A score of 10 is the highest score a game can receive on Gamespot.It's supposed to be reserved for the best of the best.In the past,Gamespot's scoring system indicated a score of 10 meant a game was 'perfect' but no game can be perfect so a score of 10 now means 'prime' or 'the greatest'.Personally,I'll give a game a score of 10 if:-
-It captivates me emotionally or spiritually to the extent it makes me think about things I wouldn't normally think about in daily life.Thus meaning it's possible for me to give visual novels a score of 10 if they have extremely captivating stories because even though most visual novels don't have real gameplay they can still be extremely captivating and offer numerous story possibilities(lots of replay value).
-All round brilliance in terms of gameplay,graphics,sound and in some cases story and also if I don't want to change anything about the game(with the exception of game length if the game is not sold as a full-priced game).
I score games according to how good they were for their time.This is how I score games,I'm not saying my way is right or your way is wrong,this is the way I like to score games.
I also want to add I have been a gamer since the 1980's.The first gaming console I played was an Atari 2600 back in 1988.The first time I played games on a computer was using a Microbee computer which was also in 1988 and the first time I played an arcade machine was either in the late 1980's or early 1990's(the earliest memory of playing an arcade game was playing a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game).Anyways,I've played thousands of games and out of the thousands of games I've played there's a small number of them which I think a worthy of a score of 10.Here is the list and I'll begin my list with my favorite game of all time but after that my list will go in alphabetical order.
Final Fantasy X
-Incredibly captivating story.I like love stories and I love the love story in FFX because Tidus is not a tough guy,he is imperfect,he's even selfish but he has a quality in which he can make Yuna laugh and cheer her up even when Yuna knows she is likely going to die and Tidus's selfishness isn't completely bad,he wanted Yuna to run away with him not just for himself but to save her because her friends who's job it was to protect her were expecting her to sacrifice herself to save their world and Tidus wasn't going to just let her do that without trying to stop her because he loves her.
-As far as turn-based battle system goes and for a 2001 RPG,it's battle system is flawless,you can sub party members in and out of battle for an extra tactical element.The bosses can be a bit easy but you can avoid that by not using there sphere grid much.
-Graphically,for it's time it looked better than any console RPG for it's time,the characters showed facial expressions and the CGI's and environments...what can I say? It's like they took the most beautiful parts of Thailand and Japan and used them for spectacular CGI's.
-Music,the music for the game is so beautiful people play it on piano themselves and Suteki Da Ne is so beautiful it doesn't even need to be translated.
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Clannad
-Captivating and emotional story,has a heartfelt love story but you don't have to choose the path of that love story you can choose other paths that can lead to romance with other characters and it's possible to end up with no romantic partner and get a bad ending.The story progresses from highschool until adult life.The story can be funny at times too.
-Beautiful artistic visuals
-Very beautiful music
-Lots of replay value if you want to see all story possibilities and you'll need to if you want to unlock the After Years which is when the characters are adults and has some of the most emotional story moments.
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Disney's Aladdin
-Flawless gameplay for it's time.Smooth contols,has melee combat and allows use of projectile weapons,clever combat mechanics(can deflect projectiles back at enemies),has platforming,encourages you to explore environments for gems to buy lives and credits with and to find token which can be used to win lives or goodies and has great level designs(some of the levels are very exciting)whilst being reminicent of the movie.
-Graphically it's artstyle and the environments suit the movie well and it's easily one of the best-looking SEGA MEGA DRIVE/GENESIS games.The game has great,flowing animation during gameplay too.
-The story presentation is great and heartfelt(for platformer standard) and has romance.
-The music is enjoyable and heartfelt and has the great music from the movie.
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Final Fantasy VII
-Story is incredibly creative.You join a bunch of environmentalist rebels who go around blowing up factories and they're rebelling against a company named SHINRA whom are polluting the world and draining the world of it's life energy for profit and whom also oppress the people in the world,but after the group make it to the SHINRA building many of the employees have been slaughtered and a psychopath named Sephiroth comes into the story and so do aliens,ancient races,the story has a love triangle and the story is so addictive I didn't want to stop playing the game until I beat it.
-Although the characters look blocky and stout it gives them their charm(such as Cloud's spikey hair)and it's CGI's are exciting and keep you on the edge of your seat and it's cutscenes and the way they use delicate music show delicate story scenes very well.
-Battle system gives a lot of customization for JRPG standards,every character can be a summoner or mage but the characters do have unique advantages(Aerith has a limit break that heals every party member),Cid and Red XIII have powerful limit breaks,Barret has ranged attacks etc. and I like how the ATB system makes you think quickly during a character's
-It's world is so diverse and huge,from the dark,polluted futuristic city of Midgar which is a city with multiple levels and slums so beautiful tropical locations and charming rural towns and a theme park with fun mini games.
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Flower
-It's story is emotional because you need to guide a flower metal through dangerous areas and restore civilizations of mankind and the story does a good job of using mystery beautiful mankind has disappeared and the cities are in ruins.The fact you're playing as a delicate little flower pettle on a journey and all alone makes it even more emotional.
-The music is beautiful and gives a sense of calm and peacefulness
-The environments are beautiful,whether it's the grassy fields or when you see the beautiful use of colors and seeing the city ruins with no people is quite emotional
-Using the PS3 axis and guiding the flower through gusts of wind and high in the air is relaxing and wonderful because you get a big view of open and beautiful landscapes and sometimes there's times when the petal will move quite fast.
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Harvest Moon It's A Wonderful Life
-The game is so addictive I could play it all day
-You can choose a character to marry,you can grow/produce and sell food and run businesses and there is a risk vs reward system.
-You can get married
-The people in the town are charming
-You character ages,so do the people in the town and after your character gets married you will have children
-The natural surroundings are quite nice
-Has seasonal weather and rain
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Heavy Rain
-It's story has a serial killer,you don't know who the serial killer is and it could be anyone including the boy's father.The story presentation makes you care about the characters.The game lets you experience the story from the perspective from numerous likable characters.Has romance possibilities too and shows the darker side of humanity and shows the desperate acts people will go to in order to save someone they love or even for their career or to save their own life or to do their job.The characters in the game feel like real people too.
-Visually it's dreary rainy atmosphere and film noir environments make the game's world even more enticing.
-Gameplay involves exciting QTE events,doing things within a time limit,making tough choices and many things you do effect the story greatly.
-It's music is quite something and is used outside of the game.
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Jade Empire
-Main story has a nice use of Chinese mythology and game has interesting side stories,you can make decisions that effect the story and you can make lots of dialouge choices that can lead to some funny reactions(you can be a good guy or a complete jerk),I like Dawn Star(she is hot),you can create romance,the characters are interesting beause of their past or occupation or personality.
-I love the Asian influence of the world(the way it looks).
-The gameplay has an interesting combination of martial arts and RPG elements for combat and you can transform into demons.I like how the moral choices affect gameplay as well as story,you can win make a battle easier to win by poisoning the enemy but you will make yourself less likable to certain party members(including potential romance partners).
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Lost Odyssey
-It's main story is heartfelt because Kaim has lost his memories and needs to discover who he is and finds out he has a wife and daughter but there is a lot more to it than this.The side stories are very emotional too because you'll witness or read about very painful memories that come back to Kaim quickly and allows you to empathize with him strongly.
-It tries to be good old turn-based goodness with some clever ideas such as how immortal characters can resurrect themselves during battles which can turn the tide of a battle,the ring system isn't original but adds a bit more excitement to battles.The game is challenging not due to overpowered enemies but the dungeons can be very tough to find your way through and random enemies make it tougher because they can wear down your HP/MP and items.
-Graphically it's beautiful on a technical and artistic level and looked realistic for it's time.
-The music for the game has beautiful delicate piano music for emotional scenes and entertaining music for boss fights.
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Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
-It's story makes you think about how you look at the world and has some powerful emotionally shocking moments(I don't want to spoil them for you).It has a love story and lots of interesting characters and a very deep story.
-You can play it as a stealth game or as a shooter.It's stealth elements encourage you to be creative in how you sneak past enemies such as hanging onto railings or hiding in lockers or in a toilet stall or eliminating enemies without lethal firearms that make loud noise.
-Environments were detailed for their time and had some beautiful sunset
-Music makes the gameplay feel exciting
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Shenmue 2
-Story is very spiritual and makes me think about how I look at the world and how to handle it's problems from a Taoist perspective
-Hong Kong has great sights to see and visit and traveling through rural China is amazing
-Freedom in how you want to play the game,you can do story related stuff or explore the world.The city has many stores and buildings filled with people to talk to.Apartment buildings have many rooms with people who answer the door if you knock and the people you encounter in the world often have interesting things to tell you.
-Story has a hot sexy female character and makes you empathize with characters who you may not like at first and makes you have to work with a complete jerk whom you need their help.
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Shin Megami Persona 3 FES
-Captivating story with lots of likable characters who are like real people.Story has dark feel but lots of humor too.
-Grinding your way to the top of the tower feels like an epic test.Great turn-based system.
-Lots of activities you can do with lots of characters to build relationships with them and which improve your battle abilities.
-The addition of the After Story in FES makes it story that little bit more emotional to make it unforgettable
-Can create romance
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Shin Megami Persona 4
-Captivating story with lots of likable characters who are like real people.Story has dark supernatural stuff,murder mystery,suspense and the sexual humor is quite funny.
-TV world has interesting themes related to the characters
Lots of activities you can do with lots of characters to build relationships with them and which improve your battle abilities.
-Can create romance
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Sonic the Hedgehog 2
-Perfect controls,great feel of speed from the speed of Sonic and the level designs allow lots of speed
-Levels have nice variety(colorful natural surroundings,high tech worlds,Arabian themes,in space etc.
-Epic final bosses(not due to their difficult but design).
-Great music
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Super Mario Advance 2(AKA Super Mario World)
-Tight controls,platforming tests you in many ways such as with speed or timing.Can ride Yoshi,eat enemies and spit them out as fireballs.Can find wings to make Yoshi fly to hidden areas.Lots of secret areas.Cape and fireflower powerups are fun to use.
-Charming and colorful level designs
-Great music
Being able to save progress at checkpoints instead of only after castles/ghost houses took away a lot of frustration that was in the SNES version of Super Mario World.
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That completes my score of 10 list.
There is 8 other games which narrowly missed out on me scoring them a 10 so I'll give them honorable mentions and briefly mention what stopped me giving them a score of 10 next to their name in brackets.
Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core(graphics during gameplay could be a bit better and I don't like it's leveling up system).
Yakuza 4(control issues)
The Last Story(control issues)
Final Fantasy IX(some of it's quests and dungeon designs are boring/annoying)
Xenoblade Chronicles(arrow indicator is hard to follow sometimes and being set in a sandbox world sometimes it makes it hard to find where you need to go next and it's story presentation could have been a bit better)
Metal Gear Solid 3(story takes a while to build)
Valkyria Chronicles(slow loading times and I hate having to wait a while for the CPU to have it's turn and the CPU cheats.
Final Fantasy VI(fighting so many battles and waves of enemies becomes tiresome).