This thread has made me realize I haven't seen Stevintendo around in a while. I was looking forward to not being the only one to vote Astral Chain as personal game of the year.
Now I'm worried I missed a thread with some dreadful news, as has happened in the past. Anyone know if he's okay? Or did I miss some sad announcement?
Poking around his links and social media, it kinda looks like maybe he's just pulled way back with his online presence? He disappears from a lot of stuff around the end of 2018, but he was still liking things on Twitter as of this October, so don't think it's any kind of tragedy.
That's about as far as I'm willing to poke into a stranger's life, though.
Happy end of the year and happy new year. I didn't get much of a chance to play video games heavily this year working two jobs most of the year. Here's a quick list. I finished a few, but many, I did not finish.
1. Untitled Goose Game - This is a perfectly designed game. The animation, the music, the level design, the comedy... it has it all. I think the main complaint I see about it is that people don't like the controls. The controls are set up for you to be a shepherd much like The Last Guardian. Once you realize this, everything clicks.
2. Doraemon: Story of Seasons - It's a Harvest Moon game
3. Control - I got stuck halfway through with a weird objective and never came back to it. I'll get to it eventually. Love everything other than the fact that I got stuck for some reason.
4. Ring Fit Adventure - Love using this to supplement my regular running routine.
5. Fire Emblem - Three Houses - Still need to finish the last half or so...
6. Link's Awakening Switch
7. Baba is You
8. Eliza
9. Observation
10. Mario Maker 2
Okay, cool. Let's see how next year goes.
(Checks clock)...ok, I'm good, right? I've got to do this earlier next year. Many thanks and apologies to Eleima, and a happy new year! Here goes:
1. Outer Wilds
So much has been said elsewhere that I don't know how to add. I don't talk about games much in the day to day, but this is one I've said words about to just about anyone who would listen. Best game my kids desperately wanted me to shut up about of 2019.
2. Superliminal
This is where the biases hit hard. I played this over a recent weekend with my 12yo, who spent most of the game gasping and exclaiming and clutching his head as his mind was blown yet again by the twists of perception this game threw at us. He was completely taken with it, and I can't yet separate how much I loved the game itself from the entirety of our experience. But whatever my long-term take ends up being, it's burning very bright for me right now.
3. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
Coming off my years-long struggle with Dark Souls, and my much shorter and less tortured time finishing Hollow Knight, I plowed into Dark Souls 2 with confidence in early 2019...only to find myself unable to gain any traction at all. So it was with relief that I grabbed Sekiro when it released, hoping that it would be a better fit of a From game for me. I was not disappointed in the least. The combat clicked into an almost meditative cycle for me, and any frustrations fell away quickly, leaving behind a lasting satisfaction when all was said and done. I even went back for all the endings (and just about everything else), which is pretty much unprecedented for me.
4. Return of the Obra Dinn
This game was such an unsurprising entry on my list that I think its placement may have suffered for it. I knew it would be exactly my thing since I first heard a couple of sentences describing it, and it so very much was.
5. Battle Chef Brigade
A late entrant! A backlog roulette find, my 12yo drew my attention to this game that shot to the top of my list. I knew there was a brawler bit, and a match-3 bit...I had missed that those were nestled comfortably inside an incredibly charming visual novel. However much of the story remains, I'll definitely be enjoying the head-to-head local multiplayer well into 2020.
6. Celeste
Such a good, resonant game in platforming feel, theme, and message. Music too. It was great, and I need to go back for the added content.
7. Link's Awakening
Adorable remake, and I was very happy to have another shot at a game I missed way back when. Just an all around feel-good experience played passing the controller around with my kids.
8. Baba is You
So many puzzles still elude me, but I keep coming back. One of the only games this year whose context has bled over into some really weird dreams.
9. Inside
It's been 2 or 3 weeks since I played Inside, and it still regularly contributes to a general sense of creeping unease. Not sure I love what it did, but it sure did do it effectively and with a cool aesthetic.
10. Unravel Two
I haven't spent enough time with it for it to rank higher, but merits a list if only for how much my affection for the first entry has carried over so far.
*Couple of corrections & fixes made*
Apologies if this is in past the deadline, I've had a rough time with viral conjunctivitis in my right eye otherwise I would have had this in yesterday. I'll be adding thoughts to each game as the morning goes on.
A huge thanks to Eleima, moderating beautifully & encouraging Goodjers with kind words every step of the way.
An overall good year for gaming that was perhaps fairly disappointing in the AAA space (bar a couple of standout titles). Star Wars sounded buggy & a bit rushed, Borderlands 3 didn't do a lot different, Rage 2 personally didn't live upto its promise & I tried but didn't love the new Modern Warfare. Still there were plenty of cracking indie games plus stuff from previous year's to keep me more than happy.
The honourable mentions
Katana Zero - A stylish little indie game that see's you play an assassin sent out on missions by your therapist. A weird, hard to follow story but stylish ninja action awaits.
Shadow Tactics: Blades Of The Shogun - Quite frankly a fantastic strategy game, that has a lot of flexibility in the number of stealth approaches you can go for in each mission. The difficulty is really high & because I'd only completed 3 or 4 levels this just misses out on my list.
Sonic Mania - I feel nearly every Sonic game I play is a solid 7/10, good but nothing really to write home about. Still the new levels are handled better than expected with some nice twists on the traditional Sonic gameplay.
The Division 2 - I'm sorry Higgledy I wanted to like this much more than I did but it felt far too similar to the original. A good solid team based shooter but I felt I'd seen & done it all before in a better setting of a snow covered New York. The rate at which weapons drop is insane & it got the point were I didn't much care if the new weapon was slightly better than the last. The game also has an extremely bad problem with dark areas, in that you can't see a thing & have no flashlight.
Rage 2 - Great gunplay but one of the most bland open worlds I've ever played & combat scenarios that don't change things up enough (like Doom) to really take advantage of that visceral, high mobility combat.
Link's Awakening - I wasn't sure to even put this on the honourable mentions but I enjoyed it enough. The graphic style of the game is stunning but the gameplay feels a bit archaic & the dungeons are a slog. Find a key to open this other room to find another key. The upgrades are welcome but it feels like there's too many annoying obstacles in your way (in the environment) that you need to wait for the relevant upgrade to get past. Easily one of the most overrated games I've played in years.
Wonderboy & The Dragon Trap - A sensational revamp of the games graphics & art give it a real good sense of place over the original first released on the master system. The gameplay, hit detection etc feel a bit too dated though. Still fun to change between the different animals & use their unique abilities.
Just ok
The Touryst - A great looking little game that has quite a bit of charm but one that just didn't grab me & I'm on the 4th island. There's some neat ideas & cool little puzzles but it feels there's something lacking.
Modern Warfare - A beautiful new engine with amazing lighting & sound design can't stop this feeling like I'm just playing the same beats in a COD story dressed up in different ways. It still feels like choice within the levels is very much stilted, the usual overly controlled set pieces that make you feel almost like a passenger & the waves of enemies that have A.I that feels the same as a decade ago. The Spec Ops is also ridiculously tough, enemies consistently spawning from all angles & it becomes near impossible.
Gris - A drastically different art style see's Gris score high on style. The world itself feels like an arthouse of thin wire structures & floating rocks thrown together for the sake of getting the player from one place to the next. Gameplay wise a bit lackluster too.
Far Lone Sails - I'm really not sure about this one. The management of running your big machine as you travel across the land feels a bit tedious. Puzzles are overly straight forward & the locations themselves haven't really jumped out at me. Interesting but not great to play.
Dishonored
Kingdom Hearts 3 - Where to start? Dialogue is flat out bad, the game is still as floaty as ever with no sense of weight to your movements. The Disney characters like Donald Duck seem so out of place saying the lines their given, the story is all over the place. Invisible walls in places it seems you should be able to jump over. Couldn't get past the first 2-3 hours. Worst game I've bought in a long time.
I'm tempted to put Shenmue 3 here but I can't justify it as I've only put 15-20 mins into it. The opening though is one of the worst acted, worst written I've ever come across in a game. Robotic, bland & outright dumb. I'll see if the trend continues once I play further into it this year.
Now onto the top 10, here we go!
The shortlist for Eleima
10. Tetris Effect
9. Death Stranding
8. Yoku's Island Express
7. Resident Evil 2
6. Dead Cells
5. Ori & The Blind Forest
4. Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze
3. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
2. Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales
1. Slay The Spire
Full fleshed out top 10.
10. Tetris Effect
I love Tetris & this version is just one hell of a visual & audio experience that is a spectacle in every way. Play with headphones on (can someone recommend me headphones? Its ok I'll ask in the Playstation 4 thread), its therapeutic, engaging & as addictive as ever.9. Death Stranding
This was probably one of my most looked forward to games of this generation. I love Hideo Kojima's previous games & was more than excited to try this new game concept in what felt like a very different open world.The opening of the game is great, the cut scenes are done with a production, flair & skill that few other studios can match. Coming across water the first time & carefully making your way through it felt unexpectedly good because of the danger.
When I hit the first major delivery centre I was ready to venture out into these Icelandic style terrain & mountains. The first time you come across BT's & to a lesser extent the Mule's (rogue delivery porters) it feels different & brand new.
The game's lore, characters & setting feel fresh, if a bit crazy & definitely eccentric. The games cut scenes had me extremely interested in what had happened to this world. Why does Timefall accelerate aging, why do bodies explode & leave huge craters after they die, where do these ghostly entities the BT's come from. There's interesting rules & lore that you want to learn more about.
The other idea that works brilliantly is the multiplayer aspect of the game, leave ladders, ropes, bridges, vehicles etc for others to come across in their own world. This has helped me many times as traversal is such a key element of the game. It feels great knowing that your helping someone in their own journey, that maybe doesn't have the equipment to navigate a certain part of the environment.
The problems are the encounter design, the Mule's are such simplistic enemies who just become an annoyance when you come across them. Your usually packed to the rafters with boxes, equipment & packages, therefore slow & cumbersome in battle. I felt that the amount I was carrying massively effects enjoyment of the boss battles too, you just feel so slow & lumbering when you want to just run around with a bit more mobility & movement.
The BT's are brilliantly atmospheric but it just feels like they just hang in the air, moving ever so slightly that the stealth aspect becomes less engaging than it should be.
The delivery centres or outposts have very similar interiors that it feels a bit lazy. The holograms you get to talk to (because the people are underground) have nothing close to the same effect as Sam & the cast of characters you get to see in some of the amazing cutscenes. It creates this disconnect (ironically) between the two elements of the story. One is great & the other is very throwaway.
Next onto the movement itself, its a great system that should have been pushed even further. If you want to go full in on traversal, have 3-4 different pressure outputs on the left analogue stick. If you were to go up a slippy high incline slope you'd really have to put the gentlest bit of pressure on the stick. The way it seems to work is that there's two, either run or walk/jog slowly, meaning that its easy to stay on your feet if you take your time. I think in this department their could have been more skill involved here.
The L2 & R2 buttons to brace & balance the load on your back are nice touches, especially going out to the wind farm. The wind forcing you to go between each trigger trying to keep Sam as upright as possible. The climbing seems like it could use more work butv in general works pretty well.
The other problem I have is that you get bogged down in deliveries, going back & forth to places you've been multiple times already. It gets tedious but maybe that's just me wanting to complete as much of them as possible.
Lastly the journey's across the stunning landscapes can be poignant, calming & beautiful but rarely is there anything other than the same little outpost or delivery centre at the end of that journey. There's some great settings like the Timefall Farm where you have big automated farm vehicles working away at the crops but there's not enough areas like it.
I'm still on chapter 3 (I'd wager about 30 hours or so played) but getting bogged down in deliveries just put a stop to me playing on. I'll get back to this in the coming days.
Ultimately though Death Stranding is a game I'm glad Kojima & his team got to make but the encounters & gameplay are a huge step down from MGSV. On my extremely high expectations this goes down as a good game but one of the most disappointing of the generation.
8. Yoku's Island Express
A pinball Metroidvania, sure why not. Easily the cutest, most chill game I've played all year. A beautiful, fairytale esq world that is built on the mechanics of a pinball table with its levers flicking Yoku around the place. Its a game with essentially no combat, just unique traversal, quirky interesting characters, lots of neat upgrades, puzzles to work out & quite an interesting little story.
If you want something different, I'd give Yoku's Island Express a go. An easy recommendation.
7. Resident Evil 2
A stunning, modern recreation of a classic game I remember loving all the way back in the PS1 era. The amazing engine Capcom have created really is state of the art, with the 3D space feeling truly alive that takes old school RE into the modern era. Everything from how zombies move & react to shots from your handgun feels on point & once Mr X starts tracking you down, you'll be reacting to every clamp of his footsteps questioning if he's on your floor or the one above/below.Map system is miles better, clearly marking rooms you have been in & those you've yet to explore, its also easy to recognize when to discard keys. The atmosphere is always tense, more so than it ever was in RE2 before. Walking past windows, going down a dark corridor that has you taking things extremely slowly, seeing a clicker jump down off a ceiling for the first time having you scrambling for your shotgun or to high tail it out of there.
Ultimately descriptions don't do the game justice, the Police Station is a better setting than ever, the zombies & monsters are incredibly detailed & animated. The survival horror classic that is RE2 feels better today than it ever did back then. The secret sauce being Mr X, he really puts you on edge, stalking you organically through the police station. Let's see if they can hit this bar of quality with RE3 remake.
6. Dead Cells
A really cool rogue like that has a flair with its combat that few games have. The mix of procedurally generated levels, a huge variety of enemies that all seem to have something in their arsenal to trip you up & the delightfully impactful weapons.One of the best aspects of Dead Cells is how unique & fun to use its weapons are, electric whips doing damage from a distance, bows that can shoot 3 arrows at a time, traps that clamp down on enemies & hold them in place, freeze grenades that leave enemies vulnerable to attack for a couple of seconds. Add in modifiers to the weapons/equipment, toxic poision clouds left when enemies die, little bug like creatures that help you devour enemies, ground goes on fire when you do your slam attack through the air. It all combines into a joyous, quick thinking, fluid moving battle system.
The game is tough but you always make that little bit of progress, taking certain abilities & unlocking blueprints for weapons. I can't wait to delve more into this in 2020.
5. Ori & The Blind Forest
A game that I've waited to play for so long not having owned an Xbox One or been PC gaming for about a decade now. When Ori was announced for Switch, I was all over this day 1.
I love Metroidvania's & this sits up in the top 3, a strikingly beautiful game with some seriously impressive backgrounds that really make the game come to life. Ori is more a platform centric game than other Metroidvania's. It controls stunningly well, every form of jump, every landing, every dash feels like your in full control & with the utmost precision.
When the unlocks start to come it gets even better, reaching areas you couldn't quite get to, having abilities to bust through barriers, its all exquisitely handled.
The combat is a lot of fun because of the impact of Ori's energy attack, it doesn't really require too much precision because of the nature of the attack though. It feels really good nonetheless.
The bash ability is the game changer in Ori, it allows some crazy traversal & is used in the set pieces that really test your skill. Its basically were you can use enemies or projectiles to launch yourself in any direction, once you start chaining this together, like in the Ginso Tree escape section its flat out fantastic.
The 4 major dungeon style parts of Ori are filled with such creativity, mechanics that play with light & gravity (among other things), forcing you to use your new abilities in surprising ways.
The story & characters are very charming too. I'm massively looking forward to the second outing next year.
4. Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze
A game highly recommended by RNRClown & one that serves up one of the all time great platformers. You've got top tier level design, gorgeous visuals, an amazing soundtrack & tight weighty platforming that uses momentum so so well. There's whole levels based on vehicles like the minecart & rockets, which just see Retro let their creativity run wild. The rocket requiring you to master tapering of the boost to really get through some cramped areas on the screen. The Rhino is in there too bringing me back to the days of Donkey Kong Country on the SNES.The way the levels use the environments both in terms of theme & the interactive furniture. A brilliant example that I'll use is from Mark Brown's video, the level Scorch n Torch. The level is based on burning forest fires, which see's water berries that you can throw to put out flames,
statues burning & falling to the ground, burning trees that fall apart when you stand on them, swinging ropes that are on fire, hot coals that damage you & send you hurtling forward. These mechanics are then all mixed & matched in creative ways.The secret puzzle pieces hidden for you keep you on the lookout for secret areas, K-O-N-G letters that require skilled platforming to attain are scattered about levels & the bosses are all challenging in their own way each with different stages to them.
The crown in the jewel comes in the form of the K Levels which are unlocked after you find all the K-O-N-G letters in each world. These are true platforming tests that will challenge reflexes, memory, timing & your nerves. Completing these is something akin to defeating a boss in Bloodborne. There's barely a chance to catch a breath.
I played Super Mario World in the last month (as I got the Switch online pass) & honestly it was one of the greats for its day but it doesn't hold a candle to the likes of Tropical Freeze which slots in nicely into my top 2 platformers of all time.
3. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
A samurai game from From, its pretty much a lock for one of the top spots of the year.There were 3 games in contention for my number 1 spot & Sekiro is the first of those. Its a brilliant evolution on the Soulsborne formula that see's mobility & parrying take centre stage to a combat system that is every bit as brilliant as their previous work
The posture system & the way it forces you to engage, learning an enemy's attack patterns to eventually break their posture, by parrying & skills like the Mikiri counter opening them up for a deathblow is fantastic once you get a handle on it.
The bosses are as brilliantly designed as ever, with everything from nimble, fast moving samurai's to giant armor clad warriors on horseback & an assortment of monstrosities that round out the terrifying list.
Its the hardest From Software game to date which has been the barrier to me finishing the game. There are some mini bosses that have had me repeat their fights 20-30 times, fuelling both my frustration but also have ingrained tough attack patterns to the point I can counter them well in my later attempts. There are some bosses like Lady Butterfly were you think, is this game serious. Tricky delayed attack patterns done at speed, ranged attacks & with a second stage that throws even more elements into the fray.
The stealth & grappling hook play a major role in making Sekiro feel different to their previous work. You can sneak up on some mini bosses by using your grappling hook or going around hidden lateral paths that enable you to get a deathblow on the various mini bosses throughout the game. This effectively takes them down to one health bar instead of two & can be a big help.
Learning the placement & patrols of general enemies strewn about the areas can see you backstabbing & throat slicing one after another not alerting anyone to your presence. It can save you a lot of bother & lost heath.
Area design feels broader, you can grapple around the side of mountains, taking you to new or secret areas that you wouldn't have expected to even be there. The first time I hugged a wall & it was a secret door into another room was a great surprise moment.
I think I'm about halfway through Sekiro overall & it still easily claims third spot on my list even with the brutal difficulty.
2. Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales
A game carrying The Witcher name that has flown so low under the radar that its criminal. Thronebreaker is a masterclass in story, writing, dialogue, some of the best characters in years & the fantastic gwent battle system, pulled & further refined from The Witcher 3.You play Queen Meve who is ruler of Lyria & Rivia your Kingdom is under threat from the Nilfgaardian Empire. You set out on a journey during times of war, with villages being burned out, food supplies constrained & soldiers of your own army being killed like livestock. You even have the hysteria of war bringing racism to new heights or prejudice against some other minority (that's normally contained during times of peace) boiling over.
You go about your homeland as Meve recruiting soldiers to your ranks. Making a stand against the almost impossible force of Nilfgaard, with their technology, might & numbers that simply dwarf your own.
The journey is rife with contained stories that are equally as compelling as the main story thread. You'll come across towns & villages that you'll not look upon in the same way again. It might be factions within a village warring, two rich families quarrelling over land. Out in the war torn countryside you'll come across all manner of interesting characters, as Meve your the leader & decisions need to be made.
There are a number of decisions that really will give you pause, questioning yourself if your making the right decision. These scenarios both big & small, those on main path & those off the beaten path are brilliantly written & devised. There are generally choices that you'll have to make, that trying to navigate with a moral code is near useless. Its what you think is the lesser of two evils.
You'll get advice from your trusted advisor Reynard Odo & other highly ranked or important characters in your army in a lot of instances as they put forth their case of why you should do this vs that.
The journey takes you from Rivia to the snow capped mountains of Mahakan, the murky swamps of Angren, plus more. Each location feels wholly different than the last & the cast of characters & monsters you come across enforce that even more.
Gwent is as brilliant as ever, your deck is based on your starting army then the characters you recruit (& lose) along the way. There are highly skilled characters like Eyck of Denesle who is an overly righteous knight who's code is to rid the land of all monsters & abominations, in battle he has bonuses that are devastating against monsters. You make a decision he doesn't agree with though & he's likely gone. You'll have puzzles that teach you new mechanics or unique to the situation at hand, it always feels fresh & is done with a flair.
The game also has in my opinion the best narration I've heard (even better than Bastion's) in a videogame. Timothy Watson makes the compelling writing/dialogue come alive in a way that few could. Meve voiced by Lucy Black is one of the strongest female protagonists I've ever played, she has strength, intelligence, an unwavering will to do what's best for her people & as like everyone else is exquisitely written. Gascon is one of my favourite characters since The Witcher 3, flawlessly acted by Liam Garrigan.
The music for battles, story encounters & travelling throughout the various lands is all glorious. The best of the year along with Tropical Freeze.
I'd say my favourite gaming moments of the year are contained within Thronebreaker. Its filled me with wonder, surprise, angst, sadness, made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up & it harbours a story & characters that are up there with the all time greats.
1. Slay The Spire
The 2018 GWJ darling Slay The Spire has seeped so deep into my gaming soul in 2019 that all I've done when not playing STS is think about playing STS. Its joins Rocket League as one of the most addictive games I've ever played, with the 'one more go' factor being off the charts.The genius of STS is in it's structure & design. Its snergy of cards & relics, other factors like potions being potential life savers, how cherished your health is, getting to know enemies & all their unique traits (don't play into the Gremlin Nob's trap of using skills against it). You start at the bottom of a Spire with one of three very distinct characters:
Ironclad - a warrior style character
Silent - a rogue style character
Defect - a mage style characterYou pick your path through an interweb of rooms (that are different every time) consisting of:
Normal enemies
Elite enemies
Rest Sites
Random Encounter Rooms
Shopkeepers
Chests
Boss enemyThe golden cog in the machine of STS is how its randomized elements can lead to drastically different runs, that are always exciting. You never know what cards you are gonna get, what elite enemy will stand before you, how many rest sites you can come across on the path ahead (to either upgrade a card or restore a small chunk of hp). There are even 3 potential bosses at the end of each act.
I love at the start of every run how you get to choose a bonus (obtain gold, enemies in your next 3 encounters have 1hp, remove a card from your deck etc), granted by the wise giant whale Neow. Its so ridiculous, yet so charming & you look at this big creature as an ally in your journey to the top. The music on this screen & the art style leave a mark right from the off.
The random '?' rooms are another brilliant touch, inspired by dungeons & dragon style encounters. You could meet a druid who will remove a card from your deck, come across an ominous forge that enables you to upgrade a card or obtain a special relic at the cost of a cursed card entering your deck. There's a small gremlin who spins a giant wheel (of fortune) that has a handful of different outcomes. This is only a small selection but its all inspired stuff, it has a magical feel to it.
You basically level up each character, unlocking more powerful cards & relics that then have a chance to be encountered in future runs. You start each turn of a battle with 3 energy, your cards usually cost anything between 0-3 energy to use.
There's so many important factors that you have to consider like the balance between attack & defence, the amount of no cost cards vs cards you can draw, having too many cards that add to energy without having a deck to make use of that, having cards that supplement each other & not having a bloated deck.
The cards & builds you can create are at times astounding. Take Silent for example, if you get the power card 'Noxious Fumes' which inflicts all enemies with 2 poison (3 poison if upgraded) at the start of every turn, you then come across 'Envenom' which inflicts 1 poison whenever any attack deals unblocked damage. You already have the card 'Bouncing Flask' which applies 3 poison to 3 random enemies. Now remember this all stacks, if an enemy has 50hp & you've played all these cards over a couple of turns their health is nearly gonna be halved from poison alone. Later in your run say you come across the card 'Catalyst' you can double (triple if upgraded) an enemies poison, which means you are doing insane damage & sometimes going through bosses/elites like Donkey Kong goes through bananas.
That's just cards, let's add relics into the equation. You get 'Ice Cream' that conserves unused energy between turns, now you have more energy to spend each turn (if your tactical). Add in 'Letter Opener' which deals 5 damage to all enemies when you play 3 skills (poison & defence cards are primarily skill cards). Your deck is growing & you find your 'Noxious Fumes' card isn't getting drawn until the second or third turn which means your missing damaging all enemies for 6-9 points upto that point. You defeat an elite enemy & get 'Bottled Tornado' which lets you choose a power card (Noxious Fumes) you'll always have in your hand at the start of each battle. Amazing.
I could go on & on but there's a magical concoction that MegaCrit have created here that comes along once or twice a generation if your lucky. I've put 310 hours in since its release on Switch back in June. I've been playing it inbetween clients at my personal training studio, in bed at night, lying on the sofa, lying in the bath, I even bring my Switch in when I do a couple of night shifts of security work in the Children's Hospice & get to play a good amount there too. Its honestly stopped me playing other Switch games or pulled me off games that just aren't grabbing me much quicker.
STS strikes gold & I'd encourage anyone who is sceptical of card games or rogue likes to give this a try, its something truly special.
Happy new year everyone!!! 
We're down to the final tallies!! Gravity, no worries, your edits have been taken into account. Kazooka, thank you for sticking to the spirit of the thread, you'd managed to slip that one by me! Thank you for your lists, Stele, Hyetal, tuffalobuffalo and benign1, your votes have been tallied!
Spikeout, you're exactly 40 minutes past the deadline. I hate to turn away a list, but deadline's a deadline. I'm gonna let my inner demons deliberate on what to do while I start my write up. 
Folks, I promise I'm going to get this done as speedily as possible, simply because... Well, I'll be posting about it here too, but our next step is the GWJ Community Game of the Decade. Something else to look forward to in this brand new year.
No probs Eleima, I should have popped up the quick list this morning before work. Its up for people to see anyways that's the main thing
A Game of the Decade possible discussion is making me so much more excited than it should.
Spikes thoughts on Slay the Spire are really great. I could copy and paste that for my long thoughts and pretty much cover it.
And technically it released in January 2019. The 2018 bit was all early access. Was able to nominate it for Steam awards.
Spikes thoughts on Slay the Spire are really great. I could copy and paste that for my long thoughts and pretty much cover it.
And technically it released in January 2019. The 2018 bit was all early access. Was able to nominate it for Steam awards.
Thanks Stele, appreciate the kind words. I do adore that game so much. Patiently waiting for The Watcher character to get released on the Switch so I can climb him/her up through the ascension levels!
Second, RnRClown, there is no "as is (or was) the spirit of the GWJ GOTY".
Your list is invalidated is it breaks with the guidelines of the community GOTY.
I figured. I was awaiting the gavel thump. I may then forever be ineligible for carrying forward to the year where I finish the journey, rather than the year in which the journey began, when applicable, of course.
You're both entering games that you've either played in 2018 and that you posted last year.
Game. Singular. Mass Effect Andromeda. Whilst not entered it was mentioned.
Baldur's Gate, meanwhile, has puzzle pieces from many a year coming together to make a full picture. None of which hail from 2018.
Gemini Rue, is split between 2014 and 2019.
I'm a stickler for clarity. It rankles my brain.
I managed seven out of ten within our guidelines. I shall endeavour to do better.
Listen, I get it, really. Our lives are full, we have a bazillion things to do and juggle, and some games span several months. I get it, I do. But it wouldn't be fair for some lists to get special treatment over others.
And I can't have folks thinking I'm biased in favor of the Mass Effect franchise, now that just wouldn't do.
No special treatment for anyone is perfectly fair. Rules be rules. I understand. Not even for Mass Effect.
Sorry if it shouldnt be debated , but imo the most important part of "new to you" is that you cant have the same game on a GOTY list (or even be in consideration for a list) in two different years. So if you start a game in december 2019, and finish it sometime in 2020, you could consider it a 2019 game, or a 2020 game. But not both.
I started playing CrossCode in november, but lost interest really fast, getting less than an hour in (I believe it is a 30-50 hour game) - hence not even bothering to add it to my list (neither disappointments or others) this year. If I somehow manage to pick it up again in 2020 I'd consider it belonging to this year instead.
But in the example of Baldurs Gate, if you have played large segments of the game in previous years, it seems clear that it cant be considered new in 2019. To me, it is not about the finish line or the beginning, but when have you played enough of the game to have formed an opinion on it. Whether that is 10% or 50% of the game. Which is individual.
But Eleima is doing all the hard work, so it is her rules of course.
Eleima wrote:Second, RnRClown, there is no "as is (or was) the spirit of the GWJ GOTY".
Your list is invalidated is it breaks with the guidelines of the community GOTY.
I figured. I was awaiting the gavel thump. I may then forever be ineligible for carrying forward to the year where I finish the journey, rather than the year in which the journey began, when applicable, of course.
Eleima wrote:You're both entering games that you've either played in 2018 and that you posted last year.
Game. Singular. Mass Effect Andromeda. Whilst not entered it was mentioned.
Baldur's Gate, meanwhile, has puzzle pieces from many a year coming together to make a full picture. None of which hail from 2018.
Gemini Rue, is split between 2014 and 2019.
I'm a stickler for clarity. It rankles my brain.
I managed seven out of ten within our guidelines. I shall endeavour to do better.
Eleima wrote:Listen, I get it, really. Our lives are full, we have a bazillion things to do and juggle, and some games span several months. I get it, I do. But it wouldn't be fair for some lists to get special treatment over others.
And I can't have folks thinking I'm biased in favor of the Mass Effect franchise, now that just wouldn't do.No special treatment for anyone is perfectly fair. Rules be rules. I understand. Not even for Mass Effect.
Honestly, I'm not too interested in hashing this out over and over, and you had an entire month. I shouldn't have to be determining if your list has "seven out of ten" that are eligible. Folks have been good sports, and are abiding by the spirit of the thread. For a "stickler for clarity", you're quite surprising.
It's not my circus anymore, but I'm astounded that the boundaries of the "new to you" rule become a topic of conversation every year. The endless nit-picking and rules-lawyering and edge-casing about that is precisely why I stopped doing this. Don't burn out Eleima with the same shit.
Look, the fact of the matter is that this is a silly poll on a dinky forum in a corner of the internet that no one gives a shit about. Not even the people who run the site care about this. How many of the podcasters and front-pagers voted in this thread? I think our all-time record is three.
The person who cares most about this is the volunteer who sets aside their free time that they could put toward anything else to comb through every single post in this thread and tally up the responses. It's a month-long project that takes way more time and energy than you think it does. Be nice to her. Please.
(I had a whole thing here about the original spirit of the "new to you" rule (and mistakes I think I made with it), but it's not really relevant and it's not really my place.)
There is one very simple rule regarding what makes a game eligible for GOTY nomination on this site.
And it takes a very special kind of arrogance to expect the person doing all this work to figure out the specifics of each person's list because one person just can't be bothered to stick to it.
Look, the fact of the matter is that this is a silly poll on a dinky forum in a corner of the internet that no one gives a shit about.
*ahem* There are some very wonderful people who give a shit. But the poll is fun and silly. Lighten the hell up y’all.
Not even the people who run the site care about this. How many of the podcasters and front-pagers voted in this thread? I think our all-time record is three.
That's disingenuous because they do their own lists for the CC. If their votes are that important folks could just pull them from there. They're posted every year.
Folks, please, let's just not. I do indeed spend a truckload of time on this, but I'd much rather see us move on at this point.
Incidentally, the 2010s Community game of the Decade thread is now live.
ClockworkHouse wrote:Not even the people who run the site care about this. How many of the podcasters and front-pagers voted in this thread? I think our all-time record is three.
That's disingenuous because they do their own lists for the CC. If their votes are that important folks could just pull them from there. They're posted every year.
If they saw themselves as members of the community, they could do that themselves. Which apparently this year some of them have, so good on them.
Your efforts and patience and diligence and energy expenditures are very much appreciated, Eleima.
Your efforts and patience and diligence and energy expenditures are very much appreciated, Eleima.
This. Also, I realized I went back and played a bunch of old favorites but didn’t play enough new games (at least new to me) to warrant a Top 10 list. That’s why I abstained. But am interested in seeing the winning choices.
It's not my circus anymore, but I'm astounded that the boundaries of the "new to you" rule become a topic of conversation every year.
I feel it may be because it's halfway between trying to be different so to include those who do not or cannot dedicate as much time, nor as frequently, or simply have varying play styles, yet it is also skirting a strict guideline just like every other GOTY. (Replace year of release with year you first put in any time.)
Perhaps I'm wrong and some folks desire to enter the same game in multiple years. I believe I've saw that mentioned before.
The endless nit-picking and rules-lawyering and edge-casing about that is precisely why I stopped doing this. Don't burn out Eleima with the same shit.
I do not disagree. I highlighted which games could be considered ineligible. (Actually, I forgot about Gemini Rue!) I suggested skipping over them. It was civil. It was lighthearted. (No dramas, I believe I said.)
Look, the fact of the matter is that this is a silly poll on a dinky forum in a corner of the internet.
Exactly. That's why I feel we may lean towards goodwill, fun, inclusivity, rather than dime a dozen rules-lawyering just like every other corner. I did not demand. I provided an easy no direct response required out. (I try my hardest not to garner a response from those I feel may think ill of me.)
(I had a whole thing here about the original spirit of the "new to you" rule (and mistakes I think I made with it), but it's not really relevant and it's not really my place.)
I'd be interested!
It takes a very special kind of arrogance to expect the person doing all this work to figure out the specifics of each person's list because one person just can't be bothered to stick to it.
If I'd done that I'd be ashamed. I am glad I did not.
This is in part why I was ineligible by design last year, and why I was delayed and on eggshells this year. Negativity. It's not cool. I highlighted. I provided an out. I shared as is to participate in the community aspect with my year in gaming.
I provided clarity to the follow up as the summarization was incorrect. I explained that I do this because of how my mind is wired. I'm imperfect.
There was no malice. Opinions can vary. We can disagree.
An honest to goodness happy new year to everyone.
RnR, I don't think you realize how dry your reply was. It can easily be construed as sarcasm or negative, especially the bit. About. Mass Effect. Singular.
I think that's why you got the response you did.
RnR, I don't think you realize how dry your reply was. It can easily be construed as sarcasm or negative, especially the bit. About. Mass Effect. Singular.
I think that's why you got the response you did.
This is my reading of it. I didn't see him being an ass, but instead just having a very dry way of writing. I think his response was misconstrued when he was agreeing that his list was invalidated.
Anyway, I look forward to arguing with anyone that didn't nominated Disco Elysium as all ten slots in their list. Knives out.
Anyway, I look forward to arguing with anyone that didn't nominated Disco Elysium as all ten slots in their list. Knives out.
I would have preferred if there was more guidance through the first part. There were just too many quests for me to keep track of and I often just got confused what to do next.
At times it felt like there was nothing to do but wait a day until I found something I had overseen but most of the quests didn’t really tie into the main quest. Still, I felt like most of the time I was just running around hunting for things I missed the first time around.
Then there were two or three situations were I didn’t find an alternative to advance and had to do things I didn’t wan’t my character to do.
One included reloading until I could pass a check on an attribute I had minimized in character creation.
Another doing dirty work that went far beyond what I presumed my companion would tolerate.
I’d rate the game 8/10. For me it didn’t deliver the groundbreaking RPG experience I was expecting after reading some of the reviews. There’s still a lot I loved about the game but 15-20 hours in it just started to feel like too much work getting to the next bit I would enjoy, so I went on to play something else.
I'm fully aware this has all "finished" and I'm late to the party, but I've been a little absent from the forums lately and really wanted to do a quick writeup of the cool games I played this year.
10)Mega Man X (SNES)
I played this right at the start of the year, so my memory is a bit fuzzy but I distinctly remember being mad at myself for not playing it earlier! It's bright, it's colorful, it's got loads of stupidly fun bosses! It's a near-perfect game, perhaps held back a little by its age. I'm not sure I would have loved it as much without being able to use save-states. Some bosses can take quite a few attempts to learn, so being able to place an artificial checkpoint right before them was a godsend. It's not so much the difficulty that I dislike (quite the opposite), but it made me realize how much nicer it is when you play a modern game without lives and game overs. Having to re-do large sections of game is rarely fun.
9)Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers (PC)
Only low on my list due to me being fairly early into the expansion. However, I've experienced a lot of the changes that came with the update in earlier areas of the game. While my enjoyment partly comes from the fantastic group of friends I've made playing, FFXIV continues to evolve and improve upon itself every time I re-subscribe. The complexity of the classes, including crafting and gathering (which both have full skill bars with 20+ different abilities) means there's so much to learn, and it's so incredibly rewarding to feel like you've mastered something.
While my major criticism is that it takes far too long to get through old content, this isn't too bad considering the story and creative dungeon/boss designs you get to experience along the way. While I often found myself skimming large chunks of the story to progress, Shadowbringers has really tightened everything up. It's a bit of a fresh start, with a far, far farrr more interesting plot, one that I'm finally soaking up and not rushing through. The music is incredible, and so is the art design. There's so much to love about this expansion, but you're going to need to put hundreds of hours into the game before you get there, and that's a shame.
8)Star Wars Pinball (Switch)
If you know me, you know I love Zen Studio's Pinball FX. Following the overlords of Disney granting Zen their gracious and warm permission to finally sell their property on Switch, Zen decided to create a single package with all 20 tables available with one purchase (their usual model is a F2P client in which you pay $15 for a pack of 2-3 tables). Ignoring the fact that the cartridge is already absurdly good value, they went ahead and added a slew of new meta-mechanics on top. There's a nifty light-side vs dark-side slider that tracks the scores of players globally, a tonne of missions that require careful use of various powerups, and some fun unlockables.
These tables were already loads of fun on the PC, but having everything present on one cartridge, portable, and with the option to use the Flip Grip, Star Wars Pinball became one of my most played games on the Switch this year.
7)Super Mario Maker 2 (Switch)
I had zero interest in this at launch. I'd played Mario Maker 1 a lot, but was so fed up with the dumpster fire of bland and messy levels the game would throw at you that I didn't want to go back. After playing briefly with a friend, however, I bought myself a copy the very same week.
All it really took was some better curation. The massively larger player-base on the Switch certainly helps too. Mario Maker is endlessly playable, and I still load it up from time to time to scroll through the weekly popular levels. It's also such a joy watching other players go through your levels and comment on what they liked (or didn't like).
I also love the new pack of free DLC they released last month. I wish it came a bit earlier before a lot of interest in the game died down, but the additions provide a lot of new ways to play and create!
6)Pocket Card Jockey (3DS)
I don't care for horses, and I have very little interest in solitaire. I don't know why I love this game as much as I do!
The horse raising, strategy, and cute graphics come together to create a game far better than the sum of its parts. There are a lot of systems that come together to make this a strategic and addictive game, which doesn't solely rely on your ability to play solitaire. There's some clever risk and reward, some forward planning, and a nice little bit of luck involved. It's a beautifully quirky game that I'd recommend to literally anybody who owns a 3DS.
5)Resident Evil 2 Remake (PC)
Having played the original Resident Evil in 2018, I didn't think much could top it. A modern game, modernizing the classic RE2 style? Pshh, no thank you!
Well, RE2R was absolute perfection and I adored every second of it. Interestingly, I felt it streamlined a lot of the tedious stuff in the original while upping the difficulty and reducing the punishment for failure. Ammo management was still incredibly important, but death didn't carry as much weight. Zombies/bosses were more threatening, but you were given plenty of opportunities to learn without too much of a time loss (see my comments on Mega Man X).
And the graphics! *chef kiss* perfect! I can't wait for RE3! This time, I likely won't have played the original to compare it with.
4)Pokemon Sword/Shield (Switch)
I don't think I've ever had more fun playing a Pokemon game. It's perfectly streamlined with no-nonsense, which makes it easy to go about your own personal goals. The quality of life additions to competitive play are very much appreciated and have allowed me to enjoy going deep into the multiplayer side of the game.
While I thought the story was complete rubbish and the single-player story was too easy to hold my attention, I found a lot of fun elsewhere. I love breeding and trading for the perfect team, hunting shinies, and doing a little bit of farming each day in the wild areas. This game gives me a reason to come back each day, and I always feel like I've made progress towards one of many self-set goals.
No, it's not the BOTW of the Pokemon series, but it doesn't need to be. It's a perfectly solid entry into a long-running series which improves upon itself in many ways.
I also love almost every single one of the new Pokemon. Galarian Weezing and Dragapult stand out as two of my favourites!
3)Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (PC)
Goddamn, if From Software weren't already my favourite in this industry they damn well are now.
I feel like a bit of a fraud placing this so highly as I'm not very far into it. I had to put it down due to my workload this year finishing my thesis. I escaped into games a lot this year when my stress was too high, but this game is hard. And stressful. I needed a break. But as a 'seasoned Soulsborne veteran', I was shocked to find myself struggling so much with this! It truly feels like the first time I tried Dark Souls 1. The Dark Souls sequels and Bloodborne could all be approached with a similar mindset, but this has completely shaken me up and I'm so excited by that!
What I think is most special, however, is the razor-sharp focus From Software have with Sekiro. Their prior Soulsborne games were all RPGs with diverse builds which meant they had to account for every player's approach to the game. By giving you a single character with a restricted moveset, they've been able to craft such a different experience. It's tighter, more guided, and ruthlessly difficult. It's Soulsborne without the jank (love it or hate it) and I couldn't have asked for anything better (okay, I still want an Armored Core Souls game but I'm probably asking too much here)
2)Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey (3DS)
Cheating a little bit and pasting what I said in the JRPG thread 
It's such a peculiar game. I'm not sure I could easily recommend it, but I loved every moment of it. It's a game you need to want to like, you need to know what it is and be ready for it. It's brutally difficult at times, demanding you are perfectly equipped with a synergistic team of demon allies. But the difficulty brought out the brilliance of the demon collecting/fusing systems in a way Persona 3-5 could never achieve. By demanding high-level play, you are forced into fully engaging with Shin Megami Tensei's unusual battle mechanics, and I loved that.The dungeons were sadistic. Straight up hellish. Yet something about the theme and the game's razor-sharp focus made these tolerable. Had the dungeons been more varied and included some easier maps, I'd have become frustrated, but something about how pure of an experience this was had me enthralled. I knew it'd be hard from the start, I expected a challenge and I got it. Teleport mazes, poison tiles, trap doors...Normally I'd have become frustrated, but it became so over-the-top that I just laughed and decided to grit my teeth and push on. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't absolutely worn out by the end, but it never reached a point where I hated it. It felt like a real struggle, but a rewarding one.
The story was just excellent! I loved how strange it all was, and this was reflected many times in the crew's dialogue. This is a weird, scary place and you really feel it! There were plenty of moral choices that left me feeling really uneasy -- do I support the angels, despite them wanting to place mankind into blissful obedience, or do I support the demons, forging a free and wild world knowing many will die? And the moments between were filled with so much crazy sh*t that I couldn't stop playing.
I'm not sure why I became so obsessed with this while SMTIV never hooked me, but I feel like I finally understand why mainline SMT games are so highly regarded (despite this being a sort of off-shoot of the mainline) and I can't wait to dive further in.
1) Total War: Warhammer 2 (PC)
I've always wanted to get deep into a 4X game but my interest often wanes after 10 hours or so. They are difficult to learn, require a lot of time to master, and patience isn't exactly my thing. While I had a lot of fun with Total War: Warhammer 1, a lot of it confused me and I didn't particularly enjoy any of the factions. With Warhammer 2, however, there's a slew of fun races and varied lords that piqued my interest. The greater focus on monsters, dragons, and magic is also incredibly cool. Not to mention the simple fact that Warhammer lore is absolutely fascinating! Hook. Line. Sinker.
I love this game, I'm approaching my hundredth hour with it and I still want to play it every single day. It's complex where it needs to be and streamlined elsewhere. The mix of 4x strategy peppered with real-time battles where flanking, equipment, charging, elevation, morale, foliage etc. all matter just does something to my brain and I can't stop playing.
I've learned so much in these 100 hours but still feel like a beginner with a lot to learn. Every faction feels completely unique, from the diplomatic (backstabbing) High Elves to the ravenous and plague-like Skaven. It's incredible!
A Unicycle,
Thanks for the great post. I tried to love Total War:Warhammer but bounced after several hours as the systems never fully made sense. Would you mind offering any insights into why/how understanding 2 is easier than 1?
Thanks!
Chad
A_Unicycle, thanks so much for sharing your list, even if it is past the deadline.
Right. I think I'm done with the write up. Hopefully, should go up in the week to come, and then the GOTD poll will follow.
There really wasn't much different in terms of approaching the sequel. Honestly, I think it was mostly just sheer determination since I was so infatuated with the idea of the game. Where TWW1 was kinda cool, TWW2 just hit all of my personal nerd favourites. There was also the fact that I willingly bought it at a high-ish price, I didn't just get it in a Humble Bundle like last time. I paid money, so I was gonna love it, damn it!
This video helped me understand a lot about the campaign mechanics.
Party Elite's beginner's series was great to have running on my second screen while I played
And Zerkovich's army guides were a massive help in helping me make short-term and long-term goals, as well as giving me a better idea of how to tackle each encounter.
In terms of approaching TWWH2, it just takes a lot of playing with the right mindset. I often clicked on things without really paying attention to what they were doing. As soon as I really slowed down and read everything, it's fairly straight forward compared to other 4x games. I still find the campaigns a little difficult, and have only won 2 in my hundred hours of play, but 1) I'm generally pretty awful at 4x to begin with, and 2) I always feel like I've learned something new after each run, so I consider that a big win!
The real complexity comes with the real-time battles, but there are plenty of playlists like the one I linked above explaining the intricacies of combat.
The Total War thread on GWJ has a few active players, and I'm sure we'd all be willing to offer advice if you need it. I've played a few games with Videohead, who taught me a lot! If you were ever interested, we could possibly try a co-op game over Discord to help ease you in.
Very helpful and a very generous offer. This series so appeals to me. I need to set aside a weekend and really dive in. I’ll start with those videos you linked.
Sincerely,
Chad
... and then the GOTD poll will follow. :)
Oh, wow. We get one of those? I feel like this is a milestone. I don't think I've been a member of the site for a decade, but definitely a considerably chunk of it. Wow. Seriously. Gonna have to do some serious thinking over here.
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