Here’s a fun piece of trivia for you: I played 99 different video games throughout 2019. If you averaged it out, that would mean I spent 3.69 days playing each one. That’s obviously inaccurate and meaningless, but it was a way to introduce the real topic: The Top 10 Video Games of 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like last year, I’m using more traditional criteria again: for a game to be given nominee status, I have to have beaten it, and it must have been released in the calendar year 2019. The fact that I have to have beaten a game to count it is harsher than most critics, but really, if I couldn’t be bothered to finish a game, would I have counted it anyway?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After whittling down the list of 99, I came out with a rather surprising 26 nominees. That’s actually a lot more than I expected. Mostly because I felt like I left a lot of big 2019 games unfinished. That said, TOP TEN, GO! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s the thing: as much as I enjoyed Iceborne, I don\u2019t think it qualifies. It\u2019s a 2019 release, and I beat it, but\u2026 it\u2019s just a DLC expansion. I know that I make the rules, but I don\u2019t know if I can allow this. I can certainly allow it an honorable mention, though!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All that aside, I think that Iceborne is really great. It adds a ton<\/em> of value to Monster Hunter World, though it also has a price tag to match. There\u2019s a whole new campaign, with tons of new monsters, and just as many new features. I already wrote a whole article about this one, so you can go and check it out<\/a>. Iceborne is a little more difficult than I would like in my old age (it is called Master<\/em> Rank, after all), but it was a lot of fun to dive back into MHW for a while.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You know it\u2019s a weird year when a Zelda game shows up on the bottom of my top ten list. There\u2019s a reason for that, though. This Link\u2019s Awakening is more or less a carbon copy of the Game Boy original. Yes, it looks and sounds different, but it\u2019s almost exactly the same otherwise. And that\u2019s fine, because the original is my personal favourite Zelda of all time, but I still would have liked to see a little more new\/changed content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s put that behind us and talk about why I like this game. Link\u2019s Awakening is my favourite Zelda for a reason: It\u2019s got one of my favourite worlds ever. For my money, Koholint has more personality per square inch than any other Zelda. No part of the island seems sparse or boring, everything has a place and a purpose. The dungeons are probably my favourite set in the series as well; they\u2019re all complex but very rarely tedious. Plus, it\u2019s just completely weird, and I love that. Oh, and I guess the remade graphics and music are pretty astounding, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n True story: Pok\u00e9mon Shield was under contention to get on this list for a long time. It was actually going to be number ten, and might have been ousted by Iceborne if I hadn\u2019t relegated that to an honorable mention. But then I remembered that Max Raid Battles exist and suddenly it became a lot easier to place those last few titles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pok\u00e9mon Shield (and Sword) are\u2026 They\u2019re very standard Pok\u00e9mon games. While they\u2019re the first HD games in the series, they still feel a lot like handheld games. There\u2019s the Wild Area, which is completely open and cool (and super laggy when you\u2019re online), but the rest of the game is very constrained and limited. However, the new Pok\u00e9mon introduced for generation VIII are generally really great, and the previously mentioned Max Raid Battles are super fun. Pok\u00e9mon\u2019s campaigns are usually very easy, and I\u2019m not hardcore enough to stand a chance in mulitplayer battles, but Max Raid Battles split the difference by letting you and three other trainers (CPU or human) fight it out against a single super-powered Pok\u00e9mon. It\u2019s literally the only time in any Pok\u00e9mon game that I go into a battle not knowing whether I will win or lose and I am so thankful for that. Sadly, I\u2019m sure it\u2019s a one-time feature and will go away next generation, so I\u2019m going to really enjoy it while I can!<\/p>\n\n\n\n There has been some contention online regarding where Yoshi\u2019s Crafted World places in the ranks of Yoshi games. Lots of people seem to think it\u2019s better than Yoshi\u2019s Woolly World. I think those people are absolutely nuts because everything about Woolly World is excellent. But Crafted World is still a very good Yoshi adventure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a very general sense, Yoshi\u2019s Crafted World is exactly what you\u2019d expect from Yoshi: walk around, eat up enemies, chuck eggs at things, and find secrets. Only this game has a really creative and well-executed theme of being made entirely of crafts. Everything looks like it was assembled out of household objects and stationery. Not only is the aesthetic unique and enjoyable, but it also allowed for the designers to come up with all sorts of fun new stage gimmicks. Even the boss battles are all designed around what kind of material each boss is made out of. There are a few things that hold this game back from excellence (bad soundtrack, tedious collectibles), but I genuinely enjoyed the time I spent with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When I played the first Dragon Quest Builders, I didn\u2019t really feel it right away, and let it sit for like two years before picking it up again and beating it. When I played Dragon Quest Builders 2, I basically did nothing else with my free time between the start and end of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DQB2 is an incredible game. If you need a quick primer, it\u2019s a Dragon Quest game that plays sort of like Minecraft instead of your typical JRPG. The first game is great as well, but DQB2 improves on it in basically every way and stands as a shining beacon of pure delight. What I really appreciated about it is that it does something that few games do: it makes NPCs feel important. For one, DQB2 gives you an AI partner who will help you collect materials and slay monsters. More importantly, building up the towns on the game\u2019s islands will increase their populations. The people who move in will then have needs and wants of their own, but many of them will also contribute to the town by cooking, crafting, or fighting off invading monsters. Each town also has a major construction project central to the plot, and ultimately all the townspeople will rally together to help build it under your guidance. It\u2019s really satisfying and provides a unique sense of community that you don\u2019t typically get from single-player games. Oh and also it\u2019s just really fun to be able to explore a Dragon Quest world in a more adventurey style. More, please.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At their core, the Luigi\u2019s Mansion games are very simple. Go here, suck up ghosts, go to next place, suck up ghosts, repeat until win. But what really makes them shine are all the little details in between those basic steps. And Luigi\u2019s Mansion 3 absolutley nails those moments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first thing you\u2019ll see when booting up Luigi\u2019s Mansion 3 is a surprisingly long cutscene of Lugi, Polterpup, and all the rest going to a grand fancy hotel. Please note that the visuals are incredible; it is significantly better looking than any video game in the Mario franchise has a right to be. It\u2019s also important to note that the characters are absolutely bursting with personality, everyone has these fun little character quirks and they\u2019re all so entertainingly cartoony. There is a constant stream of gags that are consistently funny. All of these things persist for the duration of the game, and make it probably the single most charming video game I\u2019ve played all year. That\u2019s not to discount the gameplay by any means. While the ghost-to-ghost suck-\u2019em-up business is repetitive and does get a little tiresome after a while, the boss ghosts were refreshingly unique, and I was constantly engaged by all the little environmental puzzles scattered throughout. Spoiler: the real reward for finding all the collectibles is the sense of satisfaction you get for figuring out how<\/em> to collect them all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Blaster Master Zero was one of my favourite early Switch games, a classic 80\u2019s title that was thoroughly refined to make it more dynamic and playable. So when I heard that IntiCreates was making a sequel, I almost literally jumped out of my chair in joy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You have to wonder, what could they do to make Blaster Master Zero better? Well, this sequel is really more of an \u201cif it\u2019s not broke, don\u2019t fix it\u201d kind of thing. The game is generally the same as before: a side-scrolling exploration platformer with top-down shooter levels mixed in for flavour. The one major refinement is the world map: now you don\u2019t have to truck through every single area when you need to backtrack; you just choose a planet from a menu and you\u2019re off! And that\u2019s the other thing that really stood out to me: around each world are tiny little plantetoids that each host their own challenge stage. They\u2019re all quite short, but tend to be tougher than anything on the main path, and it\u2019s a lot of fun to figure out and conquer them all. Otherwise, BMZ2 is basically more of the same, and in that case, that\u2019s a very good thing. Except for the waifu robot and plant woman with literal giant melons. Could’ve done without those.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Everything on the list up until this point has been pretty well on-brand for me. They\u2019ve literally all been sequels (and a remake) in long-running franchises that I\u2019ve been crazy about forever. So here\u2019s something a little different. A little<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sure, you could call Tetris 99 a sequel. But that\u2019s not the point. The point is that someone (Nintendo) finally made a Tetris game that has truly made me excited about Tetris. And how did they do it? By turning it into a battle royale game, where 99 players square off to see who will be the last one standing. It\u2019s unexpectedly brilliant, and while I don\u2019t put aside nearly enough time for it, I always have an absolute blast when I do sit down with it for a while. It\u2019s got that insidious \u201cjust one more round\u201d thing going on, where I always want to play another match because maybe this will be the time where I finally win. Did I mention it\u2019s free to play? Sure, you can pay some money for a couple extra modes, but all the important content is free (though you do need a Switch Online subscription), so there\u2019s really no reason not to play. All that is to say, while Tetris 99 is the game I\u2019ve spent the least time with on this list, it\u2019s made an absolutely huge impression on me and I\u2019ll definitely keep going back to it until the servers die.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If Tetris 99 is the game I spent the least time with, maybe I ought to talk a little about the game I spent the most time with in 2019. Well\u2026 is it really even a game? Certainly it has some game-like elements, but really it\u2019s more of an exercise app. And yet here is, at Number 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s no doubt that this is the real wildcard entry on this list. It is in fact an exercise program of sorts, and more often than not I dreaded having to boot it up. But hear me out, there\u2019s one thing about it that really makes it stand out from the rest: it worked for me<\/em>. Fitness Boxing has been out for over a year now, and I am still using it regularly. Less now than I did through most of 2019 because reasons, but it still gets loaded up once or twice a week. Maybe it has more to do with my mindset for exercise being better than ever before, but I\u2019m giving the software at least partial credit here. I still hate exercising, but I\u2019ve found that (shadow)boxing is really my thing. It\u2019s the exercise I hate least, and I find it engaging enough to keep me coming back consistently. I may not always be having fun while using the software, but Fitness Boxing has definitely helped me become happier on the whole by playing a huge role in improving my physical fitness level. Though it could really<\/em> use a DLC pack to help freshen it up a bit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Looking back, I am completely puzzled by the fact that I didn\u2019t include Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment on my Top 7 list for 2017. It is, to this day, my favourite chapter in the Shovel Knight Treasure Trove. Perhaps I should have made that a Top 8 list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n So that was a weird tangent. I\u2019m talking about the Shovel Knight campaign that came out in 2019, here. King of Cards! It\u2019s really good! In fact, it\u2019s excellent! While it doesn\u2019t quite satisfy the same way that Specter of Torment did, it\u2019s definitely my second-favourite, which I suppose makes it perfect to be slotted in at spot #2 on this list. To justify this placement: let\u2019s talk gameplay. King of Cards is a 2D platformer like all the other Shovel Knights, but he\u2019s got a unique tackle-and-bounce move that makes it feel appreciably different. It\u2019s a bit hard to wrap your head around a first, but once you get going, it\u2019s makes for silky-smooth gameplay that I\u2019m sure would be an amazing speedrun to watch (spoiler: it is). Couple that with dozens of micro-stages, each with their own gimmick to test King Knight\u2019s abilities, and you\u2019ve got an absolute master class in game design. To top it all off, this is by a wide margin the most entertaining story in the Shovel Knight oeuvre. It\u2019s legitimately funny, and I couldn\u2019t help being totally charmed by King Knight, despite the fact that he is an insufferable dick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, on this list that is almost entirely made up of sequels and remakes\u2026 Of course we have a remake of a sequel at the tip-top. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I know that you\u2019re not going to believe it, but the honest truth is that I just don\u2019t get especially excited about very many video game releases any more. But RE2 Remake was an exception. A huge<\/em> exception. I was so very eager to get my hands on this game, and I was so very relieved when it turned out to be pretty much all I could have wanted. This is more a re-imagining than a straight-up remake, changing a few story beats here and there, messing with the locations of items and the way you progress. The gameplay also changed dramatically, going from static camera angles to the over-the-shoulder view that RE4 pioneered. Despite that, it doesn\u2019t feel like it\u2019s morphed into an action game, as the zombies are still generally slow and most players are going to find that ammo isn\u2019t quite plentiful enough. I like just about every change made to this game, which is an amazing feat since the original RE2 is my sentimental favourite in the series. Capcom did a fantastic job reconstructing a classic video game, and I really hope that the magic works just as well when the RE3 remake releases this spring.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Here’s a fun piece of trivia for you: I played 99 different video games throughout 2019. If you averaged it out, that would mean I spent 3.69 days playing each one. That’s obviously inaccurate and meaningless, but it was a way to introduce the real topic: The Top 10 Video Games of 2019. Like last … Continue reading Top 10 Video Games of 2019<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,55,12,32,23,27,6,31,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-fitness","category-mario","category-monster-hunter","category-pokemon","category-spooky","category-video-games","category-zelda","category-zombies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/torrentialequilibrium.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/torrentialequilibrium.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/torrentialequilibrium.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torrentialequilibrium.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torrentialequilibrium.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8112"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/torrentialequilibrium.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8708,"href":"https:\/\/torrentialequilibrium.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8112\/revisions\/8708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/torrentialequilibrium.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torrentialequilibrium.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torrentialequilibrium.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}~ 10 ~
The Legend of Zelda: Link\u2019s Awakening<\/h3>\n\n\n\n~ 9 ~
Pok\u00e9mon Shield<\/h3>\n\n\n\n~ 8 ~
Yoshi\u2019s Crafted World<\/h3>\n\n\n\n~ 7 ~
Dragon Quest Builders 2<\/h3>\n\n\n\n~ 6 ~
Luigi\u2019s Mansion 3<\/h3>\n\n\n\n~ 5 ~
Blaster Master Zero 2<\/h3>\n\n\n\n~ 4 ~
Tetris 99<\/h3>\n\n\n\n~ 3 ~
Fitness Boxing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n~ 2 ~
Shovel Knight: King of Cards<\/h3>\n\n\n\n~ 1 ~
Resident Evil 2 (2019)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n