Game of the decade!!!

[madhair60]

What's your favourite game released 2009-2019?

[Chollis]

witcher 3, not even sorry

[Utter Shit]

Probably one of the Football Managers, but Red Dead Redemption 2 comes close.

[Jim Bob]

Your Mum.

[madhair60]

Your Mum.

well there was no need for that!!!!

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Cripes, that's a big question!

I've probably sunk more hours into Hotline Miami or Broforce than anything else in the last several years. Neither of them feel particularly important or clever (even with HM getting all meta in its story) but they're endlessly playable.
If we're allowing 2009, despite that being the previous decade, I might nominate that great sandbox game with "Red" in the title... Red Faction Guerilla. Haha! I've blown your mind with my misdirection - just like I blew up all the buildings in that game. Again, it's not big or clever, but smashing stuff up is terrific fun.

[remedial_gash]

Probably either witcher 3 for most time spent or more recently dead cells for both time time, fun and low price.

Having said that probably spent more time on mame playing cave shmups than any single game - no I am not bosto in disguise.

[Jim Bob]

well there was no need for that!!!!

Quite right.  I apologise.  I meant to say 'your Mother'.

[Inspector Norse]

Things that come to mind as leaving a big impression or getting me coming back to them for a long time:
Mass Effect 2
Skyrim
Dead Space 2
Witcher 3
Red Dead Redemption 2
Dishonored 1 & 2
Various iterations of Football Manager
Various iterations of FIFA until I gave up because they completely fucked the online game
Two or three things involving getting repeatedly shot by gurgling German students

Probably RDR2 or Dishonored for the BIG PRIZE

[Emotional Support Peacock]

BOTW

[bgmnts]

I suppose either Mass Effect 2, Dishonoured or Batman Arkahm City, Left 4 Dead 2, Assassins Creed II.

Too many really, would maybe have to categorise them.

[Jerzy Bondov]

I don't know

[Pink Gregory]

Was Bayonetta post-2010?

[The Culture Bunker]

Mass Effect 2, probably 3 as well. Yes, yes, duff ending, but I enjoyed it loads apart from that.

Fallout: New Vegas was excellent. Been through that three or four times.

XCOM: Enemy Within + XCOM2 - hugely enjoyable, wish a third game was out tomorrow. In fact, I loved them so much I also put a lot of (worthwhile) time into Phantom Doctrine, which is basically just a XCOM clone.

From a VFM perspective, I paid about £5 for Bomber Crew and got loads of hours out if it.

I found myself wishing at the weekend for a 'Wing Commander' style game. I guess like Mass Effect, but space combat rather than on the ground. Any candidates?

[Kelvin]

Breath of The Wild is the best game ever made, and even after playing through it /watching others play through it for hundreds, maybe thousands of hours, I still feel giddy when I think about it.

That.

[madhair60]

Breath of The Wild is the best game ever made, and even after playing through it /watching others play through it for hundreds, maybe thousands of hours, I still feel giddy when I think about it.

That.

Sorry it is not BOTW. I forgot to put that in the OP.

[Pink Gregory]

Dishonored
Prison Architect
Firewatch
Life is Strange
Into the Breach
Hollow Knight
Dark Souls
Bayonetta
The Wonderful 101
Dungeon of the Endless
Don't Starve
XCOM
Mini Metro

Wish I was more into puzzle games or something but there it is.

[magval]

Excluding sequels, The Last of Us, Spider-Man or Guacamelee.

Including sequels, Arkham City, Galaxy 2 and Odyssey, Infamous Second Son (forgot how much I loved this til I was looking back over what all I'd played) and God of War III.

Including REMAKES, well, it's just all the million new ports of Resident Evil 4 like.

[Pink Gregory]

I don't think I'll ever re-play Guacamelee, but the week I spent in its company (or 12 hours according to Steam) is treasured.

[Jerzy Bondov]

Okay here you go

Jerzy Bondov's Games of the Decade

On a personal level I've had a brilliant decade. Getting on top of being a mental, getting married, having kids. On a personal gaming level it's also been good. I went into the decade playing on my Xbox 360 and I'm coming out of the other side with my Switch. Had a PS4 and a PS Vita in the middle as well. This was the age of Kickstarter, Gamergate and indie games about depression. Looking at my top 10, it's also the decade I decided Japanese games were good again. Well done to the Japanese, a great bunch of lads.

Honourable mentions before I start: Tomb Raider 2013, Until Dawn, Rock Band 3, Inside, 428 Shibuya Scramble (technically from 2008), P.T.

10. Tetris 99
They took one of the best games ever made and found a way to make it give you high blood pressure. This is the only good online multiplayer game.
BEST BIT: Getting nicely pissed off.
WORST BIT: Getting too pissed off.

9. Mass Effect 2
I actually liked the third one, but this was obviously the best. Flying around space, being rude to people, shooting stuff. Played this through twice.
BEST BIT: Shagging Garrus
WORST BIT: Everything with Miranda.

8. The Legend of the Zeldas: Breath of the Wilds
I surprised myself with how low this ended up on my top 10. I loved it and was obsessed, but when I beat Ganon I didn't feel any need to go back. 70 hours well spent.
BEST BIT: The cooking music.
WORST BIT: Following the Korok through the forest without being spotted.

7. The Last of Us
Here it is, one of the only games with both good writing and good combat. The ending is brilliant. No arguments allowed.
BEST BIT: The ending – the second best ending in games ever.
WORST BIT: Wrong pricks on the internet not liking the ending.

6. Red Dead Redemption
RDR2 was shit compared to this. The Western game of my dreams.
BEST BIT: Getting accused of cheating at cards and blasting cunts.
WORST BIT: Tedious scavenging (which they increased for the second one)

5. Slay the Spire
They should not have been allowed to make a game this addictive. It should be a controlled substance. Roguelikes, shit. Card games, shit. This game, brilliant.
BEST BIT: When a deck unexpectedly just works.
WORST BIT: The standard enemies on the second floor.

4. Nier: Automata
A sexy girl with a big sword jumping over stuff.
BEST BIT: The true ending – the best ending in games ever.
WORST BIT: When you're broken and have to limp around.

3. Yakuza 0
This was my first Yakuza game. I played Kiwami, Kiwami 2 and 6 as well, but this was the best one because it had both the Pocket Circuit and the Cabaret Club.
BEST BIT: I wanna be your girl uhhh-huhhh-uhh-uhh
WORST BIT: Wife sees me dressing my girls.

2. Bloodborne
Found this incredibly scary but very hard to stop playing. I wasn't very good at it, but I muddled through and I'm very glad I did. Glorious.
BEST BIT: The blood moon.
WORST BIT: Martyr Logarius boiled my piss.

1. Persona 4 Golden
I thought I hated JRPGs. I thought I hated reading reams of dialogue. I thought I hated games where you can really easily miss the good ending, or where you have limited time to get things done. Maybe I still do, but I fucking love P4G. Persona 5 was great as well, but I found this totally absorbing. Perfect game.
BEST BIT: Hanging out with my very good friends.
WORST BIT: Some of the dungeons are a bit boring.

[Dannyhood91]

Bloodborne

Undertale

Horizon Zero Dawn

Soma

Outlast

Arkham City

Spider-Man

RDR2

[The Boston Crab]

Super Mario Galaxy 2 has to be up there, perhaps the best game on the Wii. It lacked the mystery and shit your pants impact of the incredible first game but it's tighter, no messing, straight into the top tier shit, never drops off. An incredible final flourish for an amazing, much-maligned and misrepresented system.


Skyrim is a game I've played for hundreds of hours and I don't remember ever finishing the main quest but loved every second. Even now that open worlds are ten a penny, nothing including BotW has captured the soul that seems to seep from every jagged rock and flat textured plain of Skyrim. Tonally, all that elf stuff and imperial shit should be total Chrohn's but it's perfectly consistent and sincere. You can't help but buy into that stuff. Whiterun is a place I would love to settle down and die. On top of that, you have one of the greatest soundtracks of all time. I listen to it at least once a week while reading in bed. I can't tell you how much my reading of the Berserk manga is associated with the Skyrim soundtrack. It's incredible and despite all the advances with mods and everything, I still love playing it in bed in handheld on the Switch. I'll be playing this until I die and I don't think they'll ever be able to capture this atmosphere and janky ambition again.


Demon's Souls is a cheeky pick because it came out in '09 in Japan and America but it was June 2010 over here. It was also my first Souls game and while I think Dark Souls has a much richer, more cohesive world and a more holistic concept and incomparable environmental storytelling and more variety and a much more streamlined experience, barring some shit sections in the final third, Demon's Souls basically did all of it first. I know it's disingenuous perhaps to say SMG2 was better than SMG because it was more streamlined and then say that Demon's is better for its originality but it is, and even now, it has an otherworldly impenetrable mystery that even Dark Souls can't reach. I'd never played anything like it, I didn't even know about any Wiki or community elements or builds or any of the secrets or how online worked. It was just me, the game and my red raw arse for hours and hours. I eventually shelved it until way after I'd played and adored DS2 and then fallen properly in love with DS but going back, there's still something very special about it. I really do hope that Bluepoint are remaking this, and I especially hope they don't fuck it up.


There are lots more games which I've played a lot and really enjoyed, stuff like MGSV, Far Cry 3, The Last of Us, Bloodborne, DriveClub, The Binding of Isaac, amazing fun at the time and games I've absolutely rinsed. Stuff on the Switch like ARMS, Splatoon 2, Odyssey, I've caned these brilliant games and loved them. There have been some fantastic modern shmups like Rolling Gunner and I could be extra cheeky and say Espgaluda 2 Black Label or Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu Black Label or Mushihimesama HD which came out this decade on the 360, all amazing.


Forza Horizon 4 made me get a One X and a 4K telly and I rinsed it, often laughing with excitement, sometimes even with a lump in my throat at the exhilarating beauty. Witcher 3 brought me greatest comfort night after night when my wife was in hospital and then recovering, a wonderful escapist atmosphere. Tetris Effect did make me cry, especially in VR, the only game on the format which I really feel compelled to go back to. Rez Infinite was also wonderful, especially that very first experience of Area X. I've really enjoyed the likes of Horizon Zero Dawn and AC Odyssey over the last couple of years despite finding them rather cookie cutter in their design. Both had a heart and warmth and an incredibly beautiful aesthetic which drew me into their otherwise repetitive loops.


The best, though, and an experience I can neither describe, repeat nor go back to is Breath of the Wild.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Upon further thought, the correct answer is Doom 2016.

[Consignia]

There's a lot of words in this thread which aren't "Tetris 99". Which given the subject is baffling.

[Jim Bob]

Was Cuphead this year?  I dunno but either way, Cuphead!

[QRDL]

3 games I would love to have erased from my memory just to experience fresh again are:

Return of the Obra Dinn
The Witcher 3
The Witness

I would have to give it to Obra Dinn but Witcher is very very close.

Honorable mentions go to high adrenaline action:
Hotline Miami
Doom 2016
Shadow Warrior 2013 (if it was trimmed of some dull sections I'd prefer it to Doom)

I'm sure I would love BOTW, but I can't get it to run in CEMU at 60fps at normal speed and can't be bothered to investigate any more.

[kidney]

top 10 off the top of my head:

The Witness
Return of the Obra Dinn
Lisa The Painful
Kenshi
Dota 2
Factorio
Breath of the Wild
Dark Souls
Animal Crossing New Leaf
Fallout New Vegas

[Lemming]

In the end you have to hand it to Fallout: New Vegas. Came along at a time when the RPG genre had been more or less beaten into the ground by the shitty Diablo clones of the 2000s, and changed what people expect from an RPG to the point where we're still feeling it's legacy on new games made now - nearly a decade later. It also still seems to find a constant stream of people playing it for the first time even today (many of whom were literal infants when it was released), and is a firm cornerstone of pop culture/internet culture all these years later - so much so that it's clearly played a key part in Bethesda's downfall over the latter half of this decade, with all their Fallout releases (rightly) doomed to be measured up against New Vegas, and inevitably found lacking.

In fact, New Vegas' power is so extreme that it seems to have gotten Fallout 3, beloved by the mainstream at release, retroactively revised by many gamers into being an example of everything wrong with Bethesda's approach to roleplaying games.

It's also vaguely miraculous that it exists at all, given that Bethesda giving ex-Fallout 2 devs the chance to work on a new Fallout game was about as likely as pigs flying through a frozen hell during a blue moon. On top of that, Obsidian have only made disappointments ever since (IMO, obviously). I don't know how a team that usually can't tell their arse from their elbow managed to pull together New Vegas in such a short timespan. There's seriously something inexplicably mystical about New Vegas' very existence.

Honourable mentions:
FTL: Faster Than Light, which started a genre of copycats which have never even come close to matching the original
Dishonored, which made the stealth genre more "casual" and accessible but preserved all the fun
Mount & Blade: Warband, for doing something nobody else has really tried, and doing it well. Underrated multiplayer too
Skyrim, for being the best expression of Bethesda's formula and a great sandbox experience in its own right

[bgmnts]

In the end you have to hand it to Fallout: New Vegas. Came along at a time when the RPG genre had been more or less beaten into the ground by the shitty Diablo clones of the 2000s, and changed what people expect from an RPG to the point where we're still feeling it's legacy on new games made now - nearly a decade later. It also still seems to find a constant stream of people playing it for the first time even today (many of whom were literal infants when it was released), and is a firm cornerstone of pop culture/internet culture all these years later - so much so that it's clearly played a key part in Bethesda's downfall over the latter half of this decade, with all their Fallout releases (rightly) doomed to be measured up against New Vegas, and inevitably found lacking.

In fact, New Vegas' power is so extreme that it seems to have gotten Fallout 3, beloved by the mainstream at release, retroactively revised by many gamers into being an example of everything wrong with Bethesda's approach to roleplaying games.

It's also vaguely miraculous that it exists at all, given that Bethesda giving ex-Fallout 2 devs the chance to work on a new Fallout game was about as likely as pigs flying through a frozen hell during a blue moon. On top of that, Obsidian have only made disappointments ever since (IMO, obviously). I don't know how a team that usually can't tell their arse from their elbow managed to pull together New Vegas in such a short timespan. There's seriously something inexplicably mystical about New Vegas' very existence.

Honourable mentions:
FTL: Faster Than Light, which started a genre of copycats which have never even come close to matching the original
Dishonored, which made the stealth genre more "casual" and accessible but preserved all the fun
Mount & Blade: Warband, for doing something nobody else has really tried, and doing it well. Underrated multiplayer too
Skyrim, for being the best expression of Bethesda's formula and a great sandbox experience in its own right

Obsidian are exceptional.

[Lemming]

Happy to agree to disagree with anyone about post-NV Obsidian. Pillars of Eternity, Tyranny and The Outer Worlds were all pretty disappointing to me, and I didn't play the South Park game because I am not a CHILD

But none of them are outright bad games, just didn't click with me at all. I never liked a lot of the Infinity Engine games PoE is based on anyway, so I don't think I was the target audience.