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The Best Games of the Decade (2010 - 2019)
I've been seeing a few lists like this here and there and was wondering how these last ten years have treated us? While I was looking back at the games I had played it was surprising to see some of them pop up as it felt as if they were older than they were. When compiling my list I also chose not to include remakes, ports, or compilations. Some of them I have played I didn't in the year they came out, too.
2010 - Final Fantasy XIII
An unpopular entry in the series, but I had a blast with it. I was super hyped for it leading up to release and I thought it was a fun story with an interesting combat system and a gorgeous world supported by a pretty nice soundtrack. I was also really happy that it was a multi-platform title as I only had an Xbox 360 at the time and would have had to wait a couple more year before I had a PS3.
Honorable Mentions: Dead Rising 2, Red Dead Redemption
2011 - The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Yet another unpopular game in a popular series that I loved. I was pleasantly surprised that the controls were actually solid and I this the story and gameplay was very solid. Fantastic soundtrack as usual for Zelda. Of course the hand holding was a severe issue and this was the game in which that peaked. The Zelda games to follow would finally step away from this.
Honorable Mentions: Sonic Generations (PS3 & 3DS), Portal 2, Assassin's Creed Revelations
2012 - Bravely Default
This is a weird one to select because I still have yet to actually finish it, but I did have the most fun with it than any other that year. It has an amazing job system that is so much fun to tinker with and a lovable cast of characters. With news of a sequel in the works I should finally finish this up.
Honorable Mentions: Kingdom Hearts 3D, Final Fantasy XIII-2, The Last Story, New Super Mario Bros. U
2013 - The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
After the linear progression of Skyward Sword, A Link Between Worlds almost literally returning to the series' roots was a breath of fresh air. After the first dungeon the world was open to explore and conquer as you saw fit. A sequel to A Link to the Past, it had great new dungeons, characters, story, and "Dark World." Once again, great music. The added Hero Mode added to the challenge as well.
Honorable Mentions: LEGO City Undercover, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Pikmin 3, Animal Crossing New Leaf, Guacamelee!, Sonic Lost World (Wii U)
2014 - Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
FFXIII-2 didn't really do it for me that much, but this final game in the trilogy brought me right back. It helps that I'm a fan of apocalyptic settings as well as global time limits (like Majora's Mask and Dead Rising). It's essentially open world playing as lightning again with gameplay that seemed to be a cross between job systems and paradigm shifts. It was a lot of fun racing the clock to fight monster to literal extinction and interact with characters to see how they're handling the end of the world.
Honorable Mentions: Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, Hyrule Warriors, Shovel Knight, Mario Kart 8, Captain Toad, Infamous: Second Son, South Park: The Stick of Truth
2015 - Super Mario Maker
This was kind of a slow year for me. Not a ton came out that was a must have. SMM is what I played the most and I had a blast. It was also the last game I got to play with my P2 Rascal sitting on my lap. It made such an impression on me that I didn't hesitate to get the sequel this year.
Honorable Mentions: Transformers Devastation, Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash
2016 - Final Fantasy XV
I wasn't super hyped about going into this one, but it won me over very quickly. A road trip fighting monsters with my bros is the epitome of a good time for me. While it may not be one of the most memorable ones I think it had some fantastic scenarios and an amazing ending.
Honorable Mention: LEGO Star Wars The Force Awakens
2017 - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Game of the year and game of the decade for me. There was so much hype going into this and I had a BLAST! Hundreds of hours finding all the Koroks, clearing all the shrines, collecting all the weapons and armor, and just having fun tooling around. Someday I will have to play a master mode file.
Honorable Mentions: Sonic Mania, Horizon Zero Dawn, Super Mario Odyssey, Yooka-Laylee
2018 - Sider-Man
A great year for games in 2017 followed by a slow one for me in 2018. Spider-Man is another one I still haven't finished, but has been so much fun so far. I was worried that memories about Spider-Man 2 would harm my enjoyment with this game, but those worries were unfounded. While the web slinging may not be as great, the combat is much improved. The various costumes and abilities are a great addition and the J. Jonah Jameson podcasts do justice to his character.
Honorable Mention: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
2019 - Dragon Quest Builders 2
I think this was easier than the first, but ultimately more polished. Like how the first was a "spinoff" to the first one, this is a "spinoff" to the second. After Hargon is defeated his followers gradually take of the world in an effort to plunge it into destruction. You have to rebuild it. I just like the easy going foraging and crafting in this game and building big blueprints.
Honorable Mentions: Kingdom Hearts III, Cadence of Hyrule, Super Mario Maker 2
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Based solely on what was released that year, though I'll sheepishly admit I played several of these games within the last two years...2010 - Xenoblade Chronicles - The best original RPG on the Wii, this game was the highlight of the year and for the Wii in general for me. Fantastic game and I'm happy it's getting an HD remaster cause it could both use it, and I want more people to play it.2011 - Dark Souls - I was very late to the party on this one, but once I played it, I got hooked hard. Fantastic game that spawned probably one of the influential franchises of the last decade. It's honestly the most important game of the decade from a historical standpoint. 2012 - Journey - This was a slow year, but then this gem popped up to show us why the indie scene took off this decade. Great game and I'm still waiting for thatgamecompany to create a worthy follow up.2013 - Shin Megami Tensei IV - This year marked getting a 3DS for the first time as an anniversary gift from my GF. This was also a fantastic game to cut my teeth with on the 3DS as well. Great and underappreciated entry in the series. Its funny how we'll likely not see SMTV until the 2020s, continuing the series trend of having a mainline entry released once a decade.2014 - Dark Souls II - This was honestly a really slow year when I was going through the release lists. While certainly not the worst for me, I was happy to find an old friend here. DS2 gets a lot of flak from the fanbase, but its honestly a solid game that tried to be bigger and better than the colossal first entry. The fact it still boasts the most active and well respected PvP of the series is a testament to how it did get some things right.2015 - Bloodborne - This was actually a pretty stellar year in terms of releases, MGSV, Witcher 3, Fallout 4, Soma, New Tomb Raider. Still, I'm a fan boy and my favorite of the Souls-Like games was released this year. Bloodborne is such a fantastic game and my favorite From Software game to date. 2016 - Dark Souls 3 - I never realized how quickly From Software churned out these titles. DS3 marked the end of a franchise for this decade and what a way to end the series. I go back and forth between this and DS1 as my favorite of the Dark Souls series. 2017 - Persona 5 - I laugh that Google forgot to list this game in their quick viewer. This was probably my most anticipated game of the decade and it did not disappoint. It made turn based combat cool again and was infectiously stylish.
2018 - Secret of Mana - 2018 was probably one of the worst years for me gaming wise. Now granted, I do have the allegedly fantastic DQXI, but I haven't played it yet. So Secret of Mana kind of wins this by default despite being the worst entry on this list from a technical perspective. Still, I'm impressed how well the core game holds up and happy the game did well enough to convince SE to reinvest in the Mana franchise again. So win-win for me.
2019 - Death Stranding - This was another slow year for me where it seems like everything interesting came out towards the end. Death Stranding has been one of the kookiest mysteries in gaming ever since it was announced four years prior with the craziest trailers to confound the internet. I'm still not finished with it yet, but it has been a blast for me.
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2010: Fallout: New Vegas
2011: Dark Souls [can't believe Portal 2 couldn't win its own year when it's probably #3 or 4 on this entire list]
2012: Sleeping Dogs
2013: Etrian Odyssey 4
2014: The Talos Principle
2015: The Witcher 3
2016: Dark Souls 3
2017: Divinity: Original Sin 2
2018: Dragon Quest XI
2019: Untitled Goose Game
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Anyhoo, was already working in this format when the thread got merged, though I did also want to do the other format, so I might still do that later.
For the sake of not sounding like a broken record, I'm putting an "only one Falcom game" restriction on my list. 
Also limiting my runner-ups to 2 per year.
2010 - Mass Effect 2
Regardless of how I feel about its downfall, Mass Effect was still a great series, and 2 is my favorite entry in it.
Runner-ups: Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
2011 - Ar Tonelico Qoga
It may have been the weakest entry in the series, but it was still a great game and a worthy capstone to the trilogy.
Runner-ups: Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Xenoblade Chronicles
2012 -Tales of Graces f
Still tied as my favorite Tales game. While it's true the overall main story arc wasn't great (characters and party banter were though), the rest of this game was right up my alley.
Runner-ups: Virtue's Last Reward, Puzzle & Dragons (an achievement indeed for a mobile game to even get a mention from me in a thread like this)
2013 - The Last of Us
Just an amazing game, Naughty Dog really pushed the PS3 with this one.
Runner-ups: Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
2014 - Ar nosurge
The final entry in my beloved Ar series, it wasn't my favorite (that honor goes to Ar Tonelico 2) but it was my second-favorite, and by far my favorite 2014 game.
Runner-ups: Divinity: Original Sin, The Evil Within
2015 - Xenoblade Chronicles X
Pretty much the only reason I got a Wii U and it was worth it.
Runner-ups: The Witcher 3, Bloodborne
2016 - Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
Once again Naughty Dog pulling off an amazing game, and a great send-off to Nathan Drake.
Runner-ups: Dark Souls 3, Overwatch
2017 - Xenoblade Chronicles 2
The reason I got a Switch, and as with Xenoblade X and the Wii U, it was worth it.
Runner-ups: Tales of Berseria, Yakuza 0
2018 - Trails of Cold Steel 4
I said I'd limit myself to one Falcom game, and it's this one because it's my favorite. I'll leave it at that, I'm sure nobody wants to hear me go on about Trails yet again.
Runner-ups: Yakuza Kiwami 2, Monster Hunter: World
2019 - Resident Evil 2
Well, this entry's an easy one for this thread since I made a top 5 for the other thread just the other day. As I said there, RE2 is an amazing remake and I replayed it so many times, which is impressive considering I rarely replay games.
Runner-ups: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers
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