Games of the Decade?

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At my table -

TTRPGs
Savage Worlds Deluxe Explorer's Edition - *By Far*. The inception of this system at my table was a sea-change for me and my crew. Deadlands, Pirates of the Spanish Main, Shaintar, Guild of Shadows, Hellfrost, Beasts & Barbarians in particular completely removed D&D out of my life (and a few other games) and it's been damn good to me. With the new edition just dropping, i can guarantee the next decade will likely be Savage Worlds as top dog... But there are a couple of contenders coming around the corner.

FFG Star-Wars - I was a hater. Then I tried it. And it simply works. I've purchased every single book for the system including the adventures and have found use for them. Zero regrets. Some of my best campaigns in the last couple of years have emerged from it. So the proof is in the pudding and though I won't say it's my favorite system, it's become one of my groups mainstays. so I guess this extends to Genesys too... but I have yet to use it.

Talislanta: The Savage Lands - Because I'm a shill. And now I'm finally using it at my table as my current campaign. Meaty. Grisly. Full of wonder. Still no elves.

Videogames
Vermintide II - I'd never have had any interest in Warhammer without this game. It's gorgeous. BRUTAL. It makes me sweat lightly playing on Legendary mode. I can't say enough about it.

World of Warcraft - Probably no game in the last decade devoured my time more than WoW. I ran a guild forever doing progression raiding from the start until the this current expansion. Though I'm boycotting Blizzard in perpetuity, I can't deny the time and joy with my former guildies who have become real-life friends all over the world because of this game. Activision/Blizzard can still fuck off.

X-Com - Wonderful. Anger-inducing. Flawed. I love it. I hate it.
 
If we're including non-RPG games, then my favorite board game of the decade is OGRE Sixth Edition, released in 2016 by Steve Jackson Games. Yes, OGRE in some form has existed for roughly as long as I have (both c. 1977), but 6th ed is the one that I learned to play. It rapidly became my favorite board game, currently remains so, and probably always will.
 
silva said:
X-Com is :heart: .

Have you played that 2 expansion where you fight the 3 special aliens? Gave me a big Zillion's three special Nozas vibe.
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War of the Chosen is actually in my top 10 games of all time despite being an expansion. It is probably the best expansion made in modern times. And I'm not one of those "ooh dlc bad" types, I just think War of the Chosen is perfect.
 
Oh it's on my list for a reason.

But I'm not gonna lie that there are moments of supreme frustration, granted I'm also trying to do it on Iron Man mode... but yeah. I haven't picked up Phoenix Point yet... but it's coming.
 
tenbones said:
TTRPGs
Vermintide II - I'd never have had any interest in Warhammer without this game. It's gorgeous. BRUTAL. It makes me sweat lightly playing on Legendary mode. I can't say enough about it.
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I really just wish there was a mode where you could play Skaven killing hordes of dirty man-things instead of the opposite.
 
E-Rocker said:
If we're including non-RPG games, then my favorite board game of the decade is OGRE Sixth Edition, released in 2016 by Steve Jackson Games. Yes, OGRE in some form has existed for roughly as long as I have (both c. 1977), but 6th ed is the one that I learned to play. It rapidly became my favorite board game, currently remains so, and probably always will.
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Whee now I suspect I have more PbP Vassal opportunities!
 
TristramEvans said:
I really just wish there was a mode where you could play Skaven killing hordes of dirty man-things instead of the opposite.
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FatShark really dropped the ball with this latest DLC. It sounded good... but the execution was completely flubbed for a variety of reasons. Essentially 8+ months of development went into a mode NO one plays. But they're trying to recover, which put the PVP mode they were talking about on the backburner until they catch up.

So apparently you MAY get your wish if the playerbase can be patient enough for it.
 
tenbones said:
FatShark really dropped the ball with this latest DLC. It sounded good... but the execution was completely flubbed for a variety of reasons. Essentially 8+ months of development went into a mode NO one plays. But they're trying to recover, which put the PVP mode they were talking about on the backburner until they catch up.

So apparently you MAY get your wish if the playerbase can be patient enough for it.
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You know, I'd settle for an Assassin's Creed patch where I can play as Deathmaster Snikch
 
CRKrueger said:
Get Mordheim. You can play as Skaven there.
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Yeah, I mean, its an allright game. I also have Total Warfare: Warhammer 2 with Skaven.


Not that I actually have any time to play videogames, mind. Most of them just sit on my computer
 
EmperorNorton said:
War of the Chosen is actually in my top 10 games of all time despite being an expansion. It is probably the best expansion made in modern times. And I'm not one of those "ooh dlc bad" types, I just think War of the Chosen is perfect.
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I used to think Old Hunters for Bloodborne was the best expansion I've seen in a long while but, you know, I think this Chosen expansion for Xcom2 is better indeed.

BTW, how do you feel about Phantom Doctrine? I'm looking for a Xcom-like and found this one for PS4. Is it good?
 
I was looking forward to Phantom Doctrine - I've heard it's a bit repetitive. I've not played it, I'm waiting for it to go on sale on Steam and I'll prolly pick it up. I'm sucker for this genre.
 
silva said:
I used to think Old Hunters for Bloodborne was the best expansion I've seen in a long while but, you know, I think this Chosen expansion for Xcom2 is better indeed.

BTW, how do you feel about Phantom Doctrine? I'm looking for a Xcom-like and found this one for PS4. Is it good?
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I'm also a big fan of the Nu-Xcom games.
I've played the pc version of Phantom Doctrine and really liked it. It isn't as good as War of the Chosen, but it's hard to beat that.
Two differences I remember is that you always hit and then various stats can then reduce the damage.
Also unlike Xcom 2, you can complete a whole mission in concealment.
 
If we're strictly talking about RPG's, then these would be my picks...

1. Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition
2. Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition
3. Lion & Dragon
4. Pathfinder 1st Edition (technically, the corebook came out in 2009, but it's very much an early 2010's classic)

Big Eyes Small Mouth 4th Edition is also good, although it hasn't got a full general release yet, only the early access stuff for the Kickstarter backers.
 
The Mad Hatter said:
I'm also a big fan of the Nu-Xcom games.
I've played the pc version of Phantom Doctrine and really liked it. It isn't as good as War of the Chosen, but it's hard to beat that.
Two differences I remember is that you always hit and then various stats can then reduce the damage.
Also unlike Xcom 2, you can complete a whole mission in concealment.
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Ok, got Phantom Doctrine for PS4 and... I love it already. :heart:

It's X-com meets Metal Gear/Splinter Cell with the best strategic layer I've seen. My favorite part so far is how leads on the strategic map spawn missions in dynamic and emergent ways, in a way that X-com never managed to do (2 and Chosen improved on this aspect but still feel stiff/artificial in contrast to Phantom).

Of course, I'm just 4 missions in and I can see how it will get repetitive soon. And production values are humble in contrast to AAA titles. Regardless, this shit kicks ass. Will update my impressions after I play it more.

Edit: BTW, don't know why but this game gives me a more Jagged Alliance 2 vibe than X-com.
 
silva said:
Ok, got Phantom Doctrine for PS4 and... I love it already. :heart:

It's X-com meets Metal Gear/Splinter Cell with the best strategic layer I've seen. My favorite part so far is how leads on the strategic map spawn missions in dynamic and emergent ways, in a way that X-com never managed to do (2 and Chosen improved on this aspect but still feel stiff/artificial in contrast to Phantom).

Of course, I'm just 4 missions in and I can see how it will get repetitive soon. And production values are humble in contrast to AAA titles. Regardless, this shit kicks ass. Will update my impressions after I play it more.

Edit: BTW, don't know why but this game gives me a more Jagged Alliance 2 vibe than X-com.
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Glad you like it.
It's always a bummer when you recommend something, and they dislike it. Feels like you've wasted their money.

It's over a year since I played it, but I remember feeling that enemy turns took longer the farther into the game I got.
Some of the systems in the game, also felt a bit undercooked.
Like the designers had a lot of ideas, but not enough time to implement them.
But then I know it's not AAA title, I'm a lot more forgiving of such things.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts, when you've played some more/finished it.

I played the heck out of Jagged Alliance 2 back in the day.
Rebought on GOG a couple of years ago, because I couldn't find my old discs.
 
The Mad Hatter said:
Glad you like it.
It's always a bummer when you recommend something, and they dislike it. Feels like you've wasted their money.

It's over a year since I played it, but I remember feeling that enemy turns took longer the farther into the game I got.
Some of the systems in the game, also felt a bit undercooked.
Like the designers had a lot of ideas, but not enough time to implement them.
But then I know it's not AAA title, I'm a lot more forgiving of such things.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts, when you've played some more/finished it.

I played the heck out of Jagged Alliance 2 back in the day.
Rebought on GOG a couple of years ago, because I couldn't find my old discs.
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AA titles are really where it's at right now. Vermintide II, X-Com and pretty much everything in this genre are all AA.

GOD Jagged Alliance!!! I played that game so many times. It's probably in my top 20 of all time.
 
For me, it's what hit the table the most often, and this means:

1. Supers! Revised
2. 13th Age
3. Barbarians of Lemuria Mythic Edition

Honorable Mention: D&D 4E (it was the core of our gaming from 2010-14)
 
The Mad Hatter said:
Glad you like it.
It's always a bummer when you recommend something, and they dislike it. Feels like you've wasted their money.

It's over a year since I played it, but I remember feeling that enemy turns took longer the farther into the game I got.
Some of the systems in the game, also felt a bit undercooked.
Like the designers had a lot of ideas, but not enough time to implement them.
But then I know it's not AAA title, I'm a lot more forgiving of such things.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts, when you've played some more/finished it.
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Ok, I'm on chapter 4 and my I impressions of it changed somewhat. I still think it's a good game but there's some problems that keep me from recommending it without reservations. Long story short, I feel like it has great ideas that are hampered by a lack of playtest/bigger development time.

IMO the game is superb in the strategic level, when you're managing your spies on the world map, checking suspicious activities, tailing enemy agents around, infiltrating cells for intel, managing teams into regions according to linguistics, supervising production at your hideout, dealing with those CYOA on agents lives (last time I almost killed one of my agents when I found out she was making too many suspicious telephone calls, but it ended up being just her confessing to a priest. XD). On the other hand, the tactical layer is the most problematic because usually missions are either too easy and boring (disguise + actor skill + suppressor) or too difficult and frustrating, besides being repetitive (always night and raining, maps/objectives/enemies too samey). Like the devs never found the right balanced to make this layer fun, and it ended up feeling like busywork most of the times (I think an auto-resolve button for side missions would alleviate the problem).

In conclusion, I'm really liking it and don't regret my purchase (I still want to play the KGB campaign after finishing the current one) but my love for the premise and ideas may be carrying the game and making me overlook it's problems. A more indifferent player may have lower tolerance for them.

Right now, I would rate it 7.5/10.
 
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silva said:
Ok, I'm on chapter 4 and my I impressions of it changed somewhat. I still think it's a good game but there's some problems that keep me from recommending it without reservations. Long story short, I feel like it has great ideas that are hampered by a lack of playtest/bigger development time.

IMO the game is superb in the strategic level, when you're managing your spies on the world map, checking suspicious activities, tailing enemy agents around, infiltrating cells for intel, managing teams into regions according to linguistics, supervising production at your hideout, dealing with those CYOA on agents lives (last time I almost killed one of my agents when I found out she was making too many suspicious telephone calls, but it ended up being just her confessing to a priest. XD). On the other hand, the tactical layer is the most problematic because usually missions are either too easy and boring (disguise + actor skill + suppressor) or too difficult and frustrating, besides being repetitive (always night and raining, maps/objectives/enemies too samey). Like the devs never found the right balanced to make this layer fun, and it ended up feeling like busywork most of the times (I think an auto-resolve button for side missions would alleviate the problem).

In conclusion, I'm really liking it and don't regret my purchase (I still want to play the KGB campaign after finishing the current one) but my love for the premise and ideas may be carrying the game and making me overlook it's problems. A more indifferent player may have lower tolerance for them.

Right now, I would rate it 7.5/10.
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Whoah I missed this earlier, this game looks right up my alley as well. Added to the wishlist.
 
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