Epilogue’s Game of the Year for 2019
2019 was not an easy year to narrow down Game of the Year picks. When we had a meeting to discuss our Epilogue staff picks for this year, it became clear that many games from all different genres and publishers impacted us in lasting ways. After narrowing down our picks to as few as we could muster, here are our staff picks for the best games that released in 2019.
Runner up: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
Written by Ben Vollmer
Even though Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice doesn’t share the replayability of other From Software titles, I can’t get it out of my head. There are sequences in Sekiro that match some of the best video game moments of the decade. The environments are gorgeous, the characters have weight, and combat feels like it had adrenaline injected right into its gut from the very beginning. The furious clashing of swords and accompanying sound design is just one of the game’s many triumphs. Enemy design brings life and stakes to each fight. The tremendous resurrection mechanic feels fresh and well implemented. Plus, several of the game’s boss fights were punishing enough to spend hours on, but the reward of victory is a flood of relief that was unmatched this year.
Perhaps my favorite thing about Sekiro, however, is that it delivers one of the most wondrous and bizarre worlds of the generation. For instance, the inclusion of “Dragon Rot” slowly derails the health of NPCs the more you die in game. Or perhaps the The Great Carp, which feels torn right out of an Aesop Fable. Or, if you aren’t convinced about Sekiro’s weirdness, how about a giant yeti that gets its head cut off, only to surgically reattach it when you think it’s dead? As opposed to From Software’s previous title, Bloodborne, nothing in Sekiro feels like a nightmare. It just feels like a messed up dream.
Runner Up: Death Stranding
Written by Flora Eloise
I have never been more excited for a game’s release than I was for Death Stranding. When I finally got my hands on it, I spent nearly five full days doing nothing but playing the game to completion. What sets this game apart for me is the focus on a story-heavy, well-acted narrative that features some of the best graphics to ever land on a console, laced with some of the most high-quality and fitting licensed music to ever be written for a game. Pack all of these features into a sci-fi thriller that holds every card to its chest until the end and I believe Death Stranding has become a yardstick that sets a new standard for how cinematic and artistic direction can influence video games.
A pleasant delight along the way is the passive multiplayer interaction you will have with other people during the playthrough, as you share structures that you create with one another. Watching Death Stranding’s environment and therefore gameplay evolve the more I put effort into helping other people was a feeling that no other game has evoked in me before. As a player, you grind through a difficult first dozen hours alone with no assistance, which makes you appreciate anything another player offers you. Being able to eventually help other people and know that you’re aiding in making their journey easier than yours is, in my experience, unique to this game. I hope my connections continue to carry others forward when they pick up the controller as Sam Porter Bridges for the first time.
Runner Up: Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Written by Marcos Carmona
If you ask most other fans of the Fire Emblem series about Fire Emblem: Three Houses they will most likely begin the conversation with the fact that it is the most different entry in the legacy, almost as if it were a detriment to the game. However, as someone relatively new to the franchise (only having played Fates and Echoes) I found Three Houses to be a force that immediately absorbed me into the world it hosts. I don’t see Fire Emblem: Three Houses as a title that is far removed from style of game it comes from, rather I see Three Houses as the natural evolution to the AAA tactical RPGs. Three Houses joyously accepts newcomers and old lovers alike into an experience that I never got enough of.
Boasting four different campaigns, a killer soundtrack, a roster of thirty-three well written, playable characters (thirty-five after DLC), all encapsulated in the fantastical medieval setting that is designed in the juicy anime style the Fire Emblem series has quickly personalized, Fire Emblem: Three Houses is Intelligent System’s statement that they are a juggernaut in the world of RPGs. Each campaign is a treasure and every character (except Cyril) is a delight to hang out with. The addition of support conversations were always engaging and the combat provided a well tempered difficulty. It’s not that Fire Emblem: Three Houses did a lot right, but that it excelled in everything it aimed to perform. It’s an experience I would recommend to anyone interested in the RPG genre. It will never be short on content.
Winner: Resident Evil 2 Remake
Written by Ben Vollmer
When we were trying to decide if we wanted to dedicate an entire feature to our Game of the Year, our creative editor Flora Eloise asked me: “Do you have any words left for Resident Evil 2?” It’s a fair question, as I have written a lot about this game over the course of the last year. The truth is that I don’t think I’ll ever run out of things to say about Resident Evil 2, because it embodies so much of what we at Epilogue love about video games. It’s fun to play, it creates a world that is easy to get invested in, its level design is smart, and it has an atmosphere that hasn’t left us since its release. Almost impossibly so, Resident Evil 2 is all of that and more – making it our 2019 game of the year.
Since the turn of the most recent generation of consoles, games have focused on being as large as they could possibly be. Intimate environments and making the most out of small spaces has been sacrificed in place of video games being able to market themselves as “double the size.” Resident Evil 2 almost seems to take offense to that trend. Instead of sprawling landscapes, it hyper focuses on making its three or so locations as intricately designed as possible. Shortcuts, hidden bits of lore, and an exhilarating sense of claustrophobia drive the game forward. It’s important that, in a game with relative free range of movement, exploration feels important and not like a chore. Resident Evil 2 delivers in spades.
The level design is just part of the atmosphere, however. Resident Evil 2 uses its snug hallways and rooms as a base for everything else. There wasn’t a more horrifying experience than hearing footsteps in an adjacent room, especially as you were scrambling for ammo or a key necessary to move on. The constant pursuit of Mr. X makes every shortcut that much more integral to survival and the rare safe rooms provide a momentary respite that feels like the first breath of fresh air after being underwater just a little longer than you probably should have been. A lot of this is earned through the development of Leon and Claire, and their parallel stories.
Much like many of the decade’s best games like Nier: Automata or Mass Effect 2, Resident Evil 2 isn’t content with sharing just one side of the story. Part of the magic is going from the A story with Leon to the B story with Claire immediately after, filling in all the gaps in a non-linear sort of way. The second time around is like the second ride on a roller coaster: even though you know what to expect, the knowledge of what is in front of you is half the excitement. By the time it was over, I cared more about the happenings of Racoon City than I have about any video game environment in years. A lot of that is because the game paces itself in a way that allows for introspection and familiarity. Instead of chasing us away to a new area or item or unlockable, it beckons us closer to the core.
Resident Evil 2 feels like a good book. And that isn’t because the writing is extraordinary (it’s “campy”), but because it thrusts everything it has into being an atmosphere that lingers with you even when you put the controller down. It’s a love letter to a bygone era of video games, and while that alone doesn’t make it worthy of being 2019’s game of the year, the passion of its development is evident in its design. In a decade where games kept getting bigger, Resident Evil 2 put all of its focus on small-scale design, creating the best and most atmospheric video game experience of the year.
Thank you for reading. Your Patreon support keeps our community entirely Ad free.
