Top 10 Video Games of the Decade.

People have been coming up to me on the streets asking what me top 10 video games of the decade are. In order for me to be left alone when I am in public, I’ve put together a top 10 list of the decade. There are many lists like it, but this one is mine. 

Honorable mentions:

God of War

I have never been a big fan of the series but playing Cory Barlog’s drastic reboot was a real treat. 

Spec Ops: The Line

An adaptation of my favorite book, Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. This game will haunt you based on what decisions you make. 

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice

This game shows you what it is like to struggle with psychosis. The developers went so far as to work closely with neuroscientists, mental health specialists, and people suffering from the condition.

Top 10 of 2010s: 10) Cuphead

I think all those years of raging over games like Gradius, Contra, Metal Slug, was some sort of preparation for Cuphead. It is the hardest game you will ever play. I have yet to beat it, but I play a few hours a week trying to get more gooder at it. Difficulty aside, the things that hook me into it are the simplicity of the run 'n gun gameplay and the beautiful animations inspired by cartoons of the 1930s.

9) Horizon Zero Dawn

The reason I decided to check this out was because of the Kojima connection. Guerilla Games developed an inhouse engine called Decima, which was going to be used by Hideo Kojima on his first post-Konami game. I’m glad I checked it out because it ended up being one of the best open world experiences I’ve had. Story wise it was awesome, very interesting take on a post apocalyptic world. From a design standpoint, this was one of the most beautiful games I have ever played.

8) Batman Arkham City

As much as I liked the contained, metroidvania style of Arkham Asylum, it was nice to explore a bigger world. It’s Batman flying around Gotham, solving crimes and beating the shit out of folks. What more can you ask for.

7) Yakuza 4

I love this series, but they are about to fuck it up with the 7th game. Yakuza 7 will ditch the beat em up fight system and adapt a Final Fantasy style turn based RPG battle system. Yuk. At least I can cherish the wonderful memories of playing through the 4th. It was the first in the series that let you play more than one character. Each characters story would eventually interconnect, like a Takashi Miike film Tarantino would want to steal from. 

6) Red Dead Redemption

I think is the best game Rockstar has ever made. The sequel was good, not great. But this was more enjoyable than GTA IV. I guess by the time the 4th Grand Theft Auto came out, I was a tad sick of that setting. RDR really made me feel like I was a gunslinging cowboy, hunting my own food, skinning animals for pelts, which I would get top dollar for. Great story too. 

5) Hotline Miami

As fucked up as it sounds, this is the game 10 year old me always wanted but never got because no one with game development skills thought about it yet. If Eric and Dylan were here, they would have loved this one, and probably would take their anger and frustration out in the game with it’s level editor. This is a wet dream for everyone who has fantasized about being Ryan Gosling’s character from Drive or any other cinematic works of director Nicolas Winding Refn. Also, ａｅｓｔｈｅｔｉｃ　ゅヵ曖.

4) The Last of Us

I’ll be honest, I only played this one recently because my kid brother would not shut up about it the last 6 years. What a work of art. How I managed to go 6 years without the game being spoiled for me, I have no idea. Not only is it a fantastic story with great twists and turns, but it’s a game that really made respect the writers and actors that work on these AAA titles. I would be lying if I said I did not choke up during the prologue of the game. No parent should have to watch their child die. Big ups to Troy Baker, Ashley Johnson (NOT ELLEN PAGE), Hana Hayes, and Nolan North.  

3) Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain

The words “nonlinear” and “metal gear” don’t usually go together since the Metal Gear series has always been story heavy and very cinematic (Metal Gear Solid 4 has 60% cutscenes, 40% gameplay), but  the Phantom Pain does right what Rockstar Games has failed to do the last few years, true nonlinear gameplay. Despite the game being unfinished due to the very public and messy break up of creator and director of Metal Gear, Hideo Kojima and Metal Gear series rights holder, Konami (#FuckKonami), the Phantom Pain earns a top spot on my list because unlike Rockstars highly overrated GTA V or Red Dead Redemption 2, this game allowed me complete freedom to craft my own experiences doing the missions. The way it should be when you are roaming the open world. Every move I made in that game was non-scripted (unlike Rockstars recent games). Story wise, it was the weakest of them all. But Kiefer Sutherland’s Snake was a nice change from the corny David Hayter run. 

I actually ran into Kiefer (i call him Kiefer cause we are just a couple of guys from Crescent Town) a few years ago on the subway. He was in Toronto shooting Designated Survivor. I went up to him and started to talk about The Phantom Pain and how amazing it is. I think he was a bit relieved that I did not bring up 24, Designated Survivor or his role as Klansman Freddie Lee Cobb in Joel Schumacher’s grossly underrated adaptation of John Grisham’s A Time to Kill. He was genuinely interested in hearing what I thought of the game and how far I was at that point. Then we started talking about Crescent Town. He was a bit heartbroken when I told him the Crescent Town Tavern and Restaurant closed down. We both shed a tear for $2 fries and gravy and went our separate ways. I never saw him again after.

2) Tetris Effect

Despite what people think, I have not been playing Tetris my whole life. I only started playing Tetris because of a relationship I was in. It was 2011 and my girlfriend at the time was obsessed with Facebook Tetris. Whatever time we did not spend together, we spent playing Tetris with each other online over Facebook. She got me one of those tablets with USB ports for my birthday. I ended up getting two USB gamepads and installing a SNES emulator on it just so we could both play tetris whenever we were together. The relationship eventually fell apart, but I kept playing Tetris. I wish I could say it was some sort of “Days Go By” by Dirty Vegas situation where I still play Tetris to bring her back, but it was just one of those things I really got addicted to. It got to the point where I started seeing blocks in my life, even when I was not playing. They call this the tetris effect (also known as Tetris syndrome). I had to take a break from it, so I started to look into other puzzle games such as Lumines. Lumines is a game that was also a drop down blocks but with an emphasis on music as well. When I found out that the creator of Lumines, Tetsuya Mizuguchi (who also created some god tier games for Sega such as Rez and Space Channel 5) was doing a new Tetris game, I was pretty hyped up. Knowing his tastes in music and sense of game design, I knew this was going to be an instant favorite, and it was. I’ve played it everyday since it was released. I even ended up buying it on my PC for the days I was too lazy to turn on the PS4. Dolphin Surf is my favorite level and one of the few things that help me with my crippling depression. 

1) Death Stranding

Words cannot describe how much I love this game. Not only is it the best game I’ve ever played, but also one of the best cinematic experiences I’ve ever had. I think the break up of Hideo Kojima and Konami is probably the best thing to happen in the gaming world because now that he is independent, he has full creative freedom to do whatever the fuck he wants. The haters will say it’s boring, it’s a walking simulator, etc. It’s an emotional work of art. I would die happy knowing this was the last game I’ve played.