

The original version of Shadow of the Colossus is hard to go back to — the camera controls are just terrible. Thankfully, there’s the PS4 remake to enjoy. But man, what a special game Shadow of the Colossus is. It manages to tell an affecting story with no real dialogue, and the bosses are all challenging and interesting in completely unique ways. If you’re a Monster Hunter fan that’s looking for something less arcadey, this is a must play.

44. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (1992)

I see plenty of “top games” lists citing A Link to the Past as the best game ever made or somewhere in the top 10. It’s an amazing game, but it doesn’t land that high on my personal list. A Link to the Past returned the series to the original three-quarter perspective instead of the side-scrolling of Zelda II, which was much better. This was also the first appearance of the Master Sword, one of the best weapons in all of video games.

43. Inside (2016)

20 years from now, there’s a chance this game hasn’t aged as well as I expect it to because it creates such an arresting and singular experience to the person playing. I actually have very little interest in ever playing it again, which is rare for my favorite games. I have a hard time believing that I’ll ever forget those final few minutes of meat monster mayhem, though. The actual ending didn’t quite click with me, but man so many other moments did.

42. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (2010)

The general consensus seems to be that Super Mario Galaxy 2 is an overall better game than the original, but I have to disagree. Obviously, it’s still an amazing game, but it didn’t hook me as hard the second time around. The addition of Yoshi was super fun, and I like the expanded ideas that Nintendo experiments with, but this is a minor case of diminishing returns. It makes sense why Nintendo wanted to do a direct sequel, but it also makes sense why they don’t often do that.

41. Pokemon Gold, Silver, and Crystal (2000)

There’s something special about Pokemon — and Gold, Silver, and Crystal giving us two continents to explore felt like something too good to be true. The games also introduced the first new pokemon since the original 151, and while they didn’t all measure up equally, there are still plenty of memorable pocket monsters in there, like Cyndaquil, Sudowoodo, Umbreon, and Entei.

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