What's your top 10 of the year?

Hey, I thought for the lazy folks like myself that won't write a nice blog, we could share our GOTY lists in one spot.

I just started Death Stranding so that may end up somewhere in my list after I spend some real time with it. I haven't play that many games from this year so it's not a great list but here is mine:

10. Tetris 99
09. Call of Duty - Modern Warefare Reboot (just campaign)
08. Sayonara Wild Hearts
07. What the Golf?
06. Neo Cab
05. Assemble With Care
04. Devil May Cry 5
03. Grindstone
02. Resident Evil 2 Remake
01. Control

and here is a top 10 list of games I beat this year, old and new!

10. Super Mario World
09. Pokemon Let's Go Eevee
08. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
07. Resident Evil 2 Remake
06. Super Mario Bros. 3
05. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
04. Control
03. Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem
02. Red Dead Redemption 2
01. Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

If you wanna peek at the games I beat this year here is the list!

I still have to play Judgement and RE2...fat chance of completing both, even being on vacation until the new year...

As of now:

1 Control

2 Mortal Kombat 11

3 Remnant

4 Bloodstained

5 Plague Tale

6 Gears 5

7 Outer Worlds

8 Life is Strange 2

9 My Friend Pedro

10 Toejam & Earl

My top 4 are the games I really adored this year. I hope to start Judgment tonight, maybe I’ll get far enough to slip it in there somewhere.

EDIT: A few hours in, I’d be devastated if Judgment didn’t crack my top 5. I’ll be sad to see my homies Toejam and Big Earl go, but Judgment said “rappers in the top 10, please allow me to bump thee.”

I am still waiting for Control and Outer Wilds to come to xbox PC, but besides those 2:

1. FE3H

2. Metro Exodus

3. Sekiro

4. RE2 Remake

5. Days Gone

6. FF14: Shadowbringers

7. Disco Elysium

8. Outer Worlds

9. God Eater 3

10. They are Billions

1. Fire Emblem: Three Houses

2. Devil May Cry 5

3. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

4. Death Stranding

5. Astral Chain

6. Resident Evil 2

7. Darksiders Genesis

8. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

9. Control

10. Kingdom Hearts III

Still going through Wattam and Pathologic 2 and those two have made great impressions so far, but right now it's probably something like this:

1. Outer Wilds

2. Heaven's Vault

3. Disco Elysium

4. Mutazione

5. Sekiro

6. Wattam (If it still makes me as happy as it does not)

7. Wilmot's Warehouse

8. Sayonara Wild Hearts

9. Fire Emblem: Three Houses

10. Death Stranding

I've played very little games this year and even less games released this year! So here's my combined list of all the games I've played this year:

5. Magic the Gathering Arena - fun but I'm not one to follow meta and I haven't been playing that frequently, so most online games I get trounced, but every now and then I win one.

4. Spider-man - beat this last year but picked up all the dlc during a sale. The dlc is less polished than the rest of the game, but movement is still a blast. Also replaying the intro of the game: that is a good game intro.

3. Control - amazing world and level design, ho-hum shooting, inconsistent writing, amazing world reaction to your powers. All in all a very solid game that won me over by the end. Also a pretty easy platinum to get.

2. The Last of Us - great characters and almost great storytelling. Combat is heavy and brutal in a perfect way. Too much video gamey aspects for its own good though.

1. Apex Legends - some of the most fun I've had online. Haven't touched it since the season 2 battlepass but I can't deny the amount of time I did spend with it alone and with friends.

I played fewer games this year than I did last year, but I feel better about them. My list currently consists of a whopping two games:

1. Sekiro, which is possibly my favorite From game; and
2. Outer Wilds, which does exploration better than any game I've played.

I'm partway through Control, but it's been a couple of months since I made any real progress in the game. I liked what I played of it, but every time I think about playing it, I'm dissuaded by how much I disliked the combat. It's encouraging to see it on most of the lists here. Perhaps once I muster up the motivation to finish it, it'll end up on mine.

It was only really the top 5 that I put the time I wanted into, because they were SO GOOD. The bottom half I think are good but I either haven't finished or don't feel done with.

But here's the list

1. Devil May Cry 5 (Absolutely amazing, favorite action game ever)
2. RE2MAKE (Easily my favorite Resident Evil, even above 4)
3. Sekiro (Really satisfying combat and exploration, unfortunately low replayability)
4. Fire Emblem Three Houses (consumed the largest portion of my time this year, kickstarted a bizarre retro rampage through the franchise)
5. Bloodstained (Super fun metroidvania, closest we've ever been to the feel of SOTN)
6. Tetris 99 (It's tetris)
7. The Outer Worlds (Good writing in an rpg, weirdly nostalgic)
8. Astral Chain (Fun Platinum game)
9. River City Girls (Just a good beatemup)
10. Total War Three Kingdoms (A refreshing update on Total War. My favorite version of the genre/franchise so far)

1. Fire Emblem Three Houses
2. Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order
3. Resident Evil 2
4. Life is Strange 2
5. FF8 Remastered
6. Gears 5
7. Metro Exodus
8. The Outer Worlds

From what I've played. I'm playing through Control right now, but that would probably be my new number 7 at the moment. I really wish Outer Worlds was my #1 but I just lost all interest and when I try to finish it (think I'm near the end) I just shut it off.

1.Control

2.Resident Evil 2

3.Return of the Obra Dinn (Switch)

4.Call of Duty: Modern Warfare

5.Death Stranding

6.Apex Legends

7.Heave ho

8.Bloodstained

1. Control

2. Dragon Quest XI: Echos of an Elusive Age

3. Outer Wilds

4. The Outer Worlds

5. Pokemon Sword

6. Fire Emblem: Three Houses

7. NieR:Automata

8. Return of the Obra Dinn

9. Bayonetta 2

10. The Walking Dead - The Final Season

1. RE2 Remake - I'm a bit pretentious, at my best and worst, but this was easily my favourite game of the year and it's dumb as shit. Loved it. Talk about respecting the player's time, this was a blast from the first minute.

2. Void Bastards - another one where the fun ran pure and, even when it began to outstay its welcome, the way it is designed means you can mainline to the end pretty fast. Extremely satisfying gaming.

3. Control - Remedy games are right on my sweet spot and this is their best one yet. Good shooting for the first time ever, an outstanding set of powers, and an overall vibe that is absolute. Hot favourite for best styyyyyyyyyyyyyyle, surely?

4. Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden - this came out in December 2018 which, as far as I'm concerned, is 2019 for awards purposes and I hope Emperor Gerstmann agrees. Loved the characters, second only to Control in styyyyyyyyyyyyyyle, the tactics were nicely challenging (if a bit same-y), and the story was good enough to keep me moving forward for the duration. Dux4Life.

5. Metro Exodus - flawed in many ways but at its best (and its best was quite frequent) I was in the zone, felt like I was searching for scraps at the end of the world, which made the basic loop (approach point of interest, scout, devise a plan of engagement, execute) truly rewarding. It's a shame that one of the acting performances jarred with the overall tone of the story but the characters were good and, come the end, I realised I was fully invested.

6. DMC 5 - enjoyed the combat a lot (significantly more than Star Wars which doesn't make my list) and the story was stupid but the characters made it work. First time I've really tried a DMC game and I've no idea if Dante is always this much of a tool but I would have enjoyed it less if he was less of an arsehole.

7. Man of Medan - it's no Until Dawn but this formula works so well. Some of the edits that happen at certain moments (when meaningful choices were made and/or when changing the controlled character) were jarring but otherwise solid fun.

8. Judgment - never played a Yakuza game and I'm not sure I want to because there was so much wrong with this title, especially the never-ending random street battles, and yet... and yet... the story was overblown but I liked the dense plotting using a wide range of characters and it kept me wanting to spend time with the game, even if a lot of the mechanics were dull or frustrating.

9. Slay the Spire - first ever card game and it was very easy to grasp the basics and had that classic one-more-turn thing going strong.

10. The Division 2 - for a variety of reasons I didn't do much multiplayer this year but, when I did, it was mostly this. Looked very good and, when you're playing with a couple of friends, the fun was very easy to find. Squeezes out Apex which I liked but didn't play half as much as this.

Shadowbringers, Trails of Cold Steel 3, Fire Emblem, and then a whole lot of games that were probably very good but damned if I can remember what came out this year.

1. Apex Legends

All else ivw played is irrelevant when compared to this.

I haven't played a whole lot of games but from the ones I did I really liked:

1. Metro Exodus

2. Bloodstained

3. Asgard's Wrath VR

4. Re2 Remake

5. Valfaris

6. Sunless Skies

Ones I still need to play from '19 and will probably enjoy:

-Disco Elysium

-Shenmue III

-Outer Worlds

-Blasphemous

-Rebel Galaxy Outlaw

-Layers Of Fear VR

-Stormlands VR

-Lorelai

1. The Outer Worlds
2. Control
3. A Plague Tale
4. Metro Exodus
5. F1 2019
6. Resi 2
7. Outer Wilds
8. COD
9. Apex Legeds
10. Kingdom Hearts III

Didn't get round to playing but would likely also make the list - DMC 5, Borderlands 3, Death Stranding, SW Jedi : Fallen Order

A random list of things I played this year. I couldn't quite make ten (not counting games I did not enjoy.) That's not to say I didn't spend a lot of time playing games... just that 90% of it was Slay the Spire. Other enjoyments include: Super Mario Maker 2. Tetris 99. Smash. Wargroove. Luigi's Mansion 3.

And my game of the year for me has to be....

The New York Times Crossword Puzzle.

Yes, I became highly addicted to these, downloading the app, paying a small monthly fee, and trying the majority of puzzles since 2018 (or at least the Sun-Wed ones.) I can only consistently finish the Monday and Tuesday puzzles, usually finishing around 70% of a given Sunday. Still, I find it strangely satisfying and relaxing. They are devilishly clever at times.

I don't see anyone mentioning Devotion and that's my #1.
The rest are more or less common picks.

I think my Top 10 would be (right now at least):

1. Observation

2. Transport Fever 2

3. Age of Wonders Planetfall

4. Starcom: Nexus

5. Dawn of Man

6 Whispers of a Machine

7. Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey

8. MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries

9. Tom Clancy's The Division 2

10. MotoGP 19

Honorable mentions: Anno 1800, Outer Wilds, The Surge 2, Rebel Galaxy Outlaw, Stygian -Reign of the Old Ones, FIA Truck Racing, WRC 8, Assetto Corsa Competizione, Settlers of Orion, The Sinking City.

Here’s mine:

10. Control (I didn’t enjoy this one nearly as much as everyone else, I thought the last third of the game was just bad and I found the ending disappointing, but it still made my list, so)

9. Afterparty (will probably finish tonight, started it a few nights ago and something about its themes resonates with me)

8. Valfaris (this game is so good, but gets really hard near the end and haven’t finished it yet

7. Life is Strange 2 (it’s a shame people are sleeping on this game, it’s better than the first game in every way)

6. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (I only play the single player campaigns in these and I thoroughly enjoyed this one)

5. Judgment (I love these games and I thought this one was much better than the last two numbered Yakuza games, meaning 5 and 6. Zero is still great)

4. Outer Worlds (I thought this game was fantastic based on the companion stuff more so than the main story).

3. Outer Wilds (so much has been said about what makes this game great but also frustrating, and I agree with all of it)

2. Death Stranding (I think all the complaints about this game are completely valid, but I found it to be one of the most tranquil and peaceful games I’ve ever played and I really enjoyed building roads and bridges and delivering packages and late in the game I even enjoyed bt encounters. It’s far from perfect and the story was silly but those weren’t the things that made me love it, it was everything else)

1. Bloodstained (the game I had the most fun with this year on my own, and also my favorite gb content of the year)

Special mentions for RE2 Remake and Crash Team Racing Nitro Fueled, which were both top notch experiences for me. I wanted my list to represent non-remade games though.

I bought nine games released this year:

1. Mechstermination Force – Ever since I was a kid I wanted a game where I could fight giant mechs. Favorite boss: Mechgyver

2. Jedi: Fallen Order – Despite the tedious backtracking I’m swayed by the cinematic quality and references to the Clone Wars. One boss fight evoked the final battle in Wind Waker. Favorite bug: Tried to pull out my lightsaber but it just ignited on my belt.

3. Oxygen Not Included – Very addicting yet hard to master, I remember my first run vividly.

4. Sayonara Wild Hearts – What cemented my love for this was the massive beat drop while your character falls down a waterfall.

5. The Outer Worlds – I had never completed a Fallout game via speech check until now.

6. Bloodstained – The most ridiculous game I bought this year. Favorite shard: Tis Rozain

7. Outer Wilds – By far my favorite gaming moment this year was the Quantum Moon. The million-dollar setpieces in Fallen Order can’t compare.

8. Sekiro - Owl 2 is my second favorite boss fight of 2019 after Mechgyver. His moveset is like M. Bison's.

9. Link's Awakening – This is a very basic Zelda. It probably would’ve ranked higher if I had nostalgia for it. Had I played this in 1993 I would have been blown away by the quests, particularly the lost ghost.