♫It was a very good year…♫
2019 has come and gone, and it’s time to remember it with some of my favorite games of the year. In case you’re wondering, that’s not 2017’sNieR: Automatain the header. It’sFinal Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers‘NieR-themed raid. Yeah,FFXIVkind of brought it in 2019.
You know the drill. Some of these are going to bebasic, a few are going to be out-there. Let’s go.
Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers
This is probably the most basic choice of them all, because this is the year people actually figured out thatFinal Fantasy XIVhad been quietly killing it for ages.
I’ve seen countless “maybe I should check outFFXIVat some point” comments turn into “it’s time to play” sentiments due tothe sheer quality of theShadowbringersexpansion, and there’s a reason for that. Square Enix slowly but surely built up an incredible narrative over the course of half a decade and change, and delivered on nearly every story beat in a way that would put Damon Lindelof to shame.
While some of the under-the-hood elements ofFFXIVare a little too archaic for their own good,Shadowbringersmore than justifies its subscription price. And we’re far from the end of the tunnel here.
World of Warcraft: Classic
Whoa, two MMOs?! What am I, an MMO writer or something?
I spend a lot of time immersed in giant worlds; sometimes with friends, oftentimes completely alone. MMOs offer some of the most serene and pure experiences available, and getting back intoclassicWorld of Warcraftwas an utter treat.
Although many of its systems have been since surpassed,WoW: Classicis a glorious experiment in preserving part of history.Sure things won’t be the same, but that’s okay. Game preservation is important, and even if this iteration eventually goes offline, we’ll always remember it.
Telling Lies
I don’t have much to say here aboutTelling Liesas I could easily venture into spoiler territory, but suffice to say I had a hell of a time playing it.
Part old school text adventure game, part high-quality TV drama,Telling Liesreally hit the spot in an era of oversimplified puzzle games and kept me coming back time and time again.
Devil May Cry 5
I could probably just post aBillie Jean gif here of Dante dancingand say “nuff sayd” and get away with it. But it’s really, really nice to seeDevil May Cryback in the saddle.
Look, I don’t hateDmC; the cross-generational re-release actually fixed things mechanically and the Vergil DLC kind of rocked. But it also had an extremely try-hard story that just didn’t get what made the series so special in the first place.
DMC Vbrought it all back in a big way, even topping the efforts ofDevil May Cry 4before it. It took a few risks, had some genuinely surprising moments, and made us feel like collective badasses more than any other game this year.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
Playing a From Software game completely blind pre-launch has been one of my yearly highlights since 2009’sDemon’s Souls.
It’s not so much the pride from besting the unknown (although that’s a thing), it’s the complete and utter terror of isolation that excites me. No guides, no chatter, no “do this first” tips (though I contributed at least one world first for those!): just me and a brand new terrifying world. Given thatSekirohas no real multiplayer component, it makes it even more harrowing.
This is anotherbasicchoice.Sekirowon top honors at The Game Awards, so you probably don’t need me to sell you on yet another “Souls-like.” Yet here it is, special to me in its own way. Now for something completely different.
The Lord of the Rings: The Card GameandMarvel ChampionsLCGs
For the third year in a row theLord of the Rings LCGis present in my personal game of the year list, and it’s joined by a newcomer:theMarvel ChampionsLCG.
If you haven’t been following along, LCG stands for “Living Card Game,” a model divined by Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) that allows for specific boxed products that eschew the blind box model of CCGs: you know exactly what you’re getting in each pack. While the LCG model is used for several competitive-based lines, the real draw for me is the co-op scene, best highlighted through theLord of the Rings,MarvelandArkham Horrorproperties.
Lord of the Ringsand Tolkien’s Legendarium as a whole means a lot to me, and the game really nails the whole “Fellowship” theme with an emphasis on comradery. Likewise,Marvel Championshas a knack for providing really powerful singular hero moments, while navigating the fantasy of resourceful alter-egos (each hero can flip forms once per turn). After several yearsLOTR LCGis still my favorite game (of any category), andMarvelis creeping up there.
