A Perfect 10

We all know video game reviews like to score games. Scores like 6 to 8 on a 10 point scale (or their equivalent) are very common, while lower grades exist as well. A perfect game, however, is very rare. But they do exist!

As a Game Informer subscriber, I can say that within the past 2 years, out of all the amazing games that came out, GI has only given three games a 10 out of 10. Batman Arkham City, Mass Effect 3, and Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword are supposedly perfect.


But we all know critics vary. What about the critic in you? Are there any games in the past few years that you believe deserve a 10 out of 10? Be prepared to back your claim up!

For me, I can't say so. I don't think there is such a thing as a perfect game and, conversely, I don't think there's such a thing as a flawless game. This is largely why my reviews use words like "great" for 8 and "Amazing" for 9, as well as why games I think people will thoroughly enjoy and really like seem to get harsh ratings (though, from my perspective, an 8 is still a very good score an a 7 is still worth trying out). 10, for me, is Perfect (as it stands, at least). Not everyone is like that, though; most review sites such as Gamespot and IGN have 10 as something like "Masterpiece", but in my case it's perfect.

Still, I can't say much for the seventh generation there, though. There were a lot of games I enjoyed, indeed, but none I would give a 10 out of 10. Heck, I'm not sure that there are any that go that far for me, especially not in the past few years, though.

I'd give 999: Nine Persons, Nine Hours, Nine Doors probably a 9.5 and its sequel a 9.75, because they are among some of the most enjoyable games I've played since the sixth generation and have the best stories of any video games I've played.

Persona 4 would get a 9.3, as it is one of my favorite, if not my favorite RPG of all time, and it's probably one of the most well done I've played as well. I also thoroughly enjoyed .Hack//GU Volume 2 Reminisce and Chrono Trigger to that extent (though, really, if we're talking flawless but not perfect games, I'd definitely say that Chrono Trigger comes close).

There are many others I could list that I would consider "IGN 10 out of 10s", but I wouldn't call them perfect.

If a 10 is supposed to mean the game is absolutely perfect and can't be improved upon no matter what then no game deserves it. No matter how good a game is it's going to have it's fair shares of flaws and virtually every game out there has glitches, so a perfect score is not possible to attain. But if a ten is supposed to mean near perfection, then there are a handful out there that I think deserve it, such as Ocarina of Time, Super Mario Galaxy, and Super Mario Bros 1 and 3.

While dated by today's standards (besides SMG since it's still relatively recent), for their time I don't know what could be improved upon other than perhaps better level design (nit-picking here since they both have great level designs, but nothing's perfect) and less glitches.

I'm personally more likely to give a great game a 9-9.5 out of 10 though. I don't think I've ever thought a game was a perfect 10, but I've played a few that I thought were close.