Completed, 2019
The games I completed in 2019.
List items
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January 1 (24 Hours)
5 out of 5
An extremely high-quality Souls-like, first release from a small independent developer; I thoroughly enjoyed the Witness-like art style, the combat (while limited) was fast and fluid, but really the environments and sense of exploration is where this game shines.
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January 7 (7 Hours)
5 out of 5
One of the most polished, responsive, "feel good" platformers I've played in a while. A fantastic soundtrack combined with a honestly heartfelt story about a young girl dealing with her inner demons.
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Definitive Edition (Switch)
January 12 (60+ Hours)
5 out of 5
Look, I know Musou (Dynasty Warriors) get a bad rap, but I think Hyrule Warriors is the perfect combination of that mindless hack & slash gameplay, but minus the Chinese history that really doesn't interest me. Instead, we've got characters from nearly all Zelda games. This version even includes a little RTS aspect of commanding other heroes - it's phenomenal. There is a staggering amount of content.
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January 21 (99 Hours)
3 out of 5
My history with DA:I is rocky - released on the same day at Far Cry 4 and one month before Witcher 3. I purchased Far Cry 4 on the same day as DA:I, played about 30 hours of DA, and then never returned to it - until now.
DA:I is a fine, middle-of-the-road western RPG. It is quite beautiful (despite some really terrible character animations), the soundtrack is soaring, and the action (most of the time) is fine. It's just... unremarkable. It's a fine game, but that's kind of all it is? I found it boring and I was happy to be finished with it.
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January 27 (18 Hours)
3 out of 5
With Resident Evil 2 Remake coming out, I wanted to take a look at the first Resident Evil Remake. Unfortunately, it's hard to go back. Very limited inventory, constantly loading between rooms, and vague, unclear puzzles made for a difficult run. I could see some of that being removed in a second playthrough, but I'll pass.
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January 29 (7 Hours)
5 out of 5
Given that Resident Evil 4 is one of my all-time, favorite games, hearing that Resident Evil 2 was being remade in the same style put so much hype in me.
My first two Playstation games back when I was 14 was Resident Evil 2 and Final Fantasy 7. I have a history with Resident Evil 2. We didn't have a memory card and I must've played the first two hours or so repeatedly.
This game is amazing and is exactly what I imagined it would be. It is brutal, beautiful, and full of content.
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February 8 (16 Hours)
2 out of 5
I've always been a fan of the DMC series, starting back with DMC 1, disliking DMC 2, enjoying DMC 3, and thoroughly enjoying DmC (Ninja Theory's shockingly good reboot).
With DMC 5 due in a month, I thought I'd take a look at the gap - DMC 4.
Straight up, I dislike Nero. He feels woefully inadequate to Dante (who comes in during the second-half of the campaign). Add to that about 5 hours of content stretched to over 10 hours through backtracking, repeated boss battles (including a really nasty boss rush near the end), and some thoroughly bad voice acting, I can see why this is a low-point for the series.
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The Legend of Dead Kel & Teeth of Naros DLC
February 10 (46 Hours)
2 out of 5
I enjoyed my initial playthrough of Kingdoms of Amalur. I could see what they were trying to do. When the opportunity to pick up the DLC on the PC for cheap came up, I figured why not.
Got my answer. The only two major bits of DLC released for this Single-Player MMO is... pretty lackluster. Both consist of taking a boat to an island, battling through it alone, and then a major boss fight.
The combat remains good, the looting is still good. But that's about the end of it.
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March 5 (34 Hours)
3 out of 5
I have been a fan of the Tomb Raider series from the very beginning. I've fiddled with the reboots, including thoroughly enjoying the gruesome 2013 "Tomb Raider".
When the series went to Siberia for "Rise of the Tomb Raider," I went along. The open-world Uncharted meets Metroidvania really spoke to me and while that game lacked some of the charm of the first, it was still a quality experience.
"Shadow of the Tomb Raider", the final chapter of the 2013 trilogy, is a good game. It checks all the boxes for a Tomb Raider, but it lacks coherence in the writing and the setting is beautiful, but incredibly routine.
When I finished it, I was glad. I did not feel compelled to return to it.
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March 7 (17 Hours)
5 out of 5
Absolutely fantastic. Charming, engaging, and beautiful, a homage to the classic SNES (which I did not enjoy nearly as much when I played it a couple years ago), but brings a host of ideas that would later surface in Breath of the Wild - annotated map, fast travel, and open-world map.
Loved it.
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March 23 (34 Hours)
3 out of 5
The Division holds a special place for me. While I could never get into modern military shooters like Call of Duty, I tried them. Something was lacking - loot.
The Division series is so unusual - modern military with a plot straight from the headlines - and a massive amount of Diablo-style loot. On paper, it sounds like a game I would've dreamed up.
And for the most part, this sequel delivers. It's a better game than the first, but the story is actually worse? And it seems less friendly to solo, casual players.
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April 1 (75 Hours)
5 out of 5
While from the developers of Dark Souls and Bloodborne, the sooner I came to realize this was a different sort of game, the easier it was to enjoy it.
With easily some of From Software's best combat, exploration, and story, I did find myself missing the "loot" that Miyazaki's games tend to have, but very few games can offer this sort of rewarding (and frustrating) challenge.
I can't even knock it for its lackluster New Game + which feels mostly added on given the game only offers multiple endings and very little else on repeated playthroughs.
That initial one (of which I spent a long, long time) is so damn good.
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April 8 (40 Hours)
2 out of 5
Coming directly from Sekiro did not help The Surge (which is why this is a 2 instead of a 1). The Surge is one of many "Dark Souls"-like with an interesting Sci-Fi setting.
And for the first hour or two, it is really charming. The introduction is interesting, the chopping-limbs mechanic is interesting, and the combat is difficult, but manageable.
After the first area, things immediately get out of hand. This is a good game that is marred by imbalances - the loot is uninteresting, the combat is unfair and unforgiving, and the areas lack variety.
And this extends for another 30+ hours.
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April 13 (8 Hours)
4 out of 5
What a delightful surprise! This had been one of the many PS Plus games I'd received, catching my eye with words like "Action RPG" and "Multiple Endings," but I had no idea how much I'd actually enjoy this experience.
Between the solid narration, simple-yet-fluid combat, and a wonderfully written storyline, I remained enthralled through the five or so "playthroughs" I needed to get the "True Hero" ending. Such a neat way to handle branching storylines as well, absolutely delightful.
My only gripe is that some of the levels had to be repeated (with slightly different context) and that got boring, but all in all, a good, short game.
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May 22 (12 Hours)
3 out of 5
It takes about 3-4 hours before Forager really reveals itself. What begins as a simple Minecraft-like soon evolves into a sneaky clicker disguised as an adventure game.
The first half is quite exciting as new lands are purchased, new treasures and skills are acquired rapidly, and the loop of finding new resources and building things from them remains simple.
The second half is... less entertaining and seems to only exist for those truly willing to put into the grind. The items become much more complicated to produce requiring multiple devices working in tandem, the prices for land skyrocket and money seems difficult to acquire, and gaining new levels is less from effort and more from luck in solving puzzles.
The fact that is also does not have a clear ending is also a bummer.
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May 25 (8 Hours)
3 out of 5
Boy, oh, boy. This game is absolutely 2011.
From the great minds of People Can Fly, Bulletstorm is a shooter that I always heard was a lot better than initially seemed. And I can agree that it is - to an extent.
But it is not a game that could be created today. Even in the context of the game world, the writing is... rough, juvenile. But the shooting (and skillshot system) are quite enjoyable.
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June 3 (45 Hours)
5 out of 5
Unabashedly borrowing from the Grand Theft Auto series, Sleeping Dogs is a surprisingly good, polished, and extremely well-written open-world crime thriller. The main character is likable (something GTA could stand to learn) and, while some aspects of the gameplay are silly, it never approaches the absurdity of Saint's Row.
I also really, really enjoyed the setting. Hong Kong is not your typical GTA environment. A breath of fresh air.
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June 6 (5 Hours)
4 out of 5
It's pretty cliche at this point, but "Blood & Truth" literally puts you as the star of a high-stakes crime drama - thinking "The Transporter" and you're Jason Statham.
The gun play is fun and violent, the writing is sharp and well-acted, and the set pieces are truly breathtaking (literally in some parts).
It's just a shame that it sorta ends right it starts getting good.
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Commander Lilith & the Fight for Sanctuary
June 12 (3 Hours)
3 out of 5
With Borderlands 3 on the horizon, Gearbox boosted hype in one of the coolest moves possible - releasing brand-new DLC for a 7 year old game to serve as a set up.
Is it a phenomenal DLC (in a game that has hundreds of hours of DLC)? Not really. It's pretty standard - there's a bad guy, some things happen, you take out the bad guy.
But, I'm just so impressed at the tactic. That's worth something.
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June 12 (12 Hours)
3 out of 5
When I first heard the premise behind this game on a podcast, I was thoroughly impressed. Here's an "open-world driving game" that is doing some amazing things with the story.
I'm happy to say, after sitting on this one for a while, that the story is as neat as it sounds. It doesn't quite reach the "Power Fantasy" of a Saint's Row, but it is trying something new in the genre, and it totally works.
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June 23 (25 Hours)
4 out of 5
"They don't make them like this anymore."
Outside of the name and a few key plot details, this is Castlevania: Symphony of the Night 2. Everything from the gameplay, the enemy variety, and the laugh-out-loud plot and voice acting scream a game made in 2000.
Outside of a seemingly rushed ending and some puzzling exploration that really, really frustrated me (would it hurt to place markers on the map?), I thoroughly enjoyed this.
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June 27 (11 Hours)
4 out of 5
After playing "Driver: San Francisco," I wanted something with a... harder edge. A real crime thriller and remembered that I'd purchased this (along with "Max Payne 1" and it's sequel) on Steam.
While this definitely has a different feel, the action is high, the inner dialogue is thick, and the game (even in 2019) looks stunning. I really enjoyed this experience. It's a bit long and I had a few nitpicks with how it handled cutscenes (standing after a cutscene despite going into it in cover) and guns (always using a one-handed gun instead of the two-handed rifle), but that did not hurt the overall cinematic presentation.
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July 7 (50+ Hours)
5 out of 5
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July 13 (55 Hours)
2 out of 5
I was maybe 15 or 16 when I purchased Xenogears. It had been the "Summer of Square" (1998) and Xenogears was only one of a handful of "major" titles being released for the PlayStation - the others being Brave Fencer Musashi and Threads of Fate.
Xenogears has been a "White Whale" in my backlog for a long, long time. Multiple times over the past two decades, I have tried to tackle it - getting closer and closer to, what I thought, was the end only to either burn out or lose focus.
But not this year. Over the past 6 months, my friend and I played through the entire game and finished with a single, common thought: disappointment.
I am a fan of the "Xeno" series - especially the more recent efforts with Xenoblade Chronicles, Xenoblade Chronicles X (despite its flaws), and Xenoblade Chronicles 2. I like the mash-up of anime, mechs, and mild religious overtones.
Xenogears has a promising start - that opening movie is imprinted on my brain - but all of that momentum is lost in repetitive boring combat, an incoherent plot that bounces between political intrigue and techno-babble (to say nothing of the rushed second disc), and characters that range from boring (Bart) to utterly frustrating (Fei).
While some consider the game to be an achievement, I merely suggest revisiting. Or leave those rose-colored glasses on.
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August 3 (2 Hours)
3 out of 5
When Final Fantasy VII came out and shook the JRPG scene, a bunch of companies scrambled to make their own "JRPG Masterpiece" - games like Wild Arms, Legend of Dragoon - and Legend of Legaia.
My history with this game dates back to well before college. This was one of the games my brothers and I would rent and I'd probably played the demo a dozen or so times.
One late afternoon this year, a friend and I sat down to pick up on a save that had 65 hours on it. Upon loading, we realized that not only had Young Chris did just about everything, he was also standing at the precipice of the final dungeon. Back in the day, new games were so precious, that I would refuse to beat them.
To be honest, this entire game-logging exercise is to help me break that habit.
So, after figuring out how to play the game again (and what I had been doing), we tore through the Final Dungeon and defeated the Final Boss.
I have no idea what was happening in the story. The credits showed pictures that I remembered - but only faintly. It was surreal.
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September 2 (65 Hours)
3 out of 5
I have a strange history with the Tales series. I own most of them, but I've never finished a single one. I'd always heard "Vesperia is the best," so when the HD remake came out, I said, "Okay, fine - this is the one for me."
There's a lot to enjoy. The world is bright and colorful, the main hero (Yuri) is charming and has motivations - he is not your stereotypical amnesiac blank slate, and the rest of the party are all interesting (some more than others).
For the first two acts, there's momentum. The party is constantly shifting, but it's all leading to a single purpose - to figure out Estelle's curse and what it means to the world. You are uncovering new methods of travel, discovering new dungeons, and finding new equipment.
And then the third act hits. All of that momentum immediately drains out. This game did not need a third act. It's 20 hours of linear dungeons and anime tropes (which were found all throughout the first two acts).
What was a bright and easy 40-hour JRPG became a 70-hour epic that grew more and more incoherent and complex.
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September 5 (20ish Hours)
5 out of 5
I've always enjoyed Remedy's offerings.
Obliviously, Max Payne (and its sequel) are classics; Alan Wake was a wonderfully told story wrapped in some odd flaws; and I skipped Quantum Break.
Their latest is Control. And it is hands-down their best game in a long, long time. The story of a government agency tasked with handling the paranatural world in the most mundane, office environment is a delightful clash. The combat is fierce and, honestly, awesome. The writing is superb (except for the ending).
It's a complete game - something of a rarity these days. I want more. I would like more.
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September 21 (35 Hours)
3 out of 5
When Borderlands was initially announced in 2009 - promising a mix of World of Warcraft-style questing with Call of Duty-style shooting and Diablo-style looting - I felt Gearbox literally made the game for me.
I probably poured hundreds of hours into the first one, leveled all the characters up.
Borderlands 2 was another milestone - the writing was significantly improved, the game systems improved - another hundred or so hours. I literally own every version of the game - from the rare PS Vita version to the PSVR version. I love Borderlands 2.
So, news of a Borderlands 3 should've been a no-brainer.
In the time between Borderlands 2, I fell in love with another looter-shooter, Destiny. Taking a more mature approach and refining the gunplay to a science.
Borderlands 3 is not Destiny. Nor has it learned anything from Destiny and its kin. It is more Borderlands. While it has some of the best shooting the series has seen, I believe the story has faltered significantly. This is some of the most immature drivel I have read - or rather, been forced to listen to. It is deeply, deeply disappointing.
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October 7 (95 Hours)
5 out of 5
I love, love, love this game.
Coming out of Tales of Vesperia, I was concerned that maybe my love for JRPGs had started to fall off. And then I dug out the old Wii U and fired this game up.
This is, without a doubt, probably my favorite Megaten game - beating out Persona 3, Persona 4, and Persona 5. It is a constant bowl of delicious ice cream or mashed potatoes - comfort food in video game form.
The story is lighthearted and charming, the characters are all unique and lean into their anime tropes, but the real star here is the combination of skills, weapons (Carnages), and this unique mechanic called "Sessions".
There is a shocking amount of depth in figuring out the ideal composition for your team of teenage Japanese idols. Near the end of the game, I purposefully delayed fighting the final boss just so I could build out the perfect sets.
The music is great. The presentation is great.
I love this game.
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Spyro
October 8 (6 Hours)
5 out of 5
When the Spyro series was introduced, I'd already moved onto more "mature" titles on my Playstation - opting for Final Fantasy and Resident Evil. Spyro was for kids - clearly.
This re-release of the original trilogy is so incredibly well done. It is as though I am playing a Spyro cartoon with small worlds that are absolutely packed with secrets and enough drive to want to collect "everything" (and I got everything - finishing with 120% complete).
The other two games in this package are also updated and I can't wait to sink back in.
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October 25 (14 Hours)
3 out of 5
From top to bottom, it is clear that Indivisible is a passion project. From the fluid animation, the writing, and the overall vibe, this is somebody's idea come true.
Unfortunately, as a game, it has some neat ideas that doesn't fully execute on. I feel the developers got a little too excited by their controls which led to multiple, frustrating platforming challenges. And while it is clear there's some nuance to the combat, once I realized I could have everybody attack at the same time by mashing buttons all semblance of strategy went out the window.
Like my relationship with actual fighting games, it all devolves into frustration and button-mashing.
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November 16 (+30 Hours)
3 out of 5
I've never been a fan of the Fallout Series. I've always found Sci-Fi "Elder Scrolls" to be less interesting, preferring more fantasy. The Outer Worlds is a very good Fallout that has a lot more polish and brevity than one of those.
But ultimately, it's single plot idea - Corporations are bad - becomes incredibly mundane and boring after the first planet. Repeating that for 3-4 more planets left me skipping and brutally murdering every individual that stood between me and the ending. A shame - with such a diverse and rich environment, they could've presented so much more.
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November 16 (13 Hours)
5 out of 5
A wonderful Action RPG Shooter (not exactly a Looter-Shooter) that doesn't overstay its welcome. The combination of Destiny-style shooting with Dark Souls-style dodge/rolling is wonderful, the checkpoints are plentiful, and the progression is satisfying.
I really enjoyed this game and would love to see more of it.
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November 16 (10 Hours)
2 out of 5
ReCore is a game that hearkens back to a previous generation of Action-Platformers - the likes of Ratchet and Clank and (more specifically) Jak and Daxter.
Unfortunately, this game lacks the polish of those. Even in the Remastered state, the combat is incredibly frustrating, the platform is not nearly as tight, and the "open world" segments feel tacked on. There's a lot of good ideas here, but they lack the polish one would expect of the games this aspired to be.
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November 18 (15 Hours)
4 out of 5
What an absolutely delightful surprise. While I wasn't given the opportunity to go in completely blind (the trailers gave away a very unique mechanic to this game), I was still surprised to learn this game has even more surprises than that.
What starts off simple soon becomes a complex action-platformer that clocks in at over 15 hours. The story is interesting enough, but the core gameplay is solid (even if I could've used a few more upgrades).
Ultimately, I felt it was still a bit too repetitive and not having a reliable fast-travel system meant I was repeating difficult platforming segments over and over just to navigate.
A slight blemish on an otherwise wonderful surprise.
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November 27 (19 Hours)
4 out of 5
I've always enjoyed the Darksiders series. Sure, they "borrow" ideas from other genres, but a) they do a really good job at using those ideas and b) I genuinely like the characters, art, and lore that they wrap around those ideas.
Darksiders 3 continues the "borrowing" of ideas by essentially being a Dark Souls game. Unforgiving combat, a single currency you drop on death, a reduction in gear and upgrades for more traversal and exploration. Fury will probably never be my favorite horsemen, but I appreciated her transformation. And I enjoyed the shift of combat to dodge-based and timing over Darksiders 1 & 2's button-mashing.
In short, I really enjoyed this game - as much as I'd enjoy "one of those".
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November 29 (13 Hours)
3 out of 5
Supraland reveals the core mechanic fairly early in the campaign - around 3-4 hours (1/3 of the way throught).
The remaining 8+ hours (depending on how distracted you get) is spent repeating that core mechanic with very little difference - and very little reward. The world is far too large than it should be, the combat is... bad and distracting, and the story is pretty non-existent.
Had this game been... 6 hours and much more focused, I could see it competing with the likes of Portal. Unfortunately, after a dozen hours, I was so ready for it to be over.
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November 29 (5 Hours)
4 out of 5
Now this was a delightful surprise and I feel the folks behind Metronomicon are burying the lead: this is a spiritual successor to Amplitude or Frequency.
Taking classic RPG tropes and combining them with the lane-based rhythm of a Guitar Hero (or more closely, Amplitude or Frequency), this game is a treat. Party builds matter, new skills are plentiful, constant upgrades - it's all there.
My only gripe is the same for all "indie" music games - not all of the music is "good," but that varies on taste. I liked a majority of the songs - which is enough for this neat game.
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December 7 (13 Hours)
5 out of 5
As much as I love the Dark Souls-style action games, I grew up with the Devil May Cry-combination of stylish action.
Unlike most fans, I actually loved DmC. I felt that Ninja Theory did a fine job mixing a more relatable Dante with a far better told story. After playing (and thoroughly disliking) Devil May Cry 4 earlier this year, I'd grown convinced that this series was no longer for me.
And I'm happy to say I was wrong. Devil May Cry 5 is a return to form. It is a fantastic stylish action game with a lot of heart and oozing character. Hell, they even made Nero likable.
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December 13 (25 Hours)
5 out of 5
I am a sucker for the Darksiders series - the art style, the combat, the writing - bring it on.
At first, I was leery about this "spin-off" game, but it only took a couple hours to realize that this is absolutely a full Darksiders experience.
I played mostly as Strife, the wise-cracking, dual-gunner and found the combat to be hectic and enjoyable. The levels are large and sprawling with tons of secrets. The story doesn't do much for the series, but gives a bit more humanity to Darksiders 1 War while introducing Strife.
All around, a very enjoyable experience!
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December 15 (8 Hours)
2 out of 5
A phrase used all-too-commonly when referring to VR games: It all started with the best of intentions. Farpoint is a bad first-person shooter that is only elevated (slightly) by how well it incorporates the player into the VR world - save for how the plot is delivered.
The first couple of hours are neat as you begin to get precise with the rifle and eventually the shotgun. But as the story starts to play out (with thick, thick layers of drowning melodrama) and the enemies becoming more annoying, you start to see the game for what it truly is - trying too hard and not landing anything.
Also, pro tip: Never, ever, ever get rid of the starting rifle. It is, hands down, the best gun in the game and if you swap away from it, you will never get it again. I was stuck at the end with a sniper rifle that held three buttons and a few alien weapons that absolutely sucked. Horrible game design.
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December 15 (9 Hours)
3 out of 5
Coming off of Darksiders Genesis, a lot of its reviews referenced this short-lived series staring Lara Croft, but not "Tomb Raider".
While the similarities are definitely there, this game has a larger focus on puzzles. The 14 levels are packed with secrets and objectives while the combat is entertaining twin-stick shooting.
My only gripe is that a lot of the objectives are time-based and once failed require a complete playthrough of the level to attempt again. That's simply bad game design.
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December 24 (40 Hours)
2 out of 5
Dark Cloud is probably one of the earliest games I remember ever playing on the Playstation 2 (that and Fantavision). At the time, it was heralded as Sony's answer to Legend of Zelda and I remember having so much hype for it.
Here, nearly 20 years later, I can safely say it has not held up. Between horrible un-fun mechanics like the Weapon HP system, seemingly ineffective attachment, and absolutely vile combat, the only redeeming feature this game has is in its Georama System that takes building RPG-style villages and combines it with jigsaw puzzles.
Anybody that claims this game is good either lying to themselves or a masochist.
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December 28 (19 Hours)
5 out of 5
Where Breath of the Wild took traditional swords-and-spells fantasy and removed all of the tropes, The Outer Wilds is doing the same thing, but at a universal scale.
For most of my playthrough, I was lost. I was finding clues, reading alien language, and seeing incredible sights - but I couldn't really figure out my goal. What am I trying to accomplish? And the entire time - I was doing it. I was piecing together a mystery I didn't even understand, connecting conversations.
By the end, I'd figured out my goal, knew exactly how to accomplish it, and proceeded to write (physically write) a plan to see it through.
Let no piece of this experience be spoiled for you, this game is absolutely incredible.
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