2019 was a pretty different year in video games for me. I had the least amount of time to play, and therefore I’ve only finished 1 of the games on my list. There weren’t as many absolute all-time bangers this year as there have been the last few years, and the majority of the games on my list also have a fair amount of issues. Despite all of that, games are still good, and I want to celebrate my top 10 games of the year, as well as some other games I want to shout-out for various reasons.

Top 10 Games

10. Mortal Kombat 11

One of my earliest gaming memories is going over to my friend’s house and playing the original Mortal Kombat on the Super Nintendo. Even though that is not the most definitive version, it still got me hooked on the series in a major way. I’ve played nearly every Mortal Kombat game that has come out since (including the extremely underrated Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks), and watched all of the movies (including that old animated one that split between drawn animation and VERY EARLY CGI fight scenes). Mortal Kombat as a series has been ever-present, and Mortal Kombat 11 seems to be made for fans of the series like me. The story mode is really where it’s at: Raiden went bad at the end of the last game, and a new god-like villain who controls time has entered the scene to try and scrub Raiden from all of existence. Doing so, she brings back early-timeline versions of characters, which serves to literally bring nostalgia into the main plot. It is extremely well done video game nonsense, and it somehow fits well into the established lore. These games have had actually very good story modes for a while now, but this one has both better pacing and better writing (despite its extremely goofy premise) than the last few, making it the most fun I’ve had in a fighting game story mode ever. Most of the characters feel very good to use outside of a few weird exceptions, although nobody feels bad to use either. Mortal Kombat games find a balance between over-the-top moves and animations with frame-tight precision, making them good choices for both casual and competitive play, and this game is no exception. I’m also playing this one on the Switch which is its own unique miracle. Cutscenes are pre-rendered, making them look identical to the other consoles, and gameplay is fast and fluid with only minor adjustments to graphical fidelity. Oddly enough, the only time that the game really looks rough is in the few moments of trash-talk between the characters before matches start. For whatever reason, the anti-aliasing is just gone, and textures are extremely blurry. To my eyes, these things fix themselves once matches begin, so it’s a weird difference that sticks out amongst generally great performance. I haven’t had much time to dig into the Towers or the Krypt, but playing through the story mode alone is enough for this game to be one of the 10 best games I played in 2019.

9. Killer Queen Black

My friend Carter came to visit right around Thanksgiving, and we went to a local barcade. We decided to play this very large machine called Killer Queen. Neither one of us had played it, but I remember one of the workers walking by and saying something about how awesome the game was. 8 tokens (a piece!!!) and a few minutes later, Carter had won, and I had absolutely no idea what happened. The game mentioned something about a queen, the workers, and riding a slug to victory. I’ve never laughed so hard from being so confused, and it was a great time.

There was something about the game that stuck with me though, and I noticed that it was on sale on the Nintendo Switch eShop. I found out the game has a huge, dedicated following in the arcade scene, and I really needed to know just exactly what this weird game was about. I’m glad I did - while the tutorial is fairly long for a game that is designed for quick in-and-out sessions, there is a deep layer of strategy mixed within the fast and frantic action. Each match is played out on one static screen, giving the player all of the information they need to know immediately in front of them. There are three ways to win: eliminate the other team’s Queen three times, place a certain number of berries inside your team’s base, or ride a purple snail all the way to a finish line. Each of these victory conditions can be achieved fairly quickly, requiring everyone to pay attention to a number of things at once. That sounds stressful on paper, but in practice it creates a fun energy each and every match. The online functionality is a little bit hit or miss - I’ve had a number of flawless matches that all performed well, but I’ve also had some matches with pretty devastating lag. I don’t think that’s a problem with the game as much as it’s a problem with the Nintendo Switch online infrastructure, but nonetheless it’s one of the only flaws I can find with the game. Riding a snail all the way to victory right in front of the other team is one of the best multiplayer moments I’ve had in a long time, and it’s nearly worth the price of the game by itself. I can’t recommend this game highly enough if you’re looking for a great multiplayer Switch game, but I also recommend trying this out with some friends if you ever find it at an arcade.

8. Resident Evil 2

Resident Evil 7 in VR is one of my favorite gaming experiences of this generation, so Resident Evil 2, while not being a direct follow-up to that game, had big shoes to fill (for me at least). While it is not as immersive or intense as RE7 was, it is an extremely well-executed iteration on the Resident Evil 4 style of gameplay. Every moment of the game feels extremely polished - I never ran into any glitches, frame rate drops, or other technical flaws. The game looks phenomenal - I’ve never been so wowed by a nasty zombie mouth in my life. Updates to the map system should carry over into every other game from now on to infinity — the map will show any remaining items or tasks left in a certain room before it changes color, indicating that the room is “finished” and you don’t have to worry about going back to it any more. This is extremely helpful, especially in situations where a room was blocked-off from the player. I loved that I didn’t have to stress out about how to get into a certain room, or that I was going to miss something that I desperately needed - the map was always there to let me know I was doing just fine. That little bit of stress relief is especially valuable any time Mr. X was present, because he raised the stress level by one hundred million bajillion fafillion gazillion. Mr. X is a big boy zombie/tank/dapper gentleman who can’t be killed, and will always chase you. Hearing his footsteps get louder and louder as he tracks you down from one end of the map to the other is such a brilliantly terrorizing aspect of this game, and it was far and away what made the game scary. The story was a little bit disappointing compared to more recent releases in the series, but it was a nice throwback to how a lot of older Capcom stories used to be - really cheesy, terrible, yet endearing voice acting, and more convoluted than coherent. Resident Evil 2 is a fantastic remake, and an excellent horror/action game on its own, even if it doesn’t get close to the heights of Resident Evil 7. There wasn’t a more polished game that I played in 2019, and it is easy to recommend to anyone who likes thrilling third-person action games.

7. Luigi’s Mansion 3

Speaking of thrilling third-person action games with a nice dose of spooky, Luigi’s Mansion 3 is...actually pretty opposite in tone from any of the Resident Evil games, but that’s part of what makes it great! Luigi’s Mansion 3 is set in a haunted hotel rather than a mansion, but each floor comes with a unique gimmick, decoration, or combination of the two, keeping the experience fresh. As Luigi (and also companion Gooigi, Best New Character 2019), the player is tasked with saving his friends (Mario, Peach, some Toads) from imprisonment by King Boo. The gameplay revolves around using a vacuum and flashlight to get rid of ghosts, find secrets, and clean up everything in sight. Everything. Nothing is safe from Luigi’s vacuum - anything sitting on a shelf, mice, curtains, tablecloths, table items, pool balls on a pool table, ghosts, luggage...the list goes on and on. Coins, dollar bills, and gems are commonly found in and around the various clutter in the hotel, giving great motivation to vacuum literally everything in sight. This is satisfying in its own way, but it also makes for great moments when Luigi would get startled by something he vacuumed - which happens a lot. Nintendo is known for how charming their games are, and Luigi’s Mansion 3 is no exception. The music, use of animations, and sound effects create a fun and often funny atmosphere, despite the game’s location. The music is particularly good - it has a jazzy, noir feel to it that perfectly matches Luigi’s situation as a scaredy-sleuth. The game is not particularly challenging, but it doesn’t need to be - I’ve best enjoyed it in short spans, clearing out a floor before moving on to the next or doing something different. The satisfying nature of clearing out absolutely everything with the vacuum mixed with the game’s lighter tone makes for a relaxing, fun experience each time I play. Luigi’s Mansion 3 is no Breath of the Wild or Super Mario Odyssey, but it’s fun and charming - what else can you ask for?

6. Control

There was a time when Control was at the top of my list. The premise of the game is extremely up my alley: the protagonist Jesse Faden arrives at the Federal Bureau of Control seeking answers about...something. Everything looks like the inside of an ordinary office building until it extremely doesn’t - people are floating in the air, there is a small murmur of incoherent voices constantly in the background, and some rooms shift their entire architecture around. There are some rooms that house ordinary items behind warning signs, and some rooms that don’t seem to adhere to the rules of time and space. There seems to be some sort of demonic invasion happening, and Jesse regularly receives messages from the recently dead (murdered?) Director of the FBC, and also messages from upside-down pyramids who only sort of speak coherent English. Also, Jesse becomes the new Director within a few minutes of starting the game, and she receives a weapon that can shift its form in order to have multiple functions. Jesse also gains powers like levitation and telekinesis along the way.

You might read all of that and think, What the heck? And you would be right - Control has a fair amount of sci-fi/horror storytelling that hits hard all at once before slowing to a drip-feed through the rest of the game. I love this kind of stuff though - the kind of stories that initially raise a ton of questions and then giving them a long time to simmer before answering them later. I was immediately drawn in to the game, and I am still enjoying finding out more about what exactly is happening (I have not yet beaten the game, but I think I’m getting pretty close to the end). The central narrative surrounding Jesse’s quest is interesting on its own, but the real treat is discovering the world of the “paranatural” that has been right under everyone’s noses the whole time, and what an office dedicated to studying and/or containing it would look like. The game has a semi-dark sense of humor as well - whether it is from office memos about haunted objects, or instructional safety videos, the small amount of levity helps to keep the tone from being completely dark and serious the whole time.

Using Jesse’s powers make Control actually the best Jedi game of the year (more on that later), as the balance between supernatural powers and gunplay is perfectly tuned. Combat encounters have a pendulum-like feel to them, as you bounce back and forth from using Jesse’s powers and using the Service Weapon (which is the name for the only weapon you receive in the game). The telekinesis power in particular feels great, and is backed up by excellent sound design. Much like the axe-recall power in the most recent God of War, there is a supernatural “whoosh” noise that accompanies objects as they rush towards Jesse’s open hand before stopping in suspension, ready to launch away at an enemy. Also - just about any object in Control can be launched via telekinesis, and if there is no viable object within range, Jesse will just fling a chunk of architecture instead. This eliminates the need to constantly scour for a “throwable” object - if you need to use the power, you can just do it, and know that at least something is going to show up.

Combat encounters can sometimes end really quickly, but not in a good way. Sometimes depending on where and when enemies spawn, they will all launch attacks at the same time, ending the encounter before ever having a chance to retaliate, which can be frustrating. Checkpointing isn’t always the best either, as there have been multiple times where I had to run a decent amount from my last checkpoint to where I actually needed to be, oftentimes also needing to engage in a pop-up combat encounter that wasn’t there before. Load times aren’t the fastest either, so dying can almost feel punishing in certain moments. I have encountered a fair amount of frame-rate drops when there are a lot of enemies and/or particles flying around in combat encounters, and also any time after leaving the pause menu. Most of these moments are more of a distraction than a detriment, but they are nonetheless annoying.

I’m excited to finish the story in Control and find out more about the truly spectacular world built within. The technical difficulties mixed with the often frustrating combat holds this game back from being truly great, but I still recommend Control for anyone who is into supernatural mysteries with their action games.

5. Gears 5

Gears 5 was a pretty big surprise for me this year. I loved the original three games and played them a ton, so I was pretty excited to play Gears of War 4 when that came out. Rather than exploding back onto the scene after a few years, Gears 4 was...just more Gears. The story was mostly forgettable outside of a few moments near the end with the new character Kate. I was more excited to see that Kate would be more of a central character to the story of Gears 5, but I was beginning to think that maybe I might be over the gameplay of these games. Once I finally sat down to start Gears 5, I didn’t stop playing until I was done with the entire first act. Gears 5 returns to what made the first three games so great - huge, cinematic set pieces, exquisitely designed combat encounters, and enough interesting story hooks amidst all the explosions to keep you guessing about what is going to happen around the next corner. The gameplay itself is still the same cover-based combat as the previous games, but they nailed the execution. Combat is fast and furious, while still placing importance on flanking and smart usage of cover. Honestly, both Gears 4 and 5 are two sides of the same coin - they are both more Gears of War, but where 4 felt stagnant, 5 feels vibrant and exciting again. I’m not sure this is the best game to start from in the series, but for folks who have played through the first 4, there is a lot to be happy about.

4. Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Fire Emblem: Three Houses is what you get when you combine Persona, Harry Potter, and medieval-anime-strategy-action. The premise of FE3H has the main character becoming the leader of one of three houses (think Harry Potter houses) in a medieval military academy. Each of the three houses have different characters within, as well as different small stories to encounter. The overarching plot of the game remains the same regardless of house choice, but the smaller stories between are drastically different. This concept on its own promises that there is hundreds of hours of content in the game right at the very beginning, and I think that’s pretty cool. The structure of the game is reminiscent of the Persona series in that everything follows a calendar. Usually, a quest is given at the beginning of the month, and the end of the month will culminate in a battle sequence that resolves the story of the quest. The days between can include a number of different activities: practice battles, exploration of the academy, hanging out with the students in your chosen house, “lectures” during the week (which amount to raising the stats of your students), and other various mini-activities. Each week, the player is allotted a certain amount of activity slots, which means you have to pick and choose carefully which activities to do on a certain day. I’m only about halfway through the story, but the writing has consistently been good to great. Getting to know the students in your house is a fun addition to the already great combat of the Fire Emblem series. Combat is slightly different this time around - older games have used a rock/paper/scissors mechanic based around the effectiveness of different types of weapons. This time, the rock/paper/scissors mechanic is gone, which places more of an emphasis on tactics and strategy, rather than making sure your team is balanced to “win” any matchup. I do think that this has taken some of the difficulty down from previous games, but I really enjoy not having to worry about that mechanic any more. Most of the characters look good, and the academy is fun to explore in full 3D (a first for the series), but there are often some bland textures and map designs. The music is consistently very good, whether it is in battle or running around the academy. There’s a whole lot of game in this game, and all of it is fun to play, making FE3H one of the easiest Switch games to recommend.

3. Death Stranding

I’ve been anxiously awaiting Death Stranding ever since its creative director, Hideo Kojima, was let go from Konami. The Metal Gear series is one of my favorite game series of all time, and the prospect of Kojima doing whatever he wants with his own studio was something too juicy to ignore. A few years later and it’s here - and it delivers on everything one might expect from a Kojima passion project: thoughtful gameplay, masterful intertwining of systems at play, and a whole lot of bonkers story elements that hold together just enough within the rules of the world to work. Death Stranding is a challenging game to describe: there was an apocalyptic event that brought about the presence of a purgatory-like realm; this realm brought about ghosts who will create almost nuclear-level explosions if they come into contact with humans. This new realm (called “The Beach” due to its appearance) also brought about the ability to transport materials through it at hyper speeds - almost like an inter-dimensional 3D printer - which they have named the “chiral network.” The apocalyptic event seems to have knocked out the regular internet, but and not everyone is connected to the chiral network. This is where the player comes in: the main character, Sam Porter Bridges (played by Norman Reedus), is tasked with traveling across the country to try and get other cities (and sometimes individuals) connected to the chiral network to try and rebuild the nation. Sam is a porter by trade, which means he is tasked with hand delivering items that can’t be sent through the chiral network. Along the way, Sam has to avoid the explosion ghosts, as well as a group of terrorists who seem to have special powers of their own. I’m simplifying some elements of the story here (believe it or not), but this is exactly the kind of story Kojima likes to tell - large, universal themes mixed with some wild and imaginative sci-fi (and in this game’s case, light horror) elements.

The gameplay is where Death Stranding sets itself apart from other third-person action games. Instead of violence and gunplay being the main ways the player interacts with the game, Death Stranding is best-described as a hiking game. Each mission gives Sam a particular package or group of packages to deliver, and it’s up to the player to manage this cargo and walk it to the destination. Sam wears a pretty cool sci-fi backpack, and he can pile up an almost comical amount of packages on his back. The moment-to-moment gameplay asks the player to find the best possible route from destination to destination, and Sam can craft tools and equipment to help out. Is there a large hill standing in the way? Craft a ladder and place it down. Is there a sheer drop in the way? Craft a climbing rope and climb down. Want to make trips faster? Build a road and drive a truck. In line with the theme of connection and helping out your fellow people, any equipment you place or road you build remains there, and will show up in other player’s games once you connect cities to the chiral network. This is always cool to see: one time I had to traverse a super rocky section of terrain to get to where I needed to go. Once I connected that person’s settlement to the chiral network, I went outside and there were bridges and footpaths that appeared that made it exponentially easier to navigate. I started building a road once and then 5-10 minutes later it was finished thanks to the work of some other player(s) out there. You never see any other players in-game, but the results of their work are always helpful. There’s something special about the idea of helping out other people represented mechanically within the game - knowing that anything that helps you out will also help out other people is pretty cool. I find the pathfinding elements enjoyable, but I also like to figure out what’s the best path while I’m on a hike as well.

Death Stranding is also far and away the best looking game of 2019: the performance capture of all of the characters is fantastic, giving each performance a depth that is closer to watching a movie than most video games - the all-star cast certainly helps here as well. There is a clean fidelity to everything in the game that makes it all very pleasant to look at, and the technology design is imaginative sci-fi while still feeling grounded in real life. The landscapes that Sam traverses don’t remind me much at all of anything in the United States, but they are often gorgeous on their own. There are a few moments where Sam turns a corner or reaches the top of a hill and is met with a spectacular view, and that’s always awesome.

Death Stranding is certainly a different experience than a lot of other action games, and I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s for everyone, but I also think it’s a game everyone should try. Kojima really went for it with this game, and I think it mostly succeeds, which is even more exciting for whatever he will do next.

2. Super Mario Maker 2

I only played Super Mario Maker on the Wii U once, and ever since then I’ve been hoping it would come to the Switch. Super Mario Maker 2 is everything that was great about the first game, but now you can take it anywhere. The “Make” portion of the game is still the same suite of features, creatures, and obstacles from multiple 2D Mario games, and it’s still relatively easy to jump in and begin making a level. There are mild templates available if you need a jump-start, but it’s also not too difficult to begin building from scratch. Levels can be nightmarishly difficult, closer to a “regular” Mario level, something easier and more relaxing, or something else entirely. Some levels are configured to play full songs; one level I’ve seen was a functioning calculator (I have no idea how they did that but it works); recent updates have made it possible to turn Mario into Link from the Zelda series, making it possible to completely change how a player should approach a 2D Mario level. I’ve made two levels so far, and I had a great time making both. The “Play” portion of the game has two sub-modes: Story, and Course World. Course World is the way to access levels that people have made from all across the world - search functionality is a bit convoluted, and finding specific creators isn’t very easy, but it’s easy enough to find new levels of varying quality within a minute or two. Story has a large amount of Nintendo-created levels that Mario must play through in order to get enough coins to rebuild Peach’s castle. These levels are often showcases for different mechanics to use while making a level, but they generally are all high quality levels. The sheer amount of content in SMM2 is staggering, and it’s potentially unlimited Mario depending on how long this game will continue to be supported.

Some of the games on my list I wouldn’t say are for everyone - Super Mario Maker 2 is a game for everybody. Levels of all difficulties can be found both online and off, and the creation suite is simple enough for anyone to make a level, and complex enough for anyone who really wants to dig into making spectacular creations. Super Mario Maker 2 was worth the wait, and I’m excited to see what new creations will be made for years to come.

1. Outer Wilds

Super Mario Maker 2 was my clear number one game on this list until December, until I really decided to see what this Outer Wilds game was all about. I had been seeing it on top of a lot of publications’ GOTY lists, so I know I needed to at least try it out. What I found was the only game in 2019 that I couldn’t stop thinking about when I wasn’t playing it. Outer Wilds is the best Zelda game to come out this year, even though Link, Ganon, Zelda, and Hyrule are nowhere to be found. Outer Wilds is a game best experienced knowing very little coming in, so before I write a little more about it I’ll say this: I can’t recommend this game highly enough, and even though it might seem a little intimidating at first, keep at it - it won’t take long to find out that this game is an absolute treasure.

The premise of Outer Wilds is simple enough: you are a member of an alien race who have developed a space program, and you are getting ready to head out on your first interstellar voyage. There are already a few explorers out in the galaxy who are available to meet up with and share discoveries, but there’s also hints that an ancient civilization used to occupy the galaxy, and finding out what happened to them is a motivating mystery. Once you take-off for the first time, the whole galaxy is open for exploration - each planet or moon is immediately available to land on and discover, and each location is full of interesting items to discover, and often wild environmental effects that the player needs to avoid (or sometimes utilize). The journey moves along, and each time you learn something new, your ship’s log takes note of it - turning knowledge itself into the rewards and “inventory items” that you gain. Then - something happens: all of a sudden, a wistful song fades in and plays for a couple of minutes. Then, the sky goes dark...before slowly turning bright white. The light takes over - and everything is reset to the beginning. What just happened?? Did the sun just go supernova? Why does time reset every 22 minutes? Is this connected at all with what happened to the ancient civilization? All of these questions got me hooked deep into the game, and I’ve enjoyed getting closer to the truth every time I play. This game is jam packed with jaw dropping moments - most of which I want to avoid talking about here. There is a magic and a terror to exploring the galaxy, and it makes for a truly compelling experience.

I say that this is the best Zelda game not because it shares a time-loop mechanic with Majora’s Mask, but because I haven’t had this much fun exploring since Breath of the Wild. What at first seems wide open to an almost intimidating degree soon becomes a densely-packed galaxy, full of wondrous moments and impactful revelations about the truth of the situation. Outer Wilds can also be a lot of moods: lonely, wondrous, hopeful, terrifying, inspiring, melancholy, and mysterious - but it is always satisfying. Play this game if you can - it is undoubtedly the best game of 2019.

Best of Backlog

1. Red Dead Redemption 2 - I finally beat the single-player story this past year, and it lived up to the hype.
2. Bloodborne - Playing through The Old Hunters DLC with my friend Cory was one of my favorite highlights of the year.
3. Stardew Valley - This game continues to be one of my favorite relaxing games to play. The addition of multiplayer is seriously impressive - the entire game is feature-complete with friends, and that’s awesome.

Best Music

1. Outer Wilds - This game has a backwoods-but-space vibe to it, and the music plays a large part. Ambient synthesizers mixed with banjo is the best combination I didn’t know I needed.
2. Luigi’s Mansion 3 - The noir-mystery style music adds its own layer of charm to an already charming game.
3. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order - The best part of the game, elements of previous soundtracks are intertwined with original music that holds up with John Williams’ best.

Most Disappointing: Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

2019 was also a very weird year for Star Wars - The Rise of Skywalker came out and was very terrible, but The Mandalorian came out and was very, very good. So where does Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order fit within that spectrum? Somewhere in the middle. The story is set a handful of years after Revenge of the Sith, as the Empire is rising, and the Rebel Alliance is still in its infancy. You play as Cal Kestis, a former Jedi in hiding, working as a scrapper on a distant planet and keeping his Jedi powers suppressed out of safety. An early event forces Cal to use his powers, outing him and pushing him on the run. The rest of the game is spent regaining Force powers, learning more about Cal’s backstory as a Jedi padawan, and searching for an item that might save the future of the Jedi. Along the way, Cal meets a few different characters, each with their own motivations for wanting to help out the Light side, as well as a few villains who might be familiar to some fans. The story is just okay - Cal is pretty bland, and the main objectives are little more than Macguffin hunts that led to a disappointing resolution. There are a few flashback scenes that lead up to the infamous Order 66 moment from Revenge of the Sith that were really well done, but those are few and far between. The gameplay is really where the game shines - as well as where the game falters the most. The combat system is similar to Dark Souls or Sekiro in that defense and proper timing are key. The game (for the most part) punishes a button-mash, hack’n’slash approach, as the majority of enemies can dodge, counter, and overpower Cal pretty easily. Learning to properly dodge and parry is essential, as well as knowing when — and subsequently when not — to strike. While this combat system eventually “clicked” for me, I spent the majority of the game feeling a bit underpowered, which felt really strange in a game spent playing as a Jedi. Combat was at its best in one-on-one encounters, especially in lightsaber vs. lightsaber duels. The system felt perfectly tuned for the back-and-forth of a saber duel, where both characters mixed up parries and defensive maneuvers before picking the right time to strike. Combat was absolutely at its worst when facing large groups of enemies all at once. Large group encounters seemed tuned to force (no pun intended) the player to use Force powers as well as lightsaber skills, but the powers themselves were never very effective, and the “Force meter” ran out all too quickly. There is a fair amount of platforming in the game as well, and it’s mostly bad the entire way through. The amount of health lost from Cal not grabbing onto a ledge or rope, or from sliding off of the edge of a slippery slope (of which there are MULTIPLE for some strange reason) was extremely frustrating. Rather than providing a fun form of exploring the world, platforming felt like the game was trying to fight me, and that got exhausting. From a technical standpoint, the game is an absolute mess. The enemy A.I. would routinely ignore Cal, even in the midst of a fight, and I had at least one hard crash out to the system menu. I fell through the floor of the ship during hyperspace once, which ended up being more funny than frustrating, but it is still inexcusable. The camera couldn’t really keep up with the action in close spaces, which made the difficult combat unnecessarily more difficult. Overall, when the combat was at its best, and the outstanding musical score was playing, there aren’t many better games at conveying the awesome power of being a Jedi. Despite the numerous issues I had with this game, I still really had fun with it - when it all worked as intended. I wish that the developers had more time to add more polish to the game—with a lot less glitches, more finely tuned combat encounters, and tighter platforming controls, this could have been a much greater game.