Best Games Of The Decade

Arcadeheroes

Everyone loves a Top 10 list right ?!?! :pac:
This list is subject to change since I am playing catch up with my backlog. I am also going back and purchasing games I missed out on , on handhelds since I was very late buying a Nintendo DS back in the day.

So this is my current list , and I think I am quite happy with it

1.Dark Souls
2.Bloodborne
3.Monster Hunter world
4.Demon Souls
5.Yakuza 0
6.Super Mario Galaxy 2
7.Dragons Dogma Arisen
8.Zelda Breath of the wild
9.Persona 5
10.Metal Gear Rising Revengence

Honourable Mentions

Xenoblade 1
Journey
Tokyo Jungle
Bayonetta 2
Dragon Quest 11
Binding of Isacc
Earth Defence Force 4.1
Muramasa the demonblade
Dragons Crown
The Last story
Fragile dreams
Vanquish

Good shout for Dragon's Dogma loved it !!!!

Dark Souls was a revelation for me and an experience unmatched by the squeals even though they were technically better. I can't forget taking most of an afternoon and evening to get to the bonfire before the Gargoyles and not sitting at the damned fire after kindling it or the highs and lows of co-op with a friend and trying to get matched or those f'n archers in Anor Londo.

Red Dead deserves a mention for sure.

The game I probably sunk the most hours into Borderlands 2.

Not sure whether to go for Witcher 2 or 3, I bought 2 on whim in Tesco the day it came out knowing nothing about it and loved.

Random game I really enjoyed was Grow Up.

No doubt I'll think of more but I'd not want to call any one game I played game of the decade.

Jurgen The German

The Last of Us is top of the list for me anyway, complete and utter gaming Nirvana.

murphyebass

Jurgen The German wrote: »

The Last of Us is top of the list for me anyway, complete and utter gaming Nirvana.

I can see why people loved this game but I found it incredibly frustrating. Gave up after about 2 hours of gameplay. Just couldn’t get into it at all.

Won’t go with a top 10 but my game of the decade would have to be Destiny. It had its haters but I’ve never put 400 hours into any other game. Completely addicted I was.

I played a lot of Mario 3D World on Wii U. Absolutely amazing game, completely underrated.

I’ll throw Killzone Mercenary out there as well for the game I played most on handheld. I couldn’t believe how well that game looked on Vita.

Great decade of gaming.

skerry

Games that popped into my head as standouts in no particular order:

Nier
Breath of the Wild
Bloodborne
Witcher 3
The Last of Us
Fire Emblem Three Houses
Mass Effect 2
Yakuza 0

There's probably more, but those are the games that I've sank most time into and/ or got most enjoyment from and have made a lasting impression on me. I kind of dropped out of gaming for a few years after the start of the decade but back in full tilt now and loving it again. My tastes have changed a lot over the years and I play a lot more RPGs now whereas I was probably more of a FPS and Beat Em Up fan in the past.

I was always an Xbox man but only discovered the joy of Nintendo platforms since I got my Switch last year and, more recently, my 2DS. Those are the consoles I get most joy out of now.

dreamers75

Easier to sort out mine by playtime.

Arma 3
Elite Dangerous
7 Days to Die
Witcher 3
Battlefield 3
Skyrim
R6 Siege

Strange list.

Cina

Tough one, I could quite easily interchange the top five depending on my mood, though #1 is generally nailed on for me.

#1 - The Last of Us
#2 - The Witcher 3
#3 - Zelda: Breath of the Wild
#4 - God of War
#5 - Divinity Original Sin 2
#6 - Red Dead Redemption
#7 - Persona 5
#8 - Mass Effect 2
#9 - Fire Emblem: Three Houses
#10 - Portal 2

Honorable mentions to Horizon: ZD, Dota 2, Overwatch, and Yakuza 0

Canis Lupus

Jeez that's hard.... So many games and yet at the same time out of the games I play I don't know if they're worthy of 'top' lists.

In terms of time played I would have to say:

World of Tanks.
Battlefield 3
Diablo 3
Overwatch
CS:GO

Can't think of a single singleplayer game that I'd say I sunk lots of time into or stands out as amazing to me. I play a lot of games but nothing has ever truly blown me away that I can think of.

GhostofKNugget

Much prefer single player campaigns to multiplayer and most/all of my gaming has been on the Playstation consoles. The Switch has made it into the household via the children so looking forward to getting properly stuck into the likes of Breath of the Wild and MarioKart but here's what I've played from the decade.

Top ten in no particular order:
The Witcher 3
Portal 2
Everybody's Gone to the Rapture
Hotline Miami
Soma
Last of Us
Horizon Zero Dawn
Control
Life is Strange
Resident Evil 2 Remake

Honorable Mentions:
Sleeping Dogs
The Walking Dead Season 1
Firewatch
Alien Isolation
Dishonored
God of War
Spec Ops: The Line

Greyfox

Zelda: Breath of the Wild

I could do my top 10 games of the decade but truth is for me Zelda: Breath of the Wild is the best game of the decade by a very long way.

I've played a lot of games over the last decade but in terms of gameplay and combat its a step about everything else. I'd gladly pay €500 to erase my memory of the game so that I could start the game all over again.

Corvo

Don't really have a top ten, but if I did, number one would be Witcher 3. A masterpiece.

johnny_ultimate

In alphabetical order:

The Beginner's Guide - can't make a personal list without mentioning the story-led games often dismissed as 'walking sims', a new school of game design that gave me many wonderful experiences over the past 10 years. But it's The Beginner's Guide - the strange, funny, startlingly intimate masterpiece from Davey Wreden - that's my choice.

Bloodborne - you could put Dark Souls in here too if space wasn't such a premium (10 is such an arbitrary number), but Bloodborne will do. For me it the highlight of From's oeuvre for a) its intoxicatingly bleak, gothic world and b) design that demanded aggression and risk-tasking.

Johann Sebastian Joust - There was a resurgence in local multiplayer these past few years which was so wonderful - many of my best gaming memories are linked to the likes of Overcooked, Mario Chase, Towerfall Ascension, Fibbage etc... But it's Johann Sebastian Joust's gracefully simple gameplay that perhaps stood out most. If you've never had five or six players jousting with Move controllers in darkness, you're missing out

Kentucky Route Zero - We have an episode to go, so Cardboard Computer doing their best to feature on next decade's list as well.

The Last Guardian - a rare glimpse into a world where advances in technology are used to explore themes, characters and gameplay alike rather than just deliver more beautiful vistas. The wait was long; the final experience as stirring and unique as I could have hoped for.

Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - the game that comprehensively and thrillingly ruined every other open-world video game.

Naissancee - I'm sure everyone has found a game that feels like it's designed specifically and only for them. Naissancee is mine - a gorgeous, wordless journey through towering, endless megastructures. (I could also include Hohokum here as a 'designed for me alone' choice)

Outer Wilds - games typically don't do endings well, which is understandable in some ways: it's hard to put a satisfying narrative punctuation mark after what could be dozens of play. Outer Wilds' ending, in contrast, makes the hours of wonderful exploration and discovery seem even grander, richer, more tragic, more joyful. One of the greatest games of all time.

Return of the Obra Dinn - design so outrageously ingenious and satisfying it makes you want to stop a stranger and yell 'video games!'. Please don't do that, as it might startle the person. But do play this game.

Threes - Please ignore the inferior clone of this that tonnes more people played because it was free. Accept no imitations: Threes is puzzle nirvana.

That's ten. Hurts to not include these other ten: The Witness, Inside, Dark Souls, Celeste, Hohokum, Tetris Effect, Bayonetta 2, Papers Please, Journey, the entire '10s output of Simogo.

Sonics2k

Oh this is a tough one, I don't even think I can come up with a full 10 games that really captured me this decade.

The Witcher 3 (2015)
This takes my top spot. I went in to this game with very low expectations and had no intention of buying it on release day. I'd vaguely enjoyed Witcher 1 but hated the gameplay of it. I ended up buying it either on release day or just after simply because the reviews were so damn good. I think it was a Jim Sterling review that convinced me to pick it up.

I think at this point I've played through it 4 times and on my 5th playthrough now. After all this time I'm still impressed by the scenery, the atmosphere, the characters and especially the side stories.

Rest will be in no particular order.

Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017)
This is just a great game, not massively immersive but it's beautiful and fun gameplay and all the exploration you can endure.

Last of Us (2013)
I honestly only got around to playing this in the last few months. Gameplay isn't the best, but it's such a damn compelling story.

Assassins Creed: Black Flag (2013)
Probably the only AC game I can play over and over again, and will happily finish the story of. Pirate + Assassin gameplay. What can go wrong?
Kenway is a good lead character, the ships and taking over other ships is great fun. And unlike some of the more recent AC games, features lots of actual Assassination gameplay.

Spec-Ops: The Line (2012)
Imo one of the most under-rated Shooter games out there. The story is absolutely fantastic, and it would be being based off A Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now.
On first approach it looks like your typical hoo-haw American Army off to save the day shooting game, but it quickly changes pace when **** hits the fan.
Play this game if you haven't.

Portal 2 (2011)
Look, if you haven't played Portal 2. You've missed out. It's ****ing fantastic and you need to go play it now.

World of Warcraft: Classic (2019)
Okay so this one is a bit cheeky I'll admit it, as it's technically from 15 years ago. Blizzard finally released a Classic version of Warcraft to astounding success. No matter your opinion or enjoyment of the game itself, its impact on MMO's and gaming itself was massive. In the case of Classic, it's done a great job of showing Blizzard (and other companies) that sometimes less is more.

Canis Lupus

I am still confused by the love the Witcher3 gets. It's pretty, it has nipples and the story/voice acting is good but I'm trying for like the 5th time to get into it and each and every time the sheer banality of the combat breaks my will to play it. 2 swords, same repetitive animations. yaaaawn...

Cina

Canis Lupus wrote: »

I am still confused by the love the Witcher3 gets. It's pretty, it has nipples

I'm sorry but what more could you possibly want?

Penn

In absolutely no order:

Portal 2
An absolute joy throughout. The puzzles, the gameplay, the writing, the performances, the little details... What an experience.

Horizon Zero Dawn
One of the most stunningly beautiful games I've ever played. The combat was a lot of fun. The story and world they created was a lot better than I thought it'd be and had some great moments throughout. Absolutely loved it.

God Of War
What a surprise this was! How they broke from the original games in terms of story and gameplay, to create something new but still so familiar to the originals, with some amazing setpieces and a great story. Outstanding.

The Last of Us
One of the greatest of all time. Everything about it was so fantastic. Deserves every bit of praise it can get, but I'm not verbose enough to be able to do it justice.

Resident Evil 2 Remake
Another one that took me completely by surprise in how they retained so much of the original, yet created something that felt so fresh. As much backtracking and replaying the same sections in different scenarios as there was, it was never dull to me.

Yakuza 0
My first Yakuza game. Let's face it, for the most part it's absolutely bugnutty batsh*t crazy in terms of story, characters, side missions etc. But so much fun to play and so much enjoyment to be had from the little things.

Overwatch
I loved Overwatch. One of the most fun multiplayer games I've played. The range of characters and abilities, the style of the game, the regular (free (yes, because of the lootbox monetisation, but still, free)) updates. Threw a lot of hours into it because it was always so easy to just pick up and play.

Borderlands 2
One of my favourite games of all time. They just got everything right for me. As bad and cringy as most of the humour/writing was, it had a lot of genuinely great bits too which always made me smile.

Grand Theft Auto V
Barely ever touched online, but never needed to, because the single player story mode was amazing. A welcome return to form after the somewhat disappointing GTAIV. The map, the characters, the gameplay, the driving, the story, the side missions, the humour... It just did a great job.

Batman Arkham City
I know most will say Asylum is the best Batman game, and in many respects it is, but overall I preferred Arkham City. I loved the map, the gadgets, and combat was improved, the story was a lot more satisfying. Really enjoyed it.


Special Mentions: Journey (what an incredible experience), Devil May Cry V (personal choice as it's a game I pretty much waited a decade for and was worth the wait even if it's not a top game of the decade), and some of the Telltale games, The Walking Dead Season 1 and The Wolf Among Us especially.

The White Wolf

dreamers75 wrote: »

Easier to sort out mine by playtime.

Arma 3
Elite Dangerous
7 Days to Die
Witcher 3
Battlefield 3
Skyrim
R6 Siege

Strange list.

I'm going by playtime then Skyrim would be my distant number 1. Love that game.

gimli2112

The Last of Us
Story telling at it's best imo

Bloodborne
Can't get over how much I enjoyed this, didn't think it would be my thing, I was very wrong

Battlefield 4
Can't convey the delights and frustrations the online MP brought me. Blew me away having become tired of COD. This was from a time when they were very different.

Destiny
Never played a game as much, not sure why but whatever they did, they did it right

The Division
Had its ups and downs but the ups were very ups

Borderlands 2
For a game that had so much I have surprisingly little to say

Horizon Zero Dawn
Loved the story loved the heroine, if I had a tattoo it would probably be of her

Far Cry 3
I thought the intro wouldn't be beat and then I burned a field of ganja with a flamethrower

Remnant from the Ashes
Totally obsessed with this for three weeks. One of the best play throughs I had probably cos I did it with a mate

COD Modern Warfare
Just because I can't get MW2 in although I probably enjoyed Blops 1 and MW3 more as I was more competitive back then.

Glebee

Canis Lupus wrote: »

I am still confused by the love the Witcher3 gets. It's pretty, it has nipples and the story/voice acting is good but I'm trying for like the 5th time to get into it and each and every time the sheer banality of the combat breaks my will to play it. 2 swords, same repetitive animations. yaaaawn...

I was the same with witcher 3. Gave it a few goes and just found it ok. Then all of a sudden it just clickdd and wow. Masterpiece. All games are sort of ruined for me now after the witcher, none can compare.

Greyfox

Glebee wrote: »

All games are sort of ruined for me now after the witcher, none can compare.

The Witcher 3 definitely had the decades best story and many great sub quests although I was also very impressed with the story to Horizon zero dawn and the last of us

Resident evil 2 deserves a special mention, amazing game

73bc61lyohr0mu

Nobody has mentioned Metal Gear Solid 5 yet? An amazing game..

Sonics2k

Decker Deafening Rubber wrote: »

Nobody has mentioned Metal Gear Solid 5 yet? An amazing game..

A Hideo Kojima game.

johnnysmack

Witcher 3 hands down. Nothing else comes close!

Penn

Decker Deafening Rubber wrote: »

Nobody has mentioned Metal Gear Solid 5 yet? An amazing game..

I did consider it, but there was too much that spoiled it in terms of the unfinished story and missed opportunities from the Kojima/Konami breakup. Plus the Mother Base upgrading sh*te by sending troops on missions and getting materials and stuff... that just began to annoy me after a while.

Damien360

Canis Lupus wrote: »

I am still confused by the love the Witcher3 gets. It's pretty, it has nipples and the story/voice acting is good but I'm trying for like the 5th time to get into it and each and every time the sheer banality of the combat breaks my will to play it. 2 swords, same repetitive animations. yaaaawn...

Delighted someone else feels the same. Bored me to tears. The amount of utter rubbish dialog about nothing drove me cracked. Constant cut scenes. Looked very pretty but had no substance for me.

Potential-Monke

Edit: Well this turned out longer than expected!

I'd love to do a list, but I can't remember most of the games I've played this year, let alone over the last 10. I'd need someone to give me a list of every game I've played over the last 10 years before I could make a choice. But, stand out games have been:

God of War - An epic return for an epic man, the single shot (nearly) of the entire game was a joy to play, the combat was on the right level of fun but challenging, and it had an amazing story imo. Even the kid didn't annoy me, and it's a companion kid that usually kills games for me. Possibly my GOTD...

The Witcher 3 - I can't say any more about this that hasn't been said. I was hooked from the get go, and then they release that brilliant DLC. CDPR showed us how it's done.

Horizon: Zero Dawn - For me, this is the one new IP that I truly loved. Great setting, great acting, fantastic characters and even more amazing enemies and combat system. Can't wait for more!

Mass Effect trilogy - Most people would probably pick 2, and they wouldn't be far wrong, but I take all 3 as 1 game, and what a game it was. I made quite different decisions than most, RIP Legion. They really made a masterpiece and then fecked up the ending!

Control - My 2019 GOTY, reminded me of the excellent Second Sight, but with a stunning setting (the Oldest House) and brilliant gameplay (especially after a certain power). Highly recommend this to everyone.

Beat Saber - The perfect rhythm game on VR, and i'd imagine it's 10x better on PC due to the unofficial maps/songs. Still excellent and a VR necessity imo.

Assassins Creed Odyssey - A very different game, but my god what a game. Nearly 100 hours into the main campaign, and I only recently got back into the DLC so still plenty to go. I hear a lot of people asking them to make Ragnarok like the older AC games, but I think it would be madness to go backwards. People also complained that there was less assassiney stuff in Odyssey. Well, yeah, it's set 400 years before the creation of the Assassins Creed, it's a different game taking place in the same universe. Anyway, look forward to more excellence from the AC guys!

AC Black Flag - Definitely think this is my favorite of the 'older' games (pre-Origins). The shanties were brilliant, the naval combat excellent, the characters were fantastic and the setting was perfect! AC2 and it's sequels are close, but I think this pips Ezio's journey.

And now I'm checking lists (and one of them has 'Kim Kardashian: Hollywood' in their top 100 games... ugh):

The Walking Dead S01 - Hooked me straight away, and that ending....

The Last of Us - An early game bug caused my 3.5 hours of progression to corrupt, and it initially took the shine from the game, but a subsequent playthrough confirmed it was a very solid game. I don't think it's as good as others make out, but that's a personal opinion. Can't take away from how it was the PS3 swansong though.

Superhot VR - Played the original on PC and thought it was interesting, but it really shone in VR. Another VR necessity.

Elder Scrolls V - When a game comes out on literally every platform, it's usually a good indication of how successful it is, so Skyrim is definitely successful. And I lost many, many hours to it. Great game!

No Mans Sky - Polarising as the reviews are, it was everything I wanted when it released, a very relaxing space exploration game. It has since morphed into something completely different to the release, and it's a testament to Hello Games as to how they handled the backlash and gave people more than what they initially promised. Still a fantastic game, and the VR support just adds to it (can't wait to play NMS VR on PS5 with proper tracking/movement, hopefully).

Fallout 3 - The best of the series imo, even though most people will prefer New Vegas, but I thought NV lost the appeal of the wasteland. Whereas 3 nailed it imo, and it was amazing from start to end.

Portal - The finest example of first person puzzling out there.

Outer Wilds - It's not on the top list as I haven't finished it yet, but it's definitely a game everyone should experience. The loop is far from annoying, and engages you more. The ending is supposed to be excellent, must finish it soon!

Also, special mention to the following, not because I thought they were good, but because I don't know why I spent so much time doing nothing in them...

Stardew Valley
Minecraft

GhostofKNugget

Potential-Monke wrote: »

Fallout 3 - The best of the series imo, even though most people will prefer New Vegas, but I thought NV lost the appeal of the wasteland. Whereas 3 nailed it imo, and it was amazing from start to end.

Portal - The finest example of first person puzzling out there.

These were both the previous decade...

CiDeRmAn

My top ten probably has a lot of overlap with others, but my favourite games of the past ten years are the following, in no particular order.

1: Bloodborne. Just an exquisite but painful game, punishing but so rewarding. First good reason to own a PS4, possibly still the best reason too.

2: Red Dead Redemption: I'm a long way behind most people, I've owned RDR2 since it's release but yet to properly play it. But the previous game in the series was just spectacular. Someone took all of my favourite westerns and managed to make them into a game.
A play through was as if I could spot the inspirations, this is like Rio Grande, this is like The Wild Bunch, this is like Champion the Wonder Horse...
And crossing into Mexico, with the shift in colour palette and music, one of the standout gaming moments of the past decade to be sure.

3: Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild: I think others have said it far better than I, so that'll do pig, that'll do.

4: Doom: Think you know FPS? Well, this was and still is a cracking, breathtaking romp, story is second to the action which is relentless.

5: Driveclub: I used to play a lot more racing games. And, back in the day it was MSR on the Dreamcast that was the best, for me at least. Flash forward a decade and a half and Driveclub came out with one of the most dreadful releases this side of No Man's Sky. But it got patched and updated and ended up being the most fun I had behind a virtual wheel. No wonder, some of the MSR team were involved which explains some of it!
Even the VR edition was great, though the visuals suffered somewhat.

6: Super Mario Odyssey: This decade had a number of really good games from the platforming franchise, with 3D World also excellent, but Odyssey topped it by bringing me back to the glorious SM64/Galaxy days while also bringing in level after level of new surprises.
Don't let anyone suggest Mario titles are all the same.

7: Micro Mages: A brand new game on really old hardware, this one is on the NES, that's the original cart based console from Nintendo. While the console is mid eighties the game is 2019 and pretty impressive for all the right reasons, a platformer where you are a little wizard making his/her way to the top of each stage. Complete with four player mode, boss battles, great animation, great music too.

8: Everyone's Gone to the Rapture: This was one of those that many seemed to dislike, but it just worked for me.
Felt less like a mix of previous genres and, instead, like a new way to tell a compelling story, closest equivalent being a radio drama but navigable. Beautiful to look at, great acting and story to boot. But that soundtrack, breathtaking, bought it myself!

9: Last of Us: Another triumph of storytelling and possibly one of the best works by voice actors in the medium. The gameplay is all pretty familiar, being the Uncharted DNA is so strong, but the series of atmospheric settings, the horror, pain and sorrow that is interspersed with moments of triumph but never dispelled. You may win here and there but everything is lost, and the game never lets you forget, with the actions of you and the momentum of the story being about preserving civilisation within yourself and those you protect, even when everything else is gone.

10: The Last Guardian: I know some... yes you, hate lots about this game and feel it's just too broken to love, but I see this game as possibly the best the decade had to offer. Ticked every box for me, spectacular to look at, an original story that was thrilling, shocking and moving in equal measure. The controls were... idiosyncratic but simply a matter of learning.
Plus, Trico was the original Baby Yoda, I would have had that beast on everything from t-shirts to bumper stickers if I could have had my way.

Zero-Cool

Outer Wilds
Completely blew me away and the small dev team showered golden shame on the AAA industry. The devs said they want less missions in games and want players to find out what to do by exploring. Designing a game well enough can accomplish this. Hopefully the 20's sees more games of this kind of genius.



Gone Home
I still think about this game time to time. The voice acting, music and atmosphere completely absorbed me into that story, absolutely loved it.


The Walking Dead Season 1
Gave us an epic survival story and Clem, one of my favourite characters of the decade.


Mass Effect 2
So good, I recently bought a PS3 just to play through it again (followed by the almost equally brilliant ME3 - shakes fist at ending)


Batman Arkham Asylum
The greatest comic book video game ever, absolute nirvana for Batman fans.


Life is Strange 1
Another 'Walk 'em up' that has stuck with me since I've played it. Wish I could wipe from memory and play again.


The Last of Us
*Standing Ovation gif*


The Witcher 3
HHMMMM

JimBurnley

I was on a lengthy gaming hiatus for majority of the decade until a few years ago, have to firstly say thanks for everyone on their nominations and comments - really highlighted which of my backlog to get started on next! So much good gaming to look forward to :-) Anyhow, here's the top 5 I've played in the last few years:

Days Gone It had a few bugs on launch, but they honestly never bothered me. Loved the story (mix of Walking Dead and Sons of anarchy), the characters, the atmosphere (going through tunnels at night, yikes), but most of all, it was just so much damn fun.

Spider-Man Who would have thought that just swinging through the city would be such good fun. A cracking game backed this up with a proper comic book story and although a little filler on some side-quests, never became a grind. My first ever plat, and loved every minute

Assassin's Creed Odyssey An absolute beast of a game in size, still to get to the DLC, but the base game itself is more than enough, wonderfully created world of ancient Greece, mystical characters and offering countless ways you can explore & kill, probably the most "open-world" open world game I've ever played.

Beat Saber Delighted to have got into PSVR, really adds a new level/prospective to gaming. BS is brilliant for this medium, easily played in short bursts but likely to last much longer. Just one more song...

Astrobot Another PSVR title, takes inspiration from other platformers for sure, but gives it such polish in VR, it's just such a delight to play. Was literally smiling on every level from start to finish.

Notable mentions: Control, Death Stranding, Firewall Zero Hour (but for lobby frustration/other bugs would have been top 5, fantastic when it works well), Superhot VR, Limbo, Resident Evil 2 remake, Detroit Become Human, Rocket League.

OptimusTractor

GTAV
AC: Origins
Pokemon X and/or Y
Horizon ZD
TLOU
RE7
Outlast
Death Stranding
Destiny (after TTK)
Witcher 3

OptimusTractor

Glebee wrote: »

I was the same with witcher 3. Gave it a few goes and just found it ok. Then all of a sudden it just clickdd and wow. Masterpiece. All games are sort of ruined for me now after the witcher, none can compare.

Once you get passed the drunk Baron the game really opens up. But man one of the worst gaming characters I've ever come across.

Nijmegen

I’m finally getting to the Witcher 3, and it is pretty amazing.

Spider-Man on PS4 is a triumph. Definitely in my games of the decade. Pick up and play and have fun, and if you like your comics then this version of Peter Parker is probably one of the best to be put on a screen.

On playtime Hearts of Iron 4 has a lot from me. I love the series. It’s more of a scenario than Paradox’s sandbox games like Crusader Kings 2, which appeals to me.

PUBG because it made me game with my mates online again for the first time in a long time. Never enjoyed the COD energy drink driven multiplayer shooters. This got me back to the good old days of slowed down tactical romps with mates. Only game over the decade that had me sharing screenshots of my accomplishments with others.

Mass Effect 2. All the feels for those characters.

Kerbal Space Program. Started playing it as a fun explosions sandbox. Ended up learning for reals about orbital mechanics and going on some pretty epic and rewarding DIY missions. In awe of seeing a plan come together and arriving in the sphere of a planet as it looms large, only to use it and one of its moons to slingshot me to another faraway planet I’d land on. Wow.

I’ve been becoming less connected to gaming over the decade and so missed or just couldn’t get into many of the “classics” (GTAV, Zelda, etc), but they are some standouts that spring to mind.

corks finest

Mw3

Xenji

Radiant Historia
Darkest Dungeon
Bloodborne
Overwatch
Slay The Spire
Trails of Cold Steel
The Last Of Us
Stardew Valley
Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse
Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-

Encrypted Pigeon

No particular order, my picks are:

Rocksmith - has taken me from being a ***te guitarist to an Ok guitarist and made it fun to keep practicing.
Darksouls - Frustrated the hell out of me but constantly drew me back. I knew I could beat it and eventually did, what a moment it was.
Celeste - Like the above, a special game that drew me back despite it at times seeming like it was insurmountable.
The Last of Us - I think I enjoyed this more for the story and cinematic's than the game play but it was still awesome to play.
Kerbal Space program - Have followed this game for some time, it is fun and educational, wish I could dedicate more time to it, some people have absolutely mastered it and done crazy stuff in it.
The Last Guardian - Loved this, getting your buddy to do what you wanted at times was testing, but the story and ending was special.
Life is Strange - The end to the story left me a little shell shocked, not often I experienced that and haven't quite found anything that replicated that since.
Skyrim - I mean you just go walking in the night, you stop and look up at the sky and music kicks in and you go wow!
Batman Asylum/City - I cant decide, both felt great to play, the controls were really tight, I was at one with the bat.
Bloodborne - Feels strange picking this as I haven't finished it but it was the reason i bought a PS4, love the atmosphere and the music composition is amazing.

Honorable mentions: Horizon : ZD, Gone home, Senua's Sacrifice, What remains of Edith Finch, To the moon, Brothers - A tale of two sons, Papers Please, Beat Saber. The mentions could go on for while but will stop there.

Penn

OptimusTractor wrote: »

Once you get passed the drunk Baron the game really opens up. But man one of the worst gaming characters I've ever come across.

I actually liked the Baron by the end. It took me a few tries to get into TW3, but I did enjoy it a lot by the end. The main questline in Novigrad f*cking near killed me though. Talk about stretching out the storyline... It really killed a lot of the enthusiasm I had for the game and I didn't get it all back by the end either. Really sullied the entire thing for me, and as I've said elsewhere before, only for I wanted to meet new characters to get new Gwent cards, I may have given up.

73bc61lyohr0mu

Alien Isolation was one of my favourite games of the past decade. Being a huge Dead Space fan I craved a similar game. Granted AI is a tad too long but the atmosphere, story and setting more than make up for it.

Doctor Nick

I stopped gaming from 2009 to 2016 due to personal circumstances. The games that really drew me in when I returned were:

Arkham Trilogy. I'm in the minority but I feel these improved on each new release. I loved the linear story driven Asylum but felt the move to a more open world in City was a great move by Rocksteady especially as it allowed the devs to introduce a lot more villains for Bat's to take down. Then Knight took that to a whole other level. I understand people's frustration with the batmobile and I found it initially very frustrating. Was grand once I got to grips with it. My only disappointment with Knight was the lack of Bosses.

God of War. This one nearly went under my radar as I had no interest in the older ones. My nephew annoyed me enough to try it and wow, what an experience it was. A perfect divide between gameplay and narrative IMO. Absolutely loved it.

Resident Evil 1 and 2 remakes. Also Resident Evil 7 in VR. I honestly don't know how I missed the RE series back when they released originally. Silent Hill 1 to 3 were my favourite games from the PS1/2 era's as were the Project Zero games so survival horror was a genre I loved yet I never played these genre defining games! When I played RE1 remake it really took me back and made me remember why I loved the genre. Resident Evil 2 remake IMO is really bringing survival horror into the modern age. Fantastic game. RE7 VR was another level entirely. Almost **** myself getting chased by a mad man with a chainsaw.

Finally, every single From Software game from this decade. These are probably my favourite games in my lifetime not just this decade. From the frustration of spending hours trying to get past the first area of Bloodborne before rage quitting and trading it in (then spending months thinking about it and buying it again and finally beating it) to taking down Owl (Father) in NG+3 in Sekiro. No other games have got under my skin like these ones. No games have brought so many emotions throughout my time with them. From frustration, to anger to pure rage followed by heart pounding adrenaline, joy and elation. No other games have battered me so much yet made me want to come back and keep trying before finally succeeding. Absolutely fantastic games. Hope it continues with Elden Ring.

Retr0gamer

Dark Souls

Always going to be a Soulsbourne game on this list. It was between this and Bloodbourne but this wins out because the PC release isn't crippled by awful framerates and broken online.

I'd say it's quite simply on of the most important games of the last 20 years but think Demon's Souls deserves that credit. However it took what made Demon's Souls great and expanded upon it. At a time when big release games were boring me to big fat salty tears it was great to have a series of games that actually trusted the player to learn and explore it's systems and world.

Shin Megami Tensei 4

I just didn't enjoy any RPG this decade as much as this one. I loved the world and story. The battle system was excellent. If there's one negative it's that the game is way too easy after the first two boss fights and the world map is terrible to navigate. Also a contender for the best soundtrack this decade.

Atelier Ayesha

I love the gameplay of the Atelier games but the stories often fall flat. Ayesha though was an exception. Ayesha's search for her missing sister was handled beautifully with real emotional pay off. I heard Escher and Logy is better but not played that enough but this stands out as the best I've played of the series and it's getting a rerelease in a few days

Journey

Took me way too long to play this game. I hated flow and hated flower with it's awful motion controls. Journey however was.... a mesmerising journey. One of the few games outside dark souls that did something new with multiplayer. I've only played this the once but feel another play through would sully what was a perfect experience.

Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Triple A games are ****e. Even worse are Triple A games that use the Ubisoft formula. They're garbage skinner box busy work.

Thankfully Breath of the Wild came along to show people how it should be done. BotW's main innovation is like Dark souls, it trusts the player and lets them explore it's world. It's so much more satisfying to discover a worlds secrets yourself than to have a map full of bloated busy work.

What's even more exciting about BotW is that it's not perfect. There's plenty of areas that it can be improved. I can't wait to see what Nintendo do next or what other developers try after learning from BotW. Frankly since BotW exists it's now a crime to release a bland open world game ala Days Gone or whatever Ubisoft release.

X-Com 2

I loved the first X-Com from firaxis but this game improves on it immensely. And even the bits I'm not wild about can be fixed due to just how moddable it is.

Xenoblade Chronicles

This one surprised me. It sound be horrible with all the MMO style side quests but it makes everything so much better with one simple change; you don't have to turn in side quests. It means you can happily accept anything and just organically complete them while exploring the massive gorgeous areas.

Top that off with one of the few real time battle systems that actually requires some tactical thinking and a strangely effective and moving sci-fi story.

Super Mario Galaxy 2

I could have put Mario 3D world or Odyssey here but put the one I enjoyed the most it. Just pure platform gaming perfection the only way Nintendo knows how to do.

Pikmin 3

While everyone was raving about Last of Us, a chest high wall simulator with a decent story, I was enjoying Pikmin 3 far more. Criminally ignored because of the platform it was on, Pikmin 3 really is one of the very best games this generation.

La Mulana 2

Loved the original despite it's sometimes too obtuse puzzles. La Mulana 2 fixes a lot of flaws with the original but still keeps a focus on puzzle based exploration. Still the only series that makes you feel like an actual Indiana jones esque explorer. Not for everyone as you need to take actual notes in this game and can get horribly stuck at times.

Axiom Verge

In terms of indie metroidvanias this is probably the best. The glitch gun changes up the game in interesting ways that manages to differentiate it from other metroidvanias that would be considered for my list.

I feel I'm forgetting a lot of indie games here.....

sweetie

Bloodborne
Dark Souls series (inc dlc)
Sekiro
Hollow Knight
Alien Isolation
Breath of the Wild
Celeste
The last of us
Dishonered series (inc dlc)
Last guardian

honorable mentions: Nioh, Shadow of Mordor, brothers, inside, RE2, far cry 3, dead space 2

No love for Starcraft 2 and it's expansions ffs
One of the greatest RTS campaigns ever created

Mr.Fantastic

1. Breath of the wild
What a game , was absolutely blown away when i first booted it up and climbed my first mountain in the distance. Nintendo really captivated the joy of exploration.

2.The Witcher 3
I had just bought my ps4 in 2015 and this was the second game that I was able to get. For me this was true next gen, was already a fan after completing the witcher 2 on xbox 360. Picked it up used by chance in gamestop.

3.The last of us:remastered
Didn't reinvent the wheel but was really impressed with the story beats and the action set pieces. plus loved the ending what a gut punch.

4.Bloodborne
When I first got this it kicked my ass, but perserved and conquered it a few times. Still have one playthrough to get the plat.

5.Mass effect trilogy
Less said about the last one, the better. Highpoint for me was the second one.

6.Sekiro
Again another masterclass fromsoftware. The parrying system in this is addictive. It does hand your ass to you a few times but the learning curve is not as steep as souls.

7.God Of war
Great story, great gameplay. Was unconvinced when I first heard this , but I got a lend of it and I did not regret it. Amazing.

8. Bioshock
This might be a bit dated now but that twist still holds up.

9.Darkest dungeon
Lost many hours to this game strategizing on the best party to bring into the dungeons. Also loved the stress mechanic even if it was a tad infuriating at times.

10.Control
Just finished this recently but from the gameplay and the weirdness of the story. Was a hit for me, loved alan wake back in the day and this is even better.


Notable mentions

Dead cells
Cuphead
Hyper light drifter
Firewatch
Hotline miami
The messenger
oxenfree
Nioh
Resident evil 2

Atlas_IRL

Super Smash Brothers Ultimate - Literally have 600+ hours into this. My friends who don't play games or own consoles are obsessed with it and we'd play 8hrs straight on the projector without batting an eyelid.

B.A._Baracus

Battlefield 3 (Mainly the multiplayer) Spent many hours playing that game.

Homelander

For me, it would have to be Fallout: New Vegas and Fallout 4. Not without their faults, but what amazing worlds to get lost in for 100's of hours.

Multiplayer wise, Battlefield 4, Halo Reach and Overwatch. Good shout to Apex Legends as well.

FortuneChip

The Last Of Us - Just a cinematic joy, with brilliant characters and story, and the least annoying "escort mission" I've come across in gaming.

Dark Souls - Perfect graduation from Demon's Souls, unlocking the labyrinth, diving into complete unknown areas to arrive back at the Firelink Shrine always put a smile on my face. Tough, but fair, and incredibly rewarding.

XCom 2 - I hate that this game made me grow attached to 2D characters that could die at any moment, and then repeating the process again and again. Wasn't massively sold on the final missions and could be a bit buggy on PS4, but all-in-all, I loved this game. It was so rewarding to complete a mission flawlessly, or unlocking a new tech, or surviving a near death experience.

Rocket League - Simple concept, perfectly executed. I've pumped more hours into this in the last decade than any other game, by a distance. So easy to pick up and play.

Diablo 3: Reaper Of Souls - My first Diablo game, and it's set a high bar. Just good hack & slash fun with tonnes of looting. Always felt like you were progressing.

TitianGerm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Dark Souls

Always going to be a Soulsbourne game on this list. It was between this and Bloodbourne but this wins out because the PC release isn't crippled by awful framerates and broken online.

I'd say it's quite simply on of the most important games of the last 20 years but think Demon's Souls deserves that credit. However it took what made Demon's Souls great and expanded upon it. At a time when big release games were boring me to big fat salty tears it was great to have a series of games that actually trusted the player to learn and explore it's systems and world.

Shin Megami Tensei 4

I just didn't enjoy any RPG this decade as much as this one. I loved the world and story. The battle system was excellent. If there's one negative it's that the game is way too easy after the first two boss fights and the world map is terrible to navigate. Also a contender for the best soundtrack this decade.

Atelier Ayesha

I love the gameplay of the Atelier games but the stories often fall flat. Ayesha though was an exception. Ayesha's search for her missing sister was handled beautifully with real emotional pay off. I heard Escher and Logy is better but not played that enough but this stands out as the best I've played of the series and it's getting a rerelease in a few days

Journey

Took me way too long to play this game. I hated flow and hated flower with it's awful motion controls. Journey however was.... a mesmerising journey. One of the few games outside dark souls that did something new with multiplayer. I've only played this the once but feel another play through would sully what was a perfect experience.

Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Triple A games are ****e. Even worse are Triple A games that use the Ubisoft formula. They're garbage skinner box busy work.

Thankfully Breath of the Wild came along to show people how it should be done. BotW's main innovation is like Dark souls, it trusts the player and lets them explore it's world. It's so much more satisfying to discover a worlds secrets yourself than to have a map full of bloated busy work.

What's even more exciting about BotW is that it's not perfect. There's plenty of areas that it can be improved. I can't wait to see what Nintendo do next or what other developers try after learning from BotW. Frankly since BotW exists it's now a crime to release a bland open world game ala Days Gone or whatever Ubisoft release.

X-Com 2

I loved the first X-Com from firaxis but this game improves on it immensely. And even the bits I'm not wild about can be fixed due to just how moddable it is.

Xenoblade Chronicles

This one surprised me. It sound be horrible with all the MMO style side quests but it makes everything so much better with one simple change; you don't have to turn in side quests. It means you can happily accept anything and just organically complete them while exploring the massive gorgeous areas.

Top that off with one of the few real time battle systems that actually requires some tactical thinking and a strangely effective and moving sci-fi story.

Super Mario Galaxy 2

I could have put Mario 3D world or Odyssey here but put the one I enjoyed the most it. Just pure platform gaming perfection the only way Nintendo knows how to do.

Pikmin 3

While everyone was raving about Last of Us, a chest high wall simulator with a decent story, I was enjoying Pikmin 3 far more. Criminally ignored because of the platform it was on, Pikmin 3 really is one of the very best games this generation.

La Mulana 2

Loved the original despite it's sometimes too obtuse puzzles. La Mulana 2 fixes a lot of flaws with the original but still keeps a focus on puzzle based exploration. Still the only series that makes you feel like an actual Indiana jones esque explorer. Not for everyone as you need to take actual notes in this game and can get horribly stuck at times.

Axiom Verge

In terms of indie metroidvanias this is probably the best. The glitch gun changes up the game in interesting ways that manages to differentiate it from other metroidvanias that would be considered for my list.

I feel I'm forgetting a lot of indie games here.....

You forgot Ace Combat :pac:

Homelander

I think he's saving it for the 1,000 page hardback book he's working on

jones

So many good games...in no particular order (PS4):

The Last of Us (story telling perfection?)
Witcher 3 (knew nothing about it when i got it after about 3 hours LOVED IT)
Mass Effect 2 (so so good - peak of bioware's powers?)
God of War (I loved the original and was not expecting much from this - how wrong was i)
Bloodborne (far superior to Dark Souls IMO)
Farcry 3 (the decent into madness is so well told and crazy open world)
GTA 5 (Game is still top of the selling lists incredible)
Red Dead Redemption 2 (not without its issues but what an open world)
Horizon Zero Dawn
Spiderman

CrankyHaus

Fallout New Vegas - 2010.
Buggy AF on release and surpassed in graphics and mechanics by the successor FO4 the brilliant writing of this game is its saving grace. Compelling characters in a world of moral grey where opposing ideologies of governance clash against a retro future spaghetti western backdrop. Even now I can't play it without laughing at the dialogue options, especially the "remedial" ones you get if you play at level 1 Intelligence. The later iteration with the bugs fixed and enormous modding upgrades available still holds up as a quality game.