Welcome to Phansite archive (beta)
You'll find here all archived threads from the Phansite forum.
Lnari’s Top Ten Games of the Decade
Title says it all, but I’ll only be including one game for each year to keep myself from flooding the list with games from 2013, 2015, and 2017.
10: Borderlands 2 (2012)
2012 was easily one of the weakest years of the decade, but Borderlands 2 found a way to go above and beyond in a market that was STACKED with first-person shooters. The gunplay’s satisfying, the story is memorable, the characters are great, and the writing and graphics feel unique to the series.
9: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (2015)
I was a big fan of The Witcher 2, and when the third installment of the series came out, I was actually a little down on it for more or less not being identical to the second. In retrospect, it’s a far superior game, with exciting combat, a brilliant story, and all around was one of the best RPG’s of the past 10 years.
8: Super Mario Maker 2 (2019)
It almost feels unfair outing this game on the list, and I almost put in FE: Three Houses instead, but at the end of the day, it’s hard to argue with Mario Maker. Mario Maker 2 is just all the fun, excitement, creativity, and community o the first installment with some big fixes and additions. It’s a brilliant tool box that, when put in the right hands, can make for some of the most fun platforming levels you’ll ever play.
7: Batman Arkham City (2011)
Let me get this out of the way, and say that Portal 2 was a better game. If I was making a best of the decade list, Portal 2 would hold this spot, but as someone who loves a good Batman story more than I love myself, I couldn’t leave out the best Batman game, and maybe even the best superhero game ever made. It’s a wet dream from start to finish for any fan of Batman, and video games as a whole.
6: Red Dead Redemtion (2010)
Most would put the sequel in this spot instead, and they wouldn’t be wrong to do so. However, Red Dead Redemption will always hold a special place in my heart for all the good memories I have attached to it. From start to finish this game is a unique joy. I got as wrapped up in this game’s world, story, and characters as I have any other game I’ve ever played. It was truly something special at the time, and a game that still brings me right back to that place every time I load it up.
(Continued)
5: Stardew Valley (2016)
Stardew Valley is kind of an anomaly. There is next to NOTHING about this game that sounds fun on paper, but despite the hundreds of hours I’ve spent on my farms, ive never felt bored for a second of it. Stardew Valley is a rewarding experience, and one that requires a lot of patience. As I get older, I find it harder and harder to eat sucked into a game the way I used to as a kid, but Stardew Valley saw me burning days of my life away, both on my own and with friends, and I don’t regret a single second of it. This game would be a massive accomplishment for a AAA studio, but the fact that this whole thing was put together by one guy is something I don’t think we’ll EVER see the likes of again.
4: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018)
Smash Ultimate is the the best fighting game ever made, and a sincere love letter to any and every game that came before it, especially Nintendo Ganesh I don’t need to tell you how good this game is. Anyone who is anyone has already gone off for hours about how great this game is. It’s a must-own not just for any Switch owner, but anyone who likes video games.
3: Shovel Knight (2014)
This game just about came out of nowhere, and changed the idea of an indie game forever. While studios like Mojang and Insomnia have moved on to huge projects and big bucks, Yacht Club Games have remained exactly what they were since the beginning. A team of passionate, talented, and brilliant minds who pour their hearts and souls into this game almost six years later. Shovel Knight is the most well-rounded game I’ve ever played. No matter how many times I go back and replay each game (THAT THE DEVS LITERALLY GIVE YOU FOR FREE,) I never get bored. Shovel Knight excels in every department. There isn’t a single missed step in this game, and as the years go on, it only gets better. For my money, this is the best indie game ever made, and will probably remain the best for awhile.
2: Grand Theft Auto V (2013)
I didn’t get the hype behind GTA. I had played through GTA IV well before this, and as much as I enjoyed it, I felt that there was still plenty of room for improvement. When GTA V came out, it broke every boundary, and set the standard for hey video game to come after it. It’s actually a relatively flawed game. The controls are weird at times, the game glitches far more than it should, and the online took YEARS to finally be as fun as it should have been from the beginning, but despite all that, there is NOTHING else like it. GTA V might just have the best writing and characters of any game ever made. The story is a sharp commentary of the American Dream, and that alone makes it woudth playing, but it’s the small things that make GTA V the masterpiece that it is. So much care is put into every last detail of this massive game. It’s been seven years now, and I’m still discovering new things, laughing at new jokes, and playing regularly with friends. If that isn’t the sign of a brilliant game, then I don’t know what is.
1: Super Mario Odyssey
Super Mario Odyssey is the best video game ever made, and I say that with zero hyperbole. Mario has been the standard bearer for video games since the release of the original Super Mario Bros, and 35 years later, nothing has changed. Every single time I play Mario Odyssey, I feel like a young child. I’ve logged hundreds of hours into this game, and it’s still as magical as the first time I played. There’s no nostalgia that it brings back. There’s no flaws that I’m willing to overlook. There’s not even just respect for what it did “at the time.” Super Mario Odyssey is as close to perfect of a game as I’ve ever played. It’s a game about jumping, just like it always has been, but jumping has never been more fun. There are a million ways to move around these worlds, and every single one of them is exciting and fun. This game rewards you for experimenting and pushing its limits like no game I’ve ever played before. For now, in my eyes, Super Mario Odyssey is the panicle of what video games can be. It’s the most fun I’ve ever had playing a game, and probably the most fun I’ll have playing a game for years to come.
I would also like to add that Persona 5 and Breath of the wild would have filled the number 2 and 3 spots respectively if I hadn’t set these rules for my list. 2017 was honestly such a good year for video games, that I could probably make a respectable “best of the decade list” that only has games from that year alone.
You play Mario Maker 2?
Ohhhhhh I didn't realise you were so into platformers Lnari