Pretty sure I only managed to finish this due to the C19 lockdown. Can't remember too much of 2019 but it had some amazing games. A selection of which are below:
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In a year of some very well written games Sunless Skies takes it for me with its wild imagination on top of its elegant and often hilarious prose. Layer some unique and gorgeous visuals, music and a refined rework of Sunless Seas' smart survival adventuring on top and you get the black forest gateau of gaming.
Every year demands new ways to placate my tyrannical megalomania and 2019's Total War outing was my pick of the bunch. The setting isn't as immediately compelling to me as Warhammer but its just as good and as compelling as any Total War game to date.
Came out of nowhere thanks to duder and wordsmith SparkyBuzzsaw. A short but affecting neon adventure through the eyes of the last human cabbie. Amazing characters, compelling conversations and intrigue held me from start to finish in one unforgettable sitting.
After two games worth of grim underground hiking Metro heads overground and for all the (eventual) colour and brightness it remains a engaging and moody march through a hostile wilderness punctuated with some of the best moments in the series.
Fire Emblem combat has always been excellent, and with Three Houses' superlative character building and class mechanics it was always going to be the story and characters that made the difference between being merely good and being special. It nearly gets there with some of the best characters of the series but let down a touch with some wonky storytelling.
Beating The Surge 2's finishers for my 'psychotic yet oh so satisfying' award. It helps that MK is such utter nonsense that its Bathorific proclivities are glorious and only so slightly disturbing. Shame about the Krypt though, a blight in an otherwise fun orgy of violence.
As a big RPG lover 2019 felt a quite barren year. Having resigned myself to the death of the Pillars series after the infuriatingly good Deadfire, The Outer Worlds at least managed to scratch a similar itch for me. I'm not always a big fan of Ashly Burch but Parvati was something else.
Stands alongside Dusk as one of the great FPS titles of recent years. The speed and freedom of movement is absurdly fun and brings into focus my best friend's lament of the classic old school shooter. Also a big fan of the ever more psychedelic levels as you progress.
Classic point and click loveliness; engaging characters, a unique setting, interesting themes and puzzles that don't turn my teeth to dust. The power of AGS in full effect and another great adventure game to add to the now dizzying pile from the last few years.
I was a big fan or the original RE remaster and RE2 felt a lot like that but brought into the third person. Intricate level design, secrets, atmosphere and a nice balance between action and more traditional survival horror. That being said, it's not scary, but is a whole lot of fun.