Best of the Decade: Part 3

Yo, welcome to Part 3! Haven’t caught the killer virus yet, but in case I do the house has been stocked with a lot of stuff, so I can be quarantined in peace. And lots of books to read too! Oh so many books…

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Best Star Wars: Star Wars: Rebels

I had problems with the Sequel Trilogy. I’m not saying they’re bad; they’re not bad films! But individually they’ve got enough issues that I can’t say I enjoyed them more than the Disney XD animated series. The Clone Wars was good, but it didn’t start this past decade, and if it did, the fact is that the first two and half seasons of attempting to make a non-chronological anthology series was difficult to follow at times. Jedi Fallen Order is also good, very good. Maybe The Mandalorian is also great, but I’m morally against getting Disney+ so I don’t know for sure. But ultimately I give it to Rebels because DANG this was a good series. 

Mind you, it’s not a perfect series; it drops the ball on a couple of things, giving some characters the short end of the stick on arcs that should mean more (Ezra’s flirtation with the Dark Side in season three comes to mind--it only takes up like three or four episodes). But it scratches the itch I think a lot of Star Wars fans had in the Disney Era. It does everything that I feel a good spin-off should do: it’s enjoyable in its own right, it ties together different parts of the series, it takes a closer look at the themes and ideas in the story. And as a Star Wars story, it manages to be an interesting war story while also managing to going into the mysticism of the Force, animated in a way evocative of Ralph McQuarrie’s original concept art.

And the two-part season two finale, “Twilight of the Apprentice,” is one of the greatest season finales of all time, FIGHT ME.

I did not expect to love this series as much as I did when I started watching it. It has a lovable cast, it expands the mythology, and it’s a spin-off that actually works. I can’t help but think that if the Sequel Trilogy had been done by this team (and yes, I would have accepted an animated movie trilogy with that cast), then I have no doubt it would have been received with applause.

Best Remake/Reboot: Man from U.N.C.L.E.

[Is the Shadow of the Colossus remaster a remake? I dunno, but maybe go check that out too if you’re into games.]

I considered not putting this, because my sister is taking credit for too many of these already. But look, this movie is actually really good, and I’m sad that it didn’t become a smash hit when it came out. 

It’s like this: it’s the Cold War. American CIA agent Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) is ordered to help a German mechanic Gaby Teller (Alicia Vikander) find her father, who is currently working (under duress) for a group of Italian fascists on a bomb. To help with the mission, Solo has to team up with Russian KGB agent Ilya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer), who has to pose as Gaby’s fiance. 

And in some ways, this feels a bit like everything you ever wanted in a spy team-up movie? Or a fanfic, I guess. Enemies-to-friends? Pretending-to-be-lovers? Cool music and stylish outfits? Sarcastic humor? Teeth-clenched teamwork? It’s all there. And it’s all amazing. I’m a bit surprised that with this and with Sherlock Holmes that Guy Ritchie doesn’t have more of a reputation as being a director with his own noticeable style that has its own fanbase.

Maybe you won’t enjoy it as much as I did, but you will enjoy it, I think.

Best Prequel: Sandman: Overture written by Neil Gaiman illustrated by J.H. Williams III

I recall thinking that this was going to be a half-baked prequel that didn’t add anything to the story. And to be clear, you don’t really need to read this to understand the Sandman storyline that happens in the main comics. It’s not the story of Sandman, it’s exactly what the title calls it, an overture, like that bit before the musical or opera that sets the mood for what’s to come.

The Sandman is a difficult thing to get right, and yet Neil Gaiman almost always does. And Overture is no different. Taking place immediately before the events of the first Sandman comic, and showing what it was that exhausted him so much that he was able to be captured in Preludes and Nocturnes, Overture shows us more of what Morpheus’s existence was like before the events of the main comic. No, it’s not exactly a business-as-usual story for him, but it shows how Dream was, and hints at what he will be over the course of the story.

And it manages to flesh out some backstory on Dream and the other Endless. Again, it does what a good prequel does: it isn’t something necessary to understand the main story, but it does change how you view the Endless and how they interact with each other. It’s a nice little tidbit for fans of the series to see parts of their lives that we didn’t really have any reason to suspect that they had, and to see them interact in ways differently than we expect.

Best Video Game: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

[Fallout 4 might rank higher if I’d played more of it.]

Look, I feel as if this game has become a meme with how glitchy it is, and how it wasn’t that great to begin with. But guess what? Screw you guys, this game was THE SHIZ when it came out, and it’s a game that I can keep going back to over and over again and still have loads of fun and adventures that I didn’t have before.

For the past ten years, just about every RPG and open world game has been desperately trying to recapture the magic that Skyrim managed. No, this game didn’t invent open world games, or sidequests, or armor customization, or factions or fantasy RPGs. But they made the big, made it the mainstream game in a way that they weren’t before. Every game and their mother was trying to tell a story like that. And to be fair, some of them did manage to become successful. But Skyrim, man, for all its flaws I think it’s one of my favorites, and I think it’s the RPG that still evokes this sense of wonder from me that very few games ever did. Let’s be clear: the video game world would not be the way it is if it weren’t for Skyrim. The fact that I can find a Let’s Play of someone’s grandmother playing Skyrim I think is a good indicator of the way that this was one of the many things that brought fantasy into the mainstream of popular culture.

And you know, I get to fight dragons and giants and mammoths and shoot lightning out of my hands and build houses and kill vampires. That’s more than I generally ask for in a video game.

Best LEGO Game: LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham

This also might be the best superhero game, but Batman: Arkham City also ranks pretty high up there.

[Also LEGO Star Wars II might have made this list if it came out in the past decade and not while I was in high school.]

LEGO Marvel Superheroes is insanely good, okay? Flying around NYC as Iron Man and up to the helicarrier is something that’s hard to beat. And LEGO DC Supervillains is pretty awesome. But in terms of sheer scale, in terms of ambition, and in terms of cool characters and powers and fun little Easter Eggs, I don’t know if any of the LEGO games match up.

Some awesome things in LEGO Batman 3: lazers. Adam West. Shapeshifting. Plastic Man. Music Meister. The Legion of Doom. Interplanetary travel. Parachuting from aircraft. Superspeed. The Watchtower. Punching Braniac in the face. And yeah, sure, there are some things that other games in the franchise do better; for instance, hearing Conan talk over and over again can be really annoying whenever you enter a new area or pass him. But this game is, I think, still the greatest in the series for how all-out insane it gets sometimes, how much you can do, how much content they pack into a LEGO game. It has more superheroes than I ever expected to be playable in a game and I cannot help but love it for that alone.

Best Shooter: Halo 4

Hey remember when Bungie said they didn’t want to do deep lore or give Master Chief a personality? Well 343 says “BUMP THAT!” and game a deep personal arc about Chief’s relationship with Cortana, an AI that has a deteriorating mind after years of service. And they’re stranded on a faraway planet. And this ancient alien god thing woke up and wants to destroy humanity.

Good stuff!

Halo 4 decided to add enemy types that challenged you in different ways; if you don’t take out the Promethean Watchers, for instance, they might revive the Promethean Knights that you took down. And don’t even think about using grenades around them; they’ll just hurl them back at you. And there’s Forerunner architecture and design out the wazoo; yes, they were present in previous games in the series, but now they’re here in full force, especially with the new Forerunner weapons you can try out.

But more interestingly, I really like that this game takes a good hard look at the story. What does Master Chief’s upbringing and the war do to him, psychologically speaking? How far is he willing to go to save Cortana? What the heck is wrong with the people who decided that kidnapping children was a good way to start a super soldier program? And did we really expect a conflict to end just because we killed the guy in charge?

I liked the story, I liked the gameplay, and I liked the design. And it was much more than I ever expected from Halo.

Best Assassin’s Creed: Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey

Alright you know that Assassin’s Creed was going to make it in here somewhere. And I still have a soft spot in me for Assassin’s Creed III, and Black Flag was also really good, even if it didn’t include Puerto Rico. And I love the character dynamics of Syndicate. But Odyssey? Look, this game is freaking Awesome, even if its place in the overall narrative doesn’t make that much sense. But I blame that on Origins, which has a weak story and retcons the origins of the Assassins.

I’ve been lamenting for years the lack of fantastical stories set in ancient Greece. And yes, technically this one is more science-fiction than fantasy, but it hits all the right buttons and all the right story beats for me to enjoy. It’s got family drama, an evil cult, loads of humor, a touch of mythology, and loads and loads of sword fights. And content out the wazoo; Lord knows there’s so much content, that even long after finishing the game I can turn it on and find myself some mercenary jobs and find something to do. 

I’m on the fence on whether this is my favorite Assassin’s Creed ever; after all, I still really like Assassin’s Creed 3. Story-wise I think AC3 still wins, though Odyssey’s gameplay and graphics are a lot more polished, there’s much more to do, and I think it’s a lot more fun to play in the long run. So I’m giving it to Odyssey.

Best Story for a Game: Horizon Zero Dawn

HOLY FUDGE YOU FIGHT GIANT ROBOT DINOSAURS WITH A BOW AND ARROW!

I urge you, play this game. The story, the design, the gameplay, the characters--it’s all really good. Someone decided to take the plot and character beats of a Chosen One-centered high fantasy novel and put it in a post-apocalyptic setting. This very easily could be a grungy dystopia, and instead it’s one of the most colorful and uplifting video games I’ve played in ages, with writing that’s sharp, direct, and also surprisingly subtle.

Horizon Zero Dawn just feels right. I remember starting the game and immediately being awed by the story and the characters that inhabit it. You’re invested the second the game starts, even if it takes a while to figure how the world got the way it did. And the player doesn’t feel bad because of it; there’s so much care and detail put into the world as it is at the time of the game that you don’t feel too much in a rush to find out what happened to make the world the way it is in Aloy’s time.

Every detail in the design is thoughtful and intricate. Every major character has an interesting backstory. Every Machine has a purpose to it. And Aloy, a headstrong brave of the Nora tribe trying to find out where she came from and what her place in the world is. There’s not a stupid romance arc, there aren’t annoying characters, there’s a girl on a mission in a strange and exciting world that’s full of giant robots.

Best Surprisingly Good Game: Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor

Jedi Fallen Order could have made this one, as could have LEGO Batman 3. This game… alright, pro-tip, don’t play this on Xbox 360 because the game isn’t built for it. You’ll get a loading screen every time you close the menu (that’s not an exaggeration).  But in terms of actual gameplay? It’s good. It’s alarmingly good. Mind you, combat is pretty heavily cribbed from the Batman: Arkham games, but with, like, swords.

And let’s be real here: tone-wise, this doesn’t fit very well in the lore of Middle-Earth (and let’s not even get into the canon issues). The idea of a man possessed by a wraith and getting superpowers only kind of fits with the Middle-Earth canon? Barely? That game makes up for it though by being loads of fun. And to top it all off, it gave us the Nemesis System, which means that every time you die, it’s incorporated into the gameplay. A random mook kills you? Now he has a name and a promotion, and every time you encounter one another in the game’s world you have a new Nemesis, and he might go out of his way to hunt you down. And he can become more powerful if he kills you or beats other Orcs.

This makes every playthrough unique, and personal, because you get a personal Nemesis that might interrupt your missions, or refuse to stay dead, and this leads to creative strategies and play styles. Even with the limitations of a game system that it didn’t play too well on, this made Shadow of Mordor a surprisingly fun game to play, and I imagine it was even better on Xbox One and PS4.

Best Band: Pentatonix

I’m not a music guy, so I can’t talk too much about bands or styles of music or songs. That’s not my field. So this is the only music mention I can do on this list. But it’s a good one! Pentatonix was formed with the explicit intention of being the most famous a capella group in the world, and unless we count the one from Pitch Perfect (which we shouldn’t because they’re fictional) they may have succeeded. 

Covering everything from pop songs to tunes from Broadway, Pentatonix is one of my favorite bands (although to be fair, I don’t have a lot of favorite bands).There is a certain level of energy they add to music that I don’t get from a lot of cover bands or even mainstream artists. Or maybe I have weird tastes in music, I don’t know. What I do know is that I’m always willing to check out their performances and albums.

And they do Christmas albums! And Christmas specials!

They’re fun, they’re fun to listen to, they’re fun to dance to, and they managed to accomplish exactly what they set out to do.

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And we’re done! That’s it. I’m sure I can come up with some more favorites if I stop and think real hard about it, but for now I’ll leave you to this list. Stay safe out there during this virus!