2019 Games of the Year

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Game of the Year


 The Outer Worlds

The Outer Worlds did more than show that Obsidian is still great at their craft, it showed that video games can be alright without Bethesda. While Bethesda is losing player trust, Obsidian comes along and releases a better Fallout game than Bethesda...again. The aesthetic of every planet you visit works in every way. Some complained about the games length, but I thought it worked better being a shorter playthrough. It took me about 35 hours to complete the game and get just about every side story done. I would prefer a great game be that length than have a game stretched too thin with menial side missions to make it meet some 80 hour RPG requirement. Your companions are memorable and the weapon selection and looting is exactly what you want from this kind of game. The ending was satisfying with a narrated video of how all your choices affected the characters and the worlds you went to. It left you wanting more in the best way. 




Runners-Up




 Gears 5
The Coalition showed they could make a good Gears of War game with Gears of War 4. They moved the story forward while introducing us to a new generation of characters that have to continue the fight that Marcus and Delta Squad thought ended 25 years ago. Now with Gears 5 they have made true innovation to the gameplay with semi-open worlds and game changing choices like Mass Effect. The series has shifted its main character from JD to Kait and that is for the better of the game. No hyperbole, the choice you are given at the end of the game is truly heart wrenching and makes you wonder what lies ahead for the Gears universe. 




 Greedfall

Weird how The Outer Worlds was my Game of the Year for being a better Fallout and Greedfall is on my list for being better than Dragon Age: Inquisition. I know some people would say that is insane to say, but for me (this is my list) I enjoyed Greedfall more. Developer Spiders has not had a great record with previous releases, but some of their games have been fun budget buys. The Technomancer was not a great game, or a good game, but it had some fun in it. They seemed to turn the corner with Greedfall. While it is obvious they did not have the budget of a Bioware or Bethesda, they did have a good foundation for the world they created with an abundance of lore for players willing to converse with NPC’s. I hope Spiders takes this and builds on it for future titles and shows everyone they can be more than just the budget alternative.

 Most Disappointing Game



 Anthem

I don’t do this to pile on Anthem. There have been enough people doing that since the game launched in February of last year. It also is not to pile on EA because if you read Jason Schreier’s long investigative piece for Kotaku on the development of Anthem, EA gave Bioware more than ample time and actually may have given them too much time believing the promises Bioware trumped up. No, I am saying Anthem was disappointing because I had fun with Anthem while it lasted. I played about 40 hours to complete the story and rotating side missions then the game was empty. There was no more left to do except the same missions over and over again. Now I know Destiny’s structure is roughly the same, but Bungie keeps it fresh for players and Bioware was not prepared for the kind of live service (I hate that) game. Chalk it up to the game being made in about 18 months or the myriad of mistakes that led to the game that was released. It would be one thing if I did not like the game from the outset. It is disappointing because I liked what was there then there was nothing else.

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