22. Final Fantasy VIII
Some people will shout heresy on this selection but I dont care. I loved the Orphanage twist, I love how Squall goes from a whiny emotional tool to having a deep love for Rinoa, and I enjoyed Ultimacia as a villain. The opening FMV featuring Liberi Fatali is pulse pounding and intense too. The battle system may admittedly stink but all four discs of the story are magical and captivating. There is a section near the end of disc 3 where it appears as if Rinoa may die, and through it all I was ready to crack the disc in half if she did. Instead you float through space and rescue her in style.
21. Mass Effect Franchise
Forget the damn ending (although I personally enjoyed it) and just focus on the rich sci-fi universe full of unique creatures, races, and complex characters that Bioware created. Multiple species, planets, and more inhabit the world in gamings equivalent to Star Wars. Outside of saving the world as either a goody two shoes hero or a renegade badass you can enter love scenarios with various party members too. For most of the franchise players were able to shape every sequence of the story the way they saw fit with consequences. Seriously now, who didn't replay the final area of Mass Effect 2 multiple times until they were able to keep the entire squad of intergalactic heroes alive? Mass Effect 3 may have not been the ending everyone wanted but the intergalactic journey is filled with emotion and exhilarating action, even throughout the trilogy capper itself where I reloaded a save an hour back just because I couldn't live with killing off Talia.
20. Ico
The spiritual successor follow up to Shadow of the Colossus (an equally outstanding experience we'll get to soon) is just as intriguingly abstract featuring a boy who must escort a girl through a castle to safety from an evil power hungry mother of a Queen. Without any dialogue an unmistakable bond is formed as you protect the princess from shadow entities that have the intentions of capturing her through a portal. This desired effect actually works too as you inexplicablly feel compelled to protect this mysterious girl at all costs. Ico is light on conventional storytelling but beautifully elegant in subtlety.