The best games of 2019 (so far)

Title The best games of 2019 (so far)
Author Tom Chick
Posted in Features
When July 1, 2019

Look, you and I both know calling something "the best" is really just a way of jumping up and down and shouting to get your attention.  It's shameless, I know. But now that you're here, let's dispense with the semantic bait..

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Yay! Tom actually played some Sunless Skies. Which is a really good game.

dammit Tom!

:)

@tomchick request thread merger!

That was some crackerjack timing on both our parts!

-Tom

Qt3ers, half the year is over! @tomchick likes lists just as much as we do, I am sure he is working on his mid-year list as I type this! (I sent him a message a few days ago.) He is the best at making lists!

Behold the 2019 thread, because lists are important!

But first have some recaps:
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015 (can’t find any via search)
2016 (can’t find any via search)
2017
2018

I believe the rule of thumb is that the game must be released in 2019 (or ported in 2019, Nintendo Switch ports everywhere.gif) and it must be version 1.0 , so no early access stuff.

And with half a year over, here are my top 10 for the first six months of 2019.

  1. Tom Clancy’s The Division 2
  2. Slay the Spire
  3. Far Cry New Dawn
  4. Anno 1800
  5. World War Z
  6. Days Gone
  7. A Plague Tale: Innocence
  8. Void Bastards
  9. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
  10. Apex Legends

Other big games released during the first half of the year, which are on my radar but haven’t played yet, as they might end up on my end of year list:

  • Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2
  • Crackdown 3
  • Metro Exodus
  • RAGE 2
  • Generation Zero
  • Outer Wilds
  • Total War: Three Kingdoms

Quick reference to help jog your memory, not all 2019 releases are noted:

What’s on yours?

I notified Tom to merge this, since he posted his list 5 minutes before I hit enter on this write up. :p

My top ten so far (could be revised soon):

  1. Devil May Cry 5
  2. Yakuza Kiwami 2 (PC)
  3. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
  4. Total War: Three Kingdoms
  5. Anno 1800
  6. Stardew Valley (Android)
  7. One Finger Death Punch 2
  8. Sunless Skies
  9. Yakuza Kiwami (PC)
  10. Baba Is You

Other games I played but that I haven’t played enough, or didn’t make the short list for some reason:

  • Thea 2: The Shattering
  • Slay the Spire
  • Catherine Classic (PC)
  • Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition (PC)
  • Death end re;Quest (PC)
  • The Caligula Effect: Overdose (PC)

And I think those are all the 2019 games I bought, so far. On that note, games already released that I want to buy/play at some point:

  • The Outer Wilds
  • Void Bastards
  • Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
  • The Division 2
  • Return of the Obra Dinn

This is a good thread in general to have during the Steam Summer Sale.

Need to add Baba Is You to my wishlist.

Does AsaCreed Odyssey count?

Nope. :)

Damn even though the lice service content expansion has been pretty good.

Hmm, in terms of 2019 games I’ve only played DiRT Rally 2 and DOTA Underlords (and Slay the Spire, if it counts). For various reasons I wouldn’t be prepared to put any of them on a best-of list.

Wishlist-wise I’m planning to eventually get Supraland, Anno 1800, Conan, and Void Bastards, but I don’t see a lot else from 2019 that’s piqued my interest (whereas 2018 is still a rich seam of largely untapped goodness). I’m looking forward to AoW: Planetfall come August and I’m sure there are some interesting fall releases that just haven’t sprung to mind.

  1. Outer Wilds
  2. Hypnospace Outlaw
  3. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
  4. Baba Is You
  5. The Division 2

Woah, what the hell is NITE Team 4 and where did it come from?? I’m definitely intrigued enough to try the demo. Since playing Observation (and their previous game, Stories Untold) I’m totally fascinated by games about learning to use a UI. Most hacking games sail over my head, but we’ll see.

Next to that one dark horse, I’m glad to see the clear candidates from my list on yours, Tom: One Finger Death Punch 2 and Outer Wilds are clear stand-outs for me. Not sure anything will even remotely challenge them this year, but I’ll be happy if something does.

Observation will likely also be on my list. The one that I just can’t decide what I think about it is Heaven’s Vault… It might be amazing? It might be fatally flawed? Apparently it’s worth playing New Game +, so I might do that to see if I can resolve this Schroedinger’s Cat of an opinion.

Hey look! Just when I thought my bank account could get a respite during this summer sale, this article and thread conveniently appeared!

It is, weirdly enough, a Secret World spinoff. (Not from Funcom, though.)

  1. Days Gone
  2. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
  3. A Plague Tale: Innocence
  4. Resident Evil 2

Kenshi is the only game I played for any significant length of time this year (300+ hours). [ed. Oops! Kenshi was released last December.] I haven’t started Battletech or ATOM RPG yet, either. Too busy with other hobbies!

There hasn’t been a lot in the first year that I’m crazy over, but there are some things. I think I’ll have a much easier time filling up slots at the end of the year.

Here are the noteworthy games for me so far (in no particular order):

Metro Exodus
Sekiro
Pathway
Anno 1800
Slay the Spire

Really looking forward to playing Observation and Outer Wilds.

Correction:
“the hacking games [sic] says”