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 Post subject: Games of the Decade
PostPosted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 13:38 
SupaMod
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So, were at the end of the decade, so it's time to remaniss, and what better way to do that than with a top 5 list?

So, top 5 10 games of the decade! Go!

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 Post subject: Re: Games of the Decade
PostPosted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 13:43 
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Not sure I can narrow it down to five.

Outer Wilds
Deep Rock Galactic
Rocket League
iRacing
Portal 2
Bloodborne
Divinity: Original Sin
Super Mario Odyssey
The Last of Us

-edit- Papers, Please

Honourable mention to GTA V, even though I’ve gone right off the puerile/edgy humour since it was first released in 2013.

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 Post subject: Re: Games of the Decade
PostPosted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 13:48 
SupaMod
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Wow, that happened a lot faster than I expected. Let's call it ten then.

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 Post subject: Re: Games of the Decade
PostPosted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 13:52 
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Most of the games I play now are quick-fix stuff, so they feature heavily in my list -

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth
Rocket League
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Dark Souls
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

although that last one could be swapped out for Arkham City or Streets of Rage 4 perhaps.. all very good, but all a little forgettable too.

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 Post subject: Re: Games of the Decade
PostPosted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 13:53 
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I think for me it will be the ones I have played the most.

Mass Effect ( 1, 2 & 3) as the story continues from game to game, i just liked the universe.
Skyrim - The only game I every got 100% on, put so so many hours into that game.
Assassins Creed Syndicate - Loved the Victorian Set up
God of War 4
Red Dead Redemption - the 1st, not played enough of the 2nd one yet.
Batman Arkham Asylum

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 Post subject: Re: Games of the Decade
PostPosted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 14:07 
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Goodness, the whole decade. In no particular order and no doubt missing things I've completely forgotten

GTA V
Portal 2
Final Fantasy VII Remake
Titanfall 2
Sniper Elite 4
Rimworld
Factorio
Killing Floor 2
The Forest
Stellaris

Also, reminisce.

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 Post subject: Re: Games of the Decade
PostPosted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 14:11 
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Not necessarily in order of greatness.

DOOM 2016 (Although I would say this is the best game of the decade)
Borderlands 2 + DLCs
Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze
Death Stranding
Ghost of Tsushima

If I were allowed to have more.

Dishonored 1 & 2 (Cheeky two-for-one there)
GTA5 (Had a huge amount of fun with both single player and multiplayer)
Hearthstone
World of Warcraft
The Last of Us Remastered
FF7 Remake

'SERIES ENTRY'

All of the Battlefield games I've played over the last decade. (Mainly BF2 Bad Company, BF3, BF4.)

There are loads more in my head I could add as honourable mentions or perhaps switch out for some of those, but I'll go with those as my top ten (sort of ten).

DKCTF perhaps looks a bit 'over the top' as a game of the decade but I hardly ever 100% games, and I did it for that game, and I bought it twice at full price, once on Wii-U and then once again on Switch.


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 Post subject: Re: Games of the Decade
PostPosted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 14:15 
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This is tough but here goes...

Zelda BOTW
Sea of Thieves
Rocket League
Split/Second
Titanfall 2

Those are off the top of my head and Super Mario Odyssey only just missed out... but then again, it probably should be there instead of Titanfall 2... Tough.


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 Post subject: Re: Games of the Decade
PostPosted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 14:26 
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Mirror's Edge Catalyst
Skyrim
Hitman 2
Red Dead Redemption 2
Cities Skylines
Animal Crossing New Horizons
Elite Danglyarse
Subnautica
Papers Please
Gone Home

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 Post subject: Re: Games of the Decade
PostPosted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 14:27 
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KovacsC wrote:
I think for me it will be the ones I have played the most.

Mass Effect ( 1, 2 & 3) as the story continues from game to game, i just liked the universe.
Skyrim - The only game I every got 100% on, put so so many hours into that game.
Assassins Creed Syndicate - Loved the Victorian Set up
God of War 4
Red Dead Redemption - the 1st, not played enough of the 2nd one yet.
Batman Arkham Asylum


NITPICKING!

- Batman Arkham Asylum was released in 2009
- Mass Effect in 2007, 2 in 2010

:nerd:

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 Post subject: Re: Games of the Decade
PostPosted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 14:35 
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10: Doom: RIP AND TEAR

9: Arkham City: The best Rocksteady Batman game IMO, and moving around Arkham was a joy that wouldn't return until Spider-Man years later. I got to be The Batman.

8: Factorio: perhaps the ultimate "I'll just fix this bit before bed, oh hey when did the sun come up" game that exists, this involves math, city-building, logistics and aliens. Christ, it's good.

7: Firewatch: The first walking sim I played, and still my favourite (although EGTTR and Gone Home were contenders for sure), the fact that this one had a tiny bit more "game" got it a place on my list.

6: TLoU2: there may be some recency bias going on, but this would likely be on my "games of the decade" list if it came out next year, too. Just a superb chunk of entertainment.

5: Bloodborne: The height of the Soulsborne series for me (although Demon Souls is on my Christmas list, so I've not played that) it was everything Dark Souls was, but moreso. And the "just keep attacking" style suited me, as you can imagine.

4: Rimworld: A remarkably simple and hugely complex suffering simulation. The abuse your poor colonists have to suffer is endless, and just when things start to pick up: poison ship! Unlucky!

3: Titanfall 2: by far the most overlooked game of the decade - and perhaps ever - TF2 is a genuinely superb game before you call in a giant mech from orbit that super-hero lands with a "KLONG" that shakes the planet. Fucking love it.

2: Portal 2: Perhaps the finest single-player game ever made, everything about it was so polished and perfect and where the fucking hell is the third one, Valve? Shits.

1: GTA Online: it's a big playground where I can hang out with idiots and make stuff drift, fly, drunk or explode. Also I own a nightclub and a superyacht.

Things I can't believe aren't on there: God of War, FF7 remake, X-COM, Sniper Elite 4, Kerbal Space Planet, that Platforming one I never remember the name of, The Forest, Killing Floor 2, Salt & Sanctuary, Spin Tyres, Bayonetta 2, Dark Souls 3, Ghost of Tsushima, RE2 remake, Elite Dangerous and (hrrrrrrn) Eve.

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 Post subject: Re: Games of the Decade
PostPosted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 14:39 
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Dimrill wrote:
Mirror's Edge Catalyst

I heard nothing but bad things about this so I avoided it because I didn't want to tarnish the original (which I loved to bits).
Was that a mistake?

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 Post subject: Re: Games of the Decade
PostPosted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 14:43 
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Grim... wrote:
Dimrill wrote:
Mirror's Edge Catalyst

I heard nothing but bad things about this so I avoided it because I didn't want to tarnish the original (which I loved to bits).
Was that a mistake?


I can sell it back to you

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 Post subject: Re: Games of the Decade
PostPosted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 14:46 
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myp wrote:
Not sure I can narrow it down to five.

Outer Wilds
Deep Rock Galactic
Rocket League
iRacing
Portal 2
Bloodborne
Divinity: Original Sin
Super Mario Odyssey
The Last of Us

-edit- Papers, Please

Honourable mention to GTA V, even though I’ve gone right off the puerile/edgy humour since it was first released in 2013.

GTAV and Portal 2 were this decade?! 8)


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 Post subject: Re: Games of the Decade
PostPosted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 14:46 
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Grim... wrote:
Dimrill wrote:
Mirror's Edge Catalyst

I heard nothing but bad things about this so I avoided it because I didn't want to tarnish the original (which I loved to bits).
Was that a mistake?


Yes/Probably/No. Depends on YE. I fuckin loved it to bits. Atmosphere was excellent, each new part of the city felt distinctly different. Controls were streamlined. Combat was improved (and you're not allowed to touch the guns!). Free running aroond an open woild is luvloi. Some proper hard platform skills needed at times. I've played it through thrice and am feeling the need to do another run.

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 Post subject: Re: Games of the Decade
PostPosted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 14:50 
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Not in order:
Fallout 4
Mass Effect 3
Stardew Valley
Modern Warfare: Warzone
The Last of Us
Portal 2
Skyrim
GTA V

Honourable mentions to tabletop games which took over the second half of the decade for me. Highlights include the all day epic Twilight Imperium, crime solving Chronicles of Crime and Detective, and the ever popular One Night Ultimate Werewolf. and D&D 5e


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 Post subject: Re: Games of the Decade
PostPosted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 15:08 
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sdg wrote:
myp wrote:
Not sure I can narrow it down to five.

Outer Wilds
Deep Rock Galactic
Rocket League
iRacing
Portal 2
Bloodborne
Divinity: Original Sin
Super Mario Odyssey
The Last of Us

-edit- Papers, Please

Honourable mention to GTA V, even though I’ve gone right off the puerile/edgy humour since it was first released in 2013.

GTAV and Portal 2 were this decade?! 8)

2013 and 2011 respectively.

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 Post subject: Re: Games of the Decade
PostPosted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 15:15 
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myp wrote:
sdg wrote:
GTAV and Portal 2 were this decade?! 8)

2013 and 2011 respectively.

I would never have thought of them. They’re on my list now!


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 Post subject: Re: Games of the Decade
PostPosted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 15:20 
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Fuck I need to fit XCOM 2 WOTC into my list somewhere

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 Post subject: Re: Games of the Decade
PostPosted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 15:46 
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I forgot Kid Icarus: Uprising! That needs to be on my list.


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 Post subject: Re: Games of the Decade
PostPosted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 15:55 
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Master of dodgy spelling....

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Dimrill wrote:
KovacsC wrote:
I think for me it will be the ones I have played the most.

Mass Effect ( 1, 2 & 3) as the story continues from game to game, i just liked the universe.
Skyrim - The only game I every got 100% on, put so so many hours into that game.
Assassins Creed Syndicate - Loved the Victorian Set up
God of War 4
Red Dead Redemption - the 1st, not played enough of the 2nd one yet.
Batman Arkham Asylum


NITPICKING!

- Batman Arkham Asylum was released in 2009
- Mass Effect in 2007, 2 in 2010

:nerd:


Oh. But it is when. I played them :)

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 Post subject: Re: Games of the Decade
PostPosted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 16:02 
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I had forgotten about TF2. That was a great game.

And Arkham City. I think I am half way though. Will pick up after GoW

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 Post subject: Re: Games of the Decade
PostPosted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 16:32 
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Everybody's Gone To The Rapture
Beyond Two Souls
Fallout 4
The Last Of Us (remastered)
PUBG
Far Cry 5
South Park The Stick Of Truth
The Division 2
Far Cry New Dawn
Dead Island (and sequels and improved versions)

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 Post subject: Re: Games of the Decade
PostPosted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 16:34 
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Dark Souls (1-3) - Praise The Sun, best game series for me.
Bloodbourne - Gothy gun fun
Yakuza 0 - Batshit brilliant, craziest side quests I’ve ever played.
Astrobot Rescue Mission - Best platformer I've played since The Marino’s.
Resident Evil 7 - BE in a horror film (played through 3 times, I think)
God of War - WAaaaaaaaaaaargh
PUBG - Love and hate it
Portal 2 - Cake/Moon
Last of Us - again, played through more than once, classic.

That’s 11.

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 Post subject: Re: Games of the Decade
PostPosted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 16:36 
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Zardoz wrote:
PUBG - Love and hate it


It's totally a love hate relationship. We did really well again last night, but I know there will be days of suck coming LOL.

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 Post subject: Re: Games of the Decade
PostPosted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 16:43 
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Spiderman MilesMorales
Elite dangerous
FarCry4
Animal crossing New horizons
Just Dance

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 Post subject: Re: Games of the Decade
PostPosted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 23:24 
SupaMod
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Zardoz wrote:
Dark Souls (1-3) - Praise The Sun, best game series for me.
Bloodbourne - Gothy gun fun.

Which one is best?

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 Post subject: Re: Games of the Decade
PostPosted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 23:49 
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Grim... wrote:
Zardoz wrote:
Dark Souls (1-3) - Praise The Sun, best game series for me.
Bloodbourne - Gothy gun fun.

Which one is best?

They’re all the best!

Just remembered Nier Automata... loved that too

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 Post subject: Re: Games of the Decade
PostPosted: Fri Dec 25, 2020 0:10 
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Brothers: a tale of two sons
Xcom 2
Far cry 3-5 because theyre all the same
Ruzzle
Doom
Split second


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 Post subject: Re: Games of the Decade
PostPosted: Fri Dec 25, 2020 0:31 
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I’ve narrowed it down to the following in no particular order but my list only goes back to 2014 when Finish 52 started!

• Below - An ultra difficult survival exploration thing whose atmosphere was so thick and so heavy I couldn’t have enjoyed it anymore.
Astro Bot: Rescue Mission - Better than any Mario game. Don’t @ me. - fuck it, Superhot stays
• Superhot VR - I literally stopped working on some days just to get inside this world where I’m in the matrix.
• INSIDE - Just a perfect game.
Gonner: Blueberry Edition - an ultra difficult roguelike with a Day of the Dead inspired art style that nearly broke me. - I’d knock this off the list if I’ve got Below
• PUBG - the breakout and arguably the best battle Royale game. Stiff and janky but the moment to moment combat loop of playing with friends made me return to it again this year.
• Persona 5 - arguably the greatest JRPG ever made.
• Cuphead - the run and gun shooter and boss rush with the best hand drawn art in any game. Lovingly crafted and extremely hard but clocking it made me feel like a big man.
• Hollow Knight - 2D Dark Souls metroidvania with some brilliant atmosphere and crushingly difficult bosses and platforming
• Super Meat Boy - platforming perfection with some great tunes.
• Zelda Breath of the Wild - probably the first Zelda I’ve properly loved. It’s cute art style hides a sad and forlorn tale in a land that reminded me a fair bit of Shadow of the Collosus. Damn the end was shit though.
• Undertale - It’s no wonder that your character is represented by a heart because this has one giant beating one beneath the retro inspired visuals. The music is terrific too.
• The Last Guardian - ICO and SoTC combine to make this sad tale of a boy and his giant cat dog bird friend as they escape the vestiges of a crumbling castle. The visuals are incredible. See also: the VR demo where you are the boy. Trufax: made me actually cry.
• Dark Souls - the game that coined a genre of game. The tall and wide interconnected world is still the greatest.
Dark Souls 2 - the base game was a step back from
DS1 but the DLC was top tier stuff.
- I could do without this if I had 1 & 3
• Dark Souls 3 - the Dark Souls I’d spent the longest time in of any of them. Friendly cooperation was fun but invasions suddenly became a thing you could spend an hour each night perfecting the best way to screw someone over or just having friendly duels. Suddenly the community had rules about honourable bows before a fight and no chugging. And the world was beautiful too and had arguably The best DLC in any DS game with The Ringed City.
• Max Payne 3 - Rockstar took one of my favourite games and made it into an epic journey. Shooting people in the face hasn’t got much better than this.
Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch - an epic JRPG straight out of a Studio Ghibli film. Which is just as well because they had a hand in this. - I’d take Xenoblade over this I guess
• Deaths Stranding - the story is utter bollocks. But I didn’t play it for the story, I played it to build a giant road. Some great atmospherics and gorgeous vistas in a world where you feel like the last man on Earth. There was something compelling about building roads and finding routes over difficult terrain that just appealed to me that those ‘make a factory’ games just never will.
Xenoblade Chronicles - No, this is the best JRPG ever made perhaps! The game that got me into JRPGs in the first place. Fun combat and a fascinating and brilliant story about people who live on the bodies of two dead giants. The story had twists and turns aplenty. - y’know, if I’m chipping away at the list I’d actually take a Xenoblade Chronicles X over this just for the massive replay value. I can’t not have a XC & a Persona though.
• Xenoblade Chronicles X - Not quite as good as the original but, man, there was something about this new world that was so utterly vast it would take ages to walk across. It takes a while but, by god, when you unlock the mechs the game just gets better and the world gets wider and taller. Plus while XC1 goes up it’s arse at the end, XCX has a great ending that demanded a sequel it never got.

Edit: chipping away


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 Post subject: Re: Games of the Decade
PostPosted: Fri Dec 25, 2020 2:12 
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I know the following would be on there:

Outer wilds. Because piecing together and figuring out the world were great.
Dark Souls Because the world were great, discovering new parts if it, and figuring out how to progress were engaging.
Derp Rock galactic: Well, it's a bit like left 4 dead. but good.


the following would be consideed: Doom 2016. because fast punchy fps. (It's sequel is, unfortunately, a resource management game. and pap.)
Zelda botw: because fun world.
Nu Hitman: because piecing together the world and figuring out how to progress were fun. So long as you weren't killed by a stray tutorial window
Return of the Obra Dinn: Because piecing together the mystery were fun.
Beat Saber: Not much figuring out to do here. Hit stuff
Superhot VR: Not much figuring out to do here. Hit stuff slowly.
Lords of the fallen: Honestly, not just the game of the decade, the game of the millenium It's brilliant.


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 Post subject: Re: Games of the Decade
PostPosted: Fri Dec 25, 2020 3:19 
SupaMod
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Ooh, Beat Sabre is a great shout.

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 Post subject: Re: Games of the Decade
PostPosted: Fri Dec 25, 2020 15:02 
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10: Frostpunk

As a big fan of 'cosy catastrophe' science-fiction the marrying of one of my favourite literary genres with the city builder format was pretty much a match made in heaven for me. Crucially although a dark tale, Frostpunk is never entirely a bleak one, and the satisfaction of creating a little safe space for your poor, beleaguered survivors of the new ice age is one that warms the cockles of your heart.

9: World of Warships

I was sceptical going into this. I'm not a fan of online grind-a-thon shooters with stores beckoning you to spend your hard-earned money on fancy skins and pay-to-win better weapons, but World of Warships surprised me with its excellent mechanics, dedication to (well-almost) historical accuracy and a system where you can spend money on perks and ships, but you don't feel at all cheated or suffer any real disadvantage if you decide not to. It's a simple game to pick up but a tough one to master. Brilliantly though all the tactics and strategy that won the real battles of both world wars work in this one. Resist the temptation to broadside, angle your ship to reduce your profile and increase effective armour thickness. Each class of destroyer, cruiser, battleship and carrier has an important role to play and once you get to the mid-tier ships you're having such fun that you don't feel the grind. It looks lovely too.

8: Total War: Shogun 2

The Total War series by CA reached its zenith strategically, tactically and artistically in this installment set in one of my favourite historical periods - that of Sengoku Jidai in 16th century Japan. The art style is beautiful - to the point where I honestly think the graphics will never age. The important part of Shogun 2 is that unlike other Total War games, you cannot steam-roll. The AI is trickier and there are all sorts of plausible economical and diplomatic reasons why you cannot just build and maintain giant armies. I tried latter games in the Total War series but always quickly returned to Shogun 2.

7: Saints Row IV

Whereas the latter GTA series believes that mature, edgy storytelling should force the player to sit through the tedious bumblings of repellant people endlessly punch-clocking their depressing career of a life of crime at the behest of even more repellant idiots, the latter Saints Row series lets you be drive an angry tiger around a city in a convertible, sign legislation as Mr or Mrs President to 'Fuck Cancer', take place in drive-along singalongs and make movies with the villain you've just vanquished as co-star. Saints Row 3 was excellent, but Saints Row 4 with its inspired Matrix / B-movie alien invasion parody gives friend player probably the most giddily silly and fun adventure in PC FPS gaming to date. When evil but plummy RADA-voiced giant alien Xiniak used his new powers as Earth's overlord to read his favourite Jane Austen books on the alien equivalent of PBS radio, the game completely had me.

Hell, think I'll reinstall this now.

6: Night in the Woods

The most evocative point-and-click I've ever played. The simple art style reminds me somewhat of Art Spiegelman's Maus, with the animal headed humans living out their days in a rust-belt Pennsylvanian town that's fallen on hard times. Mae is a compelling character, an amiable drifter incapable of personal responsibility but who loves her friends. All the characters in the game feel real, their interactions true. The story and dialogue is warm, witty, sad and shocking by turns. If Night in the Woods was a TV show, it would be peak Roseanne with occasional guest directed episodes by David Lynch. Waking up, heading out and walking into town up the hill with the cars chugging past, leaves falling and warm morning light bathing the 2D townscape as the beautiful soundtrack plays never gets old, either.

5: Cities Skylines

Thank God for Colossal Order. The inept release and crushing let-down of the fatally flawed and unambitious SimCity was one of the most singularly depressing events of the last decade. What a joy and surprise then for this Finnish studio to seemingly appear out of nowhere and to release a city builder that rivalled - and perhaps even surpassed - the great SimCity 4. Intuitive, endlessly moddable and with a vast, vast, vast land-mass to build real-honest-to-goodness cities in, Cities Skylines triumphed where SimCity ignobly failed. Pop on YouTube and you'll find amazing true-to-life cities from such creators as Infrastructurist, Strictoaster and Two Dollars Thirty - cities that look real in screenshot. Thanks to the huge Steam workshop you can accurately build cities Japanese and Thai, Russian and American - you can even build the characterless British new-towns with a Greggs on every corner. The only flaw I can find in Cities Skylines is that the base game art-style is remarkably ugly at times with the building design, which is why I can only judge it a satisfying game when heavily modded. Happily modding is a breeze.

Oh, and the fake radio adverts are bloody hilarious and make me grin every time.

4: Animal Crossing

Oh where would we be this year without Animal Crossing? If a game was ever more needed, and more well-timed, I cannot think. Animal Crossing is a laid-back delight and perfectly paced. Gradually building up my little wooded small-town island and making it just-so felt truly rewarding and the way it neatly folded you lovely Beexers into my isolated pandemic life was a minor miracle. It's not a perfect game. It really needs just a touch more landmass, a little more discovery and variation in the character's dialogue - and it is far too fond of repetition. And yes, some mornings you feel obliged to log on and do your chores rather than feeing you really want to. But to nit-pick is to ignore what it does so superbly well. Animal Crossing is a wonderful escape. Nook Inc. you sure do make great getaway packages!

3: Zelda: Breath of the Wild

It's odd. I thought for sure that Red Dead Redemption 2 would be the be-all-and-end-all of open-world gaming. I do love the period it's set in after all, and it looks astonishing. It really is a great game. And yet half-way through I somehow lost interest. Zelda on the other-hand... oooh. This is my first Zelda game and oh-my-god. The world is vast. The art-style stunning. The freedom and spirit of discovery and invention you feel as you bound across the world, bopping monsters on the head with your crafty use of the environment and physics... ooh, it's good. It has a great sense of place too. The melancholy post-apocalyptic Hyrule balances perfectly the bleakness of a land ridden with monsters and an ancient evil, but the joy of warm communities and fun people just getting on with a life less ordinary. I've been playing this almost non-stop the last month. I am the least punctual hero ever. Sorry Zelda!

2: American Truck Simulator

Something tells me I may have mentioned this game a couple of times. American Truck Simulator gives you the freedom to drive the superbly realised highways and byways of West-Coast America. California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Idaho and now Colorado... thousands of miles of road to explore and a new surprise around every corner. American Truck Simulator is truly a voyage of discovery and the atmosphere is truly immersive. The rain beating down on my cab as I drive through the wide green Pacific Northwest valley on the approach to Medford, the trucks ahead throwing up spray, radio tuned into the real-world local stations, cab rocking gently with a heavy load round every corner with one eye nervously on the fuel gauge... what a quiet rush. Each newly released state somehow tops the last and despite the last-gen graphics there is at times a feeling of really being there that is at times uncanny, the relentless verisimilitude building and building until you suddenly have an eerie feeling on a middle-of-nowhere intersection that you truly are someplace else. Superb.

1: The Long Dark

Ultimately it couldn't be anything else. I always ultimately return to The Long Dark. I love it so much I now own it both on PC and Switch. The Long Dark is set in a near-future alternate-world Canada where the world's economy collapsed a few years ago and communities became more and more isolated. You fly out to a remote lightly-populated island called Great Bear at the behest of your ex-wife who is carrying medical supplies for someone sick out there. On the way your plane is knocked out of the sky be a sudden and possibly apocalyptic coronal mass ejection event, where a solar flare knocks out all electrical devices in a replay on the great Carrington Event of 1859, writ large. Making your way through largely abandoned small mountain towns and wilderness, helping the odd survivor, your goal is to survive and find your wife. Simple as that. However the carefully thought-out lore, simple but breathtaking visuals and a real sense of being there evoked through careful pacing, unshakeable survival logic and one of the greatest aural soundscapes in a game ever makes for a game that you can, well, live out a second life in. The survival mode provides endless opportunity for living a quiet life in abandoned farmhouses, mountain caves, forest watch-towers and small island retreats. It is a supremely relaxing game at times, and at others completely terrifying when the wolves are running. The Long Dark has helped my anxiety by providing me an alternate place to live for many-a-year now, and I can't wait to see what the next two episodes of the series brings. Forget your concerns about the game still being a work-in-progress, there's more on offer here already than most games out there.

There's nothing quite like The Long Dark out there, and it does almost everything so perfectly, and with such a personal vision, that for me it is my favourite game of the decade.

So there you are, that's my list. But I have to say if Hades continues the way it's been doing these last few weeks it may be a strong future contender for a revision of this list!

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 Post subject: Re: Games of the Decade
PostPosted: Sat Dec 26, 2020 3:07 
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NervousPete wrote:
As a big fan of 'cosy catastrophe' science-fiction the marrying of one of my favourite literary genres with the city builder format was pretty much a match made in heaven for me.

I would hear some book recommendations, if you would be so kind.

Also, going by your list, you may enjoy a game called The Forest.

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 Post subject: Re: Games of the Decade
PostPosted: Sun Dec 27, 2020 15:32 
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I think this is going to be heavily skewed to the last few years, because I'm struggling to think of anything I really played in the first half of the decade that wasn't from the previous decade. Also, I'm rubbish at finishing games, so a lot of these are in here on merit, and the assumption I'll keep enjoying them/actually go back and play them some more.

I'm no particular order:

Super Mario Odyssey - I played this for about 4 months solid when I first got it, and having got as many moons as I reasonably could, moved on, but I'd like to go back and hunt down more at some point.

Star Wars Squadrons - not long after I got PSVR, I picked up a copy of Star Wars Battlefront, just so I could play the VR mission. I can't believe it's taken them so long to release a whole VR Star Wars games, but it's everything I could have wanted.

Spiderman - It's Spiderman, swinging through New York, doing missions, doing side quests, or just swinging around. Definitely looking forward to Miles Morales, but maybe I'll get a PS5 first.

Yakuza 0 - I played the first Yakuza about 15 years ago, and it's been on my "must go back and finish the first two" list for ages. I recently spent a whole day playing the first one on the PS2, as I was completely oblivious to the fact that the entire series was on the PS4. I've started with the prequel, and as Zardoz said the side quests are absolutely nuts. As the original was kind of a spiritual successor to the Shenmue series, it's a bit annoying that this has now spawned 8? games, when I had to wait nearly 20 years for Shenmue 3. Speaking of which...

Shenmue 3 - No, this isn't a game of the decade, but I'm including it because I wanted it to exist since 2001, and now it does. My main complaint about it, is that it seems to be too much "go here, do this" then "go there, do that", which I think was most people's complaints about the first two games, but it seems to have lost its charm. I think having to constantly eat (and have to buy food, and have to earn money by chopping wood to the Afterburner theme) because you lose energy by running rather than walking is a terrible gameplay mechanic, but I'm sure I'll go back to it to see what happens next.

Portal 2 - Yes, I'm now looking at the top games of each year to refresh my memory, and in 2011 (or sometime since), I enjoyed Portal 2. Unlike the first one, I never got round to finishing it (see?), and I guess it should go on my list of games to play again if I had an infinite amount of time.

Ni No Kuni Wrath of the White Witch - probably the only jrpg I've really enjoyed since FFIX. Again it fell by the wayside long before I finished it, but I've picked it up again for the Switch so I'm hoping I'll see it through to the end this time (whenever I start playing it).

Overcooked/Overcooked 2 - Accidentally putting stuff in the bin, staring in disbelief as you realise half the kitchen is on fire, multiplayer sofa gaming at its finest.

Firewatch - There was a clutch of walking simulators that I never really got into, apart from this one. Your only company was a voice through a radio, and the whole thing felt so lonely, yet like there was always someone there with you (not necessarily a friend).

Superliminal - Another walk 'em up (sorry, I don't know what these things are called), with a Portal-style essence thrown in to the mix. Messes with the perspective to allow you to manipulate the size of objects. Another game I actually finished.

Honourable mentions - The Touryst, Sleeping Dogs, most of the Lego co-op games that came out this year, Oxenfree, Forgotton Anne, probably other stuff I've forgotten.

Feel free to berate me for the huge amount of games I never actually played.


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 Post subject: Re: Games of the Decade
PostPosted: Sun Dec 27, 2020 21:21 
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Not an exhaustive list, but I’d want to include some of the CODs from the start of the decade. Black Ops 1&2, and MW3.

Resogun, Nex Machina and Geometry Wars 3 for arcade shooting.

Horizon Zero Dawn & Red Dead 2, Spider-Man for more open world fun.

The Last Of Us for world building.


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 Post subject: Re: Games of the Decade
PostPosted: Sun Dec 27, 2020 21:34 
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Grim... wrote:
NervousPete wrote:
As a big fan of 'cosy catastrophe' science-fiction

I would hear some book recommendations, if you would be so kind.


Have you read John Wyndham’s books?


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 Post subject: Re: Games of the Decade
PostPosted: Mon Dec 28, 2020 12:13 
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Rocket league - defined this generation.. a true esport, cross platform pioneer, psn free to play how it should be done.. bought by big money epic
Steep.. my instant winter holiday
Swos 2020.. brilliant reverse engineering of the best football game in story
Amimal crossing nh.. the ultimate escape when it was needed most
Mario odyssey.. all nintendo’s imagination
Geometry wars 3 ... culmination of twinstick magic
A short walk.. short but sweet
The Tourist.. vozel heaven

Some honorable mentions
Super mario 3d land?, lego city, pikmin 3, wario ware gold, splatoon

More as a parent: fornite, minecraft: minetopia (the city dutch guys built, not sure what the english equivalent is.. but seeing this second life grow was amazing.. my son getting his first ‘job’)

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 Post subject: Re: Games of the Decade
PostPosted: Wed Dec 30, 2020 15:32 
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Grim... wrote:
NervousPete wrote:
As a big fan of 'cosy catastrophe' science-fiction the marrying of one of my favourite literary genres with the city builder format was pretty much a match made in heaven for me.

I would hear some book recommendations, if you would be so kind.

Also, going by your list, you may enjoy a game called The Forest.

Hijacking here a little bit. If you haven’t read...

Make Room, Make Room by Harry Harrison. It’s the book Soylent Green is based on

Station Eleven by Hilary St John Mandel
The Gone World by Tom Sweterlitsch
The House of Shattered Wings by Aliette de Bodard
That Justin Cronin trilogy The Passage, The Twelve, The City of Mirrors — there’s a jarring narrative shift 100 pages into the first book that puts people off. Stick with it, they get better
Spares by Michael Marshal Smith
Childhood’s End by Arthur C Clarke
Europe trilogy by Dave Hutchison
All The Birds In The Sky by Charlie Jane Anders
Stranger In A Strange Land by Robert Heinlein; not dystopian but a must read if you like sci-fi

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 Post subject: Re: Games of the Decade
PostPosted: Wed Dec 30, 2020 18:58 
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DBSnappa wrote:

Station Eleven by Hilary St John Mandel


There's a 10 episode TV series of this coming which I am looking forward to very much
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10574236/


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