2019 in Review
13/03/21 12:51
2019 in Review
I'm always excited for new and interesting games. 2019 was no exception.
2019 saw the surprise release of a RAGE 2, which was the sequel to one of my favorite games, RAGE.
The original RAGE was a strange, buggy oddity. When I finally was able to get it to work, I quickly found it fun. A post-apocalyptic world, with a healthy dose of humor spread throughout, reminded me of the original Fallout games. So I felt at home.
So there being a sequel coming out, and being developed by one of my favorite developers, Avalanche? Sounds great to me! The finished product ended up feeling a bit like Avalanche's Mad Max game, which was fantastic. But then splattered with a ton of color and humor. So why does it feel kinda lacking? I intend to get back into it eventually, since it is still a solid open world game.
Satisfactory has consumed so much of my time, it is unbelievable. A huge environment to explore and exploit the resources, to build machines to make parts that help make more machines to make more parts. And they've been releasing new updates with more and more stuff to do, that I'm sure I'll be spending much more time in this game in the future as well.
Generation Zero was another game I was curious about leading up to its release. A new game from the team behind Just Cause, what could go wrong? A big open world game with robots and crafting. Unfortunately, Generation Zero released in a bit of a rough state. Even though it was supposedly made by a different team, I can't help but suspect that Avalanche bit off more than they could chew trying to release two big games in the same year. Luckily, they are still releasing new updates to the game, and improving every aspect of it. So I look forward to giving it another try sometime soon.
Forager is another game that scratches my "idle/incremental" itch. Although it's a game that you end up being much much more active in. It starts out slow, but after a few hours, you have machines constantly cranking out items, and assistants helping you collect things. There's so much to do and explore in this game, and with new updates still coming out, I look forward to more time with Forager.
Superliminal was a game I was really excited for coming out. I had followed the development for years. A puzzle game entirely based on perspective and size? What could go wrong?
Unfortunately, what could go wrong is them trying to force an awkward story into the game, which really just brought down the entire thing. Not to mention that some puzzles were so obtuse that it was more frustrating than fun. Oh well. Seems many people ended up really liking it, so good for them.
I spent hundreds of hours playing Borderlands 2, so when a new Borderlands game was coming out, I was pretty excited. However, sometimes you try playing a game and just can't "get into it". That was the case for Borderlands 3. It wasn't until sometime in 2020, I think, where I was playing it with my friend, and we were able to get through the whole game, and most of the DLC stories. It was definitely more fun being able to play with a friend, but I think I've now had my fill of the Borderlands franchise, and won't be too eager for any future games. But that may just be me.
Wolfenstein: Youngblood was a surprisingly great game. Definitely one of those games that a lot of the enjoyment comes from playing with a friend. Jess and Soph make for a fantastic team, and the fun way they interact with each other in between levels helps bring you into the mood of the game. And it's also very satisfying to be able to just kill some bad guys. Perfect stress reliever for 2019, don't you think?
Telling Lies was the long-awaited next game from Sam Barlow. The "keyword search" system, where you basically mentally piece together parts of the story based on a limited amount of information. And furthermore, you're only seeing one side of a conversation at any time. By the end of the game, you've learned about this complex web of spies and lies. It's a pretty solid experience. I look forward to Mr. Barlow's next game.
Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan was an interesting and unique co-op game, that was more like an interactive movie. Definitely worth playing with a friend, where both people are controlling part of the story separately, and then you can see at the end how the two parts impact each other.
A few honorable mentions, Untiled Goose Game, Baba Is You, and Pikuniku. Fantastic indie puzzle games.
Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order, Pokemon Shield, and Luigi's Mansion 3 are all games that I've played a fair amount of, and I can see they're great games, but I haven't gotten around to fully giving them the time they deserve. So I look forward to spending some more time with them eventually, and maybe give them a proper full view.
I've kind of saved the best for last. Dragon Quest Builders 2, and Dragon Quest XI. Two games in the Dragon Quest franchise, both vastly different, but still drenched with the charm that one would expect from Dragon Quest. These games are highly recommended by me, and I intend to give them a separate post to themselves.
So that's kind of a condensed review, but not really a review, of the majority of the games I played in 2019.
Onward to 2020!
I'm always excited for new and interesting games. 2019 was no exception.
2019 saw the surprise release of a RAGE 2, which was the sequel to one of my favorite games, RAGE.
The original RAGE was a strange, buggy oddity. When I finally was able to get it to work, I quickly found it fun. A post-apocalyptic world, with a healthy dose of humor spread throughout, reminded me of the original Fallout games. So I felt at home.
So there being a sequel coming out, and being developed by one of my favorite developers, Avalanche? Sounds great to me! The finished product ended up feeling a bit like Avalanche's Mad Max game, which was fantastic. But then splattered with a ton of color and humor. So why does it feel kinda lacking? I intend to get back into it eventually, since it is still a solid open world game.
Satisfactory has consumed so much of my time, it is unbelievable. A huge environment to explore and exploit the resources, to build machines to make parts that help make more machines to make more parts. And they've been releasing new updates with more and more stuff to do, that I'm sure I'll be spending much more time in this game in the future as well.
Generation Zero was another game I was curious about leading up to its release. A new game from the team behind Just Cause, what could go wrong? A big open world game with robots and crafting. Unfortunately, Generation Zero released in a bit of a rough state. Even though it was supposedly made by a different team, I can't help but suspect that Avalanche bit off more than they could chew trying to release two big games in the same year. Luckily, they are still releasing new updates to the game, and improving every aspect of it. So I look forward to giving it another try sometime soon.
Forager is another game that scratches my "idle/incremental" itch. Although it's a game that you end up being much much more active in. It starts out slow, but after a few hours, you have machines constantly cranking out items, and assistants helping you collect things. There's so much to do and explore in this game, and with new updates still coming out, I look forward to more time with Forager.
Superliminal was a game I was really excited for coming out. I had followed the development for years. A puzzle game entirely based on perspective and size? What could go wrong?
Unfortunately, what could go wrong is them trying to force an awkward story into the game, which really just brought down the entire thing. Not to mention that some puzzles were so obtuse that it was more frustrating than fun. Oh well. Seems many people ended up really liking it, so good for them.
I spent hundreds of hours playing Borderlands 2, so when a new Borderlands game was coming out, I was pretty excited. However, sometimes you try playing a game and just can't "get into it". That was the case for Borderlands 3. It wasn't until sometime in 2020, I think, where I was playing it with my friend, and we were able to get through the whole game, and most of the DLC stories. It was definitely more fun being able to play with a friend, but I think I've now had my fill of the Borderlands franchise, and won't be too eager for any future games. But that may just be me.
Wolfenstein: Youngblood was a surprisingly great game. Definitely one of those games that a lot of the enjoyment comes from playing with a friend. Jess and Soph make for a fantastic team, and the fun way they interact with each other in between levels helps bring you into the mood of the game. And it's also very satisfying to be able to just kill some bad guys. Perfect stress reliever for 2019, don't you think?
Telling Lies was the long-awaited next game from Sam Barlow. The "keyword search" system, where you basically mentally piece together parts of the story based on a limited amount of information. And furthermore, you're only seeing one side of a conversation at any time. By the end of the game, you've learned about this complex web of spies and lies. It's a pretty solid experience. I look forward to Mr. Barlow's next game.
Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan was an interesting and unique co-op game, that was more like an interactive movie. Definitely worth playing with a friend, where both people are controlling part of the story separately, and then you can see at the end how the two parts impact each other.
A few honorable mentions, Untiled Goose Game, Baba Is You, and Pikuniku. Fantastic indie puzzle games.
Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order, Pokemon Shield, and Luigi's Mansion 3 are all games that I've played a fair amount of, and I can see they're great games, but I haven't gotten around to fully giving them the time they deserve. So I look forward to spending some more time with them eventually, and maybe give them a proper full view.
I've kind of saved the best for last. Dragon Quest Builders 2, and Dragon Quest XI. Two games in the Dragon Quest franchise, both vastly different, but still drenched with the charm that one would expect from Dragon Quest. These games are highly recommended by me, and I intend to give them a separate post to themselves.
So that's kind of a condensed review, but not really a review, of the majority of the games I played in 2019.
Onward to 2020!