The 2010s are over. We’ve seen some great games come and go. Sure, there was a dud here or there, but video games progressed so much over those ten years. So, of course, we’re going to go over my favorite games from the last decade.
To be clear, I haven’t played every game of the last decade, so… this list is going to be pretty subjective. It’s based on my tastes and my memories of the gaming experience. I’m limiting it to one per franchise. I’ve also avoided putting any remakes on the list. They need to go in the decade that they were originally released. I’ll include them in the honorable mentions, though. Anyway, enough of boring intros! Let’s get to the list.
10. Death Road to Canada (2016)
Now this might be a surprise to some, but I found this indie cross between a regular zombie game and Oregon Trail to be one of the most fun experiences of the decade. For those of you that haven’t played it, you journey form Florida on your way to Canada to escape the zombie apocalypse. You recruit a team along the way and try to gather enough supplies to survive the trip.
You can create characters with their own perks and special abilities. It’s fun to create yourself and a bunch of your friends/fictional characters. On top of that, the game has a ton of secret characters, often from pop culture. My favorites were L*nk (Link from Zelda) and Nimbus Ordeal (Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII). You level up characters and despair any time somebody dies.
It’s incredibly funny, insanely difficult, and utterly satisfying when you finally make it to Canada. If you haven’t played this before, I cannot recommend it enough. Plus the game constantly gets updated. Most importantly, it’s cooperative. Nothing like trying not to die with three of your best friends.
9. Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep (2010)
I’m a huge Kingdom Hearts fan, so I was certain that a KH game had to be on this list. Birth By Sleep just barely beat out Dream Drop Distance and Kingdom Hearts 3. Why? Honestly, it’s because it had the most gripping story of any Kingdom Hearts game released in the past decade.
Master Xehanort, voiced by the late, great, Leonard Nimoy, is an intimidating and manipulative force of nature. Every action of his character and his accomplices are worth many, many long conversations. The gameplay holds up surprisingly well for a handheld system. Mixing commands for better moves was a great addition.
A big part of what makes a game great is how it makes you feel. Birth By Sleep made me feel so many emotions. I was powerful. I was helpless. I was excited. I was full of dread. Funny enough, Xehanort was basically what I wanted Palpatine to be in the Star Wars prequels. Oh, and Mark Hamill does voice work in this!
8. Sonic Generations (2011)
I have a deep love for Sonic the Hedgehog. He was my favorite video game character when I was growing up. I’d play Sonic the Hedgehog on my Gamegear. I’d play Sonic 3 and Knuckles on the PC (with Sonic R). Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 were life changing experiences for me. I’ve played dozens and dozens of Sonic games. That’s why Sonic Generations was such a big deal for me.
Even though I enjoyed Sonic Heroes and Sonic ’06 when they originally came out, I knew that Sonic was slowly losing his edge. Colors had sparked some hope, but Sonic Generations was a masterpiece of nostalgia and quality gameplay. I was excited to play a Sonic game once again.
The story was simple, yet facilitating. The level design is great and thoughtful. The decision to include Classic Sonic was genius, as were the 2D elements of the game. The soundtrack was my jam. Seriously, I could listen to the remix versions of “Escape From the City” nonstop. That’s not to mention the sense of speed. Sonic Generations is everything right with Sonic.
7. Halo: Reach
My early adolescence and teenage years were filled with playing Halo games nonstop with my friends. The sense of power, wonder, and intensity was always present in this series. While the narrative of Halo: Reach flips the sense of power on its head, I genuinely believe that Reach is the pinnacle of the Halo experience.
The campaign mode is wonderful and gripping. You know from the start of playing the game that Reach is going to be lost. You know that the last Spartan left fighting for Mankind is Master Chief, and you’re on a team of Spartans that doesn’t include him. Everyone is going to die. For every step forward your team makes, you take another two steps back due to sad circumstances. It tugs at your hearts strings and pushes you to deliver a last bit of hope.
That’s not to mention the fantastic multiplayer mode. Armor abilities such as the bubble shield and armor lock are incredibly fun. Game modes like rocket race and SWAT were always enjoyable. Building racetracks in the level creation mode (FORGE) or fighting in online duos was always a great source of fun. Simply put, this is a great game.
6. Dragon Quest XI (2017)
Dragon Quest is a series that I only recently got into. Square Enix’s gameplay style combined with Akira Toriyama’s artwork? Sold. Perhaps it makes up for the lack of Dragon Ball games on this list. Sorry everyone.
Dragon Quest XI is filled with a wonderful cast of characters, intense emotional stakes, and a refined turn-based battle system. It’s exactly the kind of gameplay that I love. I thoroughly enjoy investing time into characters in to finely craft the perfect team. On top of that, experience in earned for the entire cast, so you never feel outclassed.
Most importantly, Dragon Quest’s storytelling is superb. It’s creative, engaging, and character driven. It almost feels like you’re playing a Dungeons and Dragons campaign. In fact, I plan on adapting some of the story arcs for my D&D group. You end up caring for your village, your party, and the fate of the world as a whole.
5. Borderlands 2 (2012)
I can’t believe I haven’t seen this game on more people’s lists. This is quite possibly my favorite shooting game of all time. Plus it includes RPG elements, which is something I love. It’s easily the best of the Borderlands series. Why? Well…
It has the best character level-up trees. It has the most enjoyable action skills. It has the most improved weapon system from it’s predecessor. It has the best DLC. It has the best connected feel of the world. And most importantly…. it has the absolute best story.
The story is well crafted into arcs. It has believable stakes and appropriate loss. Our heroes, especially the characters from the original Borderlands, have vivid personalities and definable roles. And that’s not to mention the best part of the story- the villain. I’ve never been more entertained by a video game villain than Handsome Jack. I’ve also never wanted to defeat a villain more than him. He took so much from the heroes during the course of the game. Why don’t we just have a Borderlands 2 movie?
4. Marvel’s Spider-Man (2018)
Speaking of good story, we’ve got the game that many of you were probably expecting, Spider-Man for the PS4. Let’s get this out of the way- this game has the best story out of any game on this list. It is entirely character driven. It never feels like the game is making shortcuts in the story to facilitate gameplay. You are Peter Parker. You are trying to save New York. You are Spider-Man.
That’s not to mention the incredible supporting cast and Easter eggs. Collecting tiny items to learn a bit more about this version of Peter Parker is a satisfying way to motivate me to participate in a collectathon. Mary Jane and Peter Parker’s relationship is at its most believable and impactful. Miles and Aunt May are exactly how they should be. The villains feel far more personal than they’ve ever been. When Peter hurts, you hurt as well.
Oh yeah, there’s also fantastic gameplay. Stealthily taking down hordes of enemies is almost as fun as using your variety of gadgets to incapacitate them. Web swinging is potentially at the best its ever been. Boss battles are creative and thrilling. This game does not disappoint. I can’t wait for a sequel.
3. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017)
What can I say about Breath of the Wild that hasn’t been said? Probably nothing. This game is famous for a reason. I’ve seen it on plenty of lists as the best game of the decade. There are great reasons.
While the game has its flaws, the vast amount of “different” that they got right is astounding. It also makes me so excited for the sequel. The sense of scale, the huge world, the fantastic shrines, and the thoroughly engaging combat… they are all superb. Ultimately, immersion is what Breath of the Wild does best. You look at the rolling hills and you think “that’s beautiful” before you think “that was designed well.”
We can all remember what it was first like to get off the Great Plateau. We died. We died a lot. But it promoted a sense that you had to be smart about how you explored this world. It was dangerous. But slowly and surely, we all became competent explorers. You were on an adventure and you were going to take down every Lynel that you saw along the way.
2. Fire Emblem: Awakening (2012)
I have never been so quickly addicted to a game than when I first played Fire Emblem: Awakening. I was enthralled by the tactics, the difficulty, and the stakes of the game. I enjoyed it so much that I think I’ve put more hours into Awakening than I have into any other single player experience.
What does Awakening do so well? First of all, it has the best cast of any Fire Emblem game, in my opinion. Chrom and Robin are fantastic as our protagonists. Lucina is wonderful, strong, and mysterious. Then you’ve got a ton of side characters, all of which have vivid personalities. I’m especially fond of marriage elements and the children characters that come from them. My favorite is Inigo.
On top of that, you have a gameplay experience filled with challenge and satisfaction. I’ve gone as far as to beat the game on Lunatic. Man, that was an endeavor. You don’t want to lose any of your units. My brain hurt in the best possible way as I tried my best to situate my units. I’ve been known to rub my hands together in anxiety as I hope that an enemy attack hits or that one of my units would crit.
Honorable Mentions (in no particular order)
Fire Emblem: Three Houses (2019)-
I had to choose one Fire Emblem game and I barely sided with Awakening. Still, were it nostalgia factor, I could see me choosing this over Awakening. Awakening’s characters are a bit more enjoyable, in my opinion, but the gameplay of Three Houses is definitely more refined.
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD (2013)-
Would have been included if I hadn’t excluded remakes. I love this game even more than Breath of the Wild. It’s my favorite Zelda game ever made. Fantastic story, superb gameplay, and an overwhelming sense of adventure. Thanks for the better sail!
Sonic Mania (2017)-
I love this game. Not sure if it counts as a remake, though. I also love Generations just a bit more. Still, 2D Sonic has probably not ever been better. Everything runs so smooth and is so well designed. Then again, I loved the Sonic Advanced series…
Halo: Anniversary (2011)-
Another fantastic remake. Halo holds a special place in my heart. I’ll never forget the first time I played “The Maw” and barely escaped. Plus the remakes updated graphics are refreshing.
Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance (2012)-
Almost as good as Birth by Sleep. Gameplay is probably even better, but it suffers from not having as great of a story. Still, I enjoyed raising my dinosaurs the eat dreams. That’s a fun sentence.
Kingdom Hearts 2.5 (2014)-
I’m not sure if this really counts as a game. It’s a collection of HD remakes of games. It includes Kingdom Hearts 2, one of the best games ever made, and Birth by Sleep, the best KH game of the decade.
Pokemon Omega Ruby/ Alpha Sapphire (2014)-
Probably my favorite Pokemon games of the decade, but a remake, unfortunately. As a side note, HeartGold and SoulSilver are my favorite Pokemon games. Unfortunately, they just missed the decade.
Pokemon Black/White (2010)-
Loved these games. Just barely didn’t make the list. Perhaps it’s most due to my relative disappointment in recent Pokemon games that has turned me off to the franchise. Still, I pumped dozens and dozens of hours into this. The Battle Subway in particular was fun to take on with my buddy, BY2.
Mario Kart 8 (2014)-
Fantastic multiplayer experience that really refines the kart racing genre. I was particularly fond of Link’s eventual addition. Still not as good as Double Dash.
Batman: Arkham City (2013)-
Great in many of the same ways that Spider-Man PS4 is great. Arkham City is my favorite of the series. It’s got a cinematic and poetic feel that many of the other games don’t. Also, for the record, Marvel fans are allowed to like Batman. They just aren’t allowed to like Superman.
The Lord of the Rings: War in the North (2011)-
I’m a sucker for LotR RPGs. This game has you travel as one of three companions as you try to stop a scheme from an evil minion of Sauron. The best part? The riddles at the beginning. Second best? Bows/crossbows.
Dragon Quest VIII Remake (2017)-
Another remake that might have made the list. DQXI is probably better than this overall, but there are some areas that it outshines the newer game. Munchie is just so adorable. Yangus brings so much heart to the party. Plus, I like the design of the hero more. The villain is far more terrifying too.
Dragon Ball: Ultimate Tenkaichi (2012)-
I’m sorry to say that I’ve never played Fighterz or Xenoverse. I’m sure they’re fantastic. I really enjoyed Ultimate Tenkaichi. I’ll never forget my two characters that I made for it- Markugeta and Hantenks. Yeah, I was kinda silly.
Guardians of Middle Earth (2012)-
Oh, how I loved this game. This was number 11 on my list. For those who haven’t played this, this game was a MOBA in a similar vein to League of Legends or DOTA 2. It was a bit more simplistic in some ways, but boy was it addictive and fun. I’d play Legolas and my buddy would play Haldir. Team Quiver all the way!
Super Smash Brothers WiiU/3DS (2014)-
Fantastic gamesthat I played for hundreds upon hundreds of hours. Easily the games I played most in the last decade. Why aren’t they on the list? Well…
1. Super Smash Ultimate (2018)
Well, when you can’t fit the entire roster on the cover, you do your best. Then again, the cover for the actual game case had to be shortened to have like 10 characters on it.
To surprise of absolutely nobody who knows me, Smash Ultimate is my favorite game of the decade. It’s likely my favorite game ever. It’s got the most refined gameplay of any Smash game. It’s easily the most balanced. Most importantly, it’s got the absolute most content.
As of writing this article, there are 75 characters in Ultimate. That’s counting Pokemon Trainer as three characters, but not counting the Miis (that’s how it’s listed on the official Smash page). At least six more characters are on the way. Each character, especially the DLC characters, are unique and incredibly fun to play. We’ve got almost every single stage that’s ever been in Smash, and we’ve got an online mode that I especially enjoy.
I never get tired of Smash. I can play for hours and hours on end. I even won my first tournament recently (though it wasn’t as intense of a competition as other tournaments). Smash is the kind of game that anyone can pick up and have tons of fun, yet you can spend all the time in the world playing it and still not find skill ceiling. I’ve been playing Smash since the original, making it 21 years since I first started up the game on my Nintendo 64. It has a special place in my heart, and unlike many video game series, it always earns that place with consistent quality that is always fan pleasing.
So, that’s my list. Hope you enjoyed it. Again, it’s based off my opinions, so I apologize for no Dark Souls, Elder Scrolls, Mass Effect, Mario, Minecraft, or Overwatch on it. It’s just what I like. Feel free to shoot me a message with a game you thought was deserving to be on the list.
Soli Deo Gloria, friends.
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