By Alex Crowder
With this year coming to an end and this being my last Gamer’s Corner article ever, I have decided to list my personal top five games in the hopes of maybe giving some inspiration or even just showing what I judge other games based on. So, without further ado, here are my top five favorite games.
5.) Silent Hill 2 (Survival Horror) 
I’m going to put a disclaimer here and say that Silent Hill 3 is actually my favorite of the series. However, Silent Hill 2 is critically acclaimed and also stands alone, so if you’re going to play one it might as well be this one.
Unlike most horror games, Silent Hill has never boasted a lot of jump scares. It always feels as though the monsters are right next to you the entire game, rubbing up against you but never attacking until you least expect it. The true terror of any Silent Hill – the lonely, foggy atmosphere,and the fact that everyone in the town plus you have some serious mental scars – is extremely evident in this game.
An oldie but a goody, Silent Hill 2 is a legitimately frightening game that I can’t recommend to people who have weak stomachs. The combat is a bit clunky, and the voice acting ranges between hammy and not-trying-hard-enough (Angela has a strange warbling that is grating but sort of works), but it’s a really great game regardless. Avoid the HD Collection at all costs.
4.) Ace Attorney Series (Puzzle/Visual Novel)
Perhaps the best thing about this game is the love and care that the localization team put into it. The dialogue is funny (if dated at times), the characters are sincere, the writing is fabulously translated from Japanese to English, and it handles tragic events beautifully. As hilarious as it can be, it can flop to tragedy quickly and harshly and it handles it very well where other games would struggle.
The cases might not make sense sometimes, but that hardly detracts from the overall game. Check it out, if you have the chance.
3.) The Walking Dead (Point-and-Click/Horror)
To be clear, this is referring to the Telltale version, not the newer Activision one. The Walking Dead is a series that will make you laugh, make you cry, and make you want to curl up in a ball and just sit there for a while.
The characters are extremely memorable, especially the main ones – history professor Lee and young , optimistic Clementine both feel genuine and you hate to see them get hurting any way. The rest of the cast is less memorable, but still manages to leave an impact. If you are looking for a zombie game with hardcore action and zombie killing fun, this really is not the game for you. It is slow-paced and focuses pretty strictly on narrative and the bonds between people during the apocalypse. Still, there is a reason why it won Game of the Year, and you will be hooked onto every single moment of this amazing game up until the shocking ending.
2.) Portal Series (First-Person Puzzler) 
Honestly, the true beauty of Portal only comes through once you have played it. It is hilarious, dark, and extremely innovative. Admittedly the puzzles are not as hard as they are disorienting, but let’s be honest – you do not play Portal for the puzzles, not really.
Pretty much everyone has heard of “the cake is a lie” and Cave Johnson’s “lemons” speech, but there is so much more in these games that it is surprising that more people have not played them.
Clever, intuitive, and easy to play (but not so easy to solve the puzzles, do not worry), the Portal series should be picked up and played by everyone.
1.) Mass Effect Trilogy (RPG/Third-Person Shooter/Strategy/Games You Play When You Want To Cry) 
Mass Effect boasts a massive, well developed universe (there are about nine novels worth of text in these games) with memorable characters who you may or may not like but are all well written and well-acted. You find yourself getting attached to these characters, and the games rip out your heart every time it takes them away for one reason or another.
With the final DLC out, it’s finally time to put Commander Shepard to rest. They’re working on a Mass Effect 4, but is it really worth it at this point? Mass Effect ended with Shepard for me, and it will always be a journey that I do not regret taking.
