Game of the year is the hardest category to choose and I often think about this throughout the entire year. While there were so many great runner-ups, like there is every year, the one that makes it to the top for me is the most memorable. It’s not a mathematical score of what game received the most awards or had the highest score, but what was the most fun and memorable. A game has to leave something with me and resonate. A game that needs to be discussed and admired and something even revolutionary or groundbreaking.
Resident Evil 2
Resident Evil isn’t just a great remake, but pushes a game further in an already genre defining franchise. Resident Evil 2 is sparking a whole new revolution in remakes and setting a brand new standard and you can’t go wrong with that.
The atmosphere doesn’t mean scary. While there are games out there that are scary and can suck you in, any game can really. It just takes excellent world-building and something that’s not realistic but engaging, a world that you would want to be in.
Resident Evil 2
RE2 managed to nab the scary atmosphere this year, but also the heart-wrenching fear of being stuck in Raccoon City. The world in RE2 may be linear, but it’s downright frightening and one of the best horror games of the last decade. The most realistic zombies ever created sure helps a lot too.
A story is one of the most important parts of a game. Sometimes without a story, a game is nothing or boring. Not every game needs a story to be good, but if a developer is going to put one in make it memorable and worth sitting through.
Disco Elysium
Disco Elysium’s story is the best of the bunch this year due to the sheer amount of detail and lore set within the game. The characters are not only well written, but add to the story and make the entire journey worth finishing and it’s something you will remember and contemplate long after the game is finished.
Sound design is all about immersing the player into the world. It’s not about quality but about how the sound is implemented and how much care is put into it. Do the developers use the same footstep sounds throughout the whole game or different steps for each type of terrain? That’s the type of detail we’re looking for.
Resident Evil 2
Resident Evil 2’s sound is both eerie and unbelievabvly engaging. From the sounds of opening doors, the moans of zombies, and footsteps in empty halls. Even the rustling of clothes is present and it’s tall enough to create one big sound design package that helps suck you into the atmosphere of RE2.
Indie titles have really taken off over the last decade and going into a new one we will see more indie games top the quality of some AAA titles. I have some indie games under my belt as some of my all-time favorite games. They don’t have the time constraints and corporate oversight that larger budget titles do.
Disco Elysium
Nothing screams top-notch indie developers like ZA/UM Studios. They came out swinging in the top-down RPG genre that’s ruled by companies like Obsidian, Beamdog, and Larian Studios. Disco Elysium has everything a AAA title has without the nonsense. Great voice acting, art, story, and characters.
The multi-platform genre is usually one of the easiest categories to pick as it is usually filled with the best AAA games the year had to offer. This year had so many great games that a lot didn’t make it. While we are looking down the tunnel at the end of a console cycle once again, these are the games that this generation will be remembered by.
Resident Evil 2
Resident Evil 2 isn’t just a simple remake or reissue, but it sets the standards for how remakes should be. We’ve gone through almost 10 years of yearly remasters and HD collections, but RE2 shows actual love and care for a beloved game that has millions of fans. Everything from the most realistic zombies ever made to the fantastic new perspective, visual fidelity, and turning stilted ancient gameplay into something fresh.
The plague was a devastating disease that wiped out millions in the medieval era. It’s uncommon to see a disease revolve around a game’s story, but A Plague Tale does it wonderfully. Full of adventure, sadness, excitement, and little hope, Innocence does an amazing job of making you care about its characters and world.
You play Amecia de’ Rune, who is a girl of royalty. She goes on a walk with her dog and father in the woods, and, well, I don’t want to spoil a thing here; bad things happen, and she must suddenly flee her home. The entire game revolves around trying to find a cure for the plague and her brother, who has a mysterious disease that may or may not be tied to the plague itself. Amecia and her brother Hugo are fantastic characters and I was glued to my screen and played through the entire game in one day. I wanted to know what was next, and the great stealth combat is some of the best I’ve played in the last decade.
The game is a mix of stealth combat and cut scenes with just some exploring. The game is highly linear, but the combat areas become more open later on in the game, with multiple ways to get through enemies. The main focus of combat is fire and your slingshot. This sling can be used to whip rocks at enemies’ heads to kill them, but doing so around other guards will alert them. At the beginning of the game, you will just toss rocks at metal to distract guards and use pots to lure them away. You aren’t killing too much during the first few chapters of the game, and this is okay. The game slowly adds new ammo types, various ways to combat rats, and new ways to use fire.
Soldiers and rats are your enemies in this game, and the rats are the most deadly. Outside of hiding and working your way around enemy soldiers, the rats are completely afraid of fire and light, as it kills them instantly. The game has some sort of “rat” engine as thousands appear to scream and swarm around like bugs, and it’s rather disturbing to see at first. Various forms of fire will light your paths, such as sticks that burn quickly and are used to solve puzzles, haystacks, torches, braziers, and various light sources. Some areas are puzzles that require you to light your path through rats, and towards the end of the game, you can use the rats against soldiers since your ammo allows you to put out fires and not just start them. I won’t give away the combat types in the last 4 chapters, as this will spoil a lot of the story.
What makes the game so great is not just the story, amazing voice acting, and characters, but the combat unfolds so slowly throughout the game, and each combat scenario is different from the rest, that you want to keep playing. The game never gets boring, and the environments are constantly changing. You also get to upgrade your sling with more ammo and faster reloading and aiming, and this is done by looting materials throughout the world. You can find workstations, and later on, you can acquire an upgrade that allows you to do the upgrades without a station. You can also craft ammo types, which are essential for getting through the game. Towards the end of the game, you must think and really know your arsenal and various ways to get through combat areas are available that allow you to sneak or fight.
The game also looks amazing, with gorgeous vistas, amazing models and textures, and superb lighting effects. For an indie game, this is one of the best-looking games this year and even has great controls and a good camera. Even having to have Hugo tag along with you all the time doesn’t get in the way. He’s always holding Amecia’s hand; you never have to leave him to go do stuff and make him come back like in other escort-style games.
Overall, A Plague Tale is one of the best games released this year and has everything going for it. It never got boring and was just so much fun to play through and I always wanted to know what was coming next and see Amecia, Hugo, and their friends make it through to the end. Sadly, with this being an indie game, a lot of people are not going to play it, and I really hope to see more from this studio.
thebinarymessiah.com 
Yep! The fact that I forgot about this game until you made a comment proves that.