HF Game of the Year 2019 - Nominate Games Now!

[GlassesJacketShirt]

Sekiro gets my nomination, plowed through that one nine times.....okay, maybe only the last seven times.

 

[Shareefruck]

I feel like soulless is such a meme buzzword, and even if I didn't think that way, I would still apply it to the yearly franchises (most shooters and sports games for instance).

And to your last point, I feel that's one of Three Houses' biggest strengths. The Lords you're introduced to all clearly have more going on than what the surface tells you.

And speaking from someone who holds Earthbound in the highest regard, I don't feel like the introduction is all that great, and the game really doesn't pick up until Fourside.

That doesn't sound like what I'm describing. By mood-building/tone-setting, I'm actually talking about the surface level vibe (things like music/sound design, visual composition/framing, timing/delivery, gravitas/pacing, overarching atmosphere, and things like that), not the underlying dry substance/depth/complexity underneath it all (which I acknowledge that Three Houses could very well have, but without these other components, I just don't care, personally).

I love the look and feel of Earthbound, personally. In fact, Ganpuru: A Gunman's Proof is an example of a game from the same era that relies entirely on that same type of look/feel/mood, without having any of the underlying substance/brilliance that Earthbound has, and I'm similarly pretty charmed by its style. Again, I can't think of an example of a game that lacks that component but that I ended up loving despite that. A comparable would be how I'm unlikely to like any visual novel game that looks and feels the way that they normally do, even if it happens to be really well written and well thought out.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

Control

 

[Hammettf2b]

Death Stranding. All other games released this year are lower tiered garbage.

Was watching some gameplay of this and it looked pretty boring. A lot of running around with stuff on your back. Is most of the game like this? Mind you, when I stopped watching there wasn't really any fight scenes or anything to do with combat. Just running errands so I have no idea if the action picks up later on in the game.

 

[Osprey]

I don't think that I've played any 2019 games yet. Call me if you ever pick up the retro polls with 1994 .

 

[Oogie Boogie]

Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Kingdom Hearts 3
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers (I know it's an expansion, but the story was absolutely amazing. One of the best in any game I've every played.)
Outer Worlds

This would be my top 5 for the year that I have personally played, with a few games that I know are good but I haven't been able to play yet.

 

[Frankie Blueberries]

Didn't really play anything from this year that was that worthwhile. If I were to guess what the best made game of the year was, it would be Sekiro, which I didn't get a chance to play (but sounds like it nailed everything and doesn't have any red flags that jump out at me). I hate Fire Emblem's bland and soulless design/aesthetic sensibilities and general thirsty gaze (I don't think any amount of gameplay can save those shortcomings, personally) and think Resident Evil 2 is cool (I like the basic looks, feel, and mechanics of it), but overrated (really bad/cheese-ball writing, intentional or not, and they botched the A/B run concept).

Edit: Oh wait, I forgot, I guess I'll go with Tetris 99 by default. Kind of feels like cheating because 99% of it is due to Tetris being inherently great, but it was a hilarious and inspired idea that nailed and enhanced an already perfect game while getting the spirit of it right (much more-so than Tetris Effect, IMO). Any other year, I'd try to pick something else.

I've been playing it on the Pro controller for a while and the d-pad makes it pretty infuriating. Unless I'm 100% conscious and careful of what I'm doing, about 1/4 of my matches end up accidentally hitting the up arrow on the d-pad and placing a piece by accident, rather than moving it left or right as intended. It takes the enjoyment out of the game a lot of the time.

 

[Shareefruck]

I've been playing it on the Pro controller for a while and the d-pad makes it pretty infuriating. Unless I'm 100% conscious and careful of what I'm doing, about 1/4 of my matches end up accidentally hitting the up arrow on the d-pad and placing a piece by accident, rather than moving it left or right as intended. It takes the enjoyment out of the game a lot of the time.

Have you thought about doing this?

 

[HanSolo]

Fire Emblem.

 

[Nickmo82]

Only new new game I've played this year is Pokemon Sword, and that's pretty dull in my opinion.

Every gamer I know has raved about Fire Emblem though.

 

[aleshemsky83]

Sekiro Smash Ultimate and Outer Worlds are the only nominees I played, Id definitely say Sekiro was the top game, was probably a little overly punishing, especially with the overly punishing early game enemies (headless, drunkard juzo, lady butterfly), I still think its more than deserving. This was a game where you could kind of level yourself up and come back to bosses to make them easier, which i like.

Outer Worlds, it was a nice 10 hour experience, nothing mindblowing, still a fun rpg.

Smash Ultimate, a perfect multiplayer game, also deserving, kind of comfort food.

Only new new game I've played this year is Pokemon Sword, and that's pretty dull in my opinion.

Every gamer I know has raved about Fire Emblem though.

Only new new game I've played this year is Pokemon Sword, and that's pretty dull in my opinion.

Every gamer I know has raved about Fire Emblem though.

All pokemon games are super dull honestly. Even outside of the backlash, I've played most of the pokemon games other than sun/moon. They're just mediocre kids games, people revisiting it now that its back on console are shocked or something. These are super simplistic rpgs with extremely low difficulty. Its like playing a yoshi or a kirby game and saying they're boring, these are nintendos designated kids franchises. They are mindnumbingly easy.

 

[Beau Knows]

Yeah I'd probably go with Sekiro, I didn't enjoy it as much as Dark Souls but it's still an excellent action game.

 

[Crabapple]

Fire Emblem 3 Houses. The most I've been engaged with an RPG in a looong time

 

[Chaels Arms]

Anyone played both Sekiro and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order? I loved Fallen Order but Sekiro sounds a bit intimidating. I played Fallen Order and didn't find it too difficult. Would I enjoy Sekiro or is it the type of game where I'd end up wanting to throw my controller at the wall?

 

[blue425]

Sekiro. From Software are masters of the abusive relationship.

Lias - It's their hardest game to date. Steep learning curve. If you haven't played anything else by them I would say go with Bloodborne or the original Dark Souls first. If you like those then give it a shot.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

Anyone played both Sekiro and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order? I loved Fallen Order but Sekiro sounds a bit intimidating. I played Fallen Order and didn't find it too difficult. Would I enjoy Sekiro or is it the type of game where I'd end up wanting to throw my controller at the wall?

Hard to say for sure. Fallen Order is much more Metroid than Sekiro is, Sekiro is 100% combat 100% of the time.

Sekiro is much tighter of an experience but also much, much more challenging. I'd say go for it as long as you are ok with dying a lot and taking a while to get the rhythm of parrying.

It is a great game once everything gels with parrying.

If you are the kind of person that loses their mind when things get really hard, then stay away

 

[GlassesJacketShirt]

Anyone played both Sekiro and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order? I loved Fallen Order but Sekiro sounds a bit intimidating. I played Fallen Order and didn't find it too difficult. Would I enjoy Sekiro or is it the type of game where I'd end up wanting to throw my controller at the wall?

Sekiro will likely make you want to want to test fall damage in real life, until it clicks. Much like FromSoftware's other titles this decade, Sekiro demands a certain level of mastery from the player to proceed forward. It's initially daunting, but there will come a time where a boss that kills you six times straight suddenly feels like your *****......except for Headless, f*** Headless.

I haven't played Fallen Order yet, but from what I've seen I figure the skill set required to beat it is more transferable to Sekiro than Dark Souls'. Only thing the latter prepped me for was patience.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

Agreed, the Headless are total bs.

 

[SniperHF]

Nomination update:

Fire Emblem: Three Houses	9
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice	6
Apex Legends	2
Kingdom Hearts 3	2
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order	2
Code Vein	1
Control	1
Days Gone	1
Death Stranding	1
Disco Elysium	1
Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers	1
Magic: The Gathering Arena	1
Metro Exodus	1
Outer Wilds	1
Pokémon Sword/Shield	1
Resident Evil 2	1
Tetris 99	1
The Outer Worlds	1

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Keep nominating games, even if they are already on the list

I saw a few mentions of Smash, that's an '18 if only by a few weeks.

 

[robertmac43]

Fire Emblem 3 Houses
Pokemon Sword and Shield
Days Gone

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Nothing.

Terrible game for games.

 

[JWK]

Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Disco Elysium
Planet Zoo

 

[Frankie Spankie]

Metro: Exodus
Katana Zero
Blapshemous
Trine 4
Devil May Cry 5
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
Supraland

I'm surprised nobody mentioned DMC5 or Katana Zero yet.

 

[WeberStreit]

Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled
Gears of War 5
Luigi‘s Mansion 3

 

[SniperHF]

Bump for more nominations