Top 10 of 2019

I spent nearly half this year traveling, so Switch was king. I'm starting to associate the Switch with traveling, more than a videogame machine. My PS4 is a relaxation machine, associated with a rare weekend at home with a hot cup of coffee.

This is a list of not just games that came out in 2019, but games I played in 2019. (AKA There may be some games that came out in 2018)

There's also a glaring game missing in Pokemon Shield, which was my second most played game this year under Assassin's Creed. Pokemon Shield did not make the cut. The collecting aspect is still fun, but I found too many mechanics annoying. (dialog prompts taking too long, annoying AI using the wrong attacks when teamed up with you and healing potions prolonging fights they will not win)

This is probably a damning testament to how I choose to spend my time.

But anyway... onto the games!




10. NieR: Automata

What does it mean to be a human and what is good and what is evil?

I had a brief GameFly subscription during the PS3 era and one of the first games they sent me was the original NieR. I expected to play it for a couple hours and send it back. Instead I found this very unique RPG adventure. It was a world filled with the oddball NPCs you would expect from a Zelda game. Sure the combat felt a little squishy, but the level design and story propelled me forward.

Automata has just as much quirk and oddball characters. Really, my largest complaint against it is the length and the combat.

The game feels like it drags a little, especially in the desert areas. You fight dozens of lower level monsters that seem more of a speed bump to pad things out. The game has you transverse a un-necessary and largely empty swaths of lands to get from one mission to another.

The combat is a bit floatier than I would expect from a combo combat heavy game. I feel like I'm fighting in a pool of water.

But overall, the game is incredibly charming. I hope one day to finish it because I've heard the ending can be a bit of a self reflecting moment. I refuse to delete it off my hard drive because I know I want to see it through.

9. Division 2

Ubisoft has been winning my loyalty with their continued support of games.

It's hard not to compare Division 2 to Destiny 2. Even though it's third vs first person, they both were the military co-op games as a service. Division 2 launched with better missions and more content I was interested in than Destiny 2 did. Unlike Destiny 2, it also received several free updates.

There's nothing more exciting than squading up with a couple friends and running a particularly challenging mission. There's so many stories of two guys getting downed, while a third runs circles from the flamethrowing and rocket launching boss.

Overall I liked the Division 2 better than the first one, but it didn't have the longevity that that first one had. I fell off pretty hard before some o the DLC dropped.

8. Apex Legends

I wish I was better at Apex Legends. I had a blast every match I played, but I wasn't seeing results and ultimately felt like I was holding back my team.

Unlike PUBG, the spiritual predecessor to all battle royale games, the rounds are quick. Even if you make it into the final dozen or so, you spent maybe 15 minutes in match. (PUBG could have some heartbreaking 20 minute rounds where someone happen to get the drop on you.) It's a "one more round" games.

If I had more free time to get better at Apex Legends, I think it would've climbed higher on my list.

7. Heave Ho

This is my go-to party game currently. The object of the game is to take your creature that is a head and two arms, and controlling each hand, navigate an obstacle course.

When newbies play for the first time, it always starts as chaos. How can I drop my friend to their death? How can I fart them out of the finish line before the "clear" flag comes up.

But something always happens around the third round that is honestly this beautiful but rare gaming moment, four people, all on the same couch, start working as a team.

These long chains of monsters form, someone takes command and starts telling who to let go of which hand when. You cartwheel around a giant square and then have to build momentum to catapult across a particularly long gap.

6. Hitman 2

Hitman was awesome, but the maps caused all sorts of issues for me. I saw the fun to be had, but I never progressed very far.

Hitman 2 has far superior maps. I know it didn't set the world ablaze has much as the first Hitman (I think largely because it wasn't new anymore) but I think the scenarios and maps are much better.

This was also one of the best controller pass games of the year. Some of my favorite times was sitting on the couch, drinking beer, passing the controller back and forth at every fail.

5. Outer Worlds

I think Outer Worlds was praised immediately, but the backlash came quickly and harshly. I don't think it deserves some of the criticism people ended up giving it.

Out Worlds fed my Mass Effect, Fallout, and Borderland needs in a way all three of those franchises failed to do on the last outing.

Outer Worlds starts off incredibly quirky. The writing top notch. It hammers it's anti-corporation message a little too hard at times, but it does give you choices, including joining those corporations, that can change the adventure significantly.

I wish the combat was a bit more fun, but the NPC interactions make Outer Worlds shine.

I love the art direction in the game as well. They gave a sort of nod to George Lucas' tendency to have entire planets inhabited by a single type of wilderness and climate, but because it doesn't exist on one large land mass like Fallout, they feel varied.

4. Dragon Quest Builders 2

DQB2 charmed the crap out of me. The characters are lovable, the stakes relatively low, and the story surprisingly engaging for a game of this type.

I'd typically fulfill 3-4 mission requests, get recipes for new things to build, and then spend a few hours playing Legos.

They took a lot of the complains from the first game to heart. No longer do you lose recipes and buildings moving from area to area. You also aren't blocked from creating anything. You can stumble upon recipes for rooms or if like me, look up those recipes.

3. Call of Duty Modern Warfare

Call of Duty used to be my yearly "sports" franchise. It was around Black Ops that I started getting tired of the immediately hacked multiplayer and campaigns that strung together famous movie scenes.

I've only had the newest Call of Duty for a few weeks, but already it's gripped me like a COD hasn't since Modern Warfare 2.

I played multiplayer for an hour this morning. Went to the gym, ran some errands, but the entire time I was thinking about new strategies, thinking about adjusting my load outs.

The campaign also seems realistic in that way that 24 is. They aren't setting off nukes, just to set off nukes. The ridiculous campaign is based enough in reality where you don't get taken out of it because some Bond Villain has a laser pointed at a city.

It almost feels like a toned down Metal Gear plot. It's real people, proxy wars, and an immanent threat to world peace.

2. Assassin's Creed Odyssey

AC Odyssey blends the scale of previous AC games with Greek Mythology. The setup is personal journey of trying to find out who you are, situated at the height of the Spartans and Athenians warring.

I currently have 110 hours in Assassin's Creed Odyssey. An entire new system opened up in the game about 30 hours in. I still haven't visited every island available.

And somehow I'm still enjoying it. I still have a dozen or so missions open, an entire chapter of DLC, and ten or so trophies, and I plan on doing it all. Only Bethesda and Persona games typically hold my attention that long.

This came out of nowhere. I've not wanted to touch an Assassin's Creed since Blackflag. My wife bought this game for me on a semi-whim last Christmas and ultimately, this game is the reason I didn't play more games this year.

1. Resident Evil 2

It's still a yearly tradition to play Resident Evil 2. Sometimes I grab my disk and throw it into my PS3. Sometimes I charge the Vita up. But every year, I play through the original RE2 again.

I turned on the original soundtrack and moments like opening the door to the main hall for the first time felt like a warm blanket.

The Resident Evil remake grabbed me in the same way Resident Evil 2 did in 1998. I played with a goofy smile on my face, running through the police station again. It all felt familiar, yet so different.