Game of the Year Top 10: 2019
Now with words! For a limited time only!
2019 was definitely among my favorite years for games in recent times. And so, I thought I'd put a little more effort into my list this year, rather than just ranking them and being done with it.
Honorable Mentions
Catherine: Full Body
It turns out "Man Drinking Alone" from Persona 3 Portable has his own game?
I missed this P Studio b-side when it first came around in 2011. The characters and themes of this game, which at times can be a lot and kind of out there, somehow manage to stay grounded and establish a real "homely" feel to console Vincent between his feats of dumbass-ery. The puzzle gameplay is both interesting and challenging, and serves as a nice change of pace in between narrative segments. I can see why it has become a fixture at EVO.
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
This game is downright jolly. The third time is the charm with this classic Zelda entry, for as much as I enjoy the original and DX versions, it's nice to now have a version that doesn't feel like a chore to play, thanks to modern video game controllers (Even if it does run a little more frame-y than would be preferable).
Also, Link looks like that guy from Rudolph now. Fantastic.
Persona 5: The Royal
I played (and finished!) this game in Japanese. I don't know much Japanese. But I do know that I like Persona 5 a whole bunch! There are some some real neat additions to this game and I fully expect it to feature on my 2020 list in a more official capacity.
Sound Voltex Vivid Wave
Sound Voltex is back, and it's pink now!
I'm back, and I'm still trash!
For the uninitiated, Sound Voltex is an arcade rhythm game from Bemani, a line of rhythm games by Konami (they still make games sometimes!). The game(s) make use of six buttons and two knobs to hit notes. This is what high-ish level play looks like. As is with most rhythm game sequels/updates, Vivid Wave (The V also doubles as a 5, now isn't that clever) primarily adds new charts, along with some updated visual bells and whistles. (It's finally in 1080p!)
In truth it's not a huge leap from Heavenly Haven, but that's just fine. Above all, it's here because I finally have a place to play SDVX and other Bemani games locally, which is still pretty wild to me. After years of resorting to simulators like K-Shoot Mania and Unnamed SDVX Clone (and maybe a few more legally gray methods), it's been nice to experience the real deal.
The Proper List
10. Astral Chain
The folks at PlatinumGames have made yet another fantastic, stylish character action game. While perhaps not surpassing the legacy of their previous hits, I found Astral Chain to be an absolutely worthwhile campaign throughout a radical looking and sounding futuristic metropolis. In fact, I can confidently say I enjoyed it just a hair more than the biggest release in the genre this year, Devil May Cry 5.
The bright lights and colorful palette of the game, combined with the low quality textures on the Switch, create a look that sort of makes it seem like there's compression artifacting on the screen at all-times. And I'm kinda into it?
9. What the Golf?
I've often seen this game described as "Golf, but fun". Now take myself, an individual who finds Golf fun already, and I'm totally sold! With hints of past favorites of mine like WarioWare and Katamari Damacy, What the Golf? is full of whimsical nonsense, with a surprising level of variety that keeps things fresh well into the later levels.
8. Death Stranding
I think Death Stranding is a great video game. I also think it's severely marred by its self-indulgent plot and tiresome late game exposition dumps. Which, to be frank, I found absolutely insufferable, even armed with my tolerance and expectations built by Metal Gear Solid.
Despite this, Death Stranding's framework still makes for a memorable and unique experience. Delivering cargo across The United Cities of America can range from serene to downright aggravating, but always engaging thanks to the overwhelming amount of systems at play. It features a beautiful landscape arguably unmatched in video games, which combined with awesome futuristic furnishings and gadgets makes for some of the coolest art design I've seen in games. Both the performances and the performance capture of the star-studded cast are top notch. It's got a fantastic soundtrack that will unlock your previously unknown penchant for Icelandic indie rock.
Death Stranding is the ultimate "It's about the journey, not the destination game", and makes me yearn for more experimental ideas on such a large scale.
7. Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth
Another Persona game released (stateside) for the first time this year, and naturally it's found a spot on this list (A 3DS game! 2019!).
Truthfully, it doesn't do a whole lot to shake up the Persona x Etrian Odyssey formula introduced in the first game, but the end result still provides an adequate amount of dungeon-crawling hijinks with my favorite demon wielding high-school students. Now with more than 25 different party members from the modern Persona entries available for selection (sorry guys), I was constantly spoiled for choice and absolutely tearing my hair out trying to decide which five I'd roll with at a time.
It was a nice and chill 50-hour send off in what is likely the last brand new adventure I'll have with the 3DS.
6. Shenmue III
A series famous for its unrelenting attention to detail and extraordinary confidence within itself (for better and worse), paired with an equally extraordinary budget, re-launching for the first time in nearly 20 years, not without the aid of a fundraising campaign through Kickstarter. Unsurprisingly, I was skeptical.
Shenmue III is strange in that many of its faults are its greatest achievements. Familiarly stilted dialogue exchanges. Complex button inputs and considerable training time spent in service of an unresponsive combat system. A host of other bygone game design principles. It's trying to convince me it's the year 2000, and despite the 1080p display in front of me, and the hair on my chin, I'm apt to believe it.
Shenmue III is unapologetically itself, and for that I love it. In some weird way, I almost wish I hadn't enjoyed it so much as to want Shenmue IV, but that's a conversation for another day.
5. AI: The Somnium Files
I'm good for about one or two visual novel experiences a year. Danganronpa, The Silver Case, and 428: Shibuya Scramble make up some of my favorites in recent years. One of my more notable misses however, is the Zero Escape series, so when I saw series director Kotaro Uchikoshi attached to AI: The Somnium Files, I sought it out.
Generally, I find the gameplay portions of VNs to be a bit lacking, sometimes even entirely unnecessary. In The Somnium Files, you enter other people's minds in a dream-like state (their somnium), trying to unlock clues to answer questions about events that happened in the real world, within a time limit. Every time you interact with something in the dream, you'll use up a certain amount of time, the primary mechanic therefore, trying to be economical with your actions so you have a enough time to reach the end. Not too complicated all told, but it felt fresh and was a nice compliment to the traditional VN blueprint.
The story boasts an incredible amount of heart and mystery, as you explore multiple branching timelines to get to the bottom of things. A murder mystery at its core, it retains a light mood with plenty of jokes and typical, but well thought out anime trappings. The relationship between the playable character, Kaname Date, and Mizuki, his daughter (so to speak), is one of my favorite dynamics seen in games this year. A cool soundtrack and a distinct, surrealist style on top of all this make for real gem.
4. Resident Evil 2
It's always been impossible to deny how iconic and influential these games are (well, most of them). Unfortunately, they were never for me. Until now! Capcom has gone and made a Resident Evil game that I can enjoy. Hell, one that I love?
Be it through general osmosis as a result of being around video games for the vast majority of my life, I wasn't wholly unfamiliar with Resident Evil 2 going in. Leon S. Kennedy, Claire Redfield, The Raccoon City Police Department, all things that my brain associated with Resident Evil, and felt weirdly nostalgic for, despite minimal experience with them.
This re-imagining takes those things, shoves them into a modern game engine, and spits out magic. No more tank controls, no more fixed camera angles. An experience so refined and well crafted, it can not be denied despite being handicapped against my distaste for the genre.
If the Final Fantasy VII Remake can manage to reach 1/2 the heights of this game, I'll be enthralled. But if it doesn't, I won't fret, because there's gonna be another Resident Evil remake waiting in its wake, mere weeks later.
3. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
I've never had much an interest in the Souls games, and naturally don't have a ton of experience with them. In retrospect, I'm not even sure why I was sold on Sekiro enough to buy it at release.
Whatever inkling of curiosity I had paid off with one of the most captivating game experiences I've ever had. Now, I'm sure there are people out there who can wax poetic about the intrigue the world of Sekiro presents at much greater length and detail than I can--so I'll leave that to them. While I appreciate the characters and locales found in this game, what really separates Sekiro apart in my mind, is just how great it feels to swing the dang sword. I wasn't much for Wolf's arsenal of prosthetic tools, opting to focus almost exclusively on his trusty ol' Kusabimaru. Stabbing and trying not to be stabbed in this game is very fun and rewarding! Finally beating a boss I'd been trying at for hours created a sense of satisfaction and relief I'd never before felt in games.
I don't know if Sekiro has convinced me to pay another visit to the core Souls series, but I'll absolutely be ready and waiting for a return to this flavor from Hidetaka Miyazaki, should he ever be inclined to do so.
2. Judgment
Another year, another Ryu ga Gotoku Studio game near the very top of my list. Since the soft re-launch of the Yakuza series in the west, starting with Yakuza 0 in 2017, fans of melodramatic Japanese crime fiction have been treated to an absolute embarrassment of riches, with new games debuting from the studio practically biannually (that's twice a year). Judgment is the latest offering, a spin-off free from the strings of Kiryu Kazuma and his misadventures.
I'll be upfront, Judgment feels more like a Yakuza game with a sprinkled on detective-thriller topping, rather than an entirely new thing. Fortunately, despite lacking any radical re-invention of the tried and true Yakuza formula, Judgment carves out its own spot among the best titles in the series through a tremendous execution of ideas and concepts familiar to those with a love for Kamurocho and all it has to offer.
The new guy on the street, Takayuki Yagami, whilst sharing a certain level of foolhardiness and butt-kicking acumen with Kiryu, is perhaps a bit more layered, allowing for a different style of story. In fact, the entire cast of new faces are tactfully developed and feel like meaningful pieces of a broader puzzle. Mio Tanaka, who was called upon to sub in for Pierre Taki (who'd been arrested for cocaine possession and use, prior to the game's western release) and play one of the games main antagonists, is a particular highlight.
An increased focus on forming relationships with the latest colorful cast of Kamurocho locals, and new mini-games like drone racing, are additions that help round out this new adventure in an old neighborhood.
Anyway, I can't appropriately articulate just how much these games mean to me, and I hope they never stop making them. I suppose I'll leave it at that, at least until I'm back here writing up my thoughts on Yakuza 7 next year.
1. Fire Emblem: Three Houses
I'd mostly been ignoring Fire Emblem for quite a while, in no small part due to my apprehension for playing long winded RPGs on handheld platforms (SMT notwithstanding). So when Three Houses was announced, the first fully-featured, 3D console title in the series in over a decade, I was finally ready to take the plunge.
Not since Persona 5 have I so thoroughly binged a game, finishing up both the Black Eagles and Blue Lions routes within weeks of its release.
The foundation of Three Houses is built in the mundane, day-to-day sections in between battles. After appraising all of the students and picking your favorite bunch of rugrats, you'll spend hours making thoughtful conversation with them, lending an ear to their frustrations with each other, their families back home, and general life at the Garreg Mach Monastery. Not just with those in the house you've chosen to lead either, as you're given free reign to speak with (and maybe even poach) all students within the school, which truly makes you feel like a teacher and someone they can count on, not just the head of some roving mercenary group.
These feelings work hand in hand with the combat. Naturally, events will transpire and not everyone will be fighting for the same cause under your command. Coming across former students who you are very familiar with, in the field of battle, evokes a particularly emotional resonance when you have no other choice than to cross swords with them, mindful of the intimate moments you've shared with one another. By the end of the game, I was acutely aware and mournful of the sacrifices that were made in my pursuit of a better future for Fódlan.
So yeah, I like Fire Emblem now. I've since completed the excellent Path of Radiance, and look forward to continuing my trek through the rest of this fantastic series.
