Blog:Grust's Top 10 Favorite Video Game Franchises

I've talked a lot about crap right now, corrupt game journalists, Glumberland, the state of Western Entertainment, and Walmart hiding violent content. So I need a break from negativity and talk about something to take the stress off, plus I'm running out of administrators to threaten and torture. So I'm going to look at my top 10 favorite franchises from games.

10. Grand Theft Auto: Among the best open world franchises, you play as criminals and just do whatever you want. Yeah there are quests in the game but there is a reason I've only ever beaten Vice City. With so much to do and so much fun, I don't want it to end (though to be honest adding them to the list of games I've beaten is tempting). Each game has its own objectives such as bringing your old gang back to glory, revenge, settling into a new city, but most of all, the best goal in these games is the chaos you can inflict. So much fun. My favorite game in the series would have to be San Andreas.

9. Punch-Out! Let's get one thing straight, I am not a sports fan, but when you combine a puzzle game with a fighting game, you get a sports series I actually like. Punch-Out! is just that. In addition to combat, you also study what your opponent is doing and counter with your own attacks, so it requires quick reactions and timing to get it right. Right now my favorite in the series is the Wii version. Hoping for a new game in the series.

8. Harvest Moon: Even I'm amazed a game series about farming and relationships is so damn good. It's a relaxing game where you farm crops and socialize with the townsfolk and even find love. It's also very relaxing as there's often little urgency to do stuff. Each game also have their own festivals you can compete in for prizes. The first game in the series was also the base for the spiritual successor, Stardew Valley. My favorite game in the series would have to be Harvest Moon: A New Beginning.

7. The Capcom Disney Games: You will only find these on the NES and SNES and is no longer ongoing but at the time, these were very fun games. Playing as your favorite Disney characters of the 80s and 90s, you go through various levels and the final boss is usually the archenemy of the series, like Steelbeak of Darkwing Duck, Fat Cat, of Chip and Dale: Rescue Rangers, or Ursula from the Little Mermaid. These games were also proof that movie and television based games can be made great with some effort. My favorite game in this franchise would have to be Darkwing Duck because it's the hardest of the series.

6. Batman: Arkham series: Joker nuff said. Now onto number.... Want more you say? fine but I get to torture Vicious187 in return. Subjects Vicious187 to seeing me eat a chocolate cake while he gets none. Okay, a very fluent combat system called freeflow, the gadgets you acquire throughout the game to progress and solve sidequests gives it a Zelda-like style, many villains from the DC Universe appear as bosses, and it ended perfectly with Arkham Knight. I also love the predator  moments in the game where Batman stealthily knocks out armed thugs and the more you take out, the more terrified the remaining criminals get. My favorite game in the series would still be the first game, Arkham Asylum.

5. Fatal Frame: Also called Zero in Japan, this series is about fighting evil spirits (though in most games, they at least have the excuse of being controlled by an evil force) through the power of the mysterious Camera Obscura which can not only takes pictures of things you can't see with the naked eye, but had an exorcismal effect on ghosts. What makes this one of the best survival horror game series is that to inflict as much damage on the ghosts, you need to let them get close to you and prepare an attack before taking a picture. Sadly while three of these games got an American release, they weren't that successful and Japan stopped releasing them here. One was a digital only for Wii U and there was a spin-off for 3DS called Spirit Camera, but my Wii U's data is almost full and Spirit Camera pretty much sucks. Thankfully we got 3 very good games so that cheers me up. My favorite game in the series is the second game, Crimson Butterfly, though the Tormented comes extremely close. Oh a bit of trivia, While the first game is not really based off a true story, the Himuro Mansion which is the setting is an actual urban legend in Japan.

4. Resident Evil: The series that popularized survival horror for everyone and also the zombie genre. I almost always look forward to games in this series. While I'm not a huge fan of the tank controls, I do love the over the person shoulder introduced in 4. Raccoon City is one of my favorite locations in all of video games because of the apocalyptic ruination occurring in just a few short days. The series also has my all time favorite playable female character Claire Redfield. However once 4 came out the zombie situation ceased and we got different enemies and new mutagenic causes for the series onward whether it's Las Plagas, Ouroboros, or the Molded. While there are many great games in the series, if I had to pick my favorite game in the series, I'd go with 4 for ending the tank controls. 3. Super Mario: What can I say about Mario that hasn't already been said. It's easily the greatest platforming series of all time. It doesn't matter if he's in 2d or 3D, the gameplay is often time almost flawless. Even the first Super Mario Bros. game for the Nintendo Entertainment System over 30 years ago is ingrained in many gamers's heads young and old for life. When he made the shift to 3d in Super Mario 64, he alone set a very high standard for 3d gameplay. The games are so good, it's easier to name the ones that suck than to name the ones that are good. The games are simply masterpieces. While it'd be hard to choose my favorite Mario game in general, I'd probably go with 64 considering what it did for 3d gaming alone and Super Mario Bros. 3 for the awesome variety in 2d gameplay.

2. Final Fantasy: Oh come on, I've said before the JRPG is my all time favorite genre and this is the juggernaut of JRPG goodness. Great stories, likable characters, world destroying villains, Kefka, beautiful music, great scenery, and another series that shifted from 2d to 3d flawlessly with the release of Final Fantasy 7 which finally popularized JRPGs to the West. The series doesn't connect to others in the franchise but keep several themes together like names of magic and the true villain manipulating other villains while hiding in the shadows. This inspired other series like the Tales series and Wild Arms series to do the same. My favorite 3D game for the series is X and my favorite 2D is you guessed it, 6.

Honorable mentions


 * Street Fighter: I'm not the biggest fan of the tournament Fighter, but this comes very close to being one of my favorites. Intense actions, high speeds, likable and recognizable characters.  I even prefer this over Mortal Kombat.  Consider it maybe 11.  My favorite game is still 2.


 * Sonic the Hedgehog: I WAS A FAN. But after idiots defended the piece of crap called Rise of Lyric, I knew I had to stop being one.  The series has gotten its ups and many downs since it went 3D but this moment made me quit.  However when I was a fan, I enjoyed Sonic's charisma, the high speed platforming, enjoyable boss battles and even the crappy games usually had a final boss that was very enjoyable.  Favorite 3d game would be Sonic Adventure.  Favorite 2D would be Sonic the Hedgehog 2.


 * Kingdom Hearts: While I love this franchise there are two reasons this gets an honorable mention. One is because it's linked towards the Final Fantasy Series and also because the story requires playing nearly all the games from the Playstation 2 to the Playstation 4 and handhelds from the Game Boy Advance and PSP.  There are compilation games to get newcomers up to speed thankfully but still it gets very complex, so I'm leaving it off the list.  Favorite game in the series is still the first one.


 * Fable: So much potential wasted. This could have made for a very great franchise but after 3, it sort of died.  We had the Journey and the canceled Fable Legends, but neither had what I liked about the series.  My favorite game is Fable 2.


 * Silent Hill: Think Resident Evil, but instead of a science fiction element like a virus, this deal with supernatural horror with monsters that represent the hero's subconscious. Should be awesome, but there's one tiny little problem.  Konami done fucked it up with the cancellation of Silent Hills and the series had been in a downward spiral before that.  Favorite game is 3.


 * The Elder Scrolls: I lost all trust in Bethesda since Fallout 76 and do not trust them with 6 now and ever since they admitted to rushing Fallout 76 and prioritized monetizing Wolfenstein Youngblood over fixing the game, they've been on my boycott list. Favorite game is no shock, Skyrim.

Okay time for number 1 and you all know what it is.

1. The Legend of Zelda:  Is it weird that even though my top 2 favorite genres are survival horror and JRPGs, The Legend of Zelda is neither and yet it's my all time favorite franchise?

WENth100:Maybe it's because you're a nutjob.

Grust: That's probably it and thank you for the nice compliment.

Anyways, I LOVE this series. Vast worlds, several dungeons, the secondary items, great storytelling and a grand mythos, tons of sidequests, great boss fights, tons of puzzlesolving requiring either your wits, or the many secondary items, traveling between dimensions or even time itself, and the iconic Link. I own almost every game in this series and its one I like to revisit all the time. Even when I beat a game, it stills reaps in my mind wanting me to play more. The biggest reason my Switch collection isn't as large as it can be is because I want to save as much shelf as possible for more Zelda. This is also maybe the only franchise where even I admit this I'm an obsessive fanboy. My favorite game in the entire series is still after over 20 years Ocarina of Time. My favorite 2d though would be A Link to the Past.

So that's my top 10 favorite franchises. Have a favorite franchise, let me know in the comments.

