This year I can only count to 8. Not for a lack of great games, but because one game took so much of my time that I didn't have room to play anything else. So, sorry Astral Chain, but you came out in Fire Emblem season. No time to play.
With that, I present McNum's ResetEra Game of the Year List 2019:
- Fire Emblem: Three Houses - Quite possibly the best Fire Emblem yet. It certainly is the most Fire Emblem clocking in at three and a half times the usual content for a Fire Emblem game thanks to being able to choose each of the Three Houses for a full playthrough, as well as one having a branching choice halfway through.
Every single character has something to like about them, and most have more than the one-note stereotypical traits that earlier Fire Emblem characters suffered from. And even if they do, they find a way to twist it, or find some horrible angle on it, like how Bernadetta's reclusiveness is a result of having an abusive father, or Lysithea's restlessness comes from a traumatic experience as a child that drastically reduced her lifespan.
The school setting is used surprisingly well, and you can feel the mood of the school change over time, especially when big events happen. Some months are energetic like the one featuring the school ball and dance contest, while others are tense and foreboding, such as the one where a well-liked student has gone missing. And then the war happens, and suddenly we're Game of Thrones instead of Harry Potter. Remember all those likable characters? Now some of them are enemies, and you will fight and kill them, regretting your actions all the way.
While the graphics aren't that great, and the mouth animation has an annoying error that you can't un-see when you notice it, the music is surprisingly varied yet still good. (Seriously, there's a dubstep track and it makes sense in context!) The voice acting is also pretty great, I would highlight Seteth as possibly the best of the lot, but there are many great performances here.
From its release July until Pokémon in November, I played nothing but Fire Emblem. Completed all the paths, too. And yet I still want to have a couple more runs when the final DLC arrives. And that is about the highest endorsement I can give.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses is just that good!
- Pokemon Sword/Shield - Votebot gets the wrong spelling without the é. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. For the second year running, a Pokémon game takes second for me. At this point, you know what a Pokémon game is about, and the tried and true formula, with the few required tweaks just works.
I do like the Dynamax feature. It's mostly fluff for the singleplayer campaign, but having the Gym Battles turn into kaiju fights as the entire stadium cheers you on is just awesome. Same with the Max Raid fights where you can team up and fight giant Pokémon. Which brings me to the other new feature, the Wild Area. It's neat. A big area with Pokémon walking around to be fought and caught, as well as where you find the Max Raids. I kind of want a game that's mostly Wild Area now, and I really hope it returns in the next game.
The music is good, as it usually is for Pokémon, but it is kind of odd to see cutscenes where characters stand around, their mouths are moving, but there's no voice acting. Feels like they should go all out and add that next time, it did wonders for Fire Emblem to go full voice.
Lastly, the missing Pokémon need to be mentioned, I never had trouble setting a team, but I can understand if people are annoyed their favorites are missing.
- Super Mario Maker 2 - It's more Mario Maker in all senses of the word. It's still a very accessible Mario stage creator, though the loss of the Wii U Gamepad for drawing terrain on is felt as none of the new options really can match the intuitiveness of just drawing on the screen.
The new 3D World in 2D style is fun to build in, and several of the new options, including slopes make entirely new stage concepts possible, and overall Super Mario Maker 2 is just a better Super Mario Maker.
I mentioned with the original that making good stages is hard, and that is still true. But this time Nintendo was kind enough to include a set of tutorials, not just for how to build stages, but also as a crash course in level design. But since this is optional, I do worry that those who need it the most simply won't read it.
- Cadence of Hyrule - Or to use the official name: "Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer Featuring The Legend of Zelda" Zelda music is catchy. Crypt of the NecroDancer is a fun take on the dungeon crawler and rhythm genres. Combined they become something as special as it is unlikely. Play as Link, Zelda (!), Cadence, and other unlockable characters as your dance your way through a procedurally generated Hyrule, to defeat Octavio who has put Hyrule under his spell.
Honestly, this game is just fun. It's a slightly friendlier take on the roguelike genre, as dying does not have to be permanent here, and that it's almost a full randomly generated 2D Zelda each time you start is kind of impressive. The music is, of course, great, and I have to highlight the amazing boss names and ideas this game has, a favorite being the combination of the three headed dragon named Gleeok and a Glockenspiel, becoming the fearsome Gleeokenspeil. How do you even get that idea?
- Nintendo Labo Toy-Con 04: VR Kit - In the box, you get about 15 sheets of cardboard, a pair of lenses, and a game card with building instructions and some VR games. I am not sure what I expected of this, but I had fun with it. Building the surprisingly sturdy cardboard creations was good fun, and using the Switch as a VR screen works well enough. Not to the level of a dedicated headset, of course, but well enough that it makes its point.
It is interesting to have a physical real world object to hold when in VR mode. Taking underwater photos is neat when you're holding a camera, and the shooting minigame with the Blaster is just weird. Special note that the Blaster is built in a way so it has a kick whenever you pull the trigger, giving you a bit of recoil to contend with.
As a cheaper intro to VR, the VR Kit does its job. I would be remiss to forget to mention that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey are compatible with the VR Kit. I kind of wish Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was, too.
- Wargroove - Fantasy Advance Wars with Hero units. It is very much like Advance Wars, with the economy and disposable units, but you also have a Commander with a special Groove ability that can change the tide of battle, as you fight a turn based strategy battle. Wargroove is overall a solid game, but what sets it apart is the full featured map and campaign editor that comes with it. Make your own map or entire campaign and share it with the world, cross platform, even.
- Sega AGES OutRun - If you can overlook the lack of an actual Ferrari, this is easily the best version of OutRun yet. All of the gameplay features of the 3DS version return, and like it, it runs at a smooth 60FPS despite the arcade original only being 30. If you want to try the classic OutRun and have a Switch, get this one.
- Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition - A latecomer for me, as I got it on a Steam Sale. While I haven't completed it, so far the game is fun, Yuri is an interesting protagonist for how much of a jerk he can be, and overall, it just plays well, like a good Tales of game does. Putting it last as I just haven't played enough to compare it to the rest, but it definitely belongs here somewhere.
And that's about it. Maybe Tales of Vesperia will jump up a few after I beat it, or maybe a new game will get added to the list in an edit, but nothing will threaten Fire Emblem and I wanted to get this done while I remembered it.
And yes. That is the full name of Cadence of Hyrule.
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