Top 10 Games of 2010

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If you haven’t followed me on Backloggd, the game logging site, then you have missed out on weekly Top 10 posts. I am beginning to post brief rants on this blog for the top three picks to use these lists better.

I’ll throw some of the older lists here and there, but I look forward to a new top 10 list and post every Wednesday in this space.

This week’s topic was the Top 10 Games of 2010.

2010 was kind of a weird year for me. I was in between a lot of things. I would end a long-term relationship that year. I would be in several musicals. I was (and still am) a busy bee.

Nevertheless, not all of the games on these lists are games I actually played during the year they were released. Not a single entry on this list was played that year.

3: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game is a side-scrolling beat 'em up game based on the Scott Pilgrim series. You play as the friend group of Scott, who must battle through seven levels to defeat Ramona's seven evil exes.

This game was tricky to track down, but I remember discovering the movie and the game around the same time when seeing my buddy Sam playing this game on the Xbox Arcade in 2013. I was enamored by the beat ‘em up style game I hadn’t seen in quite a while.

I got so curious about the game that it led me down the rabbit hole of discovering the movie and finally the manga series.

That’s right: I am the one person who discovered Scott Pilgrim through the game first. What are the odds of that?

2: Limbo

Limbo is a black-and-white puzzle-platforming adventure. You get to play the role of a young boy traveling through an eerie and treacherous world in an attempt to discover the fate of your sister.

Before playing it for myself, this might have been one of the first games I watched as a Let’s Play. I have always been interested in horror games, and this one’s dark palette made for a captivating experience.

Playdead has continued to make one excellent game after another, but Limbo will always be the one that started it all for me.

The platforming of this game is just okay, while some of the puzzles make it exceptional. But what sets this game apart as a number two entry for the whole year is the narrative. This is not a story for the faint of heart, and one should be prepared for some uncomfortably Cronenberg-esque body horror. I could have never anticipated the twists and turns of this one.

1: Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc

If you know me literally at all, then this one should not surprise you.

In this masterpiece that has the ranking of one of my favorite games ever made, you'll dive into a series of class trials and expose the lies and contradictions of your classmates to find out who's behind each gruesome murder. With each trial, you'll have to use the evidence and testimony collected during your investigation to literally shoot down your opponent's assertions.

But the mechanics are not what makes this game what it is - this game is one of my favorite stories ever told. This is the game that started my obsession with the Death Game genre. Kodaka (the creator of the series) is one of those elusive writers that I eat up every word of every interview if he ever offers one.

There is something about the prep work for this story. Looking back at the story itself, it’s not flawless. But the character design evokes such a powerful atmosphere. The writing and translation provide such a dance of horror and humor in each specific situation.

While Danganronpa 2 remains my favorite of the trilogy, this is the first foray into the world of the Ultimate Students and sets up for a wild ride of a story.

And that wraps up my top three picks from 2010. What would be your top picks from that year? If you’ve never played these top three, would you consider it now that they’ve been brought to your attention?

I hope you enjoy these lists and look forward to bringing another to your feed next week.

June 22nd, 2022