Game Rankings

  I find it interesting to see other people's rankings of game series, to see people's differing views, likes and dislikes. One person's trash is another one's treasure certainly applies where video games are concerned. While I won't be rating games here at This Bard, I will be ranking them! It's a very a simple system, I'm just going to compare the games and decide which I like better. Many of these games on the list I haven't played in years, so my rankings will be based on my best memories. The list includes games I think I may end up playing for the blog. As I play them again, I'll update the list to get a more current ranking. Also, keep in my mind, the vast majority of these games are very good. I'm comparing them, last place doesn't necessarily mean a bad game.

Characters from across the Final Fantasy series.

Final Fantasy (Main Series and Sequels)

1. FF 8

2. FF 12

3. FF 4

4. FF 2

5. FF 10

6. FF 7

7. FF 9

8. FF 10-2

9. FF 6

10. FF 13-2

11. FF 5

12. FF 1

13. FF 3

14. FF 13

  So, I'm hoping my rankings will be interesting, because of things like my above list. I absolutely adore Final Fantasy 8, and find 12 to be fantastic. However, these two games of the series are two that I hear panned quite a bit on the internet. In fact, behind 13 they may be the two least liked games in the series, but who knows? It's always hard to tell whether the fact is that the haters are the loudest, or if what you hear on the 'nets really is a prevailing opinion. 

  For Final Fantasy 8, I think my love of it is mainly about atmosphere. Exemplifying that is Ultemecia's Castle, which is my favorite dungeon and music of the series.

  I like Final Fantasy 12 because of it's vast, open world experience, it is very immersive. I think it really is like an offline MMO, and to me that's somewhat the best of both worlds. I avoid MMO's because it never ends, (I know that's the point, but I'm not that strong... I played Oblivion and Skyrim with basically all of my free time for two months, imagine me with an MMO.) and the continuous fees. That being said, I'll probably pick up Final Fantasy 11 and 14 at some point, and end my avoidance of the dread MMOs.

  I think I'm in agreement with most of the world at large about Final Fantasy 13. It's a very beautiful game, I even rather liked the music and story. However, as a Final Fantasy game, it was a massive disappointment. 

The most iconic character in Pool of Radiance?

Gold Box

1. Pool of Radiance

2. Champions of Krynn

3. Gateway to the Savage Frontier

4. Secret of the Silver Blades

5. Dark Queen of Krynn

6. Curse of the Azure Bonds

7. Pools of Darkness

8. Death Knights of Krynn

  The one big surprise here is probably Secret of the Silver Blades. That's right, I really like it, despite it being continually panned by Joe Internet. I enjoyed getting back to that "small town" sense that Pool of Radiance had, but at higher levels, very immersive. The caveat here is that I've played it twice through, both times using the clue book. The second time I tried not to, and broke down at some point simply because much of the game is large empty dungeons. So, next time through, no clue book, and we'll see if my feelings change about it.

I'm not 100% sure what's going on here, but I'm 100% sure I like it.

 

Quest for Glory

1. QfG 4: Shadows of Darkness

2. QfG 1: So You Want to be a Hero?

3. QfG 5: Dragon Fire

4. QfG 2: Trial by Fire

5. QfG 3: Wages of War

  Ah Quest for Glory... I feel like I grew up with this series, which I may literally have. My ranking is probably pretty consistent with most people's. While Quest for Glory 5 took a long time to get out, and didn't quite live up to the bar set by the series, I'm very glad it got done, to put the capstone on a piece of gaming history.

Yes.

Overall

1. Baldur's Gate

2. Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim

3. FF 8

4. FF 12

5. Pool of Radiance

6. FF 4

7. FF 2

8. Demon's Souls

9. Dark Souls

10. Star Control 2

11. Ravenloft: Stone Prophet

12. Menzoberranzan

13. Ravenloft: Strahd's Possession

14. Dragon Quest 8

15. Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion

16. QfG 4

17. Champions of Krynn

18. Gateway to the Savage Frontier

19. Dark Sun: Shattered Lands

20. FF 10

21. FF 7

22. FF 9

23. FF 10-2

24. FF 6

25. Dragon Quest 2

26. FF 13-2

27. FF 5

28. QfG1

29. Secret of the Silver Blades

30. Dark Queen of Krynn

31. Star Control 3

32. Xenogears

33. QfG 5

34. QfG 2

35. QfG 3

36. Curse of the Azure Bonds

37. Dark Sun: Wake of the Ravager

38. FF 1

39. Dragon Quest

40. Pools of Darkness

41. Death Knights of Krynn

42. FF 3

43. FF 13

44. Forgotten World

45. Al Qadim: The Genie's Curse

46. FRUA: Neverwinter Nights

  These rankings may be the most interesting simply because of the daunting task of ranking all these games against each other, in a somewhat apples-to-oranges fashion. The list will be updated as I play! 

  I'm probably not too alone in that, although it's been more than a decade since I played it, Baldur's Gate remains the peak of my gaming experience. I've heard some say Baldur's Gate II is better, but I haven't played it enough to feel comfortable ranking it. I took a break after I wandered into some place and got massacred by a Lich, and haven't gotten back to it.

  Well, there it is, stay tuned for more on... This Bard's Tales!