What a year it has been for video games. As we are heading to the last legs of this console generation, many new, remarkable games have made our lives much pleasant. From new experiences we never saw coming to classic series we love getting a new entry, there are a lot of good games.
As customary in this very website, the crew of Gamer Malaya and Gamer Matters has once again convened and deliberate our very own Game Of The Year awards to celebrate the best games that we, as a collective, love.
For 2019, two new categories have been introduced: Best Main Menu and Best Meme Generator. As for Game Of The Year, we have now made it a top 10 list instead of five, and all of them ranked.
From the 50 (+1) games from our shortlist, the deliberation process has narrow down to these nominees. Each of these games has secured an honorable mention for their respective categories.
Here is the list of awards for GM GOTY 2019:
First impressions are not everything, but always important. This is to celebrate the games that make us hyped, or get us in the mood of playing from the very first thing it loads.
- Devil May Cry 5
- Borderlands 3
- Kingdom Hearts III
- Metro Exodus
- River City Girls
The best games that dominated our conversations, social media, and shitposts throughout the year
- Death Stranding
- Fire Emblem Three Houses
- The Outer Worlds
- Pokémon Sword and Shield
- Untitled Goose Game
Either the game holds up really well or the new release spruced up in a major way that made us love the same game all over again
- Catherine Full Body
- Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled
- Halo: Reach
- Medievil
- Resident Evil 2
The Anan Award For Best Game We Didn’t Play
The game we love best from afar and pining to play
- Bloodstained: Ritual Of The Night
- Disco Elysium
- Judgment
- The Outer Wilds
- Samurai Shodown
Best Racing Game funded by Rich Energy
The only normal genre-based game award here and it is as it says
- Dangerous Driving
- The Grand Tour Game
- GRID (2019)
- Need For Speed Heat
- WRC 8
The best game to use a style, a combination of artstyle and sound design, that makes it stand out from the beige of normality
- Ape Out
- Daemon X Machina
- Hypnospace Outlaw
- Sayonara Wild Hearts
- Void Bastards
The David Cage Award For Best Story
The narrative that captures our hearts and minds delivered in video game form
- Control
- Days Gone
- Metro Exodus
- The Outer Worlds
Surprise! Didn’t expect it to be this good now did we?
- Baba Is You
- Disco Elysium
- The Outer Wilds
- Tetris 99
- Untitled Goose Game
The Daniel’s Trashfire Award for Most Disappointing Game
Why? These games are either objectively the worst or the ones with so much squandered potential. Put in the trashfire where it belongs
- Anthem
- Fallout 76 (again)
- Left Alive
- Stadia
- YIIK
Game Of The Year, GM’s Top 10 Games Of 2019
The big one. As it says, the Gamer Malaya and Gamer Matters Game Of The Year 2019 award. The game we collectively believe to best released this year. Now in ascending order.
- Control
- Devil May Cry 5
- The Outer Worlds
- Resident Evil 2
- Astral Chain
- Need For Speed Heat
- Metro Exodus
- Outward
- Borderlands 3
- Pokémon Sword and Shield
The full deliberation process is part of dia.log – The Gamer Matters Podcast. You can tune watch it on YouTube here:
You can listen to the audio-only version on Anchor and various podcast outlets: