This decade was filled with many changes in the video games industry, both for the better and worst. Some studios closed while others came back into prominence. Certain developers are starting to gain attention, while others struggle with their longtime reputation. But that did not stop studios from pushing out industry-changing titles throughout this decade.
What you’ve all been waiting for: The best video games of every year of this decade, according to Metacritic! Metacritic chooses its GOTY titles based on the highest critical Metascore. Remasters, ports, or re-releases will not be taken into consideration; a game must be an original title released for the first time that year to make the cut. Without further ado, let’s get into it!
10 Super Mario Galaxy 2, 97 (2010)
Super Mario Galaxy 2 for the Wii scored a 97 on Metacritic, stealing the crown from Mass Effect 2 (96) and Red Dead Redemption (95). That’s pretty impressive considering how popular both those titles are! But hey, it’s Mario at the height of the Wii’s popularity. On top of that, it’s predecessor, Super Mario Galaxy, won Metacritic’s Game of the Year honor in 2007.
Following up from the original SMG, SMG2 takes Mario back into space for stellar platforming. Players take advantage of gravity and physics-based controls with new features and galaxies to explore.
9 Batman: Arkham City, 96 (2011)
The PlayStation 360 version of the second game in the Arkham trilogy took home the gold in 2011. What makes this victory particularly special is that it edged out the universally loved Skyrim (Xbox 360 version) by a few decimal points. Both games had an overall critical score of 96.
Developed by Rocksteady Studios and published by Warner Bros., Batman: Arkham City had some great Batman talent contribute. Paul Dini, a veteran DC Comics writer, wrote the story alongside Sefton Hill and Paul Crocker. Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill, the voices of Batman and Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, gave their voices to the characters in this game too.
8 Telltale’s The Walking Dead, 95 (2012)
Metacritic admitted that there was going to be a little contention around this Game of the Year choice. Their choice for GOTY 2012 was the complete retail release of Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead Season One; the Xbox 360 version got a 95 (at the time), which has gone down to 92 since then. Going by the current scores for 2012, Mass Effect 3 takes the top spot, as Persona 4 Golden does not qualify.
Each episode was released online individually, and each got below a 90. Great! But for GOTY standards, that’s kind of a yikes. Before Telltales’ meteoric fall and sudden rebirth in 2019, it was riding high with Season One of The Walking Dead. This is the game series that propelled the studio forward and became a household name.
7 Grand Theft Auto V, 97 (2013)
Critics were gushing over this one, especially since 2013 was another slump of a year. The fifth installment of Rockstar Studios’ Grand Theft Auto franchise, GTA V takes players to Los Santos, a fictional version of Los Angeles. The open-world is alive, breathing, and polished. The story mode’s characters are amazing and unforgettable, especially Trevor. And the amount of customization and activities are to die for.
At the time of Metacritic’s year-in-review article, GTA V was the eighth highest-scoring game of all time (on Metacritic, at least). But their accolades for the title are valid. In November 2018, GTA V was declared the most profitable entertainment product of all time by MarketWatch. Yes, that includes television, literature, movies, music, and other media. At the time of reporting, they made over 90 million in sales and $6 billion in revenue.
6 Super Smash Bros. For the Wii U, 92 (2014)
This GOTY title has a funny story. It won cause the three other titles that surpassed its score were “remastered ports of older titles.” As a result, Super Smash Bros. (Wii U) took home the gold in 2014.
Smashis a recurring franchise that is bound to have a release with each new Nintendo console. The game itself is not bad at all; it has a great roster of core and guest characters (e.g. Cloud, Bayonetta), great graphics/maps and, of course, amazing gameplay. It scored a 92, the same as some of its predecessors and even successors. Considering the Wii U’s relative failure, that’s pretty good!
5 Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, 95 (2015)
Man, this was a rough decade for Metacritic. Every time they had expectations for a great year, anticipated titles kept getting pushed back to the latter half of the decade. Anyways, there were only three GOTY contenders in 2015: Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (Xbox One), Bloodborne (PS4), and The Witcher: Wild Hunt (XB1/PS4). As seen in the title, Phantom Pain edged out both of these titles by three to two points respectively.
The ninth installment of the MGS franchise is a follow-up to MGS V: Ground Zeroes, where Venom Snake goes on a vengeance run in Soviet-controlled Afghanistan. Phantom Pain takes place 11 years before the first game in the series and its Hideo Kojima’s last product at Konami.
4 Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, 93 (2016)
The last mainline game in Nathan Drake’s story, Uncharted 4 grabbed the gold with a Metascore of 93. Nathan’s brother, Sam, comes back in his life with a new adventure.
Even though Nathan put treasure hunting behind him, he journeys to Madagascar and beyond to search for Captain Henry Avery’s riches and more. It was also considered the best PS4 game of 2016, unsurprisingly.
3 Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, 97 (2017)
Breath of the Wild was much anticipated and widely loved by the video game community. It started the Nintendo Switch’s life with a bang and edged out Super Mario Odyssey by 0.3 points!
A brand-new adventure for the elf Link, BOTW features amazing graphics, a stunning world, a vast amount of gameplay features, and engaging boss battles. It really built on The Legend of Zelda’s universe and pleased new and old Nintendo fans!
2 Red Dead Redemption 2, 97 (2018)
Unsurprisingly, Red Dead Redemption 2 won GOTY in 2018. It was a much-anticipated title after its breakout predecessor, which was released in 2010. Red Dead Redemption 2 is a clear must-have on console; both its PS4 and Xbox One releases got a score of 97.
Players are taken back to the United States in 1899, toward the end of the Wild West era. Play as Arthur Morgan and traverse the GTA-like open world with many activities to do in the American heartland.
2018 was a heavily contested year that produced many great games, including God of War, Bayonetta 2, Divinity: Original Sin II Definitive Edition, Forza Horizon 4, Smash Ultimate, Celeste, Dead Cells, and more.
1 Disco Elysium, 91 (2019)
2019 was a year of huge highs and shocking lows in the industry. Metacritic usually publishes their review of the year a few days into the new year, so we’re going by the highest-rated game as of Dec. 31, 2019 (excluding re-releases, ports, remasters, etc). And that honor goes to the indie darling Disco Elysium (Metascore of 91).
Developed by ZA/UM, Disco Elysium is a narrative-driven detective RPG inspired by tabletop RPGs like Dungeons & Dragons. Players engage a drab but intriguing open world from an isometric perspective. Its conversation system is the biggest asset of the game, and dialogue drives the story and gameplay forward. This indie game took home 4 Game Awards (e.g. GOTY, Narrative, RPG) and was nominated for three more.
NEXT: Every Console Game Of The Decade With A Metacritic Score Over 94
