I have played video games for quite some time. Since my first encounter with Super Mario Brothers until the day I finished Yakuza 3 few days ago, it is quite obvious that it has become a pastime that I hold very dear to me.

Believe it or not, I used to be scared of that turtle.

So many characters that I admired, loved and even hated. Stories that have made my cry and cringe during all these years of gaming. Nowadays, with the amount of work that gets in my way, I probably won't be able to play as much as I used to. Heck, I might not even play games anymore, with all the responsibilities that I have to carry with me, if I have my own family someday. (here's hoping)

So I told myself, maybe I should post a blog entry about the games that I played, the ones that have touched me the most. The ones that I will fondly remember for all the excitement that it brought me. So, here are the top 20 games, my list of the greatest games, ever. (initially intended to post all 20, but changed to parts because some of the commentary was too long.)

20. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory (2005) (PC)

Back then, it was actually challenging trying to grab an enemy from behind.

The third game in the Splinter Cell franchise was my favorite of the bunch because it had the best levels, coupled with the most intense action. Chaos Theory was also the last Splinter Cell that was awesomely optimized to suit all kinds PCs, including the crappy rig that I had back then. Nowadays Ubi Soft is more concerned in putting useless DRMs into their PC games.

19. F.E.A.R. (2005) (PC)

Don't you just love her?

I only got to play F.E.A.R a year after its release, since my crappy PC couldn't handle the game's then demanding requirements. My dad decided to help me financially with upgrading the home PC, and after the PC was built, I quickly rushed to buy a copy of this game. After Max Payne 2, there was no game that utilized the bullet time mechanic as well as Monolith did with F.E.A.R. Add that to the super-fast and ultra explosive gunfights and you've got yourself a game that never ceases to exhilarate the guy(or girl) behind the mouse and keyboard (or controller, depends). Oh, and then there's Alma...

18. Half-Life 2 (2004) (PC)

The perfect companions.

Can you name a more diverse 1st person shooter where you do more than just shoot things than Half Life 2? You probably can, but there aren't that many I think. In this game you get to do fiddle around with the environment, lots of physics based puzzles and set pieces, thanks to the versatility of the source engine. And it has characters brimming with more personality than most shooters out there, if not all. Plus you get to have a cool robot dog and the strangely attractive lady as your companion. And the game ran great on my crappy PC back then. That's why I never complain when valve delays their games' releases.

17. Silent Hill 2 (2001) (PS2)

"You uh, have very nice legs ma'am".

Too many survival horror games these days focus too much on cheap scares like BOO! Kind of approaches, and most have mediocre storylines that makes the game feel a lot less satisfying than it should be. Silent Hill 2 (and its excellent sequel) in my opinion is what all survival horror games should strive for. It has, arguably, the best storyline in the series, and the scares came not from the surprise encounters, but rather from the extremely unsettling environment, made even better thanks to the equally creepy soundtrack. I remembered staying up late at night alone playing this game and scary thoughts like the Pyramid Head appearing from the stairs, coming for me. And quickly shutting down my PS2 because of that thought. Next day, I played the game in broad daylight.

16. Final Fantasy VIII (1999) (PSX)

Annnnnddd.....all I get for beating this guy is a certificate.

Many longtime FF fans have called this the worst Final Fantasy ever, with the game's character leveling relying too much on the junction system. While I admit that criticism has a lot of truth in it, it did not bother me one bit. I loved FFVIII because of the world's huge variety of locales and characters. It may not have the best story (that honor belongs to FFX in my opinion), but the main characters are to me the most interesting, compared to other Final Fantasy games' main characters. I loved the characters so much that I wanted to be a part of this beautiful world they've created. (I'm serious)I wanted to fall in love with Rinoa, to train in a Garden, play a card game with the Queen of Cards, play a harmless banter on Zell and fight alongside the aloof but somewhat inspiring Squall. I still do today.

To be continued. :)