{"id":22751,"date":"2019-11-04T22:05:42","date_gmt":"2019-11-04T12:05:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?p=22751"},"modified":"2020-11-03T23:02:55","modified_gmt":"2020-11-03T13:02:55","slug":"the-tfw-100-greatest-games-of-the-decade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?p=22751","title":{"rendered":"The TFW 100 Greatest Games of the Decade"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"100vgheader\"<\/a><\/p>\nI<\/span>t’s been an eventful decade to say the least.<\/p>\n

The video game industry never stands still for very long but looking back at the past ten years, it’s probably been one of the most disruptive periods of time in the industry with dozens of transformative moments shaking up the way people play and enjoy games.\u00a0 The market leader in home consoles changed back and forth between Sony and Nintendo.\u00a0 Streaming and esports became a multi-million dollar business.\u00a0 Virtual reality headsets entered the market.\u00a0 Fortnite became the biggest thing in the world.\u00a0 The way we buy and own games may be about to change thanks to Microsoft’s Game Pass service.\u00a0 And Google is giving us a glimpse of the future with their streaming service Stadia.<\/p>\n

On a personal level, my gaming habits changed substantially from the start of the decade when I had all the time in the world to enjoy my hobby to the end of the 2010s when I became a parent and my gaming time shrunk to a handful of hours per week.<\/p>\n

Of the hundreds of games I enjoyed from 2010 to 2020, these were my top 100.<\/p>\n

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100.\u00a0 Alan Wake\u00a0<\/strong>[Remedy Entertainment, 2010, Xbox 360]<\/em><\/p>\n

Remedy Entertainment’s\u00a0Alan Wake<\/em> was an entertaining Stephen King inspired horror story that had a great cast and memorable atmosphere.\u00a0 Writer Alan Wake arrives in Brightfalls, Washington and his vacation quickly turns into a nightmare as his wife disappears and he suddenly finds events from his latest novel are suddenly coming to life.<\/p>\n

Stephen King film and television adaptations are very much in vogue at the moment and I would love to see Remedy return to this franchise one day soon.\u00a0 Alan Wake<\/em> is an inventive and enjoyable\u00a0horror game\u00a0which paved the way for other great cinematic titles this decade such as\u00a0Until Dawn<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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99.\u00a0 Sound Shapes\u00a0<\/strong>[Queasy Games, 2012, Playstation Vita]<\/em><\/p>\n

Sounds Shapes<\/em> was one of the most charming independent games releases early in the life of the ill-fated Playstation Vita.\u00a0 Ostensibly a music-infused platformer, players would move around levels where music beats would chime in time to the player’s movement and jumps.\u00a0 The stage set to Beck’s\u00a0Cities<\/em> is an absolute highlight (seriously, look it up).<\/p>\n

The game also allowed players to create their own levels too which was a nice touch.<\/p>\n

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98.\u00a0 Journey\u00a0<\/strong>[thatgamescompany, 2012, Playstation 3]<\/em><\/p>\n

Journey\u00a0<\/i>is probably one of the best style-over-substance games of all time.\u00a0 Players control a wordless cloaked protagonist as they travel from a vast expansive desert to the top of a mountain peak.\u00a0 Along the way they encounter other human players online and communicate with one another through movement and singing.<\/p>\n

Visually, the game offers an eye-catching, minimalist style that compliments its simple gameplay beautifully.\u00a0 The game isn’t especially challenging and nor is there much discovery to be gleamed from moving through the world.\u00a0 Instead the enjoyment largely comes from the fluid and elegant movement of the characters as they surf across sand dunes and deftly glide around the environment with their magical scarves billowing behind them.<\/p>\n

You couldn’t find a more therapeutic and calming game on the Playstation 3.<\/p>\n

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97.\u00a0 Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros Edition\u00a0<\/strong>[Gungho Online, 2015, Nintendo 3DS]<\/em><\/p>\n

Puzzle & Dragons<\/em> started out as a Match-3 puzzle game on mobile phones before eventually landing on the Nintendo 3DS, reskinned with\u00a0Super Mario<\/em> characters.\u00a0 These type of puzzle games are a dime a dozen but the 3DS iteration is one of the best thanks to the stylish presentation and the total absence of microtransactions.\u00a0 This game was a fantastic time killer on many long haul flights and commutes on the train.<\/p>\n

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96.\u00a0 The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword\u00a0<\/strong>[Nintendo, 2011,\u00a0Nintendo Wii U]<\/em><\/p>\n

Skyward Sword<\/em> is probably one of the least loved games in the Zelda franchise thanks to its cumbersome tutorials and overbearing hand-holding of the player.\u00a0 While there’s no doubt that many better Zelda games arrived later in the decade,\u00a0Skyward Sword<\/em> still offers some excellent dungeons to explore in its near 60 hour long story mode.\u00a0 A sprawling, flawed epic that still has some notable highs (soaring around the sky on birdback was a thrill).<\/p>\n

The game also gave us Groose, one of the best side characters in the\u00a0Legend of Zelda\u00a0<\/em>pantheon.<\/p>\n

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95.\u00a0 Batman: Arkham City\u00a0<\/strong>[Rocksteady, 2011, Xbox 360]<\/em><\/p>\n

Developers Rocksteady turned heads in 2009 with the excellent Metroidvania title\u00a0Arkham Asylum<\/em>, a thrillingly claustrophobic Batman game set inside the titular home for the criminally insane.\u00a0 Fans clamoured for an open world successor and they got it with\u00a0Batman: Arkham City<\/em>.\u00a0 In retrospect, I think most people would agree that the series declined in quality the more expansive it became (Arkham Knight<\/em> was a sore disappointment) but\u00a0Arkham City<\/em> struck a pretty happy medium between setting Batman loose across a small-scale version of Gotham City and revisiting the tense, close quarters action of\u00a0Arkham Asylum<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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94.\u00a0 Deadly Premonition\u00a0<\/strong>[Access Games, 2010, Playstation 3]<\/em><\/p>\n

Swery’s Deadly Premonition<\/em> is a truly weird low budget horror game that is evocative of Twin Peaks – sometimes purposefully and other times maybe by a happy accident.<\/p>\n

Deadly Premonition<\/em> is a genuinely strange experience.\u00a0 The characters, dialogue and janky animations are all absurd, straddling a line between comical and confounding.\u00a0 It’s one of those serendipitous occasions though where the appeal of the game’s quirkiness overrides its considerable shortcomings in playability and design.\u00a0 It was a memorable time playing as FBI agent Francis Morgan York as he tries to track down the Raincoat Killer in Greenvale.<\/p>\n

For reasons I can’t fully fathom, a sequel has been green lit and is due to arrive a full decade later.<\/p>\n

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93.\u00a0 Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit\u00a0<\/strong>[Criterion, 2010, Xbox 360]<\/em><\/p>\n

One of the most crushing disappointments of the past ten years was the collapse of the excellent series Burnout<\/em> and the transition Criterion has taken away from creating arcade racers into being a support dev for EA’s other franchises such as Battlefield<\/em> and\u00a0Battlefront<\/em>.\u00a0 The lastly truly great game of the\u00a0Burnout<\/em> lineage is\u00a0Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit<\/em> which is a\u00a0Burnout\u00a0<\/em>game in all but name.\u00a0 It moves along at a blazing fast speed, cheerfully tosses players back and forth between a variety of fun modes and has the spectacular slow-motion crashes that fans loved.<\/p>\n

Seriously though, its a crime we never got a proper\u00a0Burnout 5<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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92.\u00a0 Enslaved: Odyssey to the West\u00a0<\/strong>[Ninja Theory, 2010, Xbox 360]<\/em><\/p>\n

I’ve always enjoyed the books and films of Alex Garland, the man who gave us The Beach, Sunshine, 28 Days Later<\/em> and\u00a0Annihilation<\/em>.\u00a0 You may not know it but he also helped pen the story and dialogue for Ninja Theory’s underappreciated gem\u00a0Enslaved: Odyssey to the West<\/em>.\u00a0 Although the gameplay is\u00a0pretty conventional (it plays like a low budget\u00a0Uncharted<\/em>), it has two fantastic lead characters in Monkey and Trip and the quality of the storytelling will be immediately appreciated by anyone who is a fan of Garland’s other works.<\/p>\n

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91.\u00a0 L.A Noire\u00a0<\/strong>[Team Bondi, 2011, Xbox 360]<\/em><\/p>\n

L.A Noire<\/em> is, to my knowledge, the only open world video game set in the noir genre.\u00a0 Inspired by the works of Phillip Marlow and films such as\u00a0The Maltese Falcon<\/em> and\u00a0The Big Sleep<\/em>, players cruise around Los Angeles in the Forties as Detective Cole Phelps, investigating various homicide cases, some of which were inspired by famous real world cases.\u00a0 The game let players interrogate suspects, engage in wild card chases and have deadly shoot outs with crooks.\u00a0 The game is also noteworthy for its incredible facial animation technology which heightened the experience of the interrogations as you tried to uncover who was telling the truth and who was bluffing.<\/p>\n

Team Bondi collapsed shortly after the release of this game so who knows when we’ll next see a game with this sort of scale and budget in the noir genre again.<\/p>\n

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90.\u00a0 Bastion\u00a0<\/strong>[Super Giant Games, 2011, Xbox 360]<\/em><\/p>\n

An isometric RPG with a distinctive painterly art style, Bastion<\/em> is a compact, well-designed adventure game that explores a world destroyed by the Calamity, through the perspective of the Kid.<\/p>\n

Bastion<\/em> was a solidly put together narrative based game that was made especially memorable thanks to the presence of the gravelly voiced Narrator who dynamically told the story of what your player was doing in real time.\u00a0 It was a really novel style of presentation that gave\u00a0Bastion<\/em> an outstanding Western look and feel and to be honest, I’m kind of surprised no one else has aped this style nearly a decade later.<\/p>\n

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89.\u00a0 New Super Mario Bros U\u00a0<\/strong>[Nintendo, 2012, Nintendo Wii U]<\/em><\/p>\n

Not many people remembered New Super Mario Bros U\u00a0<\/em>but then thats probably because not many people bought a Wii U.\u00a0 The game is enjoying new life as a re-released title on the Nintendo Switch.\u00a0 Revisiting the game seven years later, I was pleased to find my opinions of the game increase substantially.\u00a0 It’s not as ambitious as\u00a0Super Mario Galaxy<\/em> or\u00a0Super Mario Odyssey<\/em> but there’s no doubting its finesse in offering players some finely crafted, 2-D classic Mario platforming.\u00a0 If you’re game to collect all the hidden coins on each level, the game takes it up to 11 with the excellent Star Road stages.<\/p>\n

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88.\u00a0 No Man’s Sky\u00a0<\/strong>[Hello Games, 2016, Playstation 4]<\/em><\/p>\n

Everyone was mad at developer Hello Games when they released No Man’s Sky<\/em> in 2016 with seemingly only a fraction of the promised content that was offered in previews.\u00a0 But to their credit, Hello Games weathered the considerable shitstorm of fan blowback and diligently plugged away at adding new features including base building, multiplayer and a VR mode.\u00a0 The\u00a0No Mans Sky<\/em> of today is a game that is much closer to the original vision and there’s no doubting the impressive technology under the hood that allows players to explore a platform, board a spaceship and travel into space, all without encountering a single load screen.<\/p>\n

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87.\u00a0 Puyo Puyo Tetris\u00a0<\/strong>[Sega, 2017, Playstation 4]<\/em><\/p>\n

Puyo Puyo is one of the greatest puzzle games ever made.\u00a0 So is Tetris.\u00a0 This game is a mash up of the two.\u00a0 You can play more or less perfect copies of either game in a single player mode.\u00a0 You can also play multiplayer with up to four people.\u00a0 Lastly, you can mix it up and play the game with both puyo puyo blobs and tetriminoes.\u00a0 So it’s basically the perfect puzzle game.<\/p>\n

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86.\u00a0 Persona 4 Golden\u00a0<\/strong>[Atlus, 2012, Playstation Vita]<\/em><\/p>\n

The best game on the Playstation Vita is this excellent adaptation of Persona 4,\u00a0<\/em>originally a JRPG on the Playstation 2.\u00a0\u00a0Persona 4<\/em> has a fantastic storyline where you play as a high school student who moves to the countryside, spends a year in school and tries to solve the mystery behind a series of murders in the local town.\u00a0 The game is perfectly suited to its handheld format as players can break down their play time to days spend in school, mixing up study, socializing with friends and tackling dungeons fighting demonic monsters.\u00a0 Classic JRPG fare that has rarely been done better.<\/p>\n

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85.\u00a0 Limbo\u00a0<\/strong>[Playdead, 2010, Xbox 360]<\/em><\/p>\n

A spooky, monochromatic platform with nihilistic overtones, Playdead’s Limbo<\/em> is one of my favourite platform games designed by an independent developer of the last decade.<\/p>\n

The game sees you navigate a series of perilous environments as a nameless protagonist.\u00a0 The game has a harsh, broody presentation style that is only amplified by its sparse, ambient score.\u00a0\u00a0Despite the game’s shadowy aesthetics, the creatures in\u00a0Limbo<\/em> still manage to raise the hairs on the back of your neck thanks to the excellent animation and the evocative sound effects.<\/p>\n

Like its successor\u00a0Inside<\/em>, I also like the abrupt and memorable ending to\u00a0Limbo.<\/em> It sticks in your mind.<\/p>\n

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84.\u00a0 Assassin’s Creed: Origins\u00a0<\/strong>[Ubisoft, 2017, Playstation 4]<\/em><\/p>\n

I had been more or less indifferent to the Assassin’s Creed<\/em> franchise which Ubisoft had been pumping out annually since 2007.\u00a0 That was until\u00a0Assassin’s Creed: Origins<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0Origins<\/em> finally hooked me thanks to its attractive setting (open world ancient Egypt!), the introduction of light RPG elements (skill trees, loot, character levelling) and a surprisingly decent story involving new protagonist Bayek and his quest to avenge his son.<\/p>\n

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83.\u00a0 Alpha Protocol\u00a0<\/strong>[Obsidian Entertainment, 2010,\u00a0Playstation 3]<\/em><\/p>\n

I love Alpha Protocol.\u00a0 So often we assume RPGs should\u00a0have either a sci-fi or fantasy setting but Obsidian do a fantastic job showing just how entertaining RPG mechanics (character creation, dialogue trees, morality choices) can be when applied to other genres – in Alpha Protocol<\/em>‘s case, a spy thriller.\u00a0 The game had a troubled development cycle and is plenty rough around the edges but it is a genuinely underappreciated gem and worth tracking down a copy.<\/p>\n

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82.\u00a0 Phoenix Wright – Ace Attorney: Spirits of Justice\u00a0<\/strong>[Capcom, 2016, Nintendo 3DS]<\/em><\/p>\n

When it comes to Capcom’s long running defence attorney series Phoenix Wright<\/em>, the general consensus is that the original trilogy is the best.\u00a0 They’re 100% right but\u00a0Spirits of Justice<\/em> is still a welcome new chapter and I enjoyed seeing both Phoenix and Apollo share the stage as well together.\u00a0 The ‘divination seance’ mechanic is kind of clunky but overall the game still has oodles of charm and likeability.<\/p>\n

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81.\u00a0 Mark of the Ninja\u00a0<\/strong>[Klei Entertainment, 2012, Xbox 360]<\/em><\/p>\n

Mark of the Ninja<\/em> came out of nowhere and blew me away with its absorbing 2D stealth oriented gameplay and impressively robust design that allowed players to approach levels using stealth, violence or pacifism.\u00a0 One of my favourite games in a year that was otherwise pretty average for gaming.<\/p>\n

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80.\u00a0 Steamworld Dig 2\u00a0<\/strong>[Image & Form Games, 2017, Playstation 4]<\/em><\/p>\n

I love what Image & Form have done with the Steamworld<\/em> series, tackling a completely different genre with virtually each game they make, with the throughline being its oddball cast of android characters.\u00a0 Their best work has to be\u00a0Steamworld Dig 2<\/em>, a game that combines elements of\u00a0Castlevania, Mr Driller<\/em> and the original\u00a0Dig<\/em>.<\/p>\n

There’s something very satisfying about its gameplay loop of digging\u00a0for loot, finding treasures, cashing them in at the surface for new equipment and then returning to the chasm to explore even further and deeper.<\/p>\n

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79.\u00a0 God of War\u00a0<\/strong>[SIE Santa Monica Studios, 2018, Playstation 4]<\/em><\/p>\n

God of War<\/em> is a surprising and pleasant reinvention of Sony’s angry demigod franchise which appeared to have run its course on the PS3 years ago.\u00a0 By injecting some humanity into Kratos’ character and fleshing out the gameplay with an open world and RPG mechanics (a common theme amongst many games on this list), Santa Monica Studios were able to inject new life into the\u00a0God of War<\/em> games.<\/p>\n

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78.\u00a0 Spyro Reignited Trilogy\u00a0<\/strong>[Toys for Bob, 2018, Playstation 4]<\/em><\/p>\n

I never actually played much of the Spyro<\/em> games on the original Playstation.\u00a0 Certainly never came close to completing them.\u00a0 But thanks to Toys for Bob’s excellent modern remakes, I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to properly play through this beloved range of games and have been genuinely surprised at how well the level design has held up over the years.<\/p>\n

Having completed all three, I’d rank them 3 > 1 > 2.\u00a0 But the whole trilogy is worth a play through.<\/p>\n

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77.\u00a0 Control\u00a0<\/strong>[Remedy Entertainment, 2019,\u00a0Playstation 4]<\/em><\/p>\n

Remedy Entertainment have had a lot of ‘nearly’ great games.\u00a0\u00a0Alan Wake<\/em> and\u00a0Quantum Break<\/em> are both entertaining titles that either lacked depth in how they played or didn’t quite make the best of the concept that they tackled.\u00a0\u00a0Control<\/em> feels like the title where it finally all came together.\u00a0 Set in the Federal Bureau of Control, players take the mantle of Jesse Faden, the bureau’s newest director as she locates various Objects of Power to take on The Hiss.<\/p>\n

Control<\/em> has a genuinely interesting paranormal, science fiction narrative that feels like it shares the best qualities of X-Files at its peak.\u00a0 Better still, this is probably the most fun Remedy game to play thanks to the wild powers that Jesse acquires in the Oldest House.\u00a0 When you get the ability to telepathically fling objects at your enemies about an hour into the game, the combat really begins to shine.\u00a0 It only gets crazier and more entertaining from there as Jesse unlocks even more abilities.\u00a0\u00a0Control<\/em> is Remedy’s best work by some margin.<\/p>\n

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76.\u00a0 Her Story\u00a0<\/strong>[Sam Barlow, 2015, PC]<\/em><\/p>\n

Sam Barlow’s\u00a0Her Story<\/em> is a unique mystery game in which player’s trawl through a video archive of a woman being interviewed in a police investigation surrounding a man who went missing in 1994.<\/p>\n

Most games of this genre tend to lead you by the nose when drawing your attention to clues on how to solve the mystery.\u00a0\u00a0Her Story<\/em> manages the difficult feat of making the investigation feel much more organic and driven by the player as they decipher just exactly what happened to Simon Smith and how he was murdered.<\/p>\n

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75.\u00a0 Deus Ex: Human Revolution\u00a0<\/strong>[Eidos Montreal, 2011, Xbox 360]<\/em><\/p>\n

In 2011, Eidos created a cyberpunk video game about the near future where cities are near-permanently gridlocked by protesters rallying against major corporations and climate change.\u00a0 Players take on the role of Adam Jensen, part man\/part machine.\u00a0 Players can choose whether Jensen is sympathetic to the corporations or the activists and can navigate the environment tackling enemies using brute force or stealth.<\/p>\n

Human Revolution<\/em> is an entertaining cyberpunk thriller that is also\u00a0impressively prescient about modern day geopolitics.<\/p>\n

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74.\u00a0 Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch\u00a0<\/strong>[Level-5, 2013, Playstation 3]<\/em><\/p>\n

Ni No Kuni\u00a0<\/i>is an animation fan’s dream video game project – a big budget RPG that involves legendary Japanese animation company Studio Ghibli.<\/p>\n

The tale of a young boy escaping into a world of fantasy as he copes with the passing of his mother might be rather standard JRPG fare but it is elevated thanks to the gorgeous art style and memorable cast of characters (Mr Drippy is seriously great).<\/p>\n

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73.\u00a0 The Walking Dead: Season One\u00a0<\/strong>[Telltale Games, 2012, Xbox 360]<\/em><\/p>\n

This decade saw the dramatic rise and fall of Telltale Studios, a company that rose to prominence originally off the back of the excellent Walking Dead: Season One<\/em>.\u00a0 This episodic narrative driven series introduced us to two fantastic characters in Lee and Clementine, as they try to survive a hostile zombie infested world.\u00a0 Just like the comics and the tv series, its often other humans that are the biggest monsters in the series.<\/p>\n

Telltale Games would go on to expand rapidly after the success of\u00a0The Walking Dead<\/em> but some serious mismanagement lead to their abrupt demise in 2019.\u00a0 But that original\u00a0Walking Dead<\/em> season remains a highlight.<\/p>\n

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72.\u00a0 Rise of the Tomb Raider\u00a0<\/strong>[Eidos Montreal, 2015, Xbox One]<\/em><\/p>\n

The past decade saw the welcome return of the Tomb Raider<\/em> franchise after it had a number of years in the wilderness.\u00a0 Although the latest trilogy has had a mixed reception critically, I’ve personally really enjoyed what Eidos has done with the series.\u00a0 I think the latest games are a terrific evolution for the series and I find the bow and arrow a particularly satisfying weapon to engage enemies with.\u00a0\u00a0Rise of the Tomb Raider<\/em> is the middle chapter of the series and its probably got the best balance of story driven content and exploration thanks to introduction of a semi-open world environment.<\/p>\n

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71.\u00a0 Mortal Kombat XL\u00a0<\/strong>[NetherRealm, 2015, Playstation 4]<\/em><\/p>\n

Like most people, I think I fell off the\u00a0Mortal Kombat<\/em> series somewhere around\u00a0MK4<\/em> but improbably NetherRealm have succeeded in bringing the series back to prominence over the past few years.\u00a0\u00a0Mortal Kombat XL<\/em> is a fantastic package that offers one of the best rosters the series has ever had (including terrific guest characters such as Predator, Leatherface, Xenomorph and Jason Vorhees) and offers a wonderfully cheesy story mode that is tons of fun and never takes itself too seriously.\u00a0 The fatalities, as ever, are comically and absurdly gruesome.<\/p>\n

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70.\u00a0 Playstation VR Worlds\u00a0<\/strong>[Sony Interactive Entertainment, 2016,\u00a0Playstation 4 – Playstation VR]<\/em><\/p>\n

Playstation VR Worlds<\/em> is the\u00a0Wii Sports<\/em> of virtual reality games.\u00a0 It offers six different interactive experiences that showcase what modern VR is about and I can vouch first-hand for its effectiveness in introducing the technology to newcomers.\u00a0 Crucially, Ocean Descent<\/em> can be enjoyed without using a controller at all which is perfect for people who never play video games.\u00a0 For the more seasoned player, the British gangster shooter\u00a0London Heist<\/em> is the way to go.<\/p>\n

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69.\u00a0 Dragon Quest Builders 2\u00a0<\/strong>[Square Enix, 2019,\u00a0Playstation 4]<\/em><\/p>\n

Dragon Quest Builders 2<\/em>\u00a0is the game for anyone who has had their curiosity piqued by\u00a0Minecraft<\/em>\u00a0but decided that an open-world sandbox game where you can literally build anything with no guidance or instructions is a tad too daunting to dip your toe into.\u00a0\u00a0DQB2<\/em>\u00a0offers players a more guided experience and hands them the equivalent of a Lego building manual, to help you build your very own village with cottages, kitchens, temples, saunas, pubs and more.<\/p>\n

This is a game that cobbles together the mechanics of\u00a0Minecraft<\/em>\u00a0(block building),\u00a0Stardew Valley<\/em>\u00a0(farming),\u00a0Pokemon<\/em>\u00a0(monster hunting\/collecting) and of course\u00a0Dragon Quest\u00a0<\/em>(narrative).<\/p>\n

It might sound like a hodge-podge of systems and gameplay-styles but happily Square Enix makes\u00a0it all come together just so.<\/p>\n

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68.\u00a0 Firewatch\u00a0<\/strong>[Campo Santo, 2016,\u00a0Playstation 4]<\/em><\/p>\n

Firewatch<\/em>\u2019s plot synopsis about a man having a midlife crisis sounds more like a screenplay for an Alexander Payne film than the set up for a video game.\u00a0 Which is probably why Campo Santo\u2019s title turned so many heads earlier this year and received polarizing\u00a0reviews from critics and audiences alike.\u00a0 It\u2019s a game that has the story beats and ambiguous nature of an arthouse film.\u00a0 For some, it was a revelation.\u00a0 Others wondered what all the fuss was about.<\/p>\n

For me,\u00a0Firewatch<\/em>\u00a0was an absolute joy to play. \u00a0Like a good book or a thought provoking film, the characters, the mysteries and the ending stayed with me long after I completed the game. \u00a0The quality of the script is what elevates\u00a0Firewatch<\/em>\u00a0amongst its contemporaries. \u00a0Campo Santo writer Sean Vanaman has created a fascinating pair of lead characters and the overall presentation of the game \u2013 the sun baked Wyoming forest, the musical score, the distinctive keepsakes of the Eighties \u2013 gives it\u00a0a vibrant, distinct identity.<\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

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67.\u00a0 Dead Cells\u00a0<\/strong>[Motion Twin, 2018,\u00a0Playstation 4]<\/em><\/p>\n

I was this close to giving up on\u00a0Dead Cells<\/em>\u00a0when it got its hooks into me.<\/p>\n

Developer and publisher Motion Twin refers to\u00a0Dead Cells<\/em>\u00a0as a a \u201croguevania\u201d, which is a pretty fair summation of what you get with the game.\u00a0 It\u2019s rogue-like in that every time the player dies, the environment is randomly regenerated.\u00a0 And it\u2019s a Metroidvania style game where you aquire new abilities which gradually expands your moveset and subsequently how much of the island you can explore.<\/p>\n

Not unlike\u00a0Hollow Knight<\/em>,\u00a0Dead Cells<\/em>\u00a0takes part of its inspiration from\u00a0Dark Souls<\/em>\u00a0and prides itself on its difficulty.\u00a0 There\u2019s a pretty steep learning curve you have to get to grips with and I can see how some players will bounce right off it.\u00a0 I was pretty close.\u00a0 Then on one particular run the combat mechanics began to click with me and I went on a decent run, making my way through the Promenade of the Condemned, the Ramparts and ultimately the Black Bridge where I was easily defeated by the first boss.\u00a0 By that point I was hooked.<\/p>\n

Over time I came to appreciate everything from the tight controls, the charming pixel art style, right down to the soundtrack which is well suited to a game that demands constant repetition.\u00a0 It\u2019s hard as nails, I don\u2019t know if I will ever finish it, but I respect the hell out of what Motion Twin have created.<\/p>\n

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66.\u00a0 Captain Toad Treasure Tracker\u00a0<\/strong>[Nintendo, 2015, Nintendo Wii U]<\/em><\/p>\n

It took way too long for Toad to get his own game but happily, it was worth the wait.\u00a0 Captain Toad<\/em> is a delightful action-puzzle game where Toad and Toadette navigate their way through intricately designed stages looking for three diamonds and an end of level star.\u00a0 This is a game that is sure to bring a smile to your face with its cheery presentation, jaunty soundtrack and clever level design that\u00a0strikes the right balance of accessibility and challenge.<\/p>\n

After being exposed to a small audience on the Wii U originally, I was happy to see Captain Toad<\/em> return as a remake on the Nintendo Switch and reach the wider audience it deserves.<\/p>\n

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65.\u00a0 Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception\u00a0<\/strong>[Naughty Dog, 2011,\u00a0Playstation 3]<\/em><\/p>\n

While\u00a0Uncharted 3<\/em>\u00a0doesn\u2019t quite hit the heights of\u00a0Uncharted 2<\/em>, it is still an outstanding game.\u00a0 In the past decade Naughty Dog set the benchmark for quality graphics and presentation, and Uncharted 3<\/em> is no exception.\u00a0 For a game that involves huge explosive Michael Bay style set pieces, it is often the little details in how Nathan Drake and the rest of the cast are animated – how they holster their weapons, little twitches in facial expressions etc – that impressed me the most.<\/p>\n

The sequence involving the plane crashing in the desert remains one of the action high points for the entire series.<\/p>\n

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64.\u00a0 Ratchet and Clank\u00a0<\/strong>[Insomniac Games, 2016,\u00a0Playstation 3]<\/em><\/p>\n

A visual sumptuous and eminently playable remake of the original title.\u00a0\u00a0Insomniac Games have always done a fantastic job with this series and the 2016 remake of the original game is one of their finest moments.\u00a0\u00a0Ratchet and Clank<\/em> looks absolutely gorgeous, is full of colour and life, and basically plays like an interactive Pixar movie.\u00a0 The character design, voice acting and presentation are all top notch.\u00a0 The platforming and shooting gameplay, which involves cycling through two dozen outlandish weapons, remains as fun as ever.<\/p>\n

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63.\u00a0 Dead Space 2\u00a0<\/strong>[Visceral Games, 2011, Xbox 360]<\/em><\/p>\n

I can\u2019t remember who came up with it, but I always liked the analogy that compared the\u00a0Dead Space<\/em>\u00a0games to the\u00a0Alien<\/em>\u00a0franchise.\u00a0 The first game has a smaller scale and is focused on a small number of alien creatures that stalk Isaac Clarke aboard the USG Ishimura.\u00a0 In the sequel, its more like\u00a0Aliens<\/em>\u00a0where the action ramps up, there\u2019s slightly less tension but still a goodly amount of horror.\u00a0 This is a very impressive sequel that really builds on the play mechanics of the original.\u00a0 Once you really get going and start having battles against multiple enemies where you\u2019re targeting limbs, using a slow-mo attack, a gravity gun to harpoon objects scattered around the level and an assortment of different weapons, you really appreciate just how much depth and quality Visceral Games have put into\u00a0Dead Space 2<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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62.\u00a0 Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy\u00a0<\/strong>[Vicarious Visions, 2017,\u00a0Playstation 4]<\/em><\/p>\n

Activision famously underappreciated how much nostalgic demand there was for Crash Bandicoot<\/em> when they made this budget priced remake of the original Playstation trilogy.\u00a0 They were expecting modest sales and instead N.Sane trilogy sold like gangbusters to the tune of 10 million+ copies.\u00a0 And in retrospect, its easy to see why.\u00a0 The Playstation 4 lacks backwards compatibility, the Playstation Mini didn’t feature any Crash games and a new coat of paint does wonders for drawing back fans of the series.\u00a0 The original game is actually pretty challenging in a Super Mario Bros 1 kinda way.\u00a0 Crash 2 & 3 trade away some of that difficulty for broader appeal but honestly, all three games are still fantastic.<\/p>\n

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61.\u00a0 Wolfenstein II The New Colossus\u00a0<\/strong>[Machine Games, 2017,\u00a0Playstation 4]<\/em><\/p>\n

The New Colossus<\/em>\u00a0is the much anticipated sequel to Machine Games\u2019 excellent\u00a0Wolfenstein: The New Order<\/em>.\u00a0 It takes up where the previous game left off as Blazkowicz and his crew travel by U-Boat from Europe to America, hoping to liberate it from the Nazis.\u00a0 Just like\u00a0The New Order<\/em>\u00a0before it,\u00a0this latest\u00a0Wolfenstein<\/em>\u00a0is a thrilling shoot \u2019em up splatterfest.\u00a0 If you\u2019re looking for a game where you get to lay waste to Nazis, a dozen at a time, then this is your game.\u00a0 But what elevates this series to new heights is the strong writing and voice acting.\u00a0 A surprising amount of care and attention is given to the narrative in\u00a0Wolfenstein II\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Machine Games has really found its voice with\u00a0The New Colossus<\/em>.\u00a0 The game has a distinct narrative style that is wildly erratic in tone.\u00a0 The game leans hard into some very dark subject matter and then veers away with some unexpected, over-the-top comedy, often in the same breathe.<\/p>\n

I cannot believe some of the stunts they pull in this game.\u00a0 There are about three sequences in\u00a0The New Colossus<\/em>\u00a0that had my jaw on the floor.\u00a0 To best enjoy\u00a0Wolfenstein II<\/em>\u00a0it is vital to come in unspoiled.\u00a0 It is a bombastic action game for the ages.<\/p>\n

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60.\u00a0 This War of Mine\u00a0<\/strong>[11 Bit Studios, 2016,\u00a0Playstation 4]<\/em><\/p>\n

Historically speaking, the video game industry does not have a great track record when it comes to social commentary about warfare.\u00a0 The vast majority of titles are couched in a simple, patriotic presentation style with explicitly defined heroes and villains.\u00a0 Holding a gun mean that you \u2013 the good guy \u2013 shoot a bad guy to complete a mission and \u2018win\u2019 the war.<\/p>\n

In recent years, this has begun to change.\u00a0\u00a0Valiant Hearts: The Great War<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Spec Ops: The Line<\/em>\u00a0are two examples of games that viewed warfare with an uncommonly measured and weary gaze.<\/p>\n

Which brings us now to 11 bit studios and their civilian-focused survival game\u00a0This War of Mine: The Little Ones<\/em>.\u00a0 The game includes the original title released on PC in 2014 as well as some additional content \u2013 namely the inclusion of child characters.<\/p>\n

Inspired by the Siege of Sarajevo in the Bosnian War of the mid Nineties,\u00a0This War of Mine<\/em>\u00a0portrays everyday men and women who are caught in a crossfire in the fictional city of Graznavia.\u00a0 The player controls a handful of individuals who take refuge in a shell-shocked house that has been abandoned by its original inhabitants.<\/p>\n

This War of Mine<\/em>\u00a0has sky-high ambitions for the emotional register and atmosphere they\u2019re trying to build and on the modest budget of an independent game it could have easily fallen flat.\u00a0 But the narrative passages, the distinctive charcoal art aesthetic and the well-designed game mechanics successfully bring that ambition to life.<\/p>\n

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59.\u00a0 Super Mario Maker\u00a0<\/strong>[Nintendo, 2015, Nintendo Wii U]<\/em><\/p>\n

Super Mario Maker<\/em>\u00a0is a dream video game concept come to true. \u00a0It\u2019s something I\u2019ve wanted for the better part of twenty five years, ever since I first finished\u00a0Super Mario World<\/em>\u00a0on the Super Nintendo. \u00a0An official Nintendo toolkit to make your own\u00a0Mario<\/em>\u00a0levels. \u00a0I can\u2019t believe they finally did it.<\/p>\n

In many ways, the game is even better than I had ever hoped or imagined it could be. \u00a0Firstly, Nintendo have been\u00a0very<\/em>\u00a0generous with the content. \u00a0You can make games that have the graphics,\u00a0physics and objects of\u00a0Super Mario Bros, Super Mario Bros 3, Super Mario World\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0New Super Mario Bros<\/em>. \u00a0That\u2019s four games! \u00a0Every major 2D Mario platformer in its 30 year history is represented here. \u00a0The game is also extremely flexible and has an easy to use interface. \u00a0Most people should be comfortable putting together their own stages in a matter of minutes. \u00a0Practically every Mario gameplay mechanic and power up is available too \u2013 thwomps, P switches, doors, pipes and every permutation of \u2018?\u2019 block is available for you to use.<\/p>\n

As you\u2019d expect, the game has an incredibly active community that has produce\u00a0millions<\/em>\u00a0of levels. \u00a0The trick of course is cutting through the crap and getting to the good stuff. \u00a0Like\u00a0Splatoon<\/em>, Nintendo have heavily iterated on\u00a0Super Mario Maker<\/em>\u00a0post launch and focused on improving the search functionality of the community levels.<\/p>\n

Its a game that has resulted in endless Mario levels. \u00a0There are hundreds and hundreds of great levels to try. \u00a0Making your own stages is a piece of cake. \u00a0What more could you want?<\/p>\n

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58.\u00a0 Metal Gear Solid V\u00a0<\/strong>[Konami, 2015,\u00a0Playstation 4]<\/em><\/p>\n

Hideo Kojima\u2019s\u00a0Metal Gear<\/em>\u00a0swan song \u2013 his final involvement in a series he was worked on for over a quarter of a century \u2013 is as entertaining and innovative as one could hope for. \u00a0It\u2019s the first open-world title in the series and the results are outstanding.<\/p>\n

Infiltrating military outposts as Big Boss is an exercise in careful strategy and adaptation\u00a0for the player. \u00a0Each mission genuinely has dozens of different permutations that can be factored into the players approach including\u00a0weaponry, vehicles, weather conditions and time of day. \u00a0Each soldier you encounter in the game can be tackled in a myriad of ways. \u00a0You can sneak past them. \u00a0You can shoot them. \u00a0You can tranquillize them. \u00a0You can interrogate them. \u00a0You can divert their attention. \u00a0You can knock them out and hide them. \u00a0I can think of few other games that grants so many different types of interaction.<\/p>\n

New gameplay mechanics include the addition\u00a0of a buddy that can aid you on your mission (ranging from sniper, sniffer dog, horse to mech walker) and an addictive collection mini-game which involves \u2018fultoning\u2019 \u2013 removing enemies, vehicles, containers and artillery out of the hot zone via a parachute. \u00a0I\u2019m convinced that fultoning stuff is the most satisfying and endlessly entertaining mechanic to be introduced to video games in the last ten years.<\/p>\n

With over a hundred hours of gameplay, its a fitting final chapter for Kojima and his time at Konami. \u00a0It\u2019s a pity that the game doesn\u2019t come close to matching the spectacle of the cutscenes in\u00a0Metal Gear Solid 4\u00a0<\/em>but then what game does?<\/p>\n

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57.\u00a0 Halo: Reach\u00a0<\/strong>[Bungie Studios, 2010, Xbox 360]<\/em><\/p>\n

The final\u00a0Halo<\/em>\u00a0game from Bungie sees the developer go out at top of their game.\u00a0 This is easily one of the most cinematic and expansive campaign modes of the series and I loved how they tied the ending to the game directly to the opening scene of the original (it is to Halo<\/em> what\u00a0Rogue One<\/em> is to\u00a0Star Wars<\/em>).\u00a0 The introduction of powerups into the multiplayer mode gave it a new lease on life and the quality of the multiplayer maps and the size of the community playing it at the time made it one of the most enjoyable multiplayer experiences to be had on the Xbox 360.\u00a0 Since Bungie left the franchise to develop\u00a0Destiny<\/em>, it has never soared to these heights since.<\/p>\n

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56.\u00a0 Grand Theft Auto V\u00a0<\/strong>[Rockstar Games, 2013,\u00a0Xbox 360]<\/em><\/p>\n

Grand Theft Auto V<\/em>\u00a0was a game four years in the making and a title released to sky high expectations.\u00a0 Thanks to its cinematic and creative new heist missions, inter-changeable leads and exhaustively detailed new locale, its safe to say those lofty expectations were met and then some.\u00a0 Since its release the game has showed incredible staying power, sitting in the top ten software sales every year since its release which is an insane feat.\u00a0 It was so popular it negated the need for\u00a0Rockstar to make a GTA 6 on the Playstation 4\/Xbox One generation.<\/p>\n

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55.\u00a0 Mario Kart 8\u00a0<\/strong>[Nintendo, 2014, Nintendo Wii U]<\/em><\/p>\n

Mario Kart 8 won\u2019t win any awards for innovation. \u00a0It\u2019s been a gradually process of iteration since the first game power slided onto the Super Nintendo 21 years ago. \u00a0And yet\u00a0Mario Kart 8<\/em>\u00a0is so supremely polished in its presentation, so generous in its content and so endlessly fun to play, it easily became the most popular game on both the Wii U and the Nintendo Switch.\u00a0 Nintendo EAD have crafted a visually stunning game that wowed fans with its butter smooth frame rate, colourful racing tracks and hilariously animated kart racers. \u00a0An enduring video game meme from 2014 was the infamous Luigi death stare that he fires off when he blasts his hapless opponents with turtle shells.\u00a0 A\u00a0game that oozes character and charm.<\/p>\n

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54.\u00a0 Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled\u00a0<\/strong>[Beenox, 2019, Playstation 4]<\/em><\/p>\n

This might be blasphemous but after pouring hours and hours of time into Beenox’s excellent Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled<\/em>, I think it might be the better kart racer than\u00a0Mario Kart 8<\/em>.\u00a0 Sure it doesn’t have a patch on the cast of characters on offer in Nintendo’s legendary racer, but the level design and the finesse required to master its triple-boost drifting mechanic makes it a more enjoyable experience for me.<\/p>\n

Nitro Fueled<\/em> has also been absurdly generous with the amount of content on offer, with not just an initial massive selection of karts and tracks but new monthly content that could be unlocked\u00a0post-launch, by playing the daily\/weekly\/monthly challenges.<\/p>\n

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53.\u00a0 Bayonetta 2\u00a0<\/strong>[Platinum Games, 2014,\u00a0Nintendo Wii U]<\/em><\/p>\n

After the poor sales of the original game and indifference from prospective publishers, we never thought we\u2019d get a\u00a0Bayonetta 2<\/i>. \u00a0Salvation came from the unlikeliest source \u2013 Nintendo, who invested in the game as an exclusive for the Wii U. \u00a0I\u2019m glad they did however as\u00a0Bayonetta 2<\/em>\u00a0shows Platinum Games at their creative best.<\/p>\n

For the uninitiated,\u00a0Bayonetta<\/em>\u00a0is a sort of spiritual successor to\u00a0Devil May Cry<\/em>\u00a0and the reigning queen of spectacle in the action game genre. \u00a0The first level of the game has the eponymous witch standing on the back of a fighter jet, battling demons from another dimension as a hailstorm of bullets and explosions envelope the entire city. \u00a0I repeat \u2013 thats the\u00a0first<\/em>\u00a0level. \u00a0It only gets crazier from there.<\/p>\n

Bayonetta 2<\/em>, like the original, is a game with a highly sexualized and fetishistic tone that is mixed with religious and spiritual iconography. \u00a0Bayonetta herself is an all-conquering, take-no-names bad ass who has gun-stilettos and casually goes about her business whooping ass and taking down skyscraper sized inter-dimensional demons.<\/p>\n

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52.\u00a0 The Last Guardian\u00a0<\/strong>[Sony Interactive Entertainment, 2016, Playstation 4]<\/em><\/p>\n

It was delayed for years and years.\u00a0 It was in development for nearly a decade.\u00a0 No one knew whether it would ever see the light of day.\u00a0 But in 2016 we finally got\u00a0The Last Guardian<\/em>, the long awaited successor to\u00a0Shadow of the Colossus<\/em>.\u00a0 The game’s art style reflects its long development cycle.\u00a0 Trico looks and animates impressively but some of the environments straight up look like an early PS3 game.<\/p>\n

But what matter is that they finished the game and it matches the same emotional heights that players experienced with\u00a0Ico\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Shadow of the Colossus<\/em>.\u00a0 An ambitious game that offers an experience like very little else out there.<\/p>\n

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51.\u00a0 Ori and the Blind Forest\u00a0<\/strong>[Moon Studios, 2015, Xbox One]<\/em><\/p>\n

One of the most gorgeous games of the year was Moon Studios\u2019\u00a0Ori and the Blind Forest<\/em>. \u00a0This Metroid-vania style game starts off as a simple platformer before gradually unlocking new powers and abilities, throwing the player headlong into a challenging, gauntlet of levels\u00a0whose difficulty belies the game\u2019s genial art style.<\/p>\n

A long awaited sequel is just around the corner in 2020.<\/p>\n

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50.\u00a0 Dragon Quest VIII\u00a0<\/strong>[Square Enix, 2017, Nintendo 3DS]<\/em><\/p>\n

Ask fans of the legendary\u00a0Dragon Quest<\/em>\u00a0series which is the greatest and most accessible game and they’ll probably tell you either VIII or XI.\u00a0 Both have fantastic stories and an incredible cast of characters.\u00a0 For those who want to check out VIII, the best way to experience the game is the recent 3DS version which takes the already great PS2 original, and vastly improves it with a number of significant quality of life improvements including the removal of random enemy encounters, a fast-battle option, easier access to quick travel, an improved alchemy system and some additional balancing of enemy difficulty.<\/p>\n

Dragon Quest VIII<\/em> is a superb JRPG that features a brilliant central cast, a memorable villain and some of the most enjoyable turn based combat you can find in the genre.<\/p>\n

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49.\u00a0 The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening\u00a0<\/strong>[Nintendo, 2019, Nintendo Switch]<\/em><\/p>\n

The Legend of Zelda: Link\u2019s Awakening<\/em>\u00a0is a remake of the 1993 Gameboy Zelda title, a top-down 2D Zelda that plays in a similar vein to\u00a0A Link To The Past\u00a0<\/em>on the Super Nintendo.\u00a0 The game has received a substantial graphical overhaul but beyond that,\u00a0Link\u2019s Awakening<\/em>\u00a0is actually more or less faithful to the design of the original.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an enormous feat of game design by Nintendo\u2019s developers from the early Nineties that this game still holds up as well as it does.\u00a0 It\u2019s not merely \u2018playable\u2019, its unreservedly fun and the balance of accessibility and difficulty doesn\u2019t feel out of place when compared to modern action RPG standards.<\/p>\n

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48.\u00a0 Tekken 7\u00a0<\/strong>[Bandai Namco, 2017, Playstation 4]<\/em><\/p>\n

I used to love the Tekken <\/em>series on the original Playstation but I’d fallen off the bandwagon and hadn’t really played much of the series since\u00a0Tekken Tag Tournament<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0Tekken 7<\/em> is a great jumping in point for anyone in a similar position.\u00a0 The game has an absolutely massive roster of fighters with most of my favourites from the previous games.\u00a0 It also is terrific nostalgic trip –\u00a0every<\/em> single cutscene from the previous six games are accessible as an Extras bonus.<\/p>\n

Most importantly of all,\u00a0Tekken 7<\/em> is just plain fun to play and very accesible.\u00a0 It has a decent story mode involving the never battle between the Mishima clan, a very active online community and plenty of customizable gear for your characters.\u00a0 If you shell out for the DLC you can also play Tekken Bowl!<\/p>\n

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47.\u00a0 Cuphead\u00a0<\/strong>[Studio MDHR, 2017, Xbox One]<\/em><\/p>\n

The first thing that has to be said about\u00a0Cuphead<\/em>\u00a0is that it looks like a work of art.\u00a0 Drawing inspiration from the art style of animated cartoons from the Nineteen Thirties, StudioMDHR absolutely nailed their visual and animation ambitions.\u00a0 If it takes four years to get\u00a0Cuphead\u00a0<\/em>to look and run like a playable\u00a0Steamboat Willie<\/em>\u00a0then so be it.<\/p>\n

Famously, the game is absolutely hard as nails.\u00a0 In some ways, this seems a pity.\u00a0 The game looks so gorgeous that I\u2019d\u00a0prefer as many people as possible see every single stage that the developers cooked up.\u00a0 I still think the game should have a casual mode for that very reason.<\/p>\n

But if you\u2019re up for the challenge,\u00a0Cuphead<\/em>\u00a0is a delight.\u00a0 It is absolutely as brutally hard and unforgiving as you\u2019ve heard, but the controls are pixel perfect,\u00a0there are unlimited lives and you respawn after death in just a fraction of a second.<\/p>\n

Cuphead<\/em>, particularly the later levels,\u00a0is a masochistic but enjoyable war of attrition where you record progress in inches, die a hell of a lot, and learn each level slowwwly.\u00a0 What feels impossible at first, becomes achievable over time.\u00a0 StudioMDHR keeps you on your toes by changing up the boss animations and the attack patterns too which helps keep things fresh.<\/p>\n

It was a long time coming but worth the wait.<\/p>\n

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46.\u00a0 Pikmin 3\u00a0<\/strong>[Nintendo, 2013, Nintendo Wii U]<\/em><\/p>\n

Despite being a proud Gamecube owner, the\u00a0Pikmin<\/em>\u00a0series had somehow passed me by in the early 2000s.\u00a0 I\u2019m glad I finally had a chance to get on board with\u00a0Pikmin 3<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The game has all the charm and quirks you\u2019d expect of a Nintendo real time strategy game.\u00a0 You control the eponymous Pikmin as they explore alien planets, fighting off weird bug eyed insects and collecting food and supplies for your stranded astronauts.<\/p>\n

It has boundless charm for days and its been way too long since Miyamoto made mention of a\u00a0Pikmin 4<\/em> in development.\u00a0 Where is it Nintendo?<\/p>\n

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45.\u00a0 Hotline Miami\u00a0<\/strong>[Dennaton Games, 2013, Playstation 3]<\/em><\/p>\n

Hotline Miami<\/em> probably has the best soundtrack of any game in the past decade.\u00a0 Well, maybe not\u00a0the<\/em> best, but its up there.\u00a0 There was nothing better in 2013 than cranking the pulse pounding synth soundtrack on this game and tackling its deviously challenging shoot ’em up challenges which almost played out like a puzzle game.\u00a0 Towards the later stages, you really had to master your movement and accuracy with almost no room for error.<\/p>\n

Hotline Miami\u00a0<\/em>was a hyper-stylized,\u00a0thrilling top-down shooter and one of the best of its kind in the 2010s.\u00a0 The sequel is no slouch either.<\/p>\n

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44.\u00a0 Fire Emblem: Three Houses\u00a0<\/strong>[Intelligent Systems, 2019, Nintendo Switch]<\/em><\/p>\n

It’s pretty incredible to see the huge upswing in popularity\u00a0Fire Emblem<\/em> has had ever since the series hit it big internationally with\u00a0Fire Emblem Awakening<\/em>.\u00a0 The latest instalment on the Nintendo Switch,\u00a0Three Houses<\/em>, is the grandest version of the game yet.<\/p>\n

The core turn-based strategy game is still at the beating heart of the game but it has sharply increased the sophistication and fidelity of the art style.\u00a0 There’s now a multitude of additional options to customize the game experience to your personal liking (options for toggling perma-death, auto-movement etc) as well as\u00a0a storyline that is centered around teaching at a college, which now comprises a substantial portion of the gameplay and makes\u00a0Three Houses<\/em> feel like a cross between traditional\u00a0Fire Emblem<\/em> and the\u00a0Persona<\/em> series.<\/p>\n

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43.\u00a0 Destiny\u00a0<\/strong>[Bungie, 2014, Playstation 4]<\/em><\/p>\n

At launch, when I anticipated playing some magical hybrid of\u00a0Mass Effect, Halo<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0World of Warcraft<\/em>, I felt crushingly disappointed with what I got. \u00a0A terrible story, forgettable characters and four barren planets that suggested a game that would have limited replayability.<\/p>\n

Over a hundred hours of gaming later and its safe to say I\u2019ve been hooked by the peerless shooting mechanics and the rewarding loot mechanics. \u00a0The game is a weird mix of skill (in combat), planning (which activities you do daily to harvest the necessary Ascendant materials) and luck (the dreaded RNGesus who randomly doles out new weapons). \u00a0Bungie have made substantial improvements to the game over time which have made it even better, with greater content and accessibility.<\/p>\n

At launch I wrote a review and rated this game 2 stars. \u00a0I haven\u2019t been able to stop playing since. \u00a0Destiny<\/em>\u00a0is one of the most devisive games I can ever recall. \u00a0I was once one of the detractors. \u00a0Now, I\u2019m a believer. \u00a0Destiny<\/em>\u00a0wasn\u2019t quite what I thought it would be, but Bungie still ended up crafting a memorable experience.<\/p>\n

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42.\u00a0 Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End\u00a0<\/strong>[Naughty Dog, 2016, Playstation 4]<\/em><\/p>\n

Naughty Dog\u2019s final chapter to its popular\u00a0Uncharted<\/em>\u00a0series was a fitting send off. \u00a0Graphically, it stands head and shoulders above its peers. \u00a0There is no game on home consoles that looks as lush, detailed and vibrant as the world Naughty Dog have created. \u00a0Those same production values also carry across to the superb story telling, voice acting and art design which genuinely rivals the output of Hollywood blockbusters.<\/p>\n

Gameplay wise, Naughty Dog didn\u2019t rest on their laurels and made\u00a0Uncharted 4<\/em>\u00a0the most entertaining game in the series to date. \u00a0Critics have occasionally been sniffy about the\u00a0Uncharted\u00a0<\/em>games\u00a0as being a matter of style-over-substance. \u00a0With\u00a0Uncharted 4<\/em>, Naughty Dog has taken some steps to address this by significantly expanded the scale of the levels, giving the player greater flexibility to explore the environments as well as introducing some additional stealth-oriented mechanics to tackle the myriad of enemies. \u00a0Of course, the signature bombastic set pieces remain a feature of\u00a0Uncharted<\/em>\u00a0and some of the craziest action sequences (the motor cycle chase sequence in Panama) can be counted amongst the best in the series.<\/p>\n

Explosions, chases, hidden treasure and sinister enemies. \u00a0Uncharted 4<\/em>\u00a0is an emphatic final adventure for Nathan Drake and in case fans were wondering whether the series would continue on from here, the game\u2019s prologue gives us a pretty clear idea of where the game\u2019s future could lie.<\/p>\n

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41.\u00a0 Red Dead Redemption\u00a0<\/strong>[Rock Star North, 2011, Xbox 360]<\/em><\/p>\n

This open world Western from Rock Star has a tendency to overwhelm at the start.\u00a0 There is just so much to see and do.\u00a0 Yet despite the scale of the environment, there is plenty of care that has gone into the minutiae of the world with dozens of secrets to unlock and some wonderfully imaginative side quests and characters.\u00a0 The highlight of the game for me though is the memorable ending.\u00a0 Although most people should be able to pick what will happen, it makes it no less thought provoking or interesting to experience.\u00a0 I only wish more games would put the time into delivering such a satisfying closure.<\/p>\n

On a final note, the soundtrack is also of an uncommonly high standard.<\/p>\n

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40.\u00a0 Horizon: Zero Dawn\u00a0<\/strong>[Guerrilla Games, 2017, Playstation 4]<\/em><\/p>\n

I think the concept art (pictured above) sells the game better than I ever could.\u00a0 Imagine being a crossbow wielding warrior on horseback, drawing your weapon on a gigantic mechanical\u00a0sabre-tooth tiger in a post apocalyptic planet Earth.\u00a0 This is why we play video games, right?<\/p>\n

Guerilla Games dreamed big with the proof of concept for their ambitious new title and happily,\u00a0it delivered the goods.\u00a0\u00a0Horizon<\/em>\u00a0draws players into a gorgeous future-Earth landscape (its my pick for best looking game of 2017) and tasks players with guiding an orphaned outcast named Aloy through a world populated by mechanical dinosaurs and warring tribes of humans.<\/p>\n

I like pretty much everything about\u00a0Horizon<\/em>.\u00a0 The characters and world building in this game is a refreshing change from the video game norm.\u00a0 The combat is absolutely amazing and really comes into its own with some of the later battles with the larger beasts which take\u00a0a lot<\/em>\u00a0to bring down.\u00a0 The difficulty curve is just right.\u00a0 Lastly, it spins a good yarn, with a story that asks many questions and actually answers most of them by the time the credits rolled.<\/p>\n

Horizon: Zero Dawn<\/em>\u00a0deserves every bit of success that comes its way.\u00a0 I look forward to the next chapter immensely.<\/p>\n

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39.\u00a0 Inside\u00a0<\/strong>[Playdead, 2016,\u00a0Playstation 4]<\/em><\/p>\n

Very few video games know what to do with their ending. \u00a0Inside<\/em>\u00a0is that rare instance where the ending makes the game. \u00a0You\u00a0have<\/em>\u00a0to experience it unspoiled.<\/p>\n

Inside<\/em>\u00a0has a similar wordless and monochromatic aesthetic to its predecessor\u00a0Limbo<\/em> (okay, there\u2019s a smidge of colour in there) and trusts the player to work out what it is going on for themselves both with the gameplay and with the narrative. \u00a0There are also simple platform and box-shifting puzzles not unlike\u00a0Limbo<\/em>. \u00a0And had that been the entire game, I think they still had something that would be fondly remembered and appreciated.<\/p>\n

But its that final act, which turns the game on its head and goes in a direction I can\u2019t really ever recall seeing in a game before that truly makes it something special. \u00a0It\u2019s hard to fully express just how memorable it is without giving the game away. \u00a0Needless to say, if you didn\u2019t play\u00a0Inside\u00a0<\/em>in 2016, you should definitely do so and you should go into the experience knowing as little as possible. \u00a0It\u2019s weird, broody and quite wonderful.<\/p>\n

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38.\u00a0 Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze\u00a0<\/strong>[Retro Studios, 2014, Nintendo Wii U]<\/em><\/p>\n

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze<\/em>\u00a0is the outstanding successor to Donkey Kong Country Returns<\/em> and is arguably the benchmark for 2D platformers on both the Nintendo Wii U and Nintendo Switch.\u00a0 The game has tight and responsive controls, excellent level design that is challenging but not punishing and honestly the best bosses ever designed in the genre.\u00a0 If other platform games could move away from the “3 hits and they’re dead” boss design popularized by Super Mario Bros<\/em> and take a page out of Tropical Freeze<\/em>‘s playbook, I would be one happy camper.<\/p>\n

Honestly, this game is just about perfect when it comes to 2D platforming and there’s a growing sense of anxiety around the continued silence from Retro Studios since this game’s release.\u00a0 Is the studio in trouble?\u00a0 Surely a new chapter must be on the horizon eventually?<\/p>\n

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37.\u00a0 Fez\u00a0<\/strong>[Polytron, 2012, Xbox 360]<\/em><\/p>\n

Phil Fish\u2019s long delayed indie platformer finally saw its release in 2012 and happily, it was every bit as good as we all hoped.\u00a0 The game has a charming art style and catchy soundtrack that makes\u00a0Fez\u00a0<\/em>feel like a throwback to games of yesteryear.\u00a0 But even though the game clearly wears its influence on its sleeve from a handful of Nintendo classics, there are few games that I can think of that compare to the experience of this strange, complicated and meandering universe.\u00a0\u00a0Fez<\/em>\u00a0is one of the most personal gaming experience that I\u2019ve played in a long time.\u00a0 It\u2019s really apparent that it is the vision and design of a single person and that person clearly has a love of exploration and is slightly demented and obsessive.<\/p>\n

Fez<\/em>\u00a0is unique, otherworldly and rewarding.<\/p>\n

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36.\u00a0 Splatoon 2\u00a0<\/strong>[Nintendo, 2017, Nintendo Switch]<\/em><\/p>\n

In 2015, Nintendo made this great online shooter called\u00a0Splatoon<\/em>.\u00a0 You played as these zany looking kids with colourful hair who could transform into squids (you heard me).\u00a0 Each level pits four on four as they engage in the mother of all paintball contests.\u00a0 The whole thing played great, was coated in this quite magnificent Nineties aesthetic and it had an absolutely bitchin\u2019 soundtrack.\u00a0 But here\u2019s the thing.\u00a0 It was released exclusively on the Wii U which was owned by me and about a dozen other people in the world.<\/p>\n

The good news is that Nintendo bounced back and their new system, the Switch, is a roaring success.\u00a0 So it was only right that Nintendo published a successor to\u00a0Splatoon<\/em>\u00a0which has even more levels, new weapons and a bunch of new modes, to give the game the audience that it deserves.<\/p>\n

You should probably check out\u00a0Splatoon 2<\/em>.\u00a0 You won\u2019t regret it.<\/p>\n

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35.\u00a0 Uncharted: The Lost Legacy\u00a0<\/strong>[Naughty Dog, 2017, Playstation 4]<\/em><\/p>\n

Is this the last ever\u00a0Uncharted<\/em>\u00a0game?\u00a0 I\u2019m not so sure.\u00a0 In 2016,\u00a0Naughty Dog retired protagonist Nathan Drake in\u00a0Uncharted 4<\/em>\u00a0and with this spin-off,\u00a0Lost Legacy<\/em>, they\u2019ve given Chloe Fraser and Nadine Ross the chance to shine as the new leads.<\/p>\n

You know what?\u00a0 It works a treat.\u00a0\u00a0Lost Legacy<\/em>\u00a0was put together in just twelve short months (a phenomenal achievement) and what it offers is a lean, mean\u00a0Uncharted\u00a0<\/em>experience which might be just the ticket for many fans of the series who struggled with\u00a0Uncharted 4<\/em>\u2018s occasionally laboured pace.\u00a0 Exploring ancient ruins, discovering treasure, fighting goons and hanging off the side of moving vehicles.\u00a0 All the classic\u00a0Uncharted<\/em>\u00a0tropes are here.\u00a0 Only it takes half the time it usually does to see it through from start to finish.<\/p>\n

I thought I had my fill of\u00a0Uncharted<\/em>\u00a0but after\u00a0Lost Legacy<\/em>\u00a0I\u2019m not so sure.\u00a0 There are some great treasure hunting characters in the\u00a0Uncharted<\/em>\u00a0series.\u00a0 I think I\u2019d quite happily visit a few more exotic locales with them as they look for the next big score.<\/p>\n

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34.\u00a0 Super Mario 3D Land\u00a0<\/strong>[Nintendo, 2011, Nintendo 3DS]<\/em><\/p>\n

Super Mario 3D Land<\/em> is soooo good.\u00a0 It’s one of the few games that I think is genuinely enhanced by the 3D functionality on the 3DS, but no matter whether you play it with that mode turned on or off, you’re in for a treat with this fantastic collection of 3D levels that are amongst the finest Nintendo have designed.\u00a0 I don’t think 3D Land<\/em> gets the love it deserves because it lies in the shadow of\u00a0Super Mario Galaxy<\/em> and\u00a0Super Mario Odyssey<\/em> but honestly, it’s still one of the very best 3D platformers ever made.\u00a0 And just when you think you’ve seen and played it all – wham! – it pulls back to reveal that there’s a whole other set of more challenging levels that basically doubles the content.\u00a0 A game of both incredible quality and value.<\/p>\n

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33.\u00a0 The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds\u00a0<\/strong>[Nintendo, 2013,\u00a0Nintendo 3DS]<\/em><\/p>\n

This welcome sequel to\u00a0A Link To The Past<\/em>\u00a0is an absolute treat to play for anyone who ever played the Super Nintendo classic.\u00a0\u00a0A Link Between Worlds<\/em>\u00a0revisits the timeless, top-down, action RPG gameplay and gives it a modern twist with the wall-merging mechanic, non-linear design and fast travel.\u00a0 In short, it\u2019s the perfect tonic for anyone who misses Nintendo gaming from the early Nineties.<\/p>\n

Honestly, creating a spiritual successor to\u00a0A Link To The Past<\/em>, which I consider to be a perfect game, sounds like a fools errand and yet\u00a0A Link Between Worlds<\/em> ends up being a more than respectable effort.<\/p>\n

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32.\u00a0 Life Is Strange\u00a0<\/strong>[Dontnod, 2015, Playstation 4]<\/em><\/p>\n

Life Is Strange\u00a0<\/em>is an interactive and episodic mystery show in which two teenage girls, Max and Chloe, navigate their way through a turbulent week at the sleepy seaside town of Arcadia Bay.<\/p>\n

Life Is Strange<\/em>\u00a0is one of the first episodic video games that I can recall that genuinely had fans generating \u2018water cooler conversation\u2019 about the experiences they had and where they guessed the story would lead.\u00a0 There were some absolutely sensational storyline twists and the ending of Episode 2 & 3 in particular really helped to ensure\u00a0Life Is Strange<\/em>\u00a0drove strong word of mouth from its devotees.<\/p>\n

Developers Dontnod really take the \u2018time warping\u2019 concept that Max has and push it in interesting directions. \u00a0The game riffs a lot on the \u2018butterfly effect\u2019 theory and so choices that the player makes throughout the game both big and small constantly affect what happens in future chapters of the story.<\/p>\n

Quirky, heartfelt and with a bookish charm not unlike its protagonist Max,\u00a0Life Is Strange<\/em>\u00a0deservedly turned heads with its creative concept and solid execution.\u00a0 Mystery, murder, unexplained phenomena and new friendships \u2013 that week in Arcadia Bay had it all.<\/p>\n

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31.\u00a0 Super Mario 3D World\u00a0<\/strong>[Nintendo, 2013, Nintendo Wii U]<\/em><\/p>\n

Super Mario 3D World<\/em> is not only a terrific game in its own right with eye-catchingly colourful, expansive level designs that can be enjoyed by up to four players at once, it also introduced the Cat suit which is one of the best power ups Mario has had in a generation. Having the ability to scamper, climb and swipe like a feline is one of the most fun new ways to play as Mario and lead to some great levels that took advantage of this new ability.<\/p>\n

Super Mario 3D World<\/em> has some wonderfully designed 3D levels that begin to really test your skill in the later stages of the game and holds the distinction for being the most enjoyable multiplayer Mario platforming experience.<\/p>\n

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30.\u00a0 Celeste\u00a0<\/strong>[Matt Makes Games, 2017, Nintendo Switch]<\/em><\/p>\n

C<\/em>eleste<\/em>\u00a0is a platformer with rudimentary graphics and gameplay mechanics that could technically have been made twenty, even thirty years ago.<\/p>\n

But beneath the surface is a deep platforming game, which draws inspiration from the likes of\u00a0Super Meat Boy<\/em>\u00a0and speed run videos on Youtube, and the narrative package surrounding the game is a surprisingly thoughtful story about a young woman named Madeline who wants to reach the summit of Celeste Mountain, but struggles to overcome her anxiety.<\/p>\n

Video games can be many things.\u00a0 They can be toys and they can aspire to be art.\u00a0 To take a retro-styled platformer and wrap it around a storyline involving mental illness could have gone very poorly if executed clumsily.\u00a0 But I think\u00a0Celeste<\/em>\u2019s careful handling of its subject matter earns the game the right to go down the paths that it does.\u00a0 In fact, the way the game ties some of its narrative themes to its game design is particularly commendable, taking full advantage of the interactive nature of the medium.<\/p>\n

Celeste\u00a0<\/em>may look slight at first glance but it quickly reveals itself to be a cleverly designed platform game with plenty of warmth and wit in its storytelling beats.\u00a0 Don\u2019t pass up the chance to give it a go.<\/p>\n

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29.\u00a0 Resident Evil 7\u00a0<\/strong>[Capcom, 2017, Playstation 4]<\/em><\/p>\n

Resident Evil 7<\/em> is one of the scariest games ever made.<\/p>\n

After the wayward RE 5 & 6<\/em> had fans wondering if Capcom had irreversibly lost their way with the series, Resident Evil 7<\/em> arrived with a bang. The game boldly goes a different direction by introducing a first person perspective for the first time in the series and going back to basics with its setting. Steering away from the multi-character, globe trotting experience in RE 6, RE 7<\/em> puts the player at the terrifying abode of the Baker family, with a real atmospheric emphasis on horror over action. The results were incredible.<\/p>\n

Not only is RE 7<\/em> a memorably terrifying game in its own right, it has the added bonus of being fully playable in VR which takes the game’s scariness to a whole other level.<\/p>\n

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28.\u00a0 Yakuza 6: The Song of Life\u00a0<\/strong>[Sega, 2018, Playstation 4]<\/em><\/p>\n

Kazuma Kiryu, the Dragon of Dojima, has been fighting yakuza, singing karaoke and playing arcade games in the streets of Kamurocho for seven titles over the last thirteen years.\u00a0\u00a0Yakuza 6: The Song of Life<\/em>\u00a0is his final chapter.<\/p>\n

I have absolutely adored Toshiro Nagoshi\u2019s crime saga and nothing pleases me more than the recent success of\u00a0Yakuza Zero<\/em>\u00a0which seems to have introduced a whole new generation of fans to this franchise.\u00a0 There really is nothing quite like Nagoshi\u2019s incredible mix of crime melodrama, absurdist humour and appreciation for the little things in Tokyo \u2013 ramen joints, karaoke clubs and\u00a0whisky bars.<\/p>\n

Yakuza 6<\/em>\u00a0offers more of the same.\u00a0 It\u2019s not really a suitable game for newcomers to jump in on as the story assumes knowledge of the previous\u00a0six<\/em>\u00a0chapters.\u00a0 But for longtime fans who have enjoyed Kiryu\u2019s exploits for over a decade (i.e me), this is a brilliant final instalment that has all the ingredients that make a great\u00a0Yakuza<\/em>\u00a0game \u2013 a compelling mystery, hundreds of goons to fight, quirky humour, entertaining side quests.<\/p>\n

If this really is to be Kiryu\u2019s last stand (I can\u2019t quite believe it), I think Nagoshi has sent him off in style.\u00a0 What a series it has been.<\/p>\n

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27.\u00a0 Super Smash Bros: Ultimate\u00a0<\/strong>[Nintendo, 2018, Nintendo Switch]<\/em><\/p>\n

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate<\/em> is packed with a wealth of content and is a fine piece of fan service to decades of gaming history. At times there is so much to see and do that the game threatens to overwhelm you. But patience, persistence and the occasional look up on Google should ensure even newcomers eventually uncover the treasure trove that this game has to offer.<\/p>\n

Combat is quick and easy to learn. The beauty of the game is its accessibility. There\u2019s only one button for attacking and another for special moves. In other words, even a four year old can pick up and play Smash Bros<\/em> and have a good time. And yet although the game is simple to learn, it has an incredibly high skill ceiling which is why it has become one of the most competitive fighting games in esports circles.<\/p>\n

What started as a franchise that was a homage to Nintendo characters has expanded into something much broader. The roster for Ultimate includes many popular non-Nintendo video game characters including Sonic the Hedgehog (Sega), Pac Man (Namco), Ryu & Ken (Capcom) and Solid Snake (Konami). In that sense, its clear to see part of the reason for Smash\u2019s enourmous success \u2013 it\u2019s become a one-stop destination to pit dozens of classic video game characters against one another. There’s little doubt that Ultimate<\/em> has one of the greatest roster of characters ever assembled for a fighting game.<\/p>\n

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26.\u00a0 The Witness\u00a0<\/strong>[Jonathan Blow, 2016, Playstation 4]<\/em><\/p>\n

Sometimes, I wonder what it must be like in the mind of Jonathan Blow. \u00a0The man is a puzzle game auteur who has created some of the most intricate, high concept\u00a0video games ever designed. \u00a0He did it once already in 2008 with the incredible time-bending game\u00a0Braid<\/em>. \u00a0And now he has done it again.<\/p>\n

Blow\u2019s long awaited game\u00a0The Witness<\/em>\u00a0drew its inspiration from the popular Nineties puzzle title\u00a0Myst. \u00a0<\/em>Eight years in the making, the game is one of the most ambitious puzzle games I have ever seen created. \u00a0By refraining from including any text or instruction, the game teaches the player how to solve puzzles through symbology. \u00a0Each puzzle in the game uses visual language that builds upon a previous puzzle. \u00a0Over time, the player comes to learn and speak a language of puzzles. \u00a0Increasingly abstract and visually dense challenges become understandable utilizing a combination of symbols and puzzle algorithms that the game has taught the player. \u00a0It\u2019s quite extraordinary.<\/p>\n

Just like\u00a0Braid\u00a0<\/em>before it, Jonathan Blow has not just a handful of mechanics up his sleeve but dozens, possibly even hundreds. \u00a0Some of the puzzles involve pattern recognition. \u00a0Some make use of colour palettes. \u00a0Some use audio cues. \u00a0Some use perspective tricks. \u00a0Some use path-finding. \u00a0The rabbit hole leads down pretty deep with this game.<\/p>\n

Of course it goes without saying then that\u00a0The Witness<\/em>\u00a0can be hard and downright infuriating at times. \u00a0But a wise piece of advice that I frequently saw shared online for players stuck on a puzzle was to take a walk. \u00a0Simply put the controller down, clear the mind and come back. \u00a0The puzzle that had you stumped after you sat there staring at it for an hour suddenly becomes solvable in minutes. \u00a0And the feeling of overcoming a tricky puzzle you couldn\u2019t get your head around before? \u00a0There\u2019s nothing quite like it.<\/p>\n

One of the most mind bending but satisfying games to play in 2016.<\/p>\n

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25.\u00a0 Fire Emblem Awakening\u00a0<\/strong>[Intelligent Systems, 2012, Nintendo 3DS]<\/em><\/p>\n

Fire Emblem\u00a0<\/em>has turned into quite the franchise for Nintendo.\u00a0 The series is nearly thirty years old but its only in recent years that it has taken off in the West and become a million seller worldwide.\u00a0 With that success has come bigger and more ambitious sequels.\u00a0 Fire Emblem Fates<\/em> was released as three different full-priced games at once.\u00a0 Fire Emblem Three Houses<\/em> has lush 3D graphics and 150+ (!?!) hours of gameplay in its sprawling epic tale about three warring nations.<\/span><\/p>\n

But I think those games pale in comparison to\u00a0Fire Emblem Awakening<\/em>, the game that I think hits the happiest sweet spot in the series.\u00a0 It has the best cast of the characters, a simple but effectively told story, and a charming art style that still feels connected to the sprite animations from the earlier games.\u00a0 Don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed plenty of the bigger titles that have come out since\u00a0Awakening<\/em> but honestly, it’s the pick of the bunch.<\/p>\n

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24.\u00a0 Until Dawn\u00a0<\/strong>[Supermassive Games, 2015, Playstation 4]<\/em><\/p>\n

A hidden gem from 2015 was Super Massive Games\u2019 teen horror game\u00a0Until Dawn. \u00a0<\/em>Eight unsuspecting kids spend a weekend at a remote holiday retreat up in the mountains and find themselves under attack from a deadly masked killer with a vendetta. \u00a0Until Dawn\u00a0<\/em>is a cut above most \u2018interactive movie\u2019 style games thanks to its canny script, tight play mechanics and flexible storytelling which can potentially see the story play out with no survivors, everyone surviving or somewhere in between.<\/p>\n

I had a lot of fun with\u00a0Until Dawn<\/em>. \u00a0The teenagers each represent some fun and recognizable genre staples and subsequently I found myself really rooting for certain individuals to survive and almost willfully endangering others so they\u2019d get their come uppance. \u00a0Genuinely scary in parts and also unexpectedly funny at times.<\/p>\n

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23.\u00a0 The Banner Saga Trilogy\u00a0<\/strong>[Stoic Studio, 2017, Playstation 4]<\/em><\/p>\n

The Banner Saga<\/em> series remains criminally overlooked in my opinion. A tactical turn-based RPG that was originally produced off the back of a Kickstarter campaign, Stoic Studio\u2019s series draws the player into a gorgeous fantasy world with incredible Ralph Bakshi inspired artwork and a sprawling narrative that is filled with interesting creatures, cultures and landscapes.<\/p>\n

In the original game, the player would lead a caravan of villagers and warriors, desperately trying to guide them to safety away from the marauding Dredge. The play mechanics involved battling hostile enemies, deciding on food rationing, making choices on when to stay on the road and when to make camp, and lastly, juggling diplomacy with the various races and species that your troupe would come across.<\/p>\n

In the sequels, the size and scale of the game shifted to adapt to the ever-expanding narrative. There are multiple heroes, multiple caravans, intertwining stories and all new creatures and species to play as. It\u2019s a fine continuation of the foundations built in the original.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t quite put my finger on why The Banner Saga<\/em> series doesn\u2019t have a bigger following. It plays like Final Fantasy Tactics<\/em>. It looks like The Lord of the Rings<\/em> animated film. It\u2019s one of the best fantasy games going today.<\/p>\n

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22.\u00a0 Red Dead Redemption II\u00a0<\/strong>[Rockstar Games, 2018, Playstation 4]<\/em><\/p>\n

Rockstar Games\u2019 long anticipated sequel to\u00a0Red Dead Redemption<\/em>\u00a0is an epic in the truest sense of the word.\u00a0 It has been eight years in the making.\u00a0 It is rumoured to have cost over a quarter of a billion dollars to make and has over three thousand names in the credits.\u00a0 The fruits of this labour is an enormously detailed open world environment the likes of which has never been seen before.\u00a0 Even ignoring the hundreds of activities, side quests and hours of exploration you could do in\u00a0Red Dead<\/em>, the main story will take most players somewhere north of fifty hours to complete.\u00a0 This thing is absolutely gargantuan.<\/p>\n

I was very much in awe of\u00a0Red Dead Redemption 2<\/em>\u00a0right from the opening chapter.\u00a0 The production values are absolutely astounding.\u00a0 The wide variety of different environments \u2013 the snowy mountain peaks, the arid desert, the dense forests, the foggy bayou \u2013 all look extremely impressive running on the Playstation 4 Pro.\u00a0 Rockstar Studios are now well versed in creating convincing, cohesive open world environments and\u00a0Red Dead\u00a0<\/em>is no exception.<\/p>\n

Once the game loosens the reigns on the player and lets you begin exploring in Chapter 2, it really is a joy to just get out and immerse yourself in the world.\u00a0 I quickly realized that a lot of the game\u2019s systems \u2013 your hygiene, camp morale, bonding with your horse \u2013 are generally window dressing features that encourage role-playing life in the Wild West.\u00a0 Nothing in the game will actually break if you decide to completely ignore these trimmings.\u00a0 Its all there to provide the player with a sense of place.\u00a0 When I made that discovery, I found even though they weren\u2019t a necessity, I still enjoyed making time for Arthur to do these optional activities \u2013 fishing, gambling, singing around the camp fire \u2013 because I so enjoyed that feeling of immersion.<\/p>\n

One of the high points of\u00a0Red Dead Redemption 2<\/em>\u00a0is that not only does Rockstar have the ambition to tell a meaningful tale with genuine emotional weight and grativas about it, we have arrived at a point with technology that these characters are able to communicate subtle, nuanced expressions to the player.\u00a0 Just look at Arthur\u2019s eyes as it begins to dawn on him the type of man that Dutch Van Der Linde is.\u00a0 Or revisit a scene when\u00a0John and Abigail Marsden exchange verbal spars about his choice to remain an outlaw.\u00a0 We can see they have a heated but loving relationship not because they say so, but in their body language.<\/p>\n

When this game hits its highs, it is unmatched amongst its contemporaries.\u00a0 Arthur Morgan is one of video gaming\u2019s most brilliantly conceived protagonists and the grand adventure that he goes on \u2013 which explores themes of greed, corruption, family and of course redemption \u2013 is told to the player with a level of cinematic flair and sophistication that is finally beginning to rival its contemporaries in film and television.\u00a0 Maybe this isn\u2019t the video games industry\u2019s\u00a0Gone With The Wind<\/em>\u00a0but its not far off it.<\/p>\n

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21.\u00a0 Super Hot VR\u00a0<\/strong>[Super Hot Team, 2017, Playstation 4 – Playstation VR]<\/em><\/p>\n

When considering the potential for what VR can offer video game enthusiasts, \u2018an interactive recreation of the\u00a0Matrix<\/em>\u00a0shoot outs\u2019 is a pretty good elevator pitch if you ask me.\u00a0 This is exactly what\u00a0Superhot VR<\/em>\u00a0is.\u00a0 As far as I know, this is the first ever virtual reality first person shooter puzzle game.<\/p>\n

The mechanics work like this:\u00a0\u00a0the bullets in the world only move when you do.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>Say a level starts where you\u2019re in a stand off with three armed gangsters.\u00a0 You might fire your gun at the first guy, whilst dropping your shoulder in slow motion, watching the bullet whizz by\u00a0right in front of your face<\/em>.\u00a0 It you successfully dodged it, you\u2019ll slowly turn to your side and fire two more rounds at the other guys, dropping them both in one smooth, super cool action sequence.<\/p>\n

VR is an exciting new frontier that offers so much potential.\u00a0\u00a0Superhot<\/em>\u00a0is one of those games that delivers on a sliver of that.<\/p>\n

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20.\u00a0 Hollow Knight\u00a0<\/strong>[Team Cherry, 2018, Nintendo Switch]<\/em><\/p>\n

Hollow Knight<\/em>\u00a0was developed by a small Aussie studio but it represents probably the greatest value proposition for any game I played this decade.\u00a0 It was a measely $17 bucks when it launched on Nintendo Switch and for that you get an incredible Metroidvania style game with charming visuals and incredibly satisfying gameplay that lasted me around 40 hours.<\/p>\n

I was left in awe of\u00a0Hollow Knight<\/em> the further and deeper I explored the game’s cavernous underground worlds.\u00a0 Just when I thought I had seen all there was to see, it just\u00a0kept on going<\/em>.\u00a0 Some of those boss fights were an absolute bitch too and felt amazing once you beat them.<\/p>\n

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19.\u00a0 Clash of Heroes: Might and Magic\u00a0<\/strong>[Capybara Games, 2011, Xbox 360]<\/em><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know how they did it but Capybara Games, the creators of the excellent\u00a0Sword and Sworcery<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Critter Crunch<\/em>, created a variation on the match-3 puzzle game format that is so good and so addictive that it ended up as my favourite game of 2011.<\/p>\n

Two opposing players are given a limited number of pieces which they must navigate on a tiled board.\u00a0 You are allowed a fixed number of moves each turn and are given a variety of playing pieces, some of which have special powers.\u00a0 The object of the game is to simply strike your opponent until their health reduces to zero.\u00a0 It sounds stupidly simple but it is so addictive and well designed that I could lose hours playing this game.\u00a0 I\u00a0ended up playing this game’s 30 hour story mode over and over – on 360, on iOs, on PS3 and then again on Xbox One when the 360 version became backwards compatible.\u00a0 I am kind of obsessed with it.<\/em><\/p>\n

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18.\u00a0 Rez Infinite\u00a0<\/strong>[Enhance Games, 2016, Playstation 4 – Playstation VR]<\/em><\/p>\n

When it comes to recommending a killer app for Sony\u2019s Playstation VR, there are two choices. \u00a0For non-gamers, the Ocean Descent in\u00a0Playstation Worlds VR<\/em>\u00a0is the perfect introduction for anyone new to virtual reality. \u00a0For gaming enthusiasts, it\u2019s hard to go passed\u00a0Rez Infinite<\/em>, which takes Tetsuya Mizuguchi\u2019s fifteen year old Dreamcast classic and re-purposes it in virtual reality with glorious results.<\/p>\n

When revisiting\u00a0Rez<\/em>, even without the virtual reality perspective, it\u2019s remarkable how well the game has held up. \u00a0It plays and feels as sharp as it ever has. \u00a0There would only ever be a precious handful of video games released sixteen years ago that you could re-release into the market today but\u00a0Rez<\/em>\u00a0is one of those games. \u00a0It\u2019s striking wireframe, minimalist design aesthetic has aged well.\u00a0 The pulse pounding synth soundtrack still gets the heart rate going. \u00a0And the elegant, tightly designed game mechanic of chaining attacks together to unlock music beats still satisfies.<\/p>\n

Revisiting Area 1 \u2013 5 in Playstation VR is a revelation. \u00a0Each level is instantly recognisable to fans of\u00a0Rez<\/em>, from the distinctive running man boss in Area 4 to the evolution-themed level design of Area 5. \u00a0But the experience and sense of immersion is heightened by an order of magnitude when viewed through the lens of Playstation VR.<\/p>\n

What I think it boils down to is this. \u00a0When playing a game that has realistic visuals, it\u2019s still very easy to see the rough edges of what is effectively a first generation VR product. \u00a0In most games, your movement is generally very restricted by game designers for fear that the player will step out of the viewing field of the camera. \u00a0You can\u2019t really interact with anything except in the most rudimentary fashion via a Move controller. \u00a0But with\u00a0Rez<\/em>\u00a0it\u2019s different. \u00a0Because of the game\u2019s abstract design, nothing feels out of place or isn\u2019t exactly where it should be. \u00a0Using a Dualshock controller feels natural because that\u2019s how we\u2019ve always played the game. \u00a0It\u2019s a game that offers all the benefits of virtual reality and none of the negatives.<\/p>\n

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17.\u00a0 Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim\u00a0<\/strong>[Bethesda Studios, 2018, Nintendo Switch]<\/em><\/p>\n

I was very, very, very late to the party with Skyrim<\/em>.\u00a0 It’s one of the most popular fantasy games in a generation, is more or less available on every device known to man and somehow it took me until the Nintendo Switch version in 2018 to finally get around to playing it.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the thing with the real classics is that they have timeless appeal and that was certainly the case with\u00a0Skyrim<\/em>.\u00a0 Although graphically it may no longer be the benchmark that it was in 2011, the incredible vast and expansive world that Bethesda have made is so enjoyable to lose yourself in.\u00a0 There is just an astonishing amount of content when you look at the variety of character classes, side quests and activities you can do.<\/p>\n

As a side note:\u00a0 there’s no way I’d play the entire game this way but the Playstation VR version is an entertaining novelty.\u00a0 That opening sequence with the dragon attack is pretty amazing when it feels like you’re actually there in person.<\/p>\n

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16.\u00a0 Portal 2\u00a0<\/strong>[Valve, 2011, Xbox 360]<\/em><\/p>\n

Easily one of the funniest games of the\u00a0decade and a strong contender for game with the best ending.\u00a0 Portal 2 offers more of the mind melding puzzles from the original game and also more of the charm.\u00a0 The highlight of the original game was the mute protagonist\u2019s relationship with the passive aggressive GlaDOS.\u00a0 This time around you keep the company of Wheatley, a dim-witted robot companion voiced by Stephen Merchant.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a great tale, is full of challenging and enjoyable puzzles and as I mentioned before\u2026that ending is pretty special.<\/p>\n

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15.\u00a0 Resident Evil 2\u00a0<\/strong>[Capcom, 2019, Playstation 4]<\/em><\/p>\n

Resident Evil 2<\/em>\u00a0is a remake of the hugely popular Playstation One title which expanded upon the original game by including two playable characters \u2013 Clair Redfield and Leon Kennedy \u2013 as they fight for survival in a police station overrun by the Umbrella Corporation\u2019s zombies.<\/p>\n

This new iteration of\u00a0RE2<\/em>\u00a0retains the basic premise of the game, the two playable leads and the same distinctive setting, and then modernizes it for a 2019 audience.\u00a0 Capcom manages to thread the needle and successfully make a game that should delight fans of the original game and also introduce a whole new generation of fans to one of the best titles in its back catalogue.<\/p>\n

Not only is it successful, it absolutely blows any and all expectations out of the water.\u00a0 We can give the game some time and perspective to decide where it ranks in the pantheon of\u00a0Resident Evil<\/em>\u00a0titles but I genuinely think this game should also be in the conversation for being one of the best remakes of\u00a0any\u00a0<\/em>video game.\u00a0 It\u2019s\u00a0that<\/em>\u00a0good.<\/p>\n

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14.\u00a0 Yakuza Zero\u00a0<\/strong>[Sega, 2017,\u00a0Playstation 4]<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve followed the fortunes of\u00a0Yakuza<\/em>\u00a0creator Toshihiro Nagoshi for years.\u00a0 Back when he made\u00a0Super Monkey Ball<\/em>\u00a0for the Gamecube and wrote about his whisky habit in\u00a0Edge<\/em>\u00a0magazine over a decade ago.\u00a0 I\u2019ve played and enjoyed each chapter of his storied\u00a0Yakuza<\/em>\u00a0franchise which first arrived on Western shores in 2006.<\/p>\n

But every game series will go through its peaks and troughs and after\u00a0Yakuza 5<\/em>, a solid but hardly inspired effort, I thought Nagoshi-san had done all he could with the series.<\/p>\n

How wrong I was.\u00a0 By going back to where it all started and creating a prequel set in the Eighties,\u00a0Yakuza<\/em>\u00a0is back and as good as it ever has been.<\/p>\n

Yakuza Zero\u00a0<\/em>tells the story of how the Dragon of Dojima, Kazuma Kiryu, came to be.\u00a0 It is an absolutely riveting Japanese crime caper, filled with twists and turns and high melodrama.\u00a0 This is supplemented with an absolute goldmine of gameplay to enjoy.\u00a0 The basic combat is as crunchy and satisfying as its always been (slow motion fists to the face, using your environment as a weapon etc.).\u00a0 The side quests are some of the funniest and most outrageous I\u2019ve ever played in a video game.\u00a0 There\u2019s a real estate management mini game.\u00a0 A cabaret management mini game.\u00a0 Playable arcade Sega games from the Eighties.\u00a0 Collectable cards.\u00a0 A fight club tournament.\u00a0 Mahjong.\u00a0 Karaoke.\u00a0 Dancing.\u00a0 Dating.\u00a0 Whisky drinking.\u00a0 You will never run out of things to do in this game.<\/p>\n

But much like\u00a0Grand Theft Auto: Vice City<\/em>, one of the best things about\u00a0Yakuza Zero<\/em>\u00a0is the setting itself.\u00a0 No matter what you\u2019re doing, its made all the more enjoyable because its set against the backdrop of the Eighties with its incredible hairstyles, bright neon lights and fantastic outfits.<\/p>\n

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13.\u00a0 Marvel’s Spider-man\u00a0<\/strong>[Insomniac Games, 2018,\u00a0Playstation 4]<\/em><\/p>\n

At long last we have it.\u00a0 Another great\u00a0Spider-man<\/em>\u00a0game.\u00a0 A spiritual successor to Treyarch\u2019s\u00a0Spider-man 2<\/em>\u00a0on the Playstation 2.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know how long the development team put into making the swinging in\u00a0Spider-man<\/em>feel right.\u00a0 Was it a hundred hours?\u00a0 Was it a thousand?\u00a0 Whatever it was, the investment has paid off handsomely.\u00a0 Insomniac have brought to life a brightly lit and faithfully reconstructed digital version of Manhattan which the player can explore at their leisure by swinging around from high rise to high rise.\u00a0 You want to swing over to the Empire State Building?\u00a0 No problem.\u00a0 Did you want to wall-crawl up the side of the World Trade Center building or see the view from the top of the Avengers headquarters?\u00a0 You absolutely can.<\/p>\n

The graphics on the Playstation Pro look absolutely stunning and the orchestral score is exhilarating.\u00a0 The story told in\u00a0Spider-man<\/em>\u00a0absolutely nails the essence of Stan Lee\u2019s original series, as Peter Parker struggles to balance his time and attention between fighting crime, his relationship with Mary Jane and being a good nephew to Aunt May.\u00a0 Not only that, the game also includes a decent subplot involving Miles Morales, the heir apparent to the Spidey mantle.\u00a0 I really appreciated that the game avoided retelling his origin story and actually explored some new villains.\u00a0 Having said that, with the monumental success of this game, I do look forward to future iterations that could potentially feature the likes of the Green Goblin and Venom.<\/p>\n

Marvel\u2019s Spider-man<\/em>\u00a0is a sensational game.\u00a0 It is Insomniac Studio\u2019s finest game to date and is just reward for a studio that has produced some decent games in recent years that haven\u2019t received the recognition they deserve.<\/p>\n

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12.\u00a0 Tetris Effect\u00a0<\/strong>[Monstars, 2018,\u00a0Playstation 4 – Playstation VR]<\/em><\/p>\n

Tetsuya Mizuguchi\u00a0is a genuine video game auteur with an impressive resume starting from his early days at SEGA producing\u00a0Sega Rally<\/em>\u00a0titles to his recent work producing interactive music titles\u00a0Rez<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Lumines<\/em>.<\/p>\n

With\u00a0Tetris Effect<\/em>, Mizuguchi has brought the\u00a0Lumines\u00a0<\/em>formula to\u00a0Tetris<\/em>.\u00a0 In Journey mode, players run through a \u2018playlist\u2019 of stages, each bursting with colour and sound.\u00a0 Dropping tetriminos\u00a0produce a musical note so its possible for the player to provide a beat to the soundtrack as they play.\u00a0 This interplay of music and gameplay will be instantly familiar to anyone who has played\u00a0Rez<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0Lumines<\/em>.\u00a0 Each time the player clears thirty lines, the\u00a0playlist moves onto a new stage.\u00a0 The soundtrack changes, the visuals shift and the journey continues.<\/p>\n

Conceptually, it sounds pretty simple.\u00a0 What makes\u00a0Tetris Effect<\/em>\u00a0such a sensational experience is the ability to play the game in virtual reality and immerse yourself in Mizuguchi\u2019s light and colour show.\u00a0 The man has an incredible talent for composing music tracks that are emotionally engaging and meld with the visuals in a way that is genuinely affecting.\u00a0 Reading player feedback on social media, its not uncommon to find people who have been moved to tears by the\u00a0Tetris Effect\u00a0<\/em>experience.\u00a0 It is perhaps one of the few examples I can think of of video game induced synesthesia.<\/p>\n

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11.\u00a0 Rock Band 3\u00a0<\/strong>[Harmonix, 2010, Xbox 360]<\/em><\/p>\n

Rock Band 3\u00a0<\/em> came out in 2010, about a year after the plastic musical instrument craze crashed and burned.\u00a0 But I love\u00a0Rock Band 3<\/em>.\u00a0 It’s the biggest, best and most complete version of the\u00a0Guitar Hero\/Rock Band\u00a0<\/em>experience.\u00a0 This might well be the game I put the most hours into this decade.\u00a0 I have something like 500 songs downloaded for it.\u00a0 I imported the soundtracks from\u00a0Rock Band 1, Rock Band 2, Lego Rock Band<\/em> and\u00a0Green Day Rock Band<\/em>.\u00a0 For several years, this game was an obsession.<\/span><\/p>\n

It’s pretty clear this whole thing is now well and truly dead and won’t be coming back.\u00a0 After a few years had passed, they tried again with\u00a0Guitar Hero Live<\/em> and\u00a0Rock Band 4<\/em>\u00a0and they had absolutely miserable sales.\u00a0 That makes me terribly sad.\u00a0 My plan is to have a dedicated Xbox 360 hooked up in my garage so I can play this game still.\u00a0 I might need to start buying up more plastic instruments because who knows how long my existing ones will last.<\/p>\n

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10.\u00a0 Super Mario Odyssey\u00a0<\/strong>[Nintendo, 2017, Nintendo Switch]<\/em><\/p>\n

In any year other than 2017,\u00a0Super Mario Odyssey<\/em>\u00a0is my Game of the Year.\u00a0 Which just speaks to what a ridiculously\u00a0stacked software lineup\u00a0Nintendo had in 2017 for the Switch.<\/p>\n

Super Mario Odyssey<\/em>\u00a0is a sensational 3D platformer starring Nintendo\u2019s signature character and is a spiritual successor to the classic\u00a0Super Mario 64<\/em>.\u00a0 In\u00a0Odyssey<\/em>, Mario navigates a variety of different worlds, collecting moons to power his airship with his new pal Cappy.\u00a0 Each level is a wide-open sandbox style environment\u00a0where finding a moon or completing an objective can lead to the environment transforming and unveiling new areas to explore.<\/p>\n

Depending on how you look at it,\u00a0Super Mario Odyssey<\/em>\u00a0has only one power up for Mario, or fifty.\u00a0 The star of the game is Cappy, a sentient hat that Mario can toss onto enemies which allows him to possess their bodies and absorb their abilities.\u00a0 As you can imagine, the possibilities feel limitless.\u00a0 One could tell how confident Nintendo was in this new feature as they give you a goddamn tyrannosaurus to possess in one of the first levels of the game.\u00a0 It\u2019s a statement of intent.\u00a0\u00a0If you think this is crazy, just wait till you see what\u2019s next.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>What\u2019s next includes Mario transforming into a caterpillar, a bird, a bolt of electricity and even a slab of meat (!).<\/p>\n

The controls in\u00a0Super Mario Odyssey<\/em>\u00a0are razor sharp.\u00a0 The levels are superbly designed, chock full of secret nooks and crannies to discover.\u00a0 The fan service is reverent and taps into the series\u2019 rich history in a way that will enthrall anyone that has played a Mario game in the last thirty years.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the best Mario game in a decade.\u00a0 A must play.<\/p>\n

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9.\u00a0 Animal Crossing: New Leaf\u00a0<\/strong>[Nintendo, 2011, Nintendo 3DS]<\/em><\/p>\n

Animal Crossing: New Leaf\u00a0<\/em>is the most chill, crowd-pleasing video game of the decade.\u00a0 Like the other games in the series, it doesn’t sound like much when described on paper.\u00a0 You move into a new town.\u00a0 You get into crippling debt with a predatory raccoon real estate agent.\u00a0 Then you go about enjoying your life by hanging out with animal friends doing activities like picking fruit, fishing and furnishing your home.<\/span><\/p>\n

That’s kind of it.\u00a0 But it’s interwoven with about ten gallons of Nintendo Magic\u2122 and so it gets its hooks into you in a way where you blink and a couple of hours have gone by.\u00a0 The soundtrack, the idle pacing, the eclectic cast of characters.\u00a0 It comes together just perfect.<\/p>\n

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8.\u00a0 Astro Bot: Rescue Mission\u00a0<\/strong>[SIE Japan Studio, 2018, Playstation 4 – Playstation VR]<\/em><\/p>\n

Astro Bot Rescue Mission\u00a0<\/em>is a killer app for virtual reality gaming.\u00a0 It is, by some ridiculously large margin, the best game on the Playstation VR platform.<\/p>\n

Venture Beat games journalist Jeremy Horowitz turned heads back in September when he announced a teaser that the Playstation VR was going to have its \u2018Super Mario 64\u2019 moment.<\/p>\n

It seems like an absurd statement to make and an unfair burden to shoulder on a game.\u00a0\u00a0Super Mario 64<\/em>\u00a0is one of the most critically acclaimed and influential games of all time.\u00a0 It established and popularized analogue stick controls and 3D movement as we know it today.\u00a0 It sold millions of copies.\u00a0 What hope did\u00a0Astro Bot Rescue Mission<\/em>\u00a0have to compare?<\/p>\n

Having played the game since it launched, I think I understand Horowitz more clearly now.\u00a0 I think he was being much more literal about what\u00a0Astro Bot Rescue Mission<\/em>\u00a0accomplishes and how it compares to\u00a0Super Mario 64<\/em>.\u00a0 It is a 3D platforming game that has\u00a0incredible<\/em>\u00a0level design and ridiculously charming character animation.\u00a0 It gets right so many of the little things.\u00a0 The way the Astro Bots interact with the player.\u00a0 The pixel perfect controls.\u00a0 The jaunty music.\u00a0 The visually arresting worlds that you explore.<\/p>\n

All of it comes together beautifully and feels like a game that has that Miyamoto touch.\u00a0\u00a0The Nintendo magic<\/em>.\u00a0 After a session with\u00a0Astro Bot Rescue Mission<\/em>\u00a0(particularly stages like 2-2), it\u2019ll feel like you\u2019ve played a Nintendo platformer in virtual reality.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s that good.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s be real.\u00a0\u00a0Astro Bot\u00a0<\/em>will be lucky to sell a million units.\u00a0 It will only be played by a fraction of the audience that it deserves to reach.\u00a0 Its clear that at the current price point and with the current technology available (wired headsets, limited movement) that virtual reality gaming won\u2019t become a mainstream form of entertainment.\u00a0\u00a0Yet<\/em>.<\/p>\n

But when that time comes, I hope\u00a0SIE Japan and\u00a0Astro Bot<\/em>\u00a0are re-released so it can\u00a0reach that wider audience.\u00a0 It really deserves it.\u00a0 It\u2019s maybe the best designed game I\u2019ve played in 2018.<\/p>\n

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7.\u00a0 Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age\u00a0<\/strong>[Square Enix,\u00a02018,\u00a0Playstation 4]<\/em><\/p>\n

I love JRPGs.\u00a0 Well, I say I do, but if I’m honest, I mostly love Super Nintendo era JRPGs.\u00a0 Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana<\/em>.\u00a0 The classics.\u00a0 There was something about the later\u00a0Final Fantasy<\/em> games that\u00a0lost a lot of the charm and\u00a0mystique of those titles.\u00a0\u00a0As it turns out, I was simply playing the wrong games.\u00a0 Despite being a three decade old series that is revered in Japan, it somehow took me until 2018 to play my first\u00a0Dragon Quest<\/em> game.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dragon Quest XI<\/em> is very obviously a game that traces its lineage back to the NES\/SNES era of JRPGs.\u00a0 The game has a bright, vividly-realised open world but it paints its heroes, villains and creatures in the same broad brushstrokes that stir the imagination the way\u00a0Earthbound<\/em> or\u00a0Breath of Fire<\/em> does.<\/p>\n

The game is an almost perfect distillation of what made those old games so great and is also sprinkled with modern quality of life improvements (skill trees, fast travel, checkpoints) that make it hugely enjoyable to play.\u00a0 It’s one of those titles where everything just clicks.\u00a0 The cast is awesome, the storyline is engrossing and the presentation (particularly on the Switch version with the orchestral score) is outstanding.<\/p>\n

A modern day JRPG classic.<\/p>\n

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6.\u00a0 Mass Effect 2\u00a0<\/strong>[Bioware,\u00a02010, Xbox 360]<\/em><\/p>\n

We just want a gigantic sprawling space opera where we captain a spaceship of bad ass warriors, some of whom we occasionally romance.\u00a0 Is that too much to ask?<\/span><\/p>\n

Mass Effect 2<\/em> is a magnificent game and we didn’t know it at the time, but\u00a0it may well have been the peak for legendary software developer Bioware.\u00a0\u00a0Mass Effect 1<\/em> set the template for what this sci-fi RPG was about.\u00a0 Then\u00a0Mass Effect 2<\/em> perfected the formula by wiping out the clunky driving sections, cleaning up the combat and then putting together an array of some of the most loveable, entertaining alien sidekicks in video game history.<\/p>\n

The over-arching story of Commander Shepard leading a battle against thousand year old space aliens isn’t necessarily anything earth-shattering.\u00a0 Its everything around it that make the game shine.\u00a0 The cast of characters are memorable, with well developed stories of their own.\u00a0 Commander Shepard, particularly the female version, is one of the most enjoyable lead characters ever designed in a Western RPG.\u00a0 And the world-building is outstanding.\u00a0 You can have a great time simply conversing with your crew and exploring the Normandy and the Citadel.<\/p>\n

Mass Effect 2<\/em> appears to be a case of lightning in a bottle.\u00a0 Everything came together just right for this game and Bioware have since struggled to recapture the magical formula.\u00a0 It really was something special.<\/p>\n

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5.\u00a0 Super Mario Galaxy 2\u00a0<\/strong>[Nintendo,\u00a02010, Nintendo Wii]<\/em><\/p>\n

The Super Mario Galaxy<\/em> games\u00a0need to be playable on a modern Nintendo console pronto.\u00a0 It’s kind of nuts to think it hasn’t happened already.<\/p>\n

Super Mario Galaxy 1<\/em> blew our minds and seemingly came from out of nowhere in 2007 (seriously, the previews for this thing barely hinted at what was to come).\u00a0 Classic 3D Mario platforming applied to a series of tiny planets in space.\u00a0 Everything about that game was perfect – the controls, the soundtrack, the level design.<\/p>\n

Super Mario Galaxy 2<\/em> is to the original as\u00a0Super Mario World<\/em> is to\u00a0Super Mario Bros 3<\/em>.\u00a0 It doesn’t do anything too radical with the original template but it simply ups the ante with even more interesting concepts, challenges and welcome additions such as the Cloud Mario power up and Yoshi.<\/p>\n

Galaxy 2<\/em> feels like Nintendo developers flexing and showing off their awesome creativity and mastery of platform games.\u00a0 A decade later and not only are they best in class, no other developer has come anywhere close to what these games achieved.\u00a0 They are a joy to play and offer hours of entertainment.<\/p>\n

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4.\u00a0 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild\u00a0<\/strong>[Nintendo,\u00a02017,\u00a0Nintendo Switch]<\/em><\/p>\n

Breath of the Wild<\/em>\u00a0was an important video game for Nintendo.\u00a0 It\u2019s not an exaggeration to say the fortunes of the company rested heavily on the success of its latest Zelda title.\u00a0 The Wii U had been an absolute disaster for Nintendo and their new system \u2013 the Switch \u2013 was launching with only a handful of games, of which\u00a0Breath of the Wild<\/em>\u00a0was undoubtedly in the spotlight.\u00a0 It needed to deliver.<\/p>\n

A couple of years\u00a0later, its safe to say that the game did exactly what it needed to do.\u00a0 The Nintendo Switch is a huge success, selling nearly ten million units by the end of 2017.\u00a0\u00a0Breath of the Wild<\/em>\u00a0was a critical and commercial success, giving the long-standing series a much-needed shot in the arm.<\/p>\n

I put over eighty hours into\u00a0Breath of the Wild<\/em>.\u00a0 The game entertained and it surprised me from its opening minutes to the very final battle with Calamity Ganon.\u00a0 I played a ton of amazing games in 2017 but none of them were finer that\u00a0Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild<\/em>.\u00a0 It was truly something special.<\/p>\n

\"witcher3\"<\/a><\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0The\u00a0Witcher 3: Wild Hunt\u00a0<\/strong>[CD Projekt,\u00a02015, Playstation 4]<\/em><\/p>\n

No game was bigger, badder or better than CD Projekt\u2019s sprawling fantasy epic\u00a0The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The final chapter in the story of Geralt of Rivia sees the silver haired witcher at his very best, navigating his way around the enourmous and densely packed city of Novigrad as well as the surround farmlands and islands.<\/p>\n

The game is ridiculously generous with the sheer volume of content it contains. \u00a0There are\u00a0hundreds<\/em>\u00a0of missions, side quests and bounties for the player to explore and experience. \u00a0Better still, the game\u2019s storyline and dialogue is\u00a0consistently of a high standard and a cut above the usual fantasy RPG fare. \u00a0Even the most inconsequential sidequest or bounty taken off the beaten path still has interesting characters, an uncommon eye for detail and often a clever plot twist to keep players on their toes. \u00a0No game has been as ambitious or successful in its world building than\u00a0The Witcher 3<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The Witcher 3<\/em>\u00a0is one of the most impressive open world games in recent memory, rivalling the likes of\u00a0Red Dead Redemption<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Grand Theft Auto V<\/em>\u00a0with its enourmous depth and quality. \u00a0CD Projekt have been amassing a following of admirers ever since their first\u00a0Witcher\u00a0<\/em>title but there\u2019s no doubt that\u00a0Witcher 3<\/em>\u00a0is their coming out party marking them as one of the premiere game developers in the world today. \u00a0It is the highest selling game in the series to date and the best work that they\u2019ve ever done. \u00a0One of the first real classics of this console generation.<\/p>\n

\"lastofusthumbs\"<\/a><\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0The\u00a0Last of Us\u00a0<\/strong>[Naughty Dog,\u00a02013, Playstation 3]<\/em><\/p>\n

Naughty Dog proved themselves to be at the forefront of storytelling in the video games industry over the past decade.\u00a0 Their\u00a0catalogue of titles –\u00a0The Last of Us, Uncharted 3, Uncharted 4, Uncharted Lost Legacy\u00a0<\/em>– showed a level of cinematic craftsmanship and finesse that stood head and shoulders above their peers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of this suite of wonderful games,\u00a0The Last of Us<\/em> is their finest work.\u00a0 Set in a dystopian near future where society has collapsed after a viral plague wipes out most of humanity, players follow the fortunes of Joel and Ellie, a special teenage girl who appears to be immune to the deadly infection.<\/p>\n

The Last of Us<\/em> has outstanding production values that really bring the game to life.\u00a0 The voice acting by Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson are superb.\u00a0 Their chemistry as Joel and Ellie are the key to making this game what it is, especially when it aims for some emotional highs and lows that are pretty ambitious by video game standards.\u00a0 They are both wonderfully rounded, likeable characters.<\/p>\n

The gameplay itself, a combination of stealth and survival horror, is also no slouch and is capable of producing some genuinely tense and gripping moments.<\/p>\n

The final product is one my of favourite video games I’ve ever played.\u00a0 I think\u00a0Last of Us<\/em> is a genuine classic that will be revisited by players in years to come and\u00a0paints an exciting picture for the future of video games as a story telling medium.<\/p>\n

\"2016stardew\"<\/a><\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 Stardew Valley\u00a0<\/strong>[Eric Barone,\u00a02016, Playstation 4]<\/em><\/p>\n

A four year project built and designed by a single person, Eric Barone\u2019s\u00a0Stardew Valley<\/em>\u00a0is my favourite game of the past deacde. \u00a0Inspired by\u00a0the popular\u00a0Harvest Moon<\/em>\u00a0series,\u00a0Stardew Valley<\/em>\u00a0tells the tale of a glum jobsworth working a dead end office job who inherits a farm from their late grandfather. \u00a0The player moves to Pelican Town where they spend their time growing crops, tending to livestock, fishing, exploring caves and socializing with the locals.<\/p>\n

Conceptually there are plenty of games that offer a similar experience to\u00a0Stardew Valley<\/em>\u00a0but I can\u2019t think of any that are as well honed and compulsive to play. \u00a0The games oozes charm and personality, with the 28 denizens of\u00a0Pelican Town each having a distinct personality and story arc to follow.<\/p>\n

The day-to-day gameplay loop in\u00a0Stardew Valley <\/em>is an utter delight and what makes this game a masterpiece. \u00a0Waking up, feeding the chooks, harvesting\u00a0bok choy and kale, brewing pale ales, making goats cheese and\u00a0then fishing at the nearby lake. \u00a0Maybe some cave spelunking in the afternoon and then catching up with the mayor\u2019s daughter Penny in the evening on horseback. \u00a0That\u2019s a typical day in\u00a0Stardew Valley<\/em>. \u00a0When you factor in the additional variety that the game introduces by changing weather patterns, different seasons, time-specific festivals and events, constantly developing storylines with the residents of Pelican Town\u2026the game is absolutely packed with content to keep you coming back. \u00a0Which \u2013 it bears repeating \u2013 is an extraordinary feat considering that this is the work of a single person.<\/p>\n

Open-ended, lovingly crafted and constantly surprising, I didn\u2019t play a better game than\u00a0Stardew Valley<\/em>\u00a0in the 2010s.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 100 Greatest Games from 2010 – 2019 as rated on The FAT Website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":22641,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1803,3],"tags":[411,441,2618,396,1702,949,9],"class_list":["post-22751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-best-of-the-generation","category-gaming","tag-microsoft","tag-nintendo","tag-nintendo-switch","tag-playstation-3","tag-playstation-4","tag-sony","tag-xbox360"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22751"}],"version-history":[{"count":44,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22751\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22877,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22751\/revisions\/22877"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}