Your Favorites of the Decade List.

[Xeo]

I like lists, and I like to hear why people are passionate about the things they really enjoy. So I'd like to start this little thread and list our favorite things of the past decade! I decided to break it down into 5 categories to cover multiple forms of media.

1: Your Favorite Game The Decade
2: Favorite Album This Decade
3: Favorite Book This Decade
4: Favorite Movie This Decade
5: Favorite Show/Series This Decade

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1: Favorite Game This Decade: This one is easy for me. Bloodborne. I've played a lot of games I REALLY liked this decade, but few cracked into my top 5 of all-time, but then came this little gem. I already loved the Souls formula as is, and I'm a big Lovecraftian/Cosmic horror fan. Put those things together in a package this picture perfect and I was on cloud nine. Goddamn this game...it's a masterpiece, it's damned near perfect to me. It is a game I will never forget, and one that I will always hold others like it against in comparison. It set the bar for a lot of things for me.

2: Favorite Album This Decade: Threshold's "March of Progress". Prog metal isn't even close to my favorite genre of music, but I still like plenty of it, and no album captured me as wholly and entirely as this album did. From start to finish, there's not a track on this thing I skip, even 8 years later. The album makes me immensely happy, it lifts my spirits, makes me hopeful in bad situations and just fucking jams. Hands down my favorite progressive metal album period, and one of my top 10 regardless of genre.

3: Favorite Book This Decade: Believe it or not this was probably the hardest thing for my to lock down on this list. I think I've got to give it to Iain Reid's "I'm Thinking of Ending Things". A short book that honestly barely meets the criteria to be considered a novel. It packs more punch in that length than any single psychological horror novel I've ever read, and even many of them combined. A book that was first described to me as "A book that you need not know anything about before reading it, only that the less you know before going in the better." To even remotely go into what the book is actually about is to spoil it. Still to this day the only book I've IMMEDIATELY picked back up to read a second time after finishing it. With the second reading being like reading an entirely different book based on the context of things I knew from finishing it the first time. In fact, I think the book's short length does it a great service in this regard. It almost NEEDS to be read twice to fully grasp it. Absolutely brilliant.

4: Favorite Movie This Decade: A harder one for me as well, because I honestly don't watch a lot of movies. Largely because so few of them truly interest me anymore. I'm just gonna be upfront with you all here. My pickings for movies I've actually seen that I truly, truly enjoyed this decade are scant. Drive, The Witch, Joker, The Disaster Artist, Hereditary, Nightcrawler, and The Autopsy of Jane Joe. I'm going to give it to Joker. As someone EXTREMELY burnt out on your typical comic book/super hero movies, this was exactly the breath of fresh air I was so desperately searching for. With fantastic cinematography, excellent acting and some goddamned strong atmosphere. Almost more of a psychological thriller bordering on horror than drama or anything else. This film is dripping with atmospheric depression manifested into an acute portrayal of mental illness and the effect modern society can have on those who suffer from it. It's a movie like "No Country For Old Men" for me in that only one of these comes around every decade or so to really set the bar and break any and all expectations I had for it.

5: Favorite Series/Show This Decade: True Detective: Season One. Unlike movies this decade, I've watched a lot of truly excellent TV. There were some STRONG contenders here, in the last three years in particular. But this one, goddamn...this one took my breath away. This was almost everything I think I could asked for in a show. And it needs to be stated that I think Rustin Cohle, played my Matthew Mcconaughey is one of the best characters to have EVER graced a tv show. I don't even know how to start with why I feel this way about this show. Everything, really. Acting, scripting, casting, just...all of it. It's one of the few shows I'd consider to be damned near perfect. Not a single bad episode. I hadn't been truly impressed by a show as much as this one since watching the first season of Twin Peaks years and years ago.

 

[RiffRaff]

Ooooff! This is a tough list. Let's try.

Game: Fuck it. Tie between Breath of the Wild and Disco Elysium. BotW just transported me to a different world like no other game has ever done. I have 3 accounts on my Switch because I keep replaying it (and for some stupid reason Nintendo just won't let me keep multiple save files on one account). Just wandering around is so relaxing.
And Disco Elysium is RPG bliss. It's like playing a great tabletop game with a pro DM that actually plays along and lets you make all those crazy decisions you want, like jacking off in the middle of the street or punching the drug addled 12 year old in the face.

Album: To the Bone by Steven Wilson. I've been a big fan of his since the Porcupine Tree days and TtB is his most accessible and diverse album to date. Great songs that add a touch of pop to his prog rock and they all capture a wide gamut of human emotion. Runner Up- Veil of Imagination by Wilderun

Book: 11/22/63 by Stephen King. Didn't read a lot of newer books, but this 900 page beast I burned through in a little less than a week. It's got everything I want in a great read. Gruesome murders, alternate history, interesting love story, and interesting characters.

Movie: The Grand Budapest Hotel. Beautiful style, fun story, great acting, outstanding direction. What more could one ask for? Runner up: Mandy

Series: Season 2 of Fargo was the best season of any series I've ever seen. A twisted and winding plot pulled off effortlessly and filled with so many 'OH FUCK!' moments. There wasn't a single second I wasn't absolutely glued to my screen. Runner up: Stranger Things pandered to me perfectly.

 

[PhilKenSebben]

Ooooff! This is a tough list. Let's try.

Game: Fuck it. Tie between Breath of the Wild and Disco Elysium. BotW just transported me to a different world like no other game has ever done. I have 3 accounts on my Switch because I keep replaying it (and for some stupid reason Nintendo just won't let me keep multiple save files on one account). Just wandering around is so relaxing.
And Disco Elysium is RPG bliss. It's like playing a great tabletop game with a pro DM that actually plays along and lets you make all those crazy decisions you want, like jacking off in the middle of the street or punching the drug addled 12 year old in the face.

Album: To the Bone by Steven Wilson. I've been a big fan of his since the Porcupine Tree days and TtB is his most accessible and diverse album to date. Great songs that add a touch of pop to his prog rock and they all capture a wide gamut of human emotion. Runner Up- Veil of Imagination by Wilderun

Book: 11/22/63 by Stephen King. Didn't read a lot of newer books, but this 900 page beast I burned through in a little less than a week. It's got everything I want in a great read. Gruesome murders, alternate history, interesting love story, and interesting characters.

Movie: The Grand Budapest Hotel. Beautiful style, fun story, great acting, outstanding direction. What more could one ask for? Runner up: Mandy

Series: Season 2 of Fargo was the best season of any series I've ever seen. A twisted and winding plot pulled off effortlessly and filled with so many 'OH FUCK!' moments. There wasn't a single second I wasn't absolutely glued to my screen. Runner up: Stranger Things pandered to me perfectly.

11/22/63 was fucking dope.

 

[RiffRaff]

11/22/63 was fucking dope.

Did you try to watch the series adaptation? It was not good....
Oddly enough, James Franco does the audio book (I often use the Audible and Kindle version together, well, I did when I was commuting more) and he does an outstanding reading. But he hams it up in the series.

 

[Xeo]

Oh man this is so difficult, but I'll try.

1. Inside, by Playdead. I already loved Limbo, but Inside was something else, and it's my favorite game period. I'm a big fan of puzzles, and a bigger fan of great stories, and the fact that this game's story is told entirely through scenery and the locations just makes it even more incredible. Not gonna lie though, I do love Lara Croft GO. Judge me if you want, I don't care. I love that game. And I'm a massive Resident Evil fan as well, and 7 was incredible, but my favorite is still Inside;

2. Helplessness Blues, by Fleet Foxes. I would love to say their last two albums were my favorites of the decade, but that's cheating. I'm a big fan of Vampire Weekend as well, and their fourth album come out last year, but I think I like Helplessness Blues more. I'm just now realizing, though, that I don't think I have a favorite album ever. Maybe In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, by Neutral Milk Hotel, or (the recently released) Set My Hear On Fire Immediately, by Perfume Genius, but it's not a certainty;

3. Much of what I read this decade were older books. Got myself a new favorite, which was Childhood's End, and one that I really enjoyed, which was Planet of The Apes. Also read 1984 which was very interesting. But one that came out this past decade and I really, really liked was My Brilliant Friend, by Elena Ferrante. I read it in Portuguese, so I can't tell if much of what I liked was her or the translator, I just know I did.

4. I've watched some great movies this decade. Like you I really enjoyed The Witch and Hereditary (I have watched Midsommar, but haven't watched The Lighthouse yet), but neither of them is my favorite of the decade. I do love horror movies though. I'll say sorry and allow myselft to choose 2 movies here: Mad Max: Fury Road and Black Swan. The more I think about the Oscars and the movies I've watched more I want to put here, but two is already more than what was asked, so I'll stop here. And they were the two that came to mind first, so...;

5. The Leftovers. Hands down. Story, both plot and writing, were incredible. And the acting, and the soundtrack... It's juts incredible. I recommend it to everyone that asks me what they should watch. I haven't read the book, and honestly, I'm kinda scared of doing it. Maybe one day.

I have to emphasize Fleet Foxes. People should listen to them.
And if it wasn't about this past decade, I think the book I'd choose would be Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke.

I actually haven't played Inside. I loved Limbo, so I really, really should. I also kinda forgot about Black Swan as a whole, that was indeed a very good movie.

 

[Xeo]

Ooooff! This is a tough list. Let's try.

Game: Fuck it. Tie between Breath of the Wild and Disco Elysium. BotW just transported me to a different world like no other game has ever done. I have 3 accounts on my Switch because I keep replaying it (and for some stupid reason Nintendo just won't let me keep multiple save files on one account). Just wandering around is so relaxing.
And Disco Elysium is RPG bliss. It's like playing a great tabletop game with a pro DM that actually plays along and lets you make all those crazy decisions you want, like jacking off in the middle of the street or punching the drug addled 12 year old in the face.

Album: To the Bone by Steven Wilson. I've been a big fan of his since the Porcupine Tree days and TtB is his most accessible and diverse album to date. Great songs that add a touch of pop to his prog rock and they all capture a wide gamut of human emotion. Runner Up- Veil of Imagination by Wilderun

Book: 11/22/63 by Stephen King. Didn't read a lot of newer books, but this 900 page beast I burned through in a little less than a week. It's got everything I want in a great read. Gruesome murders, alternate history, interesting love story, and interesting characters.

Movie: The Grand Budapest Hotel. Beautiful style, fun story, great acting, outstanding direction. What more could one ask for? Runner up: Mandy

Series: Season 2 of Fargo was the best season of any series I've ever seen. A twisted and winding plot pulled off effortlessly and filled with so many 'OH FUCK!' moments. There wasn't a single second I wasn't absolutely glued to my screen. Runner up: Stranger Things pandered to me perfectly.

Fuck, I need to play Disco Elysium. I NEED that console port. It seems right up my alley. The last game I've played that truly looks like it was probably Shadowrun Returns, which I loved, and I'm still pissed never came to consoles. I haven't gotten around to reading 11/22/63 yet, despite how long it's been around. Haven't read The Institute by King either, but that's more excusable as it's a lot more recent. I own the latter, would have to borrow the former from my dad. (He's a massive reader in general, but has everything by King, both reading copies and first edition hardback copies.) I still wholly love King as a writer, he's still fantastic. Gotten into his son's work a lot this past decade too. Joe Hill quickly became one of my favorite authors.

I also need to see the Fargo show. I don't even know anything about it. But I certainly love the movie.

 

[RiffRaff]

Fuck, I need to play Disco Elysium. I NEED that console port. It seems right up my alley. The last game I've played that truly looks like it was probably Shadowrun Returns, which I loved, and I'm still pissed never came to consoles. I haven't gotten around to reading 11/22/63 yet, despite how long it's been around. Haven't read The Institute by King either, but that's more excusable as it's a lot more recent. I own the latter, would have to borrow the former from my dad. (He's a massive reader in general, but has everything by King, both reading copies and first edition hardback copies.) I still wholly love King as a writer, he's still fantastic. Gotten into his son's work a lot this past decade too. Joe Hill quickly became one of my favorite authors.

I also need to see the Fargo show. I don't even know anything about it. But I certainly love the movie.

I've read a couple Joe Hill books and really enjoyed them. Next up from his is The Fireman.

Fargo the show carries a lot of tone from the film and the setting, but each season is a contained story. Don't look up what any of it is about. Go in blind and as soon as possible. There's 3 seasons out now and a fourth coming very soon. Trust me, you will absolutely love the show.

 

[Tarvu]

With the decade just gone I feel like it will be a long time before I have actually found my favourites in it.

Quick hits only:
1: Batman: Arkham City
2: Evil Friends
3: Honestly don't think I have read any books published this decade. Not gonna look it up.
4: Guardians of the Galaxy
5: The League

I could spent way too long thinking about 2, 4 and 5. Really not played that many great games in the last decade. Also I bear in mind the question was favourites, not what we think is best. I would likely give different answers to that.

 

[Xeo]

Play it! It's, in my opinion, incredible. Recently, I discovered it was nominated for Best Game at The Game Awards and it made me so happy.

You're not wrong, I really should play it sometime.

 

[modern_moron]

The other day I spent 3 hours working on this list.

And that was just researching a general list of every game I liked over the past 10 years.

 

[Xeo]

The other day I spent 3 hours working on this list.

And that was just researching a general list of every game I liked over the past 10 years.

Well, take your time.

 

[modern_moron]

Well, take your time.

I'll have it done by 2030

 

[Xeo]

I'll have it done by 2030

You can probably be outside writing it by then, that's the good news.

 

[Slimybearreturnsv866.5]

Play it! It's, in my opinion, incredible. Recently, I discovered it was nominated for Best Game at The Game Awards and it made me so happy.

He is right such a brillant game its not my top gane of all time but well up there. Short run time but mostly uses that to its strength really great end sections too. Goes on sale a good bit on psn.

Wasn't the biggest fan of Limbo but I really did love Inside