Sooner than expected, here is my Top 25 Games of All Time list. Well, the first (or rather, last) 5 games of it anyway. I've chosen to list only one game per franchise, unless if those games are generations apart. For example, Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario Galaxy could be on the list (not saying they necessarily are), but not Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2. Games with that type of direct sequels are likely to be similar in quality, which would make for a pretty boring list, possibly only listing all the installments from a few of my favourite franchises. But don't worry, I've naturally found 25 games I truly love, even with this limitation.

Here's how it works: every post I will list 5 games on the list in descending order, so I'll start at 25 and work my way down to 1. All of these games are listed according to how much I like them. This doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the actual quality of the game (although the two are of course related), as you will see that some of the entries on my list have actually received pretty poor reviews. One of them even got a 5 and I can understand why. So this list is totally subjective and representative only for my personal opinion as of this moment. Maybe I'll look back at this list in a year and completely disagree with it, or better yet, I'll probably have played more great games that'd deserve a spot in this list.

Until then, I'll just list these fine games. First comes the rank, the title, the platform I've played it on, and the year of release. Then follows a picture of the box art, and I've decided to give props to the developers of these great games by listing them, as well as displaying a flag next to their name to indicate where they're from. It might be fun to see how many European, American, and Japanese games are listed. Naturally, I'll add a description to each game explaining why I like it. So get ready to enjoy numbers 25-21 from my list, and I'll hope you'll stick around until the end. I'll try to post a set of 5 games every few days or so.

25. Metro 2033 (PC, 2010)

Developed by: 4A Games

Metro 2033 is a postapocalyptic first person shooter that takes place in the Moscow subway after a worldwide nuclear disaster. This game, made in the Ukraine, can best be described as a mixture of Doom and STALKER. The linear, intense gameplay has you shoot your way through mutants, demons, and hostile humans. The artistic design is very solid, and the graphics are some of the very best yet. More importantly, the game is just very atmospheric and immersive, making for one of the most convincing gaming experiences of the past few years.

24. Animal Crossing: City Folk (Wii, 2008 )

Developed by: Nintendo EAD

There's these games that may not be particularly good, involving, intense or action-packed, but still offer a tremendous amount of fun. Animal Crossing: City Folk for Nintendo Wii belongs to this category. It's basically a dumbed down version of The Sims which lets you collect stuff, buy clothes, decorate your home, farm, interact with fellow villagers in numerous ways, fish, etc. It sounds a bit stupid in concept, but over the years it has proven to be the ultimate relaxation game for me. It's always good to come back to my Animal Crossing town after beating some intense action game. People say it has improved very little over its predecessors on the Gamecube and DS, but with this being my first Animal Crossing game, I wouldn't really know. What I do know is that I've invested about 150 hours into this game, and I do not regret a single one of them.

23. Age of Empires III (PC, 2007)

Developed by: Ensemble Studios

I'll admit it right away. I'm a strategy noob. The first real strategy game I've played was Civilization IV, and I was indescribibly bad at it. Then I tried Age of Empires III, which is more about the combat, and I loved it. This game is particularly interesting to me because its focus is on the 16th/17th century, or more concretely put, the discovery age. Not only is this a period I've studied a lot in courses on Spanish culture and history, but the setting also translates itself into beautiful maps set in the New World. This is one of the few games I play on the easy setting because it allows me to take my time to build up a massive army, to grab some food without pausing the game, and to just look at the scenery while I enjoy the melancholic piano soundtrack. Being another relaxation game, Age of Empires III is a title I always see myself returning to.

22. Star Fox Adventures (GC, 2002)

Developed by: Rare

While Star Fox Adventures originally wasn't even supposed to be a Star Fox game (it was a new IP by Rare called Dinosaur Planet), it is still my favourite game in the series. Gameplay-wise, it has more to do with Zelda than Star Fox, but the beautiful environments, the weird characters, the smooth gameplay, and some good voice acting made this game unforgettable to me. I've beaten its 15-hour adventure twice, and I will come back for more one day. Curiously, it is one of the best-looking Gamecube games despite being one of the first titles for the console. Rare's graphic artists sure were amazing.

21. Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 (GC, 2002)

Developed by: EA Seattle

Hot Pursuit 2 was, for me, the last great game in the Need For Speed series. It embodied what I identified the series with ever since I first played Need For Speed 2 on the PC: racing exotic sports cars through beautiful landscapes. Too bad for me, Need For Speed Underground, the next game in the series, had you race ugly tuned cars through a city that looked like a giant disco. But there was more to Hot Pursuit 2 than just some IP conservatism on my behalf: it had many interesting modes, including the very challenging 'Be a Cop' mode, and it had some of the finest tracks in all of the series. Tropical Sunset, for example, is a track I must've raced on over 50 times. It also had a great soundtrack with kind of melancholic rock music and some techno tracks. All in all, it was a terrific racing game, but going back to it now also makes me sad when I think of how much the series has fallen since, although the remake of Need for Speed Hot Pursuit they're making gives me hope.

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That's it for now, see you soon for the next portion!