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I'm glad we get to include games beyond 2019, there's so much gold to catch up on every year that it's fun to reflect without taking release dates into account. I keep more games reviewed on my profile on Glitchwave but limited to the Top 20. 20. Blasphemous (3.5/5): The best take yet on sidescrolling 2D Dark Souls games, but I had to dock it points for keeping insta-death platforming qualities in a Souls game. The open world is also not quite enough to be fun while difficult. 19. Luigi Mansion 3 (3.5/5): I had this higher until I reached the Mechanic Ghost fight, arguably the worst level Nintendo has created in years. Every other floor is an absolute treat and there's always something new being thrown into the gameplay mix (except the fights with the same three or four ghosts types, oof). I do wish the writers didn't lean on Dreamworks/Ubisoft style of humor that’s forgettably generic, Mario Odyssey proved how to be legitimately funny with the same family-friendly limitations. 18. Bayonetta (4/5): I bounce off of most Platinum games, but Bayonetta joins Nier: Automata as the only exceptions to the rule thanks to the absolutely sincerity of it's absurd setting and characters and the relatively fun levels. 17. AI: The Somnium Files (4/5): A large leap over 999/VLR, both of which I found more annoying and eye-rolling than interesting. AI keeps the same decision tree design and greatly improves the narrative/characters. Random-clicking-around bad adventure games are better than lovely escape room puzzles but neither are ideal. 16. Later Alligator (4/5): There are two jokes I will never tire of: old GeoCities websites and anime dating simulators. Thank you, Alligator game. The entire minigame experience is really an excuse to write lots of jokes which fortunately land more often than not. 15. Killer7 (4/5): Such a bizarre and polarizing experience, but I can’t stop thinking about it. It’s another game that you instantly imagine a sequel that solves the immediate gameplay issues but it’s been enough years where it’s just not likely. 14. The Last of Us Remastered (4/5): I like this game and totally understand the praise it receives. However, there’s so much that surpasses this experience that it felt like “another” game rather than the iconic position it currently holds. 13. Yakuza 0 (4/5): As if aliens wanted to make their own GTA spin-off before understanding humans in any capacity other than past Yakuza game cutscenes. I never disliked a sidequest or story mission, no matter how conflicting in tone, but most of the minigames felt tedious. 12. Dragon Quest 11 (4/5): I've played Dragon Quest 8 before and knew the series was more of a comfort food refinement rather than a dramatic change. Still, the world needs a light, simple RPG to chill with occasionally in-between the take-this-seriously games that I usually seek out. DQ11 is probably the best attempt at that chill JRPG ideal ever made: auto-attack tactics, auto-run, and bright colors. Just remember to turn the music way down, it's far too bombastic to be enjoyable for longer sessions. 11. The Outer Wilds (4/5): I should like this game better, a lore mystery solved non-linearly by exploring an open world at your own pace is exactly how I play my favorite RPG games. Although I still love Outer Wilds, I think my demolition derby spaceship skills makes me dread exploring more than the game wants me to. 10. Deltarune (4/5): Toby didn’t let us down! I guess nothing will quite live up to Undertale’s shadow but if you’re in the position, Deltarune is as great as you could ask for. The humor beats are just as good, the battles continue their fun iterations of gimmicks, and the battle system takes a good step forward in complexity. The only substantial thing that hurts is the chapter format, that this is a partial story reducing Undertale's sky-high ambition to work within the individual chapter rather than a satisfying total story. I’m excited about the next chapter. 9. Fire Emblem: Three Houses (4/5): I’d call this a very good first step into Persona influence that doesn’t learn all the right lessons. There’s a huge quantity of fun, interesting characters but it’s submerged underneath a friendship system that isn’t fun to keep returning to or interact with. I loved the battles, especially when the difficultly ramps up and you grow attached to your students, but I’m more excited about the next FE entry since the social issues are obvious to fix. 8. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (4/5): The key problem I have seems silly but…it’s too hard. I realize From Software makes hard games and I loved Bloodbourne and DS3 but the bosses in this game were a step too far. The good news is that they’ve rediscovered their less-linear 3D Metroidvania influences and the joy of discovering new areas in a larger world felt closer to that same Dark Souls 1 feeling, especially with such satisfying movement tech. Props to implementing an interesting variation of the classic SoulsBourne combat but the parry-heavy combat sometimes gets cartoonishly impossible. I managed to get to the very final boss of the game and decided that I don't want to spend another 3-4 hours fighting another guy and uninstalled, that's not the result I would've predicted going into this game. 7. Persona 4 (4.5/5): After playing Persona 5, this seemed like an intuitive next step. I had to live with the missing quality-of-life changes and quintessential PS2 graphics but the underlying fun of characters you know bouncing off each other remained strong. The bland dungeons and lesser overworld felt especially painful after my experience with P5 set the bar so high. 6. God of War (4.5/5): The current best example of cinematic third-person games. More difficult than expected, good storytelling, and great feeling combat (if a little repetitious). 5. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (4.5/5): Metroid is the better half of “Metroidvania” to me but Bloodstained is probably my favorite iteration of the Castlevania formula. The same game, yes, but this time more of everything! Unfortunately, I bought the Switch version and paused while waiting for the big patch to drop. 4. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (4.5/5): Playing this felt like watching a Pixar movie, insane polish even if it lacks a certain uniqueness. An easy game to recommend heartily, nearly a decade after it originally came out. I've never played the first Galaxy but I do own two used copies that my Wii can't read! 3. Cadence of Hyrule (4.5/5): “The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner” comes true as the Zelda Rhythm game ends up being the best genre mash-up I’ve ever played. As someone who didn’t take to Crypt of the Necrodancer, somehow it all clicked within the adventure/dungeon framework of Zelda games. The weird lingering feeling after beating the game is...where else can they go? They nailed the gameplay and combination so well that I don't know what a sequel could add to legitimately improve the end result. 2. Disco Elysium (4.5/5): I’m cheating a little, I’m six hours in and haven’t progressed much (except become infatuated with communist thoughts and embarrass myself in front of Cuno a few times). What I’ve played is completely in my territory, this is the combat-less RPG that I’ve been searching for years. 1. Persona 5 (5/5): The music’s already in my head while writing this. It’s everything than an ambitious JRPG could be and wants to be: a dungeon crawler, a social simulator, a lesson on understanding others, a god-killing power fantasy, and a high school anime cartoon with a talking cat. As someone who didn’t play the previous Persona games before, I didn’t have the same numbness to character archtypes or gameplay that longtime fans expressed. This was a thrill ride the whole way through ~70 hours and an absolute blast for any RPG fan. Just among 2019-released games, my list is below: 10. Blasphemous (3.5/5) 9. Luigi Mansion 3 (3.5/5) 8. AI: The Somnium Files (4/5) 7. Later Alligator (4/5) 6. The Outer Wilds (4/5) 5. Fire Emblem: Three Houses (4/5): 4. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (4/5) 3. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (4.5/5) 2. Cadence of Hyrule (4.5/5) 1. Disco Elysium (4.5/5) DMCrimson fucked around with this message at 19:44 on Dec 16, 2019 |
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Dec 12, 2019 04:50
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