Games of the decade! (2000-2009)

[JesterDK]

Ar! Looking through THIS THREAD (http://www.foxkei.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1057), and realizing that it's been a decade since 2000, I'm interested in hearing the games in the last ten years that stood out to everyone.

For an example of how far games have gone since then, I'm looking at a magazine from 2000 right now. The cover shows "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2" across it, ramblings about it being the game of the year, and a small section of "guaranteed hits" coming with or soon after the PS2 launch. Oh, and early previews of MGS2, which I think I should go reread after I post this...

But anyway!

You don't have to like them half as much now as you did then, but what games hit you or your friends the hardest over the last decade? What were or are your favorites from then to now?

[ChukoLiang]

1: Metal Gear Solid 3

Introduced me to online gameplay, and I lump it in with snake eater in that it introduced me to the MGS series.

2: Devil May Cry 3

Showed me that, if your characters are cool enough, you don't need a great story. Useful knowledge.

3: Metal Gear Solid 4

I bought a damn system for it, so...

4: Guitar Hero I and II

We all wasted SO MUCH time on that. It was fun!


I might add more later.

edit:

5: Final Fantasy VI. Believe it or not, that's the game that got me heavily into all the RPGs which came after. I would never have played disgaea, or phantom brave, or hell, possibly even Fallout if I hadn't played this. Yes.

Speaking of, 6: Disgaea 1 and 2 (still don't have 3...)

Yeah. This game is the most amazing and addictive RPG I've ever played. But then, I'm also OCD and have a lot of time on my hands. Yeah...

7: Persona 3. I never beat 4, but 3 was a GREAT story befuddled with twists and turns that somehow only make the journey that much more fun. Yeah, great times. Also, it led to some amusing conversations late at night ("That exclamation mark means they want to bang you!") when everyone was tired.

maybe more later?

[Fedaykin]

Damn, this is hard...



-Shadow of the Colossus
-Half-Life 2
-MGS4
-Knights of the Old Republic
-Bioshock
-Elder Scrolls IV:Oblivion


Amongs others.

[Grand_OoF]

Ohh...let's see...

Paper Mario - Nintendo 64
Kirby 64: Legend of the Crystal Shards - Nintendo 64
Spider-Man - Playstation/Nintendo 64
Megaman Legends 2 - Playstation
The Misadventures of Tron Bonne - Playstation
Chrono Cross - Playstation
Final Fantasy IX - Playstation
Sonic Adventure 2 - Dreamcast
Shemune - Dreamcast
Jet Set Radio - Dreamcast
Marvel vs Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes - Arcade/Dreamcast/Playstation 2
Kingdom Hearts - Playstation 2
Shadow of the Colossus - Playstation 2
War of the Monsters - Playstation 2
Sly Cooper and Theivius Racoonus - Playstation 2
Maximo - Playstation 2
Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil - Playstation 2
Snoopy vs The Red Baron - Playstion 2/PSP/PC
Okami - Playstation 2/Nintendo Wii
Ultimate Spider-Man - Playstation 2/XBox/Nintendo Gamecube
Skies of Arcadia Legends - Nintendo Gamecube
Super Smash Bros. Melee - Nintendo Gamecube
Eternal Darknes: Sanity's Requim - Nintendo Gamecube
Pikmin - Nintendo Gamecube
Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door - Nintendo Gamecube
Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg - Nintendo Gamecube
Donkey Kong Jungle Beat - Nintendo Gamecube
Super Mario Sunshine - Nintendo Gamecube
Resident Evil 4 - Nintendo Gamecube/Playstation 2
Viewtiful Joe - Nintendo Gamecube/Playstation 2
The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker - Nintendo Gamecube
Mario Kart: Double Dash - Nintendo Gamecube
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles - Nintendo Gamecube
Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes - Nintendo Gamecube
Soul Calibur II - Nintendo Gamecube/XBox/Playstation 2
1080 Snowboarding: Avalanche - Nintendo Gamecube
Gun - Nintendo Gamecube/Playstation 2/X-Box/X-Box 360/PSP
Mario and Luigi: Super Star Saga - Gameboy Advance
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance - Gameboy Advance
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories - Gameboy Advance
Astro Boy: Omega Factor - Gameboy Advance
Drill Dozer - Gameboy Advance
Elite Beat Agents - Nintendo DS
The World Ends With You - Nintendo DS
Sonic Rush - Nintendo DS
Phantasy Star 0 - Nintendo DS
Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story - Nintendo DS
Mario Kart DS - Nintendo DS
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Nintendo DS
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks - Nintendo DS
Henry Hatsworth and the Puzzling Adventure - Nintendo DS
BioShock - XBox 360/Playstation 3/PC
Batman: Arkham Asylum - XBox 360/Playstation 3
Blazblue: Calamity Trigger - XBox 360/Playstation 3
Dead Space - XBox 360/Playstation 3
Fallout 3 - XBox 360/Playstation 3/PC
Left 4 Dead - XBox 360/PC
Borderlands - XBox 360/Playstation 3/PC
Brutal Legend - XBox 360/Playstation 3
The Orange Box - XBox 360/Playstation 3/PC
Little Big Planet - Playstation 3
Super Mario Galaxy - Nintendo Wii
Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon - Nintendo Wii
de Blob - Nintendo Wii
Wario Land: Shake It! - Nintendo Wii
Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Nintendo Wii
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers - Nintendo Wii
Tatsunoko vs Capcom: Cross Generation of Heroes - Nintendo Wii
Klonoa - Nintendo Wii
House of the Dead: Overkill - Nintendo Wii
Wii Sports - Nintendo Wii
Zack and Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure - Nintendo Wii
Dead Space: Extraction - Nintendo Wii
Patapon - PSP
Dissidia: Final Fantasy - PSP
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII - PSP
Half Minute Hero - PSP
Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero? - PSP

[Umbrae]

Hmmmm, let's see...

Metal Gear Solid 2 and Tekken Tag Tournament were the only two games I had for PS2 for a long time, so those are going to be on my list.

Other notable games I can think of at the moment:

DS
Hotel Dusk

PSP
Jeanne d'Arc
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops

PS2
Ico
Shadow of the Colossus
Okami
Tekken Tag Tournament
Metal Gear Solid 2
Metal Gear Solid 3

PS3
Prince of Persia
Mirror's Edge
LittleBigPlanet
Metal Gear Solid 4
Uncharted
Uncharted 2

That's it for now. I'll finish it once I get home.

[GlassAdam]

Shenmue
Shadow of the Colossus
Knights of the Old Republic (and the sequel)
Jade Empire
Hotel Dusk (thanks for the reminder, Hombre)
LittleBigPlanet
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Halo: Combat Evolved
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

There's gotta be more, right? Hmmmm...

[WanderingMind]

1. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4

My favorite game of the last decade has to be Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4. It was only my second SMT game, the first being Persona 3 FES, but I loved Persona 4 from beginning to end. A very long RPG that blended dating sim elements and dungeon crawling, Persona 4 was done really well. Some of the best games ever are released near the end of a console's life, and this was one of them. It took everything from Persona 3 and made it even better. It might have looked the same, but I could tell that P4 was an improvement over its predecessor. I liked how I could control everyone in my party this time. I liked the soundtrack a lot more than P3 and it's actually one of my favorite gaming soundtracks of all time. Whether you like the plot for P3 or P4 more is up to you, but I liked P4's plot slightly more. It was an experience to play through the game without having anything spoiled for me ahead of time. I'm very grateful. So yeah, I enjoyed Persona 4 for the 90 hours it took me to get me through the game.

2. Riviera: The Promised Land

The game that made me a fan of Sting and the Dept. Heaven series. The game isn't for everyone, but by god, did I love it. Like Persona 3 and 4, Riviera combined elements from dating sims and dungeon crawlers. As the lone male main character in an otherwise all female party, you made your way through different areas as you tried to woo the other girls in your party. You could gain enough of their affection to get different endings. The battle system was turn based and the game required you to level grind items to get stat bonuses, but I had fun doing it. At least with the PSP version, the soundtrack was amazing.

3. Shadow of the Colossus

Shadow of the Colossus is one game that I would have liked to seen on the PS3 instead of the PS2, but I'm very happy with the way the game turned out. From wandering around the barren landscape to fighting the massive colossi, the game was nothing short of amazing.

4. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES

I don't usually marathon through games. Persona 3 FES was one of the few games I marathoned through from beginning to end. With The Journey and the Answer taking me a total of 137 hours, P3 FES is probably the longest game I have played to date. It took me almost a month to finish the game and I even cut a lot of my internet time just to focus on this game. I disappeared from Foxkei for a bit two years ago for this reason. Sure, there are a lot of things that Persona 4 did better, but it's still a really good game and I'm looking to the PSP version that's supposed to come out later this year.

5. Burnout 3: Takedown

I don't play a lot of racing games, but made an exception for this one. Crash mode was where the game really shined. Nothing was satisfying like creating a big accident in the middle of a busy road. Good times.

6. Tales of Symphonia

I didn't play this game until late last year, but this game was my gateway into the Tales series. Sure, Symphonia had a lot of cliches, but the presentation was great and had a lot of fun with the battle system.

7. Zone of the Enders: The Second Runner

I rented this game so many times, I lost count. Great combat system and very stylish. I'd love to see a sequel to this game for the PS3. It's a shame the game didn't sell as well as it could have, because it improved upon the first game in every single way possible, and it didn't come bundled with a demo for another game.

8. Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal

My favorite game in the Ratchet and Clank series. Blowing shit up is what the series has done best, which is what made Up Your Arsenal so damn enjoyable. I loved all the weapons that you could use. Some were pretty straigforward, while others were more creative. The game had a great sense of humor and was just fun.

9. Metroid Prime

I remember being blown away by this game when it came out in 2002. Until the annoying last area, the game did really well with the exploring and fighting. That's because the controls worked so well. Mind you, this was back when I played it on the Gamecube. I imagine that the game works better and looks better on the Wii.

10. Valkyria Chronicles

Even though this is the only game on my list that I haven't finished yet, I had to make room for this game. It was the one game that made me want to get a PS3 when I bought my system back in 2008. The most innovative strategy RPG I have played in a while, the game does an excellent job with storytelling and the game itself is fun to play. I'm looking forward to playing through the rest of this game later this year.

[JesterDK]

There are a lot I want to mention, but right now, I'm just going to put my "life-suckers" up here.

RotTKX- Played it for 61 of the first 72 hours I had it. I still love everything about this game so much. It probably wouldn't work half as well with most people, but I love the era and history, and the gameplay styles the game offers. Pure epic.

Morrowind- I am so glad this game doesn't have a timer on it's saves. I would probably cry. I've destroyed it entirely multiple times. Every mission, every guild, all skills maxed, every cave checked and the full map explored with multiple saves.

MGS3- MGS2 probably belongs in the thread a bit more, technically, but MGS3 was better. And yeah. Most people from 1up know I played all the MGS games a bunch.

'cept 4.

[KnightAttack]

Narrowing this down is incredibly tough. I've been thinking about this for a few years.

But to be honest, I'm not sure I can do simply games, so rather, I'm going to list the best series of this decade.

- Metal Gear Solid - [We got a beginning and an end]
- KOTOR - [solid series]
- Ratchet & Clank -
- [B]Call of Duty - .
- [B]Half-Life 2 - [fantastic game, and great subs]
- Uncharted - [the beginning of a new, long lasting franchise?]
- Battlefield - [aka 1942, 1943, Vietnam, 2, 2142, etc. Showed that games on a large scale actually worked]
- Hitman - [another forgotten. What a fanastic series]
- Prince of Persia - [SoT trilogy. Great games. Great stories]
- Spider-Man - [Not the shitty movies. I mean the PS1/N64/PC/DC one and PS1 sequel, Enter Elecktro. They proved super hero games could work again, and work well].
- God Of War - [an interesting end to the PS2 life]
- Max Payne - [Just a couple of great games. Really under-appreciated, especially the sequel]
- SOCOM - [Again, a Genre changer. Fantastic series.]
- Super Smash Bros - [Started first in 1999, but lost years in it's 2 sequels]
- Halo - [probably overrated, but still had some good times lanning consoles for all the games]

Games [not that they are more important, but more they didn't have sequels/something that needed to be acknowledged]

- GTA III - [Reinvented a series, and created the Sandbox genre]
- Fallout 3 - [fantastic game, and great reinvention of the series]
- Guitar Hero 1 [recreated a genre that was dead]
- Final Fantasy X - [arguably the peak of the series.]



..........and that's all I can think of for now.

[JesterDK]

I would have MGS1 down in particular if it weren't 98. And I should list MGS2, because while it's not my favorite, it is the reason I wanted a PS2. Just like MGS4 is the reason I want a PS3.

And I own both Max Payne games, and agree. A bit overdone in some parts? Yeah. But really really good games in both cases. I think each had one bad level that made people choose to miss out.

...Well, a lot of people just missed out on the second one because it didn't get a lot of advertising, I guess...

And I like the bottom of your list. Games that made a huge impact on things more than just favorites are worth mentioning too.

...Of course, I'd say Oblivion over Fallout. It may not be the favorite, but it was definitely the start to the open-ended RPGs of this gen.