A lot of fantastic games came out in 2019. Although I didn’t get a chance to play every 2019 release I was hoping to, I played several excellent ones. These are my top 5 games of 2019.
5. The Outer Worlds
I wasn’t sold on The Outer Worlds when it was first announced, but after it came out, I decided to play it in the hopes of it filling the Mass Effect void in my life. I soon found myself plunged into a wacky dystopia filled with black comedy, great party members, and a lot of fun side quests. The main story wasn’t great, but it feels like it’s setting up for a sequel, and I’d happily play more games in this universe.
4. Luigi’s Mansion 3
All I wanted from Luigi’s Mansion 3 was for it to be more like the first game in the series than Dark Moon. Although it didn’t do everything I was hoping for from the pre-release interviews, I more or less got my wish. Luigi’s Mansion 3 dropped the mission-based approach of its predecessor in favor of a large hotel you can freely backtrack through, and it had a lot of cool areas and entertaining ghost characters–with the best one being Morty the movie director. While the original Luigi’s Mansion is still my favorite, I had a lot of fun playing Luigi’s Mansion 3.
3. Resident Evil 2
By the time I got into the Resident Evil series, it had already reached a state where action was emphasized over horror and puzzles were minor, if present at all. This came as quite a disappointment to me, since I had fallen in love with the slower-paced, puzzle-filled gameplay of the classic games in the series. When the Resident Evil 2 remake was announced, therefore, all I wanted was to run around solving puzzles and gathering keys to gradually unlock new areas in true survival horror fashion. Here, I absolutely got my wish. There are some things I prefer in the original game, like the way its separate scenarios worked and its soundtrack (you have no idea how much I was waiting to hear my favorite Resident Evil 2 song remade in orchestral glory, only for it to not show up in the remake), but the most important thing here is that the Resident Evil 2 remake is survival horror through and through! I encountered locked doors, I solved puzzles, I gathered all sorts of medallions and cranks, and as the areas opened up more and more, I soon found myself being pursued by the implacable Mr. X, who brought so much tension to this game that I can’t wait to see what they do with Nemesis in the Resident Evil 3 remake. Everything is forgiven, Capcom. This is the game I was waiting for.
2. Judgment
In 2018, I got into the Yakuza series for the first time with Yakuza 0 and wondered how I had overlooked such an incredible series for so long. Even as I discovered what would become a new favorite, the developers announced a spin-off called Project Judge, or as it would eventually be titled for its English release, Judgment. Starring an ex-lawyer turned detective, it immediately drew comparisons to not only Yakuza, but also another favorite series of mine, Ace Attorney. It was one of my most-anticipated games of 2019 by the time I finished watching the first trailer. I started it as soon as it came out, and it was fantastic. Why hasn’t Judgment appeared on more GOTY lists? The story was incredible, the characters were great, it had a lot of funny side content, and did I mention that the story was incredible? The only thing keeping it out of my #1 spot is a certain annoying gameplay mechanic that frustrated me just enough to stop me from saying I enjoyed every minute of it.
1. Kingdom Hearts III
If you had told me while I was playing Kingdom Hearts III that it would be divisive to say it was my favorite game of the year, I’d have said you were crazy. I went into Kingdom Hearts III with certain expectations for the story, and it did almost everything I wanted. It even gave my least-popular favorite character (Vexen), whom I’d expected to get relegated to a background villain role, time to shine in the spotlight with some of the game’s best scenes. Aside from the story, the Disney worlds felt bigger and more fun to explore than ever before, and I even enjoyed the Gummi Ship segments for the first time in the series. Kingdom Hearts III came to me when I was going through a sad time, and it brought so much happiness with it. I had fun the entire time I was playing Kingdom Hearts III, and I can’t wait to see where the next saga goes.
