Posting this just in the nick of time heh. I always have a lot of fun putting these lists together as a way to reflect on the games I've enjoyed in the past year, and also as an opportunity to read about the games the community has enjoyed as well. While I can't say I got a chance to play every single game that piqued my interest in 2019, I was happy to get through what I could.
And so without further ado, here's my list.
- Final Fantasy 14: Shadowbringers - FFXIV may be an MMO, but even after over 2 years of playing the game, it still surprises me how much I've taken to it (being primarily a single player gamer at heart). But at it's core, FFXIV is simply an RPG, a genre I've always enjoyed for providing storytelling on top of character development. FFXIV is undoubtedly a time investment, spanning a lengthy main story including the base game and now 3 expansions, but it's that same investment that has grown on me, in a way I haven't often been invested in a story in a video game. It's about the main characters I've seen grow and develop through the course of the entire game's lengthy story up to this point. In a way I almost feel a personal bond to many of them now. Shadowbringers may take FFXIV to a new place (the First), but it's hard to fully appreciate it without remembering what's come before.
It's difficult to talk about Shadowbringer's story without going into spoilers, but suffice to say it's one of my favorite Final Fantasy stories in quite some time. From a beautiful new world to explore, interesting new characters to meet, a story with a primary antagonist I could empathize with, and a fantastic soundtrack to accompany the journey, I often felt a sense of bliss taking it all in. Additionally, I think there's a sense of 'character' that truly develops in these sort of games. I've played the game as the same character since I first started playing, and in a sense, that's formed my sense of identity within the game as new content consistently releases, which I've found to be quite cool.
I'd be remiss if I didn't touch on the gameplay, and I'll say this expansion has really made me enjoy playing my primary class (White Mage). And with a myriad of different classes to check out (all of which can be played as a single character), I do feel there's a lot of choice in finding at least one class that clicks.
All in all, Shadowbringers (and FFXIV as a whole) is a game that often puts a smile on my face while playing, whether it's taking in an emotional moment in the story, learning to play a class better, or even just meeting new people in Eorzea. It's the game I enjoyed playing the most in 2019, and simply put, it's my Game of the Year.
- Resident Evil 2 - I tend to do poorly with tolerating 'Horror' games, so it was with a bit of uncertainty that I initally approached RE2 with, not sure if this would be 'my type of game'. What followed was one of my favorite gaming experiences of the year. The atmosphere presented a perfect amount of tension and exhilaration as I scurried around a Police Station as Claire trying to complete the objectives while somehow trying to stay alive with the undead roaming about. The campaign felt like just the right length to provide an entertaining game without overstaying its welcome. And it made me realize I can still have a really good time with the occasional 'Horror' game, and it can be satisfying to step out of my 'comfort zone' from time to time to enjoy a great video game.
- Control - I always love games that encourage exploration, especially those that lay out a mystery at the start of the story. And Control was one of those games that made me really excited to uncover all the lore I could find in terms of the collectibles. The game does a great job of creating a creepy atmosphere that permeates its world. I also liked how the game doesn't have a waypoint marker telling you exactly where to go (instead just showing a general direction on the map), as I enjoyed organically exploring the world, and it was neat to rely on things like reading signs in the building to figure out where I needed to go. It's a nice touch to the immersion. I think the gameplay is really fun overall, and even though I did have some frustrations with certain bosses, using my powers along with the main weapon really does feel awesome when everything is clicking.
- Fire Emblem: Three Houses - I feel every year there's at least one game on my list that I haven't quite wrapped up yet. And this year, Fire Emblem is that game for me. But I've enjoyed so much of what I've played in my 40 hours with it so far, that I do feel comfortable with placing it here on my list. And one thing that I'm really enjoying about Three Houses is the characters. The support system in Three Houses very much reminds me of Persona's social link system, and it's been a lot of fun getting to know my in-game students (in my role as professor) through supports and just running into them in the halls of the monastery and hearing their thoughts about current events in the game. While I do wish that Byleth had some form of voice acting instead of the awkward miming of a silent protagonist, I absolutely love the fact that all the NPC conversations are fully voiced, and it makes the presentation feel top notch. Learning about the students adds extra motivation for me to see them succeed. Things like knowing about Bernadetta's anxiety issues makes it feel all the more sweeter when I see her dominate the battlefield. It makes battles in the game feel more than just a collection of units that I'm deploying just to get a win. Each of these characters has a backstory, and for the most part, the game does a great job fleshing them out. And I really can't wait to see how it all turns out.
- Pokemon Sword/Shield - Like a lot of kids growing up in the late 90's, Pokemon was a big part of my life. I was hooked on the TV show and playing the games. Though as incredible as it was with just how much they crammed into a Gameboy cartridge with the original games, at the time I couldn't help but feel things in the presentation department were limited a bit by Pokemon being a handheld game. I always thought it was cool to see Ash battling in the big stadium with cheering fans, and wondering when we'd see that happen in the games.
And it turns out 20 years later, Pokemon Sword and Shield are finally those games. Taking on the 'sports motif' of what I presume to be Football fandom in the UK that Pokemon Sword and Shield's Galar Region are based off of, there's a sense of excitement tied to Pokemon battles that I'm not sure if I ever quite felt to this level in prior games in the series. It may all be presentation window dressing to some degree, but there's something really cool about battling in a large stadium with fans cheering you on. I do wish the game took it a step further and had some form of voiced announcer to accompany it, but baby steps for now I suppose.
And of course, the above wouldn't mean much if the core game wasn't fun to play. The Pokemon formula hasn't changed radically here, and I supposse for me, it didn't need to. I'm still having a blast pitting my 'mons against others, exploiting type advantages, and always feeling a sense of pride to see my team level up and grow. There's still a lot I want to see in a main entry Pokemon game (fully animated battles, bigger and denser cities to explore, some actual VO, and a more interesting story), but at the end of the day, I still enjoy the core gameplay loop. And one of the best things the game does is make a lot of quality of life improvements, so I can focus on having fun.
- Outer Worlds - I was a big fan of Fallout New Vegas, so I was naturally excited to play Obsidian's next game. And while there were aspects of the game I felt that didn't quite click with me (the 'retrofuturism' theme and the completely mute protagonist), there was still a lot I really liked about the game. Quite a few of the dialog options made me chuckle, and I don't think I'll ever tire of Obsidian's writing style. I also liked most of the game's story companions, and I felt one in particular (Parvati) really steals the show, both in the way she's written and also Ashly Burch's excellent voice acting that really brings the character to life. And while the general atmosphere of the sci fi setting wasn't quite for me, I did like how the planets looked in the more 'open areas'. It does a great job of reminding you that you're definitely not on Earth, and it all felt appropriately alien.
I also felt the combat was quite enjoyable. Using companion abilities felt great and using the time dilation to slow down and line up head shots never got old for me (and felt like a nice follow up to the VATS system of the more recent Fallout games). Perhaps my favorite thing in these sort of games is passing speech checks, and I'm glad the Outer Worlds offers plenty of that. I definitely look forward to a possible sequel, and seeing what they do to change and improve it.
- Gears 5 - A Gears campaign to me is a bit like 'comfort food'. I largely know what I'm in for, and I have a lot of fun getting into third person cover and shooting up some baddies. Gears 5 adds some new wrinkles to the formula, like being able to use the environment to do damage (dropping icicles on enemies never got old) and a lot of Jack's abilities added a lot of welcome variety to the series' well established gunplay. And while Gears 5 may not be my favorite example of story/writing of the year, I probably enjoyed this one the most of the bunch, and I felt some of the emotional moments hit me a bit harder in this one than they have in past Gears game. Perhaps because I felt these characters endeared to me a bit more. I think Kait has been my favorite protagonist of the series so far, and I appreciate their decision to change that up from Gears 4 to 5. And while the open world elements of the game didn't quite click me, I did appreciate them trying out some new things.
Overall it was definitely a fun ride, and looking forward to seeing where everything goes next in the inevitable Gears 6.
- Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night - My reference point with the Castevania series is the DS games (Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait or Ruin), both of which I really enjoyed. It's been a while since I played those games, but Bloodstained reminded me why I loved that formula. From the catchy music to trying to uncover the entire map, it's easy to get hooked into its gameplay loop. It's one of those games where it's just really fun to try to uncover as much of the map, and it's neat to find new places to explore when you unlock new abilities. It made me realize how much I still enjoyed this style of game, and I do hope we see more Bloodstained games down the road.
- Mortal Kombat 11 - I'm terrible at fighting games, but for some reason, there's always been a certain allure of the genre to me that I can't stay away from them. The most recent Mortal Kombat games have been interesting to me, mostly because they've really invested in the concept of single player content in a fighting game. MK11 has a somewhat goofy story mode, but I think it works to the game's advantage, and overall makes for a fun story of strong fighters doing badass things to beat up bad people. I appreciated how someone like me who's hopeless at fighting games can set the difficult down to easy, dish out a few simple combos, and have a fun time in the story mode and discovering characters that may be fun to learn in a bit more depth.
Admittedly, some things in the game's periphery soured me a bit on the overally experience (such as the grind to unlock new skins and items for your favorite characters), though even still, I like that options to customize characters exist here, and that there's a strong tutorial to try to teach me how to properly play the game.
- A Plague Tale: Innocence - Character driven narrative focused games are something I'm particularly fond of, which is why I knew I had to check out Plague Tale Innocence this year. I know I've said this before, but one of my favorite things about gaming is being able to take on the role of a character, 'to be someone else'. Early on in Plague Tale, I felt the game did a great job of immersing me in my role as Amicia. We get just enough insight into her background, her relation with her brother, and such before the actual plot of the game kicks off. Plague Tale Innocence is one of those games that feels very appropriately named. It's a tale of innocence, family, friendship, and perhaps the lengths we sometimes have to go to protect those we care about, even when that means doing things that seem absolutely terrifying. While I never quite fell in the love with the actual gameplay, I still enjoyed the game for it's ability to successfully immerse me in the role of a character, and overall enjoyed the adventure the game took me on.
- Ring Fit Adventure - Honorable mention time. I haven't played as much Ring Fit Adventure up to this point as I would have liked, but what I have played I've been really impressed with. Exercise has always been a bit of a challenge to me over the years (yeah, I know that's not very original). And while I do activities like treadmill and ellipitical use, it can be tough to stick to a regimen, especially when there's always a million excuses to do something else. But I think one thing I appreciate about games like Ring Fit (and even previous games that promoted exercise like Dance Central) is its attempt to make exercise feel less like an obligation and more like a fun game. There's a story mode, leveling up, fights against enemies, that's it hard not to see the RPG roots here. It's very much a system that motivates you to play the game, and to me at least, it takes out the tedium of my typical workouts.
I'm hoping it's the 2019 game that I get a lot of mileage out of in 2020.
- Sayonara Wild Hearts - How much mileage one gets out Sayonara Wild Heart's relatively short story may depend on how much the music appeals to you, but I have to say, the soundtrack was very much my jam. A few days after finishing the game, I went on to Spotify to see if I could find the soundtrack, and sure enough, it was there. I've since listened to the album several times, and whenever I do so, it makes me think back to what was happening in the game when that song was playing. It's a game that resonates more with me thinking of the song tied to each level, and perhaps gets reinforced the more I listen to the album. It's very much the 'visual album' that it's advertised as, and it's a very neat concept that I wouldn't mind seeing more of down the road.
It's just some spots of frustration with the controls on some levels (I did play with an Xbox controller on my iPad) that prevented me from fully enjoying the actual gameplay as much as I hoped.
- Call of Duty Modern Warfare - I feel every few years I check in with Call of Duty. I take a stab at the multiplayer (and verify that I'm still terrible at it), but mostly I like to play their single player campaigns, which often feel like playing through a summer blockbuster. I won't argue that Modern Warfare's campaign says anything particularly new, but as the graphics get sharper over time along with the 'realism' of how it all looks, I think one thing I respect is the campaign really shows off the sheer brutality of warfare, particularly in some of the flashback sequences. And while I don't think the game goes quite as far to make the same statements about warfare as something like Spec Ops so eloquently did back in 2012, it was another entertaining campaign to go through, and I was glad to see it through.
And that's a wrap on my 2019 GOTY list. Hopefully that wasn't
too long. Every year I think I'm going to write a quick blurb about each of my favorite games, and I suppose I don't know when to stop. Anyways, I look forward to catching up with some of the big releases I missed in 2019 (such as Death Stranding and Jedi: Fallen Order) and looking forward to another year of great games in 2020.
Thanks Era.
**VoteBot: Thanks for participating in ResetEra GOTY 2019! You vote receipt is available
here.**
**VoteBot: Thanks for participating in ResetEra GOTY 2019! You vote receipt is available
here.**
