The Big Gaming in the 2010s Discussion Thread (the 2010s-Defining Game currently being discussed)

Isn't Knack the quintessential mediocre game? I haven't played it so that's cheating though.

I guess mine would be

About as inspired as a meal deal. It'll do the job, but you could have it so much better (or worse). Unlike a meal deal you won't finish this game though, unless you were a ninny who bought it at full price.

JayMoyles wrote:

masofdas wrote:

Right now OR is on the lexicon of the el mas.

This sounds genuinely mental without the AEW reference. I had no idea what you were on about until you linked the video.

Same

Let's start a new conversation. What was the best pre-2010 game you played (that was new to you) in the 2010s?

By that, I mean the very best game you played that was released before December 31st 2009 that you were experiencing for the first time after January 1st 2010. Let's ignore remasters and remakes. For example, the Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire updates from 2014 wouldn't answer this question, but the original 2003 releases of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire do. We can count Virtual Console and all that stuff.

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I've got to go for a tie: Shadow Dancer on the Mega Drive and Super Castlevania IV on the SNES were two pre-2010 games I remember blowing my mind last decade. Hadn't played either before then, and I was kicking myself. Amongst the best on their consoles, both are superb!

Good question.

Mine would have to be Advance Wars - I racked the most hours of any game I had on the Wii-U on a GBA game from 2001. Never used it on the telly - it was perfect GamePad fodder that was addictive as anything I've ever encountered - yes that includes Pringles. One day I'll get around to trying the DS games as they'll have refined the formula, but Advance Wars is a stone-cold classic that passed me by when I ACTUALLY HAD A GAMEBOY ADVANCE.

Another hard one as I play most games as soon as they come out and that's been the case really since the Dreamcast, PS2, GameCube and Xbox gen.

I was a SEGA kid then moved to PS1 then all four, as I love the GameCube I went back to NES, SNES, VB and N64 in the early 2000's as it was easy to get the consoles and games due to the shop.

Sure I missed some things but played the biguns, that all I can think off from what I played in 2010's out before 2010 for the first time is Fire Emblem on the GameCube which seems really dated and Persona 3 FES which does seem to be rather good & what I guess I'm currently playing on PS3.

I do have thing's I want to play though such as Psychonauts, PC Engine, more Wii stuff and some PS2 things.

This is a tough one for me as I was late to pretty much late to all the Nontendo series. Mass Effect, Metal Gear, Halo, Gears of War . . . Lots of good stuff.

I don't think I'd say Mass Effect as I liked 2 and 3 more, which were 2010s games. I'm not gonna count MGS3 as I played the 3DS version when it released

I think my answer is Halo: Combat Evolved. I love the characters and world, I love the fast-paced freeform action and I still can't walk through a tunnel without testing out the acoustics by singing the Halo theme.

Pretty sure it was 2011 that I played it, but Chrono Trigger is the one. I’d picked it up on DS a few years earlier and bounced off of it, went back and just fell in love with this incredible adventure and story. Top dog.

I had a similar thing with Final Fantasy 4 as well, but that just wasn’t as special.

Otherwise all old games are shit, bring on the new bad boys

That's words I expect from Balla about old games

Old games are harder, of course Andy hates them!

I played Ico and Shadow of the Colossus for the first time with the HD PS3 release, so those!

masofdas wrote:

That's words I expect from Balla about old games

Click this.


I played some of my absolute favourite old games this decade. Oh, to be sure in theory they were remade, with redrawn sprites and that; but since the sprites were worse on 'phone than the pixellated versions and one case was outright glitched, I think they still count. (Also I played Apollo Justice and AAI in their original forms.) It's ludicrous now to think that I let the Ace Attorney games pass me by for over a decade (for the first game) before falling in love with the series and playing every one that was released in English +1. No contest here.

I can't think of many other games. I didn't care for Chrono Trigger and I really didn't care for Ico or SotC. I tried Sin & Punishment and Paper Mario on the Virtual Console, can't remember if it was this decade or last. They were okay and good but not as good as the sequel respectively. I'm not an old games fan, as has been said.

The Ace Attorney series is absolute gold though.

Three of what could be argued best games of all-time, you don't care for, madness who would not like master pieces

Agreed, I know CT S&P and PM are all meant to be masterpieces but I just couldn't get truly excited about any of the three.

Ha I’ve done it again, forgotten how old the AA games are. I was confused as to why SoJ was so highly placed whilst T&T wasn’t in the decade vote, before Moyles pointed that out... Yes absolute bangers.

Oh man, great question. I've got tons of picks for this one:

Mother 3 - the obvious pick from me. I'll keep schtum on this one as you'll have heard me rave about it before.

The Ace Attorney trilogy - Absolute bangers. T&T in particular would probably chart highly in a favourite games list.

Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time - A bit cheaty this one as it only just missed the 2010s (October 2009, it was) but I didn't play it until 2015 or so anyway. Easily my favourite of the series.

Metal Gear Solid 3 - A classic. The perfect mix of Kojima's mental ideas and some cracking stealth action gameplay.

Final Fantasy X - Might be my favourite Final Fantasy. Some of the story beats are a bit shite, but I love the uncomplicated battling and the levelling system is a blast.

Persona 4 - I'll remember my time with this game for a long time. I played it in second year of uni when I had no money for new games, so I was loaned P4 by someone. I brought over my PS2 from home and a big chunky CRT beast and whiled away many an afternoon after classes with Chie, Yukiko and the gang. There's parts of this I still prefer to P5.

Those are the immediate standouts for me.

Weird- am I the only forumite who played the AA games when they came out?

I played the first one when it came out on WiiWare! Wikipedia says that was in January 2010. It's a standout for me too, though I'm disappointed that I never got into its first sequel.

No surprise, I reckon.  Justice for All had some truly meh cases, especially the third one which I'd recommend skipping altogether.  Fourth one's a belter though. And of course, entirely worth it to get to T&T.

JayMoyles wrote:

Mother 3 - the obvious pick from me. I'll keep schtum on this one as you'll have heard me rave about it before.

Ah yes, this and Earthbound make my list too.  I found Earthbound too clunky to carry on with, but Mother 3 would be up there for me.

Is the third case the one in the circus? That bored the arse off me.

Yep, Turnabout Big Top. You're missing absolutely nothing, in overall plot terms or in fun terms, by leaving it out. You can do that in the mobile port, not sure about other versions.

I'm interrupting your Phoenix Wright talk to answer the original question - sorry everyone!
Unofficially, Earthbound (but I had played a naughty emulated version before-hand); officially, the Secret of Mana. The SNES was a wonderful machine! And thanks to the Switch online, I've got loads of other new experiences from the last millennium, including....Brawl Brothers? OK bad example.

Earthbound for me too - I loved that game. And I played it on mobile!

I wish I loved that game. The battle system and dungeons were surprisingly conventional for such an otherwise quirky game.

Worth it for the unconventional final boss!

gjones wrote:

Mine would have to be Advance Wars - I racked the most hours of any game I had on the Wii-U on a GBA game from 2001. Never used it on the telly - it was perfect GamePad fodder that was addictive as anything I've ever encountered - yes that includes Pringles. One day I'll get around to trying the DS games as they'll have refined the formula, but Advance Wars is a stone-cold classic that passed me by when I ACTUALLY HAD A GAMEBOY ADVANCE.

Just to go back to this post, I think you might be disappointed with the DS advance wars. The GBA games are the best of the series imo. Dual Strike is good while Dark Conflict is a big misstep in tone change.

Let's start a new conversation. Throughout the last decade, we saw hundreds of games ported from old handware to new consoles with a few added bells and whistles for their modern audiences. Maybe you're talking about new graphics, some added content, perhaps even switching about the gameplay mechanics. What was your favourite remake/remaster of the 2010s?


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For me, it's Christian Whitehead's 2011 remaster of 1993's Sonic CD. The self-developed version on mobiles was outstanding at the time, with the Japanese and North American soundtracks, Tails as a playable character and all sorts of achievements too. It's nearly flawless. On consoles like 360, it's maybe even better!