Blog: 2019 in Games

This is my third annual yearly games wrap up and I'm taking a little bit to look at what I played in 2019, what I enjoyed playing in 2019 and how 2019 was in games over all.

The Hooflepuffs, true heroes.

Top Games by Time Played

In total I’ve played 60 different games in 2019 and played for a total of 730 hours. The games I played the least were Starfox, StuntFX and Puyo Puyo, all from the SNES Classics on Switch. Mario Golf: World Tour was in the middle of my pack at just above 2 hours and by a pretty incredible margin I played Fire Emblem: Three Houses for almost 180 hours, more than 120 hours more than the next game.

By play time, my top 10 games of 2019 were:

1. Fire Emblem: Three Houses - 179
2. Super Mario Odyssey - 58
3. Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival - 57
4. Dragon Quest XI S - 48
5. Breath of Fire II - 42
6. Pokémon Go - 38
7. Xenonauts - 29
8. Europa Universalis 4 - 27
9. Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - 25
10. Fire Emblem: Awakening - 20

Last year I was concerned about how much I played games unintentionally. This year, I think I did a good job actually choosing what to play and enjoying the things I picked.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses is a very, very good game. It’s also a game with a very large amount of content. It has 4 endings and each of those has enough difference that as you play through the game there are enough things to keep it interesting. I played the first play though on easy and the second on hard which was about the right amount of difficulty. I played the third on easy because I was hoping to see more of the game, but honestly found that it dragged out a lot.

I might not have played quite so much more but I managed to get very sick with a nasty flue for most of late August (which screwed up my teaching schedule something fierce). The switch in general and FE:3H in particular are a really nice addition to being so tired that standing and walking to the bathroom is about your daily allotment of energy.

Super Mario Odyssey was also a ton of fun and so easy to pick up and enjoy at any point. I found it didn’t play as nicely on mobile as it does on the TV, but other than that it was always a joy to play.

Mario is never bothered.

Top Games by My Rating

This year my favourite games were (in alphabetical order) :

• Cadence of Hyrule
• Chrono Trigger
• Fire Emblem: Three Houses
• Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• Ogre Battle 64
• Opus Magnum
• Super Mario Odyssey
• Tetris / Tetris 99

I don’t look back at my scores/ratings from previous years, so this is a subjective view from late 2019. Nintendo certainly gets the bulk of my happy time this year. Cadence of Hyrule is a real delight on top of Fire Emblem, Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey. I’m usually a little more conservative about Ogre Battle 64, but honestly I do love that mess of a game. Tetris continues along, even if I did land on 99 rather than effect 9or any of the others). And of course Chrono Trigger is still one of the very best games of all time.

Puns and boss fights. Although you might want to check it out for the music.

Thoughts

I played a lot of great games in 2019 and I’m generally pleased with what I chose to play and how I chose to play it. 2019 had a lot of really good games in it and having missed out on the switch for a number of years I was able to play the best it had to offer.

I’m looking forward to playing more in 2020. I’m especially excited about Animal Crossing: New Horizons, but I’m sure there are going to be lots of interesting things to play. I’m also putting a lot of effort into organizing my work / play time so that I’ll have the time to regularly sit down and enjoy things without feeling like I ought to be doing something else.

I feel like we’re at a point of excellence in games and hopefully we’ll see more creative and enjoyable games come out this year. I also want to make sure I take the time to enjoy the games which are interesting and the games which stand as a more complete art.

The home we come back to.

Blog: 2018 in Games

Well three times means I mean it, I guess. I’ve now managed to track every game I’ve played (more or less) over the last three years. I’m enjoying the tracking, and I think, generally I’ve been a little more mindful when playing. I’m looking forward to 2019 when my thesis is finished, and I can open up what I’m playing.

This post is a wrap up of 2018, including a look at what I’ve played, what I’ve enjoyed and some thoughts about games I had this year.

Top Games by Time Played

In total I’ve played 42 different games in 2018 and played for a total of 568 hours. The game I played the least was Dragon Fly! on my phone. Mini Metro was in the middle of my pack at just above 3 hours and for the second year running, Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was my most played game at 87 hours.

By play time, my top 10 games of 2018 were:

• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - 87
• Paper Mario: Color Splash - 55
• Civilization VI - 53
• Stardew Valley - 50
• Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival - 49
• Pokémon Go - 47
• Europa Universalis 4 - 32
• Final Fantasy XII - 27
• Into The Breach - 25
• Mario Golf: World Tour - 20

I'm interested that compared to last year I definitely played more games. Although that might be that I got stuck in Breath of the Wild. So I played elsewhere a little more than I might have. On the other hand it’s interesting that I’ve still played more than 80 hours bringing me to 302 hours played total (with only the last 40 being me vs the stupid master sword challenge lizalfos). I love that game deeply, and even though at this point there are bits that ring a little hollower than I’d love, it’s still an incredible game.

A lot of the other playing hasn’t been as intentional I’d hoped. I played Color Splash and FFXII mostly as games to relax at the end of the day, but I do know what I’m playing and they’re not quite what I’d hoped for. Also every time I play a Final Fantasy game it drops in my esteem, FFXII is hella slow and my attempt to lean into that has not been as successful as I hoped (he said 27 hours later).

Civ VI and EU 4 were also not as intentional as I hoped, mostly played when my brain wasn’t interested in doing much else (even when there was much else to do) . In 2019, I want to get a handle on that and enjoy them significantly more. I stopped playing Stardew, because I didn’t want to play it the way I was playing Civ and EU 4, and hopefully Mindfullness 2019 (™) will push me back that way as well (although it also deserves a slow drip so you don’t push too hard into the virtual part of the world).

Amiibo Fest is great and part of my weekend ritual. PoGo is also a staple and even a motivation to … actually go outside (results less effective while cold). 

Top Games by My Rating

This year my favourite games were (in alphabetical order):

• Earthbound
• Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• Stardew Valley
• Tetris
• Sunless Sea

As always I don’t look back at my scores from previous years, so this is a subjective view from late 2018. Looking back now I notice that Pikmin 3 dropped a little, but I’m also just mostly hoping that we get a new one. Bastion and Rakuen also weren’t included, but that’s because I didn’t play them this year. Tetris is a new addition, but, seriously, Tetris is good (I’m going to have to try to hunt down Tetris Effect in 2019).

Thoughts

I play games for a lot of reasons. I like to play games for the experience, for the art, for the escape and for the fun. 2018 was not the best year for me in general. I was very stressed and think I really didn’t do a great job of getting myself to the places I wanted to be, in a lot of different ways.

A lot of the games I played were much more for the escape than for anything else. That’s okay, but I’d rather be able to play for a lot of different reasons, rather than just that my brain is too tired to do much else. I liked all of the games in my top 10, to be clear, but a lot of them are good without being outstanding.

I didn’t buy games in 2018, and [as I already mentioned], I didn’t even play a lot of games released in 2018. I have to say that, while I feel like there are a lot of very good games, there aren’t a huge number of games that I really want to go back and play from this year. Celeste sticks in my mind, as do Dragon Quest XI and Octopath Traveler (and Tetris Effect I suppose).

I hope that in 2019 I’m able to play more and play for more reasons. There are a lot of games I’m looking forward to catching up on and I’m also excited to catch up on the Switch (and maybe the PS4) and to dive into a ton of really great games … or maybe I’ll just play the new Animal Crossing all year.

Blog: 2017 in Games

I wasn’t really planning to keep tracking the games I played after 2016, but somehow on New Year’s Day I kept track of the games I was playing and then it just seemed natural for the rest of the year. I think it’s been interesting to track what had my attention when and I think tracking my games played has helped me make better choices about the games I play.

This post is a wrap up of the year, including a look at what I’ve played, what I’ve enjoyed and some thoughts about games I had this year.

The Blood Moon Rises, and I still have many miles to go.

Top Games by Time Played

In total I’ve played 53 different games in 2017 and played for a total of [667] hours. The game I played the least was The Perfect Tower on Kongregate. Sunless Sea is in the middle of my pack at just about 5 hours and I don’t think you’ll be to surprised that Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is my most played game at [211] hours.

By play time, my top 10 games of 2017 (in hours played) were:

• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - 216
• Hearthstone - 48
• Marvel Puzzle Quest - 45
• Civilization VI - 41
• Pokemon Go - 29
• Mario Kart 8 - 25
• Cities: Skylines - 21
• Stardew Valley - 21
• EarthBound - 19
• Ogre Battle 64 - 15

I think seems like a good description of me and my year in 2017. It is interesting that I stopped playing Hearthsone and MPQ midway through the year, but they’ve stayed high up on the list. Also despite having played PoGo most days at least in the second half of the year, it isn’t as high as I feel like it might have been.

If you’re interested, here is the my total time played for all games in 2017:

Top Games by My Rating

At the end of last year and this year I’ve sat down and rated each of the games I’ve played on a 10 point scale (0-5 by half steps). I didn’t look back at my ratings last year, but I’m thinking if I keep this up for several years I might find an interesting evaluation of either myself or the games I’ve played over time. For the time being, this year, I really liked:

• Bastion
• Earthbound
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• Pikmin 3
• Rakuen
• Sunless Sea

He's the WORST!

No real surprises here. A bunch of solid games that have really held up over time and a couple of new ones that, as I’ve already said, I really liked.

Thoughts

So I think 2017 was one of the best year for games. As my game of 2017 post says, I didn’t get to play that many, but I think we’ve seen a general switch (pun marginally intended) in the industry to deeper games that have more artistic integrity and that acknowledge their players are real, intelligent people.

First hand I can tell you that Breath of the Wild left me feeling empowered as a player to explore the world. The creators clearly sweat the small stuff, putting detail into every corner of the world, but at the same time, there’s nothing in the game forcing me to look anywhere, so each discovery feels like my own.

I can also tell you that Rakuen, a much smaller indie game, has that same attention. It may not have the same depth of game-play, but the creators again trust you to manage the depth of the story and to deal with the fact that life can be sad and happy all together and in turns. I think we’re also going to see much more mature stories coming in the next few years.

From games media and YouTube I’ve been really struck by the depth of other games such as Mario + Rabbids, which seems like a real stream-lining and strengthening of the XCOM model mixed with the attention to detail that shows up in most Nintendo products. I feel like Assassin's Creed: Origins similarly streamlines and strengthens the pieces of the series that people loved.

For myself, I think I’ve been happier with the games I played in 2017 than I have for a long time. While I’ve definitely had times where I wasn’t sure what I wanted to play or played something that was not as satisfying, generally I was able to make good choices and spend my gaming time well. Zelda provided some of that since I didn’t suffer from: that was a tremendous experience, what do I play now? but I think my relationship with games was strong this year and I was good about playing good things.

I mean, he doesn't, but this game is still so open and free.

Hopefully I’ll keep that up for next year. I’m trying to pay attention to what’s fun or interesting and making sure that I get a good mix of both. I’m thinking early 2018 is going to be dedicated to some older games (Beyond Good and Evil and Breath of Fire II) and getting better at some other games (Civ VI and EU 4). Then, whenI get my PhD finished, I’ll get a chance to dive into the wide world of Switch.