My suggestion is Castlevania, since it's good, but also short. The shorter the game, the quicker you can move on to something else and beat that. Is just efficient, heh.

By JohnH, at 27 February, 2007 20:49  

RE4, definitely.

By Pete, at 27 February, 2007 20:55  

I'd say resident evil..

but if you want to experience a magical world and one of the best games I've ever played, pick up beyond good and evil.

It's not too long either, but I can't sing it's praises enough.

By adrian, at 27 February, 2007 21:20  

These are all on the shelves of the Curmudgeon Gamer Memorial Library, so it's merely a matter of popping the appropriate game into the corresponding console/handheld.

By jvm, at 27 February, 2007 21:27  

Aye, RE4. That was pretty much the best game I played last year, and I had a friend come over repeatedly just to watch the 25+ hours of gloriousness. BG&E, on the other hand, I played, and kind of liked, but the controls just weren't tight enough, and I found it too tricky after a while, and lost interest. One to pick up once I'm done with Oblivion, and FFXII, and Okami. Oh, you should get Okami. It's astounding.

By constihill, at 27 February, 2007 22:51  

I enjoyed Beyond Good & Evil. It's a pretty quick play - about 7 1/2 hours for me, spending quite a lot of time looking around for secrets/collectables, missing out on some annoying optional racing minigames.

And then play Okami, which kept me going for about 70 hours.

By Anonymous, at 28 February, 2007 02:06  

Oh Oh Beyond Good and Evil and Okami. Or if you can't decide, just play them all at once.

By Bigelow, at 28 February, 2007 04:06  

Bigelow: That's what I'm deciding I cannot do. If I do not focus on one game and stick to it, I won't finish any.

By jvm, at 28 February, 2007 05:44  

Beyond Good and Evil.

By Jeremy, at 28 February, 2007 07:09  

Resident Evil 4 - it's one of the greatest all-around action games ever produced.

By Dustin, at 28 February, 2007 10:32  

Final Fantasy III, duh. I don't understand the fascination with RE, they're terrible games to play (more shit on the player fun, should expect Dustin to like that), although fun to watch, esp. when drunk.

m.

By Michael, at 28 February, 2007 11:27  

I'm gonna have to say RE4, too. I played it on the Gamecube, but I doubt there are any huge differences.

An absolute must-play.

By Tony, at 28 February, 2007 11:50  

I think RE4 is the better game - especially from the "gamer" perspective. However, for that reason, I say you should try out BG&E first as it won't stand up as well the longer you wait to play it, whereas I think RE4 will remain a top-notch play well into the future.

The other two console games you shouldn't feel obligated to complete. Check them out when you have free time to get an idea of what they're about.

For the handhelds, I figure you can play those in the same time period as you would normally play them while traveling, readying for sleep, or visiting the restroom. Then again, perhaps not with the PSP as you need to invest so much overhead for the load times -- BURN! I kid! Still, I think FF III is a great way to spend some time in relatively short bursts. Save anywhere(ish)!

By Alex, at 28 February, 2007 13:00  

I concur with all the votes for BG&E, RE4 and Okami.

I'm sure some will disagree with me, but my advice: avoid P.N 03 like the plague. I literally fell asleep playing this rather tedious game.

By Dan-o, at 28 February, 2007 13:14  

Beyond Good & Evil seems to be a light-weight action game. Fun to explore, but not to drawing. I started, played for a few hours and haven't been compelled to return.

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow is a typical bashing action game. It'll be fun exploring and getting powerups for the first while and will start to drag as you hit the level grind about mid-way through. I've just about finished it and I've spent the last few hours doing nothing but gathering money (for a special item), EXP, and souls (mostly for weapon synthesis) before I attempt the final section of the game.

By Duncan, at 28 February, 2007 13:21  

I can personally vouch for BG&E.

It's not too long, and it's certainly unique and enjoyable.

By phanboy_iv, at 28 February, 2007 14:15  

I seem to have many of the same games sitting on my shelves yet untried. I can't vouch for (or against) the ones I haven't tried yet, but Castelvania DoS if very fun and quick. Final Fantasy III looks fun, but
the little end of combat dance they do every single
time that can't be shortcutted past just takes too long so I set it aside.

By The Eidolon, at 28 February, 2007 15:41  

BG&E, but you knew that.

By cgm, at 28 February, 2007 19:25  

Just be a good little GNU Nzi and play nothing but Tux Racer.

By Anonymous, at 01 March, 2007 17:58  

I can pretty much only warn against Killer 7 - which you might remember a posted on a month or so ago with severe disappointments.

By Josh, at 01 March, 2007 19:08  

Resident Evil 4. It'll put hairs on your chest. If it was a person, it would go out in the middle of winter, laughing, with nothing but a T-Shirt on.

By Martin, at 02 March, 2007 00:45