Devil May Cry 2

Something I don’t say too loud at parties is that I’m not a huge fan of the original Devil May Cry. I certainly think it’s a unique game and I enjoyed my time with it but I’d never call it one of the best games on the Playstation 2 and I don’t think it’s a pillar of the genre like people insisted it was. However, I did appreciate that it was something unique. It knew what it was and I have some modicum for respect for it. It was unique and interesting, if nothing else. Its sequel, Devil May Cry 2 on the other hand is a focus-tested, soulless product that directly flies in the face of everything neat about its predecessor.

Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers

Graphic Adventure titles, ones made by Sierra especially, are a tricky genre. Infamous for their reliance on obtuse puzzles, strict adherence to sequencing and nonsensical deaths, Sierra graphic adventures like Space Quest, King’s Quest and Leisure Suit Larry are often seen as being incredibly daunting for a newcomer to the genre. Most people would rather play something like Monkey Island before checking out anything in Sierra’s vast library. This is a deserved reputation too, Sierra games have a tendency to be obnoxious at times but there are a few exceptions to this rule. Leisure Suit Larry 7 and King’s Quest VI make it clear that Sierra knew how to make a great adventure game without being overly difficult and confusing. Sierra’s “Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers” is another Sierra title which is more newcomer friendly although it doesn’t quite avoid the missteps that previous Sierra titles had made.

Castlevania 64

Castlevania is one of those series that could never quite make the jump to 3D. Castlevania, much like Mega Man, had nearly mastered the 2D side of things but always struggled to find its footing when the Z axis was introduced to the equation. Konami has tried to bring the series into 3D several times since their first attempt in 1999 to varying degrees of success but most of their ventures failed to impress critics or longtime Castlevania fans. Castlevania has always been a series that worked best in 2D and there’s no shame in that. However, it is unfair to disregard the 3D installments as if they never happened. Even the oft-maligned Castlevania, colloquially known as Castlevania 64, has some neat tricks up its sleeves that make it worth paying attention to.

Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg

Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg is the most consistently frustrating game I have ever played. The amount of times I thought to myself how much fun it would be to rip the disc out of the system and toss it into the beyond, never to be seen again, is impossibly high. Everything about this game is designed to be as irritating and unforgiving as humanly possibly. And it’s all covered up by bright colors and an overly sweet vibe.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies

Of all the series that Capcom has in their stable, Ace Attorney is one of the most unlikely titles to have found any semblance of success in the West. While it’s true that court and detective dramas are one of the most popular genres in the US, Ace Attorney’s distinctively Japanese flair should have turned off most consumers but in 2005, the stars aligned and a miracle occurred. The success of such a niche title like Phoenix Wright opened the floodgates; the DS enjoyed a plethora of graphic adventure titles like Hotel Dusk, Professor Layton and 999. The West continued to get the Phoenix Wright sequels until 2010, when the series suddenly went dark. It appeared to gamers that Capcom had little interest in supporting the series in the West. That was, until, the launch trailer for the long-awaited Ace Attorney 5 debuted and with it, a confirmation of a Western launch. Capcom was giving the series another chance; this was perhaps the last opportunity that Ace Attorney would have to prove itself to the Western market. Was Dual Destinies worth the nearly 5-year wait?