Best Games of 2019

What a way to end a decade. Out with a bang! Some serious games and we finish the decade strong, but with an industry in a wary state as ‘AAA’ continues to insidiously indoctrinate sleazy short-term tactics into big games. Among this year's most prolific bollox — the demise of video-game ownership as we come into the 2020s. Anthem, Fallout 76, Google Stadia, Pokemon Sword & Sheild, Blizzard. At least the arms race for Battle Royales has cooled off. Fucken hell it was a rough year for some, but a massive year elsewhere. Let’s hear it for dem games -

3. Slay the Spire

It was either this or Dead Cells, sorry. Slay the Spire really hits the spot in so many ways and would be what I‘d call one of the best filler games of the year — perfect for filling time, where you don't have to become too invested in what you're doing. It‘s simple to pick up and get going, even you only play it from time to time and rest for a couple of weeks. Perfect for burst play.

The game plays like a deck builder where you choose a style of deck, of which there are 3 — Brute strength: easy mode — where you don't have to worry about status or power cards, you use basic attack/defense cards pretty much. Dexterity: normal mode — this deck is a little more difficult where you focus more on status effects like poison and weak daggers to do small damage over time. Elemental: Hard Mode — the most difficult deck that orientates around building up elements to unleash massive damage. Patience is a virtue with this deck as you try to set up the perfect strike using a combination of elemental effects — electricity, ice, and dark.

You progress from one fight to the next on a track that you select, where you come across simple enemies, mini-bosses, random encounter events that can aid or hinder your progress, and rest areas where you recover your health or upgrade your cards to more powerful versions. The goal is to reach the top of the tower (3 floors of roughly 8–10 encounters) where you'll get a score based on how far you journeyed that particular run and gain EXP to unlock more cards. Its such a simple game executed so well and with lovely cartoon-like animations that I'll be playing for years to come.

Best Bits: Acquiring the perfect combination of cards to become a 6-slot god. The cards are fun and well balanced. The addictive nature of the game makes it hard to put down, with progressive unlocks the more you play. Superb ‘just one more run‘ game. Loads of secret events and artifacts to discover and help your run.

The downer: More deck types/styles would be welcome instead of only 3, Id pay for this kind of DLC. So much RNG! A great run can turn foul in the blink of an eye where literally one drawn hand can lose you the game.

Summary: Amazing deck-building, rogue-like strategy game thats great for pick-up-and-play.

2. Hollow Knight

Hollow Knight is a Masterpiece and one of the best games I’ve ever played. I know this technically released 2018 on Switch, but I didn't pick it up until this year and I couldn't let it go. Everything is stunningly created, from the environments, the eccentric characters, the rewarding combat, and how the map is so intrinsically interwoven into the gameplay and exploring experience.

The map is central to how well the game plays. Being a Metroidvania you have the classic ‘This place is locked until I acquire an item somewhere else to come back here and unlock it‘ vibe. But it‘s how the game allows you to push on, splitting the save and healing points up so sparsely that it makes you pause to consider should you go forward into potential danger or make a perilous journey back? From midway through discovering the map, you get the idea that it's been carefully crafted to allow you to access certain areas in certain ways and with specific actions in a very non-linear fashion compared to other Metroidvanias of similar ilk. Allowing you to skip entire sections at a time depending on which way you decide to go.

The combat, OMG, the combat! So fluid, and so tight, the movement abilities granted to you by certain power-ups allow you to zip around and perform precision strikes at a moment's glace, where most of it takes place in close-combat. The feedback in combat is its coup de grace, strikes feel impactful, but its also calculated, such as souls-like games where you precisely time your opponents movements and read their patterns, you get to the point where you're trying to count the number of times you‘ll need to hit something before you kill it, so in a way when you die, you know the only person to blame was yourself.

I could go on about the so much more — the environments, the sound design, the storytelling, the weird and wonderful characters you meet along the way, the religious undertones, the sense of discovery, the incredible pacing, the boss battles, or that (at the time of writing) there's a sequel in the making and I couldn't be happier!

Best Bits: Phenomenal world-building, exploration, and sense of discovery that I've never had in any other 2D game. The characters are so charming, memorable, particularly the evil ones. Magnificently somber art style. One of the best soundtracks we've heard from an indie studio. The combat is so tight and rewarding, always feels punchy and impactful. Charm mechanic allows you to change your playstyle on the fly and to your liking. Truly memorable areas. I’ll never forget you Last Stag.

The downer: Punishingly difficult at times. Collecting your dead body’s soul ends up leaving you in the same difficult place in which you died in the first place. Maybe another mechanic would have been better here. You can buy it back from a merchant, but you've lost all your coin from dying anyway so it's weird. There's no way of knowing how many endings there are or how to get those specific endings without looking it up online. ‘White Palace’ is hell!

Summary: The best metroidvania ever conceived with a wonderful world that grips you from start to finish.

1. Resident Evil 2

An incredible reimagining of a classic. Resident Evil 2 should be the new standard for the survival horror genre. Set in Raccoon City after the outbreak, you play as Leon or Claire in a bid to unravel the mysteries surrounding the T-Virus outbreak and get to safety. The story takes you to the central police station where Leon was meant to be stationed for his first day on the Police force, where he now finds that the station has been overrun by zombies while in the midst of being chased by the sinister tyrant, Mr. X.

Gone are the old ‘tank controls, and in with the modern ‘over the shoulder view. (I'm a tank control fan of days gone, with the outlook that their clunky movement was part of the charm of Resident evil and attributed to the feeling of suspense, but I will admit they had their time in the sun and we should all move on as design has improved over the years). New controls offer smoother gameplay, precision aiming — leg shots put them on the ground, headshots put them in the ground.

An oft-overlooked aspect of the RE series, the puzzles, make a full return. Finding keys, examining items to discover secret compartments, locks etc., combing items, managing inventory slots are all here and as important as ever. The game plays faster than the usual RE affair, in a sense that you can progress fast, but low ammo and balancing what items to bring between save points is crucial, especially at higher difficulties.

It ‘s tense, thrilling, and packed with smart puzzles and bombastic b-movie set pieces that you would expect from a RE main-entry. It's with this entry that I realise that it's the corny nature of RE that makes for its best entries. The moment it stays on rails and tries to be a serious, hard-hitting drama is when it's at its weakest. Think 5 and 6, two of the worst entries for their serious, globe-trotting adventure (not to mention other dreadful elements), then think 1, 2, and 4 — naff voice acting, but a very grounded story that takes place in a confined area ie. the Mansion, the Police Station, the Castle, and even the Louisiana estate of 7. All excellent, critically acclaimed games.

Anyway, REmake 2 is my GOTY, it‘s wild!

Best Bits: A true return to form for the Resident Evil series. A massive improvement using modern gameplay standards to bring a classic game up to date. RE2 should be the norm in remake/remaster expectations. Slick UI makes it easy to navigate menu systems. Truly scary, and not just cheap jump scares. Incredible lighting and sound design make for a terrific and terrifying atmosphere of tension and release. The best Resident Evil since RE4, and even then, mostly surpasses the game.

The downer: Mr. X is genuinely annoying and the only major blemish on the game. I understand from a gameplay and psychological aspect why he's in the game and what he (as a game mechanism is supposed to do), but still. He gives you no time to think or allow the tension and suspense of the game to sink in.

Summary: The new standard in survival horror and the best Resident Evil since 4.

Bonus: Cadence of Hyrule

We need more music rhythm games in the public eye, rather than niche corners to luckily stumble on. I would never have played this if it wasn't tied to the Legend of Zelda. But thank god I did, it‘s amazing. The original concept from Crypt of the Necrodancer mashed up with The Legend of Zelda universe makes for a wicked musical crossover. The old classic tunes from LoZ remixed into funky dancefloor beats.

The gameplay centers around a beat clock, or metronome where you time your movements and actions to the beat of the music. If you time your actions correctly, you create a flow that allows you to deal extra damage to your attacks, etc. Fail to keep up with the rhythm and you don't get this bonus boon. Also, mistiming steps can throw you off and cause you to mess up based on enemy monster movement, who also always moves to the beat.

The art style is composed of stunning, pixel visuals. It's super vibrant and the animations are cute. In the usual Zelda fashion, you travel from dungeon to dungeon discovering new items and weapons to use around the world. But its the boss battles that truly shine in this diamond in the rough. The bosses are made up of sections of instruments and the soundtrack to accompany them is broken down by these specific instruments playing the theme tune. It's incredible and a blast to play and when you're matching the beat it really is a thrill and a truly original gem.

Best Bits: Well, the music. I downloaded the album immediately after finishing the game and have been listening to it for months after. The art is cute and the weapons fun. The gameplay is a genuine hoot to play and match to the beat, very original, very successful, I want more! Good replayability but even better options for assisting players on different runs, including the ability to play without beat matching so you can wander around without freely. It's 2 player.

The downer: A little too short. Zelda tax. Too niche a game for a mass audience so people who aren't into musical / beat matching games probably wouldn't dig this.

Summary: A rhythm mashup action game with remixed Zelda tunes, honestly, get on it.

All games I played in 2019

• Apex Legends (Incredible sci-fi shooter, incredible sweat)
• Resident Evil 2
• Steamworld Heist
• Wargroove (It's great, it’s no Advance Wars though)
• Dead Cells
• Sekiro (GOTY contender, but needs an assist/easy mode)
• Turok: Dinosaur Hunter
• New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe
• Cadence of Hyrule
• My Friend Pedro (Fun for one playthrough, let down overall)
• Hollow Knight
• Fire Emblem: Three Houses (Disappointment of the year award)
• Rainbow Six Seige (Solid multiplayer shooter)
• Sayonara Wild Hearts
• Ori & The Blind Forest (In a world where HK exists, don't bother)
• Slay the Spire
• God of War (This really should be in the list above! Phenomenal)
• Return of the Obra Dinn
• Gwent: The Witcher Card Game
• Luigi’s Mansion (Cute fun, big Captain Toad vibe)
• Moonlighter (Nice game, weak combat, even weaker ending)
• Titanfall 2 (Mechs are hella cool, would play a full game of just Titans)
• Outer Wilds (Wow! Space is both beautiful and terrifying)
• Fight N’ Rage (It’s ok, short campaign)
• Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (Solid Zelda experience. Outdated mechanics / puzzles)
• Death Stranding
• Collection of Mana (I own Secret of Mana on every platform possible)
• Overcooked (Unreal co-op madness)
• The Messenger (Love this game! Great time-travel gameplay in 2D)

Apple Arcade:

• Grindstone (Insane! Best game on Arcade)
• Pilgrims (Nice hand-drawn art, far too short, puzzles aren’t challenging)
• Card of Darkness (Didn’t get it, then I got it, it’s excellent!)
• Overland (HELLO, TEXT!? IS THAT YOU?! *uses Hubble Space Telescope)
• Cricket through the Ages (Dumb fun for 5 minutes)
• What the Golf (Would be pissed if I paid for it)