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Game of the Decade (Gaming)

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Sunday, September 08, 2019, 20:03 (1653 days ago)

So the 2010s are coming to a close! Time flies.

So what's the game of the decade?

How do you measure this? Is the the best game? The most influential? I don't quite know what to pick just yet. But I do know I have a few contenders:

Dark Souls
Night in the Woods
The Last of Us
Life is Strange
Nier Automata

Yeah, Vanquish is really fucking good but sometimes being 'amazeballs' isn't enough to be the game of the decade. So I've narrowed it down to these five.

Maybe Fortnite could be #6, but that'd be like Hitler winning Time's Man of the year in 1938. Technically correct, but he wasn't the best…

Add your thoughts because I'm sure I haven't tried or researched everything.

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Game of the Decade

by cheapLEY @, Sunday, September 08, 2019, 20:25 (1653 days ago) @ Cody Miller

If we're talking influence, is Destiny on that list? It certainly feels like it started the modern looter shooter trend, at least in regards to making them a game-as-service. But maybe that's not true, and Destiny just happened to be first and it was an inevitable evolution of games.

I'd certainly put The Witcher 3 in contention.

Is GTA V on the list based on copies sold alone?

Mass Effect 2 was released in 2010. Merits a mention, at the very least.

Skyrim probably deserves to be in the conversation, at least.

Wouldn't make my list, but Telltale's games are probably in the debate somewhere. I'd champion Life is Strange, but if we're talking influential, I think there's a pretty direct connection from The Walking Dead to Life is Strange.

I'd certainly put Dark Souls on the list. Bloodborne is certainly a better game, but Dark Souls felt like the beginning of that whole thing in the mainstream. Bloodborne is of such high quality that it might deserve the nod, as it feels like the perfection of that formula.

Not on my list, but The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild?

I'd certainly have to talk about God of War. It's just a video game ass video game that doesn't do anything particularly groundbreaking, but it's of such an extremely high quality in literally every way that it's worth mentioning. Likewise for Horizon: Zero Dawn, but that game isn't quite as good looking back at it--it's a lot easier to pick apart than God of War, I think.

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Game of the Decade

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Monday, September 09, 2019, 10:32 (1653 days ago) @ cheapLEY

I'd certainly put Dark Souls on the list.

The more I think about it, the more this seems like the correct choice.

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Game of the Decade

by Harmanimus @, Monday, September 09, 2019, 13:17 (1653 days ago) @ Cody Miller

Only if your criteria is structural gatekeeping and limiting your audience.

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Game of the Decade

by stabbim @, Des Moines, IA, USA, Tuesday, September 10, 2019, 12:21 (1652 days ago) @ Cody Miller

I tried it once. It was the 3rd least fun game I've ever played.

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Game of the Decade

by Ragashingo ⌂, Official DBO Cryptarch, Sunday, September 08, 2019, 21:48 (1653 days ago) @ Cody Miller
edited by Ragashingo, Sunday, September 08, 2019, 22:12

My picks would be something like:

God of War - The story of Kratos and his son traveling to a distant mountain top to scatter his dead wife's ashes trades in the revenge stories of the previous God of Wars for a tale of regret, and fatherhood, and of taking responsibility for one's past and present that is quite simply unmatched in any medium. The gameplay is extremely well done, but when matched with the story and characters, this game rises above just about everything else I've ever played or watched. This isn't a "best of the decade" game. It is a "best of all time" game. Gameplay, cutscenes, acting, effects, scale, fun, sound, graphics... basically you name it and God of War is right up there with any other game in the named category.

Witcher 3 - This game does so much right in terms of story and characters. Not only is its open world far more detailed and realistic than things like Skyrim, it is grounded in a more mature reality. Wars between nations leave battlefields of wounded and dead. Victory for one side means poverty, political upheaval, and mass displacement for the others. And witch hunts grow and grow until they threaten to plunge even wealthy, well off cities into flames. The main character, Gearlt, is something like a mix of the Master Chief and Batman. He was taken at a young age and made into a sorta super soldier monster hunter, but now he kinda does his own thing mostly siding on the side of truth and justice. His dry sense of humor and seen it all gruffness play well against the more colorful characters he often comes in contact with. The cutscenes are fabulous. The voice acting is superb. And the 2nd DLC, Blood and Wine, is the absolute epitome of what any and every DLC should be. It's practically a 2nd full game that trades the war torn lands you've spent all your time in for a bright, colorful, almost fairytale reality that has its own dark twists and happenings. Witcher 3 should be mandatory for anyone looking to make an open world game.

Mass Effect 3 - Ok... the ending sucked, but everything else about this game was great. The gameplay was better than ever. The graphics were great. And the way it handled story and characters was special, even when talking about the other games in this list. Mass Effect 3 took full advantage of being the third game in a series that told you it was going to take your choices into account. There are so many great, optional encounters that you may never even see, but all of which are affected by what you did in Mass Effect 1 and 2. There's also a great sense of familiarity and sometimes even playfulness in that the writers knew their audience and knew that their audience probably played through the previous two games. They weren't afraid to reference things silly and serious that happened in the past games and some of the moments, both silly and serious, are surprisingly touching because they relate to things you choose in previous games. It was also a game that fulfilled its promise to make your choices matter. Certain best case outcomes really did require you do the right key things the previous titles. Very few games can actually make that claim.

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice - This game is smaller than the others. It is shorter. It's gameplay is certainly serviceable but is only what it needs to be and nothing more. I liked the gameplay, but it isn't really the draw here. What this game did better than any other was instill, if not force, a superb sense of a character upon the player. Senua, in particular, is, I think, the pinnacle of any video game character in terms of acting and realistic portrayals of emotions both happy and sad. As much as studios like Quantic Dream try to create the best of the best in terms of realistic human portrayals, this little game blew them out of the water. We often talk about voice acting, but Senua came to life with something more akin to full character acting that can be both wonderfully uplifting at times and purposely unnerving at others. Performances like what the actress did for Senua are the future of well done gaming characters.

The Last of Us - I did not like this game's gameplay. I grew tired of running from zombies and humans pretty quickly and especially of being nearly out of ammo pretty much all of the time. But even I'm forced to admit that between its gameplay, its cutscenes, and its in-game character and story moments, this game was and is special.

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Interesting that nobody has mentioned Titanfall 2 yet...

by Malagate @, Sea of Tranquility, Monday, September 09, 2019, 06:33 (1653 days ago) @ Ragashingo

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That’s only because I haven’t responded yet ;)

by CruelLEGACEY @, Toronto, Monday, September 09, 2019, 08:02 (1653 days ago) @ Malagate

*edit*

Oops, looks like BlackTiger beat me to it :)

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Game of the Decade

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Monday, September 09, 2019, 10:44 (1653 days ago) @ Ragashingo
edited by Cody Miller, Monday, September 09, 2019, 10:49

God of War

From what I've seen, it's not really even close to being a good game, let alone the game of the decade or the 'best game of all time' as you put it.

Witcher 3

While the story and world are probably great, it seems like the mechanics of the game are tiresome and trite. Follow the dotted line.

Mass Effect 3

Don't know enough to say.

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

Seems like just a 'good' game to me, not game of the decade material.

The Last of Us

The only other serious contender to Dark Souls for me.

GTA V

The conceit is a decade old, and everything about the game is tedious, stereotypical, and thin.

Skyrim

This is a decent "Hitler" choice for game of the decade, and argument could certainly be made.

The Walking Dead

Shit, ugly game that adds nothing to the genre. Games like Until Dawn had more meaningful choices.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Don't know enough to say.

Horizon: Zero Dawn

I… did not like this game at all.

Titanfall 2

The campaign was great, but it feels like an extension and refinement

Destiny

Again… more of a refinement. It's only spawned a handful of copycats, whereas Halo's DNA was in every FPS game of the last decade it seems. The MMO ideas and investment elements were already established in the industry.

Rocket League

Could be a top 5 for sure, but not #1.

Vanquish

I am willing to admit that while it is the best 3PS ever made and super super good, that it's stuck in an 'old school' type of design that relies so heavily on mechanics to immerse.

Fortnite

Worth considering (for better or for worse) seeing as how more people play it than watched Seinfeld.

Nier Automata

I really think this game expanded the storytelling potential of games, and will probably be more well regarded the more time passes.

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You're such a classy guy Cody

by Xenos @, Shores of Time, Monday, September 09, 2019, 12:31 (1653 days ago) @ Cody Miller

Oh wait, I meant asshole. Sorry, mixed those up

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You're such a classy guy Cody

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Monday, September 09, 2019, 12:33 (1653 days ago) @ Xenos

Oh wait, I meant asshole. Sorry, mixed those up

What now?

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You're such a classy guy Cody

by cheapLEY @, Monday, September 09, 2019, 13:52 (1653 days ago) @ Cody Miller

Oh wait, I meant asshole. Sorry, mixed those up


What now?

Oh, just literally the same thing it’s been for about a decade now.

As the 2010s come to a close, we should have a “Cody Miller casually dismisses everyone’s opinion” moment of the decade. (:

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It's the pretentious nature of your delivery.

by INSANEdrive, ಥ_ಥ | f(ಠ‿↼)z | ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ| ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, Monday, September 09, 2019, 15:50 (1652 days ago) @ Cody Miller

Oh wait, I meant asshole. Sorry, mixed those up


What now?

Nothing new. Same old same old. You know it, and if you don't by now, it really doesn't matter. You're a character Cody Miller would... in my observation... hate. He would rant how this shallow character hasn't changed in at least 5 years, even though he had all this opportunity and input to change. How awful the writers must be, and how it really would have been better if... whatever. Would argue to the death that this position is the right one, regardless the rebuffs and rebutts given. Like some sort of OCD or Autistic fear of change. Instead of learning new avenues of thought, you run from it. You rejoice in your own ignorance, and embrace the myopic nature of your perview. I'm doing my best right now to not make a politics joke.

The Walking Dead


Shit, ugly game that adds nothing to the genre. Games like Until Dawn had more meaningful choices.

Ragashingo posted the games he enjoyed, that he felt were "Game of the Decade" material. In response, you just fucking took your pants off, bent over, and took a steaming dump on it. There is no discussion to be made here, no way to continue discussion. Just... fuck you.

Those are a majority of your posts. Your style. For five years.

It's kind of sad.

Worst of it all, for me anyway, is that this is simply from the perception gleaned from the posts alone, and perceptions are nine tenths. I fucking hate it, but it sure is the energy efficient default. Perhaps old habits die hard. Perhaps a method of living that once worked, no longer does (which can be a real pain to sense). Or... perhaps you're just an ass, and don't really care. If that's that case, than you are enjoying all of this, as an ass would. Laughing ever so cleverly that you can't be forced to drink. I don't think that's you, from the very very little I gleam. I think it's something far more tragic, as... since when are things ever so simple? You don't strike me as a person who just wants to watch the world burn.

Am I right? Am I wrong? ...no skin off my bones brother, it's your life. Go ahead an rebut with a clever joke. Or some off topic B-roll. You know. You know.

Or you don't. To which then you never will it seems.

What do you bench? (Did you watch the video?)

Nice topic though, while you can keep it.

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It's the pretentious nature of your delivery.

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Monday, September 09, 2019, 16:14 (1652 days ago) @ INSANEdrive

Go ahead an rebut with a clever joke. Or some off topic B-roll. You know. You know.

Ok. I actually DO know what the Sistine Chapel smells like, and that ain’t what makes it amazing.

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Well. That's my BINGO card folks. Can we ban him now? :P

by INSANEdrive, ಥ_ಥ | f(ಠ‿↼)z | ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ| ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, Monday, September 09, 2019, 16:36 (1652 days ago) @ Cody Miller

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Well. That's my BINGO card folks. Can we ban him now? :P

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Monday, September 09, 2019, 16:40 (1652 days ago) @ INSANEdrive

Nah I hear you.

Let my try to rephrase:

I’m not sure Walking Dead really rises to the level necessary. I personally think it has many serious flaws, and while a bunch of people loved it I don’t think it’s held up well enough for me to personally consider. I think game of the decade has to make outstanding strides, and for me Walking Dead is short of that.

…did I do it right?

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Well. That's my BINGO card folks. Can we ban him now? :P

by cheapLEY @, Monday, September 09, 2019, 16:49 (1652 days ago) @ Cody Miller

Honestly, was that so hard?

Look, I don’t have any problems with the way you express yourself here. I mostly find it funny at this point. You’re right—we all know these are your opinions, and you don’t have to include that fact for us to know that. That doesn’t mean that not including those modifiers isn’t sometimes grating. It’s an emotional gut reaction, not a logical one.

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Well. That's my BINGO card folks. Can we ban him now? :P

by Kermit @, Raleigh, NC, Tuesday, September 10, 2019, 07:35 (1652 days ago) @ Cody Miller

Nah I hear you.

Let my try to rephrase:

I’m not sure Walking Dead really rises to the level necessary. I personally think it has many serious flaws, and while a bunch of people loved it I don’t think it’s held up well enough for me to personally consider. I think game of the decade has to make outstanding strides, and for me Walking Dead is short of that.

…did I do it right?

One or two acknowledgements of your personal subjectivity now and then is all it takes.

Also helps to identify, if it ever happens, when someone says something that changes what you think, if only a little bit.

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C: "...did I do it right?" I: "Were it so easy".

by INSANEdrive, ಥ_ಥ | f(ಠ‿↼)z | ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ| ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, Tuesday, September 10, 2019, 10:30 (1652 days ago) @ Cody Miller

Nah I hear you.

Let my try to rephrase:

I’m not sure Walking Dead really rises to the level necessary. I personally think it has many serious flaws, and while a bunch of people loved it I don’t think it’s held up well enough for me to personally consider. I think game of the decade has to make outstanding strides, and for me Walking Dead is short of that.

…did I do it right?

It's not about me. I don't know. Did you? Have you? It wasn't just one thing, but...heh... again, you know this too. I'm not here to tell anyone how to live their life, especially someone as old as you. I'm here for the most part to discuss all things games, Bungie, and Destiny. To do my best to coordinate and contribute with my peers to raid, nightfall, get exotics, and kick ass in crucible (which happens every now and again). Also... occasionally that Halo thing.

I'd like to see things here that help facilitate that. Perhaps that's why you're still here. You have shown a capability to do that, the catch being it's more often then not a monkeys paw which has grown more and more to be the forum joke. I don't want you to be a monkeys paw. I don't want you to be a joke, as has been mentioned elsewhere in this thread. Hopefully you want that for yourself too. I would love to have a fantastic discussion with you, should you allow it. Unfortunately, I and many others (who still post here) don't really post, because... why bother?

It's Cody FUCKING Miller. Fuck 'im and the high horse he keeps riding in on.

You have a lot of dried shit to scrape off Cody, and you built it. Fortunately it's on record now that ya hear me, so I guess we'll be finding out if you can "do it right". Don't bullshit yourself & Do not take my act of forgiving honesty for granted. It's all Acta Non Verba brother. If you want to be trash, eventually even the most forgiving noses will take you out. And as it is right now some of us will celebrate that day.

Signed,

Jacob Marley...OOOoooOOOhinthintoOO... aw ok I'm done :P

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Ear to ear folks!

by ManKitten, The Stugotz is strong in me., Monday, September 09, 2019, 19:44 (1652 days ago) @ Cody Miller

Oh wait, I meant asshole. Sorry, mixed those up


What now?


Everything about this is hilarious to me.

Cody: Here's what I think, what do you think?
Anyone else: Interesting, here is what I think.
Cody: Well, here's why you're dumb.
Everyone else: WTF Cody!

This thread happens every two months and everyone is continually surprised like it's never happened.

And just to clarify, I say this with zero snark. I am genuinely amused by this :D

"What now?" he said. smh.

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Whoa whoa whoa! Who said they were surprised? ;)

by Xenos @, Shores of Time, Tuesday, September 10, 2019, 13:30 (1652 days ago) @ ManKitten

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Game of the Decade

by Avateur @, Thursday, September 12, 2019, 21:13 (1649 days ago) @ Ragashingo

Mass Effect 3 - Ok... the ending sucked, but everything else about this game was great. The gameplay was better than ever. The graphics were great. And the way it handled story and characters was special, even when talking about the other games in this list. Mass Effect 3 took full advantage of being the third game in a series that told you it was going to take your choices into account. There are so many great, optional encounters that you may never even see, but all of which are affected by what you did in Mass Effect 1 and 2. There's also a great sense of familiarity and sometimes even playfulness in that the writers knew their audience and knew that their audience probably played through the previous two games. They weren't afraid to reference things silly and serious that happened in the past games and some of the moments, both silly and serious, are surprisingly touching because they relate to things you choose in previous games. It was also a game that fulfilled its promise to make your choices matter. Certain best case outcomes really did require you do the right key things the previous titles. Very few games can actually make that claim.

I pondered on this one for a bit, and I wonder what would have happened if they had stuck the landing. The ending really tarnished so much. I love everything but the ending in ME3. But at the same time, ME2 was just so much better as a whole. I can’t give it game of the decade. And although it’s not ME3’s fault, Andromeda was a major letdown. The series sorta just died. It’s really unfortunate, because it was such a wonderful universe. It’ll be fun to revisit in the future.

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Game of the Decade

by Ragashingo ⌂, Official DBO Cryptarch, Thursday, September 12, 2019, 22:56 (1649 days ago) @ Avateur

Which ending, though? The way I play it, a bunch of stuff happens, then Shepard almost gets his identity stolen by his clone, the he hosts an awesome party. Afterwards, the crew of the Normandy stride heroically towards their awaiting ship... and probably save the galaxy is some awesomely heroic and clever way.

If Witcher 3's Blood and Wine is the best DLC ever, the Citadel is the second best. It was such a great thank you to the fans of all three games, and it's pretty much were I stop playing now. I much prefer it to Star Child giving me three nonsensical choices. (Though, I am kinda a fan of the fail until the next cycle ending... that was pretty good, too.)

Game of the Decade

by Avateur @, Thursday, September 12, 2019, 23:08 (1649 days ago) @ Ragashingo

Which ending, though? The way I play it, a bunch of stuff happens, then Shepard almost gets his identity stolen by his clone, the he hosts an awesome party. Afterwards, the crew of the Normandy stride heroically towards their awaiting ship... and probably save the galaxy is some awesomely heroic and clever way.

If Witcher 3's Blood and Wine is the best DLC ever, the Citadel is the second best. It was such a great thank you to the fans of all three games, and it's pretty much were I stop playing now. I much prefer it to Star Child giving me three nonsensical choices. (Though, I am kinda a fan of the fail until the next cycle ending... that was pretty good, too.)

I actually never played that DLC, and this is the first time I've heard of it. I ended up going into the ending of the game pre-extended-endings. Regardless of my option(s), it appeared that every decision I had previously made didn't matter at all, my crew had crashed randomly with no escape on a random planet, all of the relays were knocked out so they were stuck, and every other faction was forever stuck on Earth with no way back to their homes or anything. Some things didn't even entirely add up. Then I found out that because I didn't play multiplayer, I went into that final battle at 50% readiness no matter what I had done throughout ME3. I didn't do much with ME3 past that point.

Then you get things like the Indoctrination Theory trying to explain away all of the bad choices and whatever. I just looked up the DLC you mentioned, and that sounds amazing. I can't blame you for viewing that as your definitive end (give or take). I also really liked the no-choice ending, too, but I didn't come across it until later.

Also, I think the ME2 Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC might be one of the best DLCs I've ever purchased and played. It was so damn great.

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Game of the Decade

by Blackt1g3r @, Login is from an untrusted domain in MN, Monday, September 09, 2019, 07:51 (1653 days ago) @ Cody Miller

Not sure which one I'd pick for top game, but these are all fantastic:

Titanfall 2 - I had a ton of fun with the campaign and the multiplayer.

Outer Wilds - A great adventure game that really makes you think. It's all about discovery and I highly recommend going in 100% blind.

Subnautica - Base building, Wildlife that can be terrifying but once you learn and understand their behavior becomes less scary, an expanding tech tree that is all about finding ways to go deeper.

Factorio - Build a giant factory. This game is all about automation and expanding scale. Lots of similarities to some programming concepts without being a programming game.

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Game of the Decade

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Monday, September 09, 2019, 20:55 (1652 days ago) @ Blackt1g3r

Outer Wilds - A great adventure game that really makes you think. It's all about discovery and I highly recommend going in 100% blind.

Hmmm. Never heard of it but if it's an adventure game I HAVE to try it!

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Game of the Decade

by Kermit @, Raleigh, NC, Monday, September 09, 2019, 09:22 (1653 days ago) @ Cody Miller

So the 2010s are coming to a close! Time flies.

So what's the game of the decade?

How do you measure this? Is the the best game? The most influential? I don't quite know what to pick just yet. But I do know I have a few contenders:

Dark Souls
Night in the Woods
The Last of Us
Life is Strange
Nier Automata

Yeah, Vanquish is really fucking good but sometimes being 'amazeballs' isn't enough to be the game of the decade. So I've narrowed it down to these five.

Maybe Fortnite could be #6, but that'd be like Hitler winning Time's Man of the year in 1938. Technically correct, but he wasn't the best…

Add your thoughts because I'm sure I haven't tried or researched everything.

This is a predictable response from me, but the Last of Us wins simply because it finally presented believable and compelling characters to tell a meaningful, emotionally impactful story in an action video game. Other games came close. Marathon has interesting ideas, Halo had its moments, heck--Gears of War 3 choked me up, but TLoU nailed everything. The action provided tension, which underscored the tension felt by the characters. It all worked. I've been waiting for such a game to exist ever since games had characters and story, and I never thought it would be set in a zombie apocalypse. Not my favorite genre, but it's that good. Maybe we should wait for TLoU Part II? It might be The Godfather Part II of video games. It could happen if they prioritize story and characters.

Many other games that people are mentioning I might consider contenders once I play them (Hellblade, God of War), but I'd be surprised if The Last of Us is unseated.

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Without spending much time researching...

by kidtsunami @, Atlanta, GA, Monday, September 09, 2019, 09:35 (1653 days ago) @ Cody Miller

  • Zelda: Breath Of The Wild - By far the most adventurous open world game I've played
  • The Last Of Us - Wonderful character study with gameplay that suited the narrative told
  • Spelunky (XBLA/PS4/Vita version) - The "crunchiest" game I've ever played
  • No Man's Sky - Only video game where I continually come back to my screenshots like I would review vacation photos, damn it's beautiful
  • Destiny - Has defined a whole new world of shared world shooters
  • Rocket League - The purest form of "sport" in a video game
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I wish spelunky had online multiplayer

by Blackt1g3r @, Login is from an untrusted domain in MN, Monday, September 09, 2019, 10:29 (1653 days ago) @ kidtsunami

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Without spending much time researching...

by Blackt1g3r @, Login is from an untrusted domain in MN, Monday, September 09, 2019, 12:03 (1653 days ago) @ kidtsunami

  • No Man's Sky - Only video game where I continually come back to my screenshots like I would review vacation photos, damn it's beautiful

Have you played Subnautica? That's also a beautiful game.

Persona 5 or Nier: Automata.

by EffortlessFury @, Monday, September 09, 2019, 11:16 (1653 days ago) @ Cody Miller

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Persona 5 or Nier: Automata.

by Korny @, Dalton, Ga. US. Earth, Sol System, Monday, September 09, 2019, 11:26 (1653 days ago) @ EffortlessFury
edited by Korny, Monday, September 09, 2019, 11:59

Persona 5 was the perfection of a genre (or several). Not hugely influential, but much like God of War, it hit the highest highs of every element it employed.

NieR: Automata is pretty much just perfection.
It even took the concept of New Game+ to a new level, and implemented it in such a way that it strengthened the narrative, so you felt exactly what they wanted during that final ascent.

For the glory of Mankind.

ps. NieR: Automata GotY is $25 at Best Buy.

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The Official Game(s) of the Decade

by INSANEdrive, ಥ_ಥ | f(ಠ‿↼)z | ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ| ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, Monday, September 09, 2019, 11:25 (1653 days ago) @ Cody Miller
edited by INSANEdrive, Monday, September 09, 2019, 11:28

1. Super Mario Galaxy 2
2. Grand Theft Auto V
3. Red Dead Redemption 2
4. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
5. Super Mario Odyssey
6. Mass Effect 2
7. Batman: Arkham City
8. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
9. Red Dead Redemption
10. Portal 2
Source: Metacritic. All Games on Major Consoles between 2010-2019ish.
DLC/Explanations are skipped (Such as The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Blood and Wine).
Data for whole post stopped @ Page 14.

The next 5 + 1 games are The Last of Us (which is vary close to the Remastered variant which I'm skipping), Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, BioShock Infinite, & God of War. Oh and Celeste.

I added that plus one as it was the first game that didn't come from a Big League Developer/Publisher. I thought it was pretty cool to see one of the top games (by Critic Score) has been made by a two man team.

So there... that's an official answer, unless the Christmas rush of releases are able to pull off some genre defining game play.

You missed the first Super Mario Galaxy!

by marmot 1333 @, Monday, September 09, 2019, 12:37 (1653 days ago) @ INSANEdrive

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2007. Disqualified.

by INSANEdrive, ಥ_ಥ | f(ಠ‿↼)z | ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ| ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, Monday, September 09, 2019, 13:03 (1653 days ago) @ marmot 1333

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Borderlands 2

by Schedonnardus, Texas, Monday, September 09, 2019, 12:47 (1653 days ago) @ Cody Miller

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Game of the Decade

by breitzen @, Kansas, Monday, September 09, 2019, 12:54 (1653 days ago) @ Cody Miller

So FYI I haven't played any of those amazing PS exclusive games so that's why none are on my list. Sorry not sorry, it's all subjective anyway. So in no particular order:

Halo Reach
Battlefield 3
Minecraft
Ori and the Blind Forest
Titanfall 2
Destiny
Rainbow Six Siege
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Fortnite
Anthem jk. lol :(

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Minecraft was last decade. Came out May 2009.

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Monday, September 09, 2019, 13:02 (1653 days ago) @ breitzen

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You're right! Although a few places I've seen say 2011?

by breitzen @, Kansas, Monday, September 09, 2019, 13:23 (1653 days ago) @ Cody Miller

Crazy how old that game is and how far its come!

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Your initial post doesn’t mention release date requirements.

by Harmanimus @, Monday, September 09, 2019, 13:24 (1653 days ago) @ Cody Miller

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Your initial post doesn’t mention release date requirements.

by cheapLEY @, Monday, September 09, 2019, 13:50 (1653 days ago) @ Harmanimus

Sure it did. He said the 2010s are coming to a close. 2009 isn’t the 2010s.

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Your initial post doesn’t mention release date requirements.

by Harmanimus @, Monday, September 09, 2019, 16:45 (1652 days ago) @ cheapLEY

There is no stipulation that a game has to be released in that decade to be the “game of the decade.” He even questions marking criteria. If you go with his “most influential” option it is entirely probable that the game would have come out prior to the decade. 2009 had a lot going on that wasn’t particularly meaningful for the 00’s, just as most things from this year will probably ring louder for their impact on the 20’s. Honestly, any inclusion in a list here with Dark Souls as a progenitor would be better served by Demon’s Souls which came out in ‘09.

Maybe it is splitting hairs. But I stand by the argument for sake of clarity.

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Your initial post doesn’t mention release date requirements.

by cheapLEY @, Monday, September 09, 2019, 16:54 (1652 days ago) @ Harmanimus

I honestly really disagree with your point about Demon’s Soul. Sure, it was the precursor to Dark Souls, but Dark Souls was the game that actually took off. Demon’s Souls is a game that is important to From Software. They learned important lessons that allowed them to make Dark Souls. But it doesn’t really mean much to the rest of us—Dark Souls is the game that captured us.

I know that’s a huge generalization. There are plenty of people that loved Demon’s Souls and think it’s the better game, but Dark Souls is the one that served as inspiration for other games, I think.

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Your initial post doesn’t mention release date requirements.

by Harmanimus @, Monday, September 09, 2019, 17:01 (1652 days ago) @ cheapLEY

But you at least understand the purpose of that point, yes? I personally would not include a Souls or Souls-like game on any list here. Because personal opinions. There are a lot I wouldn’t include honestly. Unless it is going to be clearly defined by release between 01JAN10 and 31DEC19 then most importance or greatest influence aren’t inherently gonna fit in the box.

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"The Decade" isn't exactly a vague timeframe...

by Korny @, Dalton, Ga. US. Earth, Sol System, Monday, September 09, 2019, 14:16 (1653 days ago) @ Harmanimus

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According to wikipedia...

by breitzen @, Kansas, Monday, September 09, 2019, 13:27 (1653 days ago) @ Cody Miller

"Minecraft was first released to the public on 17 May 2009, as a developmental release on TIGSource forums,[70] later becoming known as the Classic version."

"Mojang moved the game out of beta and released the full version on 18 November 2011."

So we're both right!

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According to wikipedia...

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Monday, September 09, 2019, 13:51 (1653 days ago) @ breitzen

"Minecraft was first released to the public on 17 May 2009, as a developmental release on TIGSource forums,[70] later becoming known as the Classic version."

"Mojang moved the game out of beta and released the full version on 18 November 2011."

So we're both right!

Interesting. I’m not sure if it qualifies or if it doesn’t. It if it does, it’s absolutely a plausible contender.

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According to wikipedia...

by cheapLEY @, Monday, September 09, 2019, 13:52 (1653 days ago) @ Cody Miller

I’d count it. It certainly blew up in the 2010s.

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According to wikipedia...

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Monday, September 09, 2019, 16:15 (1652 days ago) @ cheapLEY

I’d count it. It certainly blew up in the 2010s.

Yeah. I really have to think about this one!

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Game of the Decade

by CruelLEGACEY @, Toronto, Monday, September 09, 2019, 17:53 (1652 days ago) @ Cody Miller

A few quick contenders, off the top of my head:

• God of War - Easily a “Best Game of All Time” contender in my books, so it makes a Game if the Decade list without breaking a sweat.

• The Last of Us - Characters like that don’t come along every day.

• Horizon Zero Dawn - For me, HZD is to world building what TLoU is to character development.

• Titanfall 2 - My favourite shooter of all time, with movement and traversal mechanics that are so freeing and thrilling, it’s an absolute joy just to run and jump and swing around the world. Having a best-in-class action/shooter game built around that takes it to another level, but it’d probably make my list even without those elements.

• Halo Reach - The ultimate Halo game, in my eyes. Pretty much everything I loved about the franchise, executed better and/or taken farther than ever before, then put into 1 awesome game.

• Splinter Cell Blacklist - I’m partial to the SC series, and Blacklist has my favourite campaign of the bunch. But the real star of the show was the Spies vs Mercs multiplayer mode. One of the best multiplayer experiences I’ve ever had, and criminally under-played.

• Destiny - It’s a sloppy hot mess of a game in certain ways (probably the furthest from “perfect” out of all the games on this list) and yet it’s utterly unique, filled with brilliant moments, and a fantastic collection of activities. It’s my “Cheers”, or my “weekly poker game with the guys... (that I go to almost every night...)

• Transformers: Fall of Cybertron - Ya’ll will probably call me crazy for this one, but FoC is one of the most fun all-out action games I’ve ever played. It’s a fantasy-come-true for 6 year old me.

There are a few other games that I think are worth mentioning. I’m not sure they’re “game of the decade” contenders, but they are special in ways that make me think they at least deserve pointing out and remembering.

• Assassin’s Creed - I’m not even sure which specific game to talk about here, but the AC series has morphed into something special in recent years, especially the last 2 games. They’re impossibly huge and crazy and strange, they’re incoherent in certain ways and then surprisingly tight and effective in others. They build such well-realized recreations of historical places that they added a guided museum-tour style mode to Origins, complete with narrations and information plaques. But they’ll also throw you into the Greek underworld and make you fight Gods and mythical creatures. The whole thing is just nuts, and beautiful, and the locations are burned into my memory in the same way as real places that I’ve visited in my life.

• GTA V - In many ways, I don’t like this game at all. But the incredible scope and of the things you can do will occasionally lead to moments I couldn’t believe I was experiencing.

• Journey/Limbo/Ori and the Blind Forest - They’re all smaller games, but they’re all jaw-droppingly beautiful in their own ways.

• Spider-Man - I’m actually tempted to put that one on my main list, but I’d need to let some more time pass to see how it sits in my memory. It’s everything to Spider-Man that Arkham Asylum was to Batman (which would definitely be on my list, if not for the fact that it came out in 2009). The movement in Spider-Man is Titanfall 2 levels of fun, the combat is great, and the story is surprisingly well done. Absolutely worth playing.

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Game of the Decade

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Monday, September 09, 2019, 18:37 (1652 days ago) @ CruelLEGACEY

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron - Ya’ll will probably call me crazy for this one, but FoC is one of the most fun all-out action games I’ve ever played. It’s a fantasy-come-true for 6 year old me.

As long as you don’t call me crazy for Vanquish, I won’t say anything about this.

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Game of the Decade

by cheapLEY @, Monday, September 09, 2019, 19:06 (1652 days ago) @ Cody Miller

Vanquish is backwards compatible. I'm going to give it a second shot sometime soonish.

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Game of the Decade

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Monday, September 09, 2019, 21:25 (1652 days ago) @ cheapLEY

Vanquish is backwards compatible. I'm going to give it a second shot sometime soonish.

Here's some tips:

1. You can drop a grenade in place by throwing it during the boost cancel animation.
2. You can immediately detonate an EMP by using it while in a boost melee attack
3. The lock on laser can be fired during dodge recovery, and the arc maniplated by looking up and down.
4. The LFE gun surrounds you right as it fires so you can use it to blow up enemies at close range. It's super effective at grouping larger enemies together and is really easy to fire during boosts. If you fire it as enemies spawn in, it does way more damage than normal.
5. You automatically enter slowmo when you are very damaged. Sometimes you can do this on purpose to have max slowmo time.
6. The shotgun melee attack counters enemy melee attacks, and on counter it's the most powerful in the game. Charged it can easily wipe out large groups of enemies spawning in.
7. Melee attacks cancel reload animations.
8. Boost kick and sniper melee has a freakishly large hitbox, and you can tag multiple enemies even through walls or behind cover.
9. Boosting immediately before a dodge lengthens your invincibility window.
10. All enemies will immediately target cigarettes.
11. Shooting a missile as it leaves a romanov will blow it up taking the romanov with it.
12. If you switch grenade slots as you throw, you can get infinite grenades.

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Game of the Decade

by Ragashingo ⌂, Official DBO Cryptarch, Monday, September 09, 2019, 18:47 (1652 days ago) @ CruelLEGACEY
edited by Ragashingo, Monday, September 09, 2019, 18:52

A few quick contenders, off the top of my head:

• God of War - Easily a “Best Game of All Time” contender in my books, so it makes a Game if the Decade list without breaking a sweat.

I was looking for something else and came back across this. Your review was great and the entire thread was a fun read.

• Horizon Zero Dawn - For me, HZD is to world building what TLoU is to character development.

I was going to include this one, but I think it was actually overhyped to me. I loved all sorts of parts of it but I tend to rank it just a bit lower than some other stuff.


• Halo Reach - The ultimate Halo game, in my eyes. Pretty much everything I loved about the franchise, executed better and/or taken farther than ever before, then put into 1 awesome game.

Yes. I'm really excited to see how this looks and plays when it comes out soon(?).


• Destiny - It’s a sloppy hot mess of a game in certain ways (probably the furthest from “perfect” out of all the games on this list) and yet it’s utterly unique, filled with brilliant moments, and a fantastic collection of activities. It’s my “Cheers”, or my “weekly poker game with the guys... (that I go to almost every night...)

Yep. Destiny is a strange beast that seems to routinely fail in different ways each time but the whole thing has an odd staying power that is now even being recognized by other studios as a game to beat. Go read the otaku report on Anthem, for instance, where that team tried so hard to not be Destiny when what they need to be was Destiny that I'm not sure Anthem will survive the end of this year.

• GTA V - In many ways, I don’t like this game at all. But the incredible scope and of the things you can do will occasionally lead to moments I couldn’t believe I was experiencing.

GTA V and IV are this to me. I don't like most of the stories. I don't like the player characters. I'd love to have a more traditional less messed up character to play as... but both games and their engines and, like you said, the seemingly endless possibilities just kinda boggles my mind.


• Journey/Limbo/Ori and the Blind Forest - They’re all smaller games, but they’re all jaw-droppingly beautiful in their own ways.

Did you ever try Child of Light? It may be a bit too far out of genre, but I thought it was a splendid, beautiful, smaller scale game that ended up being a lot of fun.


Oh... and speaking of Tomb Raider (2013) and it getting a 2nd live action movie... I wonder why neither of us listed it despite really enjoying it?

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Game of the Decade

by CruelLEGACEY @, Toronto, Monday, September 09, 2019, 20:21 (1652 days ago) @ Ragashingo

• Journey/Limbo/Ori and the Blind Forest - They’re all smaller games, but they’re all jaw-droppingly beautiful in their own ways.


Did you ever try Child of Light? It may be a bit too far out of genre, but I thought it was a splendid, beautiful, smaller scale game that ended up being a lot of fun.

I was actually thinking of that one as well, but couldn’t remember the name. I really enjoyed that game. And yes, the art is beautiful:)

Oh... and speaking of Tomb Raider (2013) and it getting a 2nd live action movie... I wonder why neither of us listed it despite really enjoying it?

Welp, I knew I’d forget something obvious, lol.

I adore the 2013 Tomb Raider game. It definitely goes on my list.

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Game of the Decade

by cheapLEY @, Monday, September 09, 2019, 20:31 (1652 days ago) @ CruelLEGACEY

I adore the 2013 Tomb Raider game. It definitely goes on my list.

Interesting. I think the second one is a far better game, but I also like it a bit less than the first one. I didn’t make it more than an hour into the third one before I stopped.

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Game of the Decade

by CruelLEGACEY @, Toronto, Monday, September 09, 2019, 22:37 (1652 days ago) @ cheapLEY

I adore the 2013 Tomb Raider game. It definitely goes on my list.


Interesting. I think the second one is a far better game, but I also like it a bit less than the first one. I didn’t make it more than an hour into the third one before I stopped.

For me, it’s similar to comparing Arkham Asylum and Arkham City. The sequel built on the original and blew it wide open in all kinds of interesting ways, but in both cases I prefer the tighter and more focused games. Asylum and TR2013 are both so well tuned... neither game has any fat on them.

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I didn't even think of Halo Reach

by Blackt1g3r @, Login is from an untrusted domain in MN, Tuesday, September 10, 2019, 07:49 (1652 days ago) @ Cody Miller

It's hard to believe it came out in 2010 and is thus a game for consideration. Considering I played Reach multiplayer up until Destiny came out (and even some afterwards) I'd say it should be my game of the decade.

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I didn't even think of Halo Reach

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Tuesday, September 10, 2019, 08:11 (1652 days ago) @ Blackt1g3r

It's hard to believe it came out in 2010 and is thus a game for consideration. Considering I played Reach multiplayer up until Destiny came out (and even some afterwards) I'd say it should be my game of the decade.

I’ll be honest… I haven’t played Reach in quite some time. I wonder how it holds up. Because while initially not liking ODST that much, it does age nicely.

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I didn't even think of Halo Reach

by Blackt1g3r @, Login is from an untrusted domain in MN, Tuesday, September 10, 2019, 08:23 (1652 days ago) @ Cody Miller

It's hard to believe it came out in 2010 and is thus a game for consideration. Considering I played Reach multiplayer up until Destiny came out (and even some afterwards) I'd say it should be my game of the decade.


I’ll be honest… I haven’t played Reach in quite some time. I wonder how it holds up. Because while initially not liking ODST that much, it does age nicely.

I think it holds up quite well having played it again recently (helping someone who never played it before). The multiplayer even still has enough people to hop on and play. Not as much variety as it used to of course because the player count is much lower these days. I expect when it gets added to the MCC (soon hopefully) there will be a a lot of people excited to jump back into Reach multiplayer there.

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Maybe you'll finally realize it's canon.

by Kermit @, Raleigh, NC, Tuesday, September 10, 2019, 09:38 (1652 days ago) @ Cody Miller

Last I heard it might be out in November.

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I played ODST recently

by MacAddictXIV @, Seattle WA, Tuesday, September 10, 2019, 09:45 (1652 days ago) @ Cody Miller

I’ll be honest… I haven’t played Reach in quite some time. I wonder how it holds up. Because while initially not liking ODST that much, it does age nicely.

So some friends and I rented a house in the woods for a getaway and the house had a 360 and ODST so I booted it up and played some Firefight.

1. I forgot how different the controls were
2. I forgot how much fun firefight was
3. I really want to play more now

A buddy of mine in college our senior year played firefight religiously as a duo and we would literally play Firefight an average of couple hours a game. I think our best game took us 4-5 hours to play. I have so many memories of that.

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Nier Automata

by narcogen ⌂ @, Andover, Massachusetts, Tuesday, September 10, 2019, 09:41 (1652 days ago) @ Cody Miller

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Nier Automata

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Tuesday, September 10, 2019, 21:22 (1651 days ago) @ narcogen

You know we could… talk about this game on a podcast. I only have two DBO talks about games episodes recorded. Not enough for a binge release :-p

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Consensus

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Tuesday, September 10, 2019, 10:12 (1652 days ago) @ Cody Miller

So it seems the consensus has converged on a few choices:

Minecraft
Last of Us
Nier Automata
Dark Souls

I’m sure everyone has their own personal choice, but these have come up strongly here. I can’t really think of any strong arguments against any of these.

Consensus

by EffortlessFury @, Tuesday, September 10, 2019, 11:39 (1652 days ago) @ Cody Miller

Nier Automata

The game that would probably have a strong cultural impact if more people played it (and understood it).

Minecraft

The game that actually had a massive cultural impact.

Dark Souls

Massive Gaming Culture impact.

Last of Us

A milestone in cinematic, emotional storytelling in video games.
(Someone correct me if I'm wrong, I've only played some of TLoU and don't like very much so I might be wrong about the appeal)

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Consensus

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Tuesday, September 10, 2019, 12:15 (1652 days ago) @ EffortlessFury

Nier Automata

The game that would probably have a strong cultural impact if more people played it (and understood it).

Minecraft

The game that actually had a massive cultural impact.

Dark Souls

Massive Gaming Culture impact.

Last of Us

A milestone in cinematic, emotional storytelling in video games.
(Someone correct me if I'm wrong, I've only played some of TLoU and don't like very much so I might be wrong about the appeal)

Last of Us is hit or miss for some people. It’s mostly an issue of either liking or disliking the mechanics.

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Consensus

by stabbim @, Des Moines, IA, USA, Tuesday, September 10, 2019, 12:26 (1652 days ago) @ Cody Miller

Last of Us is hit or miss for some people. It’s mostly an issue of either liking or disliking the mechanics.

Indeed. I played some of it, and I went as far as I felt like I could. But ultimately I had to stop because although the story interested me, I was just extremely bad at the actual game and I could never figure out why. This resulted in endlessly replaying the same bits so many times that it wasn't fun anymore.

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Consensus

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Tuesday, September 10, 2019, 12:32 (1652 days ago) @ stabbim

Last of Us is hit or miss for some people. It’s mostly an issue of either liking or disliking the mechanics.


Indeed. I played some of it, and I went as far as I felt like I could. But ultimately I had to stop because although the story interested me, I was just extremely bad at the actual game and I could never figure out why. This resulted in endlessly replaying the same bits so many times that it wasn't fun anymore.

Play on easy.

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Consensus

by stabbim @, Des Moines, IA, USA, Tuesday, September 10, 2019, 12:35 (1652 days ago) @ Cody Miller

Wanna know something really funny? I did.

I really should just watch a playthrough at this point. I normally don't like doing that but it's probably worthwhile to at least see the story.

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Consensus

by Kermit @, Raleigh, NC, Tuesday, September 10, 2019, 13:12 (1652 days ago) @ stabbim

Wanna know something really funny? I did.

I really should just watch a playthrough at this point. I normally don't like doing that but it's probably worthwhile to at least see the story.

It definitely is. One of the flaws in the game may be that before you implement certain upgrades, aiming is not as easy as you might be accustomed to so the difficulty curve is a little steep. (I loaned my console to a non-gamer and he couldn't make it out past the first clicker.) On the other hand, to me that difficulty (and stress) added to the realism.

In lieu of watching a complete walkthrough for story, you might watch a few people get through the section that stopped you until you are leveled a bit higher. This guy is amazing for speed runs and some of his strategies would make Easy a cakewalk. (Don't watch him for story--he skips cutscenes.)

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Wat

by stabbim @, Des Moines, IA, USA, Tuesday, September 10, 2019, 23:10 (1651 days ago) @ Kermit

It definitely is. One of the flaws in the game may be that before you implement certain upgrades, aiming is not as easy as you might be accustomed to so the difficulty curve is a little steep. (I loaned my console to a non-gamer and he couldn't make it out past the first clicker.) On the other hand, to me that difficulty (and stress) added to the realism.

So, if that's the case, I would say the flaw wasn't even that the aiming was poor (which I definitely remember it being). A more significant problem was that, as far as I can remember, I didn't know I'd be able to change it later. As far as I knew, I was just stuck with it, and believe me, that did NOT motivate me to keep trying. I don't remember enough to know whether that was the game's failure (bad messaging) or my own (failing to notice good messaging). But either way, if I'd known at the time that things were going to get better, I might have trudged on a little further.

In lieu of watching a complete walkthrough for story, you might watch a few people get through the section that stopped you until you are leveled a bit higher. This guy is amazing for speed runs and some of his strategies would make Easy a cakewalk. (Don't watch him for story--he skips cutscenes.)

That's ok, it's been too long and I really don't have any motivation to try to play through again. I don't know that I even was stuck, exactly. I just stopped feeling like going further. I'm satisfied with having played enough to understand basically how the game works, and I'll happily watch someone else deal with the aiming systems. :) I do want to experience the story, though.

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Consensus

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Friday, September 13, 2019, 14:40 (1648 days ago) @ stabbim

Wanna know something really funny? I did.

I really should just watch a playthrough at this point. I normally don't like doing that but it's probably worthwhile to at least see the story.

Death stranding is going to have a “very easy” mode which requires basically no skill at all to complete. Platinum games usually have this too. In Vanquish it was “casual auto”.

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Consensus

by Harmanimus @, Tuesday, September 10, 2019, 13:03 (1652 days ago) @ Cody Miller

Unpopular opinion: For however well put together the game was, my issue was with it never getting me to care due to not feeling like it was offering anything interesting to me, just something repackaged that has been handled elsewhere. Noting that isn’t inherently a mark against the game. Obvious it did well with a lot of people. I’ve spoken to other people who were equally ungripped, however.

But the mechanical structure also didn’t do much to keep me either.

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Consensus

by Kermit @, Raleigh, NC, Tuesday, September 10, 2019, 13:58 (1652 days ago) @ Harmanimus

Unpopular opinion: For however well put together the game was, my issue was with it never getting me to care due to not feeling like it was offering anything interesting to me, just something repackaged that has been handled elsewhere. Noting that isn’t inherently a mark against the game. Obvious it did well with a lot of people. I’ve spoken to other people who were equally ungripped, however.

But the mechanical structure also didn’t do much to keep me either.

99% of great art has been handled elsewhere. Originality is overrated. This reminds me of when I outlined the story to a non-gamer friend who was also a big fan of The Walking Dead (TV series). At a certain point he just started nodding knowingly. This may be what you mean. What can I say? Five minutes of the Walking Dead was enough for me--I'll never watch that show--I found it two disturbing. Yet I've never cared more about video game characters than I have for Joel and Ellie. I've never had video game characters so completely convince me that they were alive. So maybe because of that I'm grading on a curve, but of games I've played I think it reached a new milestone regarding what games can do.

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Consensus

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Tuesday, September 10, 2019, 14:17 (1652 days ago) @ Kermit

My favorite observation about the Last of Us is from Tim Rogers. In his review he wrote:

The Last if Us is full of moments a film editor would cut out.

It’s true! Stories just work totally differently in games vs TV / Film, even though they share the same visual language.

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Consensus

by Kermit @, Raleigh, NC, Thursday, September 12, 2019, 08:04 (1650 days ago) @ Cody Miller

My favorite observation about the Last of Us is from Tim Rogers. In his review he wrote:

The Last if Us is full of moments a film editor would cut out.


It’s true! Stories just work totally differently in games vs TV / Film, even though they share the same visual language.

I love that quote, too, and it's true! It's easy to miss one of the most impressive parts of the game, which are the optional conversations. They show perfectly how Joel and Ellie's relationship changes. They even adjusted the body language animations as the relationship changed.

This is one of my favorite videos about TLoU, and it speaks to how these little things (that might be cut from a movie) add up.

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Consensus

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Thursday, September 12, 2019, 13:29 (1650 days ago) @ Kermit

My favorite observation about the Last of Us is from Tim Rogers. In his review he wrote:

The Last if Us is full of moments a film editor would cut out.


It’s true! Stories just work totally differently in games vs TV / Film, even though they share the same visual language.


I love that quote, too, and it's true! It's easy to miss one of the most impressive parts of the game, which are the optional conversations. They show perfectly how Joel and Ellie's relationship changes. They even adjusted the body language animations as the relationship changed.

This is one of my favorite videos about TLoU, and it speaks to how these little things (that might be cut from a movie) add up.

A moment that got me:

You find a movie poster for teen warewolf or whatever it was. Basically a twilight parody. But Elle starts asking about it, and Joel responds by telling her all about it. She doesn’t understand the appeal or why anyone would watch it, but Joel keeps talking about it. Ellie then asks how Joel, a grown ass man knows so much about teen Warewolf, to which he kind of gets embarrassed and goes silent. Then I remembered: he knew so much about it because his daughter had the same poster in her room in the beginning. You could just feel the emotion he was holding back in not answering.

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YES.

by Kermit @, Raleigh, NC, Thursday, September 12, 2019, 17:38 (1649 days ago) @ Cody Miller

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Consensus

by Harmanimus @, Tuesday, September 10, 2019, 14:43 (1651 days ago) @ Kermit

And that is fair. I didn’t give The Walking Dead show a chance because the comic quickly butchered its own potential. I haven’t even read all of the comic that I own. And it did a lot of things that were novel and interesting. I honestly haven’t been able to sort why TLoU doesn’t press my buzzer and get my attention.

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Consensus

by CruelLEGACEY @, Toronto, Wednesday, September 11, 2019, 07:21 (1651 days ago) @ Harmanimus

And that is fair. I didn’t give The Walking Dead show a chance because the comic quickly butchered its own potential. I haven’t even read all of the comic that I own. And it did a lot of things that were novel and interesting. I honestly haven’t been able to sort why TLoU doesn’t press my buzzer and get my attention.

I think a game like TLoU lives or dies by your connection (or lack of connection) to the characters.

To Kermit’s point, there’s nothing inherently original about watching people deal with the kinds of things that the characters in TLoU deal with. But what makes it so special for me, and I think for many others, is that the portrayal of the characters is so exceptionally fleshed out that they feel real and alive, and because of that, their pain, hope, terror, heartbreak, and joy feel equally real.

But none of that would come across if, for any reason, the you don’t bond with the characters.

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+1, and something Bungie could really learn from.

by Malagate @, Sea of Tranquility, Wednesday, September 11, 2019, 12:23 (1651 days ago) @ CruelLEGACEY

Buckle up kids, because we're going on a tangent:

I've felt for a long time that Bungie lost their ability to make a cohesive world and story (and hence achieve that same kind of connection to fleshed-out characters that's felt in TLoU) between ODST/Reach and D1. I think it's largely because Destiny still doesn't seem to know what it is besides a post-Apocalyptic mystery with a bunch of cool parts loosely stitched together. The lack of real connective tissue between doses of episodic content is a huge part of this.

I'm still here, I'm at a point where I love the IP more than I ever have; but that still remains a very glaring hole in the fabric of the Destiny experience.

The sibling bond between Uldren and Mara, the weird "monster"/human bond between Rasputin and Ana, whatever creepy star-crossed vibe there is between the Emissary and the Drifter, the emotional impact of losing the Speaker (whom other characters barely speak of, and whose existence ultimately felt entirely pointless); all of these strain for emotional credibility. I'll say that Ikora's dialogue about Cayde in Forsaken was probably some of the only stuff in the entire game that got me in the heart.

And even these things wouldn't feel so glaring, remaining as they are, if we got future content that sewed them all together. It would be something if we got some major plot points that weave Rasputin back into the overall plot (without the hamfisted exposition). Or brought Osiris' manipulation of the Infinite Forest back into play. Or any number of other elements to the overall story, which it seems is possible given what's in store in New Light.

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+1, and something Bungie could really learn from.

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Wednesday, September 11, 2019, 12:38 (1651 days ago) @ Malagate

I think problem is that Destiny is not really ABOUT anything.

If you have a strong theme you can have strong characters who display it.

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Feed this to the Writing Team, Clockwork Orange-style.

by Malagate @, Sea of Tranquility, Wednesday, September 11, 2019, 12:56 (1651 days ago) @ Cody Miller

- No text -

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Feed this to the Writing Team, Clockwork Orange-style.

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Wednesday, September 11, 2019, 13:02 (1651 days ago) @ Malagate

[image]

But see that would only work with visual media. With text he could just not read :-p

Consensus

by EffortlessFury @, Wednesday, September 11, 2019, 13:41 (1651 days ago) @ CruelLEGACEY

And that is fair. I didn’t give The Walking Dead show a chance because the comic quickly butchered its own potential. I haven’t even read all of the comic that I own. And it did a lot of things that were novel and interesting. I honestly haven’t been able to sort why TLoU doesn’t press my buzzer and get my attention.


I think a game like TLoU lives or dies by your connection (or lack of connection) to the characters.

To Kermit’s point, there’s nothing inherently original about watching people deal with the kinds of things that the characters in TLoU deal with. But what makes it so special for me, and I think for many others, is that the portrayal of the characters is so exceptionally fleshed out that they feel real and alive, and because of that, their pain, hope, terror, heartbreak, and joy feel equally real.

But none of that would come across if, for any reason, the you don’t bond with the characters.

Frankly, I felt like it wasn't giving me enough to work with up to the point I stopped. (Not long after getting out of the city) The pace is excruciatingly slow and the so-so gameplay makes it hard to push forward. I don't have a problem with a slow story as long as I'm engaged and the game doesn't engage me. :/

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Consensus

by CruelLEGACEY @, Toronto, Wednesday, September 11, 2019, 14:37 (1650 days ago) @ EffortlessFury

And that is fair. I didn’t give The Walking Dead show a chance because the comic quickly butchered its own potential. I haven’t even read all of the comic that I own. And it did a lot of things that were novel and interesting. I honestly haven’t been able to sort why TLoU doesn’t press my buzzer and get my attention.


I think a game like TLoU lives or dies by your connection (or lack of connection) to the characters.

To Kermit’s point, there’s nothing inherently original about watching people deal with the kinds of things that the characters in TLoU deal with. But what makes it so special for me, and I think for many others, is that the portrayal of the characters is so exceptionally fleshed out that they feel real and alive, and because of that, their pain, hope, terror, heartbreak, and joy feel equally real.

But none of that would come across if, for any reason, the you don’t bond with the characters.


Frankly, I felt like it wasn't giving me enough to work with up to the point I stopped. (Not long after getting out of the city) The pace is excruciatingly slow and the so-so gameplay makes it hard to push forward. I don't have a problem with a slow story as long as I'm engaged and the game doesn't engage me. :/

I struggled with the gameplay during the early hours of the game as well. I actively disliked the Uncharted games because I found the gameplay so bad. And while I found the story in TLoU instantly more compelling than Uncharted, the shooting mechanics were really driving me to put it down.

But luckily for me, I happen to love stealth games like Splinter Cell. So out of a combination of curiosity and desperation, I decided to stop TLoU as a shooter, and instead approach it as a stealth game. And to the game’s credit, it works brilliantly that way. You can play through long chunks of the game firing few or no bullets. And the environments are thoughtfully layed out such that they encourage this style of gameplay.

Eventually, I had upgraded my weapons and skills to the point where I could enjoy the game as more of a pure shooter. It’s actually one of the more fascinating aspects of the game. I found myself switching between a stealthy, cautious approach, and a full-aggro shooter approach based on how I was feeling, based on what the characters were going through at that moment.

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Consensus

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Wednesday, September 11, 2019, 14:53 (1650 days ago) @ CruelLEGACEY

Are you all playing the PS4 version? The aiming and shooting didn’t seem that bad to me at all. I know for Nathan Drake collection they tweaked the controls and increased the frame rate. I wonder if a similar thing happened with Last of Us Remastered.

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Consensus

by CruelLEGACEY @, Toronto, Wednesday, September 11, 2019, 15:09 (1650 days ago) @ Cody Miller

Are you all playing the PS4 version? The aiming and shooting didn’t seem that bad to me at all. I know for Nathan Drake collection they tweaked the controls and increased the frame rate. I wonder if a similar thing happened with Last of Us Remastered.

They did bump it up to 60fps, but I’m not sure if they tweaked the actual mechanics or not. Personally, I found the PS4 controller was itself a huge help. I always hated the sticks on the PS3 controller (way to sloppy for my taste).

Consensus

by EffortlessFury @, Wednesday, September 11, 2019, 16:04 (1650 days ago) @ CruelLEGACEY

I've actually been using a predominantly stealth-based approach already. The problem is that I have a tenuous relationship with stealth games. I think what annoys me is that, after making a mistake, I have to redo whatever I just did a few times until I possibly change tactics, etc, etc. It's that slow, plodding repetition that can occur to varying degrees throughout the game and it just grates on me after a while.

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Consensus

by Kermit @, Raleigh, NC, Thursday, September 12, 2019, 08:10 (1650 days ago) @ CruelLEGACEY

And that is fair. I didn’t give The Walking Dead show a chance because the comic quickly butchered its own potential. I haven’t even read all of the comic that I own. And it did a lot of things that were novel and interesting. I honestly haven’t been able to sort why TLoU doesn’t press my buzzer and get my attention.


I think a game like TLoU lives or dies by your connection (or lack of connection) to the characters.

To Kermit’s point, there’s nothing inherently original about watching people deal with the kinds of things that the characters in TLoU deal with. But what makes it so special for me, and I think for many others, is that the portrayal of the characters is so exceptionally fleshed out that they feel real and alive, and because of that, their pain, hope, terror, heartbreak, and joy feel equally real.

But none of that would come across if, for any reason, the you don’t bond with the characters.

And speaking for myself, the game had me in the first 20 minutes. Once a game proves it can break your heart that quickly, you're motivated to hang on for the ride. Maybe I'm a softie.

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INSANEdrives Game of the Decade

by INSANEdrive, ಥ_ಥ | f(ಠ‿↼)z | ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ| ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, Tuesday, September 10, 2019, 12:15 (1652 days ago) @ Cody Miller

Right, so I should first start this with I haven't touched PlayStation anything since OG. I'm hoping that with Ps5 Back Compat, I can play all the Single Player Games. I really don't want to bother signing up for a PlayStation Account, as I just want to play the games and shoo away all the Sony nonsense. That's the idea anyway. I haven't touched Nintendos stuff in years either (sans what I already have). Come on Nintendo! Let's get a Kirby Air Ride 2!

In otherwords, this is all Xbox.

With this...awgeeze... decade, I've played far fewer games then the PAST decade for WHATEVER reason that may be. I've enjoyed a lot of games in that time. Ori and the Blind Forest, Skyrim, Fallout 4, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Pray (2017), Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Batman: Arkham Knight, Portal 2. Those are some of the games I've played that jump out at me in recall, that I'm not going to talk about below. All of these were solid solid games. I could gladly talk about all of them.

To me, I'm thinking that to be "Game of the Decade", it has to be more than "I enjoyed this game" & "It was made really well". It has to be both, and a phenomenon. And Quotable and loved.

It has to change you. It has to have impact. Of the games I've playied that I recall it has to be this.

My runner up would be BioShock Infinite. The story, the game play, the world. When that ending came I couldn't play video games for a week, I tell ya I felt gutted. I kind of drifted in a delirious stupor for that week. I did not realize how invested I had become. And you probably know why. Elizabeth. The game was essentially built around the A.I. work, and I loved every moment of it. That's the short version. That's what you get for runner up.

Problem is, once you play it once you've played it. I have since given it other playthroughs, but there isn't anything the is going to give that impact from the first playthrough. Perhaps that's a good thing.

Which means the winner, for me, would have to be the game which I've completed every achievement for in the entire trilogy. Even if we ignore the first one, which came out late last decade, nothing really changes. The first game feels so different from the other two, due to them being so improved, that I think I would be easy to just mentally start at 2.

It had to be Mass Effect 2. Everyone else got it wrong. ;D

To me this game was perfect end to end. I enjoyed the Whole Trilogy, but we're splittin' hairs here. Mass Effect 2 is the Winner.

I've played this game with multiple playthroughs and enjoyed it each and every time. Where BioShock Infinite used its A.I work to help build onto the story, to help bring you in to the world, Mass Effect didn't need any tricks. Much like Lord of the Rings, everything was (almost) accounted for. You just booted up the device of choice, walked in and you were somewhere else zipping across galaxies, walking on barren remote worlds. Saving the Galaxy with a cast of folks I know by name. This game was made for me. It checked off every box.

I hear that music, and I get goosebumps. Only one other game has done that, and that was from last decade. ;D

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INSANEdrives Game of the Decade

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Tuesday, September 10, 2019, 12:24 (1652 days ago) @ INSANEdrive

I would perhaps someday like to play Mass Effect 2, but the original bored me after 15 minutes. Yes I know I know. 2 fixes all that. I know everybody raves about the series. I feel like I owe it to myself to play and understand it since I care about this art form.

Bioshock Infinite is an… interesting proposal though. I truly believe the philosophy and theme are quite vile. It may be important, but I feel like it’s the gaming equivalent of Birth of a Nation. An important film for sure (honestly the film of its decade!), but not exactly a highlight of morality.

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INSANEdrives Game of the Decade

by INSANEdrive, ಥ_ಥ | f(ಠ‿↼)z | ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ| ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, Tuesday, September 10, 2019, 13:08 (1652 days ago) @ Cody Miller

I would perhaps someday like to play Mass Effect 2, but the original bored me after 15 minutes. Yes I know I know. 2 fixes all that. I know everybody raves about the series. I feel like I owe it to myself to play and understand it since I care about this art form.

One is... very stilted. And it's becoming more and more so as the medium moves forward. Of all the Achievements I did, One was the hardest. It required you to play the game again and again, and that starter level does not replay well. As I recall the same is true for both KOTORs as well. Let me off this Starter world so I bite into the meat!

Bioshock Infinite is an… interesting proposal though. I truly believe the philosophy and theme are quite vile. It may be important, but I feel like it’s the gaming equivalent of Birth of a Nation. An important film for sure (honestly the film of its decade!), but not exactly a highlight of morality.

That's the point, in a degree. There's also the fun "lighthouse" angle. Look ugliness in the face. Explore what you would have not other wise. Honestly reading the responses to this game has been more simultaneously edifying and petrifying than anything that happens in this game. Sometimes to an ironic degree. Some people pick the bird, but choose the cage. I find it to be quite sad, though it may be all part of the "personal battle" thing.

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Whichever Ones Had The Word 'Sonic' In Them.

by Morpheus @, High Charity, Tuesday, September 10, 2019, 14:48 (1651 days ago) @ Cody Miller

Oh, shut up! Just wait until the looks on your faces when Sonic runs up at the Oscars!


...no,even I know this movie's gonna die.

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Although....

by Morpheus @, High Charity, Tuesday, September 10, 2019, 14:50 (1651 days ago) @ Morpheus

Team Sonic Racing did get very high scores this year, which is a refreshing breath of air. So, not game of the decade--maybe racing game of the year? :-D

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Speaking Seriously Now...

by Morpheus @, High Charity, Thursday, September 12, 2019, 15:08 (1649 days ago) @ Cody Miller

Did some digging, and I found a handful of candidates, not just based on 'fun' or completion time, but other factors that make the game special in some way.

ODST, of course--still my favoriteHalo game--can't believe it's been 10 years.
Brutal Legend--not just for the fun and the unique gameplay, but for the massive rock history lesson, and all the legends who helped in the game to pave the way. Not to mention the legal team who fought so hard to keep this gem from getting cancelled.
Just Cause 3--Though not perfect, this game gets pretty damn close.
Bulletstorm--Putting a ridiculous spin on shooters, and of course... ;-)
Saints Row the Third
Halo 4
Believe it or not, Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing Transformed
Either South Park game
Destiny 1--the first one. Destiny ONE.
DOOM 4

And I doubt it would qualify, but Rare Replay should at least get a nod--even though most of the games are old enough to make it somewhat easy, it still takes a hell of a lot of work and dedication to port thirty separate games not only onto one system, but one disc, too.

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Speaking Seriously Now...

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Thursday, September 12, 2019, 20:46 (1649 days ago) @ Morpheus

Halo 4

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Speaking Seriously Now...

by cheapLEY @, Thursday, September 12, 2019, 20:50 (1649 days ago) @ Cody Miller

It's certainly not game of the decade, but Halo 4 is a legitimately good game, bordering on great, even. Honestly, the repetitive Forerunner levels and the mediocre vehicle segments are the only things that keep it from being the best Halo game (Halo 3, by the way).

Speaking Seriously Now...

by Avateur @, Thursday, September 12, 2019, 21:07 (1649 days ago) @ cheapLEY

Man you trollin hard and heavy. :P

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Speaking Seriously Now...

by Ragashingo ⌂, Official DBO Cryptarch, Thursday, September 12, 2019, 23:04 (1649 days ago) @ cheapLEY

What about the part where the Didact decides to end the lives of all Humans immediately after taking a very brief look around the room in front of him and noting that the Master Chief had not yet wiped the floor with the few Jackals and Elites nearby?? Halo 4 was nonsense, to me. It had some moments, like Cortana arguing with herself over her and Halsey's first game of chess, but it's also the game where 343i didn't give one single care about basic continuity like the shape of established starships or the pretty well established identity of the Forerunner. They even forgot what the Halo theme sounded like and shipped with generic space-y music!

Best Halo game is either CE, ODST, or Reach. I'm seriously hoping for such a reset in Infinite that my personal view of Halo 4 and 5 not being Halo games actually becomes fully defensible.

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Basically This.

by Morpheus @, High Charity, Friday, September 13, 2019, 18:52 (1648 days ago) @ cheapLEY

I guess I was a little hasty nominating this for a decade, but I do feel that this was an important movement in the Halo universe. It may not be the most favorable, but so many new things in H4 was almost like a reboot it was so refreshing.

Game of the Decade

by Avateur @, Thursday, September 12, 2019, 21:04 (1649 days ago) @ Cody Miller

I’m having a really hard time coming up with game of the decade. Been debating with myself for days. Getting nowhere. Been a weird decade. I feel like it’s Minecraft, and I feel so weird saying that. But then there are so many amazing PS4 games and Nintendo games. This was way easier for me to narrow down last decade. :(

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Halo 2 easily.

by Joe Duplessie (SNIPE 316) ⌂ @, Detroit, Thursday, September 12, 2019, 21:20 (1649 days ago) @ Cody Miller

- No text -

2004 was not this decade. By any measure.

by Claude Errera @, Thursday, September 12, 2019, 22:41 (1649 days ago) @ Joe Duplessie (SNIPE 316)

- No text -

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2014 was.

by Joe Duplessie (SNIPE 316) ⌂ @, Detroit, Thursday, September 12, 2019, 22:55 (1649 days ago) @ Claude Errera

- No text -

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2014 was.

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Friday, September 13, 2019, 07:50 (1649 days ago) @ Joe Duplessie (SNIPE 316)

I guess this just proves Team Schooly D really is stuck in the past :-p

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2014 was.

by Joe Duplessie (SNIPE 316) ⌂ @, Detroit, Friday, September 13, 2019, 14:47 (1648 days ago) @ Cody Miller

I guess this just proves Team Schooly D really is stuck in the past :-p

I nor any member of Team Joey D have any affiliation with Team Schooly D, professionally or otherwise. Nor do we condone their heinous actions.

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2014 was.

by Morpheus @, High Charity, Friday, September 13, 2019, 20:28 (1648 days ago) @ Joe Duplessie (SNIPE 316)

I know there's no way in hell you're talking about The Master Chief Collection as game of the decade.

No. Way.

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2014 was.

by Harmanimus @, Friday, September 13, 2019, 20:53 (1648 days ago) @ Morpheus

The purest example of the modern release-to-patch-later model of the 2010’s. /joke

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And the Game of the Decade is…

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Sunday, September 15, 2019, 14:34 (1646 days ago) @ Cody Miller

As much as I hate it I’ve got to choose:

MINECRAFT.

Runners up are Dark Souls, Last of Us, and Nier: Automata.

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A.K.A "Digital Legos"

by INSANEdrive, ಥ_ಥ | f(ಠ‿↼)z | ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ| ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, Sunday, September 15, 2019, 15:07 (1646 days ago) @ Cody Miller

- No text -

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No, that’s LDD, LEGO Digital Designer :|

by Harmanimus @, Sunday, September 15, 2019, 18:01 (1646 days ago) @ INSANEdrive

- No text -

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AutoCAD is better

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Sunday, September 15, 2019, 18:59 (1646 days ago) @ Harmanimus

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