11. Cosmic Star Heroine (PS4)
I thought I'd be able to lead this off by noting that I believe Zeboyd Games is the only developer that I've played and completed their entire library, but apparently they just came out with Cthulhu Saves Christmas so nope. Anyway, these indie devs specialize in churning out slick, old-school style JRPGs but with modern trappings that respect the player's time (including not being 60 hours long). In Cosmic Star Heroine they break out of the Penny Arcade universe to tell their own spacepunk tale with graphics inspired by the Super Nintendo/Sega CD era and a battle system with hints of Chrono Trigger. Story is fine (light touches of humor without trying too hard); the game really shines in the tense battles and unique characters and how their skills play off each other. Top it off with a pretty great soundtrack, including one of the better "standard battle" themes I've heard in a long while: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DD22y2Ibclw.
10. No Man's Sky (PS4)
This game has been on quite a ride since its release in 2016, including major updates that added a lot of new content. I'm benefiting from coming to it late and seeing all that from the get-go. This space exploration game is truly impressive, with its near limitless planet, flora and fauna generation and ability to just get in your ship and go. Once you figure out how to not die it can become quite addicting as you discover new worlds and materials, learn new tech, and upgrade your suit, multitool, base, ship, and vehicles. This is one of those games you could play forever if you really got into the crafting and building aspects. That's not the case for me, as it did get fairly repetitive after a while (especially once you grok how all the systems are working under the hood), but it is the perfect game if you just need to relax for a while and explore strange alien frontiers (just watch out for those Sentinels).
9. Rocket League (PS4)
Car soccer, all you need to know. I'm marginally better at Rocket League than when I first started, but I know I'll never be great. That's ok, as I am able to at least play a few matches online and, if matched accordingly, not completely embarrass myself. Even though I've never go pro, I can't deny how fun this super simple game is. It's presented very well and the varied car customizations are fun. It'll never be my favorite game, but it'll always be on my PS4 ready to go.
8. DOOM (2016) (PS4)
My experience with classic Doom (actually Doom 2) is inextricably tied with launching the game off of floppies on my Packard Bell 486 before Windows 3.11 started (not enough RAM for both) and playing while listening to No Doubt's Tragic Kingdom as I didn't have a sound card. That might be the most 90s sentence I've ever written. Anyway, while I was never great at old school Doom (iddqd FTW) I ended up really enjoying this modern reboot for managing to recapture the classic run and gun action but incorporating modern elements like leveling up your weapons. The monster-shredding melee and chainsaw kills are also quite satisfying. And there's even some reworked levels from the classic games to discover! Doom 2016 won't burn your brain, but it just might melt your face. Ok sorry about that.
7. Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology (3DS)
I missed this JRPG when it originally came out on DS so I was glad to have an opportunity to revisit it on 3DS. The presentation and battle system definitely harken back to the 16 bit era, but this game's major innovation is the introduction of multiple timelines, wherein your character Stocke has to travel back and forth between them in order to solve puzzles or otherwise alter history of the future in order to progress in the overall story - this works surprisingly well. Some people don't like the battles much but I thought they were quite fun, not very complicated but the ability to push enemies around the field and line them up for killer combos added just enough depth to make the fights enjoyable and not rote. Overall this is just a great homage to the golden era of JRPGs, even if it doesn't quite reach those same heights.
6. The Last of Us Remastered (PS4)
I originally tried The Last of Us back on PS3 but got discouraged during the early stealth section when soldiers are gunning you down (I hate stealth) so decided it wasn't for me. When the remastered version was a free monthly game for PS Plus I decided I'd give it another go. It was October, after all. Spooky. This time it clicked, though I'm not ashamed to say I played through it on easy, as this is the type of game I play for the story and experience, not so much for the challenge. (For what it's worth, I still liked the gameplay on easy, I thought it does a good job of making you feel like a badass survivalist but not completely invincible). Anyway, it's tempting to write this off as yet another "survive in the zombie apocalypse" tale, but developer Naughty Dog really did a great job of connecting you with the characters and consistently throwing new situations and environments at you (I was surprised by how much of the US this game covers). I appreciate how character progression is entirely based on exploring which makes thematic sense. The ending does a great job of wrapping things up but also leaving you with complicated feelings about protagonists Joel and Ellie. I'm looking forward to seeing how things progress in the The Last of Us Part 2 next year. Lastly, fuck clickers.
5. Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove (3DS)
It wouldn't actually be possible to release Shovel Knight on the NES. If it had been, though, it would be remembered as one of the greatest games of all time. This action platformer takes elements from some of that system's most beloved games - Mega Man, Super Mario Bros 3, Ducktales, even Zelda 2 - and fuses them to create something that feels both new and a love letter to that generation of gaming. The action is intense but always fair, thanks to infinite lives but a Dark Souls-esque corpse run system of recovering lost money. Every level throws something new at you but Shovel Knight earns an interesting variety of weapons, armor and skills to meet the challenge. The Treasure Trove package is also quite the value - now that it's complete it offers the main game, 3 substantial side games, and dozens of short challenges that I suck at. It's a must-have for anyone that remembers gaming in the 80s fondly or wants to know what all the fuss was about, albeit with fairer challenge. And just like the classics of old, Shovel Knight throws in the game's best song as the theme of the first level: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqAYMZSOQao.
4. Marvel's Spider-Man (PS4)
It's a great time to be Spidey, though maybe the best reason is the Into the Spider-verse movie. This game, however, does an awesome job of crafting a Marvel-ized New York City for you to swing around in - a great feeling that never really gets old - and fight some crime with a Spider-ized take on the Batman Arkham combat system. I also really enjoyed the story in this one, grateful that Insomniac Games focused on a slightly older Peter and eschewed his origin story. Great Stan Lee cameos in both this and Spider-Verse were real gut punches hitting right after he passed away. The stealth sections with Miles and Mary Jane were a bit of a drag, though not too bad and it should say something about how much I enjoyed the rest of the game that I slogged through them. It was just an all-around fun time that left me anticipating a sequel with Miles as the star.
3. Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire (PC)
It's not a stretch to say that Obsidian is probably now my favorite Western game developer (especially with BioWare currently on um, shaky ground). So it's no surprise that their follow-up to their giant homage/successor to isometric PC RPGs like Baldur's Gate would rate highly on my list. Deadfire brings something new to the formula - an archipelago setting where you get to play the pirate and/or naval explorer, bringing a touch of open world action to the conventions of the genre. Also new and optional - turn-based mode! Finally I could abandon the "real time with pause" style that always held me back in the combat of these games and truly plan out all my character moves. The story and character interactions are great, and your companions' reactions will really make you think about how you interact with the various factions. Now that Microsoft owns Obsidian they are probably off to bigger things, but I hope they're still able to return to this genre that they truly brought into modern times. At least I have The Outer Worlds to play through in 2020.
2. Fallout 4 (PS4)
I feel like Fallout 4 is a game that comes with a lot of caveats. I loved it despite a rather long list of things. The jank and bugs (I was never able to fully interact with the Brotherhood of Steel due to a broken quest). The awkward and clunky base building (fortunately mostly optional). The general lack of satire that helped put the Fallout series on the map. And yet I kept coming back. Exploration, developing my character, finding new gear, headshotting fools, completing quests - it all drove me forward. Post-nukes Boston was a fun setting, one that I've been to in real life so it was fun to visit familiar locales. It may not be the most polished, or have the most to say, but it's just a fun world to explore and screw around in.
1. The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt (PS4)
I'm not sure why The Witcher 2 didn't show up on my top ten list when I played it a few years ago. I liked it but just fell short. Maybe I should go back and reevaluate it sometime (yeah, right). Anyway, The Witcher 3 was undoubtedly the best time I had a video game in 2019. Geralt's story comes to an epic and satisfying conclusion, but it's all the little things you do along the way that make it worthwhile. Drinking with buddies, hunting monsters, tracking a serial killer/vampire, interacting with a bloody baron, romancing the ladies (my Geralt ended up with Triss) - all of it worthwhile. An amazingly detailed world - the best medieval-style cities I've ever seen in a video game - filled with all sorts of nooks and crannies (and question marks that I'll never get to all of - come on, Skellige, really?). The combat is fairly simple but streamlined and improved from its predecessors to the point I was actually fairly good at it - could play on Normal with little difficulty and barely even needed to prep for fights. It's overall quite an accomplishment and I haven't even played the massive expansions yet - perhaps a playthrough alongside watching Netflix's Witcher series is in the cards. Bring it on, 2020.
