The Top 5 Games of 2019

December is here fellow Otaku & Metalheads!

I always look forward to this time of year. The tree, the snow, and just the more lighthearted attitude of the month. This month also let’s me reflect on the games I played, the movies I saw, and most importantly the music I listened to. As I’ve been doing since 2014, I’ll be showing off the top 5 best of each list (Not to mention some Honorable Mentions, which I introduced in 2015 across all my lists), and suffice it to say, I got some surprises this year. With that said, here are my top 5 games of 2019. Let’s play!

5) Dusk (Trailer)

We start off this list with a game that technically came out last year (December 10th to be exact), but I managed to finally play in 2019, and holy crap was this fun! In recent years there been a revival of old-school FPS games. 2016 had Duke’s tour around the world & the return of the Doom Marine, and last year we got this little gem. It’s absolutely incredible as just how much was made with an engine normally used with cheap B-rated horror games released on Steam, yet it doesn’t feel cheap in any way. The nostalgia factor is pretty incredible too, as it doesn’t rely on the player’s prior experience. Dusk opts for a more natural approach to 90s FPS nostalgia, and it’s because of that approach that the game has been rated so high among gamers. If you need a blast from the past, or if you’re not familiar with FPS games in the classic style, Dusk will certainly be worthy of your time.

4) Amid Evil (Trailer)

If Dusk was an homage to Quake & Blood, then Amid Evil is an homage to Heretic & Hexen (Minus the horrendous switch puzzles in Hexen). Coincidentally released by the same studio that did Dusk (New Blood Interactive, with Andrew Hershult returning to do the soundtrack), Amid Evil is further proof that the old-school FPS formula is still a valid gaming style even in this age, and is welcomed by anyone who’s even remotely interested in it. Perhaps even a faster experience than what’s at no. 5, Amid Evil has some of the most breathtaking levels, atmospheric music, wild weapons, and colorful enemies & bosses that I’ve ever seen in this decade. If you wanted to play Dusk but in a fantasy setting, then Amid Evil is the game for you!

3) Ion Maiden/Fury (Trailer)

Even the spirit of Duke Nukem could not escape the nostalgia rebirth. 2013 gave us the Megaton Edition (Base game & 3 Packs, which can’t be bought anymore), 2016 had the World Tour Edition (Updated graphics & brand-new episode), and 2019 gave us the first game made with the Build engine in 20+ years in the form of Ion Fury (Originally Ion Maiden, but Iron Maiden blew a gasket). Dusk & Amid Evil definitely felt nostalgic, but Ion Fury really tug at my nostalgia strings. Fluid movement, stunning & fun levels, secrets that are a challenge to find, gameplay that’s equally fun, and voice work from John St. Jon as the main villain.....what’s not to love!? If there was one nostalgia-based FPS game you can’t miss, then Ion Fury is for you.

2) Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (Trailer)

If I didn’t pull out so much hair, or suffered so many near heart attacks & adrenalin rushes, or almost ruined a few pairs of boxers......then Sekiro may have taken the no. 1 spot on this list. From Software’s newest game takes the Dark Souls formula, and chucks almost all of it out the window, leaving scraps of it that reinforce the new system introduced. Gone is the quasi singleplayer of the previously mentioned games, and instead is now purely single play (Forcing players to get good even more than before). Combat is now a cautious mix between offense & defense, stealth is encouraged when it’s required, resource gathering is even more important than before, and you have to be careful with how often you die. Despite this, I actually welcome all of these changes, as I find it incredibly refreshing. I don’t hide my love for Dark Souls 3, but I found Sekiro to be a strangely welcoming change despite continuing to play DS3 alongside it. Maybe it was the new formula that was put in, or the fact that the new world was fully Asian (Japanese to be specific), but I thought that it was cool that FromSoft could craft something completely new, yet still harkens back to their past. If you wanted a game that’ll make you grow hair on your chest, and toughen your skills as a FromSoft player, then Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is something to play.

Now before I talk about my number one game of 2019, I wanted to briefly speak about some honorable mentions. The two releases that have taken these spots this year are.....odd, to say the least. In terms of quality & style, they couldn’t be any different, yet they aren’t awful in the slightest......so let’s see the honorable mentions of 2019!

HM1) Borderlands 2 - Commander Lilith And The Fight For Sanctuary (Trailer)

I was genuinely shocked when I heard that Borderlands 2 was getting some free/not free (Depended on when you downloaded it) content nearly 7 years after it’s release. For a while it was just rumor, but then the news came out, and finally we got the DLC. It was a perfect excuse to traverse the Pandoran wasteland one last time before we traveled across the universe in search of the vaults. I don’t know how, but I found the story in this DLC to be perhaps the best thing that’s ever been written for Borderlands. I felt way more connected to the characters and story this time around more so than anything within Borderlands 2 or The Pre-Sequel........oh, and the guns are always a plus. My only gripe was that this took place after Tales From The Borderlands, and I never played that game. Regardless, if Amid Evil didn’t come out this year, then it would be entirely possible that Commander Lilith And The Fight For Sanctuary might have taken the no. 4 spot on this list. Still, this DLC was a lot of fun to play, and is a nice sendoff to one of the best FPS titles of the early 2010s.

HM2) Blood: Fresh Supply (Trailer)

Flawed. That’s the best way to describe this remaster/re-release from Night Dive Studios. News about a remaster of Blood had been circulating for a little bit, and the anticipation was pretty damn high. As one of the big 4 of the Build Engine fps games of the 90s (Duke Nukem 3d, Shadow Warrior, and Redneck Ramage are the others), it has a legendary reputation that’s still pretty strong even in the end of the 2010s. With Fresh Supply.......well, it’s not perfect. It had quite a number of issues upon it initial release, but just a week later Night Dive Studios released a patch that fixed some of the issues, and proved that they weren’t going to abandon it. That being said, I loved Fresh Supply! Compared to the One Whole Unit re-release from a few years ago, this was considerably smoother, faster, and despite it’s issues I felt incredibly engaged. Not only that, but this re-release included the Sunstorm Interactive made & produced expansion Cryptic Passage (Something that One Whole Unit didn’t have). With the patches it’s received, it’s considerably improved from it’s inaugural debut, but it’s that factor that prevents Fresh Supply from getting onto the main list....but it’s not a bad game in any way!

1) Resident Evil 2 Remake (Trailer)

Back in 2017, I fell in love with Resident Evil 7. It practically revitalized the franchise with it’s take on the world the older games established so long ago, yet added it’s own little bits here & there to create something new. RE7 was tense, scary, atmospheric, and filled with great combat & gameplay . Enter the remake of Resident Evil 2 (Which I got back in July)......and holy hell was it great! I never played the original version of RE2 back in 1998 (I’m almost always exclusively a PC player. More so back in the 90s & 2000s), so it was a real treat to basically experience it for my first time. Not only does it treat the history of Resident Evil with respect, it also encourages the player to go through it again thanks to the addition of a 2nd character. Said 2nd run also changes up certain aspects, making it not quite a 100% repeat of the 1st playthrough. If there was one game from 2019 to not miss, it’s this one.

And that was what I thought the top 5 games of 2019 were. A bit heavy on FPS titles, but this year treated that genre well. Sekiro & RE2 were the lone exception, but it was so good I couldn’t leave it off here. Join me in a few days, when I’ll be talking about the best movies of this year. Until then, game on everybody!




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If you’d like to look at what I thought the best games were of last year, check out the link below:

Top 5 Games of 2018