Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep
Long before Sora was chosen by his Keyblade, the worlds’ safety lay in the hands of Keyblade Masters.
Three youths — Terra, Ventus, and Aqua — have been training long and hard under Master Eraqus to prove that they, too, exhibit the Mark of Mastery.
But they will soon find themselves in the middle of a crisis affecting worlds far beyond their own—just as another Keyblade Master, Xehanort, goes mysteriously missing. Three friends, three destinies. Everything will link back to the beginning.
Out of the seven games in the series, this is my favorite. This prequel explains why everything happened the way it did and it ties everyone together in a neat fashion. Everything starts to make sense and you’re left with a satisfied smile on your face… until you realise we’re still waiting for the final game.
The characters that you get to play are all so different and they really let you put perspective on what is happening. As you play, you discover the past and see how things were before the war between the Light and Darkness. This series has shaped me more than any other video game and because of that I am a little biased.
Dangan Ronpa
A group of 15 elite high school students are gathered at a very special, high class high school. To graduate from this high school essentially means you’ll succeed in life, but graduating is very difficult.
The school is presided over by a bear called Monokuma, and he explains to them that their graduation hinges around committing a murder. The only way to graduate is to kill one of your classmates and get away with it. If the other classmates discover the identity of the killer, the killer is the only one executed.
However, if they fail to catch the killer, only the killer graduates and the others are annihilated.
Dangan Ronpa is one of my favorite games because the characters are so diverse and the storyline is dramatic. The gameplay is similar to that of Phoenix Wright because it focuses on “Class Trials” and solving crimes using logic.
Interacting with the characters is a special treat because you never know who’s going to die next. Some of the characters have tragic backstories that threaten to break your heart.
Dangan Ronpa is, sadly still in Japanese but there are free translations that you can easily add on to your copy of the game. The translation is spot on and perfect.
The thing to remember about this game is that there are a lot of bloody and disturbing deaths.
BioShock
You are the only survivor in a North Atlantic plane crash, floating in the icy water as the fuselage sinks beneath you. Your only hope is a lighthouse in the distance, inside of which sits a submersible capsule.
You climb in and you begin your decent into Rapture, a city hidden beneath the sea. Originally constructed as an idealistic society for a hand picked group of scientists, elite individuals, and industrialists, the idealism is no more.
Now the city is littered with corpses, wildly powerful guardians roam the corridors as little girls loot the dead, and biologically mutated citizens ambush you at every turn.
Now you’re trapped, caught in the middle of a genetic war that will challenge both your capacity to survive and your moral allegiance to your own humanity.
BioShock is a first person shooter that calls upon your own personal ethics throughout the game.
As you make your way through the story, you find more and more disturbing places and people. People resemble crazed drug addicts and they attack you on sight.
The fighting style of the game is especially interesting and fun because not only do you get to use a gun but you get to shoot your genetically altered powers at your enemies.
Everything about your character is a mystery that gets unraveled as you progress through Rapture. Plot twists are everywhere, leaving you wondering. The sequels are just as great as this original.
Kristen Mabry
Features Editor
About Post Author
