ResetEra Games of the Year 2019 - Voting Thread (READ THE OP) [Ends Jan 26th 8:59am EST]

[Flame Lord]

1. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III - Probably my favorite Cold Steel game thus far; shrunk the cast a bit which lead to each character getting more focus and being more relevant to the plot, enjoyed seeing returning characters from previous games and the continuing plot points from those games, and lastly really enjoyed the new additions to combat and the number of party members you got to control occasionally.​
2. Devil May Cry 5 - Great return to form, looked great , played great.

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[wilmbreak]

1. Fire Emblem: Three Houses - I can't stop playing this game. Nintendo succeeded in moving the franchise to console.
2. Tetris 99 - Competitive Tetris sign me up.
3. Wargroove - Strategy game that scratches the advance wars itch
4. Astral Chain - The music in this game alone makes it worthy
5. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening - recreated one of my childhood favorites.
6. Baba is You - A real brain buster but I love that sort of thing
7. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night - Give me more Castlevania
8. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order - The one PS4 game that actually got me to stick around and complete.
9. Daemon X Machina - Flying mechs do I need to say more
10. Dragon Quest Builders 2 - Minecraft with a fleshed out story. love it

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[Young Liar]

1. Outer Wilds - An awe-inspiring experience of scientific curiosity and discovery that is elevated by its philosophical criticality and grounded by its understanding of personal and collective relationships. I am moved by this game in so many ways.
2. Sayonara Wild Hearts - This game is everything I love: heartbroken girls fighting biker gangs in balletic dance-offs set to neon city synth pop.
3. Devotion - The only 2019 game to make me legit cry at the end at how immensely sad it is.
   
   I like Detention and think that game tells a more nuanced story, but ugh Devotion ripped my heart out. Stories about family and faith told well hit such a raw nerve for me.
   
   And if we're just talking atmosphere, this game is transportative in its 80s Taiwanese apartment setting and showbiz backdrop dripping with traditional gender expectations. It's not particularly innovative in the supernatural horror game genre with its mechanics (it takes a lot from PT and Detention), but they're effective in establishing a specific sense of place and time, which the game plays with masterfully. the things you do in the game really hammer home how familial connections are forged by small but significant shows of affection tied to mundane objects we fill with sentiment and how religious fervor gets in the way of all that.
4. Eliza - Eliza reveals raw humanity and all its multitudinous dimensions with piercing relatability and the best voice acting performances of the year.
5. A Short Hike - Life is hard. Take some time to relax. Collect some seashells. Go fishing. Stretch your wings and let the wind take you. Play A Short Hike.
6. Disco Elysium - Proof that we can have 25+ hour RPGs that are riveting from start to finish without any combat and that video game writing could be so much sharper, so much funnier, so much more unpredictable, so much more illustrative, so much more poetic and prosaic, so much more challenging, so much more dense, and so much weirder.
7. Apex Legends - The most adrenaline-pumping experience I've had all of 2019.
8. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - From Software ain't out of tricks just yet with this focused, frenetic take on Souls-like combat that feels like a brand new experience. Who knew virtualizing the clashing of katanas would feel so goddamn cool?
9. Resident Evil 2 - It's a revelation that Capcom managed to modernize this classic survival horror title while maintaining the essence of the original.
10. Control - I have never played a Remedy game prior to Control. I am now looking forward to whatever this studio releases in the future thanks to the world-building, atmosphere, aesthetic, and power fantasy that this game provided.

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[Napalm_Frank]

1. Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled - Remake that went above and beyond. Not only was the game an excellent remaster of the original title it added so much more on top of it. The post launch support has been superb and I keep returning to it months after launch. Best kart racer ever made if you ask me.
2. Resident Evil 2 - Despite a bit underwhelming adaptation of the A-B scenario of the original this was another excellent remake this year. Solidified another golden age for the series that began with 7.
3. Shovel Knight: King of Cards - Shovel Knight at it's best. Incredible effort for a free update.
4. Baba is You - Play this if you want to feel dumb as a boot.
5. Civilization 6: Gathering Storm - No time to write anything here, minute left to reply before deadline!

Usually I have always filled a full list but not feeling it this year. There are a bunch of games I didn't put enough time in to feel like voting and I'm gonna skip the 1-1 ports like WoW Classic this year. Then there are games like KH3 that despite being fine I don't feel like awarding points to due to glaring problems and lingering dissapointment. Besides have had low energy on games this year, hopefully 2020 lights the fire. Overall 2019 was fine but overall unexciting year with a few really bright highlights.


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[KernelC]

best of luck to all the games!

 

[Nardy_19]

Posting without a comment may ban you !!!!!???

 

[Richter1887]

1. Judgment - This was by far the most satisfying game I played this year. Great story and characters, great music, great combat. Yagami's story was perfect from start to finish. Greatly awaiting a sequel if it ever comes (hopefully). The game does have issues like some of the tailing missions and minor issues here and there but I was able to ignore them. The story was also closed of perfectly and while I would love to see more of Yagami, I am fine with some other character taking the MC role.
2. Death Stranding - This game was fun from start to finish (aside from a story segment). It made walking and running actually fun. So fun infact that I took longer routes to do deliveries. I also gotta mention the music which ties to the walking part of the game, it had perfect music happening at the perfect moments. As expected, the gunplay wasn't the focus but what is there was really fun. The story was great and aside from some characters and some of that dumb Kojima writing in some moments, it was really well done. Sam, Cliff, John, Lou and Dead Man were really great.
3. Days Gone - Always bet on Bend to create something fun and satisfying. I was hooked right from the start cause of the great atmosphere and the intimidating world. The more I played the better the game got and the sense of becoming stronger was well done. Gameplay wise, it shares a lot of stuff with the modern games but the game still feels unique due to how it mixes them. The open world was also another thing I loved. Almost all the building could be entered and explored which created some really cool moments like when I was looting a house for suplies only to then hear a horde walking by and having to sneak by them to safety. Something straight out of a scripted movie or even Last of Us happened due to the dynamic world and AI. Can't wait for the next game!
4. Resident Evil 2 - Really good game but I feel it was a bad remake. A lot of elements from the original were gone and they were missed. Having the A/B system gone and Claire/Leon doing the same thing as the other was disapointing.
   
   That said, the game on it's own was a really good game and true to the classic RE formula. They nailed it if you consider it as a different game instead of a remake. It had really good atmosphere and actually made zombies scary again. I also love what they did to Mr X and the Lickers. The new Claire and Leon were another draw.
5. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night - Iga returned into making more Igavania's and gave us a really good game. I loved the artstyle and music.
6. Ace Combat 7 - It is crazy to think that this game was made in one year. It is really well made and had really good music and a fun story.
7. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - A really great return to the game style that From made before Demon's Souls. The game was great and well designed.

Edit: I missed it. Damn it.

 

[OneAndOnly]

Polls are closed. Stay turned for when we post the results.