2019 was a strange year for gaming, we bask in the twilight years of the PS4/XBONE generation with some of the best, entertaining and downright weird titles that I have ever played. Before we get started, let’s get this out the way. I have an extremely time consuming job, I didn’t get to play everything that come out in 2019. But there was some good ones in there that I can’t wait to talk about. PS: I decided to cut this down to 5 games, I had a lot more to talk about with these 5 in particular and didn’t want to bore you all.
5: Luigi’s Mansion 3
If you have read my past posts, you know I’m a big fan of this hilariously brilliant and unique Nintendo franchise. Of course I was excited when this was announced, after playing the original countless times on my trusty GameCube, I have become a die hard Luigi’s Mansion fan. I will admit that I had my reservations after what I felt was a good but slightly disappointing sequel with Dark Moon. However, once I put this game into my Switch and began my ghost hunting journey, those reservations were put to rest (That pun was unintentional)
This game was a delight, Nintendo really pulled out all the stops with the animations of Luigi with this charming and extremely fun game. The game play was reworked in such subtle ways to make the ghost hunting much more engaging and varied. Nothing was more satisfying that pummelling those incredibly annoying boos with the new slam move when capturing ghosts. The puzzle solving in this game, whilst simple was so fun to play through. But I was overall just so happy that they kept this to one location with the hotel, as well as bringing back the charm of those boss ghosts from the original and how it was sorely missed from Dark Moon.
4: Kingdom Hearts 3
Anyone that knows me is aware that I am quite a big Disney fan. Kingdom Hearts is something that I have a love/hate relationship with. I bought the PS4 collection back in 2017 or 2018 and felt that I was missing out on such a beloved JR-PG. After enjoying KH1 a ton that summer, I was extremely excited to play KH2………..well. I wasn’t a fan. But for some reason the awkward, cringey nature of Kingdom Hearts always had a unique charm that I couldn’t help but just enjoy. I was willing to give KH3 a shot as the game play looked like it was really well refined and just a blast to play. The worlds that were being introduced were also some of my Disney favourites, i.e Toy Story and Monsters Inc.
I was so pleased to start playing this and have it click straight away. The combat was so smooth and so engaging, with amazing looking finishers with the new Disney attraction special moves. The whole game is just beautiful to watch. From start to finish this game was a Disney nostalgia filled blast. Kingdom Heart’s infamously mental story line is something that I don’t play the series for, so I just found the awkward scenes amusing and although I didn’t fully understand the context of some scenes, I still had a blast with this game.
3 Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fuelled
I prefer this over Mario Kart 8. There I said it! Crash Team Racing is a childhood classic of mine, competing with my brother and uncle when we stayed at his are fond memories of mine. Seeing this be remade was something I didn’t expect at all, what I also didn’t expect was the amount of content and love that was put into this modern take on the chaos which was CTR. Beenox nailed that adrenaline boosting, chaotic feeling off the original but with even further crunch and bite to the driving, every race is a complete thrill!
The amount of customisation options for your kart and the amount of unlockables that were included was mind boggling. CTR’s reward system that was placed in initially was so engaging, I wanted to race constantly in my free time to unlock more rewards. It made it even better that the racing was perfected so well and re imagined by the team at Beenox. My only gripe is how they later included micro transactions, but I honestly thought the initial reward system was too good to be true. Also, that blue vortex can do one.
2: Resident Evil 2 REMAKE
Survival horror is one of my favourite genres since my early teens. Due to being born in 1995, I was much too young to experience the classic PS1 horrors till much later in life. Resident Evil 2, however is one that I could never get into purely cause of the controls. After playing The Evil Within 1/2, I was curious to get into the games that those games were trying to emulate, especially with Shiji Mikami leading the first game.
Upon watching E3 2018 and seeing this game be revealed finally after it’s announcement in 2015, I knew that I had to play this game. This is true survival horror at it’s finest. Visually this game is stunning, reinventing those static backgrounds, creating this dreary, tense atmosphere that never lets up. This game made zombies scary again. I never felt safe throughout the entire game, the team over at Capcom reinvented this classic into the modern era and brought in so many new fans. There is few games which feel like they are so passionately created, you could tell the team crafted this with such precision and delicacy. Although guys, Mr. X. That guy was a nightmare, but I’m so happy with what you did with him.
and our number 1 goes to…………
1: Death Stranding
You know when you experience something and you don’t know what to expect? But then realised it was something you truly needed? This was my experience with Death Stranding. My friends and family know that I’ve had a significantly hard time from August 2019 till the end of the year. This was due to family loss, family being rushed into hospital, job stress, strain on relationships. I felt the need to switch off and enjoy the ambience of what Death Stranding offered in its atmospheric and deeply rich game play of travelling from one place to another with proper item management.
What I didn’t expect was to begin crying at multiple points of this game. I won’t be spoiling anything here, but the message of our bonds as humans, the concept of life & death and how keeping connected is what drives us forward and keeps us human was incredible touching. The relationship between the characters was something I shared with some of these family members that I had lost or came close to losing. It made me appreciate the people around me more and in the game play, I felt a new appreciation for simply travelling in an atmospheric plain, with deeply incredible music from the band “Low Roar” and being alone with your thoughts. This was the game I needed but didn’t know I needed in 2019 and this is why Death Stranding is my game of the year.
Thank you for reading!
Flexible Budget Gaming.
Flexible Budget Gaming 