The Five Best Games I Played At Uni

17th July 2009 • 0 Comments

University is now a distant memory for the crew at Just a Day and whilst being a stressful time at some points there were always games (and other things) which prevented me from going crazy.

This list shows the top five games I played at University, so this doesn't count any played during the holidays etc. and does not represent a top five list of the best games from the last three years.

5. Kingdom Hearts 2

The first game I bought at University and came at a time in the first year when I didn't have much to do. So with the luxury of time I devoted a lot of time to this game and really enjoyed playing through it. It was also a good ice breaker at some points as I could discuss the game with fellow coursemates. It came at a good time though when I had time to invest in it, I would imagine I would still be playing it, if it came out in later university years.

A really fun game and a great sequel to the first game, once of the last great games for the PS2 as well.

4. Street Fighter IV

For many people who go to university they have at least one story of how they spent hours playing GoldenEye or Street Fighter II with their friends. I thought I was going to miss out on this experience until Street Fighter IV came out in our final year of uni. Having an established friend group by this time was probably very helpful as we invested hours playing through the single player and multiplayer game. One of the best moments of gaming for me came from this, when a group of us were playing through the single player and we had finally managed to beat Seth by the good grace of the timer running out before he finished his final move.

It was nerve wracking at the time, but was an awesome feeling. It also helped the people I was playing with were pretty good at the game and thus led to some good games. The best fighting game to come out in 2009 and an awesome game to play when your mates come over.

3. Hotel Dusk: Room 215

I was lucky enough to be able to borrow this off a friend during the second year in exchange for a game lower down on the list. A really enjoyable adventure game with a great story, it also helped keep my mind off some difficult times during the period I was playing the game.

I later went on to buy the game and due to its portable nature is an excellent game to play whilst waiting for your dinner to cook or just before you go to bed. For those who don't know Hotel Dusk is an adventure game on DS focusing on an ex cop who stays at a hotel and interesting events happen. An excellent game and one everyone should get for their DS.

2. Mass Effect

This was my most anticipated game for the Xbox 360 when it was announced as I am a huge fan of the BioWare games. Unfortunately it came out at a time in the second year when there was a lot of work on. I surprised myself though with some strict discipline where I only played the game after 10pm when I would stop doing uni work.

Whilst this sounds like forced gaming time, I really enjoyed playing through the game in small chunks and meant I didn't rush through the experience and it has remained in my memory ever since. The game has a great sense of atmosphere and whilst being a lot shorter than I expected to be, is an amazing game to play over and over again. Was a good game to play through and get my mind off the stress of uni work and many times I ended up playing it well into the early hours of the morning.

An excellent RPG to play and still one of the best games on 360. The strict timing also kept me focused on producing some good work, so there's some advice for you kids.

1. Phoenix Wright/ Ace Attorney Games

This series of games has defined my university experience and would even be on a list of my favourite games. I was always intrigued by the concept of a lawyer game on the DS and back in 2007, I finally got around to buying it cheap from Tesco.

Once I heard the first "Objection!" I was hooked, this series of games is amazing. Even though the gameplay is essentially an interactive storybook you really get engrossed in the story and the characters and this is helped by some amazing music. I cannot begin to count how many hours I have put into the four games released during my time at uni. It is so good, I even imported the third one from Japan, this just shows how good this series is. If you are like me and enjoy things that are a bit wacky and crazy, then you'll love the Ace Attorney games.

It has a great sense of humour and some great adventure game based gameplay and you will soon be thinking about who did each murder and you'll never get it right first time. Some people might not get these games but if you feel that you might enjoy them, then recommend you go and buy them now.

By far the best games I've played at uni and also in a very long time.