Honorable Mention:
Higurashi, When they Cry
2002 (English Version 2009)
07th Expansion
Mystery Visual Novel
This is an extremely funky entry, and thus it really can't crack my top 25, but I do want to spend some time with it. The Visual Novel video game is incredibly important to Japanese gaming, and other nations have since adopted it as well. Mostly of the time you get a few choices a la "Choose Your Own Adventure" although not really in this one. You just watch the game unfold.
I cannot really get across what this game is about without you just picking it up and playing it. One common motif of the VN world are stories where a young man or old boy finds himself suddenly with a bunch of attractive girls. Each of the girls has a variety of established archetypes and this game plays right into that. But it also subverts the genre quite well.
The game is an independent game,and one of the best selling of all time. It is distinctly Japanese in feel and flavor. You cannot play this game without getting a true and authentic sense for a lot of Japanese feelings. You'll enjoy that sense as well.
Due to budget restraints, the game had very simple graphics and sounds, and instead focused on the characters and story. And unlike a ton of games in the genre, this one really fleshed out the characters quite ably. These are not simple automatons dancing across the screen.
Now, the game was hugely influential. It becomes the first chapter of an 8 chapter mega-arc. There was a very influential anime series that followed, some comics, and even some live action films. It was a hugely vital part of Japan.
Now, the original graphics are not good. Here I'll show you:
Yeah, I hear you. Ouch. They have updated the graphics for later release. The updates with fully updated sprites and images have the first chapter, and then a later chapter as well available, and you can pick up the last 6 with the old graphics.
The game is extremely hard to predict, does clever stuff with the genre, really has a great aura to it, and was extremely influential and ground-breaking. It's a powerful game, but to get it, you need to be able to get the VN method of story telling. And it may not be the best opening into it. But no worries, my next one will be.
Thanks Higurashi!