Games I've Played in 2019
*Ordered by most recently played.
List items
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
I don't have anymore time to write thoughts on the rest of these games. I need to fill out this list so I can make my top ten for the community voting. I would say I could come back to this and finish my thoughts, but I probably won't. Although, I did make a resolution to stay current with my 2020 list. New year, fresh list to start with!
-
The decade has come to a close and all the game sites are talking about their games of the decade (GotD?). I think Fallout: New Vegas is my GotD.
In anticipation of a certain Obsidian game (more on that later), I wanted to fully mod and finally complete New Vegas. One of my favorites of all time that I’ve played over 500 hours of yet never finished! My goal was to do an “ultimate” playthrough of sorts, doing as much content as I could (including dlc) with an idealized character of myself - a true social justice warrior if you will.
Without going into detail on that playthrough, my takeaway from this game and why it’s my GotD is that it’s my warmest blanket. Austin Walker wrote about these types of games being warm blankets for him. For me this decade, it wasn’t just these types of games - it was this game that was my warm blanket. It’s a game I played at the beginning of the decade and kept coming back to throughout - always excited to start a new character with different skills; to follow the intended path or carve my own; to fall in with different factions or none at all. Ironically, this is something I’ve tried to do in life to a lesser extent, looking to start fresh and hoping to find purpose, yet failing. New Vegas allowed me that fantasy risk free.
I’ll possibly mention other reasons that make this game great when I write about The Outer Worlds later on.
-
You know how they say something is a sum of its parts. Well Void Bastards is the negative(?) of its parts… It’s a rogue-like shooter. I am so done with rogue-likes that for them to strike any kind of cord with me they have to do something special with their design beside proc-gen levels and a few random modifiers. However, what caused me to definitely put this game down was the original Doom-esque shooting that never evolves. People were making comparisons to System Shock, but I did not find anything here resembling what defines and makes those games great (you can pick up a lot of junk off drawers?). If you want a game that plays like original Doom with modern visuals and rogue-like-lite elements then this game is for you I guess. To me it felt outdated in many ways and the loop got old quickly.
A couple of positives were the fun, bawdry incidental dialogue voiced by Cara Ellison (shout out), and the sharp-looking, comic book panel visual design.
-
I wrote a blog about this! https://www.giantbomb.com/profile/fngbomber/blog/a-cycle-of-wonder-and-frustration/142949/
-
I felt like playing an RPG, so I decided to give this game a real shot (I had only touched it before). I was surprised by how similar it felt to Witcher 3. I had assumed W3 to be a massive improvement to its predecessor, but the only big difference is Witcher 3’s open world. Now I know that W3 was a continuation of what CD Projekt had built with Witcher 2; And I understand why some fans prefer the second over the third. While I did not finish it--I stopped at the beginning of what I believe to be the last act--It’s good to have a grasp of all the games in the series.
-
Small game going for Last of Us vibes. It’s okay for what it is, but it didn’t do much for me. The controls were very sluggish on base PS4. The game looks sharp (especially coming from a small dev) and has some awe-inspiring, terrifying set pieces. But these stunning, dark vistas are only scenery for formulaic gameplay. You’re either sneaking by enemies, running from them, or puzzling you’re way through a rat infested environment. Once I saw the formula I lost interest to keep going, and the story was not in any way gripping enough to push me through it.
-
I got the itch to continue my save thanks to Crime Crew. No big thoughts on it. I still enjoy walking around in, and exploring Rockstar’s lovingly rendered and childishly satirical, fictional LA. But there’s a reason this is the only GTA I never finished.
-
I was told that the “A Game of Thrones” mod was a great way to discover and ease into what CK2 had to offer. After going through the tutorial campaign to learn a bit of the game, I jumped right into AGOT. I just couldn’t wait - the prospect of managing a family set in the world of A Song of Ice and Fire was very appealing. My goal going into my first AGOT game was to play as the Starks and see if I could save Ned and give them a different/better outcome than they had in the series.
At the start of every game in AGOT, you get to choose where in the timeline of events to begin. I tried to get as close to the beginning of the series, but the closest I could get was when Ned had been imprisoned by the Lannisters. This proved to be a fun obstacle to tackle. I told myself, “Okay, okay. Is there a way to free him from prison?”. There turned out to be many options. The one I ended up choosing was to demand a “trial by combat”. Joffrey, the coward refused this right, but by some thaumaturgy he set me free soon after. Maybe he was afraid I (Ned Stark) would cut down his champion and setting me free was a way to save face - who knows. George RR Martin has talked about the “butterfly effect” impact on the differences between the show and his books. In this case, what would happen if Ned Stark managed to sway death in King’s Landing?
With the realm in relative peace, the North was able to aid the Night’s Watch against the onslaught of Mance’s Wildlings. Inbetween, I had to squash a few rebellions here and there (don’t worry, they were in the wrong every time). Meanwhile, the Baratheon brothers vied for the throne in the form of political factions. Joffrey died a mysterious death in the midths of all this… His successor, Tommen, was a much kinder king, even accepting laws to diminish his hold on the rest of the Kingdom. Having achieved my goal of giving a better outlook for the Starks, I stopped playing - satisfied. These kinds of alternate fictional(AGOT) or historical(main game) stories is what CK2 allows you to create. CK2 seemed impenetrable from afar, but like any game, you learn its systems and idiosyncrasies. I’m glad I gave it the time of day. Instead of hearing other people’s stories for the upcoming Crusader Kings 3, I look forward to getting my hands on it and creating my own.
What happened to being brief smh. This game is not even new!
-
-
I’m writing these late in the year, not at the time that I’ve played most of these next games on the list. So, my thoughts will be brief for each game. Though some games definitely deserve more reflection than others. Like this one: Sekiro, dueling for my top spot of the year.
This game feels to me like From Soft hitting the reset on Souls to create something that enraptures and baffles players alike, just like Demon’s Souls did back in ‘09. Those early Souls games captured everyone’s attention as players tried to unfold the game’s mechanics and intentional vagueness. Sekiro does the same, but purely with it’s combat. And this time, what you’re uncovering is a rewarding, fighting game-esque system that feels amazing from the jump. At its height, Sekiro equates to what I can only imagine is the sensation high-level fighting game players get when they’re at their best, pushing the offensive in a tension-filled match.
-
After hearing that Metro Exodus wasn't a great experience, I decided to return to the first 2033. My memory of last playing this game was of an effective, claustraphobic atmosphere with tense, deadly combat. Time has not been well to this game though, particularly when it comes to gameplay feel. The player movement feels slow and heavy in an unsatisfying way, while (ironically) the shooting is weightless with no feedback from firing a weapon or impact from shooting an enemy. There is still a small sense of the ambiance and homeliness I remember getting from the stations which hold the last vestiges of humanity. Or, in contrast, the dread felt knowing that soon you would be leaving those safe havens and have to venture into the cold, dark tunnels. But these sensations are now marred by mechanics... and time.
-
-
I was drawn into this game when they added the turn-based mode. I liked it and put a ton of hours into it. A big part of that though is that the game was designed as a real-time pause, so turn-based really slows the pace down and I'm already slow to begin with! Overall, the mode worked for me and the game itself is a very solid CRPG. As a newcomer to this genre, I keep falling more and more in love with RPGs of the C variety.
-
First BR game I've gotten into. The ping system is extremely smart and innovative; it actually makes playing with randoms satisfying and not completely lonely. Respawn have managed to create a unique-feeling BR, mixing what they've established in Titanfall with a touch of hero mechanics and a ton of QOL features. That said, I haven't returned to the game since getting my first win - didn't feel compelled to return. Though, playing multiplayer games for weeks on end is not something I do anymore.
-
1-shot demo. Excited for the full game.
2/4 - Incredibly well designed. It finds that balance of old survival-horror with modern TPS action. Though I'm losing interest the further I get (this is the case with most games for me TBF). At this point, I'm wondering if I'll even do the second run. We'll see! And yes indeed, fuck Mr. X.
-
-
Playing Gamecube version on Dolphin in anticipation for RE2make(?). This is my first time trying Dolphin - that thing is cool.
-
Load Comments