Galahad 3093 is a hard game to recommend outright due to some glaring flaws here and there, but I've enjoyed my time with it overall. The game is catered towards hardcore players who'll stick around to find the balances and intricacies of a proper mech hero shooter, but with polarizing systems in place, these same players may experience conniptions somewhere along the line. As an early access title, Galahad 3093 is a great proof of concept for a halfway decent hero shooter; if developer Simutronics could work out the kinks and imbalances within the game, the title could be a sleeper hit within a smaller yet very passionate and devoted community.
The Surge 2 is a perfect example of a sequel done right, and in this case Deck13 hit it out of the park to deliver an enhanced action-packed experience with the coolest-feeling combat and a great difficulty curve to match. While not entirely flawless, the sum of all its parts is a game worth the price tag and play time, as The Surge 2 steps out of the shadows of Souls-likes and into its own as a standout action RPG, one of the best I've played this year.
GreedFall is easily Spiders at its finest, and fans of the Western RPG genre can easily take enjoyment in its well-written and voice acted narrative as well as the solid combat when it comes to gameplay. It's by no means perfect, with a few hiccups here and there, but in GreedFall's case the great far outweighs the bad to carry the torch of a genre that has lacked a decent entry in quite some time. Extremely decent, and a must-play for any fan of the studio.
Decay of Logos embodies the term of 'wasted potential,' as it squanders a genuinely interesting art and sound design with a decent narrative on frustrating game design with filled bugs and stability issues. It's the kind of game you wish would've been worked on a few months more, maybe even a full year, just so it can actually release in a state that's worthy of its asking price. As it stands, Decay of Logos is horribly tedious and downright broken, and only those who can overlook such negatives can find a reason to subject themselves to it.
Remnant: From the Ashes is far from a perfect game, and there are some glaring aspects that really put a damper on the title. That said, by the end of it all, you're still left with an incredibly solid third-person shooter mixed with challenging elements, all meshed incredibly well together for a passion project that oozes potential. Whether you're wandering the realms solo or with some friends, Remnant offers a thoroughly engaging experience that proves its developer's chops in making a solid action RPG title.
Despite a few caveats here and there, Vicious Circle has managed to expand upon the asymmetrical formula and bring along with it some much-needed innovation through overhauling and an extremely uncooperative play style. In a sea of uninspired shooters, Rooster Teeth Games' attempt to move the 4v1 setting away from horrors and other shooters paid off, as Vicious Circle proves time and again that there's no better feeling that coming out on top in a game - whatever that may take.
It might be too expansive for its own good, but for players who can look past that and place themselves in the shoes as a commander leading a space-faring faction to salvation there's no better 4X title out there. Age Of Wonders: Planetfall is a success for Triumph Studios, proving the developer can deliver on proper world-building to take their acclaimed series to the vast reaches of space.
As much as people may look at this game as a meme and a novelty, Metal Wolf Chaos XD is more of a gem in the rough, a severely underappreciated title in FromSoftware's excellent library of mech games. The exaggerated patriotism, over-the-top dialog and impressive parody of popular culture is only a mask for its true facade - a surprisingly tight and very well-made mech game that's sure to please any fan and non-fan of the genre. The memes are only the tip of the iceberg.
Astroneer is a lot of things - base management sim, mining game, exploration title, open-world sandbox adventure - yet all of it works, easily outclassing its contemporaries in the genre. If all you ever wanted from a space exploration title is to have fun and enjoy the game at your own pace, then there is no better choice out there than Astroneer. It's an exceedingly good title that's made even better with the many ways you can play it.
The Sinking City, like most of Frogwares' other titles, offers a great concept with a somewhat poor execution. The severe lack of polish destroys the promising atmosphere, and some of the misguided gameplay elements can be annoying. If you're willing to look past that, however, then you get a very enjoyable investigative thriller in and of itself, even without those Lovecraftian elements.
Despite the huge parity of performance on different platforms (especially the Switch version) and its long list of bugs and issues, not to mention its lack of polish, Bloodstained is a very decent game that just proves that Igarashi rightfully earned his mark on the Metroidvania genre. It's not in any way a classic, especially compared to Symphony of the Night and its other contemporaries - but its a good, highly enjoyable and replayable, albeit flawed title nonetheless.
If I ever find myself in my own closed time-loop, I’d wish for me to play the Outer Wilds, but with the added bonus of forgetting about it, just so I can experience it all over again. It’s that good, and the first true title that I could say is a 'must-play' for 2019.
An amazing, unique and genuinely mind-bending entry into the science-fiction genre, Observation draws on its distinct set-up to pull you into a mystery set deep in space. It's existential dread condensed into roughly six to eight hours of gameplay. Discounting the sometimes buggy levels, it has everything you could ever ask for in an original sci-fi title: an intriguing premise, a foreboding theme, and an AI player character, whose motive eludes even yourself.
A Plague Tale: Innocence is an example of storytelling and gameplay meshed together right. It's honest, brutal and incredibly hopeful all at the same time, and it does so without being naive. Ultimately, it teaches us that even at the point when everything seems lost, and the end approaches without respite, going on is easy so long as we have even just one person to call family.