This is a list of my favorite games of the decade. What other kind of intro do you want?
10. Life is Strange
Gone Home made walking around and looking at stuff fun, Life is Strange made it a genre. A game made up of mostly having conversations and solving a mystery while hanging out at a fancy arts and sciences boarding school with an adorably cute cast of characters. The time travel was the the least interesting part of the game.
9. Fortnite Battle Royale
Oh, it's for little kids you say? Shut up, so are most games. It's fun, damn it.
8. Portal 2
The first Portal game was great because it was an innovative concept with cool physics and some of the funniest dialogue I have ever heard. Portal 2 is all of that - but more of it. It's a perfect sequel that does what the original did great while adding new features - and it was longer. The only bad thing about the original Portal was that it was like 2 hours long.
7. Saints Row IV
A franchise that started off as "GTA but fun" evolved into a wild ride that had us fighting Yakuzas and luchadores in locales from big cities all the way to space, virtual reality, and even Hell itself. Saints Row IV took jabs at a dozen gaming franchises while still telling its own story and celebrating the entire Saints Row series.
6. Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
There was a lot of cool Kingdom Hearts stuff this year, least of all the fact that we finally got Kingdom Hearts III. And while that game was a lot of fun, it was very easy and relied on a lot of mini-games and spectacle. Birth by Sleep on the other hand gave us the super fun Command Deck system and the three-story structure that had me excited to revisit the different worlds. The final bosses were stupid-hard though.
5. Spider-Man
Thwip!
4. Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth
Digimon fans fought long and hard for the return of games to the west, and that battle finally ended with this fresh new take on the franchise. It was the first game made for older fans that explored an entirely different kind of Digital World and told a story better than most of the anime plots - all in some pretty decent looking 3D. It wasn't perfect, but for Digimon fans it was something we had never seen before.
3. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
With the launch of the Nintendo Switch, the "casual rush" seemed to have come to an end as casual gamers and hardcore gamers finally had a console they could both enjoy. And nothing showed that off better than Breath of the Wild. It was easily accessible for new players while full of classic Zelda love for old players. For many, this was their first Zelda game or their first one in a long time. For me it was a grand experience in a lush world where something new happens every time I play.
2. Mario Kart Arcade GP DX
It’s not a great game, it’s not even that good, but it’s the game I have the most fun with at Victory Pointe and one of the few games Katrina will play with me there. While it lacks a lot of what makes the console and handheld versions amazing, the arcade Mario Kart is a spectacle that can’t be beat. The announcer alone is worth it, and nothing beats having your foot on a pedal and your hands on the wheel.
1. Stardew Valley
This game's placement on this list is even surprising to me. But when I thought about it, this is the game I spent the most time playing this decade. I played it to death on Steam and then got it on the Switch and played it to death there too. It's relaxing when I need a break, exciting when I need a challenge, beautifully stylistic and nostalgically reminiscent of a simpler time. A new update just came out that added a lot of stuff and damn if I'm not excited to play the hell out of this for another decade!
What were your favorite games of the decade? Let me know in the comments down below.
What were your favorite games of the decade? Let me know in the comments down below.
