Incline Best Games of The 2010's

[Lemming42]

Surprisingly good decade in retrospect, though things have slowed down these last couple of years. Easily beats the period from like 2004 - 2009 which I think was the real dark age for games.

 

[DalekFlay]

Surprisingly good decade in retrospect, though things have slowed down these last couple of years. Easily beats the period from like 2004 - 2009 which I think was the real dark age for games.

Late Xbox, early Xbox 360 era was a plague for fans of traditionally PC genres.

 

[DJOGamer PT]

To prevent the list from becoming a clusterfuck and make things more difficult for myself, I'll post only 5 games per year (I'll have a "Honorable Mentions" where every other very good game is).
So what where IMO the best games of the 2010's:


2010

Spoiler

Fallout: New Vegas
StarSector
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat
Mount & Blade: Warband
Super Meat Boy

2011

Spoiler

E.Y.E. Divine Cybermancy
Dark Souls
Portal 2
Dead Space 2
Terraria

2012

Spoiler

Dragon's Dogma
Legend of Grimrock
Mark of the Ninja
Crusader Kings II
Max Payne 3

2013

Spoiler

Spelunky
Deus Ex: Human Revolution – Director's Cut
Völgarr the Viking
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
Rayman Legends

2014

Spoiler

Dark Souls II
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
Alien: Isolation
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes
Shovel Knight

2015

Spoiler

Age of Decadence
Bloodborne
Underrail
Rainbow 6 Siege
Ori and the Blind Forest

2016

Spoiler

HITMAN
Factorio
nuDOOM
Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

2017

Spoiler

Grimoire
Nioh
The Legeng of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Hollow Knight
Fallout: Nevada

2018

Spoiler

Monster Hunter: World
ATOM RPG
Kingdom Come: Deliverance
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon
DUSK

2019

Spoiler

Resident Evil 2 - Remake
Devil May Cry 5
Pathologic 2
Sunless Skies
Mega Man 11

Honorable Mentions

Spoiler

2010 - 10
Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Risen
Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Just Cause 2
Vanquish
Disgae Infinite
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Red Dead Redemption
Nehrim: At Fate's Edge

2011 - 7
Crysis 2
L.A. Noire
Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
Sonic Generations
Worms Ultimate Mayhem
Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3
Mortal Kombat 9

2012 - 10
Dishonored
Hotline Miami
Fire Emblem Awakening
Fez
Resident Evil 6
Yakuza 5
Worms Revolution
ZombiU
FTL
Virtua Fighter 5 - Final Showdown

2013 - 6
Machinarium
Splinter Cell: Blacklist
Battlefield 4
Papers, Please
Far Cry: Blood Dragon
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle

2014 - 6
This War of Mine
Bayonetta 2
Styx: Master of Shadows
Elite Dangerous
NEO Scavenger
Divinity: Original Sin

2015 - 10
Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate
Wolfenstein: The Old Blood
Metal Gear Solid V: Phantom Pain
Rocket league
Yakuza 0
Sunless Sea
Blood Bowl II
Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Disgae 5

2016 - 13
Worms W.M.D.
Thumper
Superhot
Battlefield 1
Enter the Gungeon
Titanfall 2
Salt and Sanctuary
Shadow Warrior 2
Darkest Dungeon
Stardew Valley
Hyper Light Drifter
FURI
Enderal

2017 - 20
NieR:Automata
Tekken 7
Super Mario: Odyssey
Sonic Mania
Cuphead
The Sexy Brutale
Resident Evil 7
A Hat in Time
Prey
Rain World
Opus Magnum
For Honor
Battle Brothers
ELEX
Styx: Shards of Darkness
Divinity: Original Sin 2
Wipeout Omega Collection
Field of Glory II
Total War: WARHAMMER II
Darkwood

2018 - 23
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Nigth
Subnautica
HITMAN 2
Soul Calibur VI
Return of the Obra Dinn
Dragon Ball FigtherZ
Octopath Traveler
Celeste
Project Warlock
Cultist Simulator
Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire
Kenshi
Warhammer: Vermintide 2
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Ghost of a Tale
Ashen
Assassin's Creed: Odyssey
RimWorld
Das Geisterschiff
Into the Breach
Pathfinder: Kingmaker
Warhammer 40K: Mechanicus
Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise

2019 - 13
Outward
Mordhau
Outer Wilds
Ion Fury
AMID EVIL
Samurai Shodown
Sekiro
A Legionary's Life
Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead
Greedfall
Need for Speed Heat
Disco Elysium
Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2

All things considered, I think this was a good decade.
Not near as bad as we like to shitpost about...

Surprisingly good decade in retrospect, though things have slowed down these last couple of years. Easily beats the period from like 2004 - 2009 which I think was the real dark age for games.

Agree.
While this year wasn't been one of the best, I would say that the first 5 years were the worst because the industry was still coming out of that "Dark Age" (2013+2014 are specially bad).
But from 2015 onwards, things have been looking up. We even had a little RPG ''renaissance'' since 2015.
I had considerable trouble chosing the best 5 games for 2017 and 2018.

 

[Gibson]

puzzle platformers and how I consider them the most elegantly designed genre.

HEAR! HEAR!

 

[Darkforge]

*edit* added a couple I forgot.

Fallout: NV
Divinity: OS (I'll add two as well provided the retarded armor system is removed with a mod.)
Pathfinder:Kingmaker (turn based mod only)
Xcom 2
Batman: Arkham City. (first two games where great. Didn't really like origins or Knight.)
ShadowRun: Dragon fall.
Path of Exile. (official release)
Kingdom Come: Deliverance
Mordhiem
Darkest Dungeon
Dark souls
Devil May Cry 5
Bayonetta
Tekken 7 (tag 2 is awful due to unbalanced rage mechanics)
Mortal Kombat 9 (10 and 11 just didn't hit the same spot for me.)
Dragons Dogma: Dark Arisen
Monster Hunter World.
Resident Evil 2 Remake
Bloodstained: ROTN
Grimoire : HOTWE
Disco Elysium
Total Warhammer series
Nier Automata
Doom 2016

and Begrudgingly Witcher 2/3

 

[Silva]

Shittiest poll I ever seen. Lol

And Dark Souls is the only objective answer. Anything else is debatable.

 

[blrrmmmff]

Insurgency - (played this a lot, and still pissed how they fucked up the sequel). It has such intensity, and perfect mix between realism and arcade in a shooter. Wish more of these type of games were made.

Portal 2 - Writing is amazing on this game. I loved the humor and puzzles were pretty good. It is basically a variation on 'I have no mouth and I must scream'.

Rayman Legends - I normally don't like side scrollers, but I really liked this one. Somehow Ubisoft made a good game this decade.

Ratchet and Clank - I liked the humor and how creative they got with the different type of weapons.

Gorogoa - An indie puzzle game, despite being short I really liked how creative it was with writing and the visual puzzles.

Honestly it is kind of a disappointing decade. I hope the next one will be better.

 

[Silverfish]

Not in any real order,

Saints Row The Third
Dark Souls
Sacred 3 (yeah I know, but it's the Gauntlet clone I've always wanted)
Bound By Flame
Killer is Dead
Trials Fusion
Bayonetta 2 (game of the millennium).

 

[Silva]

I think we all agree the 2010s was a (much) better decade than the 2000s.

Can it beat the 90s, though? Or the 80s?

 

[Roguey]

I think we all agree the 2010s was a (much) better decade than the 2000s.

Was it? Was it really? Here are the games I liked from the 2000s, listed in an extremely disorganized way.

The best:

deus ex
mask of the betrayer
devil may cry 3
silent hill 2
resident evil 4
half-life 2 and episodes
hitman blood money
portal
stalker shadow of chernobyl
world of goo
saints row 2

the rest:

baldur's gate 2
icewind dale
icewind dale 2
arcanum
neverwinter nights (for the toolset which led to a couple of great mods)
temple of elemental evil
bloodlines
the witcher
dragon age origins
knights of the chalice
shinobi
tenchu wrath of heaven
tenchu fatal shadows
grand theft auto iii and liberty city stories
grand theft auto vice city and vice city stories
grand theft auto san andreas
devil may cry
onimusha
onimusha 2
onimusha 3
psychonauts
thief 2
max payne
max payne 2
splinter cell chaos theory
hitman contracts
fear
dead space
batman: arkham asylum

 

[DalekFlay]

I think we all agree the 2010s was a (much) better decade than the 2000s.

I wouldn't say that because early 2000s was filled with great games. I will say 2015+ is much better than 2005-2014 though.

 

[Lemming42]

Making a 2000s list gets harder if you cut out 2000 - 2003.

2004 - 2009 (maybe you could extend this to the early 2010s, I'm not sure) are pretty much a dead zone for the FPS genre (if you don't like Half-Life 2, which I don't, you're fucked) for a start. The RPGs released by and large can't match up to those offered by the 90s and 2010s. Adventure games are pretty much gone.

I'd have to actually make a list of games and then look through them to confirm this, but I also have the impression that experimentation in game design is traded for derivativeness and most big releases start to feel the same. There are still occasional experimental games with new and novel mechanics of course, but not at the same rate as the late 90s.

 

[Silva]

What Lemming said. No doubt there were great games in the 2000s (specially first half) but unfortunately the decade went down in the annals as the era of Call of Duty. The talk among purist crowds (like us) bordered on apocalyptic. The industry was doomed to regurgitate the same profit-guaranteed formulas again and again, a decade of sole gfx upgrades, the lowest low the industry has seen.

Luckly indie games (and kickstarter) happened by the late 00s and exploded in early 10s, bringing back originality and boldness in designs and saving the industry. I would guess that the sheer volume of good games in the 2010s is unmatched by any period in history including the mythic 90s.

 

[curds]

I would guess that the sheer volume of good games in the 2010s is unmatched by any period in history including the mythic 90s.

I don't think so. 1999 alone saw the release of these titles:

Super Smash Bros.
Silent Hill
Alpha Centauri
HoMM 3
Everquest
RollerCoaster Tycoon
Might and Magic VII
Counter-Strike
Dungeon Keeper 2
Jagged Alliance 2
Outcast
System Shock 2
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
Homeworld
Age of Empires II
Freespace 2
Asheron's Call
Medal of Honor
Age of Wonders
The Longest Journey
Unreal Tournament
SWAT 3
Donkey Kong 64
Quake III
Planescape: Torment
Shenmue

That list only includes games that I personally know something about, so I'm sure I'm probably missing a few more classics. I doubt there is a single year from the 2010s where as many good games were released.
And don't get me started on '92.

 

[DalekFlay]

93ish to 2003ish would be my best 10 years in gaming without me even thinking twice about it, and 2011ish to today has seen a lot of incline, but those years in between... *shudder*.

 

[Ivan]

My favorites from the past 10 years:

Bloodborne - love the Victorian gothic art style, features my favorite combat mechanics (regain) + weapon morphing. I salivate about a sequel...

Spoiler

Spelunky - therapeutic 2d exploration/puzzler, great solo or with friends

Mark of the Ninja - fantastic 2d stealth action, great fun whether you want to ghost or if you want to kill them all with 0 alarms

Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze - recaptures the magic of the original Country titles, also features excellent music and great end game

Spoiler

Rayman Origins - gives 2d Mario and Donkey Kong a run for its money, excellent visuals, music, and level design

Spoiler

STALKER Misery 1.2 - survival horror FPS done right

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - the most fun I've had with a hack n slash game, particularly the final boss

Thumper - imagine Burnout and Dance Dance Revolution but with heavy electronic music

Undertale - like the Mother series but with 0 filler

Spoiler

Hollow Knight - sets the new standard Metroidvanias

Spoiler

Honorable Mentions: Volgarr the Viking, Cuphead, Yakuza 0, Dead Space 2, Lisa: Painful RPG, Hotline Miami

 

[thesecret1]

The first half of this decade was total shit. The good games were few and far between and there was a general decline with AAA racing to the bottom of the casual barrel and AA being fucking dead. It was only in the second half that things started slowly getting better, and we're still far from the early 00's.

 

[KK1001]

The 2010s were basically just picking up the pieces from the early-mid 00s and the 360/PS3 generation, which was a huge step back for gaming but particularly so for PC gaming.

 

[RolePlayer]

Surprisingly good decade in retrospect, though things have slowed down these last couple of years. Easily beats the period from like 2004 - 2009 which I think was the real dark age for games.

Late Xbox, early Xbox 360 era was a plague for fans of traditionally PC genres.

thanks to steam?

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

My top 10:
X-Piratez
FTL
Mount & Blade: Warband
Battle Brothers
NEO Scavenger
Rimworld
Cataclysm: DDA
Fields of Glory 2
Death Road to Canada Caves of Qud
Renowned Explorers

To be honest it's still too early to name best games of 2010's, I tend to disqualify more recent ones on the grounds that I'm not yet certain that those are memorable enough.

 

[DalekFlay]

Late Xbox, early Xbox 360 era was a plague for fans of traditionally PC genres.

thanks to steam?

Steam just distributes shit, it has nothing to do with game quality.

 

[Deflowerer]

Bloodborne is probably the crowning achievement of the decade for me. Just wish it ran on a platform that could punch above 30 fps.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

Late Xbox, early Xbox 360 era was a plague for fans of traditionally PC genres.

thanks to steam?

Steam just distributes shit, it has nothing to do with game quality.

You don't see connection between platform that popularized digital game distribution and emergence of more riskier games that broke console mold into markets?

 

[DalekFlay]

You don't see connection between platform that popularized digital game distribution and emergence of more riskier games that broke console mold into markets?

Of course I do, I've said Steam saved PC gaming many times. His reply was to my comment about the dark days, not those days ending. But yeah that's probably what he meant, good call.

 

[Falksi]

I don't think there's much to choose between the 00's or the 10's tbh.

2005-2015 had some cracking games IMO:

God of War
The Warriors
Okami
Final Fantasy XII
Mass Effect
Dragon Age Origins
Stalker
The Witcher
The Witcher 2
Alpha Protocol
Deadly Premonition
Dead Space
Far Cry 2
Saints Row 2
Condemned 2
Batman Arkham Series
Demons Souls
The Saboteur
Fallout NV
Alan Wake
Deus Ex: HR
Dark Souls
Dark Souls 2
Nu-Xcom
Sleeping Dogs
Dragons Dogma
Tomb Raider
Saints Row 4
Hard West
Shadowrun Returns
Shadowrun Dragonfall