Hope everyone had a good Christmas over the past week, with 2019 coming to a close and heading towards a new decade thought I'd talk about my favourite games that I've enjoyed playing over the past decade; I would admit it wasn't easy picking my favourite games, especially for this year as well, I posted a month back and my blog came under Community Hightlights of Best Games of 2019 you can find my blog on this link if you want to read it My Favourite Games of 2019. I have got around to playing Resident Evil 2 Remake over the past week and will admit that I'm loving every moment and nostalgia when comparing both the original and remake, the thought on talking about my favourite games of the decade from 2010 - 2019. I'm going to talk about three of my favourite games of the decade, if I made my list longer I would have more trouble on choices, I would be tempted on covering one on favourite games of the decade on handhelds and possibly HD/Remasters as well which is a maybe for now.

BioShock Infinite-

The last time I've played a really good FPS game was a couple of years ago with Timesplitters 2 and Halo 1; I loved the first BioShock (PS3) back in 2008 being set in an underwater city. BioShock Infinite takes it to a whole new world set in the early 1900's in the sky city of Columbia. I really do like the Steampunk style idea for this set before the 60's during the events of BioShock 1 and 2, Infinite takes place in 1912 where Booker DeWitt heads to the lighthouse, which transports him to Columbia with the mission from Luteces to "bring us the girl and wipe away the debt". Elizabeth plays a very important role throughout the main story; she is not like other people you'll meet in Columbia. Throughout the story you'll be escorting Elizabeth and finding out what is really going on its story. The fun part is when riding the skyline and shooting at enemies at the same time, you can also grab onto hooks which can help you get across various buildings and areas you can't reach; you can also assassinate your enemies from above if you see a star icon when they are not looking. I loved the moments when you are riding the skylines and trying to take down a juggernaut who is chasing you down or even trying to shoot down the Patriot bots which are robots of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln carrying a rail-gun, or as I call them Nixon bots if you are familiar with the Futurama series.

Elizabeth is just one those characters you do care about as you progress through the game, she can be a big help to you by finding money, ammo, or even health packs. The first time you meet her you don't want to forget that moment and listening to her sing makes you feel that you really care about her and you don't really need to protect her throughout the whole game like you would do in other games like in Resident Evil 4. As I got towards the ending of the story you really do end up in a shock and wonder what the heck is really going on, I actually dropped my PS3 controller and my jaw just dropped as I found out the truth during the ending, I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't played this game yet. Plus playing the game again on 1999 Mode is a real challenge for any gamer, even I tried to play through the game on the hardest difficulty setting so far only got up towards the graveyard scene and encountering Elizabeth's mother, the clever thing about 1999 Mode is that money is your continue if your money is all gone it's game over just like in the real arcades.

Persona 5-

I didn't know what to expect in Persona 5 after spending a ton of hours on both Persona 3 and 4 in the past, plus a reason why I don't want to spoil the story for anyone who haven't played Persona 5 yet because not only it's released on both the PS3 and PS4; but the PS4 version is a strong welcoming point to newcomers in the JRPG genre. There have been many good JRPG games over the past twenty years, especially in the PlayStation library, the Persona series has been one of those franchises that just surprises you in every way when it comes to gameplay, storytelling and making choices that could cause an impact later in the game if you are not too careful.

The story is set in Tokyo and follows a silent protagonist after his transfer to the fictional Shujin Academy after being put on probation for an assault of which he was falsely accused. When starting your new life at Shujin Academy and make a few friends this is where the story starts to kick in but after spending the first few hours in you will be shocked and surprised what will happen next, I was not expecting it to be this dramatic at the beginning. The dungeons that are added in at this time you'll have a deadline in completing them before a certain date but if you don't finish the dungeon it will be game over if you are not too careful. The way the dungeons are set out are more of a stealth tactic you can easily avoid them without being spotted or sneak up from behind and attack them giving you a chance to attack first. But if you don't they'll start chasing you down and attack you, but also if the warning meter on the left is 100% full getting spotted by most enemies you'll have to exit the dungeon and would have to start again unless you've found a save point in the dungeon. Outside of the dungeon crawling you'll also be studying if you want to keep your grades up in school and become the most popular person in school. You can take on part-time jobs to gain more money and hear people's problems or hang out with your friends who have their own problems.

Graphics and visuals look even more impressive than ever, especially on the PlayStation 4 where the visuals really do shine when it comes to JRPG games. If you've played both Catherine and Persona 4 just shows how far Atlus was went when it comes to developing Persona 5 and having the story set during the present day in Tokyo. Most of the locations like Shibuya Crossing and Shinjuku look almost identical to the real thing when comparing the two when looking at videos and photos unless you've been to Japan for yourself you'll notice the difference. The art style is impressive to look at but also the story setting feels like it has borrowed elements and references from other fictional characters and stories from outlaws and picaresque heroes like Arsène Lupin III, Captain Kidd, Milady, Zorro and Robin Hood. But as I've already mentioned, I don't want to spoil the story for anyone who haven't played it yet, but you will be surprised how well done the story and setting is all played out. Once again Shoji Meguro makes a return and pulls off another outstanding soundtrack from the battle music to the backstreets, you could easily listen to the soundtrack all day if you wanted to because it's memorable that it'll get stuck in your head I even have most of the music on my MP3 when I'm either at work or getting the bus. The voice acting is good well done, depending on which version you prefer more either English or Japanese voicing, but both versions are very well done and fit in well with that character. There's just something special about Persona 5 in general that just makes you want to keep playing and playing, but giving you a reminder on how good JRPG games are when looking at the current-generation of gaming this is one of those games that stands out on its own and will be one of those games that many people will be talking about for later years to come.

Shovel Knight-

The first thing you will notice straight away about Shovel Knight is the 8-Bit sprite visuals and animation; everything about this game is actually in fact, that this 2D side-scroller was developed and published by an independent video game developer called Yacht Games which started off as a Kickstarter campaign and a year later it has been released for PC, Wii U, 3DS and would later be released on other platforms. What really amazes me that Shovel Knight feels more of an NES titled game if this was released in the late 80's or even early 90's this would have been on the top favourite games for the console and in most people's games collection for its clever gameplay, nostalgia moments and unique style. Following the adventurers Shovel Knight and Shield Knight fought alongside one another, journeying across the world and seeking treasure. When the two explore the Tower of Fate, the two fall to the dark magic power of a cursed amulet. When Shovel Knight reawakens, the Tower has been sealed and Shield Knight is nowhere to be seen. Grieving for his beloved, Shovel Knight gives up adventuring and secludes himself. However, during his absence, the Enchantress rises to power, spreading evil across the land. Upon hearing that the Enchantress has unsealed the Tower of Fate, Shovel Knight takes up his shovel again and ventures towards it, hoping to find and rescue Shield Knight. In order to do so, Shovel Knight must fight the eight members of The Order of No Quarter who have been dispatched by the Enchantress to impede him. Has a short story opening yet also past games that were released on the NES or the Genesis used that same idea to have a short opening and then start the game this is yet a nice touch and a trip back down memory lane for retro gamers.

Taking heavy gameplay influences from the Mega Man series, each of the stages you explore on the map will have a different theme settings from bright to dark locations think of a medieval version of Mega Man because there will be a boss at the end of each stage. You can increase your health and magic as you progress, including your shovel and armour, if you die through a level you'll lose some treasure, but you can reclaim it where you last die, but if you die again before you reach the last place you died that treasure will be gone forever, it does have the same idea that was used in both Demon's Souls and Dark Souls when it comes to losing souls. When I mentioned that your only weapon is a shovel that's right your weapon is your shovel you can dig up treasure from the ground and use it to attack enemies and barriers. Like DuckTales you can use the shovel as a pogo stick to bounce off obstacles or the heads of enemies, plus when I mentioned about treasure you do collect which you can either save or use it on upgrades for health, magic, and armour. Another thing that Shovel Knight does so well it has a chiptune soundtrack composed by Jake Kaufman, with two contributions from Mega Man composer Manami Matsumae you could easily listen to the soundtrack all day if you wanted to, you can find music notes for each theme through each of the stages but are quite hidden to find be sure to keep an eye if you see any around. Everything about Shovel Knight is just almost perfect for a 2D platformer and reminding gamers how great 8-Bit games can be even through the present day.

What are your favourite games of the decade?

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