In these last days of 2019 the rankings on the best “anything” of the year and of the decade are flooding and obviously video games are no less.
This time, however, we want to offer you a slightly different, more personal and intimate ranking and therefore undoubtedly less exhaustive and more subject to criticism. A ranking that tries to list not the best video games of these ten years, but the most intense experiences, the moments to remember, those situations in which we feel that we are pushing ourselves beyond the boundaries of a sector that many consider childish but often not it lives up to the fine words that are spent in its defense.
Here is the list and, of course, we are curious to read yours.
A mountain pass in Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Zelda: Breath of The Wild is a game full of exciting moments, but few adventures have given me the same feelings as when I decided to tackle a mountain pass with a lot of courage and few resources. In the game, the coldest areas must be faced with the right clothing, otherwise Link will suffer damage from the climate until he dies. But once I decided to cross a mountain pass without equipment, arming myself only with many provisions, to gradually recover the health that would have been gnawed by the cold, a reliable sword for possible encounters and a lot of recklessness. It was a very difficult journey, in which I spent all my time running away from monsters that would have killed me with a single blow, without ever stopping to advance as I devoured previously cooked legs and trying to understand without any map which would be the best way to shorten the journey. When I finally saw the valley below me I felt a mix of joy, relief, elation and swagger. I understood what it felt like by challenging fate in the name of adventure, the real one, the one they told in books and legends, in a game that simply allowed me to do it.
Stroll through the woods in The Witcher 3
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a title whose environment is almost a game character and is able to guarantee glimpses of devastating beauty. Between peaks, valleys, fjords, sunsets and rolling plains, one of his contributions to the world of video games is undoubtedly an incredibly accurate rendering of forests. Thanks to the title of CD Projekt we can almost relive the experience of a medieval man who ventures into dense, majestic and disturbing woods that become more and more dangerous as night approaches. Walking in their entirety with ears pricked to catch any monsters or marauders ready to attack is the spice of one of the best titles of recent years and one of those things to try with the most powerful PC you can buy.
Defeat your first boss in Dark Souls
Never been a great Dark Souls player, mea culpa. I don’t enjoy feeling bad in these kinds of games nor do I feel like suffering by challenging them. However, appreciating the gloomy settings, I still tested my stamina in a few games. Despite this difficult relationship with the works of Hidetaka Miyazaki, seeing a monster fall at your feet that until a few minutes before seemed insurmountable is a very pure moment of play, an emotion that millions of people have experienced since the days of the first consoles, of the first arcades and early computers. A moment of primordial happiness that makes you feel like the caveman who has the better of the mammoth.
Discover the fear of dying in Red Dead Redemption 2
At a certain point in the Rockstar Games game Arthur Morgan, the protagonist, discovers that that strange cough that has been tormenting him for a while is a serious form of tuberculosis, contracted after beating up an insolvent debtor in a debt collection operation. This moment, prepared with a slow and skilful narrative approach sprinkled with clues, is the moment when the game stops being “simply” a fabulous epic of the twilight West and becomes the story of all of us facing death. And it does it in a way that only a video game can do, by putting us in front of very heavy questions and leading us to reflect on how we would behave in this situation. And so, at the end of a mission, Arthur finds himself talking to a nun after yet another violent cough attack.
Peek around a corner in Resident Evil 7
Resident Evil 7 is a title that begins in a dazzling way, citing more “rural” horror movies like “Don’t Open That Door” and locking us in a dismal mansion with a family of murderous cannibals. It is also one of the first games of a certain depth to make use of virtual reality and played with PlayStation Now offers incredible emotions, including that of finding yourself wandering through the corridors of this dilapidated house, hunted by a maniac armed with an ax. Thanks to the viewer, we can peek around corners, wardrobes and doors to understand if that sound of footsteps is coming towards us, if the threat is looming or the way is clear. An incredible experience, which shakes you inside and comes straight from the future, from the new forms of narration and language offered by virtual reality and from the day it will finally be cheap,
The Mass Effect 3 finale
Bioware’s space opera was a happy union between the universal perspective of Star Trek and the journey of the Star Wars hero, but its ending caused a lot of discussion among fans of the saga. After the last battle it is not known if our hero was indoctrinated by the Reapers, a race of aliens that periodically destroys practically all life in the universe to reshape it later, or not, we do not know if our choices have saved the human race or if they made us fall into a trap. Meanwhile, images follow one another that show us the fate of our friends, but everything seems artificial, just as if they were convincing us that everything is fine even when it is not. At the time it was a disturbing conclusion, not very conciliatory, atypical for such a mainstream video game and in fact many asked for a clearer, more readable and satisfying ending. Despite the popular uprising and the patched ending that came shortly after, when the developers bowed to the demands of the public, I always considered the first version a bold choice, a symbol of expressive maturity.
The bureaucratic desperation of Papers, Please
Papers, Please is one of the most dazzling titles of recent years. A shining example of how videogame storytelling can easily tell difficult, political and absolutely “no fun” stories while remaining within playful boundaries. Lucas Pope’s game puts us in the shoes of a border inspector of a fictional communist country called Arstotzka and simulates his work and private life. We will decide who can enter who cannot, report any suspicious people, accept bribes to turn a blind eye (and maybe be able to treat a sick family member). We will have to make quick decisions based on bizarre laws that by constantly changing, with the awareness of having the future of those in front of us in our hands, we may be inflexible or corrupt and in any case we will pay for any political and personal consequences. A fundamental, absolute title that says everything there is to say about totalitarianisms without ever pretending to teach the player a lesson.
Arriving in the city with the Silent Poets in the ears in Death Stranding
We have already spoken to you extensively, so we will not repeat ourselves here. But if there is an emotion that we want to bring into the new decade it is undoubtedly the moment when, after yet another dangerous walk between sharp stones and threats from the other world, finally a wide valley opens up in front of us with in the center the city we are headed to. And as we go down to the city, the first chords of “Asylum for the feelings” of the Silent Poets start, accompanying our descent. It is an extremely lyrical, powerful, rewarding moment that demonstrates all the narrative capacity, but also the cunning, of Hideo Kojima and his expertise in creating a unique moment that will remain in the player’s heart even after the end.
Catch your first Pokémon on the street
Pokémon Go was, and still is, because even if the clamor is over, many people still play it, a worldwide phenomenon, a virtuous example of augmented reality, gamification and the power of a well-known brand. Thanks to him, many people started playing by leaving home, walking, finding themselves with the highs, net of often instrumental and quite ridiculous controversies. There was a time when you could happen to go out in the evening and see someone stop on the street for a few seconds and then leave satisfied for having added a Pokémon to their collection, for a few months video games have been around us, they were really part of an almost sensitive reality that they could perceive and it was beautiful.
Feeling old first with Minecraft and then with Fortnite
Most of today’s thirty / forty-year-olds have been able to experience the entire history of video games at the forefront, from the first pixels of the Atari to the most refined contemporary games. But in this decade at least a couple of games have made me realize that time is passing and that it does not stop for anyone: Minecraft and Fortnite. Of the first it is difficult to understand the creative power if not sensing the emotion of a preteen who creates his first house in this kind of infinite Lego, the second instead has a language, a rhythm and a speed of thought that go beyond this that we experienced years ago for the first time with Doom and with the first signs of competitive titles. It’s like building a house while shooting, attacking, defending and moving without ever stopping thinking two moves ahead of your opponents. Seen through the eyes of an adult today it’s like a foreign language and that’s okay. There are games for everyone and this is not for us.
