Best of 2019
February kicked off some big releases of the year. Then this year finished loaded with last quarter releases.
List items
-
Based on the companies own prerelease press reports I figured this game would be lacking in content and variety. Good on them as that set my expectations low and allowed me to be blown away by what was delivered.
This is my favorite RPG since Fallout 4. The devs clearly love Fallout series and didn't want to abandon it, as this game has many of it's skills and aesthetics. With the terminals around and story being added to via them. Then there are the skills like carry more, fast travel while burdened, computer hacking, etc.
What really makes this game shine is the unexpected dialog. Like when you deliver a book and are praised shortly followed by unexpected cursing. Then there are the numerous dialogs amongst the companion pairings you take on missions. It's really amazing to have your companions conversing amongst themselves and learning more about them, and the dialog is often humorous.
I'll be anxiously awaiting a sequel. I am concerned though with Microsoft's track record, and worry Gamepass will drive game experiences down either in quality or length. I hope Microsoft made this game more complete and better, hard to know how much was planned before they took ownership of this studio. I mean when you can get a game for $10 (or less with current numerous promos) and finish it in that month I don't think that bodes well for the future of this sort of experience.
-
The Surge 2 is basically Surge 1 with more gear options and new environments/story. Though the boss fights are too long/difficult for this gamer. All the same I've played it through and done a chunk of New Game+. I enjoy the Surge over Dark Souls as I find it more enjoyable to grind out and more comprehensible.
The more gear this time around has it's pros and cons. You can really tweak your custom build, but you have to manage a ton of inventory, and I think way too many choices can be a bit overwhelming. It seems insane to me they add DLC with more gear as if there wasn't enough.
-
Have had a blast with this concise game. Feels like a best of Far Cry 5. I enjoy this more digestible installment leaving out much of the Far Cry 5 parts I didn't enjoy as much.
-
Pre-Release I was worried about greed causing this series to have peaked at release 2. Instead it seems lack of innovation is the issue instead.
Borderlands 2 is my favorite game all time and Borderlands is my favorite franchise, so I am a bit baffled why I've not enjoyed playing 3 as much as previous releases. I think it may be due to the classes and this releases emphasis on vehicles and maps/missions designed needing to utilize them frequently or perhaps the jumping back and forth so frequently via fast travel.
They did add a bunch of cool guns, but it seems they frontloaded most of the (non unique) interesting ones on the early missions and mid to late game they are all normal guns (seems like a bug, but game has been out months).
In past Borderlands I had a lot of fun playing with nearly all classes, this one I really only enjoy 2, and I really dislike Moze, wish Moze had a tree for not using that darn mech as I don't care for it.
I hope some DLC clicks or something as I want to love this Franchise again, as it is I think the Surge my become my new favorite franchise, assuming it has a 3rd release.
-
Contains elements from some great games. I'm not very good at these sort of games, wish there was an easier mode. Even with that though, I really enjoy this game. The gunplay is good, the action is frantic, and melee is adequate. The random layouts, bosses, and loot spots make the game fun to watch and play. The $40 price with no microtransactions makes them game a great value.
-
This game, with it's early preview video, had me scared it would be too difficult, and it may well be late game, but the early game is surprisingly easy, easiest Souls like game I've played (well assuming you utilize the companion to fight alongside you).
I don't particular care for watching anime, but that hasn't been a negative. The story is interesting and aids the game play mechanics.
It's enjoyable having so many build combinations and being able to swap between the different blood codes. It definitely gives extra reason to keep going/killing to learn and master all those many skills.
-
The combat is enjoyable, as is the unlocking more powerful abilities as you progress.
The story is okay, definitely seems like (for a moment) it's going to transition to a more reality based story but then it halts that which is a bit odd. Seems too cluttered with meaningless collectibles as 80% of the found documents are trash. Some of the Motel puzzles I felt are trash and have little to do with story. All these things keep this game from appearing higher on my list. However with all the things I thought could be left out or done better, the combat is very enjoyable.
The new Expeditions DLC is an amazing freebie, extremely rare to get such a great free DLC. That said it's extremely difficult and I personally never care for time limited missions.
All told I feel there is a great game here, it just wasn't structured in the way I'd most enjoy it.
-
The pixel graphics kept me from jumping in day 1, glad I did jump in though as the game is a very enjoyable arpg.
You have several class variations to pick from, each with their own distinct combat mechanics/skills. The zones and bosses certainly favor particular classes, forcing you to mix up and play each character/class to progress through the campaign. Additionally the game adds incentives to keep you varying up your class play.
As you gain xp you get to chose which skills to improve and at certain levels you gain free perk(s) for the entire family.
The varying class gameplay and environments and enemies keep the game very entertaining and to make it stand out it's got a great narrator and story mechanic and flow making it extremely endearing.
-
First PC game I've found with feel of Tactics Ogre and the best of the other console tactics games that used to come out.
This has a very cool leveling class mechanic where each character can have a subclass without slowing the leveling speed of main class. Additionally they gain xp in those subclasses by observing others with those classes in combat. It's a great way to mix things up giving each character a really unique skill set as each class also has many different skills within it that can be developed or skipped. Then once a class is advanced far enough you (at least early on) get options to branch out to a newly offered class option.
The game has more difficulty options you can tweak than any other game I've seen in this genre.
This is a top notch turn based tactics game.
-
My feelings on this game are very similar to The Last Of Us as I enjoy the story, but dislike the combat. Days Gone at least has much more variety in its missions, the story though takes longer to develop.
There are a TON of issues with this game/engine/mechanics, if it had more polish, and gave copies to reviewers a month ahead of release, it could have a been a top hit. As it was delivered, and sadly to this day (I played this game months after release and it seems to have received no love from developer in regards to polish or fixing bugs), it's full of bugs and the controls are janky half the time. Visually I've seen the mechanic shop missing it's table front resulting in a floating motorcycle engine. I've had audio issues where the gate opening keeps playing until exiting the game. I've had enemies die standing up looking like they are still alive. I've had 1 last enemy to kill in an area outside of the mission space. The controls are a mess, and this is the first game were nearly always a shotgun can't hit an enemy 1 foot in front of you, 2ft+ it does thankfully work.
With all those issues the game is enjoyable. I think it's definitely best digested in daily chunks, being forced to digest it in a few days would be miserable. Taken in chunks the story slowly unfolds and the mission pacing and variety I found to be much better and varied than other open world games.
I was hesitant to add this to my list, but after playing it so many days I figured it deserved it's place even though it frustrates me constantly, there is plenty good to keep my returning to it.
Load Comments