15 Most Important Video Games Of The Decade (So Far)

8. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Even after we got our hands on the phenomenally-detailed world of Fallout 4, there was just no comparison to Skyrim; Bethesdas Tolkien-esque fulfilment of a genre they'd been iterating on for the prior two decades. Where TES II: Daggerfall was just a touch too big and Oblivion a touch unrefined, this fifth instalment hit the sweet spot, providing the next logical benchmark in open-world game design since GTA III. NPC A.I. routines went about their day across the entirety of the world, enemy creatures could spawn randomly and would be yours for the taking (and skinning), hulking dragons scorched the earth from above and the story itself was an epic tale of discovery and exploration. It's the world that's the hook though - a real testament to Bethesda's work ethic in that they were somehow able to design an literal world of content to swim around in. The best part is the game actually designs quests and objectives for you based on places you haven't been - essentially giving it an inbuilt sense of replayability that nothing else has come anywhere close to.