The pace of releases in 2019 (plus holiday sales) has given me a long list of titles I'm still looking forward to playing. I'm already a little late, but now's a good time to put a bow on 2019 GOTY.
2019's honorable mentions are Baba Is You and Cadence of Hyrule.
I played a lot of great games from other years in 2019, and a few favorites include: FFXIV, Dragon Quest Builders, Two Point Hospital, Stardew Valley and The Witcher 3
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I played FFXIV in 2019 starting from A Realm Reborn. Shadowbringers still manages to stand out in terms of story moments and amazing music, in addition to gameplay updates.
Fire Emblem games curiously have zoomed-out strategy gameplay with deeply interesting individual characters. Three Houses continues this strength and builds on it with its monastery gameplay. (The battle and progression systems saw a lot of changes, too.) It's another solid entry in one of my favorite franchises since Fire Emblem: Awakening.
From Software games are known for challenging and interesting combat. Sekiro arguably has the best to date. The settings and cinematics are also top-notch (and set up a lot of epic duels!)
Slay the Spire can be frustrating at times, but its challenge and learning curve are arguably strengths. Its complex synergies often lead to interesting decisions and (sometimes-unexpected) interactions.
I think God Eater 3 scratched something of an action game itch for me. Its AI team is also pretty cool idea, even if mechanically it's mostly straightforward.
Iceborne still has the fun core gameplay of Monster Hunter, with meaningful updates including the clutch claw, new monsters and a lot of great quality-of-life improvements. It leans more into hardcore elements than I'd like, especially the grind of raised rank requirements and the entire Guiding Lands progression.
Astral Chain's combat creates some pretty cool gameplay moments of yanking yourself around a fight. Astral Chain also has a lot of non-combat gameplay. It's not all bad, but too much of it is bland and tedious.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is buggy and not especially mysterious, but its movement feels pretty good and some of its item and enemy designs are fun to play around with.
I didn't love Katana Zero's style, but its gameplay is well-executed. The short levels, one-shot combat and instant respawns all support its super-fast action.
Steamworld Quest has a pretty slow gameplay ramp -- the first half of the game doesn't offer many meaningful deck choices. I still enjoyed the decks I settled on, as well as the eventual progression in this curious card-based RPG.