Thanks to DArt for starting this thread. I had a bunch of boring chores I needed to do today, but instead I spent all morning reminiscing about my favorite games of the decade - a much better way to spend my time! Hopefully someone will find this soliloquy interesting.
Below are my top 3 (RPGs…because this is RPG Watch…and that’s pretty much all I play), along with my honorable mentions. I didn’t include Dragon Age: Origins given the ’09 release date. That is one of my all-time favorites. Bioware was absolutely on fire around 2010. Excluding it made this exercise more fun for me, as it forced me to think a little bit harder.
So here we go. My top 3 games of the decade…
Mass Effect 2 – Despite a rough ending to the series, Mass Effect was in my opinion an unquestionably iconic and fun-to-play RPG franchise. I loved playing Mass Effect, and Bioware knocked it out of the park with the sequel, which I think was the apex of the series. The space opera environment was gorgeous, the gameplay was greatly improved, and the stories surrounding Commander Shepard’s companions were as good as it gets.
Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings – Similar to Mass Effect, the Witcher Series for me is another iconic RPG franchises. Thinking back on Witcher 2, I realized it is the only game I’ve purchased that forced me to upgrade my PC to play. This is the game put CD Projekt Red firmly on the map, and they are now enjoying their place as one of the premier companies. I remember my friend giving me the original Witcher game. I had no idea what to expect, but it was a surprisingly fun game with a cool original setting and some interesting characters. Witcher 2 turned things up to 11 – so much so that the two games are barely comparable. Obviously CD Projekt Red owes a lot to the Andrzej Sapkowski source material – as evidenced by the Netflix series running right now. But you have to give them immense credit for the way they brought Geralt’s world to life in this game. This was also one of my favorite replays, as the branching story in the middle essentially packed 2 games into one. And of course this game set the stage for…
Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Yes. I am putting both Witcher games in my top 3. I’ve been trying all morning to decide between 2 and 3, hoping to find a way to rationalize one over the other, so I can give well deserved kudos to another great non-Witcher game. But then I realized: the reason this is so hard is they both deserve to be here. To me Witcher 2 is a brilliant gem, whereas Witcher 3 is a massive blockbuster. The first two thirds of Wither 3 ranks towards the top of my all-time favorite PC gaming experiences. I got a little worn out at the end given the massive size and insanely good DLCs, but this shiny epic smash hit game is definitely one of the all-time greats. Can’t wait to see Cyberpunk 2077. I think they are going to deliver.
So with my top 3 identified, here are some of the honorable mentions I found hard to leave off my list…
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – It was super hard to keep Skyrim out of my top 3. If I would have picked just one of either Witcher games, Skyrim would probably have slipped in there. But at the end of the day, I just enjoyed playing both Witcher games more. Also Skyrim needs to contend with the history of The Elder Scrolls franchise, and the parallel Bathesda gaming world of Fallout. Morrowind was an iconic game set in this franchise, and I thought Oblivion was amazing in terms of the unique open-world gameplay and the stunning graphics that made these games legendary. While Skyrim improved on many aspects, and the modding universe surrounding Skyrim is arguably the best in all of PC gaming, when I was playing Skyrim, I couldn’t shake a feeling in the back of my mind that the Bathesda formula was getting a little bit stale. Maybe this left the door open for other studies who were bringing more innovation to the table post 2010. No doubt a legendary title. No doubt I played a billion hours. But at the end of the day, just not one of my top 3 due to Bathesda open-world gaming overload around that time (including New Vegas, which wasn’t Bathesda, but was based on same engine).
Dark Souls: Prepare to Die – Another great game that was hard to leave out of my top 3. This game for me the was the opposite of Skyrim: clever, original, ground-breaking. But not without some peculiarities. Like an amazing work of modern art, when you first see it in the gallery you are thinking “that is some crazy shit that I don’t understand at all”. But then some art expert explains the work to you, and you see the genius, and you are struck with newfound appreciation. When I first played this game, I struggled to make it out of the first few areas and found myself incredibly annoyed and wondering why anyone liked this game at all. Only after going online and cheating (some video showing me how to death run into a high level area to get some good gear and XP) did the game open up, and I could actually play. But then I embarked on one of my most memorable gaming journeys ever. There are dozens of details in this game that struck me as artistic genius. This game for me is the closest thing on this list to true gaming artwork, and I’m certain it deserves a spot in the all-decade list somewhere.
Pillars of Eternity: Deadfire – I remember waiting almost 2 full years for Obsidian to release Pillars of Eternity. Billed as the spiritual successor to my beloved Baldur’s Gate series, I don’t think I have ever been as fired up about a pending game release. Unfortunately, despite being a great game, the expectations were way too daunting, and I was bitterly disappointed. I thought the gameplay and art were fantastic, but I didn’t love the story, the characters, or the world and lore they invented. I just wanted a modern Baldur’s Gate. A glorious D&D PC-based RPG experience. Fast forward a few years and Deadfire comes along. By then my grumpiness had worn away and my expectation were much more reasonable. When I started playing Deadfire, I felt more comfortable and familiar with the PoE world and character classes. I thought the pirate / maritime setting was fresh and original, and they improved on many aspects of the game that bothered me in the first installment. I’m hopeful that future games based on this content will continue to improve, and I’ve learned my lesson about games recapturing vibes from 20 years ago! That’s why I’ve convinced myself that Larian’s Baldur’s Gate reboot attempt is going to be a horrible piece of crap that I won’t even bother to look at, read about, or think about for even one second!!!!!!!!! Speaking of Larian…
Divinity: Original Sin – If PoE was a tale of ridiculously unrealistic expectations, then DoS is a story of low expectations that resulted in one of the most unexpected gaming surprises for me in the last decade. I had never played any of the Divinity games, and I had never heard of Larian when this game came along. But after a few hours of gameplay, I was hooked, and this became one of my absolute favorites. Something about the goofy and whimsical setting and dialog for me was really original and charming. And I loved the strategic nature of the combat. This game was also super important as it put Larian on the map big time, setting the stage for DoS 2 (which I didn’t like personally), and other big time pending projects which I refuse to talk about, or think about for even one second!!!!!!
Pathfinder: Kingmaker – This was my favorite classic style, party-based, isometric game of the decade, beating out other good ones like PoE, DoS, Wasteland, Shadowrun, and Drakensang: The River of Time. My hunch is I just love the original rulesets and content from D&D and Pathfinder. So kudus to Owlcat for doing justice to the Pathfinder universe. I really loved this game, spending hours on character builds and restarting a zillion times to play with new classes and multi-class combos. I agonized over the various magic items and how I should allocate to my favorite party members. All marks of classic RPG goodness. I loved some aspects of the story, others not so much. And I’m really excited about Owlcat’s next installment, Wrath of the Righteous, as I think they can invest more in the story and characters given so much of the core game is already built. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Darkest Dungeon – This game was another little work of gaming art. Doesn’t stack up to the others given the side scrolling gameplay and the sometimes annoying grindy nature of the core game mechanic. But this game has many fun little elements that I loved. I still go around quoting sayings from the game, and then laugh to myself, while no one has any idea what I’m talking about. “Remind yourself that overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer”. The narrator – Wayne June – deserves a gaming Oscar for his work. I played for countless hours on my iPad while traveling away from my PC. Great, unique, and artistic game that deserves recognition.
Final thoughts:
2010 – 2019 was damn good decade for RPGs in my view. Was very fun looking back. I’m surprised my top 3 didn’t include any isometric, party based RPG, as I’m pretty sure that genre is my favorite. My 3 top games of all time would probably be that style. But it seems the the action-oriented, main-character-driven story games were my favorites this past decade.
So long Geralt of Rivia and Commander Shepard…I will miss you! And happy New Year to the RPG Watch Community