CrazyRah's top 10 games of 2019 and MORE!
By CrazyRah 0 Comments
Another year is soon over and it's truly been one to remember. It's had its share of good and bad moments but now it's time for me to celebrate what this year has given us within gaming and award that which deserves praise. I started doing these blogs back in 2012 and 2019 has found a way to be unique from all other years before it. Feel like I got to play most of the games that I wanted this year and those that I've yet to play don't make me wait with this blog. As always there will be spoilers. Now lets get this show going and first out is..
The Anticipated
The games that I looked forward to this year that got released this year:
What game lived up the anticipation the best?
Fire Emblem: Three Houses: To be completely honest I didn't look forward too much when it comes to this title which sounds so unreal to me now. But back before it released Fire Emblem while still having released good games like Awakenings had also released Fates and had dabbled in fan-service that really didn't encourage faith in the franchise. So it was with low faith and little hope that I picked this game up and today I couldn't have more hope in the future of this franchise. The game perhaps more than any other title before crushed what anticipation I had and delivered bettter than I had reason to believe. It took an ambitious concept and did exceptionally well with it but more than that made be believe that the developers learned a lot from this project and will make even better games in the future from the lessons learned. Until then, I'll be replaying this, time and time again. So thank you to the developers for crafting this magnificent game and for managing to deliver upon the expectations of your many fans.
The largest disappointment
A shock to be mentioning this but the award goes to Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Now the shock is mostly because I imagined two things, that something else would be released and take this result but also that.. I didn't actually enjoy the game all that much. It's by no means a bad game, or a game that needed more development time. It's simply that the game and I just don't get along all that much. It had its moments and delivered on what it promised but sometimes things don't work out and that's what it took this year to be awarded this award. If anything it just shows that I didn't play any truly disappointing games and Sekiro suffer from that. See if you can find it's end rank among the 10 games of this list. Still a game worthy of being picked up and given a chance. Maybe it will find itself a home in someone elses heart because it really does excel at what it want do do and I just know there is a big market out there for these games. For those that ended up loving the game I congratulate them.
Places 10-8
10. Judgment: Had a bit of hesitation towards this title simply because I love the Yakuza series so much and wasn't convinced the developers could truly capture the things that I love about Yakuza. Partially I was right but also wrong. They captured some but also found new things for me to love. Different storylines and characters previously not possible made this game find its magic and as a result a very good game was released and I hope to see more games like this from not only the developers but the industry at large.
9. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order: Is this real? Did we actually get a good singleplayer Star Wars game? Yes! It is true and it's still hard to believe but after many years of waiting and so many not good games we finally got it. This game is far from perfect and I wish there was more Star Wars and less Tomb Raider in it but even so it still managed to entertain me from start to finish and hopefully gather enough sales to poke the right people and grab their attention so games with good characters, entertaining combat and good visuals like this game get their chance at glory, they deserve it and so do we all that play games.
8. Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown: Played these games when I was way too young to be good at them and as a result grew frustrated. Now many, many years later I decided to pick one of them up and finally can I say that I truly love them. This game finds a mix of seriousness and arcady fun and as a result it got all it needs to be a really fun game to play and also challenging if one desires to increase the difficulty without it feeling cheap. The game lives and dies with its gameplay and it truly delivers an exceptionally fun experience with all the right ingredients it need to be full of sensible controls, good action, epic moments and this combined with awesome OST and visuals makes you really feel like you are there, kicking ass with your fellow squadmates. Squadmates however is an area in need of improvement as it did feel a bit like I never did get the chance to grow close with the characters. Fix that and the game will truly be Ace!
The Unexpected
Total War: Three Kingdoms: Well, this truly was unexpected. The Total War franchise is a difficult beast to know what to expect from. It released Rome 2 in 2013, a game that won my largest disappointment award, but it also released games such as Warhammer 2 which I picked up late and can say is utterly amazing. Three Kingdoms (3K) didnt have the most encouraging start in marketing either and it was only very close to release that I started to believe that it would be a good Total War game and it truly was. Perhaps the best Total War game at release and that gives hope that with good support from the developers it can be even better. The game is gorgeous, the gameplay is incredible and very polished. However, the replay-value is not all that great and I was lucky that the one full playthrough I did have was such an awesome experience that it managed to carry the game all this way. First DLC wasn't what I wanted either so I hope and believe that things will improve with this game because a Total War game in such a cool era in Chinese history deserves the best. The characters in this era truly are incredible and so much fun to play with. The OST also needs a mention for not only being good but also very skilled at capturing the era which adds to the immersion!
Places 7-5
7. Kingdom Hearts III: A mixture of disappointment and absolute joy keeps following this title for me this year. After having played through so many other Kingdom Hearts games to be ready for this I hoped it would do a bit better than it did. Now the game isn't bad. I however developed two major issues with it that significantly impaced my enjoyment of the game. But outside of those two the game really did deliver and got a DLC coming out soon that seems to fix all my issues so I am hopeful. The visuals and especially the music in this game are out of this world exceptional. The story is very Kingdom Hearts like and anyone that has played a Kingdom Hearts game know what I mean by that. The gameplay was all too easy however as I never did die on the hardest difficulty available at launch which does impact the narrative and how fearsome the bad guys are. But even so, they were fun to fight!
6. The Walking Dead: Final Season: Like the walkers in the story, this game rose from the dead and I couldn't be happier that it did. Thanks to everyone involved in making this game and making the revival happen. It would've been heartbreaking never finishing Clementine's story and thankfully I did and what a journey, what a game this was to finally see it all come to an end. It's the best game in the series since the 1st one which says a lot, especially as the 2nd season somehow won a GOTY award from me. Shows how different the quality of the games I play in a year can be. This game should stand proud as number 6. It did good.
5. Astral Chain: One of two games that made me pick up the Switch console this year and I am so very glad I did. This is PlatinumGames doing their thing. The gameplay and combat are to die for and with a good OST, nice visuals and an alright enough cast of characters and story capable of letting the stronger parts shine delivered this gem of a game. Always an itch there making me want to get back in and kick ass and just enjoy the fluid combat. I want more, I need more and hopefully when we do get more, because we will, the next installment is even better!
Best Soundtrack
Fire Emblem: Three Houses: It's not the first time and wont be the last time that a Fire Emblem game got a stellar soundtrack. Even games that generally aren't all that good seems to at least have a soundtrack worth listening to and Three Houses is more than an alright experience and the soundtrack is more than worth a listening to. It's been by far the most played soundtrack this year for me and despite Nintendo trying to shut channels down on Youtube it seems many are determined to share the amazing soundtrack with everyone willing to listen. The soundtrack got a song or music ready for every situation the game throws at us and some of the soundtracks in this fantastic soundtrack are so very good that I will listen to them for years to come and through them be taken back to the time that I played the game the very first time. That is how I know that a soundtrack is a step above the others. It was not easy to pick this year with many strong candidates but the soundtrack of Three Houses got both quality and quanity to see any challengers out.
Most Impressive Aesthetic
Resident Evil 2: This game needed its aesthetic to be good for the horror to reach the level of scary that it needed it to be and thankfully that did end up happening. The aesthetic in this game is not only very well done but well used. Just being good in this category won't be enough in a year with many worthy candidates, it is how you use this strength that will separate the winner from the others and Resident Evil 2 did just that. It didn't half-ass it, it with care and determination developed the right aesthetic and with experience and understanding of what was required utilized it better than any other game that I played this year.
Place 4
Total War: Three Kingdoms: A bit of repitition of what I mentioned before perhaps but this game truly deserves such an elevated spot by how good it actually was at release and that I quickly spent over 100 hours into it which is rare for me to do these days. I grew to adore the faction I played, the characters, the generals and the units that made my ultimate victory as the undisputed ruler of China happen. Finally did I get to lead armies and meet the characters that I had seen from TV series and read in books and just live the dream and what is gaming if not just that, living a dream from when we fire up the game? Perhaps that is exactly why this game is 4th, it managed that one aspect so very well that I can't wait to get back to this game and lead armies to glory. Forward onto GLORY!
Best Game Played That Was Released In The Past
Zelda: Breath of the Wild: I humbly throw myself to the ground and beg the world for forgiveness for not having played this game earlier. On one hand I am glad that I didn't as it left me something incredible to play this year and also.. 2017 already was hard enough to give awards to that adding this game to that mix would've made it impossible! This game manages to challenge Ocarina of Time as my favorite Zelda game and I never thought that would happen, that the day would come that I would doubt the supremacy of Ocarina of Time but now I do. Maybe I do love this game more. The story for a Zelda game is great and the way I got to experience the story was different from usual in Zelda games and that, "different from usual" is this game in a nutshell. Nintendo wanted to see what a Zelda game could be without being too bound to tradition and as an industry and as lovers of games we all benefited greatly from that. The OST is amazing, the visuals and aesthetic both rule the day as highlights of this decade and the open world was done better than almost all other open worlds ever done. This game isnt perfect, I will never like the durability system but that feels almost silly to say in comparison to the greatness and grandeur of this title as a whole. I am dying to see the sequel released so I can play it. Until then I will replay this game, and fall in love with it once more. Thank you Nintendo, thank you.
Place 3
Resident Evil 2: As a general rule, I don't include remasters and remakes in this list. But I have you say and that is correct. To be an exception a game needs to have underwent serious development, improvements and changes as to feel as if it could be a new game or a sequel and this game does that. It takes an already well loved and excellent original and expans and modernize it. Some wont love it but I certainly do. I love the story, the characters, the gameplay, the horror and terror. I love the visuals, I think the OST nails the creepyness factor but more than all of this, the game was and is really, really, really fun to play. I have yet to earn the platinum trophy for the game but I will do it, I will because the game deserves it and because it gives me further reasons to play this game again. I've spent many hours in it and there's always been something new to appreciate with each playthrough and new things to try out and see if they make for a smoother experience with less fuck ups and a better end time as I push myself on certain runs to be better than the previous run. Speedrunning I wont do but this game made me further appreciate that aspect in gaming and that is a small thing in the grand scope of things but small things like that can help a game get a leg up on a competitor in both the market and this GOTY awards blog. Claire Redfield and Sherry Birkins deserves a podium spot and that's exactly what this game got. Glorious 3d!
Best Side Content
Judgment: As if any other title could win this award. The developers behind the Yakuza series obviously would include quality side content into this game aswell and that baloons the time one will spend in this game and most of that side content in one way or another end up being enjoyable and fun to play. Makes the world feel more alive and real than it otherwise would be and in a game such as Judgment that is far more important than it would be in other less realistic titles. By making the world more alive through the side content the main storyline became even better as the stakes felt more real, the characters more real and the story more real. Side content can be silly and fun but this game shows that more than that it can make the game more holistic and as a result enhance the whole.
Place 2
Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III: A series that I had not played a single second in before april of this year. Had heard good stuff about it but never really made the jump before this year and with the two games before this one played and currently two other Legend of Heroes games played I embraced this Cold Steel 3 title with all I had and I loved it, every second of it and this series has become a favorite mine with this being the best of the Cold Steel games. It got the best story, it got the best characters, the best visuals, gameplay and just like the two games before it an exceptional OST. This is a series and a game in particular that got many of those anime traits that will turn some people away and that's perfectly understandable. I don't love them all but somehow in this game they felt less annoying than usual, more alright and felt almost like they had to be there for the game as a whole be as good as it ended up being. It's so good that the wait for the 4th game to be localized could be 1 second long and it would be an unbearably long second. This game shows that you dont need the biggest budget or the largest development studio behind you. With skilled developers and lots of passion magic becomes real and experiences like this one become divine. I mean the game makes me appreciate characters with a pathological need to be super nice and helpful, I NEVER LIKE THEM and yet here I do. Game just does its thing and I dance to its tune.
Character of the Year
Edelgard Von Hresvelg: As soon as I meet her, I knew this would be how things would go. She is a divisive character that will make people love and hate her but it just isn't possible to not feel something when hearing her name, when thinking of her. She is an axe-wielding character that got a goal she is willing to set the whole world aflame to make it possible to achieve that goal and that's exactly the kind of character that I fall completely for. She is however much more than that, she is a very complex character that is just so incredibly well written that it baffles me even now how they managed to create her. Just to hint, things like PTSD, lifespan and nobility/religion on their own and combined all act as a great reminder that characters can be very complex, just like us real people. That sometimes it just is not possible to say that someone is good or bad. Sometimes light and dark, right and wrong, yes and no don't cut it and Edelgard more than any other this year and in recent years for me truly made me think and ponder on a wide arrange of topics and issues and as a result understood myself better and people around me better. So not only do I love her in the context of the game but I appreciate her for making me a better person and that works as proof as how awesome gaming can be. That it helps us as people grow, just as the characters, just as Edelgard did during the game, during the several routes, hers in particular. For Edelgard, I would overthrow a church and set the world on fire. And I would feel good about it.
Game of the year
Fire Emblem: Three Houses is my pick as Game of the Year: 2019!
Fire Emblem: Three Houses: Before this year I had no idea what game could stand here as the winner. Some years I do suspect, such as I did with Persona 5 in 2017 but with 2019 there was no clear leader. That, until I played Fire Emblem Three Houses and fell completely for it. The game is by no means perfect, goodness it got issues but they don't bother me as much as the good sides completely captures my heart and mind when I play the game. The story is really good, engrossing like no other this year for me. It completely absorbed me and in turn made me spend almost every free hour I had for weeks on this game, the characters are some of the best that I have ever seen in a game and the gameplay is really enjoyable, even on harder difficulties and each won battle felt like it was well earned. The OST is just incredible as already mentioned and the visuals and aesthetic overall are of high quality. There are areas to improve on but for a game that tried so much new, and reinvented much old and made it more modern, this game managed to achieve an astounding amount of stuff. What this game also achieved was making discussion with fellow players fun and educating. So many aspects to talk about and each discussion brought new perspectives that I hadn't considered and new topics that I aswell had no idea about were a thing and that in turn made playing the game even more fun. It takes many serious topics both in the past and now and make them worthy of examining and discussing. This game gave me so much more than my money's worth and as I grow older those things start to matter more and more. I will always give my GOTY to the most enjoyable game to play but even so, small things like that can elevate one enjoyable title from another and this year Fire Emblem Three Houses delivered on all fronts a quality experience through the quantity it offered. It's no small game. Well over 100 hours spent in this game and not one hour felt wasted. With DLC and more story content coming out in the future I am excited to see how the new content add to the whole and how they change things, making new discussions worthy of being had and more reasons to replay the game to find new things to love. I love this game, I really do
And with all of that this blog is done and over. 2020 looks promising for gaming and should hopefully be able to deliver some reprive for us that are around to deal with a world gone mad and madder. Until then, bye-onara!