Top 20 Video Games of the Decade

Leave it to Blizzard to take the well-worn conventions of hero shooters, and reinvigorate them with their stylish knack for sly world-building and slick combat systems. As Blizzard’s first new intellectual property in nearly two decades, “Overwatch” had much to prove right out of the gate. Fortunately, the game caught players by storm with its varied and charismatic cast of characters, bolstered by an art style akin to the filmography of studios like Pixar. It also didn’t hurt that the game’s focus on cooperative modes and using character abilities to assist teammates helped it stand out amid the crowded multiplayer shooter market.

While “Dark Souls” and “Sekiro” illustrate quite handily the care and passion that From Software invest into their work, it’s their take on Victorian-era cosmic horror that stands tallest of all their “SoulsBorne” entries. “Bloodborne” certainly differentiates itself in its approach to combat, emphasizing quick movement and perpetual offence while stripping away the “Souls” titles’ defensive options. However, this design decision makes for a compellingly tense experience that never ceases to test the player’s focus and reflexes. Combined with the game’s delightfully twisted lore, plague-riddled cityscape and exquisitely grotesque monster designs, it proves adept at unnerving and challenging in equal measure.

Conceived as a mixture of role-playing design cues from works such as the “Megami Tensei” games and “Earthbound”, this indie RPG blossomed into a subversive and endearing work all its own. Its central cast of monsters charmed players thanks to humorous dialogue and delightful sprite art, making it easier to embrace the gameplay emphasis on befriending rather than slaying foes. Its world and script draw upon an impressively eclectic mix of influences: older video games, Internet meme culture, even television programs of varying age. Yet through the deft direction of creator Toby Fox, every aspect of “Undertale” comes together into a beautiful, bizarre whole.

Though much is worth complementing about “Super Mario Odyssey”, we felt its earlier Wii-based predecessor fit here a great deal better. “Super Mario Galaxy 2” relies on elements of the first “Galaxy” game while reworking them into a magnificent blend of “Mario” iconography new and old. The range of worlds to explore remain as vivid in aesthetic as they are plentiful, matched by a difficulty curve befitting this franchise. Series staples like Yoshi as a rideable mount and an overworld map pair nicely with more recent additions such as the universe-traversing Starship Mario and the Luma species. Truly, this is a game worth tipping your red monogrammed cap to.

There’s an under-appreciated art to taking a time-honoured setup for adventure and turning it into a springboard for intimate, emotionally-wrought storytelling. Few games hammer this home like “Celeste”, a side-scrolling platformer centred on the journey of a young woman to the peak of a rather strange mountain. Each and every facet of its design, from the visual themes of levels to the game’s energetic score, feeds back into protagonist Madeline’s internal struggles and complicated ruminations on life. “Celeste” doesn’t lack for compulsively replayable gameplay, either, keeping things interesting with hard-to-reach collectables and increasingly deadly obstacles.

Everyone is here, indeed. Just the promise that “Ultimate” sought to deliver – bringing back every “Smash Bros” fighter for this one game, plus some new competitors – was a grand enough undertaking in itself. We’re still astounded, however, that the full game showed itself to be a loving tribute not only to Nintendo canon but to much of classic video game history in general. Be it as a playable character or as one of hundreds of collectable Spirits, a vast range of gaming icons get their time in the limelight. From the elaborate take on Adventure Mode to the more intricate tweaks made to its fighting mechanics, “Ultimate” displays a clear balance between creative ambition and production focus.

Those familiar with the cult classic game “NieR” and its ties to the similarly niche “Drakengard” probably didn’t expect the breakout success of this sequel from Platinum Games. Nevertheless, “NieR: Automata” did indeed find an audience and earn a place for itself as many folks’ game of that year. It isn’t difficult to discern why; writer-director Yoko Taro’s melancholy exploration of numerous themes, paired well with Platinum’s slick hack-and-slash combat that they had previously perfected with the Bayonetta series. And that’s not even getting into the narrative twists and turns, ranging in tone and intent, which mark “Automata” as positively beyond the medium’s norms.

The alleged cruelties behind its construction notwithstanding, “Red Dead Redemption 2” handily serves to underline how important the entirety of a development team is to a game’s production. Set before the events of the first “Red Dead Redemption”, this sequel relies on drastically improved graphical detail to further convey developer Rockstar’s dedication to simulating the American Frontier. It takes some of the previous game’s strongest pillars – namely compelling character dynamics and a strong sense of place – and polishes them to great effect. Players found it all too easy to get caught up in many aspects, ranging from the numerous side quests to the central plot concerning Arthur Morgan’s own existential struggles.

As the coda for an industry legend’s time with their most iconic creation, it’s a hell of a way to close the book. Troubled in its development and coming on the heels of Hideo Kojima’s departure from Konami, “Metal Gear Solid V” was put in quite the unenviable position. Fortunate, then, that the game proved exceptional in its delivery of sandbox shenanigans and intricate base-building systems. Venturing across the game world continually delivered on chances to sneak into enemy installations and cause havoc, bolstered by great detail in nearly all facets of the world. The slickness of Venom Snake’s CQC maneuvers, the myriad options in mission-to-mission inventory selection – it’s action game design at some of its finest.

Almost a full decade after the last major “Persona” game, Atlus came out swinging for the fences like nobody’s business. “Persona 5” invokes the typical beats expected of a “Persona” game, like their penchant for colourful characters and supernatural phenomena-as-metaphor, but imbues them with new purpose. Here, it’s the conflict between well-meaning vigilantes and an uncaring social order that serves as the foundation, layered with loving nods to Renaissance-era crime fiction and modern Japanese culture. The series’ approach to dungeons and animation also received loving attention, better tying into specific themes and characters’ perspectives on reality than ever before.

Having already proven that they could handle the exploits of the World’s Greatest Detective, “Arkham Asylum” developer Rocksteady undertook efforts to expand and enhance their work with a sequel. Thus, the world would be gifted “Arkham City”, a darkly entertaining celebration of the “Batman” mythos that also manages to work well as a open-world action-adventure title. The story threads – primary and tangential – intrigued with their attention paid to character psychology and tense dramatic flourishes. The secrets and sidequests never failed to surprise, in their affection for the source material and in their willingness to defy expectations. And the tweaked fighting and traversal systems served to remind players how gratifying it is to be the Bat.

Shifting an established franchises tone is a tricky business, even when the same team that worked on the original is shouldering the responsibility for this new work. They live or die largely on how well they navigate the fine line between honouring the past and charting a new path forward. We’re frankly astounded, though no less impressed, that Sony’s Santa Monica studio successfully walked that line in their creation of 2018’s “God of War”. It goes intimate and more limited in focus where the previous games were bombastic and defined by excess, yet still the vibrant action and thoughtful exploration of mythology endure. Strong performances from the cast and a unique one-shot camera gimmick further reinforce how truly special this proved to be.

It’s works such as this that remind us why Valve got to be the market juggernaut they are today. “Portal 2” follows on from the first but goes far further with its humour and its delving into the depths of Aperture Science, very much to its benefit. Its narrative pulls off twist after twist and keeps players guessing as to how the conflict between homicidal intelligence GlaDOS and silent heroine Chell will be resolved. The puzzles grow exponentially more intricate and challenging in tandem with the absurd yet fittingly poignant revelations about Aperture’s past. And of course, we’ll always appreciate a co-operative campaign that matches its single-player counterpart in terms of wit and intuitive design.

Even the simplest of premise can be elevated to true greatness with thoughtful design and solid audio-visual flourishes. Case in point: Mojang’s 2011 sandbox survival game took the straightforward ideas of accumulating resources and constructing as befits one’s whim and leaned into accessibility above all. Its deliberately pixelated art style evokes early 3D graphical design while still conveying the overwhelming size of the world, pleasantly balancing charm and technical proficiency. “Minecraft” also prevails thanks to a frankly robust range of items, features and options to modify the game world, and it’s only gotten better over the years thanks to a steady stream of content updates. You really can build upon perfection.

Middle instalments to trilogies being what they are, they often end up saddled with the task of fleshing out a universe and its people in time for the big finale. So it’s a real testament to how slickly produced and confidently executed “Mass Effect 2” was that it stands out as perhaps the best of its own trilogy. BioWare wisely leaned into their tendency to present unto players a multitude of distinct companions, having the otherwise loose plot structure pivot on a “Magnificent Seven”-esque gathering of followers for one large excursion. This fits nicely with the parallel approach of rendering many missions as mostly free-wheeling side content, which benefits from refinements to the series’ third-person shooter mechanics.

Whatever aspect of the complete package caught your eye, there’s a good chance it proved fulfilling from start to finish. Launching with only its campaign accessible, “Grand Theft Auto V” still managed the remarkable feat of drawing a crowd with its forward-looking performance capture technology and expansive sandbox setting. The shift to a constant rotation between three protagonists as its story progressed remains a clever means of keeping the audience on their toes. Meanwhile, the later-launching “GTA Online” mode took the anarchic criminal misbehaviour of games past to new heights, offering folks all manner of deadly missions and tools for making their mark on Los Santos.

Watching how studio Naughty Dog has come into their own as a purveyor of cinema-inspired pulp adventure titles has been nothing short of spectacular. Better still has been observing how well they transitioned to melancholic post-apocalypse storytelling, with “The Last of Us”. Characters performed with care and emoting with subtlety, plot pacing that keeps its audience perpetually on edge, honest-to-goodness cinematography – this one’s packed with masterful touches. Of course, it’s also a brutally tense stealth-horror game where resource scarcity and enemy threat are handled with care. Few come as close to this level of quality quite like Naughty Dog.

Whether or not one views it as Bethesda’s magnum opus, there’s no denying the wider impact and craft of “The Elder Scrolls V”. What begins as a lone prisoner’s escape from captivity upon the arrival of a powerful dragon soon branches out into a vast wilderness of opportunities and challenges. Caves and crypts to plunder, spells to master and experiment with, various factions to join and aid – the sheer breadth of content on offer is astounding. The game’s appeal goes beyond just gameplay variety, though; its setting, the eponymous frozen province, invites exploration of its depths and appreciation of its scale at every turn. To say it more than earns the label of epic fantasy would be an understatement.

Nintendo’s return to form this past decade was perhaps best illustrated by the arrival of this instalment in the “Legend of Zelda” series, serving to pass the proverbial torch from one console to the next. “Breath of the Wild” stormed onto the scene reimagining of the franchise formula, eschewing typical dungeon design in favour of a mindbogglingly expansive open-world adventure. Link once more set out to aid folks in need and save the realm of Hyrule, but this time it’s undertaken as freeform objectives carried out at one’s leisure. Climbing up sheer rock faces and tackling the game’s many activities is made all the more memorable with inspiring sound design and a brilliant watercolour-mimicking look to Hyrule.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are our honourable mentions:

“Resident Evil 2” (2019)

“Horizon: Zero Dawn” (2017)

“Shovel Knight” (2014)

“Subnautica” (2018)

“Rocket League” (2015)

Once in a while, those interested in an artistic medium are fortunate enough to witness a major step forward as it’s occurring, rather than piecing together the significance after the fact. “The Witcher 3” may well be one such major step, a triumph of development direction and carefully-considered scale that delivers on numerous wondrous role-playing moments. Stoic anti-hero Geralt, with all his dry quips and stern glares, proves admirably well-suited to unravelling the murky political dimensions of the Continent. No area lacks for lush environmental design, no quest proves entirely without merit or compelling complications. It’s a thing of beauty, truly.