After creating a backloggery I've found that I've played about 160 games over around 15 years, but there are only a couple I've liked enough to give a 10/10 to. I'm curious, what games would you describe as "perfect"?
Final Fantasy VI:
Some people prefer Chrono Trigger (also great) but this is pretty easily my favorite classic RPG. Everything is done great; story, characters, music, and most of all gameplay.
Donkey Kong Country 2:
Forget Mario, this is the best platformer out there. It looked amazing for a SNES game, the music was fantastic, and the gameplay was rock solid. There were also a ton of secrets to find with more difficult unlockable levels (and the ability to finally stick it to Cranky) as a reward.
Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past:
I'm of the opinion that the 2D Zelda games are a lot better than the 3D and this one's the best of the bunch. The dungeons are a blast, the world is filled with tons of secrets, the music is a bit repetitive but good, and the two worlds mechanic is executed excellently.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence:
Perfect stealth gameplay, great environments, fantastic story, and graphics that push the PS2 to its limits. The only real gripes I had were the somewhat clunky cure/camo screens. MGS4 is also amazing and would definitely be here if it just had more gameplay.
Persona 4:
A different type of RPG, you're a high school student who's just moved to a rural country town where mysterious murders are happening. There's traditional RPG gameplay in the form of exploring an alternate world inside of a TV screen (which ties in to the murders) with an awesome monster fusion system but the other half of the game involves simply living your life and developing relationships with your party members and the other residents of the town. This ties in with the aforementioned fusions as getting to know different people powers up your Personas and is required to unlock some of the best ones. The story and characters are great with the one flaw being that the plot moves rather slowly, which isn't surprising once you realize that the game takes probably a good 70 hours to beat.
Demon's Souls:
Put simply, this has probably the best gameplay in any action RPG. You pick from a bunch of classes, and then you're set free to develop your character as you please and explore the 5 different worlds in whatever order you want. The story involves a kingdom that's been overrun by demons where you're the only one left who can stop them and is pretty simple overall. The atmosphere is extremely bleak and you only encounter a handful of sane humans, some of whom will still happily stab you in the back. Then there's the difficulty, which while high by today's standards, is also very fair. The game does punish you for dying beyond just the standard "revive at the last checkpoint" by leaving your accumulated souls (which function as both money and experience points) at your point of death, but that's about it.
HMs: too many to list
Final Fantasy VI:
Some people prefer Chrono Trigger (also great) but this is pretty easily my favorite classic RPG. Everything is done great; story, characters, music, and most of all gameplay.
Donkey Kong Country 2:
Forget Mario, this is the best platformer out there. It looked amazing for a SNES game, the music was fantastic, and the gameplay was rock solid. There were also a ton of secrets to find with more difficult unlockable levels (and the ability to finally stick it to Cranky) as a reward.
Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past:
I'm of the opinion that the 2D Zelda games are a lot better than the 3D and this one's the best of the bunch. The dungeons are a blast, the world is filled with tons of secrets, the music is a bit repetitive but good, and the two worlds mechanic is executed excellently.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence:
Perfect stealth gameplay, great environments, fantastic story, and graphics that push the PS2 to its limits. The only real gripes I had were the somewhat clunky cure/camo screens. MGS4 is also amazing and would definitely be here if it just had more gameplay.
Persona 4:
A different type of RPG, you're a high school student who's just moved to a rural country town where mysterious murders are happening. There's traditional RPG gameplay in the form of exploring an alternate world inside of a TV screen (which ties in to the murders) with an awesome monster fusion system but the other half of the game involves simply living your life and developing relationships with your party members and the other residents of the town. This ties in with the aforementioned fusions as getting to know different people powers up your Personas and is required to unlock some of the best ones. The story and characters are great with the one flaw being that the plot moves rather slowly, which isn't surprising once you realize that the game takes probably a good 70 hours to beat.
Demon's Souls:
Put simply, this has probably the best gameplay in any action RPG. You pick from a bunch of classes, and then you're set free to develop your character as you please and explore the 5 different worlds in whatever order you want. The story involves a kingdom that's been overrun by demons where you're the only one left who can stop them and is pretty simple overall. The atmosphere is extremely bleak and you only encounter a handful of sane humans, some of whom will still happily stab you in the back. Then there's the difficulty, which while high by today's standards, is also very fair. The game does punish you for dying beyond just the standard "revive at the last checkpoint" by leaving your accumulated souls (which function as both money and experience points) at your point of death, but that's about it.
HMs: too many to list