For the past several months I've been kicking this around and decide whether or not I should bother with this list. I don't play quite as much as I used to, and in particular the last few years I've played less than ever. Writing, even inconsequential stuff, doesn't come quite as easy as it once did for some reason so that's made things even harder. Then this ridiculous pandemic happened and suddenly I've had more free time and started playing a lot more than I had in years, and it's jump started my interest in gaming again in a big way.
Still, the writing part hasn't quite clicked, but after a few false starts I decided to say 'fuck it' and just force it. If it sucks, so be it. Hell, 5 people at most are going to read it so really cares?
So what will the top games be? What will be number one? Will I finish my list before Vader finishes his Top 100? To find out the answers to these questions and more STAY TUNED!!!!
I've said it before and I'll say it again: the only reason Splatoon doesn't make more top X games of the decade list is because its concept is so fully realized and self contained that it can't be bettered, nor can it influence games as it's impossible to copy only part of its design. I don't play it often anymore, but every time I do I have a blast. I just hope that the inevitable 3rd game will focus more on reducing lag, as the actual fights in 2 could often seem unfair due to lag, with not all hits visually registering because of it. The first was much better in that regard.
As for the Rayman games, they never fully grabbed me. I played them both, to completion I assume. Best bit is Kung Foot, which you can get free in the demo. I didn't see the genius level design many speak of, just a succession of platforms to jump from and to, with occasional impressive set pieces or gimmicks. Perhaps I'll revisit them some day to see if they'd leave more of an impression on a second playthrough.
Castle Rock! My son and I played that level and replayed it over and over again.
Rayman is a classic.
Honorable Mention (and the final one) #5. Darkest Dungeon
From the first moment I heard about Darkest Dungeon, it had my attention. It was described as a Lovecraftian 2-D Rouge-like where you had to manage your party's physical health as well as their mental health. I had no idea how they planned on pulling off, but the premise sounded fantastic. And wouldn't you know it? My high expectations were actually met for once. The end result was a delightfully depressing game.
You've been tasked with bringing a once glorious town back from the edge of despair and making it great again. Basically an old ancestor got involved with some cult and utterly ruined his lands while drinking, having orgies, and trying to bring a Cthulhu-like creature back into the world. So now you manage a troupe of adventurers (often leading them to their demise, because they're really meant to be treated like meat) in attempts to kill off troublemakers and reclaim lost treasures and rebuild the town in the process. And while you're on the hunt, the narrator gives little background stories about monsters you're hunting and treasures you're looking to reclaim and it's a lot of fun to hear about all the things the old ancestor did to fuck up.
While the lore is great, the combat and exploration is where the real fun is. Lots of video games feature flawed heroes, and Darkest Dungeon is no different. Some of your adventures start with a minor personality flaw or quick, but as time goes on and they have bad experiences during their explorations, their flaws grow into serious problems. THey'll begin to take on personality traits that making fighting harder like greed, and distrust of other teammates. And when those personality traits show themselves, things can get bad quickly. THe party morale lowers and once it drops too far members can turn on each other and become as dangerous as the monsters your fighting. If it drops too low then may just up and kill themselves. It's all delightfully morbid really. Of course like all negative personality traits, these can be fixed in town with a trip to church, the bar, or a brothel.
Anyway it's a great black comedy disguised as a video game. It's arguably too hard, particularly toward the end, but that's okay. You'll die and die and die, but there's so much good stuff going on you'll be happy to start from scratch from time to time.
And now, we really begin.
#10. Trauma Team
Take a dramatic medical soap opera, add a heaping spoonful of dramatic anime sensibilities, and Atlus - makers of dramatic games about society falling off a cliff and what do you get? SUPER ULTRA TRAUMA DRAMA!!!!! That's pretty much what the story of Trauma Team is. Sometimes things do a bit thick, but it definitely serves the purpose of getting you involved in the greatest (we'll disregard how accurate it is) medical simulator in the history of gaming. And oddly enough the story is probably more timely today than it was 10 years ago, as the main storyling involves a hospital's response to a pandemic.
Trauma Team offers up 6 different characters, each with their own medical specialty and story that intertwines with the other characters at a hospital that's starting to see patients with a mysterious disease that no one can quite identify. Each character also has their own unique set of gameplay using different features of the Wii remote. For the most part they're pretty brilliant. The general surgeon requires swapping back and forth between different instruments while using very precise movements. The paramedic uses a similar technique, but more limited in scope. However you're balancing multiple patients at once and a clock is always ticking so it's a hell of a juggling act. The diagnostician is more of a puzzle game where you try to examine clues, ask questions, while working up a diagnosis. The foresneic investigator is something out of Phoenix Wright, as you look at crime scenes and figure out what the hell went down. The endoscopic surgeon requires sticking a tube down someone's throat and probably incorporates the most difficult to figure out set of controls, that sadly the Wii remote just wasn't accurate enough for. And lastly the orthopedic surgeon....well that's just boring. Honestly, enduring it is a small price to pay for how fun everything else is.
Sadly, we're very unlikely to ever see another game in this series or even see a game anything like it at all. Despite earlier games in the series selling well, Trauma Team tanked. It was a combination of bad timing of releasing up against a big name title that I'm now forgetting as well as Wii-fatique setting in. We've gotten some surgery simulators, but nothing with the over-the-top story and characters of Trauma Team. Even if something similar came along, without a control set up like the Wii remote, the gameplay wouldn't be nearly as interesting. Perhaps one day VR will get to a place that this would work. In the meantime, it was an amazing game and is something you need to experience if you haven't seen it yourself.
I have New Blood. It was too painful for me to get very far in it, but I should give it another try now that I've watched a few anaesthetic-less amputations. Which could actually make it an even more painful experience!
I fondly remember these games. I own at least one on the DS and one on the Wii and always found them to be very entertaining. It was fun playing co-op too, where you could finally live out the fantasy of crying out 'scalp', after which the second player would scamper to get the right tool in your hands.
You shouldn't be scalping your patients!
(Unless you're performing brain surgery, I suppose.)
#9. Hearthstone
I'm not sure if I'm including Hearthstone because I genuinely loved it, or if it was because I was probably addicted to it. Either way, I spent over 1500 hours playing Hearthstone over a 4 year period and that's a conservative number. The actual is probably closer to 2,000. And when you log those kinds of hours into a game I think it's reasonable to include it on one of these lists.
Heathstone at it's core was a solid and easy to learn card game, and at times pretty well balanced (we won't discuss the Call of C'Thun era). However, it was everything around it that made it so good and so hard to put down. What started as a card game based on the World of Warcraft universe turned into a game with a world and lore all its own. It was much lighter and sillier than the world that inspired it, but engaging nonetheless. The presentation was excellent. You were supposed to be playing in a cozy tavern, and Blizzard did a great job of making it feel like as such with the backgrounds and sound effects. Everytime you'd start the game you'd be greeted by an innkeeper asking you to pull up a chair and stay awhile. And the effects of playing cards could at time be amazing.
Of course, the main reason I had such a damn hard time putting it down was the competitive aspect. There be ladders to climb here! Fight against other players and gain anonymous internet gaming fame!! Plus Blizzard did a good job of encouraging face-to-face play and getting people to create local tournaments where you could do this crazy thing called interacting. I played in a couple of these myself and they were always fun affairs. And with mixed feelings I can say I got pretty damned good at Hearthstone (though looking back at it I wonder what else I could have accomplished in those hours). I never quite made it into the Legendary ranks, but during the times where I really focused on playing, I would get damn close and get ranked into the low single digits. Anyway, I will always have a soft spot for this game, but I can confidently say I'll never return to it. Much like EverQuest, it's a game I'll always love, but will be best left in my past.