Game of the Year 2019

Ed McGlone

Published: Dec 17, 2019 12:10 pm

This article is over 5 years old and may contain outdated information

To conclude our annual award period, which recognizes the year’s best games across many different categories, we now arrive at the best of the best.

Game of the Year 2019

Honorable Mention: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Reviews Editor Zhiqing Wan: Going into Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, I didn’t really have much of an idea of what I was getting myself into. Being somewhat inexperienced with the metroidvania genre and Castlevania in general, I’d expected to just dabble with the game for a couple of hours before playing something else.

Dear reader, not only did I play this game for more than just two hours, but I also fully uncovered the map, bought it again on Switch and played a ton of it there, and had the soundtrack on loop for about a month after beating the game. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is pretty amazing.

In my early impressions piece on Bloodstained, I described it as the perfect entry point for newcomers who were interested in the metroidvania genre. It’s tough, but not as unforgiving as the popular Hollow Knight; it’s accessible enough, especially with its insane weapon variety and RPG elements to help you through some of the harder bits, but also provides nice optional challenges for the veterans who want to push themselves.

Most importantly, Bloodstained is just an incredibly fun game. The map feels impossibly large and sprawling, connecting a series of well-designed levels together in fun, intricate ways that never fail to leave you feeling satisfied when you finally discover a new power or ability that lets you loop back to a previous area after journeying for so long. There are secrets to be uncovered at every turn of a corner, and the beautiful Gothic setting just never gets old.

The story itself is somewhat predictable, but it’s bolstered by the deliciously campy writing and dialogue, performed by a very talented voice cast. The result is a really fun romp through a Gothic, vampiric fantasy setting that will certainly please genre fans and newcomers alike.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a neat little package just bursting with content, and with the developers committed to releasing even more free, post-launch DLC for it, things can only get better from here.

Game of the Year 2019

Honorable Mention: Judgment

News Editor Giuseppe Nelva: Judgment came out of the blue when it was announced just before Tokyo Game Show 2018, and the impact was amplified by the fact that Sega had a demo ready to go on the same day.

Many suddenly realized that the familiar setting of Kamurocho doesn’t just revolve around Kazuma Kiryu, but there is plenty of room for many stories and many characters, likely setting the stage for Yakuza: Like a Dragon, which will bring forth an entirely new protagonist for the series.

Judgment hits all the highest points the Yakuza series has us used to, including great storytelling (both in the main story and in the lovely side stories providing another look at the people who live in Kamurocho), a ton of content, fun action gameplay, and characters that you can’t not appreciate for their depth and for the acting talent poured into them.

It’s not exactly like a Yakuza game, but it’s close enough to feel familiar and connected. Honestly, I really hope to see the series continue to branch out like this because its fascinating world deserves to be explored.

Game of the Year 2019

Honorable Mention: Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

Guides Editor Chris Jecks: EA hasn’t had the best track record with its Star Wars games since it acquired the license from Disney back in 2013. The first Battlefront game was criticized for a lack of content at launch. Then the second rocked around and included a single-player campaign but had such a mess with microtransactions and loot boxes that it mired the entire experience for many fans.

With Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, it appears as though EA listened to its fans. We got a single-player Star Wars game, with no microtransactions and no loot boxes, from the talented Respawn Entertainment team, and you know what? It’s sublime.

The adventure takes place between Episodes III and IV. The Jedi Order has been wiped out, and only a list locked away in a secret Jedi temple contains the names of Force-sensitive beings who could be trained as Jedi to rise up against the Imperial forces once and for all.

This requires Cal Kestis (the protagonist), to planet hop about, proving himself in Jedi tombs to finally take the fight to the Resistance. It’s these planets and the metroidvania gameplay that make Fallen Order so fun. Each one has paths sprawling and stretching in every direction, but you’ll need to unlock certain powers like a wall-run or double jump to navigate them.

With hidden cosmetics, tough boss-battles, and health and Force bar upgrades tucked away, it’s well worth really searching every nook and cranny of a planet.

Add to this exploration incredibly satisfying lightsaber combat and you’re onto a winner. Fallen Order certainly takes some inspiration for its combat from Dark Souls. Each and every battle is a dance with your opposition of blocks, parries, and counter-attacks. Deflecting blaster fire back at Stormtroopers has never felt so satisfying, either.

All in all, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is the exciting, immersive single-player experience fans have been screaming for what seems like half a decade. It was worth the wait and hopefully, EA continues to support more projects like this one within the Star Wars license.

Game of the Year 2019

Second Runner-Up: The Outer Worlds

Senior Editor Hayes Madsen: The Outer Worlds is the sort of wish-fulfillment you don’t often see in video games; a spiritual successor to Fallout New Vegas that everyone thought we’d never see. The passion behind The Outer Worlds is clear, and it makes for one of the most memorable RPGs of the year.

What I love the most about The Outer Worlds is that it knows exactly what it wants to be, and doesn’t feel the need to flesh things out with meaningless quests or tasks. It’s a compact RPG for all intents, and incredibly refreshing in the face of all the 100-200 hour epics we’ve seen lately.

Playing as an intrepid traveler who’s just woken up from cryosleep, exploring the Halcyon Colony is an utter joy. The Outer Worlds takes place in a universe where companies rule supreme, and the satirical writing around this idea is often hilarious.

A host of fascinating companions can also join you along the way, with the relentlessly kind-hearted Parvati being a particular standout.

The Outer Worlds encourages you to play however you want, with nearly every situation having multiple solutions. Maybe you talk your way out of a fight, sneak in undetected, or use your superior gunslinging skills to wipe everyone out. In fact, every single NPC in The Outer Worlds can be killed which, of course, can lead to far-reaching consequences.

The game also introduces a unique “Flaws” system, where you can take permanent handicaps in order to get an extra Skill Point. It’s an interesting risk-reward system that can alter the way you play the game.

Although it might not bear the name, The Outer Worlds is everything Fallout fans could have asked for. Tighter shooting and combat, fantastic party members, a supremely quirky world to explore, and plenty of moral choices to make along the way. It may not be the most ambitious RPG out there in terms of doing something radically new or different, but it does everything so well that it doesn’t really need to be.

Game of the Year 2019

First Runner-Up: Death Stranding

Senior Editor Alex Gibson: My Death Stranding playthrough lasted 60 or so hours, but honestly, it felt as though I’d been playing the game for three years before that.

Since 2016, Death Stranding’s bizarrely compelling trailers kept the gaming community busily trying to decode its enigma. And yet, when I finally set out on Sam’s journey to reconnect America I actually had no better idea of what the hell was going on than when Norman Reedus’ naked body was first showcased on a beach surrounded by dead whales and cuddling a small child. Gosh, that doesn’t sound at all right when you type it out.

It really is an extraordinary and unique game, which is something to cherish amid a AAA gaming industry that’s so often hesitant to really innovate and push the medium forward. Death Stranding doesn’t get everything that it attempts quite right, but it’s certainly a one-of-a-kind experience.

The story and setting are at the heart of that, of course — the brainchild of a developer in Hideo Kojima who’s clearly been busting to flex his creative muscles after having worked on a single IP for twenty years previously.?

And Death Stranding’s plot often does feel like a bit of an explosion of ideas rather than a cohesive plot at times. It’s heavy, serious stuff for the most part, but often strangely whimsical and self-aware, too.

I’m not sure I was all that compelled by it as a whole, though it’s the incorporation of political ideology, social issues, and themes of companionship were impressive. Certainly as a tone piece, and a setting for the monotonous but strangely captivating gameplay, Death Stranding’s premise is brilliant.

Graphically, too, Death Stranding is astonishing. I could wax lyrical for pages about its photorealistic environments and impressive motion capture, but in brief, this is Hollywood grade production, complete with a Hollywood cast who do a superb job delivering the aforementioned heavy plot notes.

The gameplay is where things get divisive. Part deliver-boy simulator, part third-person shooter, there’s a lot of tedium to get through before Death Stranding either clicks or doesn’t click for you. Personally, I loved rebuilding and reconnecting America, even if I totally burned out on building roads and then nearly freaked out when I realized I should have been using zip lines — all this before trudging my way through a cinematic-heavy final third of the game.

Thinking about it all now, Death Stranding was pretty exhausting. I really enjoyed my time with it, but I doubt I’ll ever play it again and I struggle to recommend it to friends. It’s one of those “it’s about the journey and not the destination” sort of experiences, but I’m very glad to have seen it through.

Game of the Year 2019

Winner: Resident Evil 2

Reviews Editor Zhiqing Wan: In 2017, Resident Evil 7 brought the survival horror franchise back into mainstream relevance. It was a good game, but I was still a little on edge about the series’ future. In 2019, the release of the Resident Evil 2 remake has officially convinced me that we’ve entered a renaissance period for Capcom’s esteemed franchise.

The Resident Evil 2 remake isn’t just a near-perfect retelling and re-imagining of the Raccoon City horror story from 1999; it’s also the greatest game in the Resident Evil series yet.

It’s not a stretch to say that Resident Evil 4 marked the beginning of the end for the series when Capcom implemented the third-person, over-the-shoulder view for the first time. It catapulted the series into a more action-focused direction. However, with Resident Evil 2, Capcom utilizes the third-person camera much more effectively.

Without the benefit of the schlocky fixed camera angles from the 90s to create atmospheric tension, Resident Evil 2 relies on tight spaces, sound, and lighting to bring back that familiar sense of dread.

The camera brings you closer to the action, you can never quite see what’s around the next corner, and you have to rely on other elements to determine whether it’s safe to proceed. More often than not, you’ll hear the danger before you even see it.

While the Resident Evil series has never been particularly great at story or writing, Resident Evil 2 always felt like it had the best story potential because of the way the characters were introduced as average, relatable people, and how you would slowly uncover the second half of the Umbrella conspiracy.

Capcom takes this opportunity to tighten up the writing in Resident Evil 2, making the characters feel a little more fleshed out, with new story events to make everything seem a little less nonsensical and far-fetched than they did in the 90s.

Most importantly, Resident Evil 2 retains the core tenets of the series while also modernizing it for a new audience. Inventory management is critical, memorization of the map layout is hardly necessary but immensely useful, and the level and world designs are satisfyingly recursive.

And above even all of that, it’s just a fun video game to play. Like all classic Resident Evil games, you eventually reach the point where you know the map design like the back of your hand, and your enjoyment from these games comes from being able to beat it as efficiently as possible on the highest difficulty.

Your initial six-hour Standard run slowly becomes a three-hour Hardcore run, and before you know it, you’re blasting through the game like a pro, clearing your A and B scenarios in an hour each on Hardcore difficulty.

Resident Evil 2 represented the best of the survival horror genre in the 90s, and with the remake, Capcom’s back to reclaim that crown.

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Congratulations to our Game of the Year 2019 winner, Resident Evil 2!

Despite being so close to the end of a console generation, 2019 turned out to be yet another fantastic year for video games. Hopefully, 2020 closes out the current generation with a bang as well. We’ll take a look at our most anticipated games of 2020 later this week.

Stay tuned to our front page for our Game of the Year 2019 reader vote where you can vote and let us know how right or wrong we got it this year. Last year our readers and editors had a difference of opinion, we’ll see if that happens again!

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