Lunar's Top 100 Games - Episode II
Games #90-81
You all know the drill by now! If you donât, read Episode I here before jumping into the sequel. Or donât, Iâm not your mom.
The Games
90. Slay The Spire
This game kicked off my love of âDeckbuilding Roguelitesâ, and for that it will always have a special place in my heart.
You pick one of three (or four now?) classes and get a standard deck for that class. You proceed up the titular Spire, and through battles and random events, build your deck and passive trinkets, in order to try to climb to the top.
The game gets deeper every run you succeed, and I had plenty of fun in Early Access with this game. Unfortunately, Iâve never played much of the full release. I am waiting for Slay The Spire 2âs full release to dive into that one, so I do not make the same mistake.
89. Fable
As a kid I didnât get to hear any of Peter Molyneuxâs infamous false-promises, and when I was gifted Fable for Christmas 2004, I fell in love.
The breadth of the world of Fable was awe inspiring, the world reacted to my choices in a way that I had never experienced prior. NPCs would comment on my (mis)deeds as I walked by, I could flirt with and marry any citizens, I had the ability to choose the outcome of peoplesâ fates by taking different quests! My character growing or shrinking based on my stat distribution and how healthy he ate was novel in retrospect, but I was astonished that my character got fat.
You play as a Hero, starting as a child and growing while you learn the ways of Heroism from the Heroâs guild. Being a Hero doesnât solely mean being good, however. Many of the Heroes introduced in the game are morally evil. The RPG elements were genuinely fun, although there was no true way to specialize, by the end you were a master of all.
I know Fable was sold on a pile of lies, but I still loved the hell out of it. I am excited for the new game, which was recently revealed to be releasing in February of 2027. But, as youâll see further down the list, I did enjoy another Fable game more.
88. Devil May Cry 3
One of the defining games of the character action genre, Devil May Cry 3 perfected the combat formula that Devil May Cry introduced, and Devil May Cry 2 failed at. We donât talk about DMC 2, itâs just not a good game.
In this prequel, you play as Dante, son of the Demon Lord Sparda. He runs a demon slaying, bounty hunting shop, which would eventually become known as Devil May Cry (and eventually Devil Never Cry but god what a piss-poor rebrand). After his shop gets attacked, he travels to a tower which contains the sealed portal to the Demon World, and has to try to stop his brother Vergil (one of the coolest characters in fiction) from re-opening it and unleashing havoc upon the world.
An excellent story, with incredibly stylish and fun gameplay, I would whole-heartedly recommend Devil May Cry 3 to anyone interested in the series or genre.
87. Path of Exile
You wonât find any Diablo games on this list, however Iâve had a long-standing love for Path of Exile despite never really enjoying Diablo.
The systems in POE feel unique, starting with the currency system. POE lacks a standard currency system like gold, and instead opts for an ever-more convoluted series of consumable items. The economy is balanced around the desire to use them to augment your equipment, and the ability to trade them to NPCs or other players for different goodies.
This economy is an incredible part of the magic, simulating a barter economy. You canât throw exorbitant amount of money at something, you need to find the materials that other people want, or the equipment that other people want, and make trades.
The gameplay is also fairly unique. Path of Exile has a sprawling skill tree for each of the seven classes, with further specializations within each one. This skill tree is generally passive, augmenting your stats and adding effects to your active skills. You gain active skills by socketing skill gems into pieces of equipment, that can have a number of slots, as well as linked slots that you can use to socket gems to augment your other active skills.
Path of Exile is a buffet of options, and finding and tuning a build you love playing is part of the joy. Almost every character can feel unique, and that is a massive selling point. I own Path of Exile 2, but have not comitted time to it yet, but I am excited to when I find the time.
86. Hearthstone
Another online competitve game has made the list, and Hearthstone is certainly special to me. Combining a franchise I love (Warcraft, as you will see later on this list) with a collectible card game really compelled me to try it.
The game started out fairly simply, and it was a very fun experience. Youâd build your decks, play matches to level your classes and unlock cards, and do quests to gain gold to buy packs for even more cards. The dopamine rush in Hearthstone is real. The mechanics of the card game became more and more complex as years went on, and while it is still fun, it is a unrecognizable experience for players who tapped out early.
I donât play Hearthstone anymore, and thatâs not because I donât love it, but because it is a gaping maw of time consumption. If I want to get anything done with my life, or play any other games, I need to ignore the existence of Hearthstone. Not to mention that as the years went by, the micro-transaction model for the game became far more hostile, and I am the sort of mark that falls for it, hook line and sinker.
I canât recommend Hearthstone as anything more than a casual experience, and I lack the capability to keep it as a casual experience. But it is still one of my favorites despite our toxic relationship.
85. Journey
I canât say too much about Journey, because it is all about the vibes. A multiplayer game that doesnât even tell you that itâs multiplayer, you are traversing gorgeous stages, doing some light puzzle work, and finding out the story of the world you are inhabiting.
Itâs a one-of-a-kind experience, and I canât spoil it further. Everyone should play Journey at least once. Yes, that means you. Go play it, right now. I played it in one sitting.
84. Dead Space
Dead Space was the adrenaline shot in the arm that the survival horror genre needed in the late 2000âs, and what an incredible game it is.
You play as Isaac, an engineer aboard a deep space mining vessel. You arrive at a space station to find it abandoned, and filled with horrifying creatures, made from the twisted remains of the shipâs inhabitants, called Necromorphs. The gimmick is that unlike zombies, a la Resident Evil, you canât kill them with headshots. Rather, you must use mining tools to rip their limbs apart.
The game is genuinely scary, and the 2023 remake does an incredible job.
83. Sonic Generations
It is a surprise to me that Sonic Generations made my list, because I am not a Sonic fan. I donât particularly enjoy any of the other games in the franchise (Colors gets a nod on occasion) but something about Sonic Generationsâ gameplay loop really appealed to me. Not to mention the fact that the soundtrack is an incredible list of Sonicâs best songs (and Sonic always has very good soundtracks, not even I can deny that) and youâve got an experience that I somehow loved.
Sonic Generations has its problems, it is incredibly linear, many of the levels feel the same, and the boost mechanic in the Modern Sonic levels can be annoying sometimes. Not to mention the fact that the game decides to give Modern Sonic some side scrolling bits as well, which are infuriating.
As a non-Sonic fan (you could even call me a Sonic hater) Generations did something special, and I truly canât put my finger on it.
82. Okami
Speaking of special games, Okami. What a visual delight. The atmosphere is top notch, and the story feels grand in a way that many others donât. And donât get me started on the hand-painted aesthetic.
Mechanically Okami is special because you have to draw in order to do special moves in combat, or solve puzzles in the open world. While this can get frustrating on a system that relies on the right thumb stick, it is such a fun experience to play on the Wii, where you are pointing at the screen to draw.
You play as the sun Amaterasu, embodying the form of a wolf, to help seal the evil Orochi. Amaterasu plays similarly to Wolf Link from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, except for the drawing mechanics.
A very excellent Zelda-like, it has enough flourishes that I think anyone who liked 3D Zelda games would love it.
81. Far Cry 3
Before Ubisoft repackaged the Far Cry formula to sell the same game year after year, Far Cry 3 felt like a fresh entry to the shooter genre. You play as Jason Brody, an annoying rich kid who is captured by criminals on the Pacific Rook islands, and you watch your military trained brother get killed in front of your eyes.
What set Far Cry 3 apart initially was its villain, Vaas. Vaas is cruel, and crazy, but in a way that makes your skin crawl because it is eerily realistic. After you free yourself from his clutches, you explore the Rook islands, taking down outposts, and gathering materials to improve your arsenal.
I know this formula is very overplayed now, but it was a ton of fun on release, and I wish Ubisoft hadnât run it into the ground. If you arenât turned off by the formula, I would definitely say you should see where it all started, Far Cry 3 is a master class in single player FPS design.
Also, shout out to the very linear, but very fun standalone expansion, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon
Outro
Well, thatâs it! Next Friday night youâll get to find out what beat out all of these games for slots #80-71! I hope you all enjoy, or hate me for my opinions, whatever floats your boat.
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