2019 in Gaming and your Game of the Year

[Chopper]

Apologies if I’m jumping the gun on this one, but I thought it’d be good to have a thread to address the above over the next month or so. Jot down any thoughts on 2019 and your candidates for game of the year.

It occurs to me that we might need a thread to do this for the decade too

[chase210]

I played a lot in 2019, but didn't finish a lot. The games I was really looking forward to were kinda disappointing, and the ones I wasn't surprised me by their quality. The controversy around pokemon sword and shield really dampened that for me, honestly. I didn't play as much as I'd have liked, or rather finished. The problem with stuff like Gamepass is it creates essentially the same problem I have with Netflix and amazon prime in that there's so much to watch and a backlog forms so quickly its really overwhelming and I end up playing nothing new. Highlights of the year go to

Outer Worlds
Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order
Luigis Mansion 3
Ring Fit Adventure
Untitled Goose Game

[OldBailey]

2019 for me has been a year where I've had far more fun revising older titles and catching up on things I've missed over the years.
Of the 3 new releases I've played, Sekiro, DMCV and Outer Worlds, Sekiro is the only one I stuck with and finished so I suppose it's my GOTY by default!

While for me it didn't reach the high bar set by From's previous games in terms of it's world design and atmosphere, in pure game design terms I think it's something of a masterpiece.

In my opinion it has the most mechanically interesting and satisfying melee combat system of any game I've ever played and the absence of many of the crutches of the "soulsborne" games (leveling/OP weapons and builds) allowed for more finely tuned encounter design and a purer test of skill.

It wasn't to everybody's taste of course and also sparked a lot of interesting debate around accessibility vs authorial intent which will no doubt ripple into 2020 and beyond.

I'm very curious to see if From respond to this themselves with the upcoming Elden Ring. Hopefully they can strike a better balance, allowing for more people to play their extraordinary games while still keeping the challenge intact for those that want it.

[hazeredmist]

I’m going for games I’ve played that weren’t necessarily 2019 releases but this is the year I played them:

1. Rolling Gunner

This game is so good and in the year shmups got their hooks into me courtesy of a bunch of friends here (they know who they are) it stands out above the rest and achieving a 1cc even on Novice felt massive to me.

2. Night in the Woods

Wow. There is something about the character exploration and plot of this which grabs you just where other games don’t. It’s very real despite the visuals. I’ve thought about this one a lot, for many reasons.

3. Starlink

Hit me for six this. I took a punt on it for a fiver. A fiver! The game is superb with Mass Effect / Star Fox / No Mans Sky feels and I believe if it wasn’t saddled with the toys to life stuff it would have got a wider and much deserved audience. Very enjoyable gameplay loop and satisfying till the end.

4. Splatoon 2

The single player campaign was a real challenge for me and getting through it was amazing. Some levels were horrifically frustrating but most were fun and inventive. The multiplayer is an endlessly rewarding delight.

Honourable mentions: Neko Navy: Daydream Edition, Dodonpachi Resurrection, Root Letter

Games I haven’t finished yet which would make the list: Steins;Gate 0

Biggest disappointment: Untitled Goose Game (overhyped to the max)

[Scrustle]

I'm still gathering my thoughts for this, and I'm planning to write something bigger and more complete later on. Although I seem to go through this thought process every year and almost never actually go through with it, but with that said...

Right now my overall GOTY is a tie between Devil May Cry 5 and Astral Chain. Both stellar examples of the same subgenre, but which take a different approach. DMC is a glorious revival of a series that refines and expands on mechanics that date all the way back to the beginning of character action games, and sets a new high standard that will be very hard to beat. Astral Chain is a really unique and original take on the genre that has depth that few similarly novel games have. It's ambitious and fresh, and hopefully the start of many great things to come.

Other games that have stood out are Judgment, Eastshade, and Assault Spy. I also replayed the Bioshock series, and the first two entries still hold up really well. As did Race Driver: Grid and Need for Speed Underground 2.

[KSubzero1000]

These threads always remind me how little I pay attention to release years in comparison to most other players!


Of the games released this year that I played, Devil May Cry V would have to be my clear favorite. Completely agree with what Scrustle said above so I'll leave it at that. I don't like RE Engine.

"Resident Evil 2" is a very mixed bag in my opinion. It celebrates almost as much of the classic RE formula as it throws away, and that isn't quite enough for me. Everything related to puzzles and inventory management is handled incredibly well, but a more precise combat system, some fully-fleshed out B scenarios and perhaps even some music would have been nice. I enjoyed my time with it for what it was but it saddens me how little modern-day Capcom seem to understand about their own legacy material and that the door to a proper classic series revival now appears to be closed forever. Then again, I have not been their target audience for the past 14 years. It is what it is. Writing this post made me sadder than I care to admit. I still don't like RE Engine.

Sekiro is an excellent game that suffers from an identity crisis at its very core. Lots of great elements that aren't all as fully realized as I would have wanted to. It doesn't challenge either Dark Souls or Bloodborne as my favorite FROM game, but I could see myself replaying it in the not-too distant future. Boss fights are dope.


In terms of AAA releases... I think that's it! Not that many to report. Note that I haven't had the opportunity to play either Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Astral Chain, Luigi's Mansion 3 or Death Stranding yet, so all bets are off.


2019 also symbolized my descent into m̶a̶d̶n̶e̶ the shmups universe and broken laptop gaming. It's going to take all day if I start listing them all, so I'll just say that Blue Wish Resurrection Plus made my heart beat faster for all the right reasons.


PS: And of course, my longstanding love story with everything Zachtronics is proving itself to be extremely fulfilling.

[hazeredmist]

2019 also symbolized my descent into m̶a̶d̶n̶e̶ the shmups universe and broken laptop gaming. It's going to take all day if I start listing them all, so I'll just say that Blue Wish Resurrection Plus made my heart beat faster for all the right reasons.

I love this game. Actually I want the OST to listen to NOW dammit... Perfect shmup music. Tell me again how this game can possibly be free?

[KSubzero1000]

Haze: Time for my biweekly post about how great BWRP is and wild speculation about the financial side of things.

Also Haze: *plays 5 minutes of it and ...Oooh, shiny! ...doesn't touch it again for another six months*

[hazeredmist]

Haha! I've played it quite a few times actually, not that you'll see it in my history since it's not on Steam. And I 1cc'd it! You said it was legit. Right? Help me find the OST, I can't see it. I actually do want it, and I would like to do a full shmups DJ set at some point featuring stuff like this...

Side note: I swear when I play with one of your games it feels like I'm a junior football coach and your son is in the team - every time I make a call or substitute him, or change his position, you're that parent on the touchline foaming at the mouth like a rabid hound barking at my every decision...

...and I kinda like it before you take that the wrong way

[KSubzero1000]

I'm just messing with you, I know I can be a bit overprotective of my babies sometimes!

Help me find the OST, I can't see it.

I don't know of any way to download it. But you can just go into your BWRP "bgm" folder and copy and paste the individual tracks to wherever you want. It really is that simple. All free, no copyright, etc...

[hazeredmist]

Oh, superb. I'll try that!

[Chopper]

I meant to post something myself here but got overtaken by events so I'll get to that later at some time.

The problem with stuff like Gamepass is it creates essentially the same problem I have with Netflix and amazon prime in that there's so much to watch and a backlog forms so quickly its really overwhelming and I end up playing nothing new.

Subscription services was the big story in 2019 as far as I'm concerned. But the way I look at it is that backlogs no longer exist under this model (are you going to count all the games on the service as being on your backlog?) so that's a small positive.

Still have a backlog of bought games though (for now, anyway DUN DUN DUN!).

Spoiler: show

[KSubzero1000]

But the way I look at it is that backlogs no longer exist under this model so that's a small positive.

That's technically correct, but a slightly less charitable way of looking at it is that the overwhelming "choice" of the platform simply devalues everything and that most consumers don't feel any obligation to persevere past the first 10 minutes of anything.

Not sure I would count that as a positive, but that's just me.

[Alex79uk]

But the way I look at it is that backlogs no longer exist under this model so that's a small positive.

That's technically correct, but a slightly less charitable way of looking at it is that the overwhelming "choice" of the platform simply devalues everything and that most consumers don't feel any obligation to persevere past the first 10 minutes of anything.

Not sure I would count that as a positive, but that's just me.

I both completely agree with that point, and also enjoy the freedom of having so much to choose from. It's an odd dichotomy, and one I really don't know how I feel about.

[Alex79uk]

I've played mainly old games this year. Highlights include Super Metroid and Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past, both of which I'm really pleased to have been able to 'cross off' the list.

I've played a lot of mobile stuff too. When you're being selective, phone gaming really is truly excellent.

I got a Switch so Mario Odyssey and Breath Of The Wild both comfortably made it in to my top 20 of all time list.

As for new stuff, Red Dead Redemption 2 I finished early in the year and became my favorite game of all time. I got a decent way in to Sekiro which is really great, but I put it on pause to play along with my favorite Let's Play team who are doing it in Jan next year. I still count MGS V as new too, and currently really enjoying that.

So that's my year in gaming.

[Chopper]

But the way I look at it is that backlogs no longer exist under this model so that's a small positive.

That's technically correct, but a slightly less charitable way of looking at it is that the overwhelming "choice" of the platform simply devalues everything and that most consumers don't feel any obligation to persevere past the first 10 minutes of anything.

Not sure I would count that as a positive, but that's just me.

We are talking about two different things, Mr Sweeping Statement Guy.

Mine is positive while we can agree yours is definitely negative.

Anyway, I’m not discussing it further when the goalposts are being moved in such a blatant fashion.

[Alex79uk]

I still think of having a backlog even with this, as in I know what games I want to play, and they're on my backlog. Same way I always have a list of movies in my head (well OK, quite literally written down on my phone, actually) but don't consider Netflix entire catalogue as part of my backlog.

[KSubzero1000]

We are talking about two different things, Mr Sweeping Statement Guy.

I was just trying to address a different aspect of the topic! No beef intended!

...I need to work on my social skills.

[Chopper]

I still think of having a backlog even with this, as in I know what games I want to play, and they're on my backlog. Same way I always have a list of movies in my head (well OK, quite literally written down on my phone, actually) but don't consider Netflix entire catalogue as part of my backlog.

Yeah, I guess! For Humble Bundles, I buy them if the headline game is a good deal, and that goes on my backlog. But all the other games just get ignored and do not make any list unless one of them is really something I've been looking for. None of the Gamepass games go on the backlog list.

Speaking of backlogs, 2019 was the year I properly embraced PC gaming. I could never really face sitting down at a PC after working all day, but I took some time off this year and got well into it. The biggest visible effect of this is that I cut my gaming spend in half, and the next biggest effect is that I now have a backlog again (25 games bought this year that I still have to spend time with ). Given those 25 games are still outstanding, I might be able to half that spend again next year. If I keep this up the next beast-mode gaming rig pays for itself!

[Flabyo]

Outer Wilds.

Can’t really think of anything else that’s been genuinely new and interesting I played that also came out this year.

(Had a lot of fun with Obra Dinn as well, but that’s really a 2018 game)