My 2019 Game of the Year goes to The Outer Worlds, a brilliantly quirky, fun, and addicting RPG by Obsidian. Normally I would write a review on the game here in this segment, but I already wrote a review for this game which you can read here. I’ll refrain from rehashing what I love about it but I have played a couple more playthroughs since my article was written and it’s still a blast. I’m at the point where I’m encouraging friends and family to build my character and make my choices so that I can get even more possibilities and in-game content.

I think the real question here is “why The Outer Worlds?” Well, that’s a topic I’m happy to dig deeper on.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice won and I can understand why, but I just couldn’t get into this game. I didn’t personally believe the elements were there to win GoTY. I thought Control was actually a better game. But the gameplay of Control was just too broken. It was glitchy, crashed, and lagged far too much. Even now after patches. Perhaps it could be re-released for PS5 for a better experience. I appreciate what Kojima-san did with Death Stranding but it was boring and the mechanics were wonky. How many times can I fall while carrying packages and not get bored? Yes, there’s a lot to be said for the isolation aspect of the direction and THAT was deserving of its’ win at the game awards. Resident Evil 2 was great but I will admit, I watch those being played. I cannot play them, I get too much anxiety. But honestly, it’s hard to compare any zombie game with The Last of Us which was a revolutionary masterpiece in the world of gaming. Still is. Super Smash Bros Ultimate is fun on date night, but it’s not THAT good. It’s classic Nintendo making fun family-friendly games. Yes, it’s fun, but it’s regurgitated ideas with new characters. That’s You or Knowledge is Power are much more fun, in my opinion, but they are exclusive to PS.

So, why The Outer Worlds? Because RPGs are so deserving! I value a game on the ability to replay it and when a story has that many story branches and character arcs, it’s worth replaying. Over, and over. It’s also fair to say that The Outer Worlds won for me because I didn’t play Disco Elysium yet. Once I do, that very well could end up becoming my Game of The Year but likely, The Outer Worlds will stay ahead, even if just by a thread.

Though I have to say, only 16 games have ever received perfect scores from GameSpot and Disco Elysium was one of them. BUT…Horizon Zero Dawn wasn’t and that was, perhaps, the most perfect game in history. OK, maybe that and Witcher 3 (which also got a perfect score.)

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What was your favorite game of 2019? Drop me some of your gaming opinions on Instagram and let’s connect there. Send me any gaming content you have to follow as well. If you played Disco, I want to hear all about it. I also want to hear your thoughts on TLoU 2! Is Dina going to die or betray Ellie or get kidnapped or…?!?!?!