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Yes, it's that time of year again, where I apologize for how long it's taken for me to post my look back at the previous year (in this case 2019). How did it get to be June already?? I've gotten way behind on everything, but there are definitely plenty of game reviews in the pipeline.
Looking over the games I played in 2019, it's a bit disappointing that I've been too distracted to play much really substantial, and it's telling that my most-played platforms were my Android phone and the Switch eShop. I did manage to get a few longer games in there, including a full playthrough of Fire Emblem: Three Houses (big surprise). I always enjoy revisiting old games, and although there hasn't been any break in my playing of Nintendo Badge Arcade, it was nice to come back to Fortnite and Pokemon Go after a long time away. It's also nice to be able to add two more DDR games to the list of DDR games I've played.
Anyway, as with last year there was only one game that made it to my "greatest games of all time" list, and that was The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+. The game was frustrating at times, but I had to recognize it for its huge scope. And also as with last year, the other game that continued to suck up hours on end was Fire Emblem Heroes. The game finished book 3 and is midway through book 4, and the game just keeps adding new modes and characters so that whenever I feel like I'm on the verge of getting tired of it, somehow I just keep getting hooked in. By far the game I've played the most ever, averaging at least an hour a day for three and a half years and counting...
Anyway, here's the summary of what my 2019 looked like gaming-wise (games listed in approximate descending order) with links to each game’s corresponding blog review:
HIGH
- The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+ (Switch)
MEDIUM
- Dance Dance Revolution (PS)
- Pokemon Go (Android) (replay; previous 2017)
- Nintendo Badge Arcade (3DSWare) (replay; previous 2016)
- Fire Emblem: Three Houses (Switch)
- Shantae and the Pirate's Curse (3DSWare)
- Mario Kart Tour (Android)
- Dr. Mario World (Android)
- Tetris 99 (Switch)
- Crypt of the NecroDancer: Nintendo Switch Edition (Switch eShop)
- WarioWare Gold (3DS)
- RemiLore (Switch eShop)
- Fortnite (Season 8) (Switch) (replay; previous 2018)
- Dance Dance Revolution: Disney Channel Edition (PS2)
- Swap This! (Switch eShop)
LOW
- Marvel Contest of Champions (Android)
- Night in the Woods (Switch eShop)
- Double Dragon II: The Revenge (NES)
- Marvel Puzzle Quest (Android)
- Pokemon Masters (Android)
This past year I contributed to a few posts to A Most Agreeable Pastime, one discussing the deluge of new game releases and one highlights of E3. On my blog I also took a minute to review the Detective Pikachu movie and also took part in a Mario day online collaboration celebration to post a look back at Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix.
In terms of stats, I actually played significantly more non-Nintendo titles than usual, although I skewed strongly towards newer games. I did a pretty good job of playing games that weren't sequels, though. As for this year, as usual I'm hoping for news about a Fire Emblem remake for Switch, and although game schedules have been wrecked by the pandemic and we missed out on our usual summer Nintendo Direct, I'm still looking forward to some major game announcements before too long. We could all definitely use something to look forward to!
That's it for another year in review! As always, thanks as always to anyone who’s stumbled across my little patch of cyberspace and found it even mildly diverting, and welcome to another full year of video games at the Intergalactic Video Game Academy! ;)