Best Games of 2009

16) Wii Sports Resort

15) Torchlight

14) Plants Vs. Zombies

13) Dragon Age: Origins

12) New Super Mario Bros. Wii

11) The Beatles: Rock Band

10) Machinarium

9) Assassin's Creed II

8) Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

7) Punch-Out!!

6) Shadow Complex

5) Street Fighter IV

4) Resident Evil IV

3) DJ Hero

2) Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

1) Demon's Souls

I cannot speak highly enough about this game. Demon's Souls is now one of my all time favorite games ever made and I have no problem saying that statement. This game has given me hope in the RPG genre that I believed was near death. Demon's Souls is also one of the most difficult games I have played in my long gaming career (this is harder than Contra - I said it). Every battle in the game has meaning, and every enemy refuses to go down without a fight. Many times, I have caught myself thinking I could whisk through parts of the game, only to find myself dead at the hands of enemies I believed to be "easy."

Demon's Souls rewards patience and offers zero compromises to the player. You will die in this game, and you will die a lot. When you do, you start all the way back at the beginning of the level. No checkpoints here. You also lose all your souls, which is the game's currency, and all of the enemies that you killed are repopulated. The game does not fail when you die - all of your deaths are your fault and your fault only. But if you stick with it, you will literally be trained by the sheer amount of attempts taken to defeat the level, and the experience of defeating just a single boss is extremely rewarding. If you're connected online, you might find a note that a player left behind that gives you tips on how to pass through. You can even summon others into games to co-op a boss battle, or even have someone end up on the other side of the battle as a Black Phantom.

The game plays like an action RPG, but feels so much more like a survival horror game - dark dungeons and hallways are illuminated only by the light around your avatar, silence leads to a swift death moments later, and sounds in the distance alert you that you are probably facing death when you enter the next room. The world of Boletaria is bleeding with death, certain to remind you that you will be part of the blood that pours out of itself, but given time, the bleeding becomes beauty, and the 30 attempts you give one level goes beyond compelling. Repetition, in the negative sense, does not exist in this world; only death offers up negatives, and if you can surpass death, the reward is far greater than any game can offer this year.

I cannot recommend this game enough to anyone who is willing to push through the pain, because once you do, you unravel one of the best gaming experiences you'll ever have. Atlus, be proud for creating one of the best games in a long time.

Didn't play, but wish I did (and will, in 2010): Little King's Story, Flower, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, Might And Magic: Clash Of Heroes, House Of The Dead: Overkill