What an oddly vague title, right? Honestly, I struggled a lot with how to title this article.
What I’m trying to express in this article is my Top 10 Favorite Chapters/Arcs/Worlds in video games. So, for example, I wouldn’t put a single Mario level on this list, but I could put an entire World from one of the Mario games. I could also put a four hour stretch of some sort of JRPG where you invade an enemy castle, because it’s all part of the same arc. This isn’t a list about short levels. This is a list about longer chunks of games that pull you in and force you to play it all in one long session. Those unforgettable stretches of time in gaming.
Maybe it’ll make more sense as we go. Let’s jump in!
10) World 4: Cave ~ Donkey Kong Country Returns
Now, this might just be me, but I love the vehicle levels in Donkey Kong games. They basically play like rhythm games, because your actual forward and backward momentum is on auto-pilot, so you actually only need to time your jumps. Not that these levels don’t require a lot of quick reflexes to succeed, but it’s easier to sit back and get in the groove and enjoy the spectacle. All this is to say that World 4 is entirely comprised of vehicle levels, including the boss, and a mix of minecart and rocket barrel levels take you through a bat infested cave, a mole-filled mineshaft, and more.
9) The Underwhere and Overthere ~ Super Paper Mario
Chapter 7 of Super Paper Mario is just an unforgettable experience from start to finish. It kicks off when Mario and his friends are blown-up and end up in the Mario universe version of the underworld, and it only gets crazier from there. It’s bursting with puns (you have to sail a boat across the River Twygz), it’s got a few quiz shows for some reason, there’s an old-school Final Fantasy/Dragon Quest inspired mini-boss, and the entire chapter is laced with Christian allegories for some reason (god-like figure in heaven casts a fallen angel down to the darkest pit, and the fallen angel eventually rises again only to be defeated once more). It even has an extremely heartbreaking final cutscene that touches on the complex relationships of families with adopted children.
This was a kid’s game…right?
8) Assault on Arbiter’s Grounds ~ Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
It isn’t a controversial pick to say that the Arbiter’s Grounds is my favorite dungeon in Twilight Princess. However, I just love this entire arc of the game in general. It begins with launching yourself in a cannon to reach the desert, and then you slip into the enemy Bulblin camp under the cover of darkness and stealthily pick off the entire squad of baddies with your bow from the shadows. Then, the dungeon itself is amazing (the Spinner is such a fun and unique item, and the Stallord boss fight is crazy good). Finally, you get to hear the truth about the Twilight Realm, and you get the reveal that Ganondorf has been lurking behind the scenes all this time. Awesome stuff!
7) Ganondorf’s Rampage ~ Hyrule Warriors
So, you’ve defeated the evil sorceress Cia, and restored peace to the land of Hyrule? What could possibly be left? Well, nothing…if it weren’t for a certain red-haired Gerudo warlord. Completely switching gears on the player, the Story Mode Hyrule Warriors puts you in control of Ganondorf himself as he escapes his imprisonment, gathers an evil army, and systematically destroys the peace that you yourself (as Link and friends) just spent the whole game building. It’s bold, it’s refreshing, and it’s nothing short of a crazy evil power-trip to take down the heroes and conquer the land of Hyrule across three whole levels.
6) Chapter 13: Redemption ~ Final Fantasy 15
Without a doubt, this is one of the most Contrarian opinions I’ve ever espoused on this blog. On the whole, people hate this chapter. Obviously, that means that I loved it! This is an extremely lengthy chapter wherein Noctis is separated from his friends, stripped off all his weapons save for the magical Ring of the Lucii, and is forced to tackle a sprawling, maze-like enemy fortress. The music is somber, the atmosphere is dark, and creeping around the hallways is tense. You need quick reflexes to utilize the Ring, and a focused mind to map out the fortress. This game’s most staggering twists and trickiest foes are within this fortress, making it an unforgettable hours-long journey.
5) Terror of the Chaos Kin ~ Kid Icarus Uprising
Kid Icarus Uprising is a wacky and amazing game wherein any of its five major arcs could be counted on this list. My vote goes for the “Chaos Kin” saga, which runs from Chapters 18 to 22. It’s a weird, occasionally unsettling, and emotionally draining arc for the characters involved, as a parasitic demon from another dimension possesses Palutena (the goddess of light), and force her to wage war on humanity. You end up having to work alongside your former enemies to fight your former friends, you get to play as a dog and a little girl, and you even spend a level as both the stoic warrior Magnus and the dour doppelganger Dark Pit. In a game filled with memorable moments, it still stands tall!
4) Avenging Colony Six ~ Xenoblade Chronicles
All Shulk and Reyn want to do after braving the devastation of their home is take revenge on the Mechon army. Destiny immediately presents them the opportunity to do so, as they run headlong into sharpshooter Sharla, who has just escaped from a Mechon attack on Colony Six. Over the next ten or so hours (this is an extremely lengthy JRPG after all) you can explore the humongus Bionis Leg area, tackle a million side quests, unlock new Monado abilities, and brave the depths of the Ether Mine to defeat the cocky robotic fiend Xord, and drive the Mechon out of Colony Six. This chunk of the game includes my favorite cutscene in the entire game, sets up brilliant foreshadowing for future events, and reintroduces Dunban to the party in a suitably epic conclusion.
3) Dead Bird Studio ~ A Hat in Time
Dead Bird Studio is the second full world in A Hat in Time, which is a game filled with six full worlds of platforming adventure goodness. Dead Bird Studio, though, is far and away the best world in the game, as each level contained within presents the player with not only unique, exciting, and engaging content, but also some of the best levels in any video game ever. First, you have to stealth your way through a movie studio filled with puns and visual gags. Then you have to make yourself famous, conduct an out-of-control parade, race through a train to diffuse a bomb, and uncover a nefarious conspiracy behind the scenes. The music and voice acting throughout this world is top-notch.
And this is to barely even touch on “Murder on the Owl Express”, perhaps the single greatest level in a video game. It’s amazing fun, and elevates this already impeccable world to even greater heights.
2) Li Garte Prison ~ Xenoblade Chronicles 3
On the surface, it doesn’t feel as if the visit to Li Garte Prison is anything to write home about. Taking place at the tail-end of Chapter Five (one of the longest chapters of any video game ever released), your party of heroes break into the prison to rescue a young girl named Ghondor, who can lead you to a mysterious queen with the power to save the world. It’s standard JRPG affair, and your time within the prison is fun, but nothing new.
But then everything goes horribly wrong. Truly, horribly wrong. Your party is betrayed, my favorite character in the game gives a lengthy monologue that cripples the morale of the heroes, a few minor characters are killed, the protagonists are dominated in a fight with the main villain, and then everyone is thrown back into prison after being stripped of their powers. Trapped and rotting in prison for a month, the heroes can do nothing but wallow in their misery, until the final moment when they are led to their execution.
Then there’s some crazy revelations and flashbacks, some expertly foreshadowed twists, a giant robot battle, incredible dramatic music and top-notch voice acting, and a legitimate on-screen suicide in a Nintendo game. It’s an unbelievable roller-coaster of amazement that spans roughly three to four hours from start-to-finish, and it is well and truly the standout moment in an already stellar game.
1) Florem, the Land of Radiant Flowers ~ Bravely Default
The Bravely Default duology is a nearly perfect pair of JRPGs that I wish more people talked about. What of the highlights of the series is its unflinching dedication to not pulling its punches. Despite the cartoony graphical stylings of these games, they paint one of the darkest and most twisted worlds I’ve ever experienced in a video game, and those heavy and somber moments stick with you for years after playing.
Nowhere is this clearer than in Chapter Two of the original game, wherein you visit the seemingly idyllic, paradise city of Florem. What could be better than a city filled with beauty and splendor? Well, it isn’t long before the cracks begin to show in the most traumatic of ways, as your party of heroes discover a diabolical group destroying the city from within, bit-by-bit. In a series of main quests and side quests treated with complete gravitas and devoid of tonally dissonant humor or levity, your group comes face-to-face with torture, animal cruelty, rampant drug rings, women being kidnapped and sold as sex slaves, and an unforgettably visceral scene of two young girls drugged into beating each other to death.
It’s…honestly hard to fully digest. I played this game about eight years ago, and I still remember most of these scenes as if they happened yesterday. I’m not sure any JRPG has ever covered topics this heavy before, and I don’t know if another game ever will. This is the stuff of legends. The scenes you show to people who believe video games are inherently childish and brain-rotting. The type of story writing that makes it clear that video games can tell meaningful, thought-provoking, and disturbing stories perhaps better (or at least more viscerally) than any other medium.
But hey, that’s just my opinion!
The Contrarian Corner 