Let me just preface this by saying it's a LONG read, and that fandoms WILL suck one way or another; don't lump me in with some of the err, "weird" fans prematurely. Album music interests and TV interests are also part of my ideas list, but I need more literacy in those areas to feel comfortable sharing those. Expect me to edit this post someday. Now to the interests, mainly ones with multiple games; the ones I have the most to talk about:
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon (Basically Pokémon for those who value a good story and cast of characters with identifiable traits; I'm one of those people. Made by Spike Chunsoft instead of Game Freak, it also features the aspect of playing AS a Pokémon as opposed to having them as pets. Because of the dungeon-crawling gameplay, it requires a lot of learning to play without losing too much, but the in-game dictionary in all entries helps alleviate this. Gates to Infinity is my favorite story of the 4 main entries, with hours worth of reasoning that I might go into detail about later, while Super Mystery Dungeon has my favorite gameplay for the sheer variety and addiction factor it accomplishes with its more recent additions. If you're not sure whether to take either of those extremes, Explorers of Sky earned its spot as the most popular, with a good balance between good story and gameplay. As a whole, this series defined my taste in music, atmosphere, and worldview in plenty more ways than one. I'm looking forward to playing other games in the Mystery Dungeon franchise, already finished a playthrough for one of them! [That being Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon, also known as Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon EVERY BUDDY! for its extended remaster])
Little Tail Bronx (Consists of Tail Concerto [1998], Solatorobo: Red the Hunter [2010], Fuga: Melodies of Steel [Game 1 in 2021, Game 2 in 2023], and a bunch of supplementary material to expand on existing lore details, which I recommend after finishing Solatorobo, a game that pushes the DS to its absolute limit with stunning graphics and a full-fledged anime opening. All games in the gameplay department are rather simple and easy to pick up, with Fuga's resource management mechanics being as complex as it gets. Little Tail Story [2014] is non-canon. The world, lore, and mythology, as goofy as they may seem when starting at Tail Concerto, get almost as complex as the Metal Gear franchise the further it progresses, but is notably more consistent, and is written in such a way that it won't confuse you if you're playing any game before the other; any furry looking for story-heavy games that aren't visual novels should check this ongoing passion-project from CyberConnect2 out! And even those not interested in furry culture should find plenty of things to like about it, in spite of the gameplay genre changing with each entry. Although Fuga: Melodies of Steel has my favorite gameplay of the 3 for its huge emphasis on decision-making via limited resources and actions, Solatorobo has my favorite story by far, being the entry responsible for giving the franchise the appeal I stick to it for)
Danganronpa (Self-explanatory, it's one of the most popular murder mystery series out there. This isn't primarily an anime franchise, in fact the 1st anime was a terrible adaptation of the 1st game that attempted to tell a 20+ hour story in 4 hours, and the 2nd anime isn't much better but at least has an original story to conclude plot points from the 3 games + Danganronpa Zero light novel that came before it, even if in a mediocre manner. Remember that it's continuity heavy and therefore makes zero sense when playing the games out of order; it's not nearly as accessible as Ace Attorney, a franchise that I also like quite a lot although for different reasons. Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc started my interest in the franchise, but it's Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair that convinced me to stay with the franchise to the very end, so I have to give that one the higher level of credit)
Metal Gear (Also self-explanatory, although I experienced the story by watching a friend play it on the couch next to me as opposed to playing it myself. Don't expect me to talk much about games after Portable Ops though, as Metal Gear Solid 4 from Act 2 and beyond is where the series takes a real nosedive that it never really gets back up from, aside from Metal Gear Rising apparently, which I plan to play but haven't yet. Still doesn't invalidate the many great feelings I got from this franchise's industry-defining story, from the profound messages and cautionary tales it has to offer, to the many characters with strong motivations behind their actions, even the minor ones with barely any screentime. There's a lot to dissect, and still a lot to interpret in meaningful ways even after Metal Gear Solid 4 tried to connect things that were never meant to be connected; that's the sign of a franchise that stays strong even after the many duds it got. If you haven't started this franchise yet but plan to, make sure to read the "Previous Operations" section of the Special Menu in Metal Gear Solid 1's title screen to catch yourself up on the two MSX games from 1987 and 1990; even back then, there was some level of story to enjoy and interpret. That's some incredible dedication right there)
Klonoa (A series split between the story-focused 2.5D platformer spectacles from 1997 and 2001, and the gameplay-focused 2D puzzle platformers of 1999, 2001, and 2002, then 2 spinoffs that went in strange directions complete with their own continuities. A webcomic was intended to bring it all together, but got cancelled partway through, never to be seen again. Needless to say, I enjoy the platformers more, with the former set having some of the best storytelling in such a short runtime, and the latter set bringing high levels of satisfaction when you solve a difficult puzzle that takes a lot of genuine thought to get through. The gameplay for all the platformers manages to be tight and rewarding in all the right ways, giving you a limited moveset that you have to work with wherever you go, where even something as simple as a double jump requires an enemy to perform, making you think more closely about the best course of action to take while never feeling too easy [Unless you play the optional Easy Mode in Phantasy Reverie Series, which is a good thing for accessibility's sake]. To me, Klonoa is more than just a mascot platformer series that later fell into obscurity; it's a masterpiece best experienced blind to help you resonate with the feelings it expresses, sometimes through subtle methods too. For those same reasons, don't play the Wii remake of the 1st that changed the script in negative ways so much that it got retconned out of existence in Phantasy Reverie Series, or [At the moment] emulate Klonoa 2, a game known to hate PlayStation 2 emulators in more ways than considered acceptable)
Mega Man (Self-explanatory, and not nearly as hard as some publications make it out to be, although I can understand the misleading sentiment, given how the 1st Mega Man is obtusely difficult and quite unpolished, a direction that wouldn't be seen in the franchise often ever since. Classic series is my main choice for how easy it feels to pick up and start the classic "jump n' shoot" cycle, but I love the Battle Network series just as much for its sheer skill ceiling and potential complexity! X series is alright I suppose, haven't made much progress in the Zero series and haven't touched ZX or Legends... yet)
F-Zero (The racing game franchise that although doesn't take itself all that seriously, is an in-depth racing experience complete with an wonderful science fantasy world that didn't need to exist but I appreciate the franchise that much more for. It's not just a collection of advanced techniques, as the brutal and often unfair AI encourages you to climb up the ladder to the incredibly high skill ceiling it has to offer. With plenty of content as well, you'll probably find at least one pilot to be comfortable racing as. F-Zero GX is my favorite so far, although I plan on giving X, GP Legend, and Climax full playthroughs someday)
BLiNX (Two 3D platformers unfairly treated by biased media during their release time. Imagine Braid in 3D but all the way back in 2002 and 2004; far ahead of its time with time manipulation on a level most games still don't do yet. Using the Original Xbox's hard drive, the game records everything in real-time to make use of 6 different VCR-style Time Controls, granting the player lots of agency over how they pursue their objectives. The 1st game makes up for the repetitive "Destroy all Time Monsters" objective in each level by having a high difficulty level that compliments your agency quite well, giving even grown-up players a run for their money. If that sounds the least bit interesting, you have no reason not to try it, especially since a certain emulator has finally made the 1st BLiNX game fully playable outside of real hardware. Although the 1st game is available on all Xbox consoles, even the Xbox One and beyond, don't bother playing the 1st game on the Xbox 360, since it runs unplayable levels of poorly on there for reasons unknown. Still, I prefer the 1st game as the 2nd game is heavily handhold-y and lowered in difficulty)
Wario Land & Warioware (Putting these 2 together to prevent over-saturation. These games help shape Wario into the butt of jokes who gets himself into the most absurd situations imaginable, with Wario Land being a series of genuinely polished platformers centered around exploration and finding secrets everywhere you can, with clever concepts in each game to keep the formula fresh every game. My favorite Wario Land game is of course Wario Land 4, but Wario Land The Shake Dimension/Shake It! is a worthy equal with some of the best 2D animation to ever grace a platformer, period. Warioware is a prime choice for a chaotic variety-pack party game, full of random but endearing minigames with simple enough control schemes to genuinely feel cohesive as opposed to the shovelware minigame collections the mid and late 2000s were pumping out relentlessly. Your mileage will vary, but there's plenty of good choices for Warioware games out there and not many bad ones)
Potential gaming interests in the making (Want to play more games first before deciding. Depending on how much I enjoy them, I might or might not have them as interests):
NiGHTS (Want to replay Journey of Dreams)
Shovel Knight (Want to play the other campaigns, not just Shovel of Hope, which I finished as well as Shovel Knight Dig)
Ace Attorney (Want to play the rest of the series as to discuss it without worry for spoilers. Only have a few games left to finish in this regard)
Psychonauts (Want to replay the 1st game, read up on Rhombus of Ruin, and finally play the 2nd game)
Ori (Want to play Ori and the Will of the Wisps)
Half-Life (Want to replay the series in full)
Freedom Planet (It all depends on how much I enjoy Freedom Planet 2; already enjoyed the 1st game a lot for its gameplay and aesthetic aspects!)
