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What were your best / fav games of 2010-2019?

List em anyway you like.

My all time fav had to (probably) be Battlefield 4. I think I sunk about 500 hours into it. Ive always loved the BF series and dont get me wrong BFBC2 and BF3 were stunning too but I thought 4 was bonkers.
A closer than close second has to be Skyrim. Nuff said about that one.

Hidden gem award goes to Prey (2017). Seriously if you missed this one - I did - pick it up. Its like a cross between Bioshock, System Shock and Alien Isolation all in one. Superb.

Im actually looking via google at the games per year and realising theres too many to list

I'll give a big shout out to the following however which I either spent a boatload of time with or simply just really grabbed me:

GTA5 (mainly the online heists with friends)
Fallout 4 (not perfect but darn epic)
Alien Isolation (actually I'd put that in the hidden gem category too - loved it)
Doom (really really engaging for just a "first person shooter")
AC Black Flag (this might actually make it into my 3rd fav thinking about it)
Civ 5 (my fav in the Civ series)

Weirdly, a lot of mine are from really early on in the decade...

Batman: Arkham City, 2011.
Mass Effect 2: 2010/2011.

I mean, I would say ME3, but, well, you know... Lets not open that can of worms.

Dragon Age Inquisition, I also really liked, but understand it's in no means a perfect game. - If I'd played more of the Witcher 3, maybe that?

Total Warhammer 2 and Stark Trek Online probably deserve honourable mentions from me as well.

Warhammer Total War 1 and 2 deserve to be on the list. Even though its technically not finished until Warhammer 3 lands, it still stands as the most diverse and biggest Fantasy RTS game ever made.

No other fantasy game offers such a vast wealth of unit and racial varieties. You have to go to turnbased games (and often 2D ones) to get close to the diversity of factions on offer.
Of course the RTS market is very dire at present, with even the good offerings we've had being left out to dry often far too quick, or never reaching a peak profitability that generated sequels or other games. It's great to see TW Warhammer doing so fantastically well I just hope that the next decade might see a return of the RTS in a big way.


RPG wise I would say Skyrim has stepped aside for Witcher 3. Whilst skyrim offers far more of a sandbox experience and can be vastly altered with mods; Witcher 3 just steps above it. Not just for its improved visuals and experience (riding through woods with trees blowing in a storm); but also for its storytelling. The Bloody Baron - a side story that you play through the main game is such a fantastic bit of crafted game story telling that I've not really felt has been part of RPG games for a LONG time.


I'd also give a hearty shout out to Divinity Original Sin 2 - which is a surprise for me as over the years I've never liked larion games. They've always had that feeling of having a good idea, but never the budget to really complete their good ideas. Whilst being bound to a story telling that always felt a bit rough and crude (though not as crude as, say, Sacred 1 and 2). Original Sin 2 is the party questing adventure in the modern engines that I don't think we've really seen since the Baldur's Gate 2 era. It's a huge step forward for them as a company and in terms of the quality of product that they produce. I'd say they've raised themselves up to be "worthy" of the mantel of taking on the Baldurs Gate 3 game that they are now working on.


I somewhat can't support Black Flag being on the list, partly because its the only game where I either have to suffer 10fps slowdowns every few moments or screen tears (I went for screen tears in the end). In fact its the only game I've ever played in memory that has screen tearing so heavily apparent. Which is surprising as its supposed to be a top end game.

I've never gotten the love for the Divinity OS games. The writing is terribly clumsy and a surprising amount of it consists of jerky sentence fragments that use a lot of passive voice and only mostly use English grammar rules. This is especially true in your own dialogue choices, 'tell him you're wondering why an elf would be here' is dialogue that should never be written by anyone, let alone variations of that over and over again in a 40+ hour game.

The tactics layer is pretty shallow. Once you've grasped that poison and oil explode with fire and blood and water can be electrified, you're basically done. Knockdowns and stunlock as much as possible= win.

Red Dead Redemption 2: I know a number of people will disagree with this. But for me, RDR2 is the most immersive game I've ever played. The amount of authenticity and detail in the world is astounding. Even if the gameplay isn't the greatest, the writing, world, and characters pulled me in. Long after finishing it, I still boot it up sometimes just to be in the world and explore.

Caves of Qud: Not technically finished, still in early access. But it's probably my favorite roguelike. The unique setting and tons of character builds make it highly replayable.

Total War Warhammer 2: The best Total War game by far. Combining it with Warhammer was the best decision Creative Assembly ever made. Can't wait to see Warhammer 3.

Bloodborne: My favorite Souls game right behind Dark Souls 1. The lovecraftian setting is awesome and some of the enemy designs are downright unnerving.

Zelda Breath of the Wild: I like exploring in games and I loved how this one let you climb basically everything. The world felt massive.

Batman: Arkham City (as a representation of the Arkham series of beat'emups)

Blacklight: Retribution (alongside Siege, the only competitive shooter I've enjoyed this decade, but I enjoyed BL:R more than Siege so it goes on where Siege doesn't)

Dark Souls 3 (as a representation of the soulsborne series)

Dead Cells (probably my favorite sidescrolling platformer of all time at this point, purely for gameplay reasons)

Doom (RIP AND TEAR UNTIL IT IS DONE!)

Mass Effect 3 (as a representation of the ME series before Andromeda)

Minecraft (because while it is older than the 2010s, it was technically released in 2011)

Stellaris (best 4x game of the decade, easily)

Tropico 5 (as a representation of Tropico as a whole)

Warhammer: Total War (as a series, since it's much more impressive that way than as individual parts)

Probably have more. But these are the ones that still stick in my mind as games I enjoyed. There's games I actually have spent more time on than these, like Warframe or Starbound or ARK, but aren't on the list because frankly they just didn't leave as strong an impression on me.

I'd go with;

Portal 2, a simple(ish) and short game done so well, that trick of not really being that hard but making you feel smart was top notch trixyness

Torchlight 2, now not much more than an average game but got me through my break-up with Diablo 3

FTL, neither my PC nor my reflexes are up to Dark Souls but FTL's wildly fair unfairness was so enjoyable

Ooh this is a hard one, for me it’s between battlefield 3 and 4 it’s really too close of a call between the two. Also really enjoyed Operation Flashpoint Red River. Skyrim’s on the list too along with Mgs Phantom Pain.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is near the top of my list for two reasons. Not only is it probably the most beautiful, detailed and alive setting depicted in games to date and a real technical showcase of the current gen's capabilities, but I honestly rate Arthur Morgan's story as one of the greatest Westerns of all time. RDR captured the feeling of the end of an era, but RDR2 throws you right into the heart of the Western genre experience with a tale that I found utterly captivating, stunning realised through voice and mocap work and complemented wonderfully by the design of the game itself.

I passed it by for nearly a year after release, seeing it played and immediately being put off by the animations-for-everything detail and seemingly laborious pacing, but having eventually played it for myself, I got it. It's not detail for the sake of it, or to extend the length of the game, but it's a reminder baked into the design to slow down, take in what you're experiencing rather than just blasting on to the next mission and running up to the next shooting gallery of baddies.

That comes full circle back to the narrative with how the game puts its characters front and centre; it makes you take it slow in the camp, and as a result of that, you come to notice and absorb so much. How many other games can make you stop and listen to two NPCs discussing a book they read, or have someone sit down and chat with your character not to give them a mission or reveal plot info, just to catch up like actual people would because it's been a while since they last spoke? And then, slowly but surely, it tears all that apart as you watch, helpless for all your control as a player, and it's truly tragic. It's not a game about cowboys or gunfights, it's a game about family, and that family creates what is to my mind perhaps the most immersive story a vdoe game has ever presented me. Not for everyone, but undoubtedly a masterpiece in its own right.



Next up, 2018's God of War, which does that rare thing of marrying a compelling, heartfelt story with some genuinely world-class gameplay (Spider-man PS4 should also get a look in for the same reasons) without compromising on either. Much like RDR2, the production values are one thing, but what really teks it to the next level is that all of that is from a series that, a decade ago, was basically an edgy teenage power fantasy and nothing more. I don't think anyone ever expected to tear up over dialogue from Kratos of all people. It's very much part of the trend that the Tomb Raider reboot started of old franchises 'growing up' a bit, but GoW nalls it in a way I don't think many other games in the similar vein do. And then there's that axe, which is perhaps the most satisfying response to a button press video games offer...



Going back a bit, obviously Skyrim deserves a place here. Oblivion started something, but fell a little short of truly realising the truly special potential of its formula. Then along comes Skyrim, and for the first time, video game worlds felt truly alive. It might be dated now next to the bustling worlds of The Witcher 3 or RDR2 or the recent Assassin's Creed games, but in 2011 it was mindblowing. I can still remember the 'holy crap' moment of first booting up Skyrim on the 360 one Christmas morning, and by the end of the first quest, being utterly transported. The first time a blocked swing clanged off a shield and sent the character staggering back instead of Oblivion's weapons that seem like toys in comparison. The first vista of the Riverwood valley, seeing the towering Bleak Falls Barrow atop a mountain that dwarfed anything I'd seen in an open world before. The sheer scope of the endless character options that kept me coming back for dozens of playthroughs over hundreds of hours, spanning years of real life. And then, the remaster, and getting to do it all over again. Skyrim was lightning in a bottle. It may have been technically surpassed, and its secrets run dry over the years, but it was truly something special and unique and I kind of doubt we'll see it's like again.


Other honourable mentions: Titanfall 2 is hands down the best FPS currently on the market. Dishonored is the product of devs who knew exactly what experience they wanted to offer, and did so with incredible style. The Witcher 3 is still the gold standard for narrative RPGs. I've played only about 4 hours of Dark Souls in the last decade but its influence across gaming cannot be denied.

Fallout 4 and the Arkham series for me.

I’m very, very casual when it comes to computer games, and am far from knowledgeable in the matter.

But Fallout 4 and Arkham? Love ‘em. Even over Spider-Man on the PS4.

No matter how often I play them, there’s always more to do, or to do from a slightly more skilled position.

Arkham in particular is frankly remarkable. Every game in the series, even Origins to some extent, built, expanded and improved upon what came before. And sure, you can absolutely Tank your way through most combats (pleasing for casuals like myself), but you can also Cunning your way round them. And whilst challenging, they never become frustrating. Each time something is tried and failed, the game is just forgiving enough that we edge tantalisingly closer to that given goal.

Much the same with Fallout 4. The only Fallout game I’ve ever played. Even on a ‘I Have No Idea What I’m Doing’ first play through, it’s bloody good fun. And as I replay it (typically in the winter, because reasons), I find myself getting ever better at it. Currently in love with my Assault Rifle, which I found on a corpse because it’s the most Dakka piece of Dakka I’ve ever had the pleasure of plugging someone with. Majority are one shot, one kill. And sniper weapons, suitably upgraded, are incredibly satisfying to use.

Honourable mention for Skyrim too I suppose, though I’ve only played that the once. Points deducted because two people necessary for a quest managed to get themselves ded whilst going to the next location, meaning I had to load a save from days before.... still, I totally get it’s appeal and I will return to it, in due course!

Funny how WoW didnt make my list at all. If that had of been 2000-2009 it would probably have been #1 without doubt.
How it fell from grace.

I would say Skyrim deserves a place on the list. I have not played the Witcher, but Skyrim gave me hundreds of hours of enjoyment with a variety of characters I made myself. It has many flaws, but it is still an incrediby influential game and one I personally enjoyed a lot.

Mount and Blade: Warband was one of my favourite experiences of the decade. I modded it to be set in 7th century Britain and Ireland, and had a whale of a time playing Celtic Warlord, besieging and defending castles and levelling up my troops. Fantastic game.

The Soulsborne series as a whole is a huge part of my list. Dark Souls 1 was an amazing experience. It was the game I bought a controller for, and the first action game in a long time that I really enjoyed. Dark Souls 2 plus DLC was an epic odyssey through a collapsing world that is really improved by three excellent DLCs.Dark Souls 3 is a fitting capstone to the trilogy, and Bloodborne and interesting addendum.

Weirdly, I haven't gotten around to playing Total War Warhammer yet, though I am looking forward to it. Looking at this list sort of highlights how few games I really play, but I get really into the ones I do play. I did play Medieval Total War and I loved that to bits, though.

Had to do some checking to see which ones fit the decade.

DOOM - Did not expect this one to be so good as it was. Great gameplay, awesome little moments and a killer soundtrack.
Factorio - A game we boot up a couple of times a year just so we can see what's changed and launch another rocket or two. I'm not a technical person, so a lot of the more complex stuff is beyond me, but I just love messing around with conveyor belts, simple automated systems and whatnot. There is something immensely satisfying about watching it all happen and finally getting to launch that rocket into outer space.
Ghost Recon Wildlands - "Gakballs! Gakballs! Gakballs! Gakballs!"
Payday 2 - "Try caustic soda....Or hydrogen... No no, wait, soda... Go for that. Yeah." A great coop game that we spent way too many hours on playing. There is something satisfying about pulling off a heist with three buddies and getting away with the maximum payout or by the skin of your teeth when stuff inevitably goes ploin-shaped.
Prey - A lovely spiritual successor to Bioshock with an amazing setting, a great location to explore and quite a bit of freedom in how you tackle everything. Also has a great soundtrack, courtesy of the same chap who did DOOM.
Space Marine - Mark STRONG is captain Titus. Anyway, love this game.
Stardew Valley - One of those games I could happily plug away at for quite some time before I get sick of it.
VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action - A visual novel where the only thing you really do is mix drinks and serve them to customers. But simplistic description aside, the story the game presents you with really drew me in and made me a fan from the first time Jill says "Time to mix drinks and change lives".

Honorary mentions:

Alien: Isolation - A horror game I really enjoyed, despite not being a horror fan at all. Biggest personal annoyance I had with the game was that the final act dragged on way too long. But still good fun, with a great atmosphere and an awesome setting to explore. One of the few games I went out of the way to explore every nook and cranny to get every ID card and whatnot.
Final Fantasy XIV - Not an MMO fan at all, but obnoxious fetch and travel quests aside, I really enjoy this one. Especially after I've ditched Dragoon for Machinist.
Saints Row: the Third - Not as big as the second game, but still loads of fun. The amount of cameos they managed to cram into this one was just insane. There's also a nice mix of "regular" missions and bigger set-piece ones to break things up. Though.. regular is just about everything cranked up to eleven with this game. Like the escort missions, but with a tiger in the backseat (to conquer your fear, it makes sense in game, sorta) or having a wrestling match where you get to use a chainsaw on rival luchadores, that's what makes Saints Row so awesome to me. Also a great game to mess around with in coop.
The (rebooted) Tomb Raider series - Never been much of a platformer fan and I've never liked the original games, only played the first game in the first rebooted trilogy and it was fine, but I quite like the most recent reboot trilogy, so much so that I've spent way more time than I ought to have trying to 100% all three. Okay, the first and second games have way too much in common story-wise and the games are awfully dark and depressing at times, with Lara more or less becoming a full-blown slasher movie antagonist at times, but hopefully Lara will become more cheeky and adventurous again with whenever the next one is coming.

Jeeez was Space Marine in the 2010s?! #old

Double checked that one, just to be sure: 2011.

I loved Space Marine, but I didn't play it enough for it to make my list.

Space Marine was a cracker, it's a shame it never got backwards compatibility on the Xbox One, as otherwise I'd still doubtless be playing it now and then. I remember the multiplayer being great fun too, albeit a little clunky/imbalanced; loved the customisation there.

Would love GW to take another shot at a big, shiny 40k action game at some point. I've been tempted to pick up Deathwing on the PS4, but it looked like a poor man's Vermintide without the variety and design elements that make that one great. But a 40k game in the vein of God of War or Doom depending of the flavour of xenos-bashing you want would be awesome.

 Ratius wrote:
Funny how WoW didnt make my list at all. If that had of been 2000-2009 it would probably have been #1 without doubt.
How it fell from grace.

It might also be that people are focusing only on new games from the last decade rather than stuff that has hung around from before. WoW is also still very big, perhaps not as big as it was but its still a monster and very popular and the WoW classic ahd a huge resurgence. It might also be that its kept going mostly as its same working formula for so long that its a bit like A Dynasty Warriors game - good solid fun but whilst you love it, it no longer "stands out as unique"

More worrying is that Starcraft 2 isn't standing out - which I'd put down to it being a very solid and fun RTS game; but was hobbled by being designed by people who weren't RTS fans. You can really feel it in the campaign (and its not alone Dawn of War Retribution suffers from many of the same problems). Plus I'd say that its decent story was harmed in the same way as Homeworld 2 was - by being written by people who clearly had not read the original material. Or who had read too many concept notes that were later disguarded and never added to manuals/story presented to the players/customers.

Yeah but I felt WoW for me anyways was at its peak with the BC and WotLK packs.
I did play pandora, warlords and whatever the last one was but very fleetingly.

Mentioning DoW reminds me to include the whole DoW2 series. Spent hours on that too.

That is actually a question I asked myself a couple days ago. It probably will be a rather lengthy list, but hey, doesnt matter.
Alrighty, here it goes:

TES V: Skyrim
I don't think there are a lot of people who did not play this game. And frankly, looking at it, it does not seem overly amazing. Great, but not perfekt. However, this changes in my eyes massively if you take mods into consideration. Mod transform this game to godlike proportions with endless possibilities to change the game to your liking, which is why I see this as my modifyable game of the decade.

Witcher 3
Witcher 3 is for me in some ways the opposite to skyrim, being a frankly nearly perfect base game that does not leave much to be desired, yet is more difficult to modify. In Witcher 3, there are very few aspects I would like changed and I would gladly play vanilla Witcher 3 for its amazing music, scenery, story, characters, quests (especially the side quests!) and dozens other features. If someone has not played this yet, I HIGHLY recommend!

Rainbow Six Siege
Disclaimer: I picked this game for its fun potential when played with friends. Playing it alone, it is not fun at all to me, due to the... less friendly player base and the reliance on teamwork. But I have the fortune to have a number of good friends who also play that game and when played in a group, it is amazing. Coordinating a attack and just crushing the enemy team, baiting a lone attacker in a trap with other teammates... I just absolutely love this game when played with friends.

Payday 2
Payday 2 is for me great relaxing game, perfect to just jump into a heist and do dumb stuff. Sure, you can try to coordinate and all, but for me it is all about trying to rob a nigh impervious place through stupid game choices (looking at you, detection from head to head). I also have to admit I loved the Payday 2 storyline with its stupid Lovecraftesque stuff and all. Also, it is dirt cheap when on sale (I think something like 1 Euro or something during the Steam Christmas sale?).

Starcraft 2
Having grown up with mostly older games like Warcraft 3, Stronghold or Starcraft & Broodwar, I kind of stopped playing RTS when I got my first own PC (and not using my brothers old PCs). But when Starcraft 2 was released, I immediately got hooked, as I was remembering the good old times. I never played online, but the campaign and the coop mode are amazing to sink some time into.

So yeah, these are the games I would pick as my games of the decade, each having a sort of "category".
Honorary mentions:

Fallout New Vegas
My fist Fallout game and I adore this game. However, it just did not make the cut as a game of the decade. Witcher 3 is a much more polished "standalone" game, whereas Skyrim is just more customizable. However, a well-modded (which is necessary, as the vanilla status of FNV is not very polished) is an absolute , if a bit old-school blast I still adore and also recommend.
Overwatch
I have not sunken nearly as many hours into OW as in other multiplayer games, yet the ones I played were really enjoyable. However, it suffers from the same problem as R6S, as it sports an immensly toxic commmunity, so solo-queuing is highly advised against. But with a group of friends that can coordinate, great game. (Disclaimer: my playtime was back in 2016 and 2017, so I do not know the state of game today, what with OW2 and all.)
Assassins Creed: Origins
As a former hardcore Assassins Creed fan, I found Origins to be refreshing in a number of ways. It still follows the same principle, but with a better story and more enjoyable gameplay in my eyes. I also loved Syndicate as well as Odyssey and enjoyed all the other parts (especially AC3), but I think Origins is my favorite of the bunch.
Assassins Creed: Black Flag.
Wait, don't I already have a AC game in this list? Yes, but for me Black Flag is only an AC game in its name and a couple of gameplay elements, but it does not feel like one. It is for me an awesome pirate game I love to bits. The story is in my eyes a bit wierd, but hey, sailing around in your own ship, engaging enemies as you see fit and looking for treasure on a lone island, what's not to like?

I will just stop here. There are probably a lot of games out there I forgot, but these 9 are the ones that came to mind.

Wel, we've also got another year of games for this decade (yes, its 1-10, not 0-9), so its a bit premature anyway.

I suspect Cyberpunk will be on a lot of lists (or be a total bomb)

Decades are arbitrary in any case, so people can do this whenever they want can't they?

 Ratius wrote:
Funny how WoW didnt make my list at all. If that had of been 2000-2009 it would probably have been #1 without doubt.
How it fell from grace.

Depends entirely on who you ask. WoW was influential due to its sheer size, but whether or not it was "game of the decade" is very opinion-based. Not everything influential is good.

Europa Universalis 4 gets a shout-out from me. Grand strategy at its finest.

 Da Boss wrote:
Decades are arbitrary in any case, so people can do this whenever they want can't they?

They...aren't arbitrary. Its 1-10 (11-20, 21-30, etc) every time, otherwise you have decades that aren't ten years. And they're definitionally ten years.

I mean sure, you can pick something from the first nine years and decide that anything this year is automatically crap for whatever non-reason you care to give, but if you're defining the best of the decade, you really ought to see what's in this decade first.

Decades are a social construct. They are arbitrary.

 Da Boss wrote:
Decades are a social construct. They are arbitrary.

Their social significance is, but the decade itself is not.

What's even the point of this argument again? Just let people enjoy talking about their favorite/best games of the past ten years.

 Melissia wrote:

 Ratius wrote:
Funny how WoW didnt make my list at all. If that had of been 2000-2009 it would probably have been #1 without doubt.
How it fell from grace.

Depends entirely on who you ask. WoW was influential due to its sheer size, but whether or not it was "game of the decade" is very opinion-based. Not everything influential is good.

WoW is a strange beast, it was an online game that arrived before the Internet as it is now and bumbling through the raids having to figure stuff out for the Guild set-up you had for the first couple of xpacs was, for me, a big part of it, now its all, check the yt, stack stat/gear x, shout at people in lfr for not doing world first dps, which admittedly happens to any game, but I done kill Arthus so winning

Meanwhile, I found it so boring when it first came out that I couldn't play it for a month total (and never renewed my subscription) and felt pretty much any of the other MMOs I'd ever played at that point was better in basically every way.