The games that defined the 2010s for me. Those games were all first released between 2010 and 2019, so even if speedrunning as a big part of that decade, I did not include those games in that list. I added for every game a music track that makes me think of that game the most.
Kirby’s Epic Yarn (2010)
Flower Fields – Kirby’s Epic Yarn
- I am a huge fan of this game regardless what people will say :P. Yes, it is a lot easy and you can breeze through the whole game in 1 sitting probably, but the game is so cute and artistically amazing. Looking at all the yarn mechanics and the backgrounds were enough to just appreciate that game a LOT, and I did. I played several times this game casually just to appreciate the small details the game has to offer. My favorite Kirby game after Super Star.
Halo: Reach (2010)
Halo: Reach Unreleased Music – “Make it Count”
- I am a huge Halo nerd, but I was never a Halo fan for the multiplayer and competitive aspect of it, it was always because of the amazing story and music. Before having played Reach, I read when I was in college the book “Halo: The Fall of Reach”, which was basically the story of Planet Reach and before what happened with Halo 1 from John 117’s perspective (The Masterchief before he became Masterchief basically). So, Halo: Reach is basically just that, but the focus was on Noble team, a team of Spartans that were tasked to saved Reach. The story of that game was amazing and was a great way from Bungie to departure from the Halo franchise as this was their last Halo game.
Dark Souls (2011)
Firelink Shrine – Dark Souls Soundtrack
- The game that changed everything for Action RPGs. It started with me trying out Demon’s Souls because everybody was talking about it on the old forum I used to visit called NeoGAF. I had trouble accepting that game as it was, but I learned how to make it work and I became attached to the game itself the further I played it. After finishing Demon’s Souls, I immediately ran to the store and bought Dark Souls (Which was released very shortly after I beat the first game), and it was an amazing experience. Since then I became attached to the franchise.
The Elder Scrolls – Skyrim (2011)
Skyrim Music Town 2
- The game I spend countless hours into without actually finishing the main story line. Having played Oblivion before, it was a no brainer for me to play that game, and it was very worth it. Unfortunately, at the time I had little money so I had to play it on Xbox 360 instead of glorious PC Master Race. The music in that game is also so fitting, Jeremy Soule is the king of ambient music.
World of Warcraft – Mists of Pandaria (2012)
Horde & Alliance Temple Music – Mists Of Pandaria
- I started playing WoW a while before that, but the Mists of Pandaria is the first expansion that I really got into the hardcore raiding and the endgame content, and I don’t regret it at all. I was in a guild called “Entropi” (which I still play with now) and the officers were basically better that any of my work bosses by their dedications, respect and equality between every team member. I never felt that I was not important and we were able to accomplish great things and moments. We got at the end of the expansion US 86th for Heroic Garrosh (There was no Mythic back then so it was the highest difficulty) and I even made a video promoting our guild back then showing what we can do (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs7uYuKPfTE).
Final Fantasy 14 – A Realm Reborn (2013)
Sultana Dreaming – Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
- I did not specifically play FF14 in 2013, but probably a year after or so. I started in Realm Realm reborn after taking a break from World of Warcraft just to enjoy some solo content, and I am glad that I was able to experience the “Vanilla” FF14 instead of the later expansions. Nowadays, FF14 is a common game people play but back then WoW was still very dominating the MMO market. I was able to reach max level and got my class staff crafted (I was a Black Mage). Unfortunately, when the first expansion released in 2015 (Heavensward), I stopped caring about the game and ended it.
Donkey Kong Country – Tropical Freeze (2014)
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze Sountrack – Seashore War
- The best Donkey Kong Country game after DKC2 for me. This game has everything for it. Amazing Music, Amazing graphics, no motion controls (Thank god), feels great to play. Played that game multiple times and I still listen to the soundtrack every now and then.
Bloodborne (2015)
Bloodborne Soundtrack OST – Gehrman, The First Hunter
- I know its kind of cheating since it is somewhat like a Dark Souls game, but technically it is not? But the Soulsborne games defined the last decade for me so much that it is hard to not include it.
Bloodborne is my 2nd favorite Soulsborne after DS1. The very dark environments, the new gameplay elements, the great boss musics makes this game great. Being a big fan of Batman, I do enjoy dark and scary environments, and Bloodborne delivers on that front a lot. Sucks it is a PS4 exclusive, hopefully on PS5 they will release it at 60FPS.
Overwatch (2016)
Overwatch Soundtrack Music Menu Main Screen
- Having 178 Hours of time played of that game, I think it is safe to say that I played a LOT of it. This game had a lot of up and downs for me. I am a Roadhog main, but that hero over the course of patch releases got nerfs and buffs. When the first big nerf happened, it was hard for me to keep playing, but I revisited the game later on and managed to overcome the new reality of that Hero. I was never into completive stuff so I was never really frustrated with that game. I know the community is known to be toxic, but I was never part of that and I just enjoyed the game as it is. 150 hours of that 178 is from Quick Play so :P.
The Legend of Zelda – Breath of the Wild (2017)
Hateno Village (Day) – The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Soundtrack
- The comfiest game ever. Like Skyrim, I never managed to beat the main story simply because if you give me a big open world game with 10 billion of stuff to do, I eventually never beat it and got tired of the game before I was able to do so. Beating the game will eventually happen, but I already know what happens anyway so it’s not a big deal for me.