RPGWatch Feature - Game of the Decade 2010-2019

Seeing Dragon Age Inquisition ranked so high has got me thinking about giving it a shot. I found the first one so so.

I find this statement very interesting and a wonderful example of how this decade has shifted the RPG scene.

If we did a Game of the Decade for the naughties then Bioware would in all likelihood dominate about 50% of the top 10 positions, including No.1. The fandom for Bioware was literally off the scale. They were at a point where they could release pretty much anything and have a literal army of vociferous aficionados carrying their every move.

And now here we are in 2020 and you are surprised that one of their games made it all the way up to joint 13th place. And not only this, but it's their only game to even get in the top 20 in an undisputed manner (Mass Effect 2 also got 13th but is one of the few games on the list to be vociferously objected to by many people on genre grounds rather than quality grounds).

And then one realises that Inquisition was 6 years ago and we've seen nothing of great interest from them for so long that one wouldn't be amiss for describing Bioware as no more relevant to the RPG genre this decade than a moderately successful indy company.

And then you factor in the fact that these early decade games of theirs that did make the list were primarily boosted by fan loyalty purchases rather than any speculative new interest and you see a good example of just how long a strong fan-base and a good run of games can enable a company to run on empty almost indefinitely.

And how someone can look at a single Bioware placement at 13th and consider this a high achievement rather than the obvious tragedy it actually is. The wonders of relativity and the perspectives of expectation.
 
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Has felipepepe ever said anything good on this site that wasn't about his book? ;)
I like the community here, it's like a café or pub where people play some RPGs and come talk about them in a lazy Saturday afternoon.

I just feel a huge gap in what we expect & enjoy from RPGs. Wasteland 2 wouldn't be even on my Top 50 of the decade, but I get the feeling that it is a perfect mix of fun, nostalgia and "comfort food RPG" for people here, and I like seeing these different view points. :)

That said, ugh.
 
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I like the community here, it's like a café or pub where people play some RPGs and come talk about them in a lazy Saturday afternoon.

Man oh man, that is such an unbelievably cool statement. Can I be the guy in the beret and black and white stripe shirt? I also want a thin moustache and some espresso.

Now, have a seat, I just want to ask what is the best RPG of all time??? and be aware the answer is Gothic 2 . . . . . Discuss
 
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Of the games on the list that you discuss playing below, I would recommend the following for your near term gaming entertainment...

Darksouls - Invented the genre you say you enjoy. Super unique game, work of art IMHO.

PoE: Deadfire - Loved it, thought it was better than PoE.

Mass Effect 2 - In my personal top 5. Thought it was best of series.

Please don't play DA:I before you play these 3...it would be a tragedy! :)


I've only not played 13 of them.

Of those I own 2 but have yet to play (POE: Deadfire and Torment: ToN).

Five of the 13 are Dark Souls 1, 2, and 3 and Mass Effect 2&3 (Never could get into Dark Souls which is actually a little strange as I like almost every "Dark Souls Like" game I play. I really should try Mass Effect 2 one of these days).

Disco and Kenshi I plan on playing sometime.

Fallout 4, Legend of Heroes, and Assassins Creed I doubt I will ever play.

Seeing Dragon Age Inquisition ranked so high has got me thinking about giving it a shot. I found the first one so so.
 
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Thanks to lackblogger for putting this together. I greatly enjoyed making my list and reading through the forum discussions. Sorry I sent my list 3 times...user error!

All mine made the top 50, including my indie favorites. I feel very special :)

Most importantly the list has given me plenty of new games to try and revisit.
 
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Don't worry about him. He noticed Neo Scavenger didn't make a place on the list so he had to find the culprit. ;)

Which decade was the best for crpgs - the answer is easy, it's the current one. We'll get more titles than total in the past, we'll get enormous variety of design and we'll get what was not previously possible due to technology progress. :D
For modern games, what's RPG and what's not is a bit complicated, Dark Souls a RPG, well then why some or all GTA/Far Cry aren't RPG. Battle Brothers a RPG then why many Roguelike aren't RPG, and there's more examples.

So there's a problem of filter when comparing number of RPG along decades. I have a list I try maintain along years but only since few years. With my filter, the 10'' doesn't start so well from far. It starts wake up in 2013 only, best years are only 2016-2018, 2019 is a brutal drop down, 2014-2015 are quite solid.

It's still looking behind the 90" despite the RPG collapsing during the decade, because the years 90-94 are very strong.

For number of RPG with a serious filter on what's a RPG, the 90" decade looks still unmatched. For the diversity obviously the 10" is winning from far.
 
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No word fail, just different voting methods. I only voted for the games I thought should win "game of the decade". So I voted for Witcher 3 with a couple honorable mentions. I did not l vote for my top 20-50 list.

However, the results came out as top 50. So I didn't vote for conquistadors to win game of the decade because while good its wasn't quite in that category. It would however make my personal top 20, maybe even top 10
Rules should be clear, it's unfortunate if it wasn't clear.

There's no good system but I believe the classic is the best for such open pool:
- Limited number to avoid many players mainly providing the list of game played with some fun.
- Sorted list to push voters be more precise in their vote, this should help mitigate a pure popularity aspect to an opinion popularity aspect.

Infamous Codex forum attempts to innovate on the system used didn't show anything good. That said this forum is quite competent to provide weird lists no matter the system used.

I would highlight what's probably an evidence, lists from pools are weird from an opinion perspective. Average of opinions always result in weird/incoherent opinions, and the pure popularity aspect is highlighted. That's the game of pools, and this pool seems have fulfill the job, for the players around the forum.

The Witcher 3 and Skyrim will never be in my own all time top 20, but they don't make the list looks weird. I know there's a popularity aspect, and I would admit they aren't awful RPG, even more, both are in category of huge RPG, a size which makes quality a lot harder to sustain at a high level along a full play.

I'm more skeptical on some other entries for which both popularity and opinion can't explain their position. It remind me some Infamous Codex all time list including Temple of Elemental Evil very high in the list, lol. But ok, in this list, it's far as chocking, it's more opinions I can't understand and a popularity level I couldn't guess.

Pure extract from a list done some time ago:
Shadowrun Dragonfall
Mass Effect first trilogy (trilogy as a whole)
Wasteland 2 Director's Cut
Tyranny
ELEX
Divinity Original Sin 2
Divinity Original Sin
Drakensang River of Time
DAI
Atom RPG

Lol, pretty sure for most or even all it will look a lot more weird that the pool list. Still behind there's a coherent opinion, even if explain it wouldn't be possible in a forum.

EDIT: To make it clear, that's a cool pool, I didn't discover any RPG to play from it, but it's fun.
 
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