The past decade has been difficult for me. Easily some of my most positive memories of the past ten years are with the video games that have helped me to escape from the prison of mental and physical health difficulties that I’ve felt trapped in for so long. These are the eleven games that had the biggest impact on me during this time. They aren’t necessarily my eleven “favorites” (though there is certainly overlap), but the eleven that have largely defined the decade for me, for one reason or another, and are ranked accordingly based on the flighty emotions I am feeling right now.
11. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Played 2011)
Skyward Sword is here not really because of the experience itself, but because of the general atmosphere surrounding its release. This game was meant to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Legend of Zelda series and this period possibly represents the height of my Zelda fan obsessions. Between anticipating the release of the game, going to the Symphony of the Goddesses live concert, writing theories about ancient Hyrulean civilizations on Zelda forums, discovering the indelibly wonderful Zeldathon charity marathon (which just celebrated its 10 year anniversary last week), and hosting my own Zelda marathons with friends, The Legend of Zelda had become a way of life for me. Skyward Sword is at the center of this pocket in time and I look back fondly on the game not only as a flawed but unique and creative entry in the series that sparked a lot of interesting discussions, but also as emblematic of the positivity the Zelda series brought to my life during the early stages of a very troubled time for me.
10. Cave Story (Played 2010)
Like the waning days of my final semester of college, Cave Story is a bittersweet and melancholic game. Backed by an emotional chiptune soundtrack, it weaves meaningful storytelling and endearing old-school design into a focused, artful experience. About a year ago, I found myself listening to a beautiful track from the game’s score called “Moonsong” and I suddenly burst into hot, messy tears. Everything just hit me: the relative happiness I felt when playing this game, all the emotional pain I’ve gone through since, regrets and wishes and a deep desire to just go back to that time with the knowledge I have now. If nothing else, video games have always been markers in time for me, and Cave Story marked the beginning of a decade tinged with deep regret with an experience that left a lasting emotional imprint on me.
9. Pikmin 2 (Played 2012)
I’ve written in other places but never here about how Pikmin 2 helped pull me out of a particularly nasty depression spell back in 2012. I had been spending most of my free time lying in bed until one night when I fully dove into the eerie and bizarre world of Pikmin 2. For about five hours, I forgot everything, and back then that felt like a miracle (sometimes complete distraction like this still does). It’s a testament to how much video games have helped me to cope and easily stands out as one of the biggest impacts a game had on me in the last ten years. Shout-out to the excellent Pikmin 3 as well, which I played two years later in 2014.
8. Xenoblade Chronicles X (Played 2015-2016)
Xenoblade Chronicles X can be a very irritating experience. It all but requires thorough study of a massive digital manual if a player wants to have any chance of navigating its myriad poorly-explained systems and mechanics, its in-game text seems to have been sized for ants, and it contains perhaps the most obnoxious hub town theme in video game history. Thankfully, the ultimate legacy of the game in my memory isn’t any of this, but rather how much fun I had traversing the gargantuan and unpredictable alien world of Mira, exploring every inch of its breathtaking and beautiful landscapes as my player-created avatar, Sara, deep into the night. It’s how wonderful the game’s sense of boundless freedom felt, whether running across expansive fields to distant horizons or flying over them in a giant mech. It’s all the massive and terrifying beasts that were waiting around the corner to stomp on me, the nearly endless amount of wacky quests, and all the funky alien species I befriended along the way. Xenoblade X didn’t have a profound emotional impact on me like many other games on this list, but besides the #1 game here, it’s the most time I’ve ever spent with a game in a single playthrough and I just have a lot of really fond memories spending time in its world.
7. Xenoblade Chronicles (Played 2012-2013)
How could a candidate for my favorite video game soundtrack of all time not be on this list? But I’m getting ahead of myself. I admittedly wasn’t all that interested in Xenoblade when I first saw the game. It was being hyped as this really great RPG, but every time I saw a trailer it just looked kind of…grungy. Then I heard about its fascinating concept of a world built on the bodies of two colossal titans, one biological and the other mechanical. Then I saw another trailer showcasing this world’s breathtaking assortment of sprawling and beautifully imaginative environments waiting to be explored (and that thankfully better showcased the game’s vibrant and colorful art direction). Then I was sold. Xenoblade has one of my favorite worlds of any video game and I not only have great memories of immersing myself in this incredible fantasyscape late at night after work in 2012 and 2013, but also of watching someone else play the game later on in 2015, whose stream on Twitch.tv became an unexpected nightly routine where I watched and chatted with other viewers. …Did I mention that the music’s really damn good? I quickly bought the soundtrack and would go on the regularly listen to it for the entirety of the decade.
6. Super Mario Maker (Played 2015)
For someone like me who constantly imagined my own Super Mario levels and worlds when I was younger, Super Mario Maker was a dream come true. I didn’t expect to spend as much time with this game as I did, but once let loose to play around with its level editor, I found myself sinking countless hours into bringing those childhood dreams to fruition (…in an admittedly truncated fashion, but still). Couple this with endless other user-created levels online and Mario Maker became an absolute treasure. It sparked my imagination in a way nothing else had in a long while and that’s ultimately why it makes this list. I haven’t played Super Mario Maker 2 yet, but even If I had, I highly doubt it would have quite the same impact as the original so this choice would likely remain the same either way.
5. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Played 2014)
The game that I once prematurely called the “biggest disappointment” of E3 2013 and “just another playing-it-safe platformer under Nintendo’s belt” would go on to rekindle a purely jubilant love of video games that I hadn’t felt in a very long time. No, Tropical Freeze isn’t just another platformer, it’s, like, the best platformer…or at least a candidate for such. Right from the first world, from the first notes of David Wise’s sublime soundtrack, this game stole my heart and I knew I was in for something uniquely special. Each level feels like it was carefully constructed by a master craftsperson, each world is rich with color and imagination and wonder. Tropical Freeze is just a luscious, joyous experience that truly captures the spirit of the very best of classic 2D platformers. It is so darn rapturous that it literally brought tears to my eyes. And all this from a game in a long-running series that I didn’t exactly grow up with and have minimal nostalgic attachments to. This is just pure video game magic front to back, and an experience I’ll always cherish.
4. Super Mario Odyssey (Played 2018)
Super Mario Odyssey is an incredibly special game. It has this very particular kind of atmosphere that genuinely made me feel the way I did as a child playing Super Mario games in the 90s. It’s difficult to explain exactly what I mean here, but it’s much more than just cheap nostalgia. The wonderfully playful mechanics and imaginative variety of worlds and levels in Odyssey are in line with the best of the series and even go beyond and moments like the New Donk City festival and the manic climax are unforgettable. I played the bulk of Odyssey during a very unpleasant period in 2018 when my chronic physical illness and a resurgence of immense depression were intersecting in abhorrent ways, and everything from taking a pleasant swim in the pristine bubbly waters of the Seaside Kingdom to soaring across rooftops in New Donk City on a moped to experiencing the aforementioned incredible finale were the only salve that momentarily calmed my chaotic psyche at the time.
3. Freedom Planet (Played 2017)
Every once in a while a game or movie or other creative work comes along that takes me by surprise in the most wonderful way. I had put off playing Freedom Planet for a while, and sure, I figured I’d enjoy a 2D platformer that was largely an homage to the classic Sega Genesis Sonic the Hedgehog games that I grew up with…but Freedom Planet ended up becoming so much more for me. It ended up rivaling those beloved childhood gems, becoming a classic in its own right. A game that was almost nostalgic already while I was still playing it for the first time. There’s just something so special about this game to me. It feels like a warm Saturday morning cartoon wrapped in happy childhood memories backed by an utterly criminally catchy soundtrack that like Xenoblade I immediately had to own after playing. Some games I enjoy, some games I love, but some become something more. They make my body and mind and heart and soul sing. To my utter delight Freedom Planet quickly became one of those games, and even though I only played it in 2017 it already feels like a timeless favorite I’ve held close all my life.
2. The Last Guardian (Played 2016)
The Last Guardian is an incredible game, not only because of its potent atmosphere and refined design, but because of how it furthers games as a unique medium for immersive storytelling. It sets up rules like most video games but is not afraid to break them to serve its story and the player’s immersion. The bond I formed with Trico is heart-rending. When an enemy would attack them later in the game, I would feel it. I wasn’t holding a controller and staring at a screen, I was there, rushing forward to help my friend. I’ve never cared so much for a fictional character in any medium. There’s nothing else like it, and it’s a brilliant testament to the power and potential of video games as an emotional force, as well as an experience that continues to deeply resonate with me to this day.
1. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Played 2017)
Breath of the Wild is not only my favorite game of the decade, but the one that had the biggest impact on me as well. I didn’t have to strain too hard to come to this conclusion. I mean, I only created this blog in the first place just so I could write something about it and eventually dump a truckload of screenshots onto. Many love this game, some think it’s overrated. For me it’s both the closest I’ve ever come to seeing my dreams visually manifested on a television screen but was also an experience bogged down by my own obsessive compulsive tendencies run utterly mad and ultimately a wake-up call that my illnesses had mutated games into a dangerous escape for me.
On one side, eventually I knew I had to step away. On the other, Breath of the Wild so purely encapsulates what makes video game so incomparably wonderful to me.
No other game has ever made me feel the way Breath of the Wild did. I could talk about its meticulously-crafted world, its heavy atmosphere, and its thrilling sense of discovery, but when it comes to describing how it made me feel…it’s perhaps impossible to put into words.
But I think about it all the time.
When I’m walking through the woods. When I see the moon hanging low in the sky. When a gentle rain is falling.
I remember Link’s footsteps. The sound of opening my map. The distant haunting melody that signaled a shrine was hiding in a cavern nearby. It has its share of action, but Breath of the Wild is mostly a game about quiet reflection. It is a pure blend of my love for art and the natural world. It’s just so damn “me”.
It is both a capstone and a definition of the last decade for me; a foggy stretch of time defined by confusion and despair and being lost. But despite it all, I will always cherish the time I spent being lost in Hyrule.
Art Imitates Nature 