With 2020 upon us, we’ve had a pretty amazing decade for gaming. Independent games have utterly exploded with growth on mobile devices, Steam, GOG, Epic Store, Humble Bundle, consoles and many other platforms/sources too numerous to list in their entirety. We’ve seen the advent of more ‘mid-range’ games, which aren’t up to ‘AAA’ game standards, but meatier than your typical smaller indie games. Crowdfunding really took off, with admittedly mixed results. It has been awesome.
How to pick your favorites? There’s no real metric. I went with 10 games for 10 years, but I refused to limit myself to one game per year, because some years were way better than others. There’s still plenty of honorable mentions too, which off the top of my head would include BioShock Infinite, Super Smash Bros Ultimate, Octopath Traveler, Tetris 99, Shovel Knight, Undertale, The Last of Us, God of War, Red Dead Redemption 2, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, The Outer Worlds and Pillars of Eternity. If I try not to just go off the top of my head, this could easily turn into a 25 favorites or some nonsense, so gonna stop there. I will say that not even The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim or Minecraft made the cut, despite playing both quite a bit and them being two of the most ubiquitous games of the decade.
The list is presented in alphabetical order.
Fallout: New Vegas
This was a hard one. Fallout is one of my favorite franchises (Fallout 2 being my favorite in the series as a whole). I quite liked Fallout 4, but if I’m picking the best Fallout game of the decade, I gotta give it to the gang at Obsidian. Another ‘what if’ title to be sure, what we still have is fantastic, and debatably more of a true Fallout game than 3 or 4. The game in particular captures something RPGs can struggle with: your character is a nobody, yet through action becomes very important. The final conflict also very much highlights the choices you’ve made, as things will be very different depending on what you do.
(The) Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Zelda is the Nintendo franchise for me, more so than Mario (got nothing against the guy, though). Breath of the Wild truly feels like a reimagining the franchise needed, with some truly innovative ideas. While classic Zelda fans no doubt love having to go from dungeon to dungeon and find a cool new item that inevitably helps finish the dungeon, Breath of the Wild gives you most of your goodies almost right away. The rest of the game, as a result, is more about exploration, and it’s one of the best examples. While not every nook and cranny is necessarily interesting, there’s so many points of interest that are just fun to get to, nevermind check out once you’re actually there. I look forward to seeing what the sequel will bring.
Mass Effect 2
I love action RPGs (as well as RPGs in general), so it’s no real shock that Bioware game would make this list. While I’m not crazy about almost every game the studio put out in the last decade, Mass Effect 2 remains one of my favorites. I’d play it casually, I’d play it routinely, it even helped with a bout of depression. A lot of small, simple choices could also really shake you if you chose poorly. The harder sci-fi nature of the franchise was something I’ve always loved as well. Even though I really don’t like Mass Effect 3, I still go back and play 2 sometimes. It goes to show just how engaging it can be, even if it’s a franchise that’ll be full of ‘what ifs’ for me.
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor
Oh hey, someone took my D&D character from when I was a kid and made a video game about it. Seriously, Talion was a character basically made for me, from his shadow powers, phantom bow and awesome swordplay. Beyond fanboying over how tight the combat can be (even if the stealth can feel wonky), the plot is very engaging. We know Sauron’s a bad dude, but we see some of the stuff he pulled, and get an inside look at his forces inside Mordor. There’s even the fairly solid Nemesis system which makes even randomly generated orcs feel significant. The game’s only real downsides for me are its weak ending and awful sequel, but those can’t take away from the sheer joy I got battling hordes of orcs for hours on end.
Persona 5
The Persona franchise is that delightfully weird Japanese RPG franchise that has brilliant theming. Everything about Persona 5, from the focus on the color red to the music, influences the title in fascinating ways. While it absolutely starts slow, the characters become extremely engaging, and basically everyone has a very fluid and enjoyable arc. The mystery may not be much of a mystery (at least compared to Persona 4), but the relationships and combat continue to evolve and invoke a great series of fun. I was more sad (in a good way) when I beat the game than any other title this decade (Sorry, The Last of Us).
Red Dead Redemption
Grand Theft Auto but with horses? Well, sort of… Red Dead Revolver wasn’t terribly impressive, but Redemption has rightfully taken its place as possibly the defining western game. The tale of protagonist John Marston as he sets out to make up for his dark past offers thrilling gameplay, a living world, and a truly engaging tale. The fact that the end of the decade sequel had to live up to the joy of the original was perhaps an impossible standard. There may be other, better tales in the future, but for me, and I imagine many others, this was the first chance to truly feel like a cowboy.
Spider-Man
There’s been a lot of third-person superhero type games in the last decade or two, and Spider-Man really puts them all more or less to shame. What it may lack in originality for letting you play as the well-known Spider-Man, it more than makes up for with a fun and engaging take on the lore. Web-slinging has never felt this fun, and in a time when the Marvel universe is more popular than ever, the game’s success breathes hope for more like it in the future.
Stardew Valley
Hey, what if Harvest Moon and the Legend of Zelda were kind of the same game? Easily one of the most prolific independent games of the last decade, this delightful twist on existing genres really does a good job giving you goals that you can tackle at your own pace. While later updates have introduced a bit more of a timeline to certain objectives, this is absolutely a game that makes you feel you progress. Some may argue there’s more satisfaction than creating art in Minecraft, but for me, nothing beats having a fully developed farm in Stardew.
Transistor
Speaking of independent games, here’s a fundamentally familiar yet bizarre take on tile-based RPGs. A simple yet beautiful story unfolds as you learn a series of interesting abilities, framed with some fun humor along the way. Your very perception and understanding of what’s happening may shift, and your enemy may not be what you think. This is the little indie game I wish came up more.
Yakuza 5
Okay, here’s a pitch: true crime meets pop idol dance battles. The Yakuza franchise is one of my favorite newer franchises (granted it’s well on its way to two decades of age now), and 5 really stands out to me. The franchise has played with multiple protagonists, but this one really nailed it for me. Each protagonist has a very engaging tale about the nature of trust, betrayal and dreams. Beyond that, after spending two whole segments playing as beefy boys bashing surly thugs, you suddenly enter the world of the pop idol, battling basic bitches who dare step to you on the streets of Osaka. The perfect blend of weird and wonderful, which is the Yakuza franchise in a nutshell. Fun coincidence… The game is now available, remastered, today! Check it out!
