Remember playing a game which genuinely captivated you? Perhaps it was a game which featured a particular character that filled you with inspiration, or a story that kept manipulating you to play for an hour more. For whatever reason you may have committed yourself to, the fact is that everybody has a special game or group of games that have left some kind of an impression on them. Well, here is a list of a few games which I thought were really great, mind you, they're not listed in any particular order. Title: Robopon Publisher: Atlus System: Game Boy Color Year released: 2000 I was a lot younger when I picked up this seemly random Pokémon rip-off of a game, but at the time I considered this to be better than Pokémon. I really don't have anything to say with regards to why I thought it was better than Pokémon other than the fact that I liked robots; I guess that's all that really needs to be said. However, nowadays I still consider this game great simply because of its underdog status and all the neat features the game came with, despite not being the most original of games, but hell, I had fun with it. What's interesting about this game is its odd cartridge size. It was a lot larger than most other Game boy color cartridges because it hosted an infrared panel on the top which pretty much allowed you to use an everyday remote control to open special chests or boost a Robopon's stats. The game also had an internal clock and speaker feature which was used for timed events. Some of the events in the game would only be available at certain times (Like the school's lights would only be out after 8:00PM) and once an event was available, a short chime would play though your cartridge's speaker. That may sound annoying, but not many events were actually set to occur within a specific time and your also provided the option to turn off the chime. Title: Ace Attorney: Phoenix Wright Publisher: Capcom System: Nintendo DS Year released: 2005 Ah, Phoenix Wright games, such gems in my collection. I seriously enjoyed the series and its take in the realm of exaggerated court dramas. The characters are memorable, the musical score was awesome, the dialogue was funny, and the action was plenty, courtroom action that is. Being able to pull a turnabout with a disaster of a case felt brilliant, all with the help of spirit medium abilities that your partner conveniently possesses. This game was suggested to me by a friend who also let me borrow her copy. It was thanks her that I was able to discover this game. I've purchased and played all the other titles since. So, I guess Capcom has her to thank. Title: Final Fantasy Tactics Publisher: Square System: PlayStation Year released: 1998 This is a strategy role playing game with a pretty involved and intricate story. One of the main reasons why I enjoyed this game was because the story really pulled me in. The story basically was about a hero of noble birth named Ramza Belouve who fought against corruption and abuse within the governing body and against the Church as well. His actions eventually lead him to be considered one of the worst villains in history, despite him being the true hero. The gameplay was also what made this game great. Basically it was akin to chess, in the respect that all characters move about on a gridded board and each take turns moving and attacking. Except with this game you had to also worry about elevation, footing, equipment, magic, etc... stuff that isn't exactly found in a typical chess game. Title: Bomberman 64 Publisher: Hudson Soft System: Nintendo 64 Year released: 1997 I have a particular story to tell about how I stumbled upon this game. I was at the grocery store renting a game and the game I had chosen was supposedly titled "Mischief Makers." I went home to play it only to find out that it was actually Bomberman 64, nonetheless it was a game I had never played before then and it was a good mistake. Bomberman 64 was the first game in the series that I played and it was what got me hooked on the Bomberman series. Since then, Bomberman has become one of my most beloved video game character and I've played a majority of his games on various platforms. Unfortunately that there hasn't been any good Bomberman games released recently. Like many of the other old characters of today, Bomberman's core gameplay has become stale to many gamers and those who make the game are having trouble keeping Bomberman relevant with gamers today. Title: Tales of Symphonia Publisher: Namco System: GameCube Year released: 2004 The "Tales of" series certainly has rolled out with some pretty good games, I have two of their titles on this list. Seeing as that is the case, they obviously have me sold. What made this game unique for me was the fact that you could connect other controllers into the system which gave other players control over the other characters during battle. So naturally, I buddied up with a couple other people and assumed the fighting role of Genis Sage, who if you didn't know, is my favorite person in the game. I really felt that this game had an enjoyable story. Most of the focus of the story was around the different races and how they dealt with each other. The main theme of the game was subtlety about racism and how everybody had to find a way to live together in a world split. I have to admit, my eyes watered up a bit when seeing the ending of this game, manly tears of course. Title: Streambot chronicles Publisher: Atlus System: PlayStation 2 Year released: 2006 Battling mechs that are powered by steam while performing in small band in your free time may seem like a crazy concept for a game, but that particular combination made for a fun game. I've been a bit of a steampunk myself, so that influenced me too. This game has a lot of character which helped make it one of my most favorite titles for the PlayStation 2. The controls for moving around your mech took a little getting use to, but I had no problems and performing instruments essentially out like a rock band game. The nature of the game was standbox style, meaning that you could pretty much take the story and go in the direction you want and I like the freedom that a game like that gives you. Title: Hotel Dusk/Last Window Publisher: Nintnedo System: Nintendo DS Year released: 2007 I decided to throw in these two games together because they are very similar in gameplay; the game Last Window being a sequel to Hotel Dusk. Both games involve you playing a former detective Kyle Hyde who now is a door to door salesman. Anyway, throughout the games you find out that things are not as they appear and eventually you start to put together the puzzles and solve the mystery in each game. Kyle Hyde is a cynical bastard, but hes loveable as hell. I am very fond of point and click adventures, and this game was certainly my game. Going around, talking with the residents of the building and building relationships with each one and managing to solve their problems, digging around and finding clues, all of it just made for a memorable experience. Unfortunately, the developers Cing filed for bankruptcy awhile back and their last game, the Last Window never came to my area. I pretty much had to import it, but luckily the Nintendo DS is region lock free meaning you can pretty much play any game from anywhere. Going the extra mile definably was worth it though. Title: Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together Publisher: SquareEnix System: PlayStation portable Year released: 2011 This game was made by the same team that made Final Fantasy Tactics, so the games are pretty close in terms of gameplay. The story also seemed familiar, but it was an overall different experience than that of FFT. There was a lot of political intrigue in this game and a lot of choices that are forced upon you. What was really neat about this game was that the choices you made in the game significantly would change the story of the game and could possibly give you a different ending, so this game definably has replayability. This particular game that I played was actually a remake of the original game that came out for the Super Nintendo, so a lot of the game was reworked including the overall story. Personally, I didn't mind the changes because I thought it really polished the game into one of my favorite games for the PSP. Title: Tales of the Abyss Publisher: Namco Bandai System: PlayStation 2 Year Released: 2006 The reasons I liked this game are, for the most part, the same for the other game I put on my list, Tales of Symphonia. One of the main improvements I liked about this game than Tales of Symphonia was the battle system. The new battle system was structured like the old one, but the camera focuses on all of the characters and the game also gives the player the ability to freely run around the field of battle. Like I did with Tales of Symphonia, I played with a few other people and participated in the battles. I took control of Jade Curtiss who was easily my favorite person in the game.