Game of the Year
NOMINEES
Apex Legends
At the start of 2019, the last thing the gaming community was asking for was another Battle Royale. The genre was already fairly crowded with plenty of mainstays including Fortnite, Pubg and Blackout including some failed attempts. Enter Respawn Entertainment and their entry into the already crowded marketplace with Apex Legends
Apex Legends has done something that no other game has done in the modern era and that is to be kept secret until its release. I can’t think of any other title on the triple a level, that was able to be kept under wraps so well. Apex Legends began to leak about a week before it launched when they had an industry hands on session for pro gamers and streamers. What was leaked was that Respawn was working on a battle royale, set in the titanfall universe but without titans and not 100 player count which had become the baseline. Comments to say the least were a little skeptical, with many wondering why Respawn wasn’t making Titanfall 3, why EA was forcing them to make a battle royale and why they would not use titans, which was one the main selling factors of the titanfall universe.
The following week, Respawn announced Apex Legends and released it the same day. Apex Legends was a three player squad based Battle Royale that used hero characters (legends), that featured two other components that made Titanfall a cult favorite including the traversal mechanics and the tight controls. What it also did was take many elements from other shooters and BR games and refined them. The ping system, which had been used slightly in other games felt perfected in Apex by created a BR that didn’t rely on voice communication and instead used contextual hints based on ping. It also introduced the “Respawn” beacon, which allowed you to be brought back into the game, if your team recovered your banner within the allotted time.
The best way to compete with the giants at the top of the genre was to get into as many hands as possible and by releasing it free to play and by incorporating Respawns touch, it was a wild success. Within the first few weeks, Apex Legends had been downloaded over 50 million times. It has done so well that during financial calls, EA has said that the game is the strongest it’s been in season 3 at the moment and that it plans to double down on this game. This will allow EA to take the time it needs on its other shooter franchises including battlefield which will be taking some time off which should help alleviate the pressure, thanks to Apex
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
If Respawn had only put out Apex Legends this year, it would have been considered a very great year for the studio, but that wasn’t enough. What the studio decided to do was make a Star Wars game, which is a very tough market to crack. On one hand games are becoming more expensive to develop which can lead to predatory in game purchases that preys on fans of the series and the collectors mentality they have On the other hand the fan base is very harsh when it comes to games released, especially if it has anything to do with EA.
Early messaging from Respawn was that the game would be 100% single player and would feature zero in game purchases. We have all been sold a false bill of goods before when it comes to video games and their announcements but Respawn stuck to to their word. My anticipation for this game began to rise around E3 when the comparisons began between Fallen Order and Metroid Prime.
Upon playing the game, it became clear that it was a student of the past ten years of gaming. Fallen order has taken elements of the best games of recent memory and rolled them into one package with a Star Wars bow. It featured traversal mechanics from Uncharted and Titanfall, puzzle elements from Tomb Raider, exploration from Metroid and combat from Sekiro. While these mechanics don’t always meet the precedent when taken individually, when combined they are elevated into something much greater.
The excellent fusing of these elements combined with a great story with great characters, which is canonical add up for one of the best games of the year. The detractors of this game is that there are some technical issues that could have been solved with a little more time and polish but were mostly likely on time frame to launch before Rise of Skywalker. The additional press generated from the movie along with good reviews and word of mouth made Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order the second best selling game in November but only behind Modern Warfare. Respawn has created a great base that will hopefully be used for more sequels in the same vein.
Resident Evil 2
What we have seen from past remakes with Capcom is generally a fresh coat of paint but what gamers were given with Resident Evil 2 was nothing short of a masterclass for remaking a game. A game that used the blueprint of the original but added in modern sensibilities, gorgeous visuals and plenty of original ideas.
The visuals themselves would make this game worth a purchase alone as its using Capcoms RE Engine, which we have seen it’s capabilities with RE7, Devil May Cry 5 and now RE2. Their introduction of this engine in many of their games combined with their recent success streak is no coincidence. The lighting creates a terrifying world, where in many instances, your dimly lit flashlight is your only friend. This creates a terrifying atmosphere where shadows immerse you in the darkness. Facial animations during cutscenes and impeccable audio cues throughout truly create a new level of realism for survival horror.
One of the biggest changes and my favorite addition to the remake was full inclusion of Mr X. A huge tyrant that seemingly can’t be beat and is genuinely terrifying. Just when you think you can get comfortable with your exploration or your ammo or you health count the heavy music fades in. You need to figure out a way to lose this unfriendly giant before he kills you but along the way you most likely encounter enemies that you have avoided which force you to use valuable resources. Once again putting you in an uncomfortable situation which is what this game is supposed to do.
It would have been great if they created diffierent, slightly more plausible puzzles for the police station instead of medallions, statues, special keys and hidden staircases but at least it was addressed as to why this station existed the way it did. They updated the rest of the game to add modern sensibilities, so why not change some of the puzzles.
The games core is still what made Resident Evil genre defining in the first place with terrifying enemies, claustrophobic areas, unnerving atmosphere, inventory management and puzzles. Resident blends the line between old and new by keeping enough of what made the game a classic in the first place but changing enough of the game that people who played the game in the late 90’s wouldn’t be able to speed run it.
Being able to take a classic and make it something so beloved is a monumental task, just ask George Lucas and his remasters of the original trilogy, ghostbusters of 2015 or Michael Bay and the transformers. People don’t like it when you take something they know and love from their earlier years and change it. Capcoms ability to please fans, both old and new, shows just how much they love Resident Evil as much as we do.
Luigis Mansion 3
Nintendo released a lot of very good games for the Nintendo Swtich this year including Super Mario Maker 2, Pokémon, Links Awakening, Tetris 99 and many but none were just a fun game to play as much as Luigis Mansion 3. With only two other entries in the series since 2001 when Luigi Mansion was released on the GameCube. The second entry in the series didn’t even get a main console release as it was only available on the 3DS back in 2013 with Dark Moon. It’s quite surprising that this game got released at all with the critical and commercial success of the first two entries. Developed by Next Level Games who are basically first party as they have stated that they will only be releasing games on Nintendo platforms. Having developed the second game in the series clearly gave the studio ideas for what’s worked and what hasn’t in the series so far.
Gone is the similar setting of a haunted house and welcomed is a new high rise hotel with each floor having a different theme. Not all floors are winners but there are some really excellent settings throughout the course of the game. Which isn’t small by any means. Full completion of the game will take you between 15 to 20 hours depending on if you want to find all the collectibles and you really do because they are placed in such challenging areas. The game also has you collecting money which you soon learn basically holds no value as what you can buy in the store is almost useless, but you still keep collecting every last coin because the gameplay loop is extremely fun and addicting.
This game is also thoroughly enjoyed in co op with one of the players controlling Gooigi, a goo based Luigi invented by professor E Gadd. Gooigi has the ability to squeeze through fences, through grates and into pipes. Sometimes these areas are for further exploration in search of collectibles, but sometimes they are required to solve a puzzle and advance the game. The moment to moment gameplay consists of exploration of each floor in search of a key to get you to the next floor and you do this by sucking up almost everything in sight. It’s a sheer joy to go into a room, smash luggage open, suck the curtains off the wall, blow the sheets off the bed and remove every cushion possible. The level of destruction at play in Luigis Mansion 3 is actually quite impressive especially considering how well the games visuals and lighting are on the Nintendo Switch. Throughout my 20 hours I barely encountered any type of technical difficulties.
What you will encounter is such a frustration control scheme. Once you get the hang of it, you have such a good time searching every nook and cranny of the hotel that you generally forget about it, which is testament to just how much fun this game is. That is until later in the game when some tougher boss fights demand precise controls and small timing windows that just aren’t in sync with how the game is fundamentally designed.
Next level games clearly has a passion for this series and these characters as you find so many small touches throughout the game even near the end of a 20 hour play I was still discovering new animations or clever lines of writing. When you are on a floor with music playing, Luigi is casually moving to the music and snapping his fingers. When you are on a descending elevator and you reach your destination, Luigis knees buckle from the momentum inertia. These are just two of the little details that show just how much passion the studio has for Luigis Mansion and the good news is that it comes through.
Slay the Spire
What made Dead Cells such a critical success in 2018 upon its 1.0 release was how well it blended genres to make something that felt fresh and exciting. This is exactly what Slay the Spire does. The team at Mega Crit has seamlessly blended a deck building game, dungeon crawler, and a rogue like to create a near infinite gameplay loop of endless possibilities.
The dungeon path you take will determine which loot you will find which will determine what cards you will need to fill your deck with and this determines how far you will go before your inevitable death. As will all other rogue like dying is not the end, instead you are simply learning which paths make more sense, which cards work better and which relics are worthy. You also encounter many enemies along the way and learning their defenses is half the battle.
Slay the Spire isn’t flashy but it has a style that makes up for the lack of visuals and a very smartly built UI that delivers a lot of information to the player without ever being over bearing. With the amount of information from cards, enemies, relics, buffs and debuffs this is no small feat to make the player always feel like they are making the most informed choice. Even 20 hours in the chance of dying in the first few rooms is just as much of a possibility as dying on the 50th room and that’s because there are so many random elements constantly at play. These elements make each run feel fresh and never allow you to become complacent. Every decision on every run will be important and will determine how far you are able to travel up the spire. Does it make more sense to heal XP or to permanently upgrade a card in your deck ? Should you challenge an elite enemy in hopes of finding a relic that will drastically help you or go to the merchant with hopes that he will sell you the treasure you seek ?
The procedurally generated maps combined with a very satisfying gameplay that will keep you coming back for another run, especially when the average run will only take you about 30-60 minutes. You also have the option at the beginning of the game to choose from one of the three different characters who each play a little differently, start with a different relic and a different set of cards. The amount of cards and relics that you can encounter on your journey seem staggering. You might find a card of a relic you love only to never find it again based on the randomness of each run.
If Slay the Spire has a weakness, it would have to be in the bosses at the end of each act. During your dungeon crawl you will encounter enough variations of enemies where runs don’t feel repetitive. Unfortunately, the amount of bosses you are likely to encounter at the end of an act are minimal does eliminate a bit of the joy and wonder of exploration. The silver lining would be that you are learning what works well and what doesn’t against the bosses. The near infinite possibilities of cards and relics in your hand at any given monent does alleviate some of the pain from the bosses feeling like Groundhog Day.
Control
Control is somewhat of a greatest hits for Remedy Studios. It has taken what the studio has developed over the past two decades and distilled the elements into one impressive game. The crowning achievement from Max Payne was the innovative and experimental combat that showed gamers something they hadn’t seen before. Alan Wake created an atmospheric world which is something that is taken for granted often in gaming. Finally, Quantam Break really took Remedy in a new direction with deep science fiction elements and a narrative story line that tried to blur the line of interactive entertainment. Control is the amalgamation of every thing Remedy has learned.
The setting and atmosphere in Control is something that most games aspire for. Upon your first footsteps on the sidewalk outside of the oldest house, it was obvious that this was something special. The architecture inside combined with level design made the setting for Control a pleasure to be in and not a burden to backtrack. One thing I don’t think Control gets enough credit for is level design because the signs that were posted all over the building were excellent as I navigated the game just like I would in real life without having to constantly open the map. It’s design like this working in tandem with setting, storyline that creates atmosphere and immersion.
Control allowed you to play the game to your style. There were basically two avenues in which you would upgrade your character mind abilities or you could upgrade your service weapon. This allowed you to approach combat scenarios in a variety of options. Even if you focused on upgrading your service weapon, there was enough variation to suit anyone. Control featured all the staple weapon types including pistol, sniper, shotgun, and machine gun, although all were technically the same weapon. As for the mind abilities, Control allowed for aggressive play style with functions such as the launch, which hurls debris at the enemy or a more defense oriented style with abilities like the shield or even seize to take over an enemy who can aid you in combat.
Control also featured arguably the best moment in gaming this year. If you have played the game already then you know exactly which part I am referring to and if you have then without spoiling it is known as the ashtray maze. This moment is impressive for so many reasons. First, someone had to imagine this and put it into words. Second, the studio had to take such an abstract idea and design all the elements. Finally, it worked extremely well technically which could have ruined the whole moment if there was issues that could have broken the immersion. Personally, I didn’t like the music that accompanied the moment as I didn’t feel like it added or heightened the events in any way.
As with all games on this list, Control wasn’t without its faults. Enemy types seemed repetitive by the end of the game. There are some very interesting bosses that you can find in the game by doing side missions which might have been a good way to keep the game fresh if they could’ve been woven into the storyline. Also, from playing the game personally on a PS4 Pro, Control struggled technically at times. I played the game during the first few weeks of launch so it’s very possible that these technical issues have been patched by now. The enemies blasting apart into pixelated matter combined with being able to destroy part of the world with your powers can sometimes be a little to taxing on the game as the frame rates take a nasty dip, sometimes to the point of dying. This is due to the enemies continuing to move on your position but by the time the engine has caught up they have the drop on you. Another issue was that the checkpoint system was a little unforgiving at times.
Winner
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
I don’t think it can be overstated just how much pressure was on Respawn, externally, to make a great Star Wars game. Disney has publicly said that they have been happy with how EA have handled the Star Wars license so far, but the ice on Ilum had to be thin. Especially with the contract likely up for renewal in 2023, which isn’t far off in gaming years and how long a traditional development cycle is. Internally, Respawn, most likely felt like this was a big chance for the studio to prove that it could do more than just blockbuster shooters like Titanfall and Apex Legends.
Fallen Order doesn’t do anything to reinvent the wheel but throughout the 25 hours I was fully engrossed by how Repsawn weaved together many of the best elements of the past decade of gaming with such finesse. Fallen Order also puts forth a terrific canonical story with strong characters, excellent chemistry and a great plot. At the start I was worried that some of the characters were a little too one dimensional but by the end, I was glad to be part of the journey. The decision would have been a little easier if Fallen Order didn’t have technical problems but everything else this game does well elevates it above the problems.
Runner Up
Resident Evil 2
I can’t say enough good things about this remake and how Capcom has treated the Resident Evil license since the release of RE7 biohazard. Even though, at the end of the day it is still a remake, every asset in this game is built from the ground up using the incredible RE Engine which is extremely well suited to survival horror as the lighting effects and audio complete the immersion.
I still can remember the first time I put in the disc for Resident Evil 2 and how it will be forever engrained in my memory. I remember the room, the table and I remember initially starting with the lights off but quickly turned them on as this game was terrifying. It quickly became one of my favourite games and it stuck a chord with me more than Resident Evil, most likely due to its more believable setting (Haunted Mansion vs Metropolitan Outbreak). The fact that this game has recreated that tense feeling but also created something new speaks to the magic of this remake. The way they were able to remove the tank controls and the wonky camera but not make you overpowered is an accomplishment on its own. Memory fades over time, and over 20 years there was a lot I didn't remember about the game. The remake also approached gamers that played the original by changing up enough to not make it a 1:1 remake. The addition of Mr X added a true sense of dread that made an easy hallway venture seem impossible. The ability to board up windows and carry self defence items to prevent surprise death helped move this game into the modern era of gaming. I am looking forward to replaying RE3 when it comes out in the spring and am eagerly awaiting where the series will truly go next after RE7