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kanelflarn

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kanelflarn's Game of the Year 2019

Honorable mentions:

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order - A strong start for an interesting story, accompanied with some gameplay design that throws me back to past generations. In a bad way. Yet, somehow the combat has the flow that tickles my Jedi fantasy and keeps me wanting more. Then I remember the platforming inbetween.

Trials Rising - The step back up the Trials series needed after Fusion. Rising hooked me the way Trials haven't done in a while. Still, another modern game littered with micro transactions. Can't feel good about that.

Astroneer - Style and wonder. I should've liked this game more than I did, but had difficulties progressing which I haven't heard others having. Otherwise I would've gladly given Astroneer more of my time.

Telling Lies - Too many games, too little time. Really liked Her Story and was hyped for Telling Lies. The mystery starts off immediately. One major flaw is that now the one-sided conversations leaves long silences with the actor staring into the camera and it's just annoying waiting without any playback control.

On to the actual list:

List items

  • Went a long while convinced this type of game is not for me. Glad it exist though.

    Finally I had heard enough opinions about it and begun to realize what Outer Wilds actually is. I have little patience for time loops in games, having to replay anything at all. That's not what this game is about. It starts off quite slow but after the introduction, the first iteration, the mystery hooked me. It's about exploring the universe one trip at a time. Not being lost for hours on an offset moon somewhere. On to the next piece in the puzzle. It's that feeling of going off somewhere and my exploration - intended or otherwise - is rewarded.

    Being "run based", enough progress is stored between the iterations to help me focus and feel that every session matters. Being the kind of game where with the right information you could go to the end game credits directly, Outer Wilds has been haunting me while not playing. The entirity excquisitly topped with a perfect soundtrack and mood.

  • Creative. Simple. Clever.

    Going from feeling really smart after one level, to feeling really stupid the other. And so on. Excellent game to co-play with the SO, and never I have played a game that's so easy to pick back up after some time because all the rules of the level are all explicit.

  • Anno is back to the past! The aestethic that makes the series work hasn't been there with the installments set in the future for some reason. What makes Anno work for me is the warmth and detail of the world which makes me care for it. I want to make it flow and look beautiful.

    It has an okay campaign functioning as a glorified tutorial wearing out its welcome. Furthermore the game has plenty of quality of life features that I as a veteran have wished for or even didn't know I wanted. With update 6 that arrived 6th of december the game finally received co-op mode. Since then me and a friend has plowed hours into a map of wonderful, longed for, Anno-goodness.

    Anno 1800 is simply the culmination of the best things the series has offered over the years.

  • The metroidvania of the year. Just the right amount of progress to feed my interest in the game. Not the game with a gripping story, it's the one with pure fun.

  • While I haven't finished Control (and it feels like I should to rate it properly) my time with it has been intriguing. It does not wait to bait with weird. It takes way too long to actually feel like a metroidvania. Amazing looking game which made me seriously consider an RTX upgrade for a while. Still does. Bogged down by forced frustration.

  • Charm packed into a game. First off, I would not have finished Link's Awakening if it wasn't for having my partner egging me on and giving me hints to progress when needed. It oozes of game design from the past. It also oozes of the simplicity and joy as well. This helped me like Zelda games more.

  • For the small amount of time I've played Disco Elysium it managed to convince me of what it does. One of the most interesting games this year with it's aestethic and soundtrack, able to portray mental issues by simple means to someone who could not relate and still find it engaging.

  • Obsidian Entertainment does writing like no other. If just Bethesda could help them build an interesting world to explore. I didn't mind the smaller maps but sneaking around the props should put me there in the world and teach me what it's about. The branching is kind of worn on the sleeve but that's also the charm of the genre and it's handled with grace.

  • It's with annoyance I add Luigi's Mansion 3 to this list. Major parts of this game is just frustrating, no fun and sometimes unworthy of Nintendo. That which forces me to include it is the brilliant moments of coop fun and it just works. After many many control settings tweaks to find a decent setup.

  • Forager is the semi active clicker. By far the worst game that has taken the most of my time this year. So easy to start the Switch and gather a bit more. Craft this. Unlock that.

    When it comes down to it, the progression feels like happenstance. End game becomes uninteresting. Controls on console is an obvious afterthought and precision takes 3 minutes instead of 2 seconds.

    With that said, I had really fun playing it.
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