Honorable Mention #3 (yeah I'm still writing them up). Splatoon
Splatoon alone could have justified my purchase of a Wii U, even if no other games had come out for the console. And let's face it, there really weren't many others so thank god Splatoon existed. I spent many many hours playing and losing my shit to cheating bastard Japanese elementary school kids, and despite how often my blood pressure got out of line, I loved it. And as a bonus I learned a little about controlling my anger. Seriously, I actually got banned from playing it by my wife for a little while because I was apparently getting too angry. I'm much better now though.
Splatoon and the word "fresh" go hand in hand. Not only was a it a fresh taken on the team shooter, but it was arguabley just as fresh as a certain Prince of Bel Air. Seriously, the creators knew the game's fan base would respond well to bright splashes of color and a feeling that came straight out of 90's Nickelodeon nostalgia.The aesthetic and the style screamed, "everyone have fun" and it was tough not do so when playing it. And when Nintendo hosted a weekend Splatfest, it turned the game into one huge party that made you genuinely sad or regret when you missed out on it.
While Nintendo nailed the aesthetics and vibe, it came down to the gameplay. I think what made the game so much enjoyable though was that it offered a little something for the casual player and the more hardcore skilled players. If you've got a good connection and good reflexes then you might just be on your way to control the board reach your goals. If you suck ass, you can still play with a roller and paint the ground. And shockingly, both ways of play are fun.
And one of these days I'm really going to have to check out the single-player mode. Still need to get around to that.
The single player was a lot of fun. I really liked the bosses.
travo said:The single player was a lot of fun. I really liked the bosses.
Everyone keeps saying it, and one day I'm sure I will get around to it. I've started the single player mode a couple times, but it never really pulled me in, and it was easy to just push aside and go straight into the online game.
Does anyone still play Splatoon 2? I'm sure they're still quite an audience for it, but if and when I ever get around to getting a Switch That will be one of the games I want to check out first.
Dvader said:TEW2 removes the jank but feels like just another game.
That's a little harsh. I thought the first half of the game was really good. It sort of showed what the intention of STEM was all along, and still found a way to have it fall apart with some crazy monsters to kill along the way. It's a fun dichotomy between the ideal America town and utter chaos.
The second half though when they switch the main villain is when it breaks down a little bit. That villain was a little weak/lame and all of the outside world intrigue plays a bigger part, and the game sort of dissolves into a more typical military shooter. Still, enough cool things happen along the way that I still enjoyed it.
robio said:Everyone keeps saying it, and one day I'm sure I will get around to it. I've started the single player mode a couple times, but it never really pulled me in, and it was easy to just push aside and go straight into the online game.
Does anyone still play Splatoon 2? I'm sure they're still quite an audience for it, but if and when I ever get around to getting a Switch That will be one of the games I want to check out first.
My son was playing it yesterday and we play online on occasion.
What’s a Splatoon? 
Archangel3371 said:What’s a Splatoon?
It's a special squid inspired suppository. Try it, you'll love it.
robio said:Archangel3371 said:What’s a Splatoon?
It's a special squid inspired suppository. Try it, you'll love it.
Honorable Mention #4. Rayman Legends
The best platformer of the decade was not Mario or Donkey Kong Country (or even Klonoa). Rayman total owned this award and in my mind nothing else was even close. Ubisoft had done some really impressive things with the Framework engine on Rayman Orgins and made an absolutely gorgeous game, but with Legends they took it a step further and did something even better. They made it fast. Really fast. Rayman Legends is designed to be run through as quickly as possible without taking so much as a second to pause (most of the levels anyway, though they do a good job of mixing up a fewer slower paced levels for variety). These levels are are a joy to go through. Lots of variety, and they're designed in a way that pretty much anyone can run them, but skilled players will be able to do it, pick up every lum along the way, and not miss a beat.
While Wii U owners got screwed over pretty well when Ubisoft chose to delay the game shortly before the release (a decision that bit Ubisoft right back on the ass thanks to Grand Theft Auto V), the result was even more quality content than just the awesome levels. Great boss fights were added, along with mini games, the very best levels from Origins and a daily/weekly skill challenge that let players compete in changing scenarios that tested how you fared in a different array of unlimited runner levels.
And if nothing else, the game gave us the single greatest platformer game level of all time...Castle Rock.
Origins I nearly platinumed. Then my PS3 died and i lost my saves. On the bright side, it means i'll never platinum a game ever. 
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.
SupremeAC said: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.)
I really enjoyed both of The Evil Within games. Not sure which one I’d put over the other as they both did some things better and worse then the other.