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Hey babes! I'm Deja'. The Princess of Variety. This is my personal blog where I will be giving you all advice, discussing my personal experiences that you all can learn something from, and talking about my favorite games, music, and so much more. xo

Gaming

TOP TEN Favorite Games of the Decade (2010-2019)

January 4, 2020

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Recently, I've been reflecting on all of the amazing video games I played throughout the decade that just came to an end. I've played games mainly on PC and Xbox from 2010-2019, and I discovered a whole new love for gaming that absolutely piled on top of the love that I already had for it.

One of my favorite things that I discovered in the early 2010s that I had never explored before is online gaming! Of course, I had played games online on the computer throughout my childhood, but I had never utilized the internet feature on my consoles growing up. It wasn't until about 2011 when I had finally played online with other people on a console for the first time. However, I'll get to that later.

After some thinking that didn't take very long at all, considering it was pretty simple to weed out the games that had the most prominent impact on me over the past decade, I've narrowed it down to the TOP TEN that I feel fit that criteria. Let me reiterate that these are the games that had the biggest impact on ME, meaning this is solely my own opinion based on my own experiences with gaming throughout the last ten years. I don't expect anyone to agree with me, and that's okay.

The following games ARE in order based on the games that I enjoyed the most. From my perspective, some of these games could totally be higher or lower on the list once you incorporate or remove certain factors, and I'll discuss that later. There also may be slight SPOILERS so please, if you see the name of a game you haven't had experience with and you don't want to see any spoilers at all, skip that one. I mean, I'm not gonna tell you who the killer is or anything like that, but I will sprinkle a few storyline elements in there. Last but not least, every game listed aren't necessarily games that I have played myself, which might not make any sense right now, but I will go into detail about that down below.

Now, on to the list!

10. BLACK OPS 4

black ops 4

I went back and forth about whether or not I wanted to add this game to this list, if I'm being honest. Black Ops 4 wasn't the greatest thing since sliced bread or anything, but I found myself playing it a lot. This entire list is about games that I feel had the most significant impact on me throughout the last decade, and I have to put this game on the list. The reason being....there hadn't been a Call of Duty game in a while that I played as much as I played Black Ops 4. It was one of the first COD games in so many years that I could sit down and actually play by myself, without friends, for literal hours at a time. As far as prestiging goes, this is the game I've without a doubt gotten the furthest on. This genuinely surprised me, considering how much of a flop Black Ops 3 was for me. When Black Ops 3 hit the market, I hated the specialists, the maps were mediocre, zombies wasn't captivating, and I didn't play it for as long as I expected to. After all, it was the successor to Black Ops 2, so I had extremely high expectations for it and I expected it to be more similar to Black Ops 2, and it wasn't -- at all. Anyways, even though I'm sure many of you would disagree, I loved the specialists this time around in Black Ops 4. Outrider being my favorite. 🏹 Surprisingly, I didn't play Black Out. I still haven't played it once. And I'm okay with that. I feel like I got what I needed out of Black Ops 4 at the time, which was 98% multiplayer and 2% zombies. I do wish I had started playing zombies on BO4 a bit sooner, instead of like a month before Modern Warfare (2019) released. I could always go back to it and explore it more. But do I feel like it? Eh.

9. LIFE IS STRANGE: BEFORE THE STORM

Life is Strange Before The Storm

Life is Strange: Before The Storm delved into Chloe Price's life in a new way that we hadn't seen before in the previous installment, Life is Strange. I must say, Chloe is my absolute favorite character from this series, so it was extremely captivating to not only play as her but to learn more about why she is the way she is. I remember thinking she was super annoying at the beginning of the first Life is Strange game, but as time went on, I grew to adore her. Before The Storm only confirmed my reasons for loving and appreciating her even more. Seeing her relationship with Rachel Amber play out was totally heartwrenching, knowing the fate of it all. One thing I will say is that I wish this game was longer. The ending seemed very shortlived, and this game could've had at least two more episodes added to it. The bonus episode "Farewell" was the icing on the cake. Being able to see how Chloe lost her father and her best friend within such a short amount of time was not fun, but it sure was enthralling.

To check out my Life is Strange: Before The Storm let's play click HERE.

8. BLACK OPS

Black Ops

This is the game that exposed me to a whole new world that I didn't even realize existed. I bought this game on a whim for my Nintendo Wii. 😂 You guys can go ahead and laugh, but while you were playing on your standard keyboards and controllers, I was aiming at my screen really immersed in the warzone. Hate on it. I had heard about COD for a little while on social media and in school and I had no idea what it was. I was at the age where I wasn't interested in buying games I didn't know anything about, so it still confuses me as to why I did it this time around. I guess it was sheer curiosity. Or maybe I was just meant to buy it. Because once I bought this game and entered the Call of Duty community/franchise, I never turned back. This was the FIRST game I had ever played online on a console. I remember my very FIRST multiplayer match ever on Nuketown and experiencing my discovery of, "Wait....am I playing with REAL people right now? You mean...these aren't NPCs??????????!!!!!!!!" I remember going to Best Buy to buy a headset, and how being able to talk to other gamers while we played zombies and various multiplayer modes such as sticks and stones (one of my OG faves), team deathmatch, and kill confirmed, blew my freaking mind. As an only child, the only time I ever played video games with other people was when I had friends or cousins over. So you mean to tell me....I can play games...in my OWN room...with OTHER people...and just talk to them through a HEADSET? Oh, it's OVER. And it was. And still is. Online gaming is literally my life now. How fun. Thanks, Black Ops. 💋

7. FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE GAME

Friday The 13th

Talking about this game almost pains me because it had soooooooooooo much potential that went down the drain. This game is great, and it could've been SO much better if it wasn't for that stupid lawsuit. "Deja', wtf are you even talking about right now?" Okay, so there was this legal battle involving the Friday The 13th movies that had absolutely nothing to do with the game directly, but BECAUSE of the lawsuit going on with the movies, it prevented the game developers from being able to release any new DLC content with the game! Which basically gave a lot of people on the developing team no work, so they moved on to other projects. Now the only updates this game sees are patches to fix bugs and what not. Ugh. Nonetheless, I still play this game a lot. I remember waiting years for it to be released. So you can imagine how great it felt when the developers sent me free beta codes, sent me a free version of the game EARLY, and sent me free DLC throughout the time when the game was actually getting real updates. Gun Media was so awesome to me, even when I wasn't (and still isn't) considered to be a huge content creator with tons of followers. They still believed in me enough to give me the privilege of enjoying their game in a different way than I usually would have, and I am so thankful for that. This game is SO much fun to play with friends, and even though it can still be kind of buggy -- the fact that people still play it even though it barely got any updates and the fact that I'm STILL putting it on this list above the other games I just listed says A LOT. Get a group of friends, or even play alone, and I can promise that you'll have a ton of laughs and moments of panic with this game. Find that freakin' phone fuse and phone box, and get the HELL out of there. Thank me later.

6. THE SIMS 4

The Sims 4

Ah. Behold the game that I've been playing every single night for the past month. I've been a simmer for a little over fifteen years now. Whew, am I telling my age or what? Anywho, The Sims 4 developers NEEDS TO STEP UP THEIR FRICKEN' GAME. You're LUCKY I'm putting you this high in the list. This is one of the games that I would move higher or lower based on if we're talking strictly base game or not. This game is BORING without mods, DLC, and CC to spice up the gameplay. I'm not saying The Sims as a WHOLE is boring, because The Sims is life -- I'm talking strictly and only about The Sims 4. It most definitely CAN NOT stand on its own two feet without the three must-haves I mentioned above. Trust me. Maybe someone completely new to The Sims will love this game, but those of us who have been playing this game for years KNOW what it's missing. How are you going to have KEY FEATURES in the older Sims games and then when this one comes out, there's no pools....no toddlers....no CARS. Enough of me yelling about this game. Let me tell you why it's fun and why it's on this list. First off, this is from the perspective of me having CC, mods, and practically all of the packs you can buy for this game. This game will have you thinking you're living in an entirely different UNIVERSE when you play it. I can zone out and put myself in the shoes of someone completely different with this game and believe it. You can be whoever you want to be with The Sims 4, and have a great time doing it....IF you have those three things I mentioned. For Sims 5, they need to step their crap up. But until then, the Sims 4 will do. I suppose. And also, for all you dudes out there saying that this is a "gAmE fOr gIrLs" when you've never even touched the game, or played it once back in 2003 and haven't since, step your 🐱 up and give the game a chance. This game is fun for guys AND girls alike and I've personally SEEN guys who doubted it play it and end up loving it.

5. LIFE IS STRANGE

Life is Strange

My heart literally CAN NOT handle this game. What an amazing story. I've always loved choice-based games, so I was happy to play a game that's COMPLETELY choice-based. Max and Chloe's relationship was SO cute. Yes, I choose Chloe over Warren. Anyday. Sorry, Warren. This game got REALLY dark at times, and it was like...woah. Totally unexpected and unlike anything I had played in quite some time. Like, I didn't know this game was going to take my heart out, rip it to pieces, put it back in, take it out again, stomp on it, and cause me to experience so many different emotions. Holy crap. There were times where I felt annoyed. Other times I felt pissed. Others I felt happy. Others I felt heartbroken. Others I felt scared as all hell. But I wouldn't have it any other way. I hate that there's only two endings to this game. It would be pretty wicked if the choices impacted the ENDING more rather than what leads up to the ending, however, the way this game will impact you emotionally is still fascinating on its own. And yes, I would argue that this one is better than Before The Storm. At the time, I still haven't played Life is Strange 2, because I'm still not completely over THESE characters. And that should tell you guys something about how impactful this game is. Do you have a hard time with trusting people too easily? Well this game will fix that problem for you and have you trusting nobody. 😎

To check out my Life is Strange let's play click HERE.

4. GRAND THEFT AUTO V

Grand Theft Auto V

Now, of course this list wouldn't be very credible if I didn't add the game that broke 7 Guinness World Records. 🙃 The game that is currently almost seven years old, but is the third best-selling video game in the world right under Minecraft and Tetris. I completed the story mode for this game in a WEEK. I had never experienced playing Grand Theft Auto online, so that was something I had to be ready for (online mode came out a week after the game released). I hadn't played GTA since San Andreas, so I made sure I fully immersed myself in GTA V. This game is STILL getting significant updates to it, which blows my mind. We're all ready for SOME sort of announcement about GTA 6. Yes, we love GTA V, but you can't create a game this amazing and then just expect us to not beg for more. I will say, my favorite was Trevor. Then Franklin. Then Michael. Trevor was a psycho and he made the game ten times more entertaining. Franklin was the chill, balanced guy that kept everything in check. Michael was ehhhh. Like dude, you have a nice house, but you're kind of boring. I haven't played the story mode since 2013, so maybe if I played it now, I'd have a completely different outlook on Michael. GTA online is still better than ever. Even though I don't play it as much as I used to, I loved racing on there. I would sync this rad music playlist on my computer to my xbox 360 and play vibey songs while I won races back to back. The songs on this game were amazing too. Non-Stop Pop FM and Radio Los Santos were my go-to's. Everything She Wants is by FAR the best song on this game -- catch it on Non-Stop Pop FM and you won't regret it. "SOOOOMEBODY TELLLLLL MIIIIIIII. WHY I WOOOORK SO HAAAARD FOR YOUUUUU." What a classic. I almost forgot to mention I literally watch people play GTA V every single night on Twitch. Not even kidding. There's this computer mod called No Pixel that a lot of Twitch streamers play on, and it takes GTA online to the NEXT level. In your free time, check that mod out or even watch people play it on Twitch. So amusing.

3. UNTIL DAWN

Until Dawn

Let me start off by letting you guys know that I have NEVER played this game. Yes, you read that right. "Okay, well why the heck is it number THREE on your list, Deja'?" Because...when I tell you I have watched at LEAST 7 different people play this game on YouTube and Twitch, I'm not lying! I know enough about this game to put it on my list. I can name all of the characters off the top of my head -- Sam, Emily, Matt, Mike, Jess, Chris, Ashley, Josh, Hannah and Beth to be exact and no, I didn't look it up on Google. The reason I've never played this game is because it's a Playstation exclusive, and I'm an Xbox girl now. I wasn't gonna go buy a whole Playstation just to play this, because it's not that deep. But what I will tell you is, get some good snacks, grab a friend, turn the lights out, and go on YouTube and watch someone play this game all the way through. It is an experience unlike ANY other. Then after you do that, watch someone else play it all the way through and see what choices they make differently than the first person you watched. And then do it again. And again. It is SO freakin' cool seeing how one choice someone makes differently impacts the rest of the game. The goal of this game is to end the game with everyone alive. Or at least that's what the goal is if you're not a maniac, because I know some of you disturbed folks out there have purposely tried to kill everyone, and I probably would've too because it keeps things interesting. We all crazy out hurr. Nonetheless, this game did a much better job of making the choices actually have more of an impact on the ending of the game than Life is Strange did. As a horror freak, I love the horror-movie vibe and I love how Hayden Panettiere is one of the characters. How impressive. Love, love, love this game and will watch let's plays of it until the end of time. Oh, and can someone PLEASE kill Emily? We all hate her.

2. DETROIT: BECOME HUMAN

Detroit Become Human

Ugh, I wanted nothing more than to put this game at number ONE. But I just couldn't. And when you read the explanation under my number one choice, you'll understand why. This game absolutely, positively DELIVERS with what I was saying about how I wish Life is Strange did a better job of making the choices throughout the game impact the ending. Until Dawn did a bit better with it, but this game just blows it out of the water. Literally every single choice you make in this game impacts SOMETHING. One tiny, wrong move and a character is dead or you're on the path to experiencing a completely different storyline. Don't pay close enough attention and you might miss a whole extra storyline filled with choices. I mean, the possibilities are endless with this one. What the actual hell. Okay, also with this one....I've never played it. 😳 I know, I know. But hear me out. It was a Playstation exclusive! What was I supposed to do? 😑 I know it's finally on PC now, and maybe I'll get it and play it for myself once and for all, but this is another I've watched multiple people play, and I feel like I already kind of know how to get that "good" ending. I don't have to play this game to know that it deserves to be at the top of my list. You have to be quick with this game. You have to be able to think quickly and even sometimes, out of the box. I've watched people make less than smart decisions with this game in the moment and maybe have had an amazing first half of the game and then get all of the characters killed in the last five minutes of it. That's how this game works. Every choice matters. It doesn't matter what you did in the beginning of the game or how amazing you plan to do in the end. Every. single. choice. matters. throughout the entire story. Relationships are impacted. People are killed off. Entire storylines are missed. I mean, just phenomenal. If this is the direction video games are going in with this movie-like feel and all these millions of choices that change the game in drastic ways -- count me ALL the way in. And Markus and Conner are SO hot. Omg. 🥰

1. BLACK OPS 2

Black Ops 2

Even though I haven't played this game in years, I had to put it first. This was the first game I got on my first Xbox...or should I say for my first Xbox. I loved Black Ops 1 so much that I actually bought this game for Xbox months before I even had one or really even knew when and IF I was getting one. That's right. Let me repeat that. I bought this game MONTHS in advance on a console I didn't have or even know I was going to get at the time. I was taking selfies with this game unopened and unplayed without even having something to play it on. That alone is more than enough of a reason it should be number one on this list. 😂  Black Ops 2 is the game I remember playing for hours and hours and hours and hours and hours and never getting bored with. Playing zombies on Town and Buried constantly with complete strangers online and having the time of my life. Playing multiplayer and slaying with my Skorpion Evo on my favorite map Yemen and shredding everyone in sight. This game is the reason I had such high hopes for Black Ops 3 and every other COD game going forward! I made friends online playing this game that I'm still cool with to this day. This was the game I did the most easter eggs on of any game I've ever played. I remember laughing so hard while playing this game countless times and I have so many memories with so many different people playing it. I'd probably say I played zombies more than multiplayer on this game. After Black Ops 2, there still hasn't been a COD where I played zombies more than multiplayer, because it was just THAT good on this game. I miss it. Thank you Black Ops 2 for setting the bar higher than ever and impacting me forever.

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Thank you all so much for reading about all of the games I've loved more than anything over the past ten years. I can't wait for all of the new installments of these games to come out throughout this NEW decade. I can totally see me doing a blog like this ten years from now, and I can guarantee that some of these same franchises will be on that list too! I would highly recommend checking out at least one of the games I talked about above. If you all have any questions about any of the games or about this post, feel free to shoot me a comment down below. Also, comment YOUR top ten video games over the past decade. I would love to know what you enjoyed playing.

xo babes, Variety Princess

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Hey babes! I'm Deja'. The Princess of Variety. This is my personal blog where I will be giving you all advice, discussing my personal experiences that you all can learn something from, and talking about my favorite games, music, and so much more. xo

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