Cultural Impact: I remember hearing mostly about Call of Duty: Black Ops in and around this year. That was like people's game of the century up to that point, it seemed like, sort of just continuing trends that took hold in the culture in a big way during the prior decade.
That said, I think it's also worth mentioning Xenoblade Chronicles here in this category because it started a trend in JRPGs toward seeking to mimic the open-world type structures of their Western counterparts and downgrading the narrative emphasis in general. This is where they began to lose their Japanese-ness, or at least the aspects thereof that I'd found more appealing anyway. I've generally been less interested in the subgenre since.
Favorite Games: If my tone toward the above seems negative, it's because I didn't relate much to gaming culture at this point in time. My favorite game in 2010 was Heavy Rain, which felt like a breakthrough for interactive movies owing to the consequential nature of one's decision-making and range of different player characters and the roles they play. Looking back at even this entry today though, the truth is that it's not as special to me anymore as it once was. These days the inevitable genre flaws (like the unavoidable disruptions to the flow of conversation that come with voiced dialogue choices) have an immersion-breaking affect on me that didn't seem as pronounced at the time when this type of game design felt fresher. Still a 2010 favorite with real nostalgia value for me nonetheless though.
Final Fantasy XIII was actually another favorite of mine from this year in that it launched in 2010 here in the U.S., but obviously isn't a voting option since it had come out the prior year in Japan.
I also remember liking Enslaved: Odyssey to the West a good deal. There was just a sweetness to the relationship between Monkey and Trip and the way it evolved over the course of the game that got to me. This and the fact that Rock Band 3 continued that franchise's tradition of awesomeness pretty well rounds out all the commentary I feel the necessity to offer on this particular year in this category.
Other Notes: This was kind of the trough for my interest in video games really. The 2010s were actually my favorite decade in gaming so far, contrary to the impression my commentary here may have just given you. Seriously, most of my top 50 favorite games of all time were released in this decade! My relationship to this medium did improve and you'll start to see that soon. The shift in my perspective was closely related to the ascent of the indie gaming scene that I slowly began to take more notice of soon after this point.
Last edited by Jaicee - on 26 November 2023
