Leonhart Presents 30 for 30: 30 Characters, 30 Games, 30 Moments

30 for 30 was a ranking project created by Leonhart4 celebrating his 30th birthday on March 4th, 2016. He would rank his 30 favorite characters, games and moments one of each a day until the first places on his birthday.

30. Chun-Li (Street Fighter)
''“No, I’ve never thrown any of my bracelets away. Why do you ask?”'' http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/streetfighter/images/6/68/11_sf5art03.jpg

The Good: The first lady of fighting games, Chun-Li has earned her place in fighting game legend. She has an iconic design and a couple of iconic moves in the Spinning Bird Kick and Lightning Legs. As one of the rare people who cares about Street Fighter lore, she probably won the Street Fighter II tournament if Urien’s pre-fight quote in Third Strike is any indication. Chun-Li probably has more connections to more characters in the series than anyone else, especially the bad guys, since she’s an Interpol agent constantly investigating (and eventually bringing down, again according to Third Strike) Shadaloo. She even occasionally has a few comic relief moments like trying to arrest Dan in Alpha 3. I hesitate to bring up the Street Fighter II anime since I know what a lot of people will go straight to when it comes to Chun-Li, but her fight against Vega in the anime was ridiculously good. Thunder Thighs is one girl you don’t want to mess with.

The Bad: With one exception (which I’ll get to in a minute), I’m generally not that good playing as Chun-Li. I’m usually not a fan of charge characters, although Chunners has mixed it up from time to time and not all of her specials are always charge moves. I like trying to play as her and I’m sure I’ll give her a shot when I get Street Fighter V in a couple weeks, but I’ll probably suck.

The Best: The one exception I alluded to earlier was Third Strike. I love playing as Chun-Li in Third Strike. She’s my go to character in that game (although I haven’t played it in forever). She’s so fast and fluid. I certainly don’t claim to be good at fighting games, but I love the heck out of them and Chun-Li in Third Strike is one of my favorites. I can rock people with her. She was also on the losing end of one of the greatest fighting game tournament moments of all time, simply known as Evo Moment #37. If you’ve never seen it before, behold!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS7hkwbKmBM

29. Yuna (Final Fantasy X)
''“No matter what happens, I’ll see this through to the end. I promise.”'' http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/finalfantasy/images/5/52/Yuna_Tidus_Naora_Artwork_2014.png

The Good: Yuna is a wonderful character. She has one of my favorite designs in the series. I generally don’t use summons or summoners much in Final Fantasy, but she’s the exception. I like the way FFX uses summons compared to other games, and I like her unique animations with how she interacts with her aeons. Plus, you can cheese a lot of storyline bosses by stacking up aeon Overdrives, and there’s nothing quite as satisfying in the post-game than hearing the “tink” of Yuna’s staff and seeing 5 digits of damage. She has a great relationship with Tidus, and they are easily the best couple in the series. ''”Stay with me until the end. Please.” “Not until the end. Always.”'' So good.

The Bad: I actually like Final Fantasy X-2 more than most (I got the Perfect Ending, which requires a 100% file and was totally not worth all the time that took based on the quality of said ending), but Yuna is not a reason why. Whether she’s getting jealous over Lenne or somehow considering Rikku the role model of who she should aspire to be, it’s just hard to believe this is the same girl from FFX. I can almost forgive that aspect of it because maybe there’s a part of her that wants to be a “normal girl” now and she has no real idea of what being “normal” means, but the inexcusable part is at the end where she talks at length about how she regrets what she did at the end of FFX.

The Best: And this aspect of Yuna in Final Fantasy X is exactly why it’s inexcusable. The best part of Yuna’s character is her resolve to bring an end to Sin, no matter what it takes. There’s literally a song in the game called “Yuna’s Determination” for a reason (eat your heart out, Undertale). Even when everything she’s known and believed in crumbles around her, Yevon turns against her, and Tidus even offers her the easy way out, she won’t take it. When the time comes to make her choice about the Final Aeon, her speech to Yunalesca is so great. Everyone focuses on Auron’s speech before the battle (and for good reason), but Yuna’s speech is excellent because it puts her resolve on full display. Once again, she refuses to take the easy way out. ''“It would be so easy…to let my fate carry me away…following this same path my whole life through. But I know…I can’t. What I do, I do…with no regrets.”''

28. Thane Krios (Mass Effect)
''“I’ve taken many bad things out of the world. You were the only good thing I ever added to it.”'' http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/masseffect/images/2/24/Praying_thane_box.png

The Good: Thane was fascinating as a character to me from the start. He has a fantastic introduction, as he puts his assassin skills on full display and then reveals right away that he’s dying of a terminal illness with only months to live. His perspectives on life are really interesting. It’s pretty rare to see deeply spiritual characters in video games whose beliefs aren’t portrayed negatively at all. His ability to perfectly recall virtually any memory in his life is really cool and the way he describes those memories is great. Then there’s his backstory with his family, which is really bittersweet. ''“I abandoned them. No, not all at once. Nothing dramatic, no sneaking out in the middle of the night. No final argument or slammed door. I just…did my job.”'' There aren’t many characters like Thane out there. Oh right, I would be remiss if I didn’t take the time to mention that the “interrogation” during his loyalty mission is so great, mostly because there are so many permutations of the scene.

The Bad: Commander Shepard pretty much hits the nail on the head himself when he states that Thane has the problem of occasionally delving into bouts of self-pity. It gets especially bad if you fail his loyalty mission, at which point he becomes pretty much inconsolable and there’s nothing more you can do for him (although “Entropy wins. Entropy always wins” is a great quote). Thankfully, the worst of it is completely avoidable by completing his loyalty mission successfully, but still, it can be pretty bad.

The Best: I’m not going to delve into explicit spoiler territory here, but Thane’s role in Mass Effect 3 was outstanding. Whenever a scene with him was available, I dropped whatever I was doing to go see him. Even with the full expectation of what would probably happen to him, considering what you know of him from Mass Effect 2, it still all hit me hard. Really hard. There are many valid criticisms of Mass Effect 3, but it really nailed moments like that, and it cemented Thane as my favorite Mass Effect squadmate.

27. Laguna Loire (Final Fantasy VIII)
“I feel a draft…on my butt.” http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/finalfantasy/images/9/91/Laguna_and_Squall.jpg

The Good: Laguna is just a fun character. He provides a nice break and some comic relief into a game when it seems to need it. He’s basically meant to be the polar opposite of Squall. He’s not a particularly talented fighter, but he’s compassionate and likes to help people, and he never takes himself too seriously. Squall’s basically spot on when he calls him a moron, but he has this natural charisma to him that draws people to him anyway because everyone knows deep down, he’s got a good heart. I also enjoy his tendency to flub common clichés like saying “Killing two pigs with one stone” and his way of exaggerating their exploits to make them sound better than they really were, like calling it their “grand escape from Centra,” when they basically got chased out, Laguna threw Kiros and Ward off of a cliff, and he slipped off of the cliff trying to climb down himself. He’s silly and corny a lot, but it’s hard not to like the guy.

The Bad: Probably my least favorite Laguna sequence was filming the movie. If you grab the wrong Timber Maniacs, Ward can possibly not even be there at all, which is lame. Then the mini-game where you have to fight off the Ruby Dragon can get annoying because you only do slivers of damage to the thing per hit. Fun fact relating to that movie though: Remember how Seifer’s “romantic dream” is to become the sorceress’s knight? Where do you think he got the idea from? Why does he use the gunblade? Pay special attention to Laguna’s pose when he wields the gunblade. Yes, that’s right. Seifer is a Laguna fanboy, folks. Can’t exactly blame him though!

The Best: As much as I’ve talked about Laguna’s comic relief tendencies, probably my favorite aspect of him is his relationship with Raine and Ellone. That’s another one of the big contrasts between Squall and Laguna. Squall gets hurt and shuts himself off completely. Laguna gets hurt over and over again, but he doesn’t let it stop him from trusting and caring about people. It’s kind of a sad irony that he went all that way to Esthar to save Ellone, but because of that, he never got to see Raine again and didn’t see Ellone for another 17 years. Even so, he never let it break him. Speaking of Raine, I love the flashback scene in the ending where Laguna proposes to her, and she hugs him right as the music climaxes. Such a well done scene.

26. Guy (Final Fight)
''“Every man must walk his own path. Are you certain you have found yours?”'' http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/streetfighter/images/f/f0/GuyProfileSFA3Max.jpg

The Good: I’ve been a big fan of Guy since Final Fight. He was always my favorite of the three to play as there, so I was thrilled when they put him in Street Fighter Alpha. I think his design is pretty cool. I mean, he’s a ninja who wears sneakers! I like his storylines with Cody in the Alpha games and Street Fighter IV as well because of Guy’s efforts to try to redeem him and bring him back to the path of the hero. It’s sort of a bittersweet relationship between them.

The Bad: Guy was one of my two Street Fighter IV mains (along with Cody), but I could never really get consistently good with him, sadly. I think probably his main drawback is that both of his Ultras are awful. One Ultra is easy to miss and the other is a grab that only works when you’re right next to the opponent and has an unusual motion input on top of that. I generally fared better in SFIV playing as Cody, but it didn’t deter me from playing as Guy a lot, too. Hopefully he gets put into Street Fighter V eventually.

The Best: KP once made a flowchart that described my SFIV playstyle. Flips  And flips  and flips  PRESS ALL THE BUTTONS  Repeat. That summed it up pretty well! I really like his moveset a lot. I tend to play aggressively (probably too aggressively) when I play fighting games, and I love the fact that Guy’s speed and moveset makes it easy to stay on the offensive and constantly rush down the opponent, whether it’s with flips, dashes, wall jumps, or what have you. He has a pretty unique playstyle, and I really enjoy it.

25. Protoman (Mega Man)
''“I live as I wish. That is all. My life is none of your business.”'' http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/megaman/images/0/01/Protoman7.jpg

The Good: Protoman just looks so cool. The red color scheme, the shades, the scarf, the shield, his Buster Cannon shooting white shots instead of Mega Man’s lame yellow shots, it’s a fantastic design. The whistle is a cool gimmick, too. I kind of like the mysterious aura he has about him, too, always showing up in the nick of time to help out Mega Man. He’s also a weird exception for me in that he’s the only robot whose name I spell as one word because I think “Proto Man” looks dumb, while “Megaman” looks dumb to me, too. Go figure.

The Bad: The series doesn’t do enough with him. Protoman has this cool potential storyline about how he’s malfunctioning and might only have just a little time to live because of the way Dr. Light made him, but they never do anything with it. As such, he’s just a really cool looking character, but not much else (although as you can see, just being really cool can go a long way). I’m glad they finally made him playable in MM9 and MM10, at least.

The Best: I might take some heat for this, but I honestly loved Protoman’s portrayal in the ‘90s Mega Man cartoon. Man, he was just such a fantastic heel and troll in that show. The voice and his campiness certainly contributed to his greatness, too. “Ha, I knew you’d sacrifice yourself for Mr. Lincoln!” It’s kind of weird that these two portrayals of Protoman are so vastly different that they may as well be considered different characters and yet they both contribute to how much I like him, but there it is!

24. Sub-Zero (Mortal Kombat)
“Death is more honor than you deserve.” http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/mkwikia/images/7/77/Mortal_kombat_x_ios_sub_zero_render_by_wyruzzah-d8p0kny-1-.png

The Good: Sub-Zero is the coolest (pun intended) Mortal Kombat character (kharacter?). First of all, he wears blue, which is the best color. I love his ice powers, whether it’s freezing someone in place and giving yourself a free shot or just freezing the floor and watching the other character flail around helplessly for comedic effect, Subby is just fun to play as. He probably has one of the more iconic Fatalities with the spine rip, too. I didn’t play any of the MKs after 4 and before 9, so I’m kind of confused about how his design evolved into him becoming Shredder, but I can still dig it. Plus, he’s voiced by Steve Blum now! Can’t top that. He has lots of cool pre-battle quips in the new games, too!

The Bad: Okay, I know there are technically two Sub-Zeroes, and the one we see the most is the younger brother. The older brother (who eventually becomes Noob Saibot after Scorpion kills him in MK1) only appears primarily as Sub-Zero in the first game and…Mythologies, which is one of the worst games I’ve ever played. This might have marked the beginning of MK’s downward spiral. You’d think a game centered on the best MK character would be great, but you’d be wrong!

The Best: I like Sub-Zero’s rivalries with Scorpion and with Noob Saibot. Younger Sub-Zero and Scorpion basically now have this “Don’t mess with me and I won’t mess with you” truce between their clans, and they’ll occasionally come together to fight a bigger threat. It’s a pretty cool dynamic they have now. It’s a Spider-Man/Venom situation in a way. It’s also kind of interesting how different the two brothers are to the point that they don’t even really consider each other brothers anymore. Noob Saibot had no problem going over to the dark side after he died (and he probably wasn’t that good of a guy when he was alive, based on what we know), while Sub-Zero has gone through a lot of effort trying to reform the Lin Kuei and trying to make amends for their past transgressions. Mortal Kombat makes a big deal out of their blood rivalries, and Sub-Zero has two of the best ones.

23. Auron (Final Fantasy X)
“This is your world now.” http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/finalfantasy/images/b/bf/Auronposter.jpg

The Good: Auron set the standard for being cool in the Final Fantasy series. He has one of the best designs and he’s a fount of excellent quotes and one-liners. He has a lot of really cool-looking and powerful moves, including one that can literally eject really big monsters from battle in one shot. He has a reputation of being Spira’s legendary guardian, and he exudes this aura of mystery about him. While that sounds like a bunch of clichés, I don’t particularly care because it’s executed extremely well. Clichés exist for a reason, after all, and Auron is perhaps the best of that archetype I’ve encountered in a video game. Plus, there’s a lot more to him than what you see on the surface. He’s so great.

The Bad: While Auron is really useful in battle at first because of his piercing weapons and various breaks and stuff, but I feel like those things gradually become less and less useful as the game goes along. Plus, his Overdrives get outclassed by about half the characters and aren’t particularly useful against tough bosses. He’s still a great damage dealer throughout and he’s great for tanking damage with Sentinel, so it’s not like he becomes useless or anything, but his special abilities aren’t as good as many of the other characters’ abilities.

The Best: Auron is at his best in Zanarkand because he finally drops the veil of mystery and starts revealing the truth to the party and his own personal feelings. He has that quote before the Yunalesca fight that he’s probably most well-known for, but he has several moments like that throughout Zanarkand. You start seeing the intricacies of his relationship with Tidus, Jecht, and Braska, and you see what really motivated him this time around, including a lot of personal regret. Probably my favorite Auron quote is right when you first get to Zanarkand (and it’s a noticeable shift in tone for him): ''“Legendary guardian? I was just a boy. A boy about your age, actually. I wanted to change the world, too. But I changed nothing. That is my story.”''

22. Kyle Hyde (Hotel Dusk/Last Window)
''“Forgive me. I’ve been somewhat inundated with puzzles lately. You’ll have to be more specific.”'' http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/anothercode/images/6/6d/Kyle_Hyde_1_LW.png

http://kylehydedoingthings.tumblr.com/

The Good: First of all, if you’re a fan of Kyle Hyde (or even if you’re not. There are no spoilers and the lack of context is part of what makes it hilarious) and you’ve never visited that Tumblr page before, you owe it to yourself to check it out. It’s so great. If you’re a fan of snarky and sarcastic characters, then Kyle Hyde is right up your alley. No matter who you’re talking to or what you’re examining, Kyle probably has a snarky comment or two about it (I read that a lot of the comments from examining items was added by the localization team and his dialogue was a lot more generic in the Japanese version, so good work, team!). He also has some great animations due to the game’s great art style, as well as classic reactions to things like smiling about the fact he found a paper clip. Kyle also establishes a lot of good relationships throughout both games, so it’s fun to follow his journeys.

The Bad: As much as I generally enjoy Kyle’s snark, there are times when he can be a bit too harsh and cynical toward people. Probably the biggest victim of this is Martin Summers in the first game. Kyle grills Summer until he cracks and reveals everything, and then pretty much has nothing nice to say about him whenever he shows up the rest of the game. Some of the people he deals with are basically exposition machines to him, and then he wants nothing more to do with them. In some cases, it’s for good reason, but still, he might go a bit overboard at times.

The Best: It’s a shame Last Window never came out in America because Kyle Hyde is really good in this game (If you’re interested, it did come out in Europe and the DS is region free, so you can import it, but it probably won’t be cheap at this point). He’s still as sarcastic as ever, but they have toned back his attitude a bit so he’s not quite as harsh toward people. They also upgraded his design so now he wears a cool suit and tie instead of that Red Crown jacket all the time. Plus, you get to delve into his own personal backstory, something you didn’t get to do much of in Hotel Dusk. It’s fun to get to see some of the characters from the first game come back, too. The resolution to his character arc in this game is really poignant, so it’s good to see a character like Kyle Hyde go out on a high note.

21. Balthier (Final Fantasy XII)
''“I’m only here to see how the story unfolds. Any self-respecting leading man would do the same.”'' http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/finalfantasy/images/b/b5/Fran-ashe-baltheir_FFXII.jpg

The Good: His self-proclaimed “leading man” gimmick is great, leading to many cool quotes from him, especially when coupled with Gideon Emery’s outstanding voice work. He’s basically the closest thing the Final Fantasy universe has to Han Solo, with a dash of Captain Jack Sparrow thrown in for good measure. You combine those two things together, and it’s hard not to come out with a great character. He’s always calm and collected, no matter how bad things get, because he knows he’s capable of using his wit to find a way out. Balthier is also very perceptive and can easily see through other people’s facades, probably because he’s been putting on a façade for so long himself.

The Bad: It’s too bad Balthier is relegated to being in Final Fantasy XII, which is a decent game, but it left things to be desired, both in terms of gameplay and story. He’s already a great character as is, but maybe he could’ve been even better in a different game. Maybe Balthier could’ve gained some bonus points from having some cool gameplay moments or special moves or something, but alas, it was not meant to be. Also, I’m honestly not a fan of Balthier’s design. Something about it just isn’t very appealing to me, although I can’t quite pinpoint what it is. I know he’s supposed to be “stylish” and all, but I don’t really get it.

The Best: Balthier’s relationship with Dr. Cid is one of the better ones in the series, just because of how bittersweet it is. As disappointed as Balthier was in what his father became, Dr. Cid was every bit as disappointed in what his son became. The confrontation at the top of Pharos Lighthouse is the best part of the game. It’s one of the rare times you see Balthier get emotional during the game. Then that final scene between them after you beat Dr. Cid gives you a brief hope spot that maybe they can have a deathbed reconciliation, with Balthier mournfully asking, “Was there no other way?” before Dr. Cid shuts him down. Like I said before, FFXII was lacking in a lot of areas, but this part wasn’t one of them. Too bad the rest of the game couldn’t have been as good as that part was!

20. Nathan Drake (Uncharted)
''“Yeah, good luck, pal. That’s almost impossible to—oh, you did it. Nice.”'' http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/uncharted/images/a/a8/DrakeU4RenderAvatar.png

The Good: It’s stuff like the line above that make Nate so great. He’s just the master of banter. Even when he has nobody to talk to but himself, he somehow manages to come up with great banter. This should come as no surprise, considering he’s voiced by Nolan North, one of the best VAs in the business. Seriously, if you’ve never watched the video of how he explains where “Kitty got wet” came from in Uncharted 2, look it up on YouTube. It’s hilarious. Drake’s wit is a major part of his charm, and he’s able to make it work regardless of who his partner is, even somebody as bad as Flynn. Of course, he’s at his best when he’s with Sully, Elena, or Chloe, but his dialogue is always enjoyable and often hilarious.

The Bad: We’ve spent three games with Drake so far, and we still don’t know very much about him. Uncharted 3 gave us some background teasers, but they never followed up on them, which was pretty disappointing. We don’t even really know what motivates him to be “Nathan Drake,” although he did seem to be able to move past some of his hang ups by the end of UC3. Maybe we’ll get a bit more in Uncharted 4. At least he seems to have moved past the “on again, off again” phase with Elena and finally settled down now.

The Best: Ultimately, the main appeal of Nathan Drake is his penchant for getting into completely ridiculous situations that are seemingly impossible to get out of, and still somehow finding a way to get out of it, while still having time to stay calm and throw a quip or two in as he does it. Nate doesn’t have any sort of special powers or anything. He’s just meant to be an ordinary guy with an extraordinary drive. I guess that would make him the modern day equivalent of Solid Snake, and anytime you have something in common with Snake, you’re probably doing something right.

19. Bowser Koopa (Super Mario Bros.)
“Did somebody page the king of awesome?” http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/marioluigi/images/6/62/Bowser.jpg

The Good: Bowser is one of gaming’s iconic villains, and for good reason. While he certainly never really has any deep motivations for anything he does, even in the RPGs, he makes up for it with a really cool design and a litany of memorable boss fights, a couple of which have graced my “Moments” list. While he’s had a few clunkers (which we’ll get to in a moment), he’s more than made up for it with classic encounters, whether it’s the original Bowser battle in Mario 1, the Koopa Klown Kar battle in Mario World, throwing him for a loop in Mario 64, beating the unbeatable in Paper Mario, or blasting him around the world in Mario Galaxy. He has also been a terrific troll at times, whether it’s in Mario Party or even the Super Mario Bros. Super Show. Usually I adhere to the idea that you want your villains to be despicable to make you want to beat them, but Bowser is the exception. Nintendo managed to make an exceedingly likable villain that you enjoy fighting, but you never want to take him down for good. You always want him to get back up for another round.

The Bad: Has a good character ever had a worse moment than Bowser in a bathtub in Super Mario Sunshine? Nevermind how awful the scenario was (“Mario, how dare you try to ruin my family vacation!” and trying to convince Bowser Jr. that Peach was his mother), it’s just a bad boss fight. It’s barely even a boss fight, because all you have to do is FLUDD boost and butt stomp all the icons on the arena. You don’t have to interact with Bowser at all. He’s barely even involved. I guess with as many boss fights as Bowser’s had over the last 30 years, they couldn’t all be good, but man, that one was particularly dreadful.

The Best: The primary reason Bowser is so high is because of his roles in the RPGs. I’ve said it multiple times, but RPG Bowser is Nintendo’s best character. He’s incredibly well written and hilarious because of how self-aware and genre savvy he is. You even get to team up with him on a few occasions, and he usually has a really fun moveset, whether it’s the Hurly Gloves in Super Mario RPG or all the Koopa Troop moves in Bowser’s Inside Story. He’s been put in a lot of different roles over the years, but he’s at his very best here.

18. Roxas (Kingdom Hearts)
“You make a good other.” http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/kingdomhearts/images/2/25/Roxas_-_Oathkeeper_and_Oblivion.png

The Good: I like Roxas as a character quite a bit. He provides a nice contrast to Sora because he actually has some depth to him. I like Sora, but he’s pretty one-dimensional. DiZ even points it out at the end of KH2’s prologue. I like the tragic and bittersweet aspect to his story. In KH2, it was basically impossible for him to have a happy ending because he had to disappear in order for Sora to reawaken. They built on this in 358/2 Days by developing his relationship with Axel and adding a new character to the mix in Xion. Part of me was always rooting for him to get a happy ending somehow, although they’ve hinted that it might still be possible, so here’s hoping!

The Bad: Admittedly, the first part of the prologue in Kingdom Hearts II is kind of a drag. It picks up once Axel, DiZ, and Namine get involved, but looking around for those pictures, doing part-time jobs, and all that, bleh. Then Roxas’s own game, 358/2 Days, was a mixed bag. There were parts of it I enjoyed, but the gameplay and the mission system wasn’t that great. The storyline and dialogue could be a little awkward or cheesy at times. Like I said, it wasn’t all bad, but it’s definitely a flawed game.

The Best: Roxas has some really cool battle sequences throughout the series. The fight against Axel at the beginning of KH2 with the ring of fire and Roxas suddenly starts dual-wielding keyblades was an awesome moment. Probably one of the biggest disappointments in the original KH2 was that you never actually got to fight against Roxas in The World That Never Was, but Final Mix thankfully fixed that, and it’s a crazy fight indeed, totally befitting a great character like him. Then he has some cool cutscenes from Deep Dive where he fights with and against Riku. Roxas definitely knows how to put on a show!

17. Revolver Ocelot (Metal Gear Solid)
''“This is the greatest handgun ever made. The Colt Single Action Army. Six bullets...More than enough to kill anything that moves.”'' http://static.tumblr.com/3444d3df4718ef68d51a2f28f04378f9/d2fx4gx/uM6nu22r6/tumblr_static_filename_2048_v2.jpg

The Good: Revolver Ocelot is the mastermind behind a large portion of the events in Metal Gear Solid. Just when you think you’ve got the guy figured out, he reveals he’s really been working for the other side the whole time…until he isn’t! It’s his mastery of being a quadruple agent that makes him so intriguing as a character. Ocelot has a ton of good lines and fun dialogue, the one I posted at the top being my personal favorite. Patric Zimmerman does a fantastic job as his voice actor in the games where he portrays him. He was so good in MGS4 that I didn’t even miss Cam Clarke not being there to voice “Liquid” anymore!

The Bad: While Patric Zimmerman was excellent as Ocelot, Josh Keaton and Troy Baker reprising his role as Joel from The Last of Us weren’t quite up to that level. I’m going to delve into some pretty heavy MGS4 and MGSV spoilers now, so if you haven’t played both of those games, don’t read this! The idea that everything Ocelot did in MGS4 to “turn himself into Liquid” was just hypnotic suggestion was a pretty cheap copout. I kinda thought establishing the fact that his father was a spirit medium in MGS3 would provide at least some basis of explanation for what happened, but it was disregarded entirely. Then they pointlessly brought it back for MGSV, as if Ocelot is apparently not good enough at being a convincing quadruple agent on his own that he has to hypnotize himself to prevent blowing his cover. It was just really dumb.

The Best: Liquid Ocelot stole the show in Metal Gear Solid 4. He was ridiculously hammy at times, like the Ocelot Dance and the fakeout with FoxDie, and I loved it. The final battle was about as perfect of a last boss fight as it gets, including the glorious return of the Ocelot Hand Gesture. MGS4 had a lot of problems, but in general, Ocelot was not one of them.

16. Presea Combatir (Tales of Symphonia)
“My ribbon…does not spin.” http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/aselia/images/a/a8/Presea_Cut-in_(TotW-RU).jpg

The Good: I always enjoy the emotionless doll girl archetype, so Presea made a great first impression there, along with completely emasculating Lloyd and Genis the first time they meet by asking them to carry a huge block of wood that she then effortlessly drags along after they fail. If I ever switch up from using Lloyd in Symphonia, Presea is the next in line. I actually like the idea of the smallest person in the party being the destructive tank, so it works for me. I’m actually not a big magic user, so Lloyd and Presea being pretty much straight physical attackers is right up my alley. Plus, you can’t help but feel bad for her the more you learn about her backstory and how horribly she’s been mistreated over the years. You want to help her regain what she’s lost. That’s part of the appeal of the emotionless doll girl archetype, after all!

The Bad: Probably the most obvious thing to pick at is the fact that Presea is a 28-year-old stuck in a 12-year-old’s body. It’s just so Japan. Before Lloyd fixes her Key Crest, she regularly gets the party in trouble, although I guess it’s not entirely her fault because she’s not totally in control of herself. As much as I enjoy using Presea in battle, the fact that she’s so slow can be frustrating at times, too.

The Best: Presea has some of the best Skits and funny moments in the game due to her deadpan delivery and her general obliviousness regarding social cues, such as the quote I posted above. I love the Skit where Lloyd lets her borrow the Sorcerer’s Ring and she proceeds to electrocute him with it to test it out…before electrocuting herself as well. So good. Plus, her dressing up as Klonoa and being very serious about staying in-character that she absolutely refuses to speak normally is adorable. Also, at the risk of sounding weird(er), I’ve always thought Presea is a very pretty name. If I ever had a daughter, I’d at least try to see if I could get away with naming her that.

15. Cloud Strife (Final Fantasy VII)
“All right, everyone, let’s mosey.” http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/finalfantasy/images/3/39/VII_Remake_Cloud.png

The Good: The first time I played Final Fantasy VII, I was totally blown away, and Cloud was a big reason why. He was just so cool in a way that video game characters up to that point just had not been, at least in my own experience. The ridiculously spiky hair with the huge Buster Sword made for a memorable design. His Limit Breaks were just so stylish and over the top, and I loved it. Seeing Omnislash for the first time (and particularly in that final battle against Sephiroth) was breathtaking. Then he just had so many cool cutscenes, like riding the motorcycle out of the Shinra Building or flipping off of the train at the very beginning. On top of that, he had such a crazy (in more ways than one) backstory. Cloud was such a multi-faceted character, and there was never a dull moment with him.

The Bad: Cloud has been kind of hit-and-miss in the Compilation material, which is par for the course, I guess. I don’t necessarily like how they’ve made him mostly an introvert who is always down in the doldrums. I guess that’s part of the drawback of FFVII giving you so many dialogue choices that you could basically make Cloud who you want him to be in some ways, and Square chose to interpret him in a different way than a lot of us did. On the same note, I don’t exactly have a problem with him sort of losing his self-confidence and still being wracked by guilt over Zack and Aerith in Advent Children because Geostigma would have probably forced him to face his own mortality and regrets. The fact that Cloud could regress a bit as a character made him more realistic in my book. Like I said, the Compilation is a mixed bag, so it does make me a bit cautious about how Cloud will be portrayed in the Remake.

The Best: Despite all of Cloud’s “coolness,” probably the thing that made me like him the most was the fact that I could relate to him, particularly with his background growing up. The shy kid who didn’t have a lot of friends growing up? Check. Felt like I was different from other guys my age? Check. Always too afraid to go after the girl I liked? Check. Sometimes so afraid I’m going to fail or mess something up that I’d rather not try at all? Check. Pretending to be the loner but always secretly hoping someone would show they care and try to be my friend? Check. Always dreamt of being the hero? Check. I could go on and on, but yeah, I saw a lot of myself in Cloud, so I was rooting so hard for him to overcome his personal demons. It was great to see him finally become the hero he always dreamed to be.

14. Yuri Hyuga (Shadow Hearts)
“You can’t be serious…Not in such a pure, clean, mega-hit RPG as this…!” http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/shadowhearts/images/4/4e/01.jpg

The Good: Yuri is a completely shameless trash talker to the point that before you learn his name, he is labeled “Rude Hero” in the dialogue boxes. He has a fantastic introduction that tells you he is not your typical RPG lead, where he catches this invisible creature that just slaughtered everyone on the train, crushes its head in, and then casually reattaches his arm that the creature sliced off in the struggle before punching the villain in the face and running away with the girl. It’s hard to top that first impression, but he almost matches it in the second game where he transforms into Amon, takes down all the troops while protecting Karin…and then unceremoniously dumps her on the floor as he walks out and reverts back to his human form. So good. Yuri is ridiculously powerful, both canonically and in terms of gameplay. His Fusion forms are fantastic and he can mostly be a one-man show if you want him to be because of all the diversity his forms provide. He can literally do anything with his forms. It’s crazy how good he is.

The Bad: Yuri does have some awkward voice acting and some weird scenes at times, like the scene where he starts crying uncontrollably and his facial animation almost makes you want to laugh instead of feel bad for him, but sometimes that’s how it goes! Also, his design is kind of bland. In some artwork, he literally looks like Amarant from Final Fantasy IX. He makes up for it with cool Fusion forms though! Yuri does become obsessed with Alice during Covenant to the point that he can sometimes be inconsiderate and oblivious of the feelings of his friends who are still alive, especially Karin. Gotta give Covenant credit for having the guts to make the bad ending of Shadow Hearts 1 canon though!

The Best: For the most part, Yuri Hyuga is unflappable in the face of danger, even to the point that he will trash talk ancient demons. Before the fight with Astaroth, Yuri wonders if he can ask for a favor, and then follows it up with, “I wish you’d shove it. You know where.” Astaroth is literally put to silence by that answer and can’t think of anything to say back to him. So good. Maybe my favorite is when he completely ignores the boss who is trying to intimidate the party (who also happens to be floating around on a pillow, I should add) and starts wondering where he can get a pillow that floats, too. Also, it’s just a little touch, but after Yuri overcomes his inner demons in SH1, his Fusion animation changes from him freaking out and clutching his head as he transforms to him just waving his arm to the side and going “Hmph” before effortlessly transforming. Not ashamed to admit I marked out the first time that happened.

13. Clank (Ratchet & Clank)
''“Oh dear. Why must we always choose between certain death and probable death?”'' http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/ratchet/images/9/92/ClankACiT-transparent.png

The Good: Clank is a cool little robot buddy. He has a fantastic design with a variety of cool powers throughout the series. David Kaye does an excellent job with his voice work as well. It’s kind of funny that even though he’s technically the sidekick, the R&C universe by and large considers Ratchet to be his sidekick, especially once he lands his starring role in Secret Agent Clank (Naturally, Ratchet and Clank consider themselves equals). Being a robot, Clank is often logical in his thought processes, but he does have an emotional side that comes out from time to time. He’s also often ready with a witty quip when the situation calls for it, complete with his awesome laugh. He’s a hard character not to like. He’s very charming.

The Bad: Despite his protestations that robots cannot be easily fooled, Clank does find himself getting fooled on a semi-regular basis, especially in the first game, which lands them in a lot of trouble. In the first couple of games, the playable Clank segments aren’t that great, and he dies way too easily. Thankfully, the later games fix this, but it can be rough in the first two!

The Best: And that leads us into A Crack in Time, which is easily Clank’s best appearance to date. First of all, the playable Clank segments are excellent. I loved the clock puzzles. They involved a lot of thinking, and it felt great when you were able to solve them on your own. Also, for a series that is primarily noted for its humor, Clank managed to provide a very poignant moment when he went back in time to save Ratchet despite his repeated insistence that no one should use the Great Clock to change time once he remembered the plumber’s words, “I wouldn’t risk any more than six minutes.” That moment where everything just stands still right before Ratchet gets shot and then Clank makes a mad dash for it to save him is great.

12. Commander Shepard (Mass Effect)
''“We’ll fight and win without it. I won’t let fear compromise who I am.”'' http://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/scale_small/0/1366/1775330-shepard.jpg

The Good: It was hard to narrow it down to just one Shepard quote because he has so many great ones, whether serious or hilarious! That’s part of the benefit of the dialogue wheel! I’ve played through the games multiple times just to try to see all the variants of his dialogue. Whether he’s a Paragon or a Renegade, Shepard is awesome. If he’s a Paragon, he’s the charismatic hero who gets the job done without resorting to underhanded methods and wins nearly everyone over to his side in the end. If he’s a Renegade, he does whatever it takes to get the job done and is a hilarious jerk to nearly everyone. You can’t go wrong either way! Plus, he has so many different classes to choose from, which also adds to the replay value because you want to test them all out! I still haven’t played through as all of them, but I love being a Vanguard. But yeah, a lot of Shepard’s value comes from his diversity.

The Bad: Sometimes his responses make it seem like he’s missing the point or that he wasn’t listening to what the other side said at all. It can come across as kind of awkward at times. Also, some of his Renegade responses go beyond just being a jerk or a pragmatic hero and instead make him seem vindictive or selfish, especially in ME3. There are some choices I could never bring myself to make. For example, (ME3 spoilers) if you ever killed Mordin in one of your ME3 playthroughs, I hate your Shepard forever.

The Best: Ultimate, the appeal for Shepard to me is his ability to overcome all odds and come out on top. It doesn’t matter even if you send him on a suicide mission, he’ll find a way to come back alive and bring everyone else back alive, too. I also really enjoy his ability to gradually win people over to his side just by staying true to himself and never giving up on people, even someone as seemingly beyond redemption as Saren or the Illusive Man. It’s part of what makes Paragon Shepard appealing as a character as well, because he’s an excellent foil to Renegade type characters like Garrus or Miranda. Plus, the dude gives some pretty awesome inspirational speeches. In a lot of ways, Paragon Shepard is the perfect hero, and I love him for it.

11. Vyse the Legend (Skies of Arcadia)
“’Impossible’ is just a word people use to make themselves feel better when they quit.” http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/skiesofarcadia/images/8/86/Vyse.jpg

The Good: I always call him “Vyse the Legend” because he deserves it. The list of accomplishments he compiles throughout the game is pretty mind-boggling. He routinely makes a habit of doing things that nobody has ever done before, and he never backs down from a challenge. He has a great rivalry with the Valuan Armada because of it. It was always great seeing him face off with them. One of my favorite archetypes is the hero who never backs down and never gives up, and maybe no video game character epitomizes it better than Vyse. Plus, he has a really cool design, and I love his S-Moves, accompanied by the great sound clips. “Behold…”

The Bad: Admittedly, Vyse isn’t a particularly deep character. He’s a fairly cliché RPG protagonist. He also has a bit of the same problem Commander Shepard does. He believes what he believes, and you better be on board with it or you’re getting left behind. He’s the captain of the ship. Granted, he usually ends up convincing the other side to join up before it gets to that point (because he is also Vyse the Charismatic, after all!), but he has no problem giving people “The reason you suck” speeches. Granted, I don’t necessarily mind these things about him, but they could be construed as negative traits or character flaws, depending on how you look at them.

The Best: Like I said before, a large part of Vyse’s charm is his determination to get out there and do the impossible, and probably the first (I have to say “first” because there was a “second.” Vyse is just that awesome) escape from the Valua Grand Fortress. During that time, he says his most famous quote that I listed above, as well as a number of other awesome boasts. At one point, he says something along the lines of, “The only reason people say it can’t be done is because I haven’t tried yet.” Seriously, what a boss.

10. Ryu (Street Fighter)
“True victory is to give all of yourself, without regret.” http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/streetfighter/images/f/fa/06_sf5images05.jpg

The Good: Ryu is an iconic character for good reason. He has a really basic but memorable design with the white gi and the red headband, along with three very iconic moves that pretty much every fighting game series has copied in some form with the Hadouken, the Dragon Punch, and the Hurricane Kick. He’s always a very easy character to pick up and learn, and he’s usually fun to play. In terms of his character, I like his drive to always get better and recognizing that he still has a long way to go. Ryu has no ulterior motives or secret agendas. He’s just a street fighter, plain and simple, and that’s enough for him. In recent games, he’s had to deal with the struggle of “What price are you willing to pay for power?” when it comes to the Satsui no Hadou, which has given him a fantastic rivalry with Akuma in the process.

The Bad: Ryu is pretty much the definition of a one-dimensional character. He’s a warrior who is always and only looking to make himself better, and that’s basically all there is to him. Even though he’s the mascot character of the series, he generally has little to do with the main story. Ryu is there, but he’s not some vigilante who goes out seeking to take down M. Bison. He will fight back if they come after him, but he doesn’t actively seek to take them down because that’s not what he’s interested in. Also, it’s kind of interesting that Ryu is pumped up as a legendary street fighter, but the only tournament he won was the first one (thus far)! He’s lost a lot of times, but I suppose it reinforces the idea that he knows he hasn’t arrived yet despite his skill.

The Best: Ryu has a lot of cool rivalries throughout the series. Some of them are friendly, like Ken, Chun-Li or Sakura. Some of them are antagonistic, like Sagat, Bison, or Akuma. Despite Ryu being a relatively flat character, they know how to work up a good rivalry with him. Also, he’s really awesome in the anime and in the comics. He has some really excellent fight scenes in them. Ryu has also been my favorite character to play as in Street Fighter V so far! If you haven’t picked the game up yet, give it a shot and we can fight online sometime!

9. Knuckles the Echidna (Sonic the Hedgehog)
''“I'll probably be on this floating island forever. Guarding the Master Emerald, again. I may not know the whole story behind this. But perhaps it's better that way. I am at peace once more.”'' http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/sonic/images/d/d8/Knuckles2006.png

The Good: I gotta admit that I was a bit skeptical when Sega introduced Knuckles as a playable character at first because his gameplay style was different, but I changed my mind on him pretty quickly! I love his gliding, wall climbing, and burrowing, and I was pretty impressed that Sonic 3 & Knuckles actually redesigned the levels to accommodate his unique skill set. Playing as Sonic is a lot different than playing as Knuckles. It’s also a total blast playing as Knuckles in Sonic 2 for the opposite reason. The game was not designed to be able to handle his gliding and wall climbing, and you can cruise through that game easily...all the way up to the final boss, where Knux’s slightly lower jump provides a major handicap, so I guess it balances out in the end!

The Bad: Knuckles hasn’t exactly had an illustrious run in the 3-D Sonic games. The treasure hunting levels were pretty bleh in both Adventure games. Once Shadow was introduced, Knux got tossed to the side as he was essentially displaced as “Sonic’s cool rival” and hasn’t had a really decent role in a Sonic game since. Maybe Sonic Heroes, but that’s it. I also didn’t like the running gag of “LOL you got tricked by Robotnik again you’re so dumb Knuckles.”

The Best: I loved finally getting to confront Knuckles in the Hidden Palace Zone as Sonic in Sonic 3 & Knuckles, despite how easy the fight was. The fact that it was so simple and the entire sequence was orchestrated so well without a single word of dialogue was very impressive to me. The mural foreshadowing the Doomsday Zone in the background was cool. Then Knuckles getting electrocuted by Robotnik as he steals the Master Emerald, and you can sense the conflict in his expression as he realized he’s been played for a fool the entire time before reluctantly deciding to make amends with Sonic. It’s a very cool face turn.

8. Luigi (Super Mario Bros.)
“I’m-a Luigi, number one!” http://www.mariowiki.com/images/a/a7/Luigi_-_Mario_%26_Luigi_Dream_Team.png

The Good: Normally growing up, I was always Player 1 because I was an only child and friends came over to my house more than I went over to theirs because I’m selfish and spoiled like that, but I always made an exception to play as Luigi. Now why would I, when I was a kid, care at all about being Luigi instead of Mario? I mean, they were essentially the same character, right? Wrong! First of all, green is better than red. Secondly, they were different in Mario 2! Luigi had the flutter kick with crazy jumping distance, and Mario was boring. Thirdly, there was the Super Mario Bros. Super Show, and Luigi was the better brother there, too! Plus, I actually kind of like the fact that Luigi isn’t “naturally” heroic like Mario and has to work up the courage to do the same type of stuff. That’s more worthy of respect, if you ask me! It doesn’t come easily for him, and he does it anyway!

The Bad: Nintendo had this huge gulf of time from Super Mario World all the way up to Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga where Luigi wasn’t a playable character in a mainline Mario game. That’s over a decade of no Luigi! That’s inexcusable! If you wanted to play as Luigi, you had to settle for party games and spinoffs. Plus, it became a running gag that nobody seems to remember, or if they do remember, respect Luigi. Even Colonel Campbell called him “The King of Second Bananas” in Brawl, but thankfully, Snake knew what was up and stood up for Luigi! Nintendo’s been doing a better job of being more inclusive with him, even giving him a Year of Luigi, but still, that span of time was shameful! Also, in Mario 2 as well as the newer games and ports of old games where Luigi is different than Mario, he has horrible traction to compensate for his better jump, so it can be hard to be precise with him.

The Best: Picking back up on the last part, it was a great surprise when they revealed that Luigi would be playable in Super Mario Galaxy, so you better believe I jumped on that as quickly as possible. The Mario & Luigi games are fantastic in part because of playable Luigi, and the way the bros work together is a lot of fun. For all the faults Super Paper Mario had, Luigi was definitely not one of them. His “Mr. L” persona was brilliant and the highlight of the game. Luigi is really fun to play as in Smash Bros., too, with his weird running attack, his “Flaming” Jump Punch, his randomly misfiring Green Missile. It’s all so great. I also like the fact that Charles Martinet is extra silly with his voice acting when it comes to Luigi, how he always refers to himself in the third person and saying stuff like, “Weegi time!”

7. Kirby (Kirby series)
“Hiiiiiiii!” http://www.ssbwiki.com/images/a/a7/SNAAAAAAAKE%21.jpg

The Good: That picture right there is part of the reason I love Kirby. It’s fun seeing all the designs on his different forms, especially once Smash Bros. started introducing third party characters. The Snake one is just the best though, solely for the goatee. The appeal for Kirby is all the various powers he can acquire, as well as the cool designs he gets from them, which is why I prefer it over Mega Man’s power copying skill. Plus, he has a great design, whether he’s being cute Japanese Kirby or whether he’s being cool American Kirby. His games are a lot of fun, and it’s just enjoyable playing as him.

The Bad: It’s easy to level the complaint against Kirby that there’s nothing to him and he’s a flat character. Would it be nice if there were more to him than being a happy-go-lucky, somewhat lazy character who just loves to eat? I guess so. It’s not that big of a deal though, I think. It would be nice if he weren’t bad in Melee and Brawl because I love playing as him in Smash. The fact that he’s so light really works against him in those games, too. It’d be cool if he got heavier or lighter based on whose powers he was copying at the time or something.

The Best: Despite his deficiencies, I still love playing as Kirby in Smash. I enjoy his games, but Smash Bros. is what really elevated him up into being one of my favorite characters. It’s the best getting to steal the powers of other famous characters and use them against them, especially when Kirby uses his cute voice to go “Falcon Puuuuuuuuunch!” He has awesome special moves and the best throws (Kirbyciding with his up throw is great). In the games, the best powers are the Yo-Yo, the Mirror, and the Fighter. I love the sheer diversity of his powers, and it makes him a blast to play in pretty much anything he appears in.

6. Ramza Beoulve (Final Fantasy Tactics)
''“Names don’t matter. What’s important is how you live your life.”'' http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/finalfantasy/images/8/83/Ramza1.jpg

The Good: In terms of “pure heroics,” Ramza is about as good as it gets for a video game character. In a world where pretty much everyone else fights dirty and tries to manipulate everyone to satisfy their own ambitions, Ramza stands alone as the one guy trying to do what’s right simply because it’s right. It takes him a while to get there, but once his mind settles on that fact, nothing moves him from it. Even when he gets labeled a heretic and knows that history will never remember what he did or view him in a positive light, he sticks with it. That brand of integrity in the face of adversity is rare to find in a video game, and I respect the heck out of Ramza for it. The best part is that, in the end, he’s proven right and Delita is proven wrong. It didn’t even happen in his lifetime, but history eventually vindicated him as the true hero. Delita may have been able to manipulate his way up to the top, but he paid a hefty price for it, prompting that great final line, “Ramza, what did you get? I…”

The Bad: While Chapter 1 was necessary in his development into what he eventually became, Ramza set himself up for disaster with his naivete of the ways of the world. He refused to believe nobles could ever be bad guys because…they’re not supposed to be, and it bit him hard at Fort Zeakden. Also, his Chapter 1 design is my least favorite of the three, and yet that’s the one they keep giving him in his spinoff appearances! Why, Square? Give us more buttpants, darn it! I kinda wish Ramza had gotten a unique class of his own, too, although his unique Squire abilities can be pretty useful.

The Best: Ramza has some great dialogues that turn into philosophical debates, primarily with Gafgarion and Wiegraf. The one-on-one duel with Wiegraf prior to the Velius fight in Riovanes Castle is particularly excellent, especially because you see just how far gone Wiegraf is once he gave in to the power of Lucavi. I should also note that the way he totally shuts down Balk in the next to last battle is awesome because he blasts him for giving up his pride and freedom just for a second chance at something less than true life. Plus, the dude orders milk at a bar. You can’t top that.

5. Solid Snake (Metal Gear)
''“A strong man doesn’t need to read the future. He makes his own.”'' http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/metalgear/images/0/0c/SOLID_SNAKE.jpg

The Good: “The man who makes the impossible possible” is probably the coolest tagline for any character ever, and it’s hard to argue it’s not a deserved reputation! His list of accomplishments speaks for itself. He has a really cool design, and the fact that he’s completely unflappable in the face of danger only makes him cooler. David Hayter providing some awesome voice work for Snake also helped, even if he did seem to start losing it toward the end (mostly as Big Boss though). Probably the initial draw to Solid Snake for me was his character arc in MGS1 resembling Squall’s in FFVIII. He’s the guy with cool monologues and one-liners who prefers to work alone and was never interested in other people’s lives until he meets a girl who initially annoys him to no end until her life is in danger and he suddenly realizes how much he cares about her now that he’s on the verge of losing her (and Snake fell in love with Meryl a lot more suddenly than Squall did with Rinoa, but no one ever criticizes him for that…!). MGS2 Snake is a lot like endgame post-development Squall, too!

The Bad: I’m really conflicted when it comes to Old Snake in MGS4. It bothers me how passive he is. In MGS1 and MGS2, he would at least be an active participant during exposition dumps, but in MGS4, he just sits back and listens most of the time. Nothing highlights this more than the ending, where Big Boss talks for 20 minutes and Snake has like two lines of dialogue. I also don’t like how he developed this weird running gag where he makes bad jokes nobody laughs at, culminating in Solid Snake’s final line in the entire series being a bad joke about Sunny’s eggs. Snake is one of the greatest characters in gaming history, and this is how you send him off? Sometimes I think Kojima’s original ending would have been better, after all.

The Best: Like I said, I’m really conflicted when it comes to Old Snake, because despite what I stated above, he has some ridiculously good moments that highlight his “Absolutely will never quit, no matter what” mentality better than any game in the series. Probably the best example of this is the microwave scene in Act 5, where he just…keeps going, even when it’s just barely a crawl. It’s really good. I love the fact that he downplays his own accomplishments, refusing to call himself a hero and never really boasting about the really difficult things he did, like taking down the tank and the hind on foot (“Oh, I had to shoot down that helicopter” is one of the greatest understatement lines ever). Snake knows he’s a man with a very special set of skills, but that doesn’t necessarily make him a hero or a role model. It adds a very interesting layer of depth to his character that you don’t see with a lot of guys like him. It’s also what enables him to empathize with his opponents because he realizes that, deep down, he’s not that much different from them. It’s very cool.

4. Phoenix Wright (Ace Attorney)
''“What...What's come over me? Without thinking, I just blurted out ‘Objection!’...And I yelled it at the﻿ top of my lungs, finger outstretched, ready to take on my opponent!...What a rush!"'' http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/aceattorney/images/5/5a/Phoenix_wright_AA6.png

The Good: Much like Solid Snake, Phoenix Wright is “that man who can turn any desperate situation around,” and that’s a large part of the appeal for me. While he might need some help from time to time, he never gives up and he never stops believing in his client. Probably the two best instances of this are 1-4, where, right after Edgeworth has confessed to killing his own father, Phoenix is just calmly reading the DL-6 report, preparing his case to exonerate him. So great. The other one is 5-5, where even Edgeworth himself, whose trust in Phoenix is nearly unconditional, starts questioning why in the world he continues to insist his client is innocent, followed by Apollo desperately begging Phoenix to give him any reason to continue believing in Athena, which was the best moment in Dual Destinies. Besides that, Phoenix is just flat out hilarious. Even though I’ve played through the series a bunch of times, he still makes me laugh all the time. I also love the fact that we get a constant look inside his head with his inner monologue. It’s a Squall thing, I guess.

The Bad: For as bad as Hobonix could be in Apollo Justice, the absolute worst was pink sweater Phoenix in 3-1. Sometimes I think this case only exists to make Phoenix look even more awesome by showing you how he basically used to be Larry Butz before he became who he is now. Crying on the witness stand? Eating the bottle necklace? Aghast at the possibility of Dahlia pooping? What is this crap? The “P” on his chest doesn’t stand for “Phoenix” indeed. Also, the part of Hobonix that annoyed me the most is his absolute refusal to be a mentor figure to Apollo at all. Thankfully, Dual Destinies fixed this, but I didn’t like how he jerked Apollo around and tried his best to be as helpful as possible.

The Best: Phoenix is at his best when the stakes are personal for him. That’s usually in the epic cases, but there are exceptions like when he gets fired up to take Furio Tigre down for impersonating him and dupes him into inadvertently confessing in the process. Also, while a lot of the appeal of Phoenix is the fact that he basically bluffs his way through it most of the time, once he actually manages to figure everything out, the absolute fearlessness and confidence he displays when he knows he’s got it won is awesome, especially when he throws in a little smack talk for good measure. He goes from being terrified of someone like Manfred von Karma to backing him into a corner with the metal detector. I also like how he basically stands there completely unfazed as Damon Gant threatens to completely ruin his life before revealing that he knew exactly what he was doing all along. It’s fantastic.

3. Big Boss (Metal Gear)
''“You have been given freedom. Freedom to be…outside.”'' http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/metalgear/images/e/e5/Maxresdefault.jpg

This is Good, isn’t it?: Despite the physical and vocal similarities, Naked Snake is quite a bit different from Solid Snake. He seems much more human and emotional (which Kojima said was deliberate). He doesn’t always vocally express it, but you can read it in his eyes and his body language. Look at his eyes when The Boss says she’s defecting. You never see a reaction like that from Solid Snake. Part of that is because of how naïve he is. He hasn’t become hardened and cynical yet. He’s more comparable to Metal Gear 1 Snake than Metal Gear Solid 1 Snake in that regard. Metal Gear Solid 3 shows you the beginning of his downfall, and it’s highlighted by how “pure” and “innocent” Naked Snake is at the start regarding the ways of the world. On a less serious note, Naked Snake is hilarious. I love his running gags of “So how does it taste?”, talking movies with Para-Medic, and discussing various other things with the rest of the crew, like the first time you find a cardboard box. MGS3’s radio team is so great, which only makes what happens to them after they form the Patriots all the more tragic. Of course, he’s every bit as hardcore as Solid Snake in terms of skills, and he gets to demonstrate it often, like when he completely destroys the Ocelot Unit with CQC.

The Bad: Once Big Boss started to take a larger role and became more popular within the fanbase, he started to get the Edgeworth treatment where they try to downplay his evil side for reasons unknown to me. A lot of it was subtle. For example, in the Twin Snakes remake, some dialogue about Big Boss was slightly altered. When Naomi asks Snake how he could kill his own father, in the original game he says, “He wanted it. Besides, some people just need killing.” In Twin Snakes, he says, “It’s what we wanted, me and him,” and nothing more. Then MGS4 and Peace Walker seemed to try to paint his war with Zero like he was the victim and he was rebelling against the greater evil. He may have been misguided, but he had good intentions, at least. It even led to some people trying to claim that Big Boss is the true hero of the series, which is nonsense! One of the things I appreciated about The Phantom Pain is that they made the game openly about Big Boss descending into darkness, so at least Kojima did a little damage control on that subtle retcon.

The Best: What puts Big Boss above Solid Snake is that added layer of depth that comes from the fact that he is a fallen hero and the bittersweet understanding of what drove him to become what he eventually became due to the events of MGS3. Big Boss doesn’t say a single word in the entire ending, but you can already tell from his demeanor that what he’s learned has already started to change him. In terms of specific Big Boss moments, I love his escape after being tortured and reenacting “The Fugitive.” That’s his “Will absolutely never quit, no matter what” moment. I love the fact that he treats Ocelot as a protégé despite the fact that they’re supposed to be enemies, much to the confusion of his crew. I love how you gradually see him getting better and better at fighting The Boss in cutscenes leading up to you finally having to beat her one-on-one. The buildup was great.

2. Tidus (Final Fantasy X)
''“This is my story. It’ll go the way I want it…or I’ll end it here!”'' http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/finalfantasy/images/3/3a/Tidus_art.jpg

The Good: First of all, Tidus is hilarious. He might be the funniest character in the series. I have a high love for cheesiness, so I guess some of the things people consider “cringe-inducing,” I find funny, like the laughing scene, doing various impressions of people, or making a completely random Macarena joke (which was outdated in 2001 when the game came out, to say nothing of 2016). He has some great battle sound clips, too, like, “Never fear! The hero’s here!” or “How can a bird get so BIG like that?!” I actually think James Arnold Taylor did a really good job because he portrays Tidus as the type of character he’s supposed to be instead of trying to make him sound cool or whatever. He’s serious when he needs to be serious, and he’s silly when he needs to be silly. I like the fact that Tidus is willing to stand up for what he believes is right, even when it means he has to go against the flow to do it.

The Bad: He’s spoiled and selfish, and this shows up a lot early on when he first gets to Spira. It’s done in a realistic way so I don’t particularly mind it so much, but I understand why his whininess bothers people. On the same note, I think his selfishness sort of works in his favor because he knows what he wants and he won’t let anyone stop him from getting it, such as saving Yuna. However, it was a bit hypocritical of him to get angry about no one telling him the truth about the Final Summoning and then not telling anyone that beating Yu Yevon means he disappears until literally right before the final battle. Also, learn some fashion sense, bro!

The Best: Probably the thing that drew me to Tidus the most is the fact that you basically experience Final Fantasy X from his perspective, especially if you went into the game spoiler-free like I did. I was learning things as he was learning them. He asks the others the questions that you’re thinking, and because sometimes he fails to ask the right questions, you get totally shocked when he gets totally shocked, like finding out the truth about the Final Summoning. He is a complete outsider when it comes to Spira, and so was I. It’s the reason he (and you) can recognize things like Seymour is obviously a villain at glance when people who have been raised in Spira to implicitly trust Yevon can’t. As you learn, he learns, and he visibly matures over the course of the game. It’s strange to think of Tidus as an excellently done player avatar, but in a sense, that’s what he is. Beyond that, Tidus has great relationships with the rest of the cast. I love seeing him interact with the other party members. It’s part of the reason FFX has the best cast in an RPG.

1. Squall Leonhart (Final Fantasy VIII)
''“Reality isn't so kind. Everything doesn't work out the way you want it to. That's why... As long as you don’t get your hopes up, you can take anything... You feel less pain.”'' http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/finalfantasy/images/4/4c/Squallred.jpg

The Good: To try to sum up why Squall is my favorite character ever without ranting is a daunting task, but here goes! Squall is the hero of introverts like me. It’s really cool to see him go from someone who is really bad at interacting with people and doesn’t want to interact with them to a real leader who learns to value those around him. Squall is a fascinating character because who he projects himself to be outwardly and who he really is inside often don’t match, and that contradiction works because we get inside his head and see his thoughts. It’s a really interesting progression because he maintains the façade really well on Disc 1 to the point that he can say cool things like the quote above and not miss a beat. It starts to crack on Disc 2 but he’s mostly able to keep it bottled up inside of him. He can still say those cool things, but he often ends up questioning it in his mind and wondering if that’s how it really is. Squall’s inner monologue conflicts throughout Disc 2 are so good. On Disc 3, it completely shatters and has to be rebuilt from scratch. On Disc 4, his character arc is mostly complete and all that’s left is to become the true Hero of Time. Oh right, Squall has a really cool design, with the scar and the bomber jacket. Lionheart is the best ultimate weapon in the series, and Lion Heart is the best Limit Break in the series. He has so many cool FMV moments, like hijacking the car to face off against Edea and Seifer at the end of Disc 1.

The Bad: Squall deliberately projects himself to be a jerk to keep people out. The harder someone tries to get in, the harder he pushes back, so you end up with stuff like completely shutting Quistis down and telling her to go talk to a wall while acting like he did nothing wrong. It’s also why he and Rinoa butt heads so much because he finally met someone as stubborn as he is. When he pushed away Quistis, she quit. When he pushed away Rinoa, she pushed back even harder. Squall also makes a lot of questionable decisions on Disc 3 because he’s a mental wreck due to his obsessive attachment to Rinoa. It’s a great character arc but it doesn’t mean he’s immune from doing stupid things!

The Best: Everything. Squall is just the best. Even when he’s bad, he’s the best because there’s always something to dissect and analyze. If you’re a fan of foils (and as many know, I love me some foils), Final Fantasy VIII is a foil paradise because most of the main cast is a foil to Squall in some way or the other, and it’s awesome. His relationships with all the characters have interesting aspects to them. Squall is the star of the game, and most of the cast operates as a supporting character to him. This is the one game where the hero’s inner conflict is given greater weight than the external conflict. Everything is filtered through the lens of Squall’s mind. I know a lot of people criticize FFVIII for that, but when you’re just the best like Squall is, I wouldn’t want it any other way.

The 30 Games
to be posted soon

The 30 Moments
to be posted soon