The Specialty Awards, for lack of a better term for it, are awards for games that excel in a particular way that has nothing to do with their genre or any technical part of the game, but that I still feel deserves to be singled out for doing something above and beyond what most games offer, whether that is a particularly good port or collection, the best game for kids, best multiplayer, or simply the game that made me laugh the most. These are games that put in an extra special effort in places that deserve to be recognized for it.
- Best Port/Remake
- Best Compilation/Collection
- Best Game for Kids and Casual Players
- Best Multiplayer
- Best Value
- Funniest Game
- Most Underrated
- Most Overlooked
- Most Original
- Best Third-Party Publisher
- My Top 5 Most-Played Games of 2019
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Best Port/Remake
Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition – This year, we had ports of games from other platforms that improved upon those versions of the game. We had ports that retained the graphical quality of the original version despite that the original version was already graphically stunning. We had ports that added in a wealth of new content not seen in the original game. And we have ports that took what was previously a platform exclusive from another platform and actually gave Switch owners a version that can now be called the new definitive version of the game. Dragon Quest XI S didn’t do just one of those things, it did all of those things. As such, it was by far the game I felt most deserved this award this year.
Runners-Up:
Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition
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Best Compilation/Collection
Castlevania Anniversary Collection – Castlevania Anniversary Collection was the one collection released this year that seemed to go above and beyond in just about every way a game collection can. Firstly, it bears mention that the selection of games is superb – out of 8 games, 6 of them are very good (including the first Western release of Kid Dracula), and I would argue that two of these games are still among the best in their genre. However, in addition to that, this collection packs in both the US and Japanese versions of nearly all of these games, has added save states and presentation options, a huge collection of production materials, interviews, and behind-the-scenes contents… and all of this for only $20. This is how game compilations should be done, and I hope other publishers take notice.
Runners-Up:
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Best Game for Kids and Casual Players
Farm Together – This game combines good visuals, great music, and compelling gameplay to make for a casual time-waster that anyone can easily enjoy. This is one of those games that’s a delight to come back to time and again, and I feel like anyone who doesn’t mind a slower-paced game can appreciate it, regardless of their age, and regardless of how much they play videogames.
Runners-Up:
Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair
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Best Multiplayer
Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince – The Trine series has always had strong Co-Op play, but I truly feel that the latest installment of the franchise really outdid itself this year, giving the game’s puzzles a more sandboxy feel and giving players all sorts of ways to combine characters’ abilities to find unique solutions to problems. On a platform that already has a plethora of great Co-Op experiences, Trine 4 still manages to stand out as an absolutely fantastic game for those looking to share their experience with others.
Runners-Up:
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Best Value
Downwell – For $3, it’s hard to go wrong with Downwell, an excellent arcade-style platformer that’s tough as nails but keeps drawing you back into it. It’s a simple game, but that simplicity keeps inviting you back in for another trip down the well. I put this game ahead of free-to-play games like Gems of War because it’s microtransaction-free, and while it doesn’t have the wealth of content of games like Wargroove or Castlevania Anniversary Collection, neither of those games has a price tag as appealing as Downwell.
Runners-Up:
Castlevania Anniversary Collection
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Funniest Game
Dandy Dungeon: Legend of Brave Yamada – This game is so absolutely loaded with charm, and a large part of that is the absurd exploits of the game’s titular character, who is bursting with energy, makes silly versions of his life events into game content, and loves parading around his apartment in his boxers. He even sings along with his own game’s music, meaning even the soundtrack makes me giggle! I enjoyed a lot of good games this year, but few made me truly smile like this one did.
Runners-Up:
Elevator… To the Moon! Turbo Champions Edition
Rock of Ages II: Bigger and Boulder
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Most Underrated
Asphalt 9 Legends – For this award, I’m referring to the game’s Metascore on Metacritic, with a focus on games that were much better than that score would imply. Asphalt Legends 9 currently has a Metascore of 61, and it deserves way better than that. The game’s microtransactions are certainly ugly, I won’t dispute that. However, they’re also easily avoided, and the actual game itself is phenomenal. I routinely dock points from games for their aggressive microtransactions, so when I tell you that this free game is absolutely worth looking past its microtransactions to play it, you should at least give it a try.
Runner-Up:
Monster Energy Supercross: The Official Videogame 2
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Most Overlooked
Farm Together – As I write this, Metacritic lists precisely zero reviews for the Nintendo Switch version of this game, with only the Xbox One version getting a Metascore. Given that this was one of my favorite games this year, that’s frankly shocking – this game deserves a lot more love, especially on the platform I feel is best-suited for this kind of casual play where you can just put a few minutes into it at a time.
Runners-Up:
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Most Original
Baba Is You – This simple-looking game has players constantly changing the rules of how it works, with every element of the game potentially changeable so you can solve the game’s puzzles. Maybe you start a level playing Baba pushing a rock to reach a goal flag and win the level, but switch around a few words, and now you’re the goal flag pushing Baba out of the way so you can reach the rock and win the level. I can’t recall a time when a game was built on the premise of changing how the game works in this way, and as such it had to get my pick for most original game of 2019.
Runners-Up:
Dandy Dungeon: Legend of Brave Yamada
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Best Third-Party Publisher
Devolver Digital – The Nintendo Switch was on fire this year, and I think a large part of the reason for that is thanks to Devolver Digital. Just look at this list of games: Ape Out, My Friend Pedro, Downwell, The Red Strings Club, Katana Zero, Heave Ho, Hotline Miami Collection… this is a list that includes some of the best games of the year, a few of which I’ve already named above. Suffice it to say, Devolver Digital was one of the best things going for the Nintendo Switch in 2019.
Runners-Up: Sega, Square Enix
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My Top 5 Most-Played Games of 2019
These are the games that I spent the most time playing this year just for fun. Now, these aren’t necessarily the best games, but they’re the games I most wanted to unwind with when I wasn’t looking to review something. Again, this is one category where I include games from previous years, because at least a few of them were among my most-played this year.
#5 – Farm Together – Farm Together saw a lot of hours logged on my Nintendo Switch, but much of that was between other games, as this is a game best played in small increments thanks to its in-game clock that requires the passage of time in the real world. Still, it was a delight to check in with my little farm every now and then before heading to my next game.
#4 – Moonlighter – This late 2018 release had a great hook of dungeon-crawling feeding into shopkeeping and back that had me repeatedly coming back to make a little more progress. I imagine I could probably charge through the game to beat it quicker, but I thoroughly enjoyed being slow and methodical with it.
#3 – Slay the Spire – This is a game that has “just one more try” written all over it. Each time I play, I’m eager to see if I can piece together the ultimate deck and make myself an unstoppable machine plowing right into the heart at the top of the spire, and this wonderfully compelling desire kept bringing me back time and again.
#2 – Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – This was one of the reasons I got the Switch in the first place, of course I was gonna’ play the hell out of it. Got over a half-dozen characters to Elite Smash, too (for those wondering, in order it was Sonic, Inkling, Pokemon Trainer, Samus, Dark Samus, Palutena, Bowser, Little Mac, and Robin). However, even beyond how incredible this game is, one of the other things that kept coming me back was all of the amazing new content Nintendo released for the game this year. Each of the five new characters was wildly inventive and original (which I appreciate even though I suck at all of them), the new stages and music is wonderful, and then there’s the extra updates Nintendo has pushed like the Stage Builder and Home Run Contest. In 2019, this continued to be the ultimate version of Smash for me, and I couldn’t be happier.
#1 – Pic-A-Pix Deluxe – This probably seems like it’s coming out of left field, huh? Yeah, that’s right, I log a lot of hours into a Picross game. That stuff is digital crack to me. I don’t regret giving this game a relatively moderate score because I know that not everyone will feel the same as me (and in fact, I’ve encountered some frustrating bugs while playing it), but this Picross game managed to hit juuuuust the right note with me. It helps that this is exactly the sort of game I like to play to chill down right before I’m ready to go to sleep – this game probably has the all-time record of most hours spent with me sleeping while it plays. When I’m looking for a go-to game to put on the Switch to de-stress, this is my go-to.
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That’s all for today! to keep up with all of the eShopperReviews 2019 Game Awards, be sure to check back at the Awards’ Start Page, which I’ll be updating throughout the week!
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