2019 - Kind of a terrible year for modern games

[+wongojack]

Looking at some of the year's "best of" lists, I was surprised to see a remake of a 20 year old game (Resident Evil 2) at the top of most of them.  If you look at metacritic, the top game for 2019 (which is RE2) barely makes it into the top 20 for PS4 all time:  https://www.metacritic.com/browse/games/score/metascore/all/ps4/filtered?sort=desc

 

I don't really pay attention to multi-player games, so maybe that area was better than ever, but things were kinda bleak for 2019 in the single player department especially when compared to 2018 which featured highly rated games like these:

 

2018 (these are all rated more highly than almost any game from 2019)

Red Dead 2 <- highest rated game of this generation
God of War
Spider Man
Divinity Original Sin II
Assassin's Creed Odyssey

 

Of course 2019 isn't all bad as we got these:

Outer Worlds
Sekiro
Jedi Fallen Order
Resident Evil 2

and er . . . um Death Stranding which you might be excited about depending on how old you were when MGS came out.

 

I usually don't play modern games until several years after the fact, but 2019 didn't really add any games to the top of my backlog.  I guess the industry may be waiting while preparing for the new consoles next year.

 

A minor issue to some, but discouraging to me about single player gaming in recent years is that the storytelling seems to be getting worse.  Studios like Bioware and Bethesda seem to have gone backwards in their big titles in terms of the quality of storytelling. 

 

Thankfully the walking simulator and story genre is well represented by smaller shops, but big budget auteur specialist Quantic Dream certainly did not impress many people with its turd polishing in Detroit: Become Human and Telltale had to close its doors. 

[Punisher5.0]

I would add "Control" to that list.

 

 

[MrMaddog]

It was just a bad year for gaming in general between all the buggy titles and toxic controversies.

 

Some stuff on Game Pass I like such as Outer Worlds which is good for exploration and story.  But for straight up action I actually prefer Borderlands 3*, even though there's stuff that comes off as obnoxious, at least the gameplay's good.

 

My favorite was the Shenmue remakes which brought back good memories...

 

* I know BL3 isn't on Game Pass but it was a Christmas gift to myself.

 

[Tanooki]

I think you're being a bit overly selective, so only PS4 counts for making a kind of terrible year of it?  I mean sure if you look at the meta score there and that skew they have is strange due to letting person opinions change how reviews are weighted, given an 85 is like an excellent game I think under their standards there's at least 15 solid games.  The Switch fares a bit better being a little over 20, but in both cases some are remasters or port/rerelease style scenarios.

[+wongojack]

I just picked PS4 because it has the most crossover.  RE2 is the highest rated game of 2019 across all platforms.  The only switch games released in 2019 that rank higher are re-releases from other platforms or years.

[+wongojack]

6 hours ago, Punisher5.0 said:

I would add "Control" to that list.

 

 

And DMC 5 seems to be up there too for most people, but they still don't really do much to push 2019 above other recent years.

[digdugnate]

i never really thought comparing the years!  if you're looking at games that were not sequels or remasters, there's not very many I think i'd play.  i'm not super huge on multi-player type stuff unless it's couch co-op, and even then i'd rather.. play with myself. haha  

 

i bought a total of *one* XBox game this year, which is a vast change from years past- for all its warts I've sunk about 500 hours into Borderlands 3.

 

my Switch, however, saw a lot of games, and a good number were in fact re-releases and sequels.  a couple single-player games from 2019 that stood out to me were River City Girls and Yoshi's Crafted World, though you could argue that both of them were sequels.  

[Ninjabba]

For me 2019 is the year that I have learned to tone down expectations a lot when it comes to gaming.

Wouldn't say it was a terrible year, my favorite releases make it all up for me at least, but some games I was convinced that they couldn't do wrong turn out to be <subjective opinion> mediocre.</subjective opinion>

 

Sekiro, Borderlands 3 and Astral Chain are my favorites of 2019.

 

Days Gone, Rage 2, Death Stranding and Anthem were the more mediocre experiences for me.. Death Stranding being the biggest disappointment for me.

[+wongojack]

Yeah, 'terrible' is definitely overstating it.

 

I've tried to like the Borderlands series (kind of a lot) in the past. They are great games but just not for me.

[digdugnate]

17 minutes ago, wongojack said:

Yeah, 'terrible' is definitely overstating it.

 

I've tried to like the Borderlands series (kind of a lot) in the past. They are great games but just not for me.

i can totally get behind how you stated your opinion.    The Layton series fall in this category for me- great games, not for me.

[Flojomojo]

The older I get, the less I appreciate so-called AAA games. Indies are more my speed, now more than ever. Really digging Dead Cells right now. 
 

I can't tell if it's me changing, or the industry, but as games become services and lifestyles (Destiny, Fortnite, etc) maybe we should expect fewer big tentpole releases. 

[zzip]

Not surprising, it's the last year before the new consoles come out, so I'm sure a lot of the good stuff is being saved for next gen, and we are just getting the scraps on current gen.

 

For me,  the best 2019 game was Dreams Early Access on PS4.   That's a sandbox where you can create nearly anything you imagine.

[Metal Ghost]

I’m really digging Jedi Fallen Order at the moment. I also loved Gears 5. I can honestly say that I’ve enjoyed every one of those games more than the last. I actually never really got into them all that much (though I did finish each) until 4. Now I’m an actual fan. And for the story/campaign no less!

Good thread....it got me to thinking about what I played this year so I went and checked my achievements. Looks like besides Outer Wilds, which similar to Gears 5 I started on launch day (thank you Game Pass!), looks like everything else was from my archive.


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[digdugnate]

On 1/13/2020 at 10:36 AM, Flojomojo said:

The older I get, the less I appreciate so-called AAA games. Indies are more my speed, now more than ever. Really digging Dead Cells right now. 
 

I can't tell if it's me changing, or the industry, but as games become services and lifestyles (Destiny, Fortnite, etc) maybe we should expect fewer big tentpole releases. 

Dead Cells is a super cool game- I haven't finished it yet, though.  The devs have added a TON of content to the game for free.

[roots.genoa]

Astral Chain, Luigi's Mansion 3, Link's Awakening, Blazing Chrome, The Ninja Saviors... I enjoyed a lot of games in 2019 and I think I haven't had so much fun with Nintendo Labo VR kit since I played arcade games like Let's Go Jungle!

[Austin]

I'd say 2019 was pretty good overall. It seems like some of the "AAA" titles were well received. Myself personally, I dove in to a lot of the indie releases. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, Amid Evil, DUSK (even though it released in December 2018), Blazing Chrome, and M2's port of Cave's Esp RaDe at the end of the year. There were also loads of other games I would have loved to pick up on Switch but just couldn't due to time/money/other focuses.

[Agamon]

On 1/13/2020 at 9:36 AM, Flojomojo said:

The older I get, the less I appreciate so-called AAA games. Indies are more my speed, now more than ever. Really digging Dead Cells right now. 
 

I can't tell if it's me changing, or the industry, but as games become services and lifestyles (Destiny, Fortnite, etc) maybe we should expect fewer big tentpole releases. 

That's me, too.  My top 10 that I listed on ResetEra has one AAA game at 9th spot. That said, it has a "new edition" port, an updated 3-year old game, and an expansion. Not sure if that's a statement on the quality of the games, or the fact that I don't pre-order or buy games at launch...

Quote

1. Fire Emblem: Three Houses - This was great, looking forward to playing again with a different house later this year.
2. The Outer Worlds - The Fallout game we deserved.
3. Divinity: Original Sin 2 Definitive Edition - Didn't play the original edition, and didn't think much of D:OS1, but this game was amazing.
4. Slay the Spire - I've been playing this for a couple years now, the only game, other than TABS, that I played in Early Access. Brilliant.
5. Untitled Goose Game - Who doesn't want to be a horrible goose?
6. Wargroove - A nice substitute for no new Advance Wars.
7. No Man's Sky Beyond - Finally picked this game up after hearing it improved a lot.
8. Vader Immortal - Picked up a Quest over the holidays and got around to playing this. Pretty cool, it's quite intimidating to have Vader walk up to you...
9. Gears 5 - Didn't quite finish the campaign, but I enjoyed what I played.
10. Civilization 6: Gathering Storm - Much needed expansion that makes the game much better. Still not quite as good as 5, though.

I imagine Children of Morta, Outer Wilds, and Age of Wonders: Planetfall may have made the list had I gotten around to them yet.

[+wongojack]

Is this a quote of your post on "ResetEra?"  If so, I think we have different definitions of AAA gaming.  Your #1, #2, and #3 all qualify for me.  They certainly aren't what I would consider to be "indie."

[Agamon]

I see them more as AA. Not AAA, but not indie either.

[+wongojack]

I suppose they are exactly that AA, but I'm too lazy to come up with a qualified definition.  Whatever it is, those studios probably got the same ratings they always have in 2019, its just that their games happened to be the best ones this year.

 

 

[godslabrat]

The existence of "Untitled Goose Game" renders your argument null and void.  I await an apology.  Honk.

[Tanooki]

That goose game should fall into a terrible year, overrated to the max and really not much to it.  The fact people got sucked into that, it's well, a bit amazing.

[godslabrat]

1 hour ago, Tanooki said:

That goose game should fall into a terrible year, overrated to the max and really not much to it.  The fact people got sucked into that, it's well, a bit amazing.

Honk.

[+D Train]

1 hour ago, Tanooki said:

That goose game should fall into a terrible year, overrated to the max and really not much to it.  The fact people got sucked into that, it's well, a bit amazing.

[+wongojack]

Had to look it up