Final Fantasy X/X-2

Kenneth Shepard would scream at me if I didn’t shout out Final Fantasy X/X-2, whose remasters are currently on sale. Besides being some of his favorite games ever, these two are also the last Final Fantasy titles—save for maybe the MMO Final Fantasy XIV Online—where it felt like folks were unilaterally behind the series and championing every installment as some of the best in the biz. Most folks who have played one or both of them adore Tidus and Yuna, as well as their romance, and love either game’s progression systems and larger world, which are both what I’d consider integral pieces to a great RPG.

Final Fantasy X and X-2 were also exceptional in their lineage because they were the first two games in the mainline series to be explicitly connected to one another. This would only really happen again with the XIII trilogy, the original Final Fantasy XIV and its rebirth as A Realm Reborn—which could and should be treated as entirely different games—and the trilogy of games “remaking” Final Fantasy VII. Unlike most of those later examples though, Final Fantasy X and X-2 are sharp and focused games across the board, telling two distinct halves of a story and ultimately coming to a satisfying conclusion. You can get both of them in a single package for just $12 on Steam.