Topic: Favorite Gaming Moments of 2019

It's common to have threads for people to list their favorite games in any given year (in fact, we have one or two of those already), but what about gaming moments?

Whether it be a specific segment or hard earned victory in a game, to a gaming related announcement that blew your socks off, what are your favorites this year?

I hope this is different enough from the game ranking specific threads that the mods see fit to let it stand, and to get started as an example...

• Experiencing VR for the first time with PSVR - I picked up a PSVR this past spring with Astro Bot & Moss, and looking through that lens for the first time was a magical experience. I've only dug it out a few times since, but it's a totally otherworldly experience every time.
• Getting nostalgic with Final Fantasy X HD - I don't often replay games, but when the HD remaster of FFX, THE game that officially got me into JRPGs as a teen, landed on Switch earlier this year, I knew it was time to revisit it. I was worried whether or not the years had been kind to it, but I was glad to find out I still hold it in as high regards as some of my favorite modern games I played this year such as DQXI, Astral Chain, & God of War.
• Getting Crafty with Nintendo LABO - I picked up the VR kit earlier this year back when I was still really on my VR high, and while I don't revisit it much these days, I still have very fond memories of spending an entire Saturday afternoon constructing the enormous blaster that comes with the base kit. It's not the type of thing I usually do, and I'm generally not very handy, which made my flawless completion of it all the more rewarding.
• The Hero comes to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - There was a lot of buzz amongst N64 kids about Banjo & Kazooie making it into Smash, but as a big fan of JRPGs (and Dragon Quest especially in recent years), the Hero's announcement had me jumping out of my seat in excitement, and now he's one of my most used fighters in the game.
• Dragon Quest XI... running on Switch - I actually kicked off the year by playing DQXI on PS4, and it remains one of my favorite games of the year (and my second favorite in the series), but when the demo dropped on Switch I just had to try it out to see how it converted, and my jaw hit the floor. I'm sure there are sacrifices behind the scenes that had to be made to get it running, but man I played through the entire demo and was shocked to see that in the moment it looks and feels just like it's PS4 twin, even more impressive considering that it's one of the most aesthetically pleasing games I've played on Sony's system.

-Banjo Kazooie being in Smash. He's not the best character when actually playing him but that literally doesn't matter. Just the fact that he's in Smash and that I got to play as Banjo in a Nintendo game in 2019 was a huge highlight. Banjo was the biggest and best game from my childhood that was a Nintendo game...until it wasn't. So it always felt wrong that Banjo was gone (and even after buying a 360 and the Banjo game Microsoft made...that's still arguably how it felt). This felt like the final puzzle piece missing from what Smash Bros is supposed to be, from the perspective of a biased guy who grew up on N64.

-Getting free games from Epic. There's many problems with the rise of the Epic Games store. But my personal experience with it has been paying but finally getting a good chunk of PC games. Also was a decent excuse to replay World of Goo, legit the best puzzle game I've ever played.

-The final two hours of YIIK: A Post-Modern RPG: This has become my most frustrating game to think about ever because of the mix of "actually flawed game" and the absurd, hyperbolic reaction to it being "worst game ever". But that being said, it ends on what I thought was incredible final bits of storytelling that were hopeful yet really pessimistic and frightening. It will stick with me for a long time.

-The final two (normal) levels of Celeste: This game blew me away, even seeing all the hype behind it. And the last two levels in particular were some of the best gameplay meets storytelling I've ever experienced. I love how they handled it.

-Certain Luigi's Mansion 3 bosses and scenarios. If you've played, you can guess. There's a lot of highlights in that game.

• February Direct: Finding out that the second half of 2019 had such a strong lineup was so fantastic, was most excited for Astral Chain and that was my GotY. A shame Fire Emblem felt off at the time but E3 twist (the 5 year timeskip) fixed that.
• Switch is becoming the new Xbox: Cuphead, Banjo (Smash), Ori, New Super Lucky's Tale all came to Switch this year. The barriers seem to be breaking down on the Xbox exclusivity front and I'm all for it.
• Halo Reach for Master Chief Collection: Halo Reach (backwards compatibility) doesn't run too well on XB1 so to have this added to MCC was absolutely fantastic. I don't care about PC gaming but it's cool that PC players get to experience most of the Halo games by the end of 2020. Would be nice if Xbox got the same treatment (i.e. A huge PC exclusive franchise like Age of Empires brought over to XB1 or Series X).
• Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition for Switch: Ever since playing XC2, I've been hoping for the rest of the Xeno games on the Switch (especially XC1 and XCX) so it's cool we've got another. Though we did recently find out Xenosaga HD isn't happening which is a shame.
• Commitment to backwards compatibility with Xbox Series X: While I doubt we'll end up with some super awesome announcement like all OG Xbox and 360 games playable on Series X, being able to play everything I can currently play on XB1 (including backwards compatibility games) is a big deal itself.
• Old Sony exclusivity comes to an end: The PS1 and PS2's strong libraries were very much built upon 3rd party exclusivity with IPs like Final Fantasy, Crash, Spyro, Kingdom Hearts, etc. but now a lot of that 3rd party exclusivity is over (started last year with Crash on the Switch and XB1 along with the September 2018 Direct Final Fantasy announcements but a lot happened this year).

I'd have to say Luigi's Mansion 3 for me. I only started it on Christmas Day, but it truly is outstanding. LM2 and LM1 remake on the 3DS never really hooked me, so I was skeptical starting LM3 but I really shouldn't have been. The lighting and graphics overall are incredible, easily the best looking Switch game in my opinion. The game retains the typical Luigi's Mansion theme but in my opinion, the structure of the hotel manages to keep my attention far longer than either of the previous two mansions.

@Matthew010
Before i buy Luigi Mansion 3, can i save the game anytime considering the prequels didn't allow us to Save during the Mission and one Mission can take more than 10 minutes ?

@Anti-Matter The game automatically saves throughout the missions - it'll say at the bottom of the screen 'Saving...' in green text!

I haven't kept a journal to look back on, and there's not much in my twitter timeline to work from, but based on limited reflection I'm going to say Labo VR for me.

I was very pleasantly surprised just how fun the basic experience of building my own VR goggles, slotting my Switch inside, then playing the mini games (particularly the one where you just hurl toys around an open flat environment) was. It was an absolute delight to discover this additional layer of versatility in my little Switch.

And then shortly afterwards the BotW VR update dropped, and I loved it:

Favorite gaming moments of 2019. Let's see...

Buying a new gaming laptop after years of saving Years ago, I set up a goal of saving up to buy a new gaming laptop. I use to have a gaming desktop where I use to live, before it completely died, and had a netbook with a Radeon chipset that played games I played on that old desktop. It felt so good to finally upgrade from that old netbook. First games I played on it were Sonic Generations, and Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 1.

Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore's reveal Last Christmas, I was given three games, Pokemon Let's Go Eevee and Crash N-Sane Trilogy on Switch, and Tokyo Mirage Sessions on Wii U. I ended up playing Tokyo Mirage Sessions more, and loved it so much, it became one of my favorites. It made me wish more would have experienced it, or even give the game a second chance. When that Nintendo Direct happened, I screamed for joy! This was the one Wii U port I wanted, and the Direct literally gave me that E3 moment, without it being E3.

Phantasy Star Online 2 coming to the west Speaking of E3, this made me super happy. I use to play Phantasy Star Online on Dreamcast (well offline anyway, family didn't have a Dreamcast compatible ISP at the time), and it made me very happy to see it coming to the west via Xbox and Windows 10. Definitely looking forward to playing the PC version when the Windows 10 version launches.

Discovering Super Lucky's Tale and New Super Lucky's Tale I love these mascot kind of platformers, and between playing Super Lucky's Tale on PC, and recently getting New Super Lucky's Tale for Christmas, I'm very happy to have been introduced to such a cute character with really fun games. It's nice to see a new face in the platforming world aside from Mario and Sonic.

The fact the west got another Puyo Puyo game It's great to see more of this series show up outside of Japan. Puyo Puyo Tetris is great, but it was surprising we got Puyo Puyo Champions. I even downloaded it day of release.

Finished 106 games this year. January was the busiest month with 31 games completed (a game a day). First game completed was Killapede on the Amstrad and the last was Link's Awakening on the Switch.

Finished all physically owned Megadrive games. Cheese Cat-Astrophe Starring Speedy Gonzales was the last one to be knocked off. There were some good Looney Tunes games on the MD, this was not one of them. Now I have to finish off about a third of the MD collection on Steam so I can call my MD backlog complete.

Finished Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction. Came so close in my last run, made it to the guardians, but couldn't beat them. This time I butchered them.

Finished Fantasy World Dizzy on the Amstrad. It was nice to get through this, the family made several good attempts when I was younger, but no such luck. Save states are a blessing.

Loved Tokyo Mirrage Sessions #FE on Wii U despite the slightly odd setting. Won't be buying it on Switch though.

My moments on year 2019 :

1. Purchasing PSP 3000 Carnival Blue x Cobalt Blue color on 10 February 2019
2. Got brokenheart after i realized The Sims 4 console will never get the Switch version.
3. Started to love my PS4 Slim after i got brokenheart with The Sims 4 console version that will not released on Switch. Started to accept my PS4 games and reconsider some other PS4 games
4. Purchasing PS2 Fat USA on 29 August 2019.
5. Purchasing PS3 Slim White on 29 December 2019. Now i have PS1, PS2, PS3 & PS4 games before 2020.
6. Started to get hiatus for while from purchasing Switch games on early 2020 as my focus is now on hunting for PS3 & PSP games i didn't have yet.

This remains as my highlight for the year.

As for other great moments, everything from resident evil 2 to luigis mansion and Pokémon shield. Etc.

For me, it was finishing The Darkest Dungeon. It was brutal to beginning to end. But that's pretty much it, I only been beating. Mediocre to awful games this year(my fault to be perfectly honest).

Also, I beat Nioh this year. I didn't expect to, but I did. Great game, would recommend to any Dark Souls fan.

They're in no particular order.

100%ing Super Mario Odyssey - It took quite a while, but I finally pulled it off! There were some Power Moons that were either tough to get or require a bit of busywork, but overall I had fun completing this one. I may not have bought every costume, but getting every last Power Moon was good enough for me

Banjo's Smash Announcement - I didn't think this would happen, given that Microsoft owns the Banjo-Kazooie IP. There were hints of it in the form of Nintendo and Microsoft cooperating, but man, when I saw that bouncing Jiggy in the E3 Direct, I knew the bear and bird were coming! I was quite happy to see Banjo and Kazooie in Smash Bros. - my level of excitement was pretty much the same as that of Mega Man being announced for Smash 4! I like playing as Banjo in Smash, too.

Finishing Banjo-Kazooie for the first time - Banjo's Smash announcement also encouraged me to revisit Banjo-Kazooie on the N64. As a kid, the furthest I got was Mad Monster Mansion. This year, I actually finished the game, and 100%'d it, no less. This was before the Banjo update in Smash Ultimate, so I'm glad I beat the game before that!

I beat Link's Awakening for the first time on Switch, too. Celeste was a great time too, and is one of my favorite indie games.

Building a new PC:
Nothing too fancy, it's just a Ryzen 2200g with integrated graphics. But it runs games from the PS360 era really well. (I never had any of these consoles, i had a Wii back then. So, playing games from that era is great to me. Not to mention newer indie titles!). I didn't even build it with gaming in mind, but since it can run those games well, I'm gonna play them, lol.

Replaying Kirby: New Epic Yarn on the 3DS:
I still have some titles to play on my 3DS, but to me this was a farewell of sorts, the last first party title for the 3DS! I've played the Wii original, the additions to this version aren't that great but it still has the same charm and the new minigames are nice.

Posted this over on PushSquare:
For me it's an easy no. 1, nothing else is even close and that was revisiting my favorite game of all-time, Resident Evil 2, in what should now be considered the standard on how to remake a game for a modern audience. It isn't perfect - the 'B' scenario wasn't nearly as deep as what we got in the original release - but it's damn near. What I really appreciated was the massively improved controls. I hated the tank controls back in the 90s and even moreso now. In the remake I love that you can move and shoot if you're in a desperate situation but it encourages you to create distance then stop and pop. The deliberate pacing is still there, the sense of 'horror' still there, the game looks great and Mr. X was one of the best antagonists of 2019. Aside from an improved B scenario and better enemy variety, not too much to complain about.

Second best gaming moment of the year... Finally getting a good single player Star Wars game again.

In regard to the Nintendo side of things. Link's Awakening with all the 'quality of life' changes made it a blast to revisit. I liked the game when I played it in its original form back in 93 or 94 but the new graphical style and ability to manage items easier made the game even more fun than I remember.
Beyond that, Luigi's Mansion 3 is the first time I played a game in the LM series and I love it. It's not pulling in the same review scores Breath of the Wild or Super Mario Odyssey did but honesty, I'd put it ahead of those games, it's probably my favorite game on the Switch. So much more variety and depth to the world than I expected. And a great gameplay loop. I've commented here before that people who called it the 'most Nintendo game' are right. When describing what a Nintendo game should look and feel like to play I can't think of a better example than Luigi's Mansion 3. Who else could make vacuuming so interesting?

1. Gamepass on Xbox one. Discovered so many games that I wouldn’t have otherwise bought, Ori and the Blind Forest being the standout.

2. Resident Evil 2 remake. Excellent remake of one of my favourite N64 games.

3. Mega Drive Mini. Got a Mega Drive for my 11th bday back in 93 and then got the mini for my 37th! Nerdy 90s joy.

4. Switch Lite. Nice handheld and I join this Nintendo generation after some hesitation.

5. My son discovering Pokemon red on my 2DS and my daughter discovering the mini games on Mario 64 DS. I finally have some mini gamers around (now I have to do the whole responsible parent bit ‘30 mins a day max...unless mum’s out...)

@Gamecuber your 1 & 2 points are mine exactly. (for point 1, Outer Worlds specifically)
3. The unveiling of Bloodlines 2, a sequel set in one of my favourite game worlds.

Reveal for the sequel to Breath of the Wild.

The last hour of Cadence of Hyrule.

Beating Isshin the Sword Saint in Sekiro.

Seeing people enjoy my infrastructure in Death Stranding.