Game of the decade vote off?

[NyQuil]

I think I would probably go for Skyrim.

But Civ 6 is definitely on the shortlist for me. The best out-of-box Civ since SMAC, it has added so many layers of depth and planning to the franchise - districts and wonders requiring a tile, limited numbers of builder charges to go with government types, government cards, golden/dark ages, governors, government buildings, pantheons, religions, city states......there is so much to this game and it truly rewards the player who carefully plans his empire so as to leverage powerful synergies.

Civ 5 with Brave New World is kind of the penultimate Civ of the last generation.

I’m glad they had the balls to revitalize the franchise with some substantially different gameplay aspects with Civ 6.

It took a lot of the good aspects of V but also ventured into some uncharted territory nonetheless.

 

[Nickmo82]

Bloodborne, The Witcher 3. The Last of Us, Skyrim.

All of them ate up hundreds of hours of my life and were profoundly enjoyable. Even TLOU multiplayer was kind of fun for a while.

 

[Anaheim4ever]

What about the 2020s ?
Some contenders for the 2020 decade:
Cyberpunk 2077

S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 thats in the works

If Assassin's Creed does a Japan or China setting it might be the greatest thing ever, heck they could even do a WW2 Russia setting in this decade

Witcher 4 - CDProject Red has recently re-acquired license to make Witcher games again so i expect we might see a Ciri Witcher game and maybe even playable Yennefer or Triss.

Half Life 3 - with how Valve actually is making another HL game with HL Alyx it becomes likely they may do a HL3 given how they are losing their relevance with how Epic Games makes both games & manages an Epic game store.
Valve has a new source engine that HL Alyx is using, if that engine gets a release like Epic's Unreal engine than that would steer more profits back to Steam.
New Source engine + HL3 would be Valve fighting back against Epic & Unreal.

 

[Ceremony]

Getting better. I'm a B level driver at the moment who is on the verge of getting to A. I could only do so much with the controller. My lap times are usually about a second and a half to 2 seconds off the top guys. They used to be 4 to 5, sometimes 6 depending on the track/combo so I'll take it.

Not bad. I was mid-A before getting a G29 in the Black Friday sales last year, now I'm mid-B as I'm working my way back up.

On the subject of driving/racing sims, and with the emergence of e-sports this decade in mine, GT Sport is a good shout as far as wide appeal is concerned. iRacing or Assetto Corsa might be more realistic but for the audience share and getting people into simracing, Gran Turismo and Forza are probably the biggest gateways.

 

[blue425]

Sekiro is a better BB though.

I posted my comment about Bloodborne after about 60 hours with it. Now that I have spent over 80 (and counting) with Sekiro I will say this:

Full disclosure if not already clear: I like BB a lot and think it deserves GOTD.

Personally I like Sekiro more. Why? The combat is just ridiculous once it clicks, and the lack of RPG elements is a plus in my eyes. With BB I think they were looking for a way for the player to be more aggressive with their encounters, with Sekiro I think they got it right.

That said I think Bloodborne is the more universally appealing title due to the RPG elements. I could see why someone might be put off on Sekiro - Trouble with a boss? You're not grinding your way passed it, you have to figure it out after repeatedly getting your ass handed to you. Not everyone has the patience for that. That said I think the difficulty of Sekiro, like every other FS game, is overblown. It is challenging but fair.

Once you figure it out though you feel almost invincible. Well as invincible as you can feel in an FS game, but you know what I mean.

 

[The Head Crusher]

Civ 5 with Brave New World is kind of the penultimate Civ of the last generation.

I’m glad they had the balls to revitalize the franchise with some substantially different gameplay aspects with Civ 6.

It took a lot of the good aspects of V but also ventured into some uncharted territory nonetheless.

I still say Civ 4 with Beyond the sword was the best of the series. But that was 2007

 

[Fantomas]

I recently started on Witcher 3 and it's early, and maybe I'm being impatient, but it may not be my thing.

Reminds me of RDR2 a bit (which I hated) - open world, and a lot of short fetch quests which just don't feel narratively satisfying. I hope the main story is worth it.

The gameplay is extremely clunky. I hate the way the character moves. The camera is terrible. Riding the horse is just ugh.

I'm confused why people knock TLOU for its gameplay but think this is the bee's knees. This being said, I'm not hating. Will plug away and hopefully it clicks.

 

[Fantomas]

The Wolf Among Us

I adored this game. Love the pulp noir comic book feel to it.

Like all Telltale games, it's not really much of a game. The choices don't matter at all. But the atmosphere, the art design, the voice acting, the story -- fun, fun, fun.

Glad that a sequel will be made after all. If done right, this could be special. And I don't even like Telltale games in general.

LA Noire is another excellent noir detective game. A bit dated, but some of the set pieces, and the music -- to die for.

 

[KingBran]

What about the 2020s ?
Some contenders for the 2020 decade:
Cyberpunk 2077

S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 thats in the works

If Assassin's Creed does a Japan or China setting it might be the greatest thing ever, heck they could even do a WW2 Russia setting in this decade

Witcher 4 - CDProject Red has recently re-acquired license to make Witcher games again so i expect we might see a Ciri Witcher game and maybe even playable Yennefer or Triss.

Half Life 3 - with how Valve actually is making another HL game with HL Alyx it becomes likely they may do a HL3 given how they are losing their relevance with how Epic Games makes both games & manages an Epic game store.
Valve has a new source engine that HL Alyx is using, if that engine gets a release like Epic's Unreal engine than that would steer more profits back to Steam.
New Source engine + HL3 would be Valve fighting back against Epic & Unreal.

They have those cartoon-y AC games in China and Russia.

A WWII one would be interesting. Ancient Egypt will be hard to beat for me.

I personally am most excited for Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines 2.

 

[TheBluePenguin]

While not even close to the best game, I think its important to at least give credit to Fortnite. As someone who coaches 3 soccer teams, 4 hockey teams for the last few years and being around way to many kids for anyone....

Fortnite created more new gamers then anything I can remember in a very long time, My three boys and every single one of their friends and teammates ALL played Fortnite together all the time. It was kind of neat to see it happened from outside the bubble.

 

[Anaheim4ever]

They have those cartoon-y AC games in China and Russia.

A WWII one would be interesting. Ancient Egypt will be hard to beat for me.

I personally am most excited for Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines 2.

Oh yeah Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines 2 could be game of the 2020 decade if its done right, mod friendly and its post launch DLC expands the story & world far enough.
The previous game was incredible. The fans created patches for the previous game that fixed all the bugs etc that the devs didn't.

 

[KingBran]

While not even close to the best game, I think its important to at least give credit to Fortnite. As someone who coaches 3 soccer teams, 4 hockey teams for the last few years and being around way to many kids for anyone....

Fortnite created more new gamers then anything I can remember in a very long time, My three boys and every single one of their friends and teammates ALL played Fortnite together all the time. It was kind of neat to see it happened from outside the bubble.

Absolutely deserves credit but to me its' "created gamers" in the same way the Wii did. I see lots of people playing just that and nothing else. Talked to lots of people who play fortnite and thats all they have played.

Can't deny some of them will continue to game but I think a lot of them don't go back to gaming once (if?) The game is dead, or try other games.

It's just the thing to do right now.

 

[Beau Knows]

Absolutely deserves credit but to me its' "created gamers" in the same way the Wii did. I see lots of people playing just that and nothing else. Talked to lots of people who play fortnite and thats all they have played.

Can't deny some of them will continue to game but I think a lot of them don't go back to gaming once (if?) The game is dead, or try other games.

It's just the thing to do right now.

You might be right. I do see one difference between the Fortnite crowd and the Wii crowd though.

The Wii was popular with people who didn't play games before because of it's simplicity, many of those people haven't bought a console since because nobody has catered to them. The Wii U and Switch are more like traditional consoles with control schemes that are intimidating to some people.

I think VR will eventually be the Wii's replacement, you can offer a similar type of intuitive control scheme with unparalleled immersion. But the cost and ease of use of the whole system needs to come down.

Fornite is a more traditional game with complex controls and actions. Anyone who plays that can easily jump into another game when the next big thing comes along. Meanwhile grandma playing Wii Sports is left in the cold by Nintendo and the other console manufacturers, hand her a controller and she'll likely get frustrated and never play another game again.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Dark Souls
RDR 2
The Last of Us

 

[syz]

In terms of "creating players" I would bet even money that most of the kids who went to Fortnite started with Minecraft this decade.

 

[tacogeoff]

Civ 5 with Brave New World is kind of the penultimate Civ of the last generation.

I’m glad they had the balls to revitalize the franchise with some substantially different gameplay aspects with Civ 6.

It took a lot of the good aspects of V but also ventured into some uncharted territory nonetheless.

I dunno. I have been playing civil 6 the last few months and it just feels streamlined or more of a simple version of the older ones. Civil 3 and 4 were better in my books. Not graphically obviously but strategy and gameplay.
Jmo. Dont get me wrong I am enjoying 6 atm.

 

[Mount Suribachi]

I dunno. I have been playing civil 6 the last few months and it just feels streamlined or more of a simple version of the older ones. Civil 3 and 4 were better in my books. Not graphically obviously but strategy and gameplay.
Jmo. Dont get me wrong I am enjoying 6 atm.

I find it curious that you think 6 is more simple and streamlined than previous games. IMO it requires more planning and forethought than any other game in the series, in large part due to the need to plan your district placement for optimal effect, coupled with the huge number of synergies you need to plan in from other sources..

4 doesn't require planning so much as it rewards min/maxing and micromanaging to eke out every last fraction of extra gold/production/food per turn. There are definately things I miss from 4 though, the colonisation/vassal mechanic was excellent, and coupled with the Terra map made for my favourite types of games.

 

[tacogeoff]

I find it curious that you think 6 is more simple and streamlined than previous games. IMO it requires more planning and forethought than any other game in the series, in large part due to the need to plan your district placement for optimal effect, coupled with the huge number of synergies you need to plan in from other sources..

4 doesn't require planning so much as it rewards min/maxing and micromanaging to eke out every last fraction of extra gold/production/food per turn. There are definately things I miss from 4 though, the colonisation/vassal mechanic was excellent, and coupled with the Terra map made for my favourite types of games.

you know. you could be right. i am only a month and a bit in and playing very casually so I may not have figured out all the little ins and outs of the district bonuses. The game to me just does not feel as rewarding as the older ones and feels like it is more of a rampant pacing. I think I enjoyed the micro managing aspect and the wonders not taking up tile spaces of the old one. correct me if I am wrong but it seems like if I need to switch production or if someone beats me to my wonder the production points that I have used dont carry over to the next unit?

 

[Mount Suribachi]

Well, I think Firaxis have been much more pro-active with "balancing" the game and removing what they considered exploits with 6 than they were with 4. For example, the chop bonus from Magnus was exploited with various cards into a massive production bonus, so they nerfed it hard.

Whereas all the little "exploits" in 4, like deliberately losing wonders to the AI for gold, and efficient whipping of your pops etc were left in the game, and are gameplay features to be exploited for optimal play.

You can't exploit wonders for production bonuses like you could in 4, but you do get some production back if you lose out. The more you play, the more you will learn which wonders the AI likes to grab. Ancient + Classical era wonders, especially on higher difficulty, are very hard to get unless you beeline for them (and even then you might not get them). But there are some very good wonders like Terracotta Army, that the AI just never seems interested in. Some wonders like the Colosseum are around forever.

 

[Shareefruck]

I haven't played through enough of it to determine how good these games are overall, but I completely agree that Sekiro's design choices, mechanics (and in my opinion aesthetics) feel a lot more streamlined, elegant, tight, and satisfying than other Soulsborne games. The fewer RPG elements and grindy leveling systems, and the greater the reliance on raw mastery of mechanics, the better, IMO. I also find parrying more fun than dodging in general.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

I posted my comment about Bloodborne after about 60 hours with it. Now that I have spent over 80 (and counting) with Sekiro I will say this:

Full disclosure if not already clear: I like BB a lot and think it deserves GOTD.

Personally I like Sekiro more. Why? The combat is just ridiculous once it clicks, and the lack of RPG elements is a plus in my eyes. With BB I think they were looking for a way for the player to be more aggressive with their encounters, with Sekiro I think they got it right.

That said I think Bloodborne is the more universally appealing title due to the RPG elements. I could see why someone might be put off on Sekiro - Trouble with a boss? You're not grinding your way passed it, you have to figure it out after repeatedly getting your ass handed to you. Not everyone has the patience for that. That said I think the difficulty of Sekiro, like every other FS game, is overblown. It is challenging but fair.

Once you figure it out though you feel almost invincible. Well as invincible as you can feel in an FS game, but you know what I mean.

Bloodborne crushes Sekiro in the world/lore/atmosphere department, though. And Sekiro was no slouch in this regard. Bloodborne did Lovecraftian as good as Lovecraft himself.

GOTD is easily Dark Souls, in my opinion. I'm old enough to have been an adult with disposable income at the beginning and end of this decade, and I played all the hits, all the indie surprises, all the overlooked gems.

No other game left such an indelible mark on the medium. In twenty years from now, "Souls-like" will still be a commonly used descriptor for a video game, akin to "Metroidvania."

The Witcher 3 was fantastic and the high water mark for open world fantasy RPGs. It was sort of the culmination of all that specific genre had built upon. So it's close. But Dark Souls arguably saved mainstream gaming as a serious, challenging, artistic medium, and not some kind of derivative movie simulator (looking at you, Uncharted series).

If we're considering the wider industry implications of gaming, then League of Legends deserves a mention as GOTD for its role in taking e-sports to another level of popularity and professionalism. There are better games connected to e-sports (Dota 2, obviously), but none as big as League.

 

[blue425]

Bloodborne crushes Sekiro in the world/lore/atmosphere department, though. And Sekiro was no slouch in this regard. Bloodborne did Lovecraftian as good as Lovecraft himself.

You will get no argument from me

 

[SettlementRichie10]

You will get no argument from me

Don’t get me wrong; I’m a huge Sekiro fan. It was easily 2019 GOTY. And it did have more refined combat than Booodborne. But overall, Bloodborne’s world/lore put it slightly ahead of Sekiro, because the combat is pretty close.