Go away 2020 we're still talking about the 2010s/GOTY 2019 thread for incredibly sexy people

[CitizenOfVerona]

Happy Holidays and New Year/Decade to my TNE fam-a-lam jam. Hard to imagine another decade is about to end and as of writing this, less than 2 weeks until Christmas. I thought it would be fun to talk about 2019 and the decade as a whole.

What topics do we talk about? Anything's on the table. What were some of your favorite games of the year or decade. Favorite movies/tv shows/books/music/CoV posts/etc. Anything you did outside of the entertainment world that you were proud of? Or moments you look back on fondly?


Where to start? When I look back over the last 10 years or so, games like Super Mario Galaxy 2, Pikmin 3, DOOM 2016, both Evil Withins, and Wolfenstein New Order/Young Blood come to mind. I feel like as gaming grows there is more of an audience for more real, gritty, story-driven and cinematic experiences, or always online 10 year roadmaps like Destiny. I love my PS4 but I felt that lack of Nintendo magic in my life as Breath of the Wild was the last new Nintendo game I bought until Link's Awakening a couple of months ago. DOOM and Mario Galaxy 2 are just pure fun romps that the industry needs to make more of. Wolfenstein New Order is a shining example, in my opinion, of how to balance a gritty interesting story with over-the-top fun gameplay. Of course I still had a great time with games like Uncharted 4, Bloodborne, Prey and Bioshock Infinite as well (though I can classify those games as "fun" as well).

I remember when I first starting getting into indie games as well. I remember first hearing about VVVVVV and that being one of the first indie games I ever played, alongside Mutant Mudds. The 3DS gave me access to the first Shantae game and I've been playing that series since. One of my all time favorites however is Hotline Miami. Between the gameplay and one of the best OSTs ever, it's a memorable gem that deserves it's praise...just not the sequel. Woof.

The 90's are now officially old enough for that style to be popular again. We got full on remakes of the first three Crash and Spyro games. We got a "not Banjo Kazooie" in Yooka Laylee which I love despite seeming like the only person who does. Bloodstained was a joy, and while I haven't played it yet, I've heard great things about A Hat in Time. Rayman came back better than ever with Rayman Origins and Bubsy the Bobcat even came back, remember that garbage? But who cares because Donkey Kong had two fantastic platformers in Returns and Tropical Freeze. Resident Evil 2 got it's long overdue remake, and it's just been announced that 3 is coming in April 2020, heck yeah dude.

One of the most distinct memory I have with a game is during college a couple of friends had the typical party house, and their Wii was usually always on with a copy of Smash Bros Brawl in it (last decade I know) so all we had to do was turn the tv on and pick up a controller to play. How many hours did we sink into that? Too many.

Speaking of which, I graduated college in 2012, shortly found out that money in a bank account can go in the negative (whoopsie), then eventually started a job that I still have almost 7 years later. One thing I'll never forget is wanting a loaf of bread from the local store and the cashier telling that their debit machine is down. I didn't have any cash on me, so the cashier said I could use the ATM, only issue being I didn't even have $20 to take out so I just had to go home with no food. As Dusty Rhodes would say, "I know all about them hard times daddy".

Switching notes, giant monsters returned to the theaters: Godzilla, King Kong and a bunch in Pacific Rim. Love these movies...well maybe not Pacific Rim 2. 007 celebreated 50 years in 2012 with Skyfall. Admittedly, I've been out of the loop on movies the past few years. Marvel and Disney made me tired of super hero movies, and I'm already a bit tired of Star Wars honestly. If I think back, I remember Dredd and John Wick kicking all kinds of ass, Drive being a great surprise, Mad Max Fury Road being insane, Toy Story 3 making me feel dem deels, Django Unchained being my new favorite Tarantino movie, and super hero movies, super hero movies everywhere.

Books are similar in that I'm not aware of many modern authors. I've mostly stuck to the classics the last couple of years. Agatha Christie, Stephen King, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Michael Crichton. Chapters had a buy 3 for 10 deal for ages with new books added constantly so I've read some really old classics like Journey to the Center of the Earth, Brave New World, A Farewell to Arms, among others. I finally read To Kill a Mockingbird, something I think everyone should read. That said, three books I've read from this decade are The Axeman's Jazz, Deadman's Blues, and the Mobster's Lament all by Ray Celestin. Highly recommended.

Looking back at this decade, lots to think about and remember. Lots of highs and lows. Tons of great games I've played, lots of memories with friends, lots of painful moments, not being able to afford bread. One last thing is I've discovered a new hobby in baking, which I think I'm pretty good at.

Didn't mean to write that much, oh well.

There's quite a few games this year I've yet to play, such as Devil May Cry 5, A Plaque Tale, Fire Emblem, Yooka Laylee and the Impossible Lair, and more. If I had to pick a GOTY, I'd probably say Resident Evil 2 even though that kiiiiinda feels like cheating since it's based on already kick ass game. Honorable mentions: Link's Awakeing and Cadence of Hyrule. Luigi's Mansion 3 was great fun though kinda lost some steam in the latter bits. Gato Roboto was a very nice snack-size Metroidvania. Kingdom Hearts 3 finally saw a release and was fun as a game but pretty garbage in it's story telling. But perhaps the best news of all: The Haunted Island: A Frog Detective Game's sequel just released. Okay, now I'm ready for 2020, pack it up 2010's, we've reach the peak.

So once again, Happy New Years to my ride or die forum crew.

 

[Juegos]

More like Thread of the Year, am I right?

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

People gotta post here in order for the thread to be good

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

Post post post

 

[EvilTw1n]

Even with BotW being such an awesome experience, I probably have the biggest decade-long story with Xenoblade, as a single-player adventure. It took half the decade to really appreciate the game. I can't think of anything else like that for me this decade.

On the multiplayer side, this decade was all about Monster Hunter. I went from spending most of my time sharpening my Wii remote FPS skills to making hats out of wyverns. It was a welcome change. There really wasn't much fun for me in playing TDM with randoms anymore.

Probably played more RPGs this decade than I ever did before. That probably traces back to Fragile Dreams. That game has always stuck with me. I'm sure it would feel clunky if I went back to replay it now, but the carefully introduced (and lovingly crafted) cast of characters, the art, the batshit anime plot, the music...that was probably the moment where I went "OK Japan, you win."

What else? I learned to enjoy beer this decade, stopped being a food coward, got closer to some friends I hope to keep for a lifetime, conquered a fear of flying, learned to ride a motorcycle, was introduced to more great music than I can think of, and played Super Metroid a bunch of times.

Things coulda been worse.

 

[EvilTw1n]

I suppose this thread wouldn't be complete without some mobile gaming talk. All of the promise of touch controls on the DS, and motion controls on the Wii, pretty much migrated to phones. What looked like the dominant force in gaming from 2004-ish to 2009-ish almost entirely defined our pocket computers instead.

That's pretty nuts, when you think about it. There was this absolutely massive new frontier for input technology, exploding on the most successful hardware of its time.

...and here we are. Puzzle & Dragons is where we end up.

Which isn't me attacking P&D. I actually made this post because holy crap, I played a lot of P&D. That game was utterly addictive. Dungeon crawling + monster collecting + RPG grinding oughta be outlawed. I wish I could see my playing stats, overall, because it might've been my most-played game.

But. It's still kind of sad that home console developers pretty much rejected these innovations outright. They wanted their damn clicky sticks, and by god, they got them.

 

[Karkashan]

Shoutout to the 3DS for being the most consistently played console of the decade for me on a year to year basis.

Seriously every year since it came out I put well over 400 hours into the damn thing at least.

 

[EvilTw1n]

I suppose the utter insufferability of the Metroid fandom is worth noting these past 10 years. Other M is the easy target (angry at the portrayal of Samus, morons calling it "2.5D" for years, then the inevitable "it wasn't a bad action game but a bad Metroid game"-sort of backtracking), but holy crap did the internet make it even worse for the ensuing years.

For years, people wanted a multiplayer Metroid. They got one, but not the one they wanted. Of course, that wasn't enough. It was the worst idea ever, Tanabe-san was now worse than Sakamoto, the series was shit, etc. Awfully harsh for something that was merely like Triforce Heroes - meant as a fun bit of fanservice to tide people over.

For years, people wanted a new 2D Metroid. It turns out it was the payoff for the aforementioned fanservice, but noooooope. We can't have nice things. Mercury Steam was involved, it was automatically trash, and what people really wanted was the GBA-like retread of AM2R. (Which was good! Perhaps the greatest fan-game ever. But it was a reskin of GBA 'Troid, while a certain group of "fans" steadfastly refused any new ground broken in M:SR.)

So we end the decade with a replay of the decade prior to this one. Retro will make another Prime to appeal to the limited fanbase who came out to buy Prime 3.

This isn't just a Metroid story, though. Noxious online bullshit was always part of internet culture; flame wars were always there. But shitposting essentially replaced op-ed content. To wit:

https://www.ign.com/articles/2009/12/11/column-nintendo-is-lazy-and-you-dont-care

 

[sjmartin79]

The Switch truly changed gaming for me. I was able to play console games without having to worry about hogging the TV. I could take full games on the go. It fit into my schedule. This was the game-changer I needed as I got older.

In the 2010s, I truly matured as a gamer. I spent more time appreciating the games, not rushing, trying to complete it 100% or as much as possible.
BotW was a game that just blew me away. Mario Maker capture my imagination in a way no other game had done before. Splatoon got me into online competitive play. And Platinum games turned me into a huge fan thanks to Bayonetta and The Wonderful 101.

 

[BobSilencieux]

Wait, we're really doing a retrospective on an entire decade now?! That's a lot of time to look back over. It's my thirties. At the start of this decade, I had a 14 month old baby and a girlfriend I hated being with. I still lived in my hometown and I still had 2 perfectly functioning knees and one perfectly functioning digestive system. A lot has changed.

Gaming highlights over the years have become rarer and rarer. I've very much fallen out of love with the videogame industry as a whole. An industry that I have followed since the days of bedroom coders in the early '80s, it has devolved into a disgusting cesspool of limitless greed on the one hand, and a quagmire of identity politics bickering on the other. Still, it has managed to pump out the occasional GOAT in the form of Xenoblade Chronicles and Breath of the Wild, along with some other true greats like Super Hexagon, Wonderful 101, Deus Ex Human Revolution, Super Mario Odyssey, Splatoon, Mario Maker, and DOOM.

Outside of videogames, this decade had given us the greatest TV show of all time, Breaking Bad, and one of my favourite movies of all time, Drive. Also: Grimes; Lucius; Chipzel. Having never been a particularly sporty person before, I have surprised myself by completely falling in love with Badminton, to the point where it is now my number one pastime, taking up way more of my time and money than videogames now do.

Really though, the one defining aspect of the 2010s for me has been my relationship with the Lady Silencieux, the greatest love of my life. We met in August 2014, started going out officially in the November, and four weeks ago, on our 5th anniversary, we made it super-official by going off to a little seaside getaway and becoming husband and wife. Yes it was a perfect day, and she is the perfect woman for me. She turns all seemingly serious gripes, concerns and unpleasantnesses into trivialities and irrelevancies. You want a picture from our wedding day? Of course you do.

 

[mattavelle1]

Ima be all up in this thread.............next week...........when I’m on vacation........at home I just need a break.

But I’m super excited to think about being sexy in this thread!!!!

 

[Atomic77]

2019 will be remembered as the year I returned to the Nintendo with the Switch Lite.

 

[Shoulder]

As far as games go, Xenoblade Chronicles was the game of the decade, and interestingly that was all the way back in 2012-2013. So in that 7 or so span afterwards leading up to this moment, no game has surpassed it. For the 2000s, it was Skies of Arcadia, and 2010s, it was Xenoblade Chronicles. And also rather interesting, I played those games towards the beginning of the decade rather than towards the end; difficult it is to top greatness. I do look forward what the 2020s hold for gaming as a whole, and whether or not any one of the future released, both known, and unknown will be able to join that pedestal of GOATs. I wish I could remember all the games I played this decade, but right off the bat, I can name a few that surprised me in being so good. One that springs to mind immediate was Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon. Talk about a throwback title with tons of nostalgia with a great soundtrack, and good ole fashioned gunplay. Games like that are difficult to find these days.

Another surprise, also shooter related was Max Payne 3. Whereas the previous two were more traditional noir-type games, MP3 took a more gritty approach, while changing up the landscape. The story isn't anything to shout about, but it got the job done, and of course the gunplay was fantastic as always. There are very few games even today that have such good gunplay as Max Payne 3. It's such a shame it did not sell to the levels of what the developers wanted. I'm also going to mention Need for Speed: Most Wanted because of the fun times we at TNE had in competing against each other. The hours we sunk into it were so satisfying, and rewarding. But I'd be ignorant if I did not mention Monster Hunter 3: Ultimate on Wii U. Another great example of just such fun times with all of you hunting, and grinding. Even as I own MHGU on Switch, it mostly sits idle waiting to be hunted. Perhaps I could change that for next year. Here are a few others that I have to mention, but don't have the time to go in depth of their greatness:

The Wonderful 101
Vanquish
Xenoblade Chronicles X
Breath of the Wild
The Last of Us
Call of Duty: Ghosts (honorable mention)

There are a lot of other games to name, but off hand this was what I could think of.

In other aspects of my life in the 2010s, where the previous decade was all about school, beginning journeys into meeting new folks, and of course gaming, the 2010s took a more reserved approach. By 2010, I decided I was going to study Civil Engineering to work in the construction industry as my thought was infrastructure was going to be a hot industry in the 2010s, and beyond. I never would've thought I'd be where I am today quite frankly. Back in 2012, I had graduated, and had an internship straight away, which only lasted into the summer, and then I went back to working part-time at my other job at the College for the time being. It was at this point where I went through a lot of internal changes, and struggles in trying o figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I had the degree, and I had the know-how, but did I have the commitment? I didn't realize it then, but later on, I would discover I needed outside help in order to kickstart my journey into where I am today.

This journey began in 2012 after my internship when I agreed with a good buddy of mine to train in the martial arts. I trained, and trained, and trained all throughout the next couple of years, absorbing everything I could, while also dealing with my own internal struggles, plus befriending a lot of other people. One of these people got the ball rolling into getting me setup with a Career Counselor as he knew something about me that I did not at the time (Thank you, Derrick), which I look back as one of the greatest decisions I've ever made. It was this that would eventually lead to getting the job I have now, and I could not have been happier. 2014 was quite the year as it was when I decided it was time to move out of my parents' house, and live on my own. Despite leaving home, and starting a new job though, there were a lot of hardships, mostly dealing with living with my roommates. I made mistakes while I was there, and it nearly broke my friendship with who was my best friend. We have since made amends, and keep in touch though, and gaming is of course what got us into being friends in the first place. During this time, I was also experiencing a lot of difficulty at work because I was so green at this, plus discovering a new approach into dealing with people that I had never encountered. There were more than a few mental breakdowns in the car to admit.

Once the latter half of the 2010s were starting though, things were starting to look up. I decided it would be best if I lived completely on my own, and have no roommates. So, I moved to a different area, and it was also at this point where I was offered a job within my company to work out of town for several months. I knew I had to take it, but I did not discover until last year from a coworker just how important that decision was. Lets just say that there was a short list of people that my boss wanted to send over, and everyone else said no due to family, and other reasons. I later found out that had I rejected that job, I probably would not be working for the company to this day.

By this point, I was in the mid-to-late 20s, feeling more established, and realized I was still feeling something was missing in my life: True Love. I bounced around a little bit, but nothing ever materialized. By 2016, I was hanging out with a good friend of mine who I had known since 2007 on my very first show I did, and we started connecting more in recent years. We went to air shows, movies, a car show, food events, and overall just hanging out more. By early 2017, I think I felt I was ready to move onto the next step, but it would unfortunately take a serious moment in my life to push forward. By this time, my grandmother, who was the last surviving grandparent, was not feeling as chipper as she used to, and it almost felt clear that time was not on her side. By the middle of January, her heath was fading more and more, but then there were days where it was getting better. I had to see her one last time, and it was one of the worst days of my life. I held her hand one last time, and said my goodbyes to her. She passed away a day later. A week later was the funeral, and I had previously mentioned to my good friend when and where the funeral was going to be, but I told her she didn't have to go. She ended up attending my grandmother's funeral, and was there to support my family and I. My grandmother never personally met her, but I do remember when I would go visit she would periodically ask if there was anyone special in my life. Every time, I said no, which was true, but had she still be alive today, I would've told her yes. I have found someone.

These last couple of years have been a roller coaster of emotions, hardships, and overall stress that had me really dig deep into what I truly wanted. I now know what I truly want is to be with future Mrs. Shoulder, and spend the rest of my life with her. Earlier this year, she sold her house that she lived in for 3 years (was way too small for the both of us), and we are planning to get married next year, plus also find a house, and then take our honeymoon to the Isle of Man. I hope to start the decade off right, and plan for it to be a catalyst of great things in the coming years.

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

@BobSilencieux

1) Congrats on the wedding you sly dog, really happy for you. Lovely pic you shared.
2) I feel you on how the game industry is these days. I've been playing older games lately, and currently playing Okami, and the games made with passion rather than $ in the publisher's eyes are easy to tell apart.

@Shoulder
I think I already congratulated you on the engagement but congrats again. I related a bit too much to your post, minus the finding a Lady Verona bit, but I too started a new career and had a bunch of stress with a roommates and work too. Started living on my own, etc etc you know the rest I'm sure.

I'll be sure to have a drinky-poo for the both of you.

@mattavelle1
No worries brother, you take your time. Time home with the family away from work is probably the most important thing in this day and age.



I'm going out to a friend's house tonight for a get together with a bunch of us. Unfortunately, I may be spending a nice bit of Christmas day by myself. It's calling for bad weather starting tomorrow morning all the way into Christmas day. So it's either gonna be 1) bad weather and I'm stuck, or 2) good weather and I work then go out and visit Dad Verona.

 

[Atomic77]

Game of the Decade Pokémon Sword System of the decade Nintendo Switch Lite.

 

[Karkashan]

My top 10 games of the decade:

10. Mass Effect 3
9. Batman: Arkham Knight
8. Bloodborne
7. Metroid: Other M
6. Monster Hunter 4: Ultimate
5. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
4. Fire Emblem: Awakening
3. Bayonetta 2
2. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
1. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

 

[mattavelle1]

Well what can I say, I like to be fashionablely late..........but right before time of being irrelevant!

Over the past 10 years, my taste and time for games has changed drastically. I went from buying a game a month when I had no kids, to only maybe buying a game or 2 all this year (don’t ask me to name them because I’m not even sure I bought a few this year lol).

Defiantly one of the biggest ways things have changed is I’ve went from paying and beating many single player games, to actively seeking out long term commitment multiplayer online gaming. Games I don’t have to change every month for, because my life has become extremely busy and I need stability and familiarity in my gaming. Being frustrated in life at many times is the norm nowadays, and that’s why I need this type of stability in my hobby.

Also making and having great friends to do this with has also been huge and there stability has helped me in major ways! I want take a moment to shout out to some of the best friends, gaming friends, and adult friends a guy could ever have @EvilTw1n @Juegos @Goodtwin thank you guys so much for making my past 10 years in gaming so much more enjoyable and I look forward to new great memories!

As for my games and this list will be kinda short but these have made the impacts on me.

BotW - The greatest single player game I’ve ever played! It came along at a time when I definitely needed to escape but it caught my heart in a way I wasent intenting or prepared for.

Monster Hunter from 3U to XX - The greatest multiplayer game I’ve ever had the privilege to enjoy with friends and be apart of! I LOVE this series, so much so it’s I still at one part of everyday contemplate buying a PS4 just to play the new one............and owning a Sony makes me shutter that’s how important this franchise is to me.

Splatooner - The freshest game I’ve ever played. Again multiplayer with friends, while I swim around in ink..........YES PLEASE!

Tetris99 - They should have never made this because a guy like me who has been playing competitive Tetris since Tetris DS, they might as well just given me video game crack!

Captain Toad - Shocker! One of the prettiest games I’ve ever played, but I’m a sucker for this amazing little puzzle games like this and it made a very big impact on me, and continued my love for the single player games.

Over the past 10 years these are the things in games / games themselves that have made the biggest impact on me.

Thank you CoV for this thread your the bomb! I hope I’ve done well to sexy it up!

 

[mattavelle1]

I know it’s 2020 I just read over my post and I have one more impactful game i left out.

Hollow Knight - My personal side scrolling BotW. This is the best 2D platforming game I’ve ever played in my life! It was super deep, super rich and very difficult and also one of the most beautiful and full of personality games I’ve ever experienced.

 

[sjmartin79]

So, I'm late to the party, but I had a few games that really stuck with me.

One of them is absolutely:

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
This was the first Zelda game where my experience was entirely different than anyone else's, and I love that. Yes, in Link Between Worlds, you could tackle the game in any order you wanted. But with BotW, it was an entirely unique experience for each person. I know Steve2 and I played differently, and the game was suited to both of our individual play styles. I love to talk to every person you could possibly meet and examine all my surroundings looking for any tiny secrets. Steve2 is more of the go-get-em adventurer with exploring coming secondary.

2) Xenoblade Chronicles
It took me 3 or 4 attempts to finally get through the game, restarting the previous times and then quitting, but once I got past a certain point, my goodness was it ever a game. Now I look back and can't believe it took me so long to find the joy in it all. The visuals were stunning. The story was fantastic. I put so many hours into it, and the experience stuck with me. Just wow.

3) Super Mario Maker
The first Super Mario Maker captured my imagination in a way no game had really done before. I kept coming up with ideas for levels, and I would spend an hour or two every night working on a level, taking 8 to 10 hours to design, edit, and playtest till I felt it was ready for the masses. You could do and design so many things with SMM. Nintendo hit it out of the park with that one.

4)Splatoon
I've never been an online gamer. I don't really play Smash. I don't do CoD. But something about Splatoon got me. Maybe it was about the painting instead of the killing. Maybe it was the colors or the characters. Maybe it was the whole package, but I was addicted to Splatoon in a big way. That was another that I played for at least an hour a night for several months. And the Splatfests! Oh my!

Honorable Mentions: The Wonderful 101, Pokemon Sword, Loz: Wind Waker HD

I could go on and on. This was a good decade for gaming!