PixlBit

Another year in the bag and geez, what a year it was. I don't know about you guys, but 2019 was kind of a mess of a year that I am glad to see go. It was a frustration and disappointment on multiple fronts, including games (though, really, gaming was the least of my troubles). Of the years I have kept track, 2019 saw the fewest games played and beaten by me. Not that it was all bad, of course. First we'll take a look at the games I beat and bought and then we'll move onto the Golden Hippo Awards!

Games Beaten

January—Mega Man 11 (Switch); A Way Out (PS4)

February—Cave Story+ (Switch)

March—Metro 2033 Redux (PS4)

April—Super Princess Peach (DS)

May—

June—Super Bomberman R (Switch)

July—Picross S (Switch)

August—Earth Defense Force 2025 (PS3)

September—Yakuza Kiwami 2 (PS4)

October—

November—

December—Final Fantasy Adventure (Collection of Mana, Switch); Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (Switch)

Total Beaten: 11

Ouch. Not even enough to average one a month. Still, I enjoyed playing these games, so that's what matters. What an eclectic bunch of games too!

Games Bought

or somehow acquired

Note: Click on a month to go to that month's recap and see what these games are. The PS+ games in parentheses are part of the total but I wanted to make special note of them since I didn't have to pay for them beyond the subscription fee. 2019 saw the end of PS+ support for PS3 and Vita, that's why the number of PS+ games drops so much after February.

January—9 (PS+: 6)

February—9 (PS+: 4)

March—2 (PS+: 1)

April—3 (PS+: 2)

May—0

June—3

July—6 (PS+: 2)

August—5 (PS+: 2)

September—7 (PS+: 2)

October—6

November—5 (PS+: 2)

December—12

Total Bought/Acquired: 67 (PS+: 21)

I'm always amazed the number of games I gather during a calendar year. Granted, very few of these are full-priced, day one purchases but a game's a game, right?

Addendum of Sorrow: Games I spent time with in 2019 but didn't finish:

-Snipperclips (Switch)

I was really looking forward to playing this game but it did not really click with my wife and we didn't get back to it a second time. Perhaps once my kids have better spatial reasoning...

-Into the Breach (Switch)

I really enjoyed this almost-kind-of-sort-of-a-roguelike strategy game and nearly finished it on the shortest route through the game but lost on the final map and never had quite as good of a run after that. I'd love to return to it this year.

-No Man's Sky (PS4)

This was a planned not-finishing because we were just playing NMS during the lull leading up to the new Destiny expansion. We'll probably get back to it in the next Destiny lull. It was fun!

The Golden Hippo Awards

And now it's time for the Golden Hippo Awards! These awards are just based on the actual games I played in 2019, which makes this a bit of an odd year since I played so few games. It is also the first year where I don't have a blatant Game of the Year game in mind. Let's see what I pick!

Game of the Year: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (Switch)

Both of the games I considered for this award suffered from my busy life and dragged on for much longer than they should have. But Bloodstained, despite its technical problems on Switch, gave me some great warm and fuzzy feelings, bringing back all those great memories of playing Iga's portable Castlvania games. The hugeness of the castle, breadth of options with equipment and shards, the tight combat...I really enjoyed the game, both for what it is and for what it represents, and so it gets my 2019 Game of the Year award.

Runner Up: Yakuza Kiwami 2 (PS4)

An improvement on its predecessor in every way, Kiwami 2 was a content-packed delight that walks that line between goofy and serious so well. Looking forward to more Yakuza in 2020!

Best Co-op: A Way Out (PS4)

I had mixed feelings on this game ultimately, but it's a sad truth that very few games are made for co-op specifically, and it was fun playing something where both players contribute uniquely and meaningfully.

Sneakiest Time Sink: Picross S (Switch)

I played Picross in small chunks, so it didn't seem like I had played it that long. But by the time I'd finished all the regular puzzles, the Switch assures me I spent more than 25 hours on it! And you know, I'm looking forward to downloading the next one at some point and doing it all again.

Most Resilient Game: Final Fantasy Adventure (Collection of Mana, Switch)

This game isn't that far off from 30 years old and while it does show its age here and there, the game is still fun and perfectly playable today.

Scariest Gorillas: Metro 2033 Redux (PS4)

There is a trohpy in this game for killing one of the "librarians," one of the mutated super grumpy gorillas. The story encourages you not to engage them and for good reason. All my efforts to pop that trophy ended with me being mercilessly beaten to death. Don't bother the librarians!

And that's it, folks! Thanks for reading, tip your waiters, and have a great 2020!