30. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

Nobody’s interested in the middle ground when it comes to polarizing videogames. When it comes to MGS4 this is a shame because there is just as much of merit in this experience as there is to spoil it.

In his fine, thoughtful review for Eurogamer, Ollie nailed this tension with skill and eloquence. That so many readers were unable to parse his thoughts, to appreciate the nuance and contradictions in the experience suggests that Kojima’s series primarily appeals to immature gamers. Perhaps that’s natural for a game born of Hollywood bombast, one that requires you to swallow its spectacle wholesale before being allowed to investigate its systems. Still, long live the middle ground: this is a game that has much to teach and much to learn, and we’re all the poorer if it manages neither.

28. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3

Atlus are at the forefront of JRPG innovation even though their inventiveness with the form is mainly characterized by the absorbing of elements from other genres. Persona 3 is, in many ways, a Japanese Bully, the structure of the school day providing the form and order into which the drama slots. The social sim elements of the game and Pokémon-esque collecting and breeding of the titular Personas add depth and complexity to its more traditional dungeon crawling. The only drawback to buying the game now is the presence of its sequel, released in America this month, which builds upon and perfects almost all of its innovations.

27. Chrono Trigger DS

While nostalgia is part of the aesthetic, through both design and circumstance, you needn’t have played the Super Nintendo original to be bowled over by Chrono Trigger’s timeless genius. Playing the game afresh today is a mixture of wonder and tragedy. Wonder at the quality of the design, storyline and tragedy that so few games caught on to its solutions to many of the JRPG format’s restrictions and problems.

26. SingStar PS3

SingStar has always been the best-looking game on the rhythm-action market, its white space and stylish understatement a refreshing antidote to Guitar Hero’s unsightly clash of stage light colour, sweat and lycra. Despite the pleasing neutrality of the menus and HUD, it’s more of a game than Microsoft’s rival Lips, which aims for a literal approximation of the Japanese karaoke experience. But SingStar’s competitive elements never disrupt the flow of a party by alienating non-gamers. Visiting the SingStore while drunk – the only time most players will ever visit the SingStore – can be an expensive excursion.

25. Wii Fit

The Wiifit experience mimics in small our wider experience of its host console. Initial wonder at the bright innovation of the concept turns to joy at first touch. Slick, utilitarian design guides you through the game’s exercises and physical games with the very best Japanese elegance and thoughtful efficiency. Then, a week into the relationship, joy gives way to ennui as the repetitive tasks fail to offer much depth (or weight-loss) and finally, you sink into buyer’s regret just as you slip the balance board into a cupboard and turn off the light, fat and a bit unhappy.

24. Pure

ATV games are so often presented with the exclamation point superlatives of the extreme sports vernacular, graphic design hype overcompensating for the underwhelming experience beneath the presentation. Pure is different. The lingering descents from mountaintops are two parts F-Zero, one part Pilotwings, those slow-motion moments spent soaring through blue, blue skies providing relief from the hot roar of engines that will resume as soon as you hit the ground below. The ATV creation system, which could so easily have been over fussy and tiresome, is executed with thought and elegance and the racing that these elements dress is never short of spectacular.

23. Race Driver: GRID

Codemasters’ delightful antidote to the earnestness of Gran Turismo and Forza was, for me, a rediscovery of what racing games can best offer. Service to realism can only provide so much enjoyment, and only to a niche audience at that. GRID, by contrast, delights in its videogame-ness, offering, without apology, an exaggerated, accessible version of the sport. The reapplication of Prince of Persia’s time rewind function was clever, the races in which you compete with and against a teammate ingenious but, most of all, GRID polishes the rough potential of Colin McRae’s DiRT into a bright diamond.

You can read the rest of the Eurogamer staff and contributor comments here