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

Finally got some time to look over those wiki pages & while 2010/2017 are really good shouts personally for me I think I'm going to go with......

2015

Notable games

MH4U - This was easily my favourite MH game until World released, at the time I remember calling it the perfect monster hunter experience. Great set of new weapons & monsters introduced plus they also managed to make an interesting wee story.  
 
Bloodborne - I honestly didn't think Dark Souls could ever be matched but this topped it for me due to it's Lovecratian horror setting.

Rainbow 6 Siege - I still play this game every so often 4 years later.

The Witcher 3 - Only played through this for the first time recently after putting it off for years due to the combat not looking interesting to me but I gave it a go & I'm so glad I did. Story was absolutely phenomenal & while the combat never reaches the level of something like souls or MH you can still do some interesting things.

MGSV - While I enjoyed the previous metal gear games I always found the controls a little fiddly at times but this solves that and it just opens up the stealth combat so so much.

Rocket league - An absolute modern classic that just sprung out of nowhere.

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I'm also going to give an honourable mention to 2018 as well with it's notable games being stuff like:

Smash bros ultimate
Bayonetta 2
Dead Cells
MH World
Hollow Knight
Into the breach
Celeste

Ooh... I'm probably going to have to say 2017 as well, with the Mario and the Zelda, and the best Mario Kart.
But 2011 is a close second - as Mr. Jones says, Skyrim has stood the test of time, Minecraft changed the world, and there's that other game people like - Dark something something.

Jim has the right idea, but looking at that 2015 line-up that's absolutely peak Jas. I'd have thought the top three games would do it on their own!

Enjoying the posts guys.

GJones and Cappa have highlighted why 2010 is likely in second place for me. Absolutely whopper line-ups from that year with the likes of Mass Effect 2 and Red Dead Redemption charting amongst some of my all time favourites.

But, much like Drunka and Balla, I can't look past 2017. It's not just due to the Switch's stellar opening salvo of games in its first year, but stuff that I've since gone back to from that year which blew my socks off too. Even if I didn't play them at their time of release, they still add to 2017's amazing lineup.

Here's my picks from 2017:

Why 2017 Rocked My World:

It's going to take a truly special year of games to top 2017 for me. Next year could be that year, mind you...

I'm still surprised only me is going for 2013, did think The Last of Us would have pushed the year to the top for more people without Tomb Raider, Bioshock Infinite etc

I gotta say, I'm kind of with Jas on 2018. People, including on this very forum, give Switch a hard time for its "slow year" but those Indies did wonders, then a pokemon and a smash at the end there.

Bioshock Infinite is crap, Last of Us is alright.

I'm not angry just disappointed

Drunkalilly wrote:

I gotta say, I'm kind of with Jas on 2018. People, including on this very forum, give Switch a hard time for its "slow year" but those Indies did wonders, then a pokemon and a smash at the end there.

Bioshock Infinite is crap, Last of Us is alright.

I haven't minded the this years Switch output either, actually spoilt for choice at the minute and could probably not buy any new games for like 6 months and be quite happy.

This year has been grand, slow first half of the year or no. I reckon it'll be up there by the end.

2018 wasn't bad for a slow year and I understand the Switch having one, but I had basically only Celeste and Hollow Knight, both still 'small' games no matter how great they are, for six months.

You only had Celeste for six months and you still didn't........get gud? Sort it out balla as that's plenty of time for those b sides.

Balladeer wrote:

2018 wasn't bad for a slow year and I understand the Switch having one, but I had basically only Celeste and Hollow Knight, both still 'small' games no matter how great they are, for six months.

I suspect it felt worse for you because you don't have a "between games" game. For me, a dry spell can be a nice time to have multiplayer sessions on Spla2n or Arms, to plug away at some Monster Hunter, to catch lots of Pokemon, to play a season of FIFA and so on. With so much like that left over from 2017, not-to-mention ports like DOOM which were new for me, (and I moved to Japan, did I mention that?) I wouldn't have wanted more games in the first half of 2018!

You're probably right - or rather, I do have a 'between games' game, and it's whatever that generation's Smash happens to be, which for that slow period hadn't been released yet.  You were definitely in a better position to appreciate a slower year, between your backlog and (what?  Really?) moving to Japan.

The_Jaster wrote:

You only had Celeste for six months and you still didn't........get gud? Sort it out balla as that's plenty of time for those b sides.

It’s ‘git gud’ Jas, honestly. Git it right.

Much as I moaned about Switch in 2018 and even this year to a point, I don't have the between games but having another console to fall back on as well which Balla also doesn't have.

Balladeer wrote:

I do have a 'between games' game, and it's whatever that generation's Smash happens to be

Correction - that's a forever game.

What do you guys want to look back on next?

I was thinking of either moving onto some genre based chat (best shooter, best RPG, best action/adventure, best racing game of the 2010s) or your personal top 5 of the 2010s. What would you prefer?

Best games of genres, as even though overall Top 5 would be great but how similar would that be too Top whatever thread Jimbob did.

Before we move on, I take it we're all in agreement that 2016 was the best gaming year of the decade? 9:32-10:30 in this video (which I can't timestamp) proves that.



Genre chat next, please! Personal top fives can be done later in the year - or maybe even next year, when we've had a chance to reflect on how absolutely amazing Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD is going to be.

Genre chat it is!

Let's start off with an old reliable - the humble platformer.

Whilst it's quite clearly no longer in its heyday, platforming games still give us some of gaming's finest moments. Those moments usually come from Nintendo in this day and age, but a fair few indie devs have risen to the task of giving us some platforming gems in the last decade.

What platformers have stood out to you and which stands higher than the rest as the shining beacon of platforming goodness in the 2010s?

This list should help for anything prior to 2017 - bizarrely, Metacritic seemed to have stopped sorting platformers as, well, platformers since the start of 2017 and have instead opted for the useless categorisation of "action" which is where you'll find the likes of Super Mario Odyssey and Celeste. A trawl through those Wikipedia links I shared for the best year discussion should unearth any platforming gems you've forgotten about, I'd presume.

Let's hop to it, folks!

That’s bizarre. I view ‘action’ as an entirely different genre, involving hitting things mostly (and that can be broken down into your Zeldas and your Bayonettas) rather than jumping on things. Metacritic what the heck chaps.

Anyhoo, the 2010s. The decade that forgot about the 3D platformer, then remembered it again in glory. The decade that made 2D platformers dull for me, then made them really exciting again. I’ll have a fair amount to say on this when I’m not in the office. Good topic!

I would say platformers aren't one of my go-to genres but looking back at what I would call great games from the best year discussion, I've got maybe 16 games (Two games I'm unsure of the genre, and a few Metroidvania's which I guess is a sub-genre of platformer) to pick from and I would think things like PS4's Ratchet and Clank but I'm still yet to play it

Maybe 1st


Wiki says it's an indie adventure game, which it is but sort has platform elements as well and I wouldn't really put it with games that Balla mentions in the post above.

That take it how you want, if it's a platformer its the best one this decade and I've talked about the game a lot in the past.

1. If it's not then the best platformer of the decade is


Best game on Switch, innit

2. The best 2D platformer then has to be

The music levels  

3. My number three is closer to Journey than the other two because indie and more about the story

Who would have thought you could make a square so interesting

4. This might have been Astro Bot here the Super Mario 64 of VR but as I played this first and still yet to really play Astro this is the VR game I would get people to play that isn't first-person and may course a few poorly tummies, to begin with

Look how cute Quill is

5. The last great Sonic

It's a Sonic game where the 3D is fun for the first time since heroes? And the 2D works great as well. Maybe if I had played colours (I plan to) that might have made the list

Honourable mentions
Tearaway, If this was on the 3DS and had Kirby in or something people would love it
Ori and the Blind Forest, Great Metroidvania
SteamWorld Dig 2, Same as above
Little Nightmares, A nice dark adventure platformer thing
GRIS, Have I mentioned I like this game before

Also, Super Mario 3D Land and World but Odyessy just overshadow's them. The other question mark game along with Journey on the genre is Gravity Rush, which you do a lot of jumping around even on the enemies.

There was some games in the Metacritic list that probably aren't platformers - Steamworld Dig? Ninja Gaiden 3?

I used GameSpot

Again, I've probably not played enough to have complete faith in my selections, but these are my thoughts on platformer games I did enjoy.

My favourites

1. Rayman Origins (2011)

My favourite has to be Rayman Origins. Don't get me wrong, Legends is arguably better in that it refined the formula (much like SMG2) but Legends suffered in its pacing. Just as you felt 'in the zone' you'd be halted by a damn touch screen puzzle. Given it was designed for the Wii-U, it makes sense, but it gave the levels a stop/start element that took some of the shine off of the free-flowing haven that is HD Rayman.

2. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (2010)

A phenomenal game that suffers from being a sequel to one of the best games ever, but also trims the fat (read: story) and gives you a constant stream of innovative, satisfying and simply joyous Nintendo goodness.

3. Tearaway (2013)

I played the PS4 version of this, so lost some of the wonder and invention that the Vita original possessed. That said, this game has character pouring out of its arse. Probably because your arse is made of paper. It may utilise ideas Paper Mario laid down, but it creates a world that is equally haunting and endlessly colourful. An absolute must-play.

4. Super Mario 3D Land (2011)

Nobody talks about this bad boy, which is a shame. It's a healthy blend of 2D Mario's linearity and 3D Mario's freedom, that works perfectly in handheld form. It may lack some of the genius of it's Galaxy twins, but it's a handheld Mario game that tries something different, and ultimately succeeds.

SteamWorld Dig is a Metroidvania, so reckon it's a platformer, just a sub genre of it.

You missed one of the games Drunka from my 6 that I mentioned (guessing Rayman Legends is the missing one) and I do really like Lost in Translation, it would be in my top films.

It's not like each of mine represents one of yours, I was just satirising your overall vibe.