Games Played in 2019 (Ranked)
Games I played/beat in 2019, ranked from most liked to least liked. Note that they don't have to be from 2019 to be on the list.
This year in particular is hard to rank, the middle area gets a bit fuzzy, but the top and bottom 10 are fairly solid. It might also have some of my more controversial opinions, at least I think.
This year in particular is hard to rank, the middle area gets a bit fuzzy, but the top and bottom 10 are fairly solid. It might also have some of my more controversial opinions, at least I think.
44 Games
It's so hard to talk about this game. It's hard to even formulate the words on how much it means to me. It's one of the most emotionally rich game I've ever played, and it's an amazing iteration on Earthbound and all it's small shortcomings. I'll have the words to talk about this game some day, but for now, it's one of my all time favorite games.
1
Breath of the Wild was a game that I intially dropped. As soon as Mario Odyssey was out, it took priority of my life. Odyssey was essentially my dream Mario game come to life, and I was a bit blinded by my love for 3D platforming. There was a time later during the game awards that BOTW won game of the year, and I didn't quite get it. Mind you, I only played a little bit of the game when I eventually dropped it. I was really enjoying the game from what I've played, but come on guys, it's the best Mario game in years! How did it lose to yet another Zelda?
And that's where my problem was. Thinking it was yet another Zelda, a series I didn't really have much interest in due to my general distaste for medieval fantasy settings, and generally wasn't very familiar with. This game is almost an entire break from what Zelda had been up until this point. It broke a ton of traditionally linear design to recapture the sense of exploration you may get from the original NES title. A sense of adventure and freedom to explore in any direction you want, breaking into non-linear design. All of this, wrapped into a series of systems to make the world be reactive and interactable. This game changed how I view open world games, and set a lot of expectations. It hit so many separate marks that I've really only seen this game do. Elden Ring comes close, but I think that game is bogged down by inserting traditional Dark Souls design and making it feel separate from the rest of the more bog standard elements of open world design. There's less of a sense of discovery and wonder that you have with something like Elden Ring, and as someone who loves exploration, it's a great example of where my preferences lie.
Breath of the Wild is nothing short of amazing. I really mean that. It's not perfect, and could definitely be improved upon in different ways, but it captures the essence of discovery in a way that I haven't felt in a very long time.
And that's where my problem was. Thinking it was yet another Zelda, a series I didn't really have much interest in due to my general distaste for medieval fantasy settings, and generally wasn't very familiar with. This game is almost an entire break from what Zelda had been up until this point. It broke a ton of traditionally linear design to recapture the sense of exploration you may get from the original NES title. A sense of adventure and freedom to explore in any direction you want, breaking into non-linear design. All of this, wrapped into a series of systems to make the world be reactive and interactable. This game changed how I view open world games, and set a lot of expectations. It hit so many separate marks that I've really only seen this game do. Elden Ring comes close, but I think that game is bogged down by inserting traditional Dark Souls design and making it feel separate from the rest of the more bog standard elements of open world design. There's less of a sense of discovery and wonder that you have with something like Elden Ring, and as someone who loves exploration, it's a great example of where my preferences lie.
Breath of the Wild is nothing short of amazing. I really mean that. It's not perfect, and could definitely be improved upon in different ways, but it captures the essence of discovery in a way that I haven't felt in a very long time.
2
Earthbound is such a unique experience. It's by no means a perfect game, but even it's imperfections are charming. It's actually an improvement on traditional jrpgs in many ways, with some gameplay additions that no other game was doing at the time. It's a fun whimsical story, until it becomes entrapped within a sinister darkness towards the end. Giygas is probably one of my favorite boss fights ever, and the entire set up for the ending of the game is nothing but brilliant. I love this game, I need to replay it so I can love it even more.
3
My first Ace Combat game, and by God is it great! The atmosphere, the music, the interesting little story that parallels legends of the real world, it's all fantastic stuff. Gameplay wise, it really does make you feel like you're in the midst of a dog fight, scrambling to keep your craft alive.
4
Dark Cloud is what I'd describe as a "PS2-ass Game". Essentially, it feels so much of it's era in terms of atmosphere, game feel, and industry wide problems handling certain types of mechanics in a 3D setting. This is a word of endearment, and I think there's a genuine charm to the game that almost feels nostalgic looking back on it now. It's a formula I think could be improved upon, but the dichotomy of dungeon crawling and city building is such a strong idea that it's a genuinely lovely experience. Very comfy game.
5
Titanfall 2 is a fantastic FPS with one of the most creative single player campaigns to date. Fantastic, kinetic run-and-gun gamplay that keeps up the intensity until you finally end up dying to an enemy player. From some of the members of Infinity Warfare, it's no wonder this game is so great. It's a shame then, that it absolutely bombed on release.
6
Gungrave is such a fun little shooter. Jumping and diving as you shoot baddies to a backing score by Tsuneo Imahori is invigorating. Simple but fun little time.
7
Hollow Knight isn't the first Metroidvania game I played, but it's the first Metroidvania game I actually enjoyed. Previously, I had played games like Guacamelee or Strider, and while those games are probably fine if you already like Metroidvanias, none of them really made me understand what made these games great. Hollow Knight is the first to change that.
I think my previous problems have been that, there was a general distain for backtracking that I've had. 2D games weren't emblematic of what I loved about games, but I could still enjoy them for different reasons. Exploration, so it had seemed for a bit, didn't seem to mesh with my 3D loving brain. It was more of a mental thing than anything else. Games like Strider had artstyles that made me think that I would have rather be able to go into those 3D backgrounds than just have a 2D plane to traverse through. So I figured, well, it would all just be confusing to know where I am in a 2D plane if entering a path that leads you inwards toward the background, which meant that it'd be easier to get lost, which meant that you had to backtravel through the level to get to where you actually want to go, treading old ground.
And this colored a lot of what I thought Metroidvanias would be like. In reality, it's a lot more simple than that, and games like Hollow Knight showed me that those other games I played just weren't exactly the best examples of the genre.
Hollow Knight is a world drenched in ruined. There's a disease that's making these bug creatures go mad, and the world and lore is fleshed out enough to paint quite a interesting society. It's some really cool world building, and a lot of that stuff was cool to comb through and discover. In part, the world is why you want to keep exploring Hollow Knight. The level design is big and intricate, and you're always discovering something new and interesting to find. Whether it be lore, a power up, an interesting character, or anything inbetween.
I learned from Hollow Knight just how much fun you can have by having power ups scattered around and having the ability to traverse through a level again to see where you can go now because of it. These types of games make backtracking fun in part because they recontextualize your environment. Things you notice you can't do, places you can't reach, you end up making a mental marker in your head for when you eventually can traverse that way. And then ontop of having smart level design, you end up looping back around to places you've already been, making short cuts to previous areas, along side a fast travel system.
I think my main complaint with the game though, is that it's almost too big for it's own good. There's a lot of content, and missing out on certain areas and having to comb through every single part of the map I haven't fully explored just to find the last progression gate I needed to hit, was fairly frustrating. And I think because of this, Hollow Knight didn't really invigorate my love for the genre as much as it could have.
Hollow Knight is a giant among the Metroidvania genre, and it deserves the praise it gets — to a certain degree. After having played Super Metroid, I don't think that game can be easily topped as much as people think it has. There's so much that Hollow Knight gets right though, that I can understand why this would be someone's favorite within the genre. But I think Super Metroid, for good reason, has stood the test of time, and has such amazing design that has yet to be topped.
I think my previous problems have been that, there was a general distain for backtracking that I've had. 2D games weren't emblematic of what I loved about games, but I could still enjoy them for different reasons. Exploration, so it had seemed for a bit, didn't seem to mesh with my 3D loving brain. It was more of a mental thing than anything else. Games like Strider had artstyles that made me think that I would have rather be able to go into those 3D backgrounds than just have a 2D plane to traverse through. So I figured, well, it would all just be confusing to know where I am in a 2D plane if entering a path that leads you inwards toward the background, which meant that it'd be easier to get lost, which meant that you had to backtravel through the level to get to where you actually want to go, treading old ground.
And this colored a lot of what I thought Metroidvanias would be like. In reality, it's a lot more simple than that, and games like Hollow Knight showed me that those other games I played just weren't exactly the best examples of the genre.
Hollow Knight is a world drenched in ruined. There's a disease that's making these bug creatures go mad, and the world and lore is fleshed out enough to paint quite a interesting society. It's some really cool world building, and a lot of that stuff was cool to comb through and discover. In part, the world is why you want to keep exploring Hollow Knight. The level design is big and intricate, and you're always discovering something new and interesting to find. Whether it be lore, a power up, an interesting character, or anything inbetween.
I learned from Hollow Knight just how much fun you can have by having power ups scattered around and having the ability to traverse through a level again to see where you can go now because of it. These types of games make backtracking fun in part because they recontextualize your environment. Things you notice you can't do, places you can't reach, you end up making a mental marker in your head for when you eventually can traverse that way. And then ontop of having smart level design, you end up looping back around to places you've already been, making short cuts to previous areas, along side a fast travel system.
I think my main complaint with the game though, is that it's almost too big for it's own good. There's a lot of content, and missing out on certain areas and having to comb through every single part of the map I haven't fully explored just to find the last progression gate I needed to hit, was fairly frustrating. And I think because of this, Hollow Knight didn't really invigorate my love for the genre as much as it could have.
Hollow Knight is a giant among the Metroidvania genre, and it deserves the praise it gets — to a certain degree. After having played Super Metroid, I don't think that game can be easily topped as much as people think it has. There's so much that Hollow Knight gets right though, that I can understand why this would be someone's favorite within the genre. But I think Super Metroid, for good reason, has stood the test of time, and has such amazing design that has yet to be topped.
8
Trials and Tribulations is really good! For some reason though, I don't remember a ton about the game for whatever reason. From what I do remember, it was a really solid game, with some great cases. I don't think there's a case I didn't like? I might have to replay the AA games, honestly.
9
I love Apollo Justice, warts and all. It's probably not objectively as good as T&T, and it might have alienated people who love Phoniex as we know him. Personally though, I'm in love with the concept of continuing Ace Attorney with Apollo at the center. The cases can be a bit iffy at times, some concluding in weird ways that don't feel fully satisfying, but Apollo as a character I felt was strong enough to carry the game, and having Wright as a mentor who fucked up as a lawyer felt like it was an interesting twist/mystery. Wright always had an incompetent streak, even as an experienced lawyer, so I found it believable.
It's a concept I feel like could have been more ironed out if the direction they were going to go with continued.
It's a concept I feel like could have been more ironed out if the direction they were going to go with continued.
10
A very silly but sick mech game by Fromsoft! Makes me wanna give Armored Core a try!
11
Ape Escape 1 is wonderful! Really solid gameplay with memorable levels, gimmicks, and music. It springs to mind the benefits of basing games around hardware centric eccentricities, and how new tech can really make controlling a game interesting and unique. It's something that's becoming less and less popular with time due to the standardization of controllers, which is sad, but what can you do.
What's really cool about Ape Escape as a game though is that it is a really clever take on platformer collectathons. It essentially asks the question "what if the challenge to the collectables was a part of the fun?". And thus, the Apes were born from that. It makes me wonder why other games haven't tried to implement something like this into their collectathon games.
What's really cool about Ape Escape as a game though is that it is a really clever take on platformer collectathons. It essentially asks the question "what if the challenge to the collectables was a part of the fun?". And thus, the Apes were born from that. It makes me wonder why other games haven't tried to implement something like this into their collectathon games.
12
An unnecessary, but absolutely welcomed sequel to Katamari Damacy! Has some fun levels and fun music!
13
Doom 2016 is great! It's fairly good at putting you into a rhythmic flow statw with the combat loop, but it's almost too much at times. I think the health regain mechanic is good, but it does tend to slow things down a bit. Overall, really good!
14
I love Dreamland 3! It's like a 2D Kirby 64, just without the copy mixing abilities! It's a lovely little time, until you have to collect everything, but who cares! It's comfy and cozy and great!
15
Katana Zero is a great little time, but is too short for it's own good. It feels like ACT 1 of a 3 ACT game and it's slightly disappointing, but it's fine.
16
Dragon Quest 11 is a great little time! Kind of just your run of the mill JRPG, but it's really fun! I enjoyed the characters and the quality of life features as a long running JRPG.
17
There's been a bit of a narrative that's been crafted with this game, suggesting that DK64 was the reason collectathon style games went out of style. Maybe it contributed a little, but by the end of the century, 3D games have become so much more than what Mario 64 was at the time. People who love the DKC series tend to be disappointed it's not the game they grew up with, and 3D collectathon fans who tend to be overwhelmed by their need to collect everything.
I think this game tends to get a bad rep, and for justifiable reasons, but I tend to think they're more overblown by the specific people who these aspects affect the most.
If you aren't trying to 100% the game, this game can be really enjoyable. There's aspects I genuinely really like about the game, the world's and their atmosphere, the movesets, the mini games, the boss fights, the characters, the music. I think if we ever got a romhack of this game where you could instantly switch a Kong on the fly, the level design would be a lot more enjoyable, thereby making the rest of the game much more bearable to those who despise it.
I think this game tends to get a bad rep, and for justifiable reasons, but I tend to think they're more overblown by the specific people who these aspects affect the most.
If you aren't trying to 100% the game, this game can be really enjoyable. There's aspects I genuinely really like about the game, the world's and their atmosphere, the movesets, the mini games, the boss fights, the characters, the music. I think if we ever got a romhack of this game where you could instantly switch a Kong on the fly, the level design would be a lot more enjoyable, thereby making the rest of the game much more bearable to those who despise it.
18
Billy Hatcher is a game I grew up with, and I always found it fascinating. It's not really a great game, I think I once called it "the epitome of a 6/10 game", (despite hating the idea of numeric systems). But even with that said, I still actually like the game. It's an interesting game that uses rolling physics as it's main mechanic, and has some fun ideas. I see a lot of potential in the game, and I wish there was a sequel that could flesh the mechanics out more, but it's quite a charming little game.
19
Robobot was the first new Kirby game I had played in years, and it was a fairly fun time. I remember really digging the final boss as well as the music and the levels, but I don't remember the specifics entirely.
20
This is a game where every aspect of the game ties into one another that makes a short but memorable experience. The minmalist artstyle helps exemplify the plight and story of this Ape, doing it's best to escape a facility keeping it captive. The music is this dynamic chaotic jazz that flows with the combat. Your movement and combat reinforce the drums and the flow of the game becomes rhythmic to the sounds of bodies clashing and colliding into a kaleidescape of blood. It's some really fun stuff.
21
Much like Katana Zero, it's a action shooting platformer that has some really fun mechanics, but ends up being so short that you have trouble remembering it. Still a fun experience.
22
Half-life is a super unique shooter, especially for it's time. Back when shooters used to be only about shooting, Half-Life was one of the first game's to integrate an entire story into it's gameplay, without any cutscenes involves. You're always in the front seat, and you're controlling a lot of the action, and I think it's great in that respect. As a shooter itself, I tend to have some more problems with it. I think the AI kind of made me feel like it was a bit of a slog more that it was enjoyable. Encounters kind of ran together after a while, and while it's very set piece heavy, some of those can be a bit of a mixed bag. Overall, I think it's a cool game of it's time, and it's understandable how this was a landmark game, but it didn't wow me as much as it might have if I played it during it's release. Major respect for the game though.
23
Vanquish's moment to moment gameplay is great, but it's weapon sandbox leaves a lot to be desired. It's movement tech could also be expanded upon a lot, and I think a sequel to the game would have did a lot to remedy those issues. It's a fun game, just not a great shooter.
24
Megaman X is great! I don't remember much about it, but it was a really fun take on the Megaman formula! I should probably get around to the other entries!
25
A cute rhythm game! Very memorable and unique!
26
27
32
Explanation as to why it's so low: I really liked the story, was iffy in the music, but more importantly: I played the switch version. I'm considering replaying the DS version after hearing they're fairly different. As of now, this is meh.
36
I played this after Breath of the Wild, and Breath of the Wild has ruined most open world games to me. Spider-Man is a very linearly designed game that's structured very ridgedly. It's not very freeing feeling, despite being Spiderman. It's just kind of a fun, but generic open world game in terms of design, and a post BOTW world has changed me forever. It doesn't really excite me. It doesn't help the fact that I'm not exactly into western comics. Super heroes in general are, conceptually, kind of boring to me. I'm not exactly sure why that is right now, but I think it's because they all tend to lack a bit of humanity, and tend to be a bit too campy for my taste. Out of all the super heroes though, I've always liked Spiderman. In the very limited media I've seen him in, he's felt the most down to earth and fun, with villains that were small scale enough to be interesting to me. And after watching Into The Spiderverse and falling in love with it, I really wanted to feel like Spiderman, and the game does a good job at that! It fills that specific, but not much else.
37
Explanation as to why it's so low: World of Final Fantasy is fine. Kind of just generic rpg stuff for me, though. I haven't really played any final fantasy game, so a lot of the fan service went over my head, but it was a fun enough time waste. It's not bad, it's just, okay.
38
This is probably my most controversial opinion. Especially given that fans of this game are so prominent. I really didn't like Hotel Dusk. There wasn't a ton that really stood out to me. Story wise, it's just a very okay story with somewhat interesting themes. Gameplay wise, it's a very basic puzzle game that only rarely utilizes the main gimmick of the game being read/held like a notebook. It tends to be rather too simple for me, but then throws in a puzzle that ends up breaking my mind in how it was designed. It utilizes an item that you can skip and get completely locked out of if you're not careful, and as far as I can tell, relies on the old screen of the original DS to be a fail safe to actually be able to read the puzzle by lifting up your screen to the light. I played it on a 3DS and I couldn't see the solution, so I had to rest from a save that I luckily backed up and had to sift through tons of dialogue to get back to there. There was some disappointment on my part too about where the plot was going to head. My expectation was something more supernatural/paranormal, but it never really turned into that. It was more grounded, which makes it stand out from the crowd of DS VNs at the time, but actually made it more boring for me. The music and the artstyle are about the only things I really enjoyed about the game.
39
Explanation for why it's so low ranked: Justice For All just felt like a massive step down from the first Ace Attorney in terms of both Cases and music, which Ace Attorney relies both heavily on. The final case is probably the best part of the game, but most of the cases just aren't really all that good. I absolutely hated the carnival case, and was the least fun I had playing the series. It's probably a fine game more objectively, but to me, it was just a massive disappointment, mixed in with a very weak case.
41
Explanation why it's ranked so low: the game is the result of a rushed development, and the plot itself takes a massive beating from it as a result. It ends up making decisions that lead it to be incredibly disappointing as a sequel from the previous game, and ultimately concluding the game in a way that makes the entire game feel entirely pointless. The puzzles are probably the easiest/most straightforward they've ever been in the Zero Escape series, which is probably the best thing about it, given I never much cared for the puzzles in the series.
44