My favorite games of the decade

2010-2019 was a landmark year for gaming to truly come into its own as a medium for entertainment.

As we just passed into 2020, I found myself reflecting upon the last decade of games. There were an incredible amount of things released in the last 10 years, and so much of it was impactful and important to the history of video games as a whole. It’s wild to think about, to say the least – 2010-2019 was a landmark year for gaming to truly come into its own as a medium for entertainment.

In creating this list, I found myself able to place where I was, who I was, and how I felt while playing a number of these titles. While I grew up with games and stayed connected with them throughout time, there was a period of my life in my late teens to early twenties where I just didn’t pay as much attention them as I had before. In the 2010s, however, I was afforded a wealth of time and found myself reconnecting with the hobby in a new and exciting way. Reminiscing about my journey through the last decade, especially within the context of gaming, was a fun journey to go on, especially for the purposes of this blog. I can only go into many of these games in hindsight, because there are some of them I didn’t play in the specific year they were released… but I did play them within the last decade, obviously. These titles I’ve selected are also not really ranked on the merits of their critical acclaim, or even necessarily their artistic value contributed to culture, insomuch as I merely just chose games that really stuck out for me as fun, or memorable, or favorable.

Without further ado, here is the list – presented, sloppily, if so.

2010

  • Deadly Premonition
  • Amnesia: The Dark Descent
  • Red Dead Redemption
  • Mafia II
  • Alan Wake

Honorable Mentions: Skate 3, Dante’s Inferno, Yakuza 3, Heavy Rain, Starcraft II, Metro: 2033, Mass Effect 2, Bioshock 2

It was around 2008 that I truly began catching up with a decade or so of gaming that I’d missed. I remember clearly when I picked up an Xbox 360, arriving late to the party but enthusiastic nevertheless. By 2010, I was in the throes of gaming heaven, between my steady addiction to World of Warcraft, which I’d started after picking up Starcraft II and receiving free game time with that purchase, and my healthy interest in some of the titles listed above. Red Dead Redemption, Mafia II, and Alan Wake are at least three titles I know that I played immediately. More recently, I finally settled down to play Bioshock 2, which is instantly my favorite of the series.

2011

  • Dark Souls
  • Terraria
  • L.A. Noire
  • The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
  • Dead Space 2

Honorable Mentions: Yakuza 4, Catherine, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, Minecraft, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Batman: Arkham City

This was an interesting year to chronicle, because within the year itself I can tell you that Skyrim dominated most of my attention – even if it came out later in the year. Skyrim still holds a pretty strong place in my heart, and is a game that I equate to a comfort food or a movie you’ve seen thousands of times but still continue to watch. I still play Skyrim to this day. However, I can’t deny the importance of Dark Souls in my life. When the game came out, I avoided it like the plague – having picked up Demon’s Souls shortly after my Skyrim fanaticism demanded more fantasy-based RPGs, the difficulty spike wasn’t something I was ready for. It wouldn’t be for several years later that I’d finally pick up Dark Souls to begin my love affair with the bleak, vague, and merciless worlds presented. Now, Dark Souls is one of my comfort food games. So are several of these listed in this particular year, though.

2012

  • Diablo III
  • Mass Effect 3
  • Spelunky
  • The Walking Dead: The Video Game
  • Hotline Miami

Honorable Mentions: Max Payne 3, The Amazing Spider-Man, Guild Wars 2, X-Com: Enemy Unknown, Dragon’s Dogma

This was a hard year to choose a favorite, which I tried to bold in each list. In fact, some of these listed I’ve but merely touched, and not spent a ton of time sinking into. I know they were good, and a few I’ve earmarked to return to (looking at you, Max Payne 3). For what it’s worth though, the previous rant about comfort food games applies to my #1 choice, Diablo III, as it is still a game I consume on a fairly regular basis in my free time. I bless the sounds of clicking and watching loot drop.

2013

  • The Last Of Us
  • Tomb Raider
  • Metro: Last Light
  • Marvel Heroes
  • Path of Exile

Honorable Mentions: Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, Dota 2, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, Outlast, Shadow Warrior, Warframe, Don’t Starve

I mourn Marvel Heroes to this day. It wasn’t the best, but it was undeniably addictive, and I sunk a lot of time into it. Were I to place myself specifically in 2013, Tomb Raider would undoubtedly be my #1 choice here. We’re in 2020 though, where I’ve got hindsight on my side, and several of these games are either ones I still play today (Warframe, PoE, Don’t Starve), or games I look back fondly on as nothing short of masterpieces (my #1 choice, The Last Of Us). I didn’t get the chance to play TLOU until around 2015, when I purchased a PS4 that came bundled with the remastered version of the game. I streamed my initial experience on my Twitch channel, which was a treat.

2014

  • Alien: Isolation
  • Dark Souls 2
  • Wolfenstein: The New Order
  • P.T.
  • Divinity: Original Sin

Honorable Mentions: Hearthstone, The Elder Scrolls Online, Shovel Knight, Jazzpunk, Roundabout, D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die, Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments, Grand Theft Auto V, Papers Please, Elite: Dangerous, South Park: The Stick of Truth, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

It’s around this time in my roundup that I started to notice a marked shift in releases over the years. Indie games have always existed, but it seemed to me there was a noticeable jump in the amount of prolific smaller variety titles that were released, and not only that, they were important, and they were good. I also had a hard time classifying P.T. as something to make this list, because while it’s one of my favorite horror experiences in gaming to date… it’s a mere tech demo, and not really a game. I chose to list it here for that reason though: the experience was far too important to myself, and to the genre as a whole. Alien: Isolation still remains at the top of this year though, for successfully capturing the tone and measure of the classic sci-fi horror series, and making it an incredible gaming experience.

2015

  • Bloodborne
  • The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
  • Resident Evil HD Remaster
  • Soma
  • Life is Strange

Honorable Mentions: Rise of the Tomb Raider, The Order: 1886, Cities: Skylines, Wolfenstein: The Old Blood, Until Dawn, Dying Light, Broforce, Batman: Arkham Knight, Sunless Sea

2015 was a banner year for games, if this list isn’t evidence. It was hard to choose Bloodborne as the top game, and as I write this I’m still not even sure of that decision. The Witcher 3 has had a resurgence lately because of the Netflix series, and with additional good reason – it’s such a rich, deep RPG that it deserves this second look from the community. The Resident Evil HD Remaster, which was one I almost didn’t put on the list because it’s a remaster, was simply too important to the genre to leave off. It succeeded in updating a worthy title, and keeping survival horror alive. Soma was an unparalleled gift of storytelling that everyone should play, and Life is Strange was…. well… one of the funnest experiences, personally, to stream. I look back fondly on this list, and the memories of each game listed.

2016

  • Darkest Dungeon
  • Pony Island
  • Doom
  • Layers of Fear
  • Dark Souls 3

Honorable Mentions: Firewatch, Tom Clancy’s The Division, Grim Dawn, Total War: Warhammer, Hitman, Sherlock Holmes: The Devil’s Daughter, Human: Fall Flat, Abzu, Stardew Valley, Warhammer: End Times – Vermintide, Sid Meier’s Civilization VI, Uncharted 4, Oxenfree, Enter The Gungeon

Another banner year for gaming. I’m such a lover of the old Doom that, in all honesty, while I found the reboot to be one of the best and most faithful adaptations of a much older game ushered into a new era… it still isn’t my *favorite*. But, of this list… it definitely is. Layers of Fear and Darkest Dungeon hold very close places in my heart though, and almost made the bold for this year.

2017

  • Yakuza 0
  • Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
  • Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
  • Little Nightmares
  • Divinity: Original Sin II

Honorable Mentions: Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, Nioh, Hollow Knight, Bendy and the Ink Machine, Outlast 2, Ark: Survival Evolved, Observer, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Darkwood

Again, each game on this list holds a special meaning to me. By this point in time I had been streaming for around 3 years, so every one of these titles is something chronicled in my journey on Twitch (and respectively, YouTube). While RE7 was a treat to play, and Hellblade was an experience unrivaled (I’m so glad it’s getting a sequel), I can’t deny just how good of a game Divinity: Original Sin II was, is, and continues to be. Yet another comfort food RPG.

2018

  • Red Dead Redemption 2
  • Sea of Thieves
  • Subnautica
  • Kingdom Come: Deliverance
  • Warhammer: Vermintide 2

Honorable Mentions: The Swords of Ditto, Moonlighter, Cultist Simulator, Vampyr, Dead Cells, Monster Hunter World, Strange Brigade, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Life is Strange 2, Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales, Hitman 2, Gris, Dragon Quest Builders 2, Call of Cthulhu

I almost chose Red Dead Redemption 2 as my number 1 pick of 2018, but Subnautica had to be the one. I wasn’t expecting the finished work, complete with rich and powerful storytelling behind it, to sucker punch me just like it did, but it was one of the most satisfying gaming experiences I’ve ever had. Sea of Thieves is also one that made this list, but only in hindsight – at launch, I was admittedly on the fence about it, but it’s become one of my favorite games as of late, and a definite “make your own fun” type of game done the right way.

2019

  • Resident Evil 2
  • Hypnospace Outlaw
  • Luigi’s Mansion 3
  • A Plague Tale: Innocence
  • The Sinking City

Honorable Mentions: Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Tropico 6, Anno 1800, Katana Zero, Observation, Total War: Three Kingdoms, Layers of Fear 2, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Hunt: Showdown, Tom Clancy’s The Division 2, Blair Witch, Untitled Goose Game

I couldn’t resist making Resident Evil 2’s remake the #1 pick of the year, if only because it was just SO good that I feel it’s really going to inspire a revival wave of survival horror – hell, with games like Song of Horror and Daymare: 1998, it already has in a way. We already have hopes for Resident Evil 3’s remake, and that makes 2020 worth it on merits alone. Really though, 2019 had a lot of good titles contained within it, and this was a hard list to pare down to what it is.

10 years ago, gaming felt like it was truly on the precipice of greatness. Going into 2020, it feels like that greatness is being pushed to newer, greater heights. I can only hope that the mainstream influence of the last few years doesn’t over-homogenize the medium, and that what we get from 2020-2030 is nothing short of mindblowing. Here’s to you, new year.

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