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

Great idea Cappa as I left off on my best years, best genres etc remake/remaster and those sorts as take LA which has had some chat recently that still plays as it did on GameBoy for the most part but with a fresh coat of paint that to me isn't a game that reflects the best of a decade or whatever

2010:
I can't find anything

2011:
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, what a game this was as it turned around the 3DS and just brought arguably one of the best games ever made up to a more modern standard.
The ICO & Shadow of the Colossus Collection, more of a remaster but still a decent collection and best way to play ICO.
Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, I would point out the legacy collection on PS3 would be the best option as it has more games and comes in a nice box then this still excellent way to play most of MGS  
Halo Combat Evolved Anniversary, Halo but looks way better and has online with classic maps

2012:
Persona 4 Golden, you all know I was going to put this on a list like this

2013:
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD, My favourite Zelda and Game of All-Time in glorious HD

2014:
Bayonetta, fantastic action game
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, really good visual novel
The Last of Us Remastered, This is how I played Left Behind which is maybe the best DLC ever
Halo: The Master Chief Collection, when this came out it was shite for MP but now a much different game
Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, this was the first time I played these

2015:
Final Fantasy Type-0 HD, one of my favourite FF games
RARE Replay, excellent collection
Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection, I finished 3 again this year and dam these are good games

2016:
Gravity Rush Remastered, a very underrated PlayStation series
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD, I really should go back to this
Ratchet & Clank, talking about games I really should really go back to then this is one

2017:
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, I only started playing this year but I feel Jay is right that this is a game

2018:
Shadow of the Colossus, a game so good it's on here twice
Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition, decent Musou in the Zelda universe
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, I finished this for the first on Switch
Shenmue I+II, still classics to me
Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, the best gen

2019:
Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, the best kart racer not named Double Dash
Catherine: Full Body, I hope the Switch port rumour of this is true as I'd like to play on handheld seeing VITA version didn't make it west
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, I loved this game as this is what I wanted from Zelda and was new to me

A rather a lot from me also wasn't sure about like of FFIX on PS4 as it's more then a port but doesn't do much new and this isn't meant to be a rag on the Switch but I bring up a few games and I can imagine if you're someone like Jay you'd include Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Bayonetta 2, Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze basically the whole Wii U library

I don't think I'm really one for remasters/makes or at least, or maybe it's just that I stop remembering things as remakes. Ratchet and Clank is a good example of a game I played for the first time on PS4, and even though I was fully aware the originals existed, I totally forgot it was a remake until I read Mas' post. It was a good game to play though. I also enjoyed my time with Day of the Tentacle (and din't particularly enjoy Grim Fandango).

Mas mentions the Let's Go games which is fair. For me, even though I know full well that they're remakes of a kind, I see them as distinct enough from the originals to be their own thing. But that's just me being weird.

R&C might be seen as a movie tie in as well.

Let's Go certainly is, had loads of people in work talking about because it's Gen 1 and new shiny verison of RBGY, certainly one for nostglia.

Ratchet and Clank is a weird one to me as I really liked how they revamped the gameplay and made the shooting much more enjoyable than the original PS2 release, but the wee tweaks to the story and characters which came as a byproduct of the movie dampened things a bit. It's still a cracking game, mind you.

I guess Yakuza Kiwami and its sequel would fall into here - I've never played the originals, but I can't imagine they'd hold up today whereas the remakes seemed to add a lot and make it a much more enjoyable experience.

Oh, shout out to the Spyro Trilogy remaster too - tickled the ol' nostalgia bone, that one.

OoT 3D - Took a while to warm to this one as I was - wrongly, I guess - expecting an expansive remake along the lines of SM64DS and not just an enhanced port, but this is the version of the game I'm more inclined to return to and it's still a game I hold in very high regard. It being portable OoT is just really neat too.

Similarly I really like MM3D as well - if not more so since it's MM - despite most of the changes made to the game being kind of bad (the most egregious one being the Stone Temple boss change). It's gorgeous and is just so easy to pick up and play.

WWHD and TPHD are solid remasters too. Don't really see myself going back to the original WW after the quality of life changes the remaster added. Some people don't like the new lighting engine but I actually like the way it makes the characters look. The slight issue I have is that some of the NPC models look a bit lumpy, clashing a bit with the HD visuals.

Crash: Insane Trilogy/CTR: Nitro-Fuelled - Never properly played the originals so never knew how good they were.

FE: New Mystery of the Emblem/FE: Shadows of Valentia - these two Fire Emblem remakes are some of my favourites in the series (the first remake on DS was great too, but that was pre-2010). They take some pretty bold liberties with the source material but are still pretty faithful remakes overall. And the art is so nice - especially in Shadows of Valentia.

Also the Sonic CD remaster for reasons already mentioned. Would be nice if the other 2D Sonic games got this treatment (outside of the mobile ports). Thankfully there's Sonic 3 AIR though.

Only a few spring to mind:

Resi Evil 2 - If you are remaking an old game this is the type of quality you should be aiming for.

Dark Souls: remastered - I'm cheating with this one a bit since I haven't actually booted it up since buying it for Switch but I think it's safe to assume I'll love it especially when I get to the DLC areas which I've never played before.

Metal Wolf Chaos XD - This was an interesting one because it only ever came out in Japan for the original xbox back in 2004 & the 2019 remaster doesn't do a massive amount to it beyond giving it a new save system and a modern day aspect ratio. I'm glad they didn't go overboard with it though as you truly get to experience the same game that got a crazy cult following over the years.

Link's Awakening is the perfect remake when it comes to modernising visuals, and otherwise it's incredibly faithful while still bringing much appreciated quality of life updates

Another great discussion topic from Cappa.


Multiple people mentioning Let's Go (correctly), and nobody bringing up HGSS?  Shameful. That to my mind remains the definitive Pokéremake: an older game that was still strong enough at heart to stand up without being too tweaked, made shinier and prettier and with non-QoL additions like the Pokéthlon that redefined the experience, as well as the QoL additions that should be expected.  (ΩRAS highlighted how much boring sea there was in the originals, added stupid Mega designs, and doesn't get a place here.)

OoT3D was a much-needed sprucing up.  I know not everyone agrees with this, but the original felt so old to me.  A lick of paint, though, was all it needed to really shine as the modern classic it is.  WWHD was also a good remake because it made the annoying parts of the game less annoying while not messing with the core of a classic adventure, however much I'd have liked to see the originally cut dungeons make it in.  I never played it, but I can't imagine that TPHD was as good: the game itself was still strong, and they needed to correct the art style, not the graphics.  

One game where the graphics arguably got worse was Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (and Bowser's Minions) for the 3DS.  By all appearances the additional content wasn't up to much either. It doesn't matter at all though, because they improved the soundtrack and the underlying game is still really good.  It was a very good remake that didn't deserve to bring down AlphaDream.  While we're on that era, shout out too to Metroid: Samus Returns.  It did what Link's Awakening didn't: realised that the underlying game was old and was going to need some serious tweaking, not just visual and QoL.  


To my mind, then, HGSS was the best remake, and OoT3D was the best remade game.  (We're not counting Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, right?)

Cappa did say remasters which Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is.

I forgot to mention HGSS. Quality remake with some amazing remixes of old tunes - but with the option of switching to the old soundtrack if you wanted. It's actually what sort of got me back into Pokemon, after I declared to myself that I was done with the series after Diamond/Pearl. I did really like those games, but after hundreds of hours I thought it was time to move on.

Conversely the Ruby/Sapphire remakes fell a bit flat to me and added stuff I didn't really care for. Though I did enjoy the extra episode, and I do fancy playing the games again some time.

Also can't believe I forgot to mention Samus Returns which I've gushed about before.

I think I could argue that there is not a single Zelda remaster that looks better than the original. OoT3D is worse, MM3D is worse, WWHD is worse, and I probably prefer the sprites of the original LA on balance.

Balladeer wrote:

... nobody bringing up HGSS?  Shameful.

I enjoyed going through Johto again and I still think Silver/Gold is my favourite generation. But for some reason once I beat the Johto section I really didn't fancy going through Kanto. I came away from it feeling full before the game ended, which is probably why I didn't bring it up. Still, a good shout as I do agree with the bulk of your post.

I totally forgot about MK8 Deluxe. I don't think it's a remaster, its more of a "game of the year edition" which runs on fresher hardware. Still the best karting game ever made though!

That's what a remaster is though as what you said could apply to The Last of Us for instance.

I know that you're right empirically but there are two things at play here which make me feel different and they're both to do with time. One is the time between it coming out on Switch and coming out on the Wii U, and the other is the amount of time Drunka and I spent playing them on both consoles. It's all a big smudge in my memory, which has anything to do with it looking sexier or running smoother on the Switch or any of the things associated with a remaster. If i was to label it in gamey terms, I guess I think of it more as the greatest port of all time rather than a remaster. That's wrong too though, I should probably just start thinking of it as a philosophy instead.

Speaking of MK8:D, anyone up for a forumite MK session any time soon?

I'm not including MK8D, even though 'officially' it probably should count and should be the best remade game in my post above and anybody who does count it won't hear any disagreement from me. Great game, that. Great great game.

Let’s start a new conversation. Nice and straightforward, but something for youse to get your teeth sunk into: what was your most disappointing game of the 2010s?


~





No-brainer. I was very excited for Epic Mickey. I think everybody was – what a concept this was, on paper. That promotional art before it’s proper unveiling really captured everyone’s imagination. That was Mickey Mouse presented in a totally different and brand-new way, far away from the typically, happy-go-lucky tone that you’d always associated with the character and franchise. How this translated into a computer game seemed really smart too – they adopted that old idea from Mickey Mania where the levels were based on old Disney cartoons and films, but with a much darker, dirtier and sinister aesthetic and mood. Also, believe it or not, there was a time when that paint-thinning idea – where you’d change layout of the world depending on your behaviour - that Epic Mickey is based on seemed like an ingenious idea. You simply didn’t get that level of interactivity with Super Mario Galaxy 2, New Super Mario Bros. Wii or Donkey Kong Country Returns. And don’t forget, this was the first appearance of Oswald the Cat in decades – a character who they bought out the license for, just for this game. For old-school Disney fans, that must have been quite special. They pulled out all the stops to make Epic Mickey much more interesting and distinctive than the usual licensed game that would come out on Wii.

Epic Mickey really wasn’t interesting and distinctive though: it was desperately mediocre. Credit where credit is due, as it does have a handful of memorable(ish) stages, the odd pleasant tune and some very classy hand-drawn animation sequences. But this was mutton dressed as lamb. The gameplay was what mattered. Underneath the glossy surface, what’s here is a very boring, frustrating 3D platformer with N64-era ideas and camera work. It’s nowhere near as clever as it would have you believe, as the painting ultimately didn’t have any consequence and the puzzle parts where very unoriginal and predictable. The gloomy visuals that were arguably it's biggest selling point just looked unpolished on Wii. There’s countless things in Epic Mickey that I can point to and say ‘that just wasn’t good enough’.

I think I finished this? I can’t even remember. But the impression it left on me was one of immense disappointment and sheer and utter boredom.

As it's sort of on my mind, the PS1 Classic was a disappointment as the game selection isn't the best and the emulation wasn't either.

I know I've not used my classics much and didn't even bother with the Mega Drive one, but I've not had any real desire to use my PS1 Classic as likes of Metal Gear Solid even though an utter banger it's much better just to get the PS3 out and play my copy of MGS on PS1.

I've only really kept it as it's not worth much and nice to have alongside my actual PS1, PSOne etc

Didn't Epic Mickey get positive reviews from the likes of NGamer? Or am I thinking of its sequel there?

Mine's an easy one, and I've not even played it. Shenmue 3. It was inevitable really, but considering it was up there with Half-Life 3 as the most anticipated game in the industry for DECADES, it seemed to get middling reviews and quickly crawled away from the spotlight. I no longer own a PS4 and once I can find one in stock, will move to the Switch, so I don't think I'll be playing Ryo's third game any time soon. The first two are up there with Resi 4 as mind-blowing experiences I'll never forget, but I don't really feel like I'm missing out and the cherished memories I have of the first two games were given a hefty knock while playing the HD ports of Shenmue 1 and 2. Mas will probably crucify me, but am I really missing out? It must be up there with Duke Nukem Forever in terms of how long we waited and how disappointing it is - hardcore Shenmue fans may well enjoy Shenmue 3 but considering I yearned for a third game for the longest time, I'm disappointed by Shenmue 3 and I haven't even played it (if that counts!).

I have Shenmue III and I backed it for $160 (I'm still waiting or most of the stuff I'm meant to get like the toys) that you would think I would have played it but nope, it's just sat on my shelf as like you from what I've seen a heard it looks very disappointing.

I'm not sure if that's actually the right word though as Yu Suzuki stuck to what he wanted to do that it only has like 4 missions and doesn't end as it's left open for Shenmue 4, maybe underwhelming is more of what we are looking for.

It's one of those cases where it was best left alone and the magic kept, only if they could do that with some movies.

masofdas wrote:

I have Shenmue III and I backed it for $160 (I'm still waiting or most of the stuff I'm meant to get like the toys) that you would think I would have played it but nope, it's just sat on my shelf as like you from what I've seen a heard it looks very disappointing.

I'm not sure if that's actually the right word though as Yu Suzuki stuck to what he wanted to do that it only has like 4 missions and doesn't end as it's left open for Shenmue 4, maybe underwhelming is more of what we are looking for.

It's one of those cases where it was best left alone and the magic kept, only if they could do that with some movies.

I would have liked to see them use the original Dreamcast engine and assets but I imagine they couldn't.

It would have looked better, I know graphics aren't everything but it just doesn't look pleasant to look at. Again this might be down to the team's experience, that it's such a hard game to judge as if you look at the team behind it and the actual funds it did have it's this weird beast.

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA



Nothing else comes close.  Sticker Star broke the series, and indeed Mario RPGs in general, in a manner that they still haven't recovered from.  It's not just the much-maligned sticker system, how it gave the game some terribly terrible puzzles and a combat system where there was little to no reward for engaging in combat.  It's the lack of partner characters apart from the character-less crown thing whose name I can't even recall, the loss of quirk, the cookie-cutter stage themes, and - the big one that hit Mario & Luigi as well - Shigeru Miyamoto's mystifying recommendation that the game only use established Mario characters, a surefire sign that the King of Gameplay doesn't understand story one bit.  Some of these points feed into each other, natch, with the characters adding a lot of the quirk.

It wasn't just a disappointing below-average game, it also set an uncomfortable precedent.  We then got Colour Splash, by most accounts a better game but one that took all of the bad points from SS and ran over the horizon with them.  We also had Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, a decent adventure that also had the established characters only thing dragging it down.  The series ran back to remakes after that.  (It was on the way out with Dream Team Bros. too, to be fair.)  Rumours swirl that a new Mario RPG is coming that has rejected what SS brought to the series: it's about time.


On the shortlist would be Star Fox 0, the series revival that I couldn't even play because of the controls.  I repeat: it doesn't come close.

Epic Mickey did indeed get a positive review from NGamer. That magazine was unreasonably generous with their scores though. I wasted hundreds of pounds on run-of-the-mill, 6/10 mince that Matthew Castle would flower up as ‘an unmitigated triumph of the heart and the soul’, or something.

Good shout with the PlayStation Classic. I’d pre-ordered three of them as I genuinely thought that it was going to be this brilliant thing and a complete sell-out success. When they unveiled that full list, I wasn’t that pleased to see Battle Arena Toshinden and Cool Boarders 2 on there instead of actual good stuff. Still, it didn’t once cross my mind that they’d completely arse up the performance of the whole thing. It’s quite crazy how badly this flopped, both in a technical and commercial sense.

I didn’t play Shenmue 3, but I played the original one for the first time on that PS4 HD collection. I didn’t dislike it, but I don’t have those memories of it that gjones and masofdas do. Hard for me to call Shenmue HD a disappointment with that in mind.

I don’t think Sticker Star is a bad game at all. It’s a bit obtuse and the backtracking does nothing for me. I thought the combat system was fun enough, but pointless I agree. Otherwise, I think it’s all right. I didn’t have massive expectations for it though. I think of Paper Mario as a ‘C’ tier Nintendo series anyway.

Cannot believe all this Epic Mickey slander, that game was a banger!

The Cappuccino Kid wrote:

I think of Paper Mario as a ‘C’ tier Nintendo series anyway.

I'm guessing this is why.  The game may not have been bad in and of itself, but I reckon it was below average even standalone.  Great music though.