Review #735: Star Wars - The Force Unleashed II

 It's not about how long your Force is, but rather, how you use it.

 The Force unleashed was ambitious, I'll give it that. They aimed for an epic storyline that would unravel the origins of the Rebellion, as well give players access to the full power of the Force. I can't speak for the game then, but it hasn't aged very well, and the story was sort of a mess. Star Wars - The Force Unleashed II is a weird one, the ambition is barely there and it tried very little to stand out from the first game, and yet....

 The first game's story was very poorly told. Just the fact that Darth Vader would, apparently, go against orders to get himself an apprentice, only to use him to create an alliance to fish out the Empereror's enemies could've worked with a little more exposition, but the story moved very quickly and felt like it left a lot of stuff out. Well. the developers dropped all pretense of having an epic story, having you playing as Starkiller or a clone of him, the developers couldn't commit to either so they left it ambiguous, as he is trained by Vader, again, because reasons. But memories of his past lover haunt him, so he breaks free from Vader's leash and sets out to find Juno, meeting all sorts of characters from the previous game in the process. There's nothing tying this game to the original trilogy, so they weren't really aiming on expanding the Star Wars universe, as the plot is just an excuse to let you play as Starkiller again. Heck, the game is barely 4 hours long, and they tried to pad out the game with unlockable challenges.

 The story is as uninspired as it gets, but, thankfully, gameplay has been tweaked and polished, making for a much more fun game. The graphics are fantastic, making the first game look like a beta, the framerate is smoother and hitting stuff with your sabers, since Starkiller wields two of them now, feels much better. It's not just the audiovisual feedback that you get from landing hits, but you can actually dismember enemies now, which is amazing. QTEs return, and they are a bit more obnoxious than before since you have to pay attention to the borders of the screen instead of waiting for a prompt on the center of the screen. God of War did this too, but they'd add a black border alongside the button prompt so that there was no way you wouldn't see it.

 The game plays pretty much exactly the same, square are your attacks, triangle is force lightning, circle is force push, R2 to force grip stuff, yadda yadda, but the targetting system works much better in this game than in the previous one. Quite a few attack combos were added, relying on waiting a bit between square inputs, but, at least on the normal difficulty setting, it didn't feel like there were opportune moments to use them instead of the basic Square-triangle combos. Two new additions were made to Starkiller's arsenal: Jedi Mind Trick, which makes an enemy fight for you for a short while, and the mandatory super mode, Force Fury. I barely even used Force Fury, since it wasn't very useful during boss fights and I could manage just fine throughout most fights in the game.

 Just like in the previous game, there are quite a few outfits to unlock, although you don't get one per level you get a ton by finishing the game under different settings or completing challenges. There are a few more lightsaber colors, as well as shades of them, and you can have a different color con each blade, which is very, very cool.

 "The candle that burns twice as bright, burns twice as fast" they say, or something like that. Well, The Force Unleashed II is undeniably shorter, and way less ambitious than the first entry, yet, all the little tweaks to the engine makes for a game that is quite more fun to play.
 7.0 out of 10

Review #734: Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box

 Which goes to show you that you just shouldn't open any box you find.

 This is gonna be short and sweet, because there really isn't much to say about Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box, yet another collection of puzzles and riddles tied together by a murder-mystery plot, although with a higher budget.

 The plot this time around concerns a mysterious box that kills anyone that opens it, so Layton and his protegee Luke end up boarding the Molentary Express in order to find out more about it. Part of the game takes place inside the train, but it'll make two stops in towns you can visit. There are definitely more places to explore, more characters to meet and more puzzles to solve. It's not just quantity, the sprites look much better this time around, although the puzzle/riddle illustrations are as rustic as they were before. On another note, while I liked the fact that a good chunk of the game took place inside the train, the narrative didn't feel very strong this time around, and by the end of the game a few characters don't even get proper resolutions.

 There are a few more side activities as well: Gathering pieces in order to fix a camera, which then unlocks a 'find the differences' set of mini games, as well has planning exercise routines for a fat hamster and, finally, brewing different blends of tea. As for the puzzles, I feel like it has a few lame puzzles here and then, but the difficulty curve felt much smoother.

 Well, Layton's sequel isn't a huge step forward, but it also didn't break anything, so it's about what you'd expect from a sequel to a puzzle/riddle collection game. While the narrative something to be desired, it has a few fun moments and ideas here and there.
 7.0 out of 10

Review #733: Star Wars - The Force Unleashed

 Starkiller, Jedi murderer.

 Star Wars - The Force Unleashed was THE Star Wars game back in the day, a game that'd make every fan's dream come true by letting you play as Darth Vader's own apprentice, wielding the Force with reckless abandon. Well, after going through Fallen Order I've been craving more Jedi action, so here we are. I vividly remember watching preview videos before the game released, with the developers being quite happy and proud about what they were achieving with the physics engine. But technology marches on, and what once was cutting edge turns dull.

 The game starts with Vader murdering one of the last surviving Jedi and kidnapping his son to train as his apprentice. Fast forward a few years and Star Killer is on his way to becoming a Sith Lord and aiding Vader in killing the Emperor, but first he must finish his training, so Vader sends him on perilous missions to kill the few remaining Jedi. The story... is all over the place. The more the relationship between Vader and Starkiller gets explained, and the more information that gets revealed, the less sense it makes for Vader to have taken him in. And the game also shows the way the Rebel Alliance gets formed and... your mileage may vary on that one!

 At its core, the game is a very simple and sloppy hack and slash game. Square produces basic light saber attacks, Triangle is force lightning(Which can end a few Saber combos and thanks to its electrifying properties becomes really useful), Circle is force push(Which can also end a few saber combos) while you can hold R2 to lift, carry or throw enemies and objects around.Sadly, the targeting system isn't very good as the game will often mistake what you're trying to interact with or throw whatever you were holding at the wrong target. Lightsaber combat isn't very satisfying either, hits lack oomph, and the L1 dodge feels very slippery.

 That said, in spite of how sloppy it is.... the game can be undeniably fun. Wielding the force is fun, the huge amount of costumes(A new one per stage!) and lightsaber colors is fantastic and there's a decent upgrade system. Plus, when the force works like you want it to, meaning you hit whatever you wanted to hit with your powers, it can get quite entertaining. That said, bosses are definitely one of the game's worst aspects, since they are very, very lame. The second boss in the game is the hardest boss in it, because he will simply shrug off you saber combos and attack you through them. You're supposed to slowly chip away at his health with force lightning. Lame. And most bosses love to just attack through your second saber hit just because they can. That said, the levels themselves are, for the most part, pretty good, although there's this one section in which you have to bring down a huge space ship, but it's very poorly thought out and the in-game prompts aren't quite right. Heck, the game abuses QTEs to deal with bosses and huge enemies, which is all sorts of lame.

 The game is 9 stages long, there are multiple items to collect(Which unlock the aforementioned saber colors and a few extra colors) and you can replay any stage at any time. As a whole, it's pretty sloppy, sometimes a bit glitchy(This one time, Starkiller just stopped moving during a boss fight for no reason, and I wasn't able to move again until I was killed, and this other time during the final boss, when he hit me, Starkiller went through a barrier he wasn't supposed to and I had to kill myself. Somehow) yet not without its fun. Wielding the force can be fun, throwing enemies against each other is fun, when it works, and Starkiller's reverse saber grip is badass, so even if the combat isn't satisfying... it's still got some flair and style. The Force Unleashed isn't a must play, not even for the story since it makes less sense the more it progresses, but there are worse ways you could spend your time.
 6.5 out of 10

Review #732: The Witcher 3 - Wild Hunt Complete Edition

 It's a bit blurry alright, but the Switcher is here.

 It only took me over 120 hours, but I'm finally done with this monster of a game. It's good, it's bad, but above all, it's incredibly fun despite the hit visuals took when coming over to the Switch., and that very well may be exactly because the only thing that suffered on the transition were the graphics and the framerate. The Witcher 3 - Wild Hunt is a fantastic addition to the Switch's library.

 If you haven't played the previous games, and maybe if you haven't read the books either, you'll probably be feeling a bit lost. There are armies in conflict with each other, and it's hard to figure out who's supposed to be the lesser evil, because if the Witcher 3 has something it's a very grey and gray morality. Regardless, the game starts with Geralt of Rivia, the main character, searching for his kind of adopted daughter Ciri and past lover Yennefer, who is also searching for Ciri. It's not all fun and games, because a group of powerful individuals called the Wild Hunt are also searching for Ciri and her blood. The main story is fun enough, you'll get to interact with a ton of fun and interesting characters, as well as play as Ciri for a very few short flashbacks every now and then. The optional sidequests are very engaging too thanks to how bleak the world of the Witcher is, not that that stopped the writers from sprinkling a few bits of humor every now and then, sometimes it's hard to tell if you're making the right choice or not, because sometimes every outcome has its ups and downs. Sometimes every possible outcome ends in tragedy. Regardless, it's fun. There are a lot of dialogue choices that can alter how quests and sidequests play out, some quests only showing up depending on previous choices. It's a fun time, and there's a lot of replayability in here. The game also earns its 100+ hours, being filled with 'points of interest' to visit, for goodies, Witcher quests(In which you have to track down and hunt powerful monsters) as well as the copious amounts of side content and and the main storyline. Not to mention that both expansions are included in the cart, and they are brilliant.

 The game is a massive open-world western RPG, which means you are thrown into the world, told about your main story's next objective and then pretty much left to your own devices. Want to explore and do every single sidequest available before tackling the main game? Go ahead, why don'tcha. In my case, I'd ignore every main story objective, would visit every town bulletin, in order to get the Points of Interest marked in my map, and then would explore each and every one of them. Then, and only then, lest a monster too powerful at the time was guarding one of these in which case I'd leave a mark on the map in order to remember to come back later, I would move on with the sidequests, and then, finally, I'd go ahead with the main quest. I did absolutely every single thing I could, and I loved every minute of it.

 To aid in your spelunking you get your 'Witcher senses', by holding down ZL the game will overlay an orange aura over objects you can interact with, mostly chests, drawers and the like ripe for looting, as well as a red aura on objects that will advance a quest or sidequest. I found that the Witcher sidequests were the most fun, as you had to use your Witcher senses to study the place where your mark just attacked or was last seen, and I can perfectly understand why some people would get tired searching for objects to examine, but I found it quite fun and engaging. Usually it ends with Geralt picking up the scent, or find tracks, which you must then follow, using your Witcher sense, in order to find your objective. These quests can be pretty slow, but hey, I felt they really pulled me into the Witcher's world.

 Looting is the name of the game in Witcher 3, since there's a lot of powerful equipment that can only be obtained by actually crafting it, and using alchemy to brew potions can be incredibly useful in the early parts of the game, since you can brew oils to coat your sword with in order to deal extra damage to specific types or enemies, or use potions to bolster Geralt's abilities for a while. Once you brew a potion once, the game will automatically refill your stock by spending alcohol from your inventory every time you go to sleep. don't worry it's an overly-plentiful resource, so no need to find every ingredient again. If there's any point of contention with these mechanics is that once the oil coating runs out, you have to enter the menu again, enter the oil tab again and reapply it to your sword, which can be a bit of a drag mid-combat. Combat advantages aside, looting every carcass, chest and drawer you find is even more important in the early game, since money is quite tough to come by, at first anyways, and you'll have to repair your equipment and weapons in order to keep it in tip-top shape.

 As you slay enemies and complete quests you'll earn experience points, and leveling up lets you invest on skills. Sadly, it's not enough just to use points on the skills, you actually have to equip them, and you only get 8 slots, which gradually unlock as you level up, so you have to really think about how you want your Geralt to play. I went for a physical build, having my weak attacks apply a bleeding effect every time my attacks connected, as well as a few enhancements to a few choice signs(spells).

 Combat is fairly simplistic, but it gets the job done. You have weak attacks and strong attacks, although, to be honest, weak attacks are so much more useful that I pretty much ignored Strong attacks as soon as I unlocked the bleeding weak attacks passive ability. You can also roll or dodge away, as well as block or even parry attacks if you press block at the right time. Geralt has a Stamina meter that lets him use signs, which are basically spells, and he has five of them: Igni, a fire attack that covers a wide area, Yrden, a magic circle that slows down enemies and makes wraiths tangible, Quen, a shield that blocks a single attack(massively useful when fighting enemies tougher than yourself), Aard, a telekinetic blast that I pretty much ignored the entire game unless the environment required me to use it to proceed, and Axii, a spell that dizzies enemies and, if leveled up, can open up new dialogue choices. There are also skills that unlock an alternate form of every sign in the game, but since I went for a physical Geralt, I didn't try them out, regardless, they are options that exist and can open up the way you play if you opt for a more magical Geralt.

 Lastly, as far as gameplay is concerned, we've got Gwent, a turn-based in-game card game. There are various different rulesets to play under, as well as various cards for you to find. I hated Gwent. I mean, the developers clearly cared about it, and I know a lot of players enjoy Gwent, but it ain't for me. That said, if you dislike Gwent, like me, a lot of Gwent sidequests will start clogging up your sidequest tab, which isn't very kosher. A separate, Gwent-related quest tab would've been nice.

 Even though the game graphics clearly took a hit, the game is still one of the best looking Switch games out there. It can be a bit a blurry while on handheld mode, but for the most part it looks quite great, and as far as realistic-looking Switch games go, this one is easily one of the best. The framerate can be a bit sloppy, but nothing game breaking.... except for the Earth Elementals, which drop the frame rate into the single digit once you kill them. Regardless, it's a perfectly playable and enjoyable port, and the fact that you can play it on the go makes it a very appealing package.

 What is a bit annoying, however, are the crashes. The game easily crashed over 30 times on me. Novigrad, the game's main area, is particularly bad about it, crashes come often in those lands. That said, as annoying as having to go through the opening credits over and over again when reloading, unlike another crash-prone game like Tales of Vesperia, at least this game has a very neat auto-save system that can be tweaked to auto save every 3-5 minutes, so you'll never lose much progress, in addition, you can save pretty much at any time and quests have checkpoints, so you'll never lose too much progress. The Blood and Wine expansion is pretty buggy as well, as long as you are on its lands, the map will regularly glitch out and not display correctly, even when trying to fast travel, and sometimes a nasty green overlay will take over the menus. Gamebreaking? Not, but it's quite ugly on the eyes, but, thankfully, are contained to this expansion.

 I loved The Witcher 3. Despite the frequent crashes, its incredibly deep lore, its interesting characters, the bleakness of its world, how most choices aren't reduced to 'good' and 'evil', just how much fun I was having exploring and fighting enemies made it one of the best games I've played on any console. The only thing that keeps this Switch version from a perfect 10 is how glitchy it can get.
 9.5 out of 10

Review #731: Professor Layton and the Curious Village

 A gentleman doesn't leave puzzles unsolved.

 Professor Layton is a Nintendo DS classic, but one that never interested me much since I was never into puzzles and riddles. Come Professor Layton VS Phoenix Wright and my interest was picqued, so a chance I will give it, starting with Professor Layton and the Curious Village, the professor's first ever game.

 The story follows genius and gentlemen extraordinaire, Professor Layton, and his aide, Luke, who find their way into the title's curious village where they must discover the secret behind the recently diseased Lord's Golden Apple. It's a simple, but entertaining story that contains 120 puzzles and riddles and should last about 10 hours to complete. The game is fairly rudimentary as far as graphics go, puzzles have very simple and basic illustrations, backgrounds are barely animated, if animated at all, and characters have very basic animation loops. That said, the art-style is absolutely adorable, even if it feels like every character came from a completely different world than the others. Finishing the game lets you unlock 15 other puzzles, if you cleared a few extra objectives, such as building the robot dog, fixing the painting and decorating Layton and Luke's rooms, the parts and objects needed for these are obtained by solving the puzzles during the main story, so... basically, the game is a bunch of puzzles that unlock more puzzles. Back in the day, when Nintendo Wi-Fi was a thing, you could download about 70 extra puzzles, luckily, my copy of the game had them downloaded! It's a nice extra, but the main game felt meaty enough by itself.

 The game plays like a first person adventure game, you move through different screens, each one covering a different part of town, and you must tap on every nook and cranny in order to find hidden hint coins or even secret puzzles. You'll also have to tap on NPCs in order to either trigger optional puzzles or progress through the story. There are not 'find items to use on objects' kind of puzzles, instead, the puzzles and riddles themselves are the, well, puzzles. In other words, the game progression is pretty much "We need to investigate a certain part of town", and once you get there either solve a puzzle hidden in the environment or solve a puzzle an NPC will trouble you with,  or, 'Talk to X NPC' will inevitably end with said NPC handling you a puzzle before you can go on with the story.

 The puzzle and riddle selection is fairly varied, both in types and difficulty, although talking about challenge when it comes to puzzles and riddles is fairly subjective, as far as someone like me goes, someone who doesn't care about riddles and puzzles, well.... more than a few stumped me. Stumped me hard. You can use Hint coins to purchase hints, up to three per puzzle, but Hint coins are a limited currency, so you can't just use them willy nilly.

 I can't exactly say that I loved the game, or that it turned me into a fan of the genre, but I can tell that the game is fairly good. The story and characters are fun enough to keep you interested, and there were a handful of puzzles I can honestly say I adored because of how smart they were. Regardless, I think I can understand why the series managed to become a cult hit and garner a following.
 7.0 out of 10

Archile's End of the Year Awards 2019 Part II

 For the last time in the decade.... it's time to finish the fight.

 Worst game of 2019:
 Jesus christ, I played a ton of crap this year. Mostly on the GBA, like, Jesus, whenever publishers could, they'd go with the cheapest option possible, almost as if it didn't care since it was a handheld device. A ton of crappy games managed to avoid getting into the list thanks to my self imposed 5-entry limit, lucky bastards!

5) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

 I should've known what I was getting into, but the first glimpse I caught of the game actually looked... really good. The graphics look quite interesting, so I gave it a chance. And I regretted it immediately. The concept behind the game isn't completely awful, but the game feels lifeless, and I don't understand how they managed to make such an endearing artstyle feel devoid of any life.

4) Eragon(Advance)

 Eragon is a sneaky one, because the first few minutes with the game are actually quite fun, and the Xenogears-inspired combat is pretty dope. But then the fights get longer and duller, while progressing in the game turns into a chore since the game does a poor job at guiding you, which usually ends with you stepping into the wrong tile and triggering a random fight you just can't win. The game also happens to look like vomit, which feels like the cherry on top.

3) No Rules - Get Phat

 No Rules Get Phat is pretty much the epitome of shovelware on the GBA. It might be based off a license, it might not. It has horrible sprites and animations, shoddy gameplay made up of poor collision detection, horrible platforming and terrible level design and, worst of all, bad controls. This game had absolutely no redeeming qualities.

Runner-up) Dinotopia - The Timestone Pirates

 I feel like TDK where the LJN of their time, they spent their time filling the GBA with shovelware, although, very rarely, they'd actually manage to pull themselves together and make something good, like Lady Sia. Unfortunately, Dinotopia is not one of said rare occurrences, instead being one of the most confusing and poorly made platformer games I've played in recent years. Someone in TDK must've really hated the Dinotopia books and tried their best to sink the franchise with this game.

Loser) Tak - The Great Juju Challenge(Gameboy Advance)

 I hate to say this, but with Tak - The Great Juju Challenge Wayforward managed to create a masterclass in how not to make a platform game. Poor camera that gets in your way, undercooked mechanics, horrible minigames and absolutely terrible level design make Tak one of the worst games I've ever played, and the worst game I played this year. Wish I would've never found out that Wayforward made this game, and thus keep their logo shining in my mind.


 Best Gameboy Advance Game of 2019:
 While the GBA was home to some of the worst games I played this year, it was also home to a few great ones.

5) Tekken Advance

 While Tekken 7 was a bit of a disappointment, Tekken Advance was one impressive showcase piece on the system. Namco managed to cram a ton of moves and characters from Tekken 3 into a tiny GBA cart, and it works surprisingly well. It's far from being an alternative to the home console/arcade releases, but it works very well for what it is.

4) Disney's Magical Quest Starring Mickey & Minnie

 Originally a SNES game, Magical Quest didn't lose any of its luster when it made its way to the GBA. It's a fantastic looking platform game that shows how great licensed games can be, even if they forgo fanservice in lieu of making a great game.

3) Breath of Fire II

 Breath of Fire II was one of those games that I started a ton of times but never really spent time to finish it, until now. And I'm sorry I didn't, because BoF II is a brilliant JRPG for the SNES and GBA. Capcom really improved on everything that was lacking in the first game, making for a game that is very fun to play, but also to watch thanks to a very endearing cast of characters and a very engaging plot, even if poorly translated.

2) Runner-up) Super Mario World - Mario Advance 2

 It's easy to take a few Mario staples for granted nowadays, but SMW was the game that introduced a rideable Yoshi into Mario's repertoire, and it really changed things up, granting new tools to Mario. It also added alternate, hidden exits that would open up secret stages! In other words, World's footprint can be felt even in Modern Mario games, so its influence can't be understated. What's even better is that the game itself is as fun as any other game in the series, with tight platforming and very ingenious level design, making for a proper platforming treat.

Winner) Astro Boy - Omega Factor

 Speaking of great licensed games, we've got Astro Boy - Omega Factor, not only is it a fantastic game by its own right, it also makes the most of it license, paying tribute to Tezuka's work. The game is a very fast-paced beat'em up with a few adventure elements in the way of hidden character cameos that help upgrade Astro's abilities. No GBA owner should miss Astro Boy - Omega Factor.


 Best Nintendo 64 Game of 2019:
 What began last year with a few Nintendo 64 games, almost ended this year. I own pretty much every N64 game I did back in the day, plus I'm almost done with the games I wanted back then, so expect more N64 coverage in 2020.

5) Super Smash Bros.

 Smash 64 is easily the worst game in the franchise, it feels like a beta, with crude graphics, a minuscule character roster and the smallest moveset-per-character in the series. And yet, it's still a brilliant game, and the previously mentioned crude graphics actually add a lot of charm to the game. Even though the other entries are better, I still think that this game has a certain flair that makes it worth a look every now and then.

4) Snowboard Kids 2

 Say what you will, SBK2 is one of the most appealing mascot racers out there. The game looks pretty decent and the sountrack is absolutely amazing. The snowboarding motif makes it stand out from other mascot racers, and the items you can use during the race are ridiculously silly. SBK 2 is a sweet, sweet good ol' time.

3) Cruis'n USA

 Fine, fine, it might be a poor port of the Arcade original, but that doesn't stop this game from being grade A amazing. Being a point A-to-B racing games already makes it stand out, but unpredictable physics makes it ridiculous... in all the best ways.

Runner-up) Cruis'n World

 A tiny step forward from USA, but a step forward nonetheless, World offers the same arcade racing from the first game but with a few new additions that make it even more fun, as well as better, more varied tracks and vehicles.

Winner) Cruis'n Exotica

 The previous games were really fun despite their technical issues, but Exotica blew them out of the water because they finally fixed the framerate. They also decided to go completely off-the-wall with the courses and vehicles, completely embracing the sillier parts of the previous games, which were also the better parts of the previous games. Exotica is everything I look for in a racing game, papa bless.


 Best Nintendo Switch Game of 2019:
 Well, Nintendo won me over again, the Switch is now among my favorite game consoles next to the PS2, DS and SNES. I love the joycon design, even if the drifting issues are a huge problem, and being a handheld-home console hybrid makes it such a comfortable device to play with! It helps that its ever expanding game library is pretty damn good.

5) Luigi's Mansion 3

 This is how you learn from mistakes. Luigi's Mansion 3 takes the best parts from the first and second game to create one great game that succeeds were the previous games faltered, so now we get a huge place to explore, ghosts with personalities, but also a very varied set of environments to explore. Going through every nook and cranny, searching for stuff to interact with is always a pleasure, and the game ends just when it starts getting a bit long in the tooth, making for the perfect Halloween game.

4) Fire Emblem Three Houses

 Seems Nintendo were on a redemption quest, because with Three Houses they also learned from the previous game where and how they failed. But it's not just 'more of the same but better', the developers tried new things that could've alienated the fanbase, but they pulled them off so well that I think we can agree that Three Houses managed to hit all the right notes. A fantastic cast of characters tied together with a very interesting plot made for a very memorable experience.

3) Astral Chain

 Astral Chain was not what I wanted, but rather, what I didn't know I actually wanted. It features a completely original combat system that works very well with the 30FPS cap the game runs with, but it goes beyond having fun battles, the world itself is very appealing thanks to its 80s cyberpunk anime aesthetics which really makes it feel as if you were walking through the world of Akira or Ghost in the Shell.

Runner-up) Collection of Mana

 At this point it doesn't even matter if Trials of Mana's remake sucks, at least we got a completely official release of the original game, which happens to be one of the SNES most original and ambitious JRPGs. It's the best game in the Mana series, and it comes packaged with the first two games, Secret of Mana being a tried and true classic as well, making Collection of Mana one big bundle o' joy.

Winner) Dead Cells

 When I purchased Dead Cells I didn't know I was getting one of my new favorite games of all time. The game is tough, but fair, with snappy, fast-paced action that keeps you on your toes. Unlocking new weapons, spells and abilities is a blast, and the randomness factor of each runs means that you'll get to try everything at one point or another. Subsequent updates added the ability to customize your runs as well as costumes, which made an already fantastic game even better, something I didn't know was possible.


 Best Legacy Playstation Game of 2019:
 For the first time on my blog's history, I didn't play many PS1 and PS2 games, which is a bit sad so I had to fuse both console entries into a single list. Sadly, the few Vita games I played this year weren't up to snuff.

5) Breath of Fire III

 I avoided this game for a while, and I regret that now, because in BoF III I found a pretty great JRPG. The dragon gene mechanics offer a ton of possibilities in how you'll deal with each battle, but you've also got Masters to consider, which help you build your character the way you want them. There's a lot of freedom in how you play the game, and the story is a relatively decent guiding thread that keeps you moving forward.

4) Obscure

 Obscure feels very low-budget at first, but the more you play the more it grows on you, until you realize that you're playing a pretty good survival horror game. The fact that any character can die adds a lot of tension to the game, but it's also one of the games best hooks. This is one of the most underrated games on the console, and one any Survival Horror fan could ejoy.

3) Yakuza 2

 Yakuza 1 was pretty good, but with Yakuza 2 the stakes were raised higher as the developers found their footing and expanded on everything that made the first game great. It's a fantastic beat'em up for the PS2, and it showed how the Beat'em up genre didn't have to die out, it just had to adapt to modern times, the way Yakuza did.

Runner-up) Assassin's Creed Rogue

 The final PS3/X360 entry in the series is little more than a reskin, but with a base game so good it doesn't really matter. Everything that the series has amounted to is present here, alongside the fantastic mechanics surrounding travelling with your ship and partaking in naval battles. It's almost pathetic that the best pirate games ever made happen to be Assassin's Creed games, but here we are!

Winner) Yakuza 3

 I don't know why I thought Yakuza 3 would be the weakest entry in the series, but it isn't, it's actually one of the best. The story takes a while to get going, but that's kind of the whole point of it: Kiryu's dad life getting derailed due to the Yakuza not being able to clean their own mess as well as Kiryu being too much of a good guy to leave weakling to fend for themselves. The jump into the HD era made combat feel crunchier and more visceral than before, so busting heads is as fun as enjoying Kazuma's fatherly adventures!


 Best Playstation 4 Game of 2019:
 While I'm really not fond of the current era of videogames, for some reason I found myself playing plenty of PS4 games.

5) Star Wars Jedi - Fallen Order

 It almost makes me sad having Fallen Order this low in the list, if only because the game was so good. Easily the best thing that has come out of Star Wars since Disney acquired it. The game has fun combat elements that seep well with the story about Cal being a Padawan that never finished his training, and obtaining new upgrades and moves feels extra rewarding thanks to the huge amount of useful collectibles for you to find. A sequel can't come soon enough.

4) Yakuza 6 - The Song of Life

 A Dragon's trial is never over, as Kiryu picks up his grey suit one last time. The story is brilliant, the villains are nasty and Kazuma's allies are a lovable bunch, exactly what we've grown to expect out of the series. The new engine, while clearly in its infancy, shows a lot of potential, and the combat felt so incredibly satisfying that I didn't mind Kiryu forgetting so many moves. It plays great and the game is a fitting end to the legendary Dragon of Dojima.

3) Resident Evil 2(2019)

 Capcom managed to pull off a brilliant remake to one of its most beloved games of all time. This game could've easily underdelivered, since expectations where high, but Capcom managed to please most people, me included. The game plays great, and for the first time in the series since REvil 1, it feels like a proper horror game, in which you have to be mindful of your supplies if you want to survive. While losing the different plots from the A/B scenarios, there's still a lot of content in here that will keep anyone interested in the game busy for a long while.

Runner-up) Danganronpa Trilogy

 Danganronpa has been a bit of a favorite of mine ever since I first stumbled into the first game. I found the second game to be a bit too anime for my taste, but the third part managed to feel more like the first one, thankfully. I was a bit worried about how this game would play on a home console, since the series felt like a perfect fit for the Vita, but it plays just fine and it doesn't feel weird at all. Regardless, when it's all said and done, Danganronpa features hours upon hours of macabre, deadly fun to invest your time in, provided you're not too squeamish.

Winner) Devil May Cry 5

 I quite liked Donte and the DmC world, but I'm so glad that Nero and company are back. DMC 5 is not a huge step forward for the franchise, but rather a pure polished distillation of what made DMC 4 so good. We've got more content per character than before, a few new moves for Nero that really add a lot to how he plays as well as new ridiculous weapons for Dante to style on his enemies in a ton of a fun new ways. Devil May Cry 5 is pure bliss.


 Best Game of 2019:
 Well, time for la creme-of-la-creme.

5) Astro Boy - Omega Factor

 Proving time and time again that licensed games can be good, Treasure were given another anime property to work with and they delivered big time, with a game that stayed true to its creator's pathos and style, while also being a fun game to anyone that doesn't care about the license.

4) Yakuza 3

  Yakuza is a series of games that add on top of each other, very rarely removing features or gimmicks from previous games. With Yakuza 3 the series made the jump into HD with a whole new engine, and yet, managed to only add on top of what Yakuza 2 had added into the series. Yakuza 3 made a fantastic first impression on PS3, and gave us one of the best entries in the saga.

3) Cruis'n Exotica

  I've been searching high and low for a game like Outurn, and with the Cruis'n series, I finally did. Exotica is the culmination of what Midway managed to achieve with the series on the console, finally ironing out all the little kinks that the series had been carrying over from entry to entry. What's even better, the developers hadn't ran out of ideas by then, far from it, so course design and the new vehicles perfectly matched how silly the series was at its best.

Runner-up) Dead Cells

  Souls' games wish they were THIS good. The game plays like a dream, responsive controls that compliment the required split-second reflexes perfectly, as well as a huge arsenal of weapons, skills and tools to try out as you try to amass a huge amount of Cells... in order to further expand said arsenal of tools! Impossibly addicting and endlessly fun, Dead Cells is easily one of my favorite games of all time.

Winner) Devil May Cry 5

 Capcom have done a lot of good recently, which has helped fix the money-hungry image they managed to build last year. They haven't fixed it completely, however, due to a few hiccups with Street Fighter V and how they won't release the entire game inside a disc yet, but they are slowly inching closer to a clean image! Regardless, the best thing they did this year was Devil May Cry 5. A return to form for the series which doubles as one of the best hack-and-slash games of all time. I'm still debating to this day whether I prefer this game over 3 or not. Regardless, DMC 5 is pure brilliance in every sense of the word, fun movesets, great levels, even greater graphics and a silly story that is exactly what the game deserves.