Sacred Symbols, Episode 55: Game of the Year 2019 (So Far)

Ahh every the skeptic Colin Moriarty lol. I guess you general low expectations for things allows you to rarely be truly disappointed, but do you ever feel like your lack of hype ever colors your experience with a game differently? And is their any property that you love that you actually let yourself succumb to the hypemobile?

Brett Carlson

I love Remedy so I’m really looking forward to Control, Alan Wake will always have my heart :-). Really interested in Greedfall too, a AA choice and consequence RPG, I’m rooting for it to be amazing

Antoni

I really liked what I played of the original on Vita.

Colin Moriarty

I'm hopeful for Control, too. I think it's gonna be good.

Colin Moriarty

A Plague Tale is currently on sale, so I picked it up last night.

Colin Moriarty

That's a fun idea. Maybe we can do episodes about hidden gems or something.

Colin Moriarty

I'm a fan. But, like I said, it wasn't something I picked up until my late 20's.

Colin Moriarty

You're very welcome. Thank you for your support!

Colin Moriarty

I really want to get to Sekiro soon. It's very high on my backlog. Per Death Stranding: I suppose we shall see!

Colin Moriarty

After finishing the Outer Wilds I was pretty sure nothing else would come close but tbh took a chance on Dragon Quest Builders 2 and have had a smile on my face ever since, never played Minecraft but as a huge DQ fan this game is incredible, thanks for the discussion as always

David Kramme

I haven’t played much that grabbed me this year, but RE2 and bloodstained were extremely fun, hopeful for control.

Justin Trammell

GOTY so far 1. A Plague Tale: Innocence 2. Katana Zero 3. Resident Evil 2 4. Super Mario Maker 2 5. The Outer Wilds

Antoni

This was a great episode! It turned me onto games I haven't heard of too, which gave me the idea I kinda hope you guys can implement maybe into Sacred Symbols+ : a crowdsourced curation of games. Let's do the thing that PlayStation refuses to do with their store and have people write in with games that most people may not have heard of that might have gotten lost in the shovelware in its own segment.

Gabriel Garcia

Also Colin dont wanna post twice but the Oxford comma is a no go. I was a Combat Journalist in the U.S. Navy for 6 years and the Oxford comma was strictly, strictly, prohibited lol. When I say prohibited, I mean your articles would not be allowed to go to print if their was even one. I find it interesting how you had an editor that allowed them. Just further evidence that the art of journalism as a whole is all out of whack. AP style is how we were taught. I always liked the Oxford comma as well though personally.

Brett Carlson

I don't send games questions in. I just enjoy your suffering each week.

Peter Campbell

Just got around to listening, thank you guys so much for reading my comment!

Jude Brandon

The game of the year so far is undeniably Sekiro. This is one if the most expertly crafted video games in history. Colin as kids could you imagine guys like us playing Sprite based games even imagining having combat that is so intuitive that you literally need to be locked in and focused on every single movement of a character. The care that From Software puts into gameplay is near the top of the gaming industry. They truly created their own space. Now listen I understand these games arent for everyone, but I'll tell you a story. I hate the idea of Dark Souls games and as you know I'm probably one if the biggest gamers in this galaxy. I play and beat everything. But I scoffed at a series of games who's claim to fame was punishing players and calling it greatness. Then I played Bloodborne because I play every Playstation exclusive no matter what, and you know what happened? I fell in love. I dominated Bloodborne and made it my bitch. I grinding for hours so I could stand toe to toe with every boss and in those moments it clicked. The games are not hard, they just demand your patience and a willingness to give yourself to the game and learn. Gamers today want tutorials and breadcrumb trails always telling them what to do next, but not these games. But once you learn them you become a God in a virtual world. So for anyone out their who thinks they can not play these games because of difficulty please trust me. These games will make you a better gamer and a better person. After beating Bloodborne I ran through Dark Souls 1-3, The Surge, and Noih. Beat every single one. Resident Evil 2 is a remake masterpeice no doubt about it Colin, but it already had a classical base to work off. Sekiro is a completely original game and completely detached from their previous titles outside of difficulty. Special consideration to Days Gone. I really loved that game but 8.0 out of 10 dont win you GOTY. Sekiro so far, but if in being honest Death Stranding (pending it releases on time) will win GOTY and I will bet a 100$ patreon donation Colin. The Shwame has spoken.

Brett Carlson

Why?

Colin Moriarty

I'm surprised you read my question.

There’s No I in LLC

Make me suffer enough, and you'll never get something read on the air ever again! =D

Colin Moriarty

I don't think so. Lots of people play older games, particularly as they become cheaper. I'd be the same way if I wasn't in the industry.

Colin Moriarty

Oy vey.

Colin Moriarty

Yeah, there seems to be a lot of MK11 love out there.

Colin Moriarty

Some people have the time; some people don't. This is why our show exists... to hopefully point you in the right direction(s) so you don't waste precious time!

Colin Moriarty

They've mentioned in the past that they will keep going. And they will. =)

Colin Moriarty

We shall see!

Colin Moriarty

<3

Colin Moriarty

I agree. Really fun game.

Colin Moriarty

It's really something else. I'm looking forward to carving through the end-game of both campaigns in the coming months.

Colin Moriarty

Thanks. =)

Colin Moriarty

You're very welcome.

Colin Moriarty

That's great that they've found a rhythm. I don't want any games to fail or be bad.

Colin Moriarty

It's been 20 episodes? Shit. I try to be a little more democratic than that!

Colin Moriarty

You would.

Colin Moriarty

Hearing good things about Tetris 99.

Colin Moriarty

I'll look into it if and when it migrates over!

Colin Moriarty

No Kevin. I am the same. But the games will be there so its not a race. Also, no-one should ever improve the punctuation on their questions to Colin. I say make it even worse. Make him suffer.

Peter Campbell

Am I the only person who is always so far behind on games that I'm typically playing last year's games?

Kevin Sullivan

Lol it’s not really new, it’s just a switch without a docked mode. But to each his own, I assume.

Will Hahn

Colin: Nothing happens in July Nintendo: Here’s a new console

Andrew Bonnell

Gotta go with Resident Evil 2. The original was my favorite game of all time. Ever since the remake of 1, a remake of 2 was like my dream game. Even after getting the platinum I still can't believe it's real lol. Bloodstained gets my runner up, I think. I'm still very early in it though. And shoutout to MK11

Nate McKinney

I'm with you on this. I was surprised Chris put RE2 on his list considering he didn't even make it out of the Police Station according to his trophies, which isn't far into the journey at all, unless of course he's played more on Xbox or PC. I don't want to be the dickhead that questions someone's gamer cred but I'm going to be. Going off Chris' trophies he's barely even played Days Gone and I don't put much stock into anything he says about it. No surprise CTR was number 1, he played that longer than 5 hours.

Haydyn

Congrats to the mofos playing 20-30 games this year. Mad jealous

Luke Bernhard

Wait when did Konami mention Metal Gear Solid 6 ?!

Brent

I think all my GOTY contenders are going to be 2nd half games. At least I hope. 🤞🏼

NeO JD

I agree

Steve

Days gone is excellent.

Josh

Thanks for making sure to deliver an episode for every week but I feel like you guys didn't say or reveal anything new here. You'd previously stated all these opinions before in previous episodes. I feel like RE2 got the shaft on both your lists because you both haven't completed it. It's funny that you both talked about how it's a short-length game yet completing one run of even just one scenario has escaped you both? I think this is relevant because a lot of great stuff happens in the third act of each scenario and you guys have no experience with the great, addicting, more arcade-y and extremely challenging post-game content like 4th survivor or Tofu. Hell - I don't know if Chris is even playing it on PS4 anymore but he hasn't gotten a trophy in that game since February 5th. He played it for a little over a week and never even escaped the sewers. Obviously you guys can do whatever you want with your time but I just want to note it makes for pretty bland, surface-level discussions when the combined experience with a game is so little. Anyway, I bet Colin's list would look a lot different had he actually played the big titles this year like DMC5, Exodus, or Sekiro. Bonus fact: According to PSN Profiles Chris was CTR platinum achiever #113.

Andres

I fully agree, Re2:Remake has been a extremely pleasant surprise and imo deserves GotY. The rest of the time I'm also playing FFXIV. But then again I've never had a GotY game because of my backlog ><

Dav9834

So far, I think my 2019 GOTY is the Resident Evil 2 remake. It feels polished and it sets a new standard for video game remakes/reimaginings. On my first play through as Leon the game legit made me feel on edge and whenever Mr. X would burst through a wall I screamed in terror at my TV screen. The story was pretty decent too and I liked how you had to complete the game as Leon and Claire to get the real ending. I never played the PS1 original so I don't know what changes were made, but I'm glad to see that the general Resident Evil community seems to be fine with the changes/modernization.

Nice simple and sweet episode

Adamthm

Thank you for reading my submission Colin.

Marcus Brown

My game of the year is Kingdom He....I mean, Resident Evil 2. Loved the original and the remake blew me away. Some game I want to give love, even though it came out in 2017 but has improved dramatically, is Star Wars Battlefront 2. Pretty much the only multiplayer game I've been playing the past several years. This year though they improved on it greatly. They added the game mode Conquest, which was a throw back to the older games, They added several new heroes/villians and enforcements to play as. I believe it was stated that their player count in April reached the same peak that it was when the game first launched in November 2017. I just wanted to show that team some love for continuing to support that game and bring new things to it even after the major controversy it stirred up.

Barrett Boswell

Yay, I got a comment featured in a numerical episode for the first time in over twenty! Oh, and "ropey" means "of poor quality." Although it would still be accurate to call the English voice acting dopey in Metro Exodus.

David Graham

Super Mario Maker 2 🤷🏽‍♂️

Brandon Soto

My top 2 right now are Days Gone and Tetris 99

Michael Candelaria

One of my favorite games this year has been Ape Out. I don't know if or when it'll come to PlayStation, but I played it on Switch and it's a lot of fun. I definitely recommend it!

Matthew Clem

My personal GOTYs so far are... 1. FFXIV: Shadowbringers, 2. RE2 3. DMC5 4. Mario Maker 2 5. Outer Wilds

Drew Sleezer