This is one of those things where I can't really bare to make a list let alone an ordered list, so I'm just going to rant about some of my favorite games of the past decade... will likely be more than 10 games
Fallout: New VegasI had jumped into Fallout 3 years after it had already been out, no one really tried to sell me on it, so I just never made an effort. Once I did I fell in love and put so much time into it. So when this game got announced I was so excited and I even preordered the Collector's Edition. Got this game day one and threw at least a thousand hours into it over the course of the past ten years. There are little nit picks about this entry, like the perk every other level. But this game did so much to make what Fallout 3 was, so much better. The world was amazing, the non-linear nature of the game, the factions, the branching story and varied endings. The gunplay was improved over Fallout 3's almost need to rely on the VATS mechanic. Plus the game does pretty well on subsequent playthroughs to let you skip and jump right into playing the game, which was great because Fallout 3's forced tutorial always kept me from replaying the game.
Elder Scrolls V: SkyrimIf I'm gonna mention New Vegas, I've got to mention Skyrim, don't I? I had played Oblivion, but it just didn't resonate with me like Fallout does. I always loved post apocalyptic settings, but fantasy... medieval worlds never clicked with me. I was never into D&D and such, so this game only did so much for me. Don't get me wrong, I put hundreds of hours into this game and bought it so many times, but it wasn't until I got into D&D that I had a great appreciation for this game. It does so much and it does it pretty well. Plus this game introduced the end of the level cap, which was a major complaint for me with the other Bethesda RPGs. This game gives you so many different ways to play and with such a large world to explore.
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom PainSo many times have I tried to get into the Metal Gear series, but I just couldn't keep with it and I would constantly abandon it. I don't even know why I bought and kept playing this game over the past 5 years, but I regret nothing. I've played this game every year since release slowly working towards the platinum for it because just I love this game so much. I understand most MGS fans will say this game isn't a true Metal Gear game because it throws so many of the old conventions out the window, but this game is just fantastic on it's own. But finally earning the platinum in this game finally pushed me to play through the rest of the franchise. Now I do wish I had played through in some sense of order whether chronological or release, but I still loved every minute of the franchise, even playing the old ones with dated gameplay mechanics. The story is so just fucking out there with Kojima's story telling, but the gameplay is so solid and every mission has tons of different ways you can go about it.
Sekiro: Shadows Die TwiceI remember when this was first teased and I thought it was going to be a new entry in the Shadow Tower series, and that excited me because I love seeing old franchises being revived. The fact that this game was originally designed to be a Tenchu game still sort of fulfills that mindset, even though it is a new IP. I've only recently grown to love Souls games, as I just didn't really understand them. I bought this game day one and even bought the collector's edition for it. So much content for not much over the standard edition, even if it is a GS exclusive. By the time I got to this game I was already quite into the Souls/Borne style of games, so making a Ninja style Souls game just sounded amazing to me... and you know what, this game is freaking amazing. The art style, the theme and setting, everything about this game was just amazing. I've waffled on whether this or Control were my GOTY for 2019 and I wound up initially picking Control, but I think that was bias because I had just recently played it, but Sekiro is definitely my GOTY for 2019. It's one of the only games I've ever played, beaten, and then immediately started the game over (even including NG+, and that's what this was) and beat the game again. I normally can't be bothered to replay games in general let alone back to back. This game was so damned good, and I wasn't ready to be done with it that I beat it twice back to back.
Legend of Zelda: Breath of the WildThis is another one that throws old conventions to the wind. Most Zelda games are fairly linear in how they play and progress, but this one threw all of that out the window and gave you a massive open world, open order to completion, and upped the difficulty to the combat to a sort of Souls level. It did lose a lot of what made a Zelda game great with the omission of a well built and structured soundtrack and progression, but the game just lets you lose yourself to its world, and that is pretty amazing on its own. It's the type of game, that in my opinion, pleases a lot of the 2D and 3D fans of the series by giving so much of what both offered, without sacrificing too much (except the soundtrack
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Yakuza 3, 4, 5, 0, Kiwami, 6, and Kiwami 2I'm going to lump all of these games together...
and leave out Dead Souls... because this entire franchise is just a testament to fantastic pacing, storytelling, and beat 'em up gameplay while building a world visually similar to real life Japanese locales, yet its own. And literally the entire franchise 0-6 was released in some manner this decade. I will preface this that I am not excited nor looking forward to Yakuza 7 as a part of my love for this franchise was the beat 'em up gameplay, and I'm not a huge fan of strategy RPGs and more a fan of skill based things. This series tells an amazing story of essentially the life of Kiryu Kazuma with so many memorable characters, settings, and storylines. Some of it a tad over the top, but that's part of what really makes this series. But if you were to twist my arm and make me pick one as my favorite... I'd say Yakuza 5, which is nuts as it was the only digital only entry in this series for westerners... soon getting a physical release on PS4!
Uncharted 4: A Thief's EndWhile I love the entire Uncharted series, even though the majority of the game is glorified cutscenes, this entry is my favorite entry in the series and worthy of being touted by itself. It does so much to tie off the series and end the story of Nathan Drake. I've heard a lot of hate for this entry and this series in general, but I really can't be bothered to hear what folks have to say as I love it. Not many games tug my emotions and have me feeling so connected to its characters, but Uncharted did that so well and especially well with this entry.
Super Mario OdysseyAt the time this title released, I feel like it had been a while since we had a good 3D platformer collectathon game, so this game was a welcomed entry in the series for me. I've never been huge on 2D platformer games, I just get bored of them so quickly, so the games we got since the Galaxy series just didn't click with me, even Super Mario 3D World didn't really click with me because it just felt too 2D inspired compared to Galaxy which was heavily driven by its 3D environments. This game felt like a true successor to the Sunshine/64 games and the content way surpassed both of those titles in terms of collectibles. It feels endless, which it might very well be.
To be continued