Your Top Games of the Last Decade

[Griffith]

I went top three by year for the last ten years, but have it your way with your selection(s). Some of these are toss ups, including some not listed here, and I'm sure I'm forgetting some, but for better or worse...

2018 Red Dead Redemption II, Spider-Man, Mega Man 11, Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon
2017 Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Hollow Knight, Resident Evil 7, Nioh, Horizon Zero Dawn, Sonic Mania, Tap Souls, Metroid: Samus Returns
2016 The Last Guardian, Dark Souls III, Doom, Hyper Light Drifter, Super Mario Run
2015 Bloodborne, MGS5: The Phantom Pain, Batman: Arkham Knight, Fallout 4, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Sword of Xolan
2014 Shovel Knight, Dark Souls II, MGS5: Ground Zeroes, Mario Kart 8, Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff, Alien: Isolation
2013 Tomb Raider, Bioshock Infinite, Zelda: ALBW, Arkham Origins, Gone Home, Papers Please, Tiny Death Star
2012 Diablo III, Mass Effect 3, Angry Birds: Star Wars, RE: Revelations, Crimson Shroud, RE6, Hungry Shark Evolution, The Simpsons: Tapped Out
2011 Dark Souls, Super Mario 3D Land, Batman: Arkham City, Zelda: Skyward Sword, Mario Kart 7, Dead Space 2, Let's Golf 3D
2010 Red Dead Redemption, Fallout: New Vegas, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Mass Effect 2, Limbo, Cursed Treasure
2009 Demon's Souls, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Infinite Space, Plants vs. Zombies, FarmVille, Crush the Castle, Don't Look Back, Tower of Heaven
2008 Mega Man 9, Fallout 3, Braid, Dead Space, Barkley Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden

 

[Kompozinaut]

Dark Souls
Bloodborne
Paragon
Warframe
Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
Minecraft
Castlevania: Harmony of Despair
Call of Duty: Black Ops II
Mass Effect 3
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

I took a look at the top games I played every year, then I put them in descending order of how much enjoyment and time I got out of the game. I cut the list off at 10, but there's definitely a whole bunch of great games I had to cut.

 

[Walter]

This is pretty tough. The release years all bleed together after this much time. As a result, I leaned on "Best Of" curated lists, so the picks are probably missing a bunch of smaller games that I loved too.

2007: Mass Effect / Mario Galaxy
2008: Spelunky
2009: Infinite Space / Picross 3D (fucking solid year for DS) / Borderlands
2010: Mass Effect 2 / VVVVVV
2011: Dark Souls
2012: Crimson Shroud? Fuck yeah!
2013: Gone Home
2014: Shovel Knight
2015: Nuclear Throne
2016: DOOM
2017: Zelda: Breath of the Wild
2018: Dead Cells

 

[Griffith]

I cut the list off at 10, but there's definitely a whole bunch of great games I had to cut.

Same for my top three every year, and some years or games that "won" the year are weird, or wouldn't make my top ten if I just ranked them all by preference because some years obviously have better games than others. 2008 is an interesting case, that was a real "dream" year for me as two games I'd always wanted up to that point, that weren't necessarially ever going to be a reality, was a first person 3D Fallout game and a classic Mega Man exactly like they used to make them and that year I got both. It was hard to decide which to rank first. I probably like Mega Man 9 more now, but played Fallout 3 more, like A LOT more, at the time, and Braid could be the most important of the bunch... but I don't think any of them would crack my top ten this decade. =)

This is pretty tough. The release years all bleed together after this much time. As a result, I leaned on "Best Of" curated lists, so the picks are probably missing a bunch of smaller games that I loved too.

Yeah, I had an even more rudimentary method, basically googling "best video games" and the year so then I had to think for the indies, but I usually ended up cutting those anyway because it's kind of hard comparing the experience of games you liked or even loved for a few hours to 20-30+ hour AAA titles that are, hopefully, pushing the envelope somehow themselves. Sometimes it was like comparing great poems or short stories to novels; unless the novel is bad, it's going to have a bigger impact by virtue of format. Some made the cut like Braid because it literally changed my perception of reality at the time (I began casually trying to rewind time before realizing I could only do that while playing the game; that's a good game). Limbo made it on there because I played it through a couple times and there wasn't anything else I was excited to include, like ME2. I guess it's possible for a favorite game to still be a disappointment to you, like DS2, which I've played 10 times as much as Shovel Knight (play time isn't everything of course, I didn't put Star Wars Angry Birds or 3DS Golf on there despite playing them way more than some on the list). Anyway, before I cut it down to three each year I had included smaller, shorter games like Don't Look Back, Crush the Castle, Gone Home, Tower of Heaven, Sword of Xolan, and Papers, Please (I probably only played them because of you and Aaz anyway =). Then there were games I thought of like Cave Story, RE4, MGS3, and SotC only to realize, "Damn, those games are 15 years old... Damn, I'm old."

Update: Fuck it, I'm blowing my list out, no limits. And I'm going to go back further.

2018: Dead Cells

Well, I didn't know it was your favorite of the year so far. I'm going to have to jump into it now that I beat Hollow Knight (though only like 76% complete, so plenty more to do).

 

[MASTER-AMIR]

2007: Halo 3
2008: Grand Theft Auto IV , Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
2009: Dragon Age: Origins ,Halo 3: ODST
2010: Red Dead Redemption ,Halo: Reach,God Of War 3
2011: Dark Souls , The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Dragon Age 2
2012: Mass Effect 3, Far Cry 3, Hitman: Absolution, Darksiders 2
2013: The Last Of Us, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, BioShock Infinite, Grand Theft Auto V
2014: Dark Souls 2
2015: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Bloodborne
2016: Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, Dark Souls 3, DOOM, The Last Guardian
2017: Horizon Zero Dawn, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
2018: God of War. And Soon Red Dead Redemption 2

 

[Cyrus Jong]

I guess my Top 10 games of the decade would be, in no particular order...

Fallout: New Vegas
Dark Souls
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Trine 2
XCOM 2
Dishonored
Salt and Sanctuary
Papers, Please
Shadowrun: Dragonfall
Grand Theft Auto V

This may not necessarily be the most honest list though. With how much I played and enjoyed Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, and Bloodborne in comparison to most everything else, they probably should ALL be on this list, but that would make things feel a tad repetitive. Games like Monster Hunter World, Horizon: Zero Dawn, and Nier Automata could qualify, but they still need some time to sink in; they were great when I played them, but are they really great enough to qualify as games of the decade? Only time will tell. And I have mixed feelings about putting GTAV up on the list; I loved the game a lot, but I hate GTA Online and the effect it's since had on Rockstar and the rest of the industry. Well, when push comes to shove, I can always kick it to the curb in the event that I decide to incorporate the other games I have in consideration.

And just for fun, I decided to do what Griffith did, and post my top 3 games for every year of the last decade.

2008: Fallout 3, Valkyria Chronicles, Metal Gear Solid 4
2009: Demon’s Souls, Dragon Age: Origins, Trine
2010: Fallout: New Vegas, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Limbo
2011: Dark Souls, The Witcher 2, Trine 2
2012: Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams, Dishonored, XCOM: Enemy Unknown
2013: Papers Please, Grand Theft Auto V, The Last of Us
2014: Shadowrun: Dragonfall, Dark Souls 2, Deception IV
2015: Bloodborne, The Witcher 3, Shadowrun: Hong Kong
2016: Dishonored 2, XCOM 2, Salt and Sanctuary (with an honorable mention from The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine, which was an expansion pack that frankly could have qualified as its own game)
2017: Nier: Automata, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Persona 5
2018: Monster Hunter World

I have Nioh, but haven't played it yet, so 2017 is liable to change. Monster Hunter World is the only game of 2018 I've actually played through, so that list will remain incomplete for quite some time.

 

[Griffith]

2018: And Soon Red Dead Redemption 2

I appreciate the future prediction. I mean, that's a topic unto itself, but one's anticipation is halfway to appreciation, especially with games. I still haven't fired up Zero Dawn because, despite it looking and sounding good, I just don't have the compulsion to play yet. So instead I'm gaining completion % on Hollow Knight when I'm probably past the point of diminishing returns. Though last night was a lot of productive fun; doing the Hive, White Palace, maxing out the Nail and collecting notches which meant the Coliseum. Good, but way too late, times.

This may not necessarily be the most honest list though. With how much I played and enjoyed Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, and Bloodborne in comparison to most everything else, they probably should ALL be on this list, but that would make things feel a tad repetitive. Games like Monster Hunter World, Horizon: Zero Dawn, and Nier Automata could qualify, but they still need some time to sink in; they were great when I played them, but are they really great enough to qualify as games of the decade? Only time will tell. And I have mixed feelings about putting GTAV up on the list; I loved the game a lot, but I hate GTA Online and the effect it's since had on Rockstar and the rest of the industry. Well, when push comes to shove, I can always kick it to the curb in the event that I decide to incorporate the other games I have in consideration.

You bring up a lot of pertinent issues, starting with the the subjectivity, and honesty, of this, even to oneself. Should I just list the games I played, and presumably enjoyed, the most? One's that had the biggest impact, even, or perhaps especially, in a short amount of time? Should these be high brow prestige titles or any addictive guilty pleasure time sink? What about games that meant a lot to me at the time but I don't think much of now; do I elevate something I didn't care as much for then and don't have strong feelings about but now recognize to have aged better? I've been wrestling with all this and editing my list constantly, even going all the way back to the year of my birth!

I think I'm far from done too because I'm switching all the time (I pretty much elevated the Souls titles to the top of their years because those are the games I've been playing constantly the past few years, even if I don't have the same fervor for DeS I did for Infinite Space because I played DeS later just to appreciate it). Though the exercise has been revealing, otherwise. For instance, check out the mid-90s and particularly '97 and '98! Just crazy franchise-defining and starting classics one after another (I refuse to believe this is truly subjective and just because it was MY prime =). If I was holding to top three I could probably cut down '97, but for '98 its basically impossible for me to eliminate one of the top four that year, they all meant and mean so much to me. It's crazy Fallout 2 isn't #1 in its year because I feel like I lived in that game for a year, but it's up against Oof'nT. I'm tempted to put the original above FFVII too (Mario 3 vs Mega Man 2 is also nuts to me, yet I put Sam & Max above Doom no prob =).

On the other end of the spectrum, the early to mid-2000s were shit, at least for me. I looked at lists of every release those years to find the games I really liked and man was there a ton of mediocre shit out, horrible titles and cover artwork too. I had to reach on some of those just to get to three, and here I didn't want to turn it into simply a list of "games I've played" but ones you could really argue were best in their year.

And just for fun, I decided to do what Griffith did, and post my top 3 games for every year of the last decade.

It is fun, and like I said, I'm still adding, subtracting and moving games. Some games I wonder if I should even have as favorites or more like they were infamous to me, like ME2, MGS2 (maybe MGS4 for that matter), and Code Veronica. I did get a lot of entertainment out of them, even if some of it was for the wrong reasons.

I have Nioh, but haven't played it yet, so 2017 is liable to change. Monster Hunter World is the only game of 2018 I've actually played through, so that list will remain incomplete for quite some time.

Yeah, I half-jokingly put Dark Souls Remastered for 2018 because the only other game from this year I even started was Dead Cells and it's way too soon to tell.

 

[VladimirPutin]

Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Skyrim, Witcher 2 and 3 and that's it.

 

[Rhombaad]

I haven’t played any games from this decade yet.

 

[Grail]

I haven’t played any games from this decade yet.

Same here bro. I just started Arkham Asylum this year. Where's the thread for "Games You Would Have Retroactively Rated Highly if You Had Played Them the Year they Came Out!"?

 

[Griffith]

Same here bro. I just started Arkham Asylum this year. Where's the thread for "Games You Would Have Retroactively Rated Highly if You Had Played Them the Year they Came Out!"?

This is actually an issue I have with my rankings, particularly 2009, the year Arkham Asylum came out, because that game and Infinite Space were definitely the games from that year that blew my mind in somewhat real time, whereas I later played Demon's Souls, which is essentially the style of game that's been my favorite in various forms for the decade, and while I appreciated it's just as good if not better than its successors, I played those successors and had the impact of it from them first. So, do I give Demon's the #1 spot as to recognize its individual greatness and as retroactive credit for the Souls decade, or give a game like Arkham or Infinite Space it's due because those were the games that really blew me away at the time? Sometimes it's really hard to be fair to games you don't come to until later, and there's plenty that were favorites I'd probably never want to play for the first time today because they're outdated or clunky now. It really just comes down to a year with transcendent great games in it. Like I had no issue saying "fuck you 2010, Red Dead Redemption is going to be #1 from that year" even though I came to it later.

 

[Rhombaad]

I haven’t played any games from this decade yet.

Wait! That’s not true. I played Mass Effect 3. So... Mass Effect 3?

 

[Griffith]

Update with my top ten of the 2010s. In order of recency:

2020 Half Life: Alyx
2018 Red Dead Redemption II
2017 Zelda: Breath of the Wild
2016 The Last Guardian
2015 MGS5: The Phantom Pain
2015 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
2015 Bloodborne
2014 Alien: Isolation
2013 The Last of Us
2011 Dark Souls

I tried to keep it simple this time, some of these are better than others (I know which are my top five =), but they're all pretty great in their own way, if not uniquely transcendent like, say, BotW. Fun facts: The two games I've played more than any other on record, Diablo III and MK11, did not make the final cut. DS2 and DS3 are similarly my most played Souls games and didn't make it either. Honorable Mention: Shovel Knight was the last cut, displaced at the last possible moment, literally as I wrote this honorable mention, by Super Mario 3D Land because it might be my favorite platformer ever.

Update: Alien: Isolation replaced Super Mario 3D Land.