That’s All Games’ 2019 Year End Review

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So, another year is coming to a close, and I’ve managed to blog at least once a week the whole year. My schedule for posts had changed throughout the year, due to a new part time job with shifting hours, but I am glad to have keep this site running. I would like to reflect on the articles I’ve written this year, and share some of the more noteworthy ones, in no particular order.

First, I was looking forward to Pokemon Sword and Shield’s release. As new information came, I was regularly posting the news updates as they came. Since everything about the games are already known, there would be little point to post these articles here. Instead, I will link to the game’s review here: Review: Pokemon Sword and Shield Versions (Switch).

I also discussed some game design concepts on my favorite game genre, RPGs. It was fun to break down each part of the genre in several articles. You can read these articles in the following links:

• The Anatomy of RPGs, Part 1: Stats
• The Anatomy of RPGs, Part 2: Battle
• The Anatomy of RPGs, Part 3: Customization
• The Anatomy of RPG’s, Part 4: Interaction
• Good or Bad: Random Encounters in RPGs

Game Story Case Studies:

Of particular note, I started a new series of articles called Game Story Case Studies. I am partway through an analysis of Puyo Puyo Tetris’s story mode. This game’s bad story was what prompted this series, though moving forward I will have both good and bad stories in this series. Here are all of the articles in this series written so far:

• Game Story Case Studies, Episode 1: Puyo Puyo Tetris (Part 1)
• Game Story Case Studies, Episode 2: Puyo Puyo Tetris (Part 2)
• Game Story Case Studies, Episode 3: Puyo Puyo Tetris (Part 3)
• Game Story Case Studies, Episode 4: Puyo Puyo Tetris (Part 4)
• Game Story Case Studies, Episode 5: Puyo Puyo Tetris (Part 5)
• Game Story Case Studies, Episode 6: Puyo Puyo Tetris (Part 6)
• Game Story Case Studies, Episode 7: Puyo Puyo Tetris (Part 7)
• Game Story Case Studies, Episode 8: Puyo Puyo Tetris (Part 8)
• Game Story Case Studies, Episode 9: Puyo Puyo Tetris (Part 9)
• Game Story Case Studies, Episode 10: Puyo Puyo Tetris (Part 10)

Puyo Puyo Tetris’s case study is still in the works, I expect there to be at least 20 to 30 articles on this game alone. It is unclear how long it will take to write it all, as I have other article to write as well.

The best I played this year:

Now for the good part. I will go over the games I gave my highest scores throughout this year. I will post the top three I’ve written about. I am excluding my retro reviews on this list as well. These are all good games, but may not be for everyone. Here they are:

Undertale: 9.5/10

Review: Undertale (Switch)

This game blew me away with story, its morality system, and music. To be fair, this wasn’t a game that was new this year, but the switch edition was released around this time. I hope to see more games like this soon, and hope Deltarune gets the same care as this game did!

Fire Emblem: Three Houses: 9.2/10

Review: Fire Emblem: Three Houses (Switch)

This was another good narrative based game. I still haven’t played each of the four scenarios that the game has offered, so it is hard to say how well thought out each one is. I hope to follow up with more articles on how this game’s other scenarios worked out.

Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition: 9.1/10

Review: Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition (Switch)

And yet another RPG made this list. This game was about as fantastic as the above, and is a good starting point in the genre and series. I haven’t completed the post game missions yet, although it wasn’t gripping me at that point. I may revisit this game in the future, though.

The “worst” I played this year:

Now for the three lowest game scores I gave this year. This list also excludes retro game reviews. It should be noted that none of these games were truly bad, as all got positive scores, but these games might not sit well with everyone:

 Untitled Goose Game: 8.1/10

Review: Untitled Goose Game (Switch)

So the top game in my bottom three was actually quite good. One thing that dragged it down was its short run time. That a game this good made my bottom three reviews shows that I had a good time playing new games this year. I hope my readers had as much fun as I did with gaming this year too!

Moonlighter: 7.5/10

Review: Moonlighter (Switch)

This game, while neat on paper was actually dull and repetitive. I should have figured that a retail simulator mixed with Legend of Zelda based dungeons could only be half good. The core does work, but it wears thin near the end of the game.

Mega Man 11: 7.2/10

Review: Mega Man 11 (Switch)

I was skeptical of this game from the start. It had been a while since a new Mega Man game came out, and the demo felt a little weird to me. In the end, it was better than anticipated, but didn’t innovate enough to give it a higher score. Again, not a bad game, but it needed some work to have been enough to bring back the Mega Man series for sure.

So, what is next?

I look forward to playing more games in the new year. Here are some more articles I should be writing in the new year.

• Baba is You
• Splatoon 2’s post update review (I just found out there will be two updates sometime next year, so it will be a while).
• Hopefully some new or missed games get added to the blog.

I also intend to write more game story case studies:

• More Puyo Puyo Tetris, hopefully it gets finished by the end of this year. If it does, look forward to these other game story case studies:
• Undertale
• Final Fantasy IX
• Octopath Traveler
• Fire Emblem: Three Houses
• Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age
• And more to come!

If you have a suggestion based on a game I own, you can always check this page: Game Library. Be sure to mention which game you want to see content on, and the type of content you wish to see (review, game story case study, guide, etc.) in the comments section of this page.

I am having a blast writing about games on this site, That’s All Games, and look forward to writing much more. There could be a lot to cover, and many new articles not mentioned here may eventually find their way into this site. Here’s to a great 2020! Cheers!

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That covers my 2019 year in review. What is your favorite article of mine from this year? What do you want to see from me in the future? Let me know in the comments below! If you liked this article, then click that like button. If you wish to keep up to date with That’s All Games, then subscribe via email or WordPress. Until next time, have fun gaming!