Again, like the last two threads, any system, but the games can only be from 2010 to April of this year.
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Again, like the last two threads, any system, but the games can only be from 2010 to April of this year.
I don't have 10 interesting games to fit the list! >_< Well have a Top 5 instead.
5. Persona 5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdDiHZiBtpE
A very comfortable, fun to play, likable entry in the Persona franchise. The gameplay loop as well as the battle system have been pretty much perfected in this one, keeping you constantly engaged and on your toes. And while the story never reaches supreme heights, it does contain a very interesting narrative with an overarching theme that feels more relevant than ever.
4. Touhou 15: Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfJJXs58OQY
Touhou 15 really doesn't feel like just another Touhou game, but rather in a way the culmination of all Touhou. It's difficulty level is a significant step above all other games in the series, justified by the existence of 'Pointdevice' mode where you basically get to retry any individual section infinitely and continually make progress. Stage 5 and the boss remains quite possibly the hardest and most unforgettable stage of the entire series (with the boss being arguably harder and more memorable than both the final and extra boss) and the final boss kinda feels like a deconstruction of everything that makes bullet hell games work so well by using the most barebones bullet patterns imaginable and utterly wrecking you with them. All in all, one of the most incredible games in the series for sure.
3. Undertale
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBhFHJMVfiI
Ah yes, what a beautiful little gem of a game. It appeared out of nowhere and got such a massive following that within a few weeks pretty much everyone heard of it. And it actually totally lives up to the hype. It's a simple game, but it's filled to the brim with great story moments, lovable characters and a musical score that you won't ever forget.
2. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VjA3y87qMg
Cold Steel 2 had big shoes to fill after the crushing cliffhanger of the first part, and it delivers in spades. The story is wonderfully focused and never really loses its way and is carried all the way by its amazing cast of characters. Literally my favorite part of the game is the intermission where you simply chat with the antagonists for a while and get to know them as people. More games need to do that kind of thing. The story is nothing you've never seen before but it takes all those tropes we know and love from RPGs and spins them in such a great way that it really reminds you of just why you love these games to begin with. And of course all the buildup culminates in one of the most heartrending endings in recent memory.
I have only seen bits and pieces of the games in the series afterwards, but at the very least story-wise it feels like it never quite lived up to this entry again. For now, this one takes the cake.
1. Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNgph1g422Q
Honestly this game probably not only tops my top list of the 2010s, but my overall list as well. It is a perfectly paced, immensely satisfying, beautifully atmospheric, super fun and just overall stellar work of art. I don't even know how to begin to describe it, it's just completely amazing in every way imaginable. If you own a Switch or PS4, there is no excuse to not be playing this game (the PC port has some issues I hear), you're missing out big time.
1. Persona 5
2. Horizon Zero Dawn
3. Dragon Quest XI
4. Breath of the Wild
5. MGS 5
6.The Last of Us
7. Rise of the Tomb Raider
8. Spider-Man
9. Link Between Worlds
10. Zero Escape the Nonary Games (cheating a bit here by choosing a conpilation because I can't quite decide which I like best).
This list is the most uncertain of all my list. The top games (especially top 2) are very certain for me. Once you move past 5 or 6 though, I'm not really sure if these are my top 10 or just games I liked. There's a number of other games that could replace some of these on the bottom of the list. My guess is Trails of Cold Steel wpuld be taking some of the spots if I had ever gotten far in the series. In general I either haven't liked or played as many games as previous decades so many games that make my top 10 of this decade would probably not make my top 30 overall or even 40 likely. The top 2 have solid positions though with Persona 5 making it into my top 10 overall and Horizon Zero Dawn probably somewhere in my top 20. Breath of the Wild is vying for my favorite Zelda game. Since I don't regard the Zelda series as highly as most, that's probably enough to secure a position in my top 30 but not much better. These are all really good games, but I don't necessarily think anything I've listed below Last of Us is really good enough to having a lasting "greatest of" type legacy for me.
- Dragon Quest XI I looooooooove this game.
- Crash Bandicoot Remake "I'm depressed, so I need some uplifting " game.
- Persona 5 One of the best modern JRPGS ever.
- Fire Emblem Awakening Got me into the FE series.
- Legend of Zelda. Link Between Worlds. This game might be my favourite Zelda.
- Bravely Second This game really improves on the original, and is great JRPG. Too bad many people skip it, because the original held promise- and then broke it during its final chapters.
- Dragon Quest VIII 3DS Again, again, again- I'm glad that I gave this game a try. I thought that I wouldn't like it.
- Pokemon Moon One of my favourite Pokemon games. idk, I just really love the surfing mini game.
- Zelda. Majora's Mask 3DS Again, I'm glad that I gave that this game a try. I thought that the doomsday clock would give me too much stress and anxiety; but thankfully, you can manipulate it. This game is eerie, fun, and different.
- Final Fantasy XIII : Zodiac Age. I'm glad that I gave this another try, after failing to enjoy the original on the PS2. The job class and speed up button, really improves this game.
Well, this one's going to make me look like a complete and utter fanboy but I'm okay with that.
Quick note, the order on this list doesn't actually mean that much, the gap between them is pretty small, especially in the top 5.
10. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky FC
The game that started my favorite series of all time. It is however also my least favorite game within the series simply because it has to do heavy legwork in the worldbuilding and set-up departments, which slows the pace down a bit much, and it's the least developed in the gameplay department.
9. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd
In a way very different from the other Trails games, the structure makes it more of a dungeon crawler. The story however is still great and does a lot of set-up for the rest of the series.
8. The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Zero (aka Zero no Kiseki)
This game once again has to do a lot of story set-up and worldbuilding because it's a new arc, with a new locale and new characters. However, the improved gameplay puts it above Sky 1 and 3.
7. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel 1
See above, but again more gameplay improvements, as well as a graphical jump.
6. Ar nosurge
The fact that this game beats 4 Trails games on my list is actually huge praise. :p
Set in the same universe as the Ar Tonelico games (more on those in my 2000s list), it continues the tradition of having some of the best video game music ever, tightly entwined with the story beats of the game.
5. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel 2
Well, Karifean already said it more eloquently than I probably would, so just read his post on this :p
4. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC
The payoff to a cliffhanger that left me waiting 4 years, it was worth it. It also delves deeper into the overall Trails story arc, unburdened by having to introduce the world and the places you visit.
3. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Blue (aka Ao no Kiseki)
The escalation in this game is executed really well, the characters continue to be great and while doing all this it even lays some groundwork for future events.
2. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel 3
This is actually the last one I filled in and I dunno what to say without basically repeating myself. Great continuation of the story, ramping up over the course of the game with an ending that made me want to play the next game immediately (which is actually what I did :p )
1. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel 4
To go specifically into what makes this number 1 for me would involve spoilers, so I won't. I'll just say that, to me, this is like the JRPG version of Avengers: Endgame. The capstone to the entire franchise so far (though not the end of it), this game is absolutely huge and I love it immensely.
Yes, I do love the series that much. :p
I actually really would've liked if I could put some of these in the 2000s bracket, because some other amazing games were released in the 2010s that would easily make my top 10 if the decade wasn't just completely stacked with Trails releases. But while technically the Sky games were released first in the 2000s, their English releases, which are the ones I played, were in the 2010s.
That's even more fanboyish than my 90s Square love. :p
This is easily the most difficult for me as I've spent the better part of the last decade trying to catch up from the previous one. I actually don't own as many titles post 2009 as I thought I did, at least not original works that are not just updated ports of older titles. To keep this fair, I'm sticking to original titles and no remakes, even though I would love to add Romancing SaGa 2 to this list cause I really feel more people should play it so here goes.
10.I have a serious soft spot for Tokyo RPG Factory's freshmen effort. I mean how could I not love this? Chrono Trigger's battle system with some interesting improvements, a colorful and interesting cast of characters, a unique setting that's brought to life by one of the most gorgeous scores I've listened to in years, and even though it's plot is the same as FFX and Tales of Symphonia, it's frankly better in my opinion than both titles because it stays true to the general theme of what their stories are meant to be. I am Setsuna is not a happy title by any stretch of the imagination, but I had a blast playing through it and enjoying the melancholy.
9.
I'm happy that Tetsuya Takahashi and his company finally got a real win with this one. At the time of it's release, there just didn't seem to be any other JRPGs that bothered to give the player such a world with so much imagination, even being succeeded by two more spiritual sequels, I still feel neither of them felt as ambitious and interesting from as a sales pitch. While XC has a pretty interesting story that explores revenge and the idea of fate, it's the overall design of the game that keeps me enraptured with the title. The premise and the sheer execution of it was on point, and it's no surprise I feel this is the best Wii JRPG.
8.Man if only Bolivar was here to see this, despite my initial grumbling, and possibly because MGSV changed my opinion a bit about this title, I've come around to see Peace Walker as a pretty snazzy MGS title that took some of the more interesting ideas from Portable OPS and actually make them functional. In truth, you need to play this entry to get the full impact from MGSV and Ground Zeroes, and that is what makes this game's buildup actually work really well in hindsight. The better base building structure and the sheer mission variety also make this one of the best original titles on the aging PSP.
7.The follow up to the spectacular Shin Megami Tensei III, IV takes into account the rise in popularity with the Persona franchise and tries to get in on that deal by placing a bit more emphasis on the cast as people and the overall story with mixed results. Still, in terms of world design and lore, SMTIV is a spectacular successor to III, and several of the new design functions for this game were pretty awesome. The biggest kudos to the title is being the first SMT game to let the player experience a Law and Chaos-centric world which was spectacular. I'm still eagerly awaiting what the fifth installment will bring, and I still sheepishly haven't gotten around to playing Apocalypse yet... ^^;
6.Probably one of the best indie style games since Ico, Journey is a game where I can't bring myself to explain too much, because so much of the magic is in discovering it for your self. Journey can take an evening to finish, but for me, it has stayed with me ever since. Along with Flower, this game made me take notice of thatgamecompany. If you believe in the idea of games as an art form, you owe it to yourself to play this game.
5.The dramatic conclusion to what I feel was the best franchise to emerge in the 2010s. Dark Souls III finally brings the apocalypse to a series that's been talking about the end of the world since the days it was still called Demon's Souls. While the difficulty curve could be better in this title, the setting and lore is easily my favorite of the trilogy and the overall design of the game is the most solid, not feeling too over bloated like DS2 and not having a haphazardly designed second half like DS1. The DLC is also exceptional with some of the best boss fights in the series. Most of all, I feel DS3 has the best supporting cast of characters as I honestly did start to get upset with the rather grim conclusion to some of the characters stories. Overall, an amazing conclusion to a stellar series.
4.Easily one of the quirkiest games on the PS3 that isn't an indie title, Catherine combines the pulse pounding fun of playing Jenga with a time bomb, with the excitement of a mature story about relationships, cheating, and the conflicts of adulthood. This game is just pure fun and wears it's weird on its heart shaped boxers. The fun social aspects of Persona work really well with the games core puzzle gameplay and I constantly felt like my heart was in a tennis match between the two nerve wracking aspects of the core game. For people who wish to play a "grown up" Persona, Catherine may give you a taste of what you're looking for.
3.I don't give a trout about the controversy surrounding this game. For what is likely going to be the last Metal Gear game Kojima will ever give us, this was the grand finale we needed instead of MGS4. The main plot is still bonkers and lord knows Kojima got one last troll in on his fanbase, but this game offers probably the best gameplay experience in the whole franchise with ton of variety, excellent scenarios, the smoothest controls in the series, a rocking 80s soundtrack, and one of the best feedback loops I've seen in an open world game. MGSV is an excellent grand finale to a franchise that has always excelled at surprising its fans and changing how we see video games.
2.Attachment 76215I feel if Atlus taught us anything, it's that some games really are worth the wait. Persona 5 is a fantastic game and easily one of the best JRPGs on current consoles. It's also the most fun game in the series from a purely gameplay standpoint if you ask me. Combining the series social sim with improved dungeon crawling gameplay and an enhanced Press Turn system, all with a plot filled with relevant social commentary; P5 showed me that there were still some developers who were not afraid to push the envelope and tackle some heavy themes while still being just a fun and stylish game. I may have to tackle this title one more time before P5 Royal comes out.
Persona 5
1.Attachment 76216Man this game has stayed with me like a bad nightmare. Easily one of the best and most fun Lovecraftian horror games since Eternal Darkness on the Gamecube. Bloodborne takes the general design of the Dark Souls series, and injects it with a bit more of a flair for aggressive combat for a fast and fun game in one of the best settings From Software has ever made. Like DSIII, the cast is superb and you'll feel for most of them, and the setting of Yharnam works so well for the mystery and the games eerie buildup to it's true conclusion. Like the DS series, the DLC is superb and features some of my favorite boss fights in any Souls-like game. The fantastic score and gorgeous art design is also superb. This and my P5 compete for my top spot as my favorite game of this gen.
Bloodborne
In no particular order:
The character designs are super cute, the environments are often really pretty (Greenpath <3) and the combat is difficult but I think pretty fair. I have been a fan of Metroidvanias since I played SotN as a child and I think this is one of the better games in that genre.
I kinda resisted the urge to play this game for a while because it kinda seemed like yet another Minecraft-but-with-natural-graphics game. After playing I can understand why it was hyped so much. It's so many things in one - a builder game, an exploration game, a survival game, a horror game... It's still kinda crazy to me that it all works so well, considering how many genres this game taps into.
A genuinely solid story and a ton of fun puzzles all set in beautiful scenery. I think I spent nearly as much time just walking around and making screenshots as I did actually trying to solve the puzzles.
I swear, this game is the most frustrating thing I ever played... It's nigh-unbeatable without a walkthrough, the movement physics can be hard to get used to at first and there's a lot of backtracking. But overall it was one of the most memorable gaming experiences I ever had. Such a great art style, hard but fair combat and a crazy amount of exploration and surprises.
Attachment 76424
5. Alien Isolation (2014)
(what is it with 2014? so many great games that year, geesh)
This, to me, is the best horror game that exists so far. I feel like the idea of being chased by one, intelligent monster is somehow better than having a ton of dumb, predictable monsters thrown at you. I'm still kinda bummed out that the game lessened my enjoyment of Soma a little bit though (which had a far better story but not nearly as good gameplay.)
Oof, that first time I tried ringing the second bell... So, let me get this straight... First the game teaches you to play it safe because everything wants you dead and that you have only one place where you are truly safe... and then it sends you on a mission where you have to descend into the earth for what feels like an eternity with seemingly no shortcut back to the places you knew and felt safe in? Mean!
As a Metal Gear Solid game, it's not great... to say the least... It feels like Kojima tried to take the criticism of MGS games having too many cutscenes to heart, but in trying to fix that issue ended up with new problems instead. The unfinished nature of the game is also a big problem. But as it stands, it's one of the best stealth games ever. So as a sneaking-addict I couldn't help but love it.
The lore is cute, the story is kinda interesting, but it's the exploration, art style and movement physics that really make this game fun to me. It feels great to just run around and climb walls and explore all the many pretty areas. It didn't get nearly the attention it deserves, methinks.
I'm usually not really into this sort of wRPG dungeon crawler, but I think this game is incredibly fun. It's weird in that you can only move in this square grid, basically? But I think that's exactly what makes it fun. It's 3D but by simplifying the movement and combat down to almost 2D levels it kinda gets rid of a lot of things I feel are messy about wRPGs sometimes. For as much as I love open-world games, it's also nice to see a wRPG that is relatively linear and tightly designed instead.
It's weird that the Stalker games are so good. They are buggy, overly difficult, and they are from that era where you basically had to map "quicksave" to your right mouse button. But I don't think I have ever played any other games that made me feel so responsible for my own fate. Unlike a lot of shooters, winning a firefight in this game really feels like it means something, because you can barely take any hits before dying and the resources you lost or gained (ammo, food, armor, money) can affect you later in the game. It's also kinda less about shooting and twitchy stuff than it is about being careful and patient, cause it doesn't matter how neat your weapons are if an enemy with a little pistol sees you first and kills you before you can react.