That's all beside the point. There have been some truly amazing games released since 2010 and I wanted to discuss my top 10 choices (in no particular order), and encourage you to check them out yourselves. This post will feature 5 out of the 10 (if only because it took forever to write up and this post got lengthy)! There will be two additional posts, one with the rest of my tops and then another for honorable mentions.
To begin the list, Pokemon SoulSilver released in 2010. The only reason I'm excluding HeartGold is I've never played that version, but I know it's just as good (I mean, it has Ho-Oh guys!)
I remember quite fondly all of my friends buying this game as soon as it was released while I begged my mom to buy it for me for Easter. Even waiting a day was excruciating, but I did end up receiving it!
Before SoulSilver (hereafter referred to as "SS" for my own convenience) was released, my favorite Pokemon game of all time was Pokemon Crystal, which was released in December 2000. Generation 2 of the Pokemon games, in general, remains my favorite of all time. The postgame is fantastic! And basically all of my praises for gen 2 (and Crystal, specifically) apply to SS.
SoulSilver took a classic game and really brought it to life for new fans 10 years later. The graphics are gorgeous, and I remember my friends and I losing our minds over the fact that all of the towns had unique songs (in the generation 2 games, themes were reused for some of the towns). Not to mention, the post-game. Once you beat the Elite 4 in SS, as was the case in Gold/Silver/Crystal, you get access to the entirety of the Kanto region. This was great in the original games because it tied gen 1 and 2 together to hit on the nostalgia of fans. It was even better 10 years later in SS because the fans that had played Red/Blue/Yellow by that point really felt the nostalgia of returning to Kanto.
My favorite part of SS, though, is absolutely the feature of having a buddy Pokemon follow you.
This is a feature that disappeared for quite a while until reappearing in Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee in 2018. While I don't know how popular this feature was with fans in general, I know it was popular with my group of friends. It really made the game feel more alive. Probably because I had the benefit of playing Pokemon as soon as I learned to read, I have always felt a strong connection with Pokemon. I grew up playing the games, collecting the cards, and watching the anime. I had such a strong imagination as a child that I would pretend, on long car rides, that my Rapidash was running alongside the car. So, you can imagine how much I loved this feature 13ish years later. I was even more thrilled about it in Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee. You can ride Rapidash, guys! But we're not talking about that.
I loved this feature, I thought it was sweet and cool. It also allowed you to know how much your Pokemon liked you, which made it easier to know when certain evolutions would happen. Also, they could pick up items for you! It was very fun.
While incredibly rare these days when buying the game secondhand, when the game was new it came with something called a Pokewalker. It allowed you to choose a Pokemon of yours to take around and walk with you in various locations featured in the walker. It also allowed you to catch Pokemon, some of which were exclusive to that feature.
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| Walking with Pikachu in the Pokewalker |
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| Battling a Pokemon in the Pokewalker |
It was definitely a way to encourage players to get some exercise, kind of a precursor to the mobile game Pokemon Go and the Pokeball Plus that was released with Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee. It was a unique idea and I remember people everywhere (especially at my high school), walking around with the walker clipped to their waistband and playing with it in class. Obviously, I loved it, especially since it reminded me of one of my favorite childhood items, the Pokemon Pikachu/Pocket Pikachu:
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| Pokemon Pikachu, a Tamagotchi-like game featuring our favorite electric mouse! |
This was basically just Tamagotchi but with Pikachu but I feel pretty certain that it inspired the idea of the Pokewalker.
SS managed to improve upon the original gen 2 games by actually including the Safari Zone again. In Gold/Silver/Crystal, you'd find upon reaching Fuchsia that the Safari Zone had moved out of the area so it was no longer accessible which was a disappointment to anyone who loved/hated going through it in Red/Blue/Yellow. Not to mention, you had customization options to basically build your own Safari Zone and customize which Pokemon would appear based on the options you had set.
Even though it's difficult to find anything more than the cartridge for sale these days, I would highly encourage you to seek it out if you can. The graphics are nice and the extra features like walking with your buddy are great. I wouldn't say the ability to use the Pokewalker makes or breaks the game, it's just a fun extra if you can manage to find it for cheap. While Silver/Gold/Crystal are available on virtual console for purchase, I think SS/HG are a much improved version of those, especially if you are a new player who is used to the ability of running, which gens 1 and 2 do not have. Trust me, it makes a huge difference when you go back and have to walk everywhere.
Next up is The Last of Us, released in 2013.
Man, this game, what a game. To start off, this game messes you right up. Playing through the prologue never fails to be upsetting. As far as this list goes, this is definitely one of the tops in terms of story. It doesn't just have a great story, though, it has excellent gameplay as well. I love this game because, by the end of it, it really makes you think. Well, I can't speak for you, but it did make me think. I've never met a person who's played it where we haven't had some type of discussion about the moral dilemma at the end. It's really interesting because it's one of the few games I've played where that type of discussion is warranted. Obviously, you can debate any plot point in a game, but I feel this is one where you are obligated to stand on one of side of the fence.
Now, the game play. As I learned from playing another game in this list, sometimes it's just kind of fun to fight and shoot people in video games. It's especially fun when you can successfully do it with stealth. That is the one issue of this game, though. It's entirely stealth. You can get away with shooting your way out, but you're going to have trouble if you never stealth. While this game does have several difficulties (the easiest one lending you the greatest chance of going out guns blazing) to make things easier, if you hate stealth you just may not enjoy the game. As I said, there is an easy mode, but if you find sneaking especially stressful, this may not be the game for you.
This game is interesting to me because it transcends a few genres. It's obviously action/adventure, but there is a hint of horror to it too. For one, the horror of having the government take over completely, the horror of monstrous creatures attempting to either eat you alive or just bite you and leave you with a death sentence of a disease. Then, there's the horror of desperate people doing desperate things or people taking advantage. One of the most horrifying moments to me were the sexual predator vibes given off by an antagonist named David in the midpoint of the game. It makes you deeply empathetic to Ellie's character but, if you're a survivor, you may find it triggering. I did then and I still kind of do now.
But the game also has such lovely light hearted moments. For example, when Ellie and Joel ride a horse through an abandoned university where lab monkeys are walking around, freely. And an even later point where you follow Ellie as she chases a herd of giraffes. This game is just beautiful. It's one of the games I can easily consider art. The emotions it puts you through is like no other.
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| A moment of reprieve for Joel and Ellie |
However, nothing in this world is perfect, so let's talk about that. One of the biggest criticisms I have of this game is the lack of POC, especially as main characters. Ellie, Joel and Tess are all white. Joel's friend that you meet up with later is also white (though he's also revealed to be gay, which is a nice little addition). Marlene is a black woman and she is very important. It's cool that she's the leader of the Firefly faction because you don't get to see many leaders that are women, let alone black women, in games. However, because we don't see her a whole lot in game, and the moments when we do see her are very serious, she seems sort of flat as a character and falls into the trope of being a strong, stoic black woman who doesn't need anyone. We do later meet up with two black characters, Henry and his younger brother Sam, who are well rounded characters. Often times, if you move fast enough, you can see unique dialogue or scenes, such as Ellie and Sam playing darts in an abandoned house which is nice. However, the two of them end up dying. By the end of the game, Marlene is killed in cold blood as well. In the end, only two white characters are alive (I mean, presumably other character like Joel's brother are also alive, but we end up with just Ellie and Joel). That doesn't send the best message. I do appreciate that Joel is a semi-complicated character (though he also falls into the trope of the stoic mild aged bearded dude with lots of guns who guns people down, but he does have a bit more character than that), but it isn't great that we only end up with two white characters being at the end. I am very excited for the sequel, but I strongly hope there are more black and characters of color in general who are important and don't just... die. Like, maybe some of them could at least escape to happy lives?
Honorable mention because I'm trying not to include more than one game from a series, but this is DLC so it's only cheating a little, right? The Last of Us: Left Behind which is DLC for the main game that was released on Valentine's Day in 2014, which I remember being so key because of one of the strongest moments in the game. This DLC was so incredibly important because, first off, you get to see Ellie's backstory and what made her who she is in the main game. You also get to meet her bestie, Riley, who is Ellie's best friend and partner in crime. The two balance each other out nicely. As seen in the main game, Ellie is a somewhat lighthearted jokester while Riley tends to be more serious but the two manage to have fun in the mall they creep into and play around together.
As mentioned previously, there is a key moment where Riley and Ellie are having a heated argument that turns into them kissing. This was almost immediately divisive in the community with people arguing that "kids" (though Ellie and Riley are teens) can't figure out if they're gay or straight and Naughty Dog was pushing an agenda. Obviously, to those of us in the LGBTQIA community, this was an incredible moment. Seeing yourself represented in a video game is truly something else. When I was a child, I was lucky to play as a female character or see one featured in a game who wasn't a damsel in distress, let alone a gay or trans character who is not played off as a shitty joke (looking at you, Birdo). It's just a brief moment that is never discussed in game and, being The Last of Us, there is a tragic ending to the dlc, which could be seen as a "bury your gays" trope but I did appreciate the effort to make the community be seen, even if it was only for a moment.
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| Ellie and Riley |
On that note, this game isn't free of criticism or problems, of course it isn't. For example, as I mentioned, Riley is more of the serious, stoic character to balance out Ellie's bubbliness which isn't a problem in and of itself, but there is a common trope of the strong black woman who doesn't need anyone, who's serious, etc., Although Riley has her lighthearted moments, you can see that she does fall into the trope a bit. Though she is better off than Marlene who, possibly because of the part she plays in the main game, is never afforded a chance to be anything but a serious, strong woman.
"Recently" (within the past few years) The Last of Us has been remastered to include the Left Behind dlc with it, and this is obviously the version I encourage you buy. Both stories and games are fantastic. As I said, the story makes you think and I find the gameplay enjoyable. The graphics are truly fantastic and there are some breathtaking scenes. And, finally, the music. This was the first time I ever had to buy a video game's OST. Gustavo Santaolalla is a fantastic musician who composed a truly breathtaking score for both games that just set the solemness and beauty and intensity so well. This comes with the following list of caveats though: if you hate stealth, can't handle gore (oh, there is definitely gore in this game), can't handle a lot of death, can't handle killing characters that look like real humans (because you kill a lot of infected but you also definitely kill a lot of realistic-looking humans), and you can't handle suicide or subtext of sexual assault, then you may want to avoid The Last of Us.
Our next game on the list is Splatoon 2, released in 2017.
Splatoon 2 is the sequel to the first game in the series, Splatoon, released for the Wii U in 2015. It's a shooter that completely changes everything you thought you knew about shooters. As this is a game aimed at children, most of the guns/weapons in the game, are cartoonish and plastic-looking. Honestly, I find the designs of the guns in both Splatoon games way cooler than anything I've ever seen in CS: GO for example. You don't even need ammo! All you have to do is shoot, run, etc depending on your weapon choice and hide in your ink to refill your ammo. It's great.
Splatoon 2 has improved upon the first game by including even more competitive modes than the first game. There are three different types of modes for Splatoon 2. There is Turf War, where your team tries to cover more ground with your ink than the opposing team. It's the most simple of the modes, and is for people who want to be competitive but without the high stakes that the ranked modes have. Then, there is ranked mode which has a rotation of several modes within it. Once is Rainmaker, where your team tries to land the titular rainmaker into the opposing team's pedestal. The next is Tower Control, where your team tries to push a tower across the entire map to the goal on the opposing team's side. The next is Clam Blitz, where your team collects clams that you then throw into your opponent's basket; whoever lands the most clams in the basket wins. Finally, there is Splat Zones, where you and your opponents fight over either one or two zones and attempt to control it with your ink color. Whoever holds the zone(s) the longest, wins. As you can see, Splatoon 2 offers a lot of variety and is even beginning to rise up in the ranks of e-sports, which is excellent to see.
I will briefly mention that, while these ended in 2019, Splatoon 2, like its predecessor, including an additional online feature called Splatfest. This meant that every month or so, you would choose a side offered to you in the plaza. A past Splatfest was Pancakes vs Waffles (tragically, Waffles won). Once you chose your side, there would be a 24 hour turf war where the teams would battle it out and a winner would be chosen based on which team won the most matches and which team was the most popular. This is no longer a feature, however, but we will no doubt see it again when Splatoon 3 inevitably releases in the future.
Online stuff aside, there is also a hefty story mode where you go through various courses where you platform and fight enemies. Your goal is to make it to the end of each course and rescue the zap fish. It's very fun, and, when I played the first Splatoon, I had pretty bad internet so single player mode was my whole life in that game. They have definitely improved upon the original's single player. The story is super enjoyable, the courses are fun and sometimes even really challenging. Unlike the first game, this one also features paid DLC (called the Octoling Expansion) which adds an additional single player campaign where you play as an Octoling (which were enemies in the first Splatoon that most players became obsessed about having them be playable) who has lost their memories and must journey through a weird subway, stopping at various courses so you can escape to the surface. I find this single player campaign even more enjoyable than the standard single player because of the variety. Unlike the standard single player, the courses aren't just platforming and fighting your way to the finish line. They each feature different requirements to win. Some are battling enemies, some are making it to the end point with limited ink, and some are fun little things like shoot out this pile of boxes to match the shape on the left. It's just fun and when I don't feel like battling seriously online, I'll play the Octoling Expansion courses again. Not to mention that the very final battle of this mode is so super fun, and the music is great! The thing about Splatoon games is that the music manages to be great even though it's not in any type of known language. The beats are great and do a good job at getting you pumped, just like in the original.
Honestly, I don't have any caveats about this game. There's no voice chat really (unless you download a separate app, which I haven't done) so the game mostly manages to be non-toxic and enjoyable. The competitive modes are super fun especially if you're in the mood to be competitive. The single player is enjoyable. I don't know if I'd advise the game to people who don't have Nintendo Online (the subscription you must buy to play any Switch game online), even though there's two whole single player campaigns, I feel like the Splatoon games are best enjoyed when you can take part in all parts of the game.
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| Off the Hook Duo, Marina and Pearl |
Unlike the first game, it's nice to see that our two idols are not both light skinned (although I feel pretty certain that the idols in the first game are meant to be Japanese, even though the race in the game are inklings... you understand, skin color tends to inform people subconsciously of other things anyway), there is a dark skinned idol in this game, which was very exciting for me to see when I first played the game.
I would strongly suggest this game for anyone who is even remotely interested in shooters, and I feel like it's definitely a much nicer fit for younger kids than say, Fortnite, which can have kind of toxic people/experiences.
Next up is easily one of my favorite Legend of Zelda games, Breath of the Wild released in 2017.
There is so much to love about this game. I love how different it feels from any other game, I love the new features (why is cooking so enjoyable? Is it the jingle?) I love trying (and failing) to climb all the way up a cliffside, only to fail and pout when I run out of stamina and fall down. To me, this game is so unique.
There were many a criticism hurled at this game re: the lack of dungeons. However, I find I don't miss the formulaic nature of past dungeons much. I enjoy going to shrines and solving puzzles. One of the things I learned from this game is just how much I enjoy puzzles in my games! Who knew? And the dungeons that are present in this game are expansive, unique, and like puzzles on a larger scale than the small shrines.
In other words, gameplay wise I find this game so much fun. It's definitely one of the most enjoyable Zelda games in recent history. It doesn't bother me that most weapons and shields break after a number of uses because there are so many weapons in this game that you'll likely find your inventory overflowing with them. Besides, is there anything more satisfying than throwing a sword that's about to break at a Bokoblin's face? Honestly, I even joy the shock and scare of running through a field only to hear the creeping music of a Guardian approaching me. I find that the open world suits Zelda quite well. There's always been a bit of an exploration aspect in the series but Breath of the Wild turns it up to 11. It's possible that I find this game so enjoyable because it reminds me a lot of another game in my top 10 that will be featured in the next installment of this post.
I appreciate that you can go anywhere in the game (even Hyrule Castle, though you'll probably not fair well at the very beginning) if you are willing to try or arm yourself. For example, you can encounter a snowy mountain pretty early on and you can definitely manage to scale it if you use cooking to your advantage. Another aspect of the gameplay that I enjoy is the use of clothing. No, really. Ocarina of Time featured things like the Goron's Tunic that made it possible to actually get into Death Mountain without catching on fire, and there are clothing items in Breath of the Wild that allow you to explore certain inaccessible towns, too. For example, to enter the Gerudo's town you need to look like a Gerudo. Morally, this is pretty questionable both in the game and possibly in real life (truthfully, I haven't heard much about it discussed), but it's a unique idea. There are even masks you can wear to blend in with certain enemies.
As always, this game knocks it out of the park with story. You learn that Zelda, naturally, needs help concerning a certain demon king in Hyrule Castle but to be strong enough to help her, you must secure the four ancient Divine Beasts in order to weaken Ganon enough to beat him. That's where the four dungeons come into play. As this game is newer than others on the list, I'll try not spoil, but I found the story of Princess Zelda and the four champions who once were at the helms of these beasts both compelling and sad.
I don't have much in the way of caveats for this one, either, happily. I do hope and wish that we can one day achieve a true Legend of Zelda game where Zelda isn't forced to be rescued at some point. I mean, Zelda as Shiek is what attracted me to this series in the first place. Some day, maybe it can be a reality where Zelda saves Link and the graphics and gameplay aren't horrendous! Another one of my favorite things about this game is one of the champions, Urbosa, isn't your general super skinny female character. She has abs! And curves! And a real personality! By comparison, the other female champion, Mipha, is slim and shy which is fine but also there's something to be said that the slim female character has to be reserved while the curvier one is full of attitude.
I found this game and its characters very compelling. I will say, however, that there is so much to see, do, and conquer that I acquired Gamer Fatigue(TM) and took a really long break before eventually finishing the game off. That might just be the completionist in me, though. If you have played Zelda games in the past and enjoyed them, I'd highly encourage trying this one out! It's different, but I think you'll find the differences improve the game, not diminish the series. Maybe one of my bigger complains is that I found the music pretty lackluster. In so many of the past games, I have loved the songs and I probably have a favorite from each game. Midna's Lament remains one of my favorite video game songs ever. I couldn't name a single song for you in Breath of the Wild. If you're a big amiibo collector (especially of the Zelda variety), you'll probably get a little extra enjoyment out of this game! I'd highly recommend any gaming fan, whether you've played a previous Zelda title or not, pick this game up. There are references to other games, and obviously Link/Zelda/Ganon are central characters in the series, but you don't need any prior Zelda knowledge to enjoy it. It's available on both the Wii U and the Switch which is a bonus if you haven't taken the dive on a Switch yet. And, side note, there is also a good chunk of paid DLC available for this game including an extra intense dungeon and an additional story to play through.
To close out this blog post, let's go with something a little more chill.
Animal Crossing: New Leaf was released in 2012 and is probably the game on this list that I have played the most this decade!
If you don't know anything about the series, Animal Crossing is a simulation game where you (inexplicably) are the only human living in a village/town/city full of animal neighbors. It came to the States in 2002 on the Gamecube. It's a very chill series where you live out your days talking to your neighbors, fish, and catch bugs. That's the game. It's hard to explain the appeal behind this series except sometimes it's nice to just sit back and relax in a game that is just... nice. New Leaf, specifically, has gotten me through some of the most difficult times in my life, so I extra appreciate it.
This game is different from the rest of the series in that you are the mayor of your town which means you get to make cool decisions like do you want an ordinance where everyone plants flowers and there's never trash? And do you need to build Stonehenge right in front of your house? Well, as the mayor, you can choose to do those things! Not to mention there's a cool additional feature where you can convince campers visiting your town to move in.
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| I hope you like the Christmas-y design of my room! |
This game is truly great for relaxing. One of my favorite parts of any Animal Crossing game is buying furniture and designing a house. This one makes it easier by giving you the option to create 3 additional characters in addition to your mayor character, so you can do themed houses or just fit all of your favorite furniture in different themed rooms. I especially love to collect all the furniture from each of the holidays in the game and dedicating a space for them.
If you love completing games, this game is even better for you! There's a museum in the town that requires you to catch all insects, bugs, underwater creatures, fossils and buy all art pieces from a shady dealer. It can be kind of difficult to fill out the fossil and art exhibits specifically but it's definitely do-able and, since this is a game where you want to take it easy, there's no need to rush yourself into completing everything as fast as possible.
You can find this game pretty cheap now and I recommend it for a nice, relaxing time. It's even better if you have friends that play it or you think might enjoy it! There's a lot of fun to be had playing New Leaf co-op.
Well, folks, that's it for the first 5 games. The next 5, which are some of my top favorite games of all time, will be released over the weekend. Let me know what you thought of these games! Or if you're going to look into any of them.
Until next time!
