So, after checking a few of the games I've played this year I can almost make a list of my favorite 2019 games because a I only played a few games this year that actually released on it. Most of what I've played was random other things but, honestly, some of these make the list because they fit the criteria more than because they are actual favorites. That's not to say that I didn't love any, just that I kinda had to lower my standard so calling them 'favorites' might be a bit of a stretch for some of these. Other, definitly loved them. Just not as many as previous years.
I didn't even get through all of my 2019 purchases, either. I still have to get through √ Letter, Alliance Alive, Yu-No, Aladdin/Lion King and whatever else I got on sale on Black Friday so I haven't gotten through all of them, yet.
So, in no specific order.
Will -A Wonderful World-
This chinese game was on sale on the Switch for $2 one day and I game it a go. I knew that the game was supposed to have a PS4 release but it was just not coming, and there was no news as to why it didn't hit the release date and I prefer my games on the PS4, but, for $2 I wasn't going to complain.
This game turned out to be tremendously dark, even brutal, and rather beautiful. With Playstation's need for censorship it's no wonder that they weren't keen on releasing it, and I mean dark. It's a text driven game so it's basically a pick your own adventure novel with a few illustrations. For all of its brutality, though, the game was equally emotional and beautiful. Bold, even if at times pretty melodramatic, but it makes all of it very memorable. I was so impressed with it I paid a lot more money to get it a physical copy on the PS4. The big issue, though, is that is you get stuck it is not clear what you have to do. It's so vague and unintuitive that you are sometimes left seriously considering just calling it quits. Once I was done I was tremendously happy with it all, even if it didn't give me the endings I was hoping for. Plus, it's always nice to see Mexicans in video games, since we don't get much attention outside of the fighting circuit.
Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown
It was ok. I honestly thought it was going to be a more interesting aerial combat simulator but it really didn't do anything so great that I will keep it after I'm done with it. It's fun and pretty but nothing so revolutionary that it's a must. I really want to try the VR mode but I'm not so rich that I can afford all of these games plus an VR headset.
The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince
Two of my favorite games on the Vita, gems of gaming that don't get the love they deserve, were htoL#NiQ: The firefly Diaries and A Rose in the Twilight, so I was extra excited to learn that they had a 3rd game releasing this year. The thing is, those games are brutally hard. I've Platinumed Bayonetta, Bloodborne and DMC1 & 3 so when I say hard you can take me at my word. This game was not. Not only was it easy but it was short. I platinumed this game with all but no difficulty. Aside from one frustrating puzzle the game was one of my easiest platinums.
All that aside, this was a beautiful fairy tale. This was a love story that I didn't think I'd see again in this day and age. Both tragic and wonderful and hopeful. It impacted me so much that when I have a child I will play this game with them or at least read them that book it came with. In both a fairy tale and a game, this title is the definition of bittersweet.
Sayonara Wild Hearts
I already made made a video about my thoughts on this game, it's on that thread. Not sure there is much else to say.
OniMusha
Loved it then, love it now. There is this bunch games I group together with DMC1. REmake, RE2 & 0, Haunting Ground, Dino Crisis and this game. Most of them were projects Shinji Mikami was involved in in some way shape or form. Him or others who worked on DMC1. Small company, back then. What I put them together as isn't something tangible or clear like gameplay or elements. Yeah, they all have fixed cameras, they are all horror games to some extent and they are all structured in a very similar way but to me it is their presence, their personalities that are similar. It's a feeling. I know it's rather arbitrary, to group them together because they 'feel' similar. To me it's what makes them special. Even PN03 and Killer 7 had a bit of it and I wish I could find it in something modern but it's gone now. They will never make games that feel like them and I know how it sounds, to chase a feeling and even miss it, but to me it's not arbitrary and this game is one of the relics to that feeling and it made me happy so see it's not forgotten.
A re-release, I know, but still a 2019 one. Not only is this game all of that but it's also a historically significant game. Takeshi Kaneshiro was the first human to have his likeness put on a video game.
Catherine: Full Body
Honestly? I preferred the original. I'm super happy it got made and I loved playing it again but there is just something off about this version. The original was the right balance of C and K but here we depart from them and almost forget they are involved until they come back. It's an issue the original didn't have and it throws the whole thing out of alignment. It's not an unforgivable sin but it is something the original didn't have as an issue. Still a great game, though. Not sorry it exists and regret nothing for playing it.
After Party
I mentioned before that I be getting old because the dialogue of this game, which is so hipster/millennial that I want to punch every character in the face for it. I thought about it for a bit and realized I'm just burned out on it. It's such a common thing that you are more likely to find something with it than without it. Doesn't mean I'm not getting old, just that that wasn't the reason. Once I got passed my need to hit people, though, I had a good time. It's actually a rather clever game. Stiff and in severe need of polish, but the end result was not too shabby. A surprising amount of heart for some of the most obnoxious dialogue I've heard this year.
Code Vein
I have to admit, this is a gorgeous game. At first the game seems to be rather plain with only the character creation being of any noteworthy but the further you go in the more interesting the stages get the more visually fascinating it all becomes. If nothing else the game is worth playing just for its world and creatures.
Other than that, though, the game wasn't really selling me. As soon as I beat it I traded it in. It wasn't bad, just didn't hold my attention.
Other than that I feel rather meh about the other big releases. I've already talked about DMC5 to death, RE2 just didn't speak to me and Sekiro is like learning a new language I don't actually have an interest in. Astral Chain wasn't bad but, again, it just didn't stick with me. Just beat Bloodstained and, yeah, good, but I'm never playing this again so I'm returning it. People love them and I still have them but I don't know if I will play them again or which I'll even keep. Maybe Astral Chain, don't think I'll get rig of that one, but none of them will actually become a next favorite of mine. Just not the year I'd hope for the action genre.
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