ResetEra Games of the Year Awards 2019

[Unknownlight]

I'm surprised (and pleased!) that not only was my vote for Sonic Robo Blast 2 counted for some reason, but that one of the organizers actually looked up and correctly labeled its platform and developers.

Mostly, I'm happy that I can add it to my Game of the Decade list without accidentally disqualifying my vote. I'll be the only one to vote on it, but it still matters!

 

[Qudi]

Sad to see Daysgone almost not mentioned at all. But considering the shitshow in the threads back then on this forum not surprising. Its my #1.

 

[Deleted member 19924]

Nice win for RE2, that game is pretty good.

 

[ghibli99]

Great results! Very strong year, even though I remember there being a lot of talk about the relative 'weakness' of this year... or maybe I'm not remembering things right. Maybe it was just in relation to specific platform(s). Anyway, love it! Still lots of winners I need to play... including the #1. :)

 

[giancarlo123x]

Talent won

 

[The Unsent]

Don't be so serious

Click to shrink...

I find it really funny people treat it like gerry mandering in an election.

 

[Mizeris Lutz Ether Lanai]

I checked AI: The Somnium Files and it has 156 points but it is labled as Action/Adventure for some reason when it should be labeled as Adventure. It is just as much an Adventure game as Life is Strange 2. It would be number 1 in that category if it received it's proper genre label.

Click to shrink...

I hope this gets changed. I certainly gave it a vote.

 

[AuthenticM]

oh god, I just realized that Mass Effect 2 will be eligible for the Best game of the decade poll. That's definitely going to be a front-runner.

 

[goodretina]

Great to see Life is Strange 2 get the win :)

Click to shrink...

It shouldn't have, though. It's the same genre as AI: The Somnium Files, which was somehow put in a category that doesn't make sense.

 

[Big G]

The genre choices are very weird as usual. In what way is Outer Wilds and action adventure game and not a puzzle game, there is zero combat. All you do is explore and solve puzzles, that's the game.

Click to shrink...

I definitely would have placed it under just "Adventure" instead of "Action Adventure", for sure. That game is all about exploring and solving mysteries.

 

[Tagyhag]

I'm surprised Blood & Truth beat Beat Saber, especially with how amazing the latter becomes with custom songs, mods, and 360 songs.

 

[Young Liar]

hey that's me gassing up the best game of 2019

stray observations:

• sekiro was robbed
• that's a fine top 10
• i never played the original re2 but i still liked it a ton to put it in my top 10, so nostalgia was not at all a factor for me
• i played over a 100 hours of death stranding, i really like some parts of it, but i also think everything about its narrative sucks ass, so it got bumped from my top 10
• happy for how high disco elysium and outer wilds placed considering they both basically got no mainstream media marketing prior to their release and just relied on stellar reviews and word-of-mouth. also, disco elysium was a pc exclusive and outer wilds was only available on pc for most of the year and exclusive to the epic games store!
• i need to get back to baba is you, but young liar is foolish
• apex legends just barely missing out on the top 20 is a tad disappointing, but hey, that's not too bad for a multiplayer-only shooter that isn't from nintendo
• i really should play fire emblem: three houses, jedi fallen order, link's awakening, slay the spire, and judgment
• sayonara wiild hearts winning something even if i played that on ps4 is something. y'all should play it! #29 on the list ain't high enough tbh!
• a short hike making the top 50 is good
• devotion making the top 100 is also good, especially for a game that you can't legally acquire anymore!
• i didn't vote for it, but i had it in mind all the time as one of the most unique experiences i've had in gaming, so good on kind words also making the top 100
• shoutouts to the 9 other people who voted for eliza!

my top 10 and their era rankings

1. Outer Wilds - 9
2. Sayonara Wild Hearts - 29
3. Devotion - 77
4. Eliza - 112
5. A Short Hike - 47
6. Disco Elysium - 7
7. Apex Legends - 21
8. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - 2
9. Resident Evil 2 - 1
10. Control - 5

i just squeaked in under the deadline with my top 10 so i never got around to listing some honorable mentions. here's my 11-20:
11. A Plague Tale: Innocence - 27
12. Kind Words (lo fi chill beats to write to) - 94
13. Death Stranding - 4
14. Observation - 93
15. The Outer Worlds - 12
16. Neo Cab - 170
17. Mutazione - 209
18. Ape Out - 65
19. 198X - 453
20. Blasphemous - 70

In the coming weeks we will be working with the Game of the Year team to open voting for the Game of the Decade. Any game published in the last 10 years will be eligible and can be voted for. This means you should go back and replay all of your favorite games before voting opens so you can pick which you liked the best.

More information on the Game of the Decade vote will be forthcoming.

Click to shrink...

i already have a top 100 list so...

i do wonder if i can finish some big titles i haven't played that are likely to rank high before voting closes (read: the witcher 3)

preliminary top 10 predix

10 - Skyrim
9 - Bloodborne
8 - ME2
7 - RDR
6 - SMG 2
5 - GoW (2018)
4 - TLOU
3 - Dark Souls
2 - Witcher 3
1 - BOTW

the biggest question for me though is

is kentucky route zero eligible???

 

[SlickVic]

Wow, really cool to see RE2 win. One of those games that took me completely by surprise. Never been the biggest RE fan and wasn't sure if I was going to play it before release. Then checked it out after all the positive buzz and it turned to be one of my favorite games of the year.

I thought I played through a good amount of the 2019 game releases, but this list makes me realize I still missed quite a bit. Looking forward to catching up on some of them down the road.

 

[Damn Silly]

Just looking through where my picks placed

1. A Plague Tale - #27
2. Life Is Strange 2 - #41
3. Resident Evil 2 - #1
4. Judgment - #17
5. Cadence of Hyrule - #42
6. Pokemon Sword/Shield - #18
7. Tetris 99 - #26
8. Devil May Cry 5 - #6
9. Final Fantasy XII - The Zodiac Age - #120

It does tickle me slightly that six of my choices can be split into three pairs that are right beside each other in the rankings.

 

[Memory Pak]

Wow these were posted so fast! I like the trophy too. Thanks B-Dubs and all site staff for running Era smoothly, this remains a nice place despite our best efforts to fill it with hyperbolic outrage. ;)

A cursory glance at the data makes me think one game is listed twice: ESP Ra. De Psi (at #199) and ESP Ra. De. Psy (#449). Doesn't dramatically alter the results though. There's also one additional honourable mention for Monster Hunter World: Iceborne listed at #458. The spelling there is MHW: Iceborn, which likely explains why they weren't parsed into the same cell.

Question:
Is there a minimum threshold for categories? You could make one for Platformers to get those out of the Action category. Right now you've got Super Mario Maker 2, Yooka-Laylee 2, and Shovel Knight 4 all taking spots there. There's enough ones in the top 150 overall to approach a top 10 with I guess... (Yoshi's Crafted World, Celeste Farewell, and arguably Guacamelee 2, Gris , Ori & The Blind Forest).
I'm not really pushing for a Platformer category here, but just wondering since just 4 Fighting games round out that section, and both the Sports and Racing categories don't seem to mind having entries with few votes chart. I suppose there's endless categories you could make this way, so I understand a line had to be drawn somewhere.

 

[Schopenhauerian]

Just because I enjoy messing with data in this way, and I remember enjoying previous years being broken down like this, if you go by average points per ballot, for games with more than 5 votes, the top twenty is this:

1) final fantasy 14 shadowbringers 3.298507463
2) disco elysium 3.057471264
3) death stranding 2.857142857
4) fire emblem three houses 2.825072886
5) sekiro shadows die twice 2.766509434
6) resident evil 2 2.730097087
7) anno 1800 2.727272727
8) the legend of heroes trails of cold steel iii 2.7
9) outer wilds 2.68902439
10) divinity original sin 2 definitive edition 2.615384615
11) red dead redemption 2 2.526315789
12) return of the obra dinn 2.5
13) control 2.458923513
14) pathologic 2 2.4
15) monster hunter world iceborne 2.381578947
16) dragon quest 11 definitive edition 2.379310345
17) supraland 2.375
18) trials rising 2.333333333
18) f1 2019 2.333333333
20) dirt rally 20 2.3125

And yeah, Shadowbringers is pretty out there in front of everything else by this metric. Love to see Anno 1800 in the mix there as well. Need to play more of that.

Shoutouts to the following games that were someone's number 1 and appeared on no other list: Sonic Robo Blast , Eagle Island, The Legend of Heroes Trails of Cold Steel II, Planetarian: The Reverie of a Little Planet, Forza Horizon 4: Lego Speed Champions, Imperator Rome, Vestaria Saga I: War of the Scions, ESP Ra.De. Psi, Dota 2 Autochess, Mario Kart Tour, Grim Dawn: Forgotten Gods.

Click to shrink...

Nice, thanks for this list.

So for example, the Top 3 on this list seem to have 'underperformed' (DS to a lesser extent than the other two) on the main list: either because (1) relatively few people actually played them, or because (2) they were 'divisive'/'polarizing' games (in which case, lots of folks who played them would have consciously left them off their Top 10 altogether), or some combination of those two factors.

I guess the available data doesn't actually tell us the extent to which either/both of these factors were involved (in any given case of 'underperformance'), since folks weren't asked/required to give a full list of all the games they actually played/completed (aside from their Top 10), but perhaps I'm missing something.

 

[Saint-14]

Maybe it was just a very divisive game. The kind of thing where you either love it or hate it.

Click to shrink...

Can you answer if XIV votes for Shadowbringers were counted?

 

[Regiruler]

Man not a lot of people played Devil Engine.

I'm not going to rag because I forgot to write for GOTY. I prioritized soundtrack of the year.

Astral Chain does have a much better soundtrack and better bosses, but DMC5 plays so much better that the ordering is correct.

 

[KraytarJ]

My list in relation to ERA's

1. Fire Emblem: Three Houses (3)
2. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (14)
3. Outer Wilds (9)
4. Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair (43)
5. Jenny LeClue (180) (shoutout to the other person who voted for this)
6. The Outer Worlds (12)
7. Cadence of Hyrule (42)
8. Indivisible (114)
9. Pokémon Sword (18)
10. Astral Chain (11)

So as expected I played pretty much none of ERA's darlings last year.

 

[Minsc]

Definitely think Goose game is mis-labeled too, it's either a puzzle game or an adventure game (you spend basically the entire game beyond the first 20 minutes of fun solving more and more complex puzzles, there's even a new game+ with ridiculously harder puzzles). It has absolutely nothing in common with simulation games.

Unless you want to say every game is a simulation game because you're simulating the character in the game, but I suppose this sorta goes back to BOTW being classified as an RPG, perhaps if the game itself wants to be the genre bad enough it gets a pass?

 

[Saint-14]

Btw, FFXV was top 6 the year it came out if I recall correctly, and look where KH3 is, one of them is getting hate unlike the other.

 

[NightShift]

Resident Evil 2 is #1 and Outer Wilds made it in the top 10. I'm happy with that.

 

[newmoneytrash]

lmao @ the points in the sports game category

 

[Mandos]

Glad power rangers at least made our fighters list, got snubbed too much elsewhere

 

[Murasaki]

Best Game won. Happy to see it. Lot of games in 2019 that I didn't get to play. The advocacy of this community and others will help to keep my list refreshed.
Congratulations Capcom. You've killed it this gen. Can't wait to see you what you've got lined up for the next five years. I'd love to read an in-depth story about how Capcom chose to shrug off the conservatism and mobile-love that blighted Japanese publishers at the beginning of this
generation and went all-in on making some great fucking games.

 

[jaymzi]

First time the popular game is different from overall GOTY?

In other words if the format was changed to vote for a single game as your GOTY we would have had a different winner.

 

[Kill3r7]

First time the popular game is different from overall GOTY?

In other words if the format was changed to vote for a single game as your GOTY we would have had a different winner.

Click to shrink...

But that has never been the format either here or the old site.

 

[trugs26]

A remake winning GOTY doesn't sit well with me. Unless the game changes a lot about the original (i.e. the core gameplay/experience is different). Haven't played the game myself though so I'll have to trust y'all.

 

[Deleted member 7462]

This was really good stuff, but I would like to point out that Football Heroes Turbo did get a single, solitary point (from me) and I guess should be tied for seventh with NBA 2K20 in the sports category.

 

[StallionDan]

Best Horror Games

1. Resident Evil 2 = 1406 points, 6 honorable mentions
2. The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan = 12 points


What a battle for the top spot.

 

[Deleted member 8468]

I can't say I personally agree with the order of the top 10, but it's a damn fine collection of video games. I didn't keep up with the voting thread but I'm genuinely surprised to see RE2 at #1, I would have expected Sekiro. Great to see so much support for Disco Elysium as well.

 

[Fat4all]

Best Horror Games

1. Resident Evil 2 = 1406 points, 6 honorable mentions
2. The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan = 12 points


What a battle for the top spot.

Click to shrink...

neck and neck

 

[Edgar]

As far as GOTG for era. It's gonna be

1. BotW
2. Last of us
3. Bloodborne
4. Mass effect 2
5. Witcher 3

There no way in hell witcher 3 will be in top 3, let alone make number one spot on this forum. Im willing to bet my avatar

 

[goodretina]

First time the popular game is different from overall GOTY?

In other words if the format was changed to vote for a single game as your GOTY we would have had a different winner.

Click to shrink...

That's a logical fallacy. It may have only been popular because people could rank multiple games, and it was ranked lower on most people's lists.

 

[dreamfall]

Thanks to all the hard work and dedication y'all give every year - truly grateful! It was a fun year, happy to see so much variety in the Top 20, and so many incredible games. Reset Family is the best!

 

[jaymzi]

That's a logical fallacy. It may have only been popular because people could rank multiple games, and it was ranked lower on most people's lists.

Click to shrink...

Not sure I follow. Why would someone rank a game no.1 because they could choose up to 10, but not choose that no.1 game if they could only select one title for GOTY.

 

[Megatron]

outer wilds was only available on pc for most of the year

Click to shrink...

incorrect. It launched on Xbox a Day before PC.AND it was on gamepass from day one. So it actually got really good console exposure.

 

[disillusion386]

Great work to the people who put the list together! Really awesome stuff.

I do want to say that I disagree with the definition of "most popular". Why is it only based on the number 1 spot on people's ballots? Maybe it's an anomaly this year, but I feel like there shouldn't be a large point disparity between the GOTY (1406) and most popular game (960). If RE2 can get 446 more points because the game showed up on more people's lists and at higher rankings (anywhere from #1 to #3), then that tells me that RE2 is indeed the more popular game.

 

[Deleted member 10737]

Great work to the people who put the list together! Really awesome stuff.

I do want to say that I disagree with the definition of "most popular". Why is it only based on the number 1 spot on people's ballots? Maybe it's an anomaly this year, but I feel like there shouldn't be a large point disparity between the GOTY (1406) and most popular game (960). If RE2 can get 446 more points because the game showed up on more people's lists and at higher rankings (anywhere from #1 to #3), then that tells me that RE2 is indeed the more popular game.

Click to shrink...

yeah, imo it should just be called most #1s.

 

[FaceHugger]

Awesome! I made a list of my top 25 games of the decade recently. Very convenient haha

Click to shrink...

This is one I'll really enjoy creating a list for. I can already think of several.

 

[Young Liar]

incorrect. It launched on Xbox a Day before PC.AND it was on gamepass from day one. So it actually got really good console exposure.

Click to shrink...

oh right i totally forgot about that! i don't have an xbox so it just didn't cross my mind at all haha.

 

[Mik2121]

Awesome news for Resident Evil, and also glad to see Disco Elysium up there!

That's a logical fallacy. It may have only been popular because people could rank multiple games, and it was ranked lower on most people's lists.

Click to shrink...

I don't think it's a logical fallacy? He is just saying that if people had only voted for one game instead of ten, Death Stranding would have won (because it would have been voted the most, since it was the game with the most 1st position votes). That would have been a different way of voting, though.

 

[Zolbrod]

A remake winning GOTY doesn't sit well with me. Unless the game changes a lot about the original (i.e. the core gameplay/experience is different). Haven't played the game myself though so I'll have to trust y'all.

Click to shrink...

Apart from the setting and characters, the two games are almost nothing alike.
The original used pre-rendered backgrounds and fixed camera angles, the remake is full 3D with an over-the-shoulder angle.
The environments are similar enough to be recognizable, but the game plays completely differently, and there's a ton of new/revamped stuff.

Don't worry, it deserves the award.

 

[Deleted member 10737]

Yeah, I think we'll need more than 10 games. 15 sounds good; maybe 20 too, but definitely not more than that.

Maybe 15 games with the following scoring?

Game #1: 5 points
Game #2: 4 points
Game #3: 4 points
Game #4: 3 points
Game #5: 3 points
Game #6: 3 points
Game #7: 2 points
Game #8: 2 points
Game #9: 2 points
Game #10: 2 points
Game #11: 1 point
Game #12: 1 point
Game #13: 1 point
Game #14: 1 point
Game #15: 1 point

In any case, the two games that will fight for the #1 spot will be Skyrim and Breath of the Wild.

I'm championing Skyrim.

Click to shrink...

i like this system. 10 seems way too little for a whole decade.

 

[SlickVic]

Probably already mentioned before, but looking at some of the awards, found it really interesting that FFXIV Shadowbringers got #8 in the 'most popular' award in terms of number of people who voted it #1. It looks like the only game on that list that wasn't also in the overall top 10 (Shadowbringers was #26 overall). Which I suppose isn't too surprising. Lots of positive buzz about FFXIV with Shadowbringers overall, but being the third expansion to a long running MMO, it isn't quite as accessible in terms of time investment compared to a lot of other games on these lists.

 

[Shadoken]

Great work to the people who put the list together! Really awesome stuff.

I do want to say that I disagree with the definition of "most popular". Why is it only based on the number 1 spot on people's ballots? Maybe it's an anomaly this year, but I feel like there shouldn't be a large point disparity between the GOTY (1406) and most popular game (960). If RE2 can get 446 more points because the game showed up on more people's lists and at higher rankings (anywhere from #1 to #3), then that tells me that RE2 is indeed the more popular game.

Click to shrink...

Yea I feel like the naming is incorrect.
Most Popular = Title that appears in the most lists

idk what word you would use for most first place though.

 

[nib95]

Yeah, I think we'll need more than 10 games. 15 sounds good; maybe 20 too, but definitely not more than that.

Maybe 15 games with the following scoring?

Game #1: 5 points
Game #2: 4 points
Game #3: 4 points
Game #4: 3 points
Game #5: 3 points
Game #6: 3 points
Game #7: 2 points
Game #8: 2 points
Game #9: 2 points
Game #10: 2 points
Game #11: 1 point
Game #12: 1 point
Game #13: 1 point
Game #14: 1 point
Game #15: 1 point

In any case, the two games that will fight for the #1 spot will be Skyrim and Breath of the Wild.

I'm championing Skyrim.

Click to shrink...

I think more than 10 games is fine, but a bigger spread of points is probably necessary to prevent it from exgasperating the whole popularity contest element, and instead giving more emphasis and voting prominence to the games people actually loved the most.

Eg, perhaps have a 10 or 15 point spread between pick 1 and pick 15 instead of a 5 point spread.

Great work to the people who put the list together! Really awesome stuff.

I do want to say that I disagree with the definition of "most popular". Why is it only based on the number 1 spot on people's ballots? Maybe it's an anomaly this year, but I feel like there shouldn't be a large point disparity between the GOTY (1406) and most popular game (960). If RE2 can get 446 more points because the game showed up on more people's lists and at higher rankings (anywhere from #1 to #3), then that tells me that RE2 is indeed the more popular game.

Click to shrink...

That confused me too. Most popular game should be based on the game that appeared on the most ballots irrespective of position, whilst the game that recieved the most number 1 votes should simply be awarded "Most number 1 votes" or something along those lines.

 

[trugs26]

Apart from the setting and characters, the two games are almost nothing alike.
The original used pre-rendered backgrounds and fixed camera angles, the remake is full 3D with an over-the-shoulder angle.
The environments are similar enough to be recognizable, but the game plays completely differently, and there's a ton of new/revamped stuff.

Don't worry, it deserves the award.

Click to shrink...

Thanks for the info. Makes it feel okay now.

 

[Heropon_]

I'm a bit surprised that RE2 won, I think that Sekiro would have been a better representative for 2019. The fact that a remake is the GOTY shows that it was not a memorable year for AAA releases.

I'm surprised that Three Houses got more points that Death Stranding, 3rd place is a great performance for a niche series such as Fire Emblem.

Finally I'm very happy about Slay the Spire and Baba is You being in the top 20 ! I think Katana Zero would deserve a spot here as well.

 

[Korigama]

Expected REmake 2 to do well, but not for it to be #1. A winner where the dissenters are more vocal about it, but fine by me.

Shame about DMC5 not making top 5, but at least best action game went to it. Going by the franchise still not having all that many people playing it, Trails of Cold Steel III not doing all that great was to be expected.