Exclusives can be what make or break a console, and 2019 was a pretty stellar year for exclusives across the board. From longtime mainstays like Pokemon, to brand new IP like Astral Chain or Death Stranding, there were some wildly unique experiences.
Voted on by our editors, these are the best console exclusives of 2019. So, let’s jump right in.
Best Console Exclusives of 2019
Honorable Mention: Astral Chain
Senior Editor Hayes Madsen: PlatinumGames has developed quite a relationship with Nintendo over the years, from the exclusivity of Bayonetta 2 to original titles like the Wonderful 101. Yet their partnership with Nintendo has never been as ambitious as it is with Astral Chain, a revolutionary action title that feels fresh but familiar all at the same time.
Astral Chain takes place in a cyberpunk post-apocalypse where humanity now lives in a mega-city called the Ark. At its core, Astral Chain sports the same intense combo-based battle system Platinum is known for. However, it puts an absolutely fascinating twist on things.
During combat you’re essentially controlling two characters, your main police officer and an ethereal creature called a Blade. Your officer can use multiple weapons and combos, while the blade is controlled with the right stick.
Your Blade auto-attacks but you can control its placement on the field, use special attacks, and use the chain connecting the two to bind enemies.
It’s a fantastic battle system that encourages timing and precision, and things only get amped up even more in boss battles.
While combat is certainly the highlight, nearly every other aspect of Astral Chain helps bolster the experience; a fantastic anime aesthetic, a strong story with plenty of twists, and a banging soundtrack, just to name a few.
Astral Chain isn’t just one of the best Switch games of the year, it’s one of the best Switch games ever.
Best Console Exclusives of 2019
Honorable Mention: Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Reviews Editor Zhiqing Wan: Without a doubt, Fire Emblem: Three Houses is one of the strongest exclusive games in the Switch’s library right now. While the series’ status as a quality tactical RPG series has never really been called into question, Fire Emblem only really started to make a comeback in mainstream popularity with the release of Awakening on the 3DS.
Since then, the series has been on an upward trajectory. With Three Houses set to mark the series’ big debut on the Nintendo Switch, however, the stakes were high. Which is why you’ll be glad to hear that this is also one of the strongest games in the Fire Emblem series.
Three Houses features a staggering amount of content, with three different story routes to play through. Each House is fully fleshed out, packed with insanely well-developed characters that you really grow to care for across the length of the campaign. You need only take a glance at social media and reddit to see the waves and waves of fan art and content created for the individual Houses to get a true sense of how much people really care about these characters.
That’s what makes the story so compelling. Three Houses is so good at fostering a sense of loyalty and pride to the House you’ve sided with, and that feeling of camaraderie carries over into battle, as you meticulously train your units and allow them to blossom into strong fighters that can finally utilize their full hidden potential.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses feels wonderfully dense in every aspect: story, gameplay, characters, and it’s truly the gift that keeps on giving.
Best Console Exclusives of 2019
Second Runner-Up: Judgment
Senior Editor Hayes Madsen: Judgment tells a thrilling tale of courtroom deception, murder, and mystery; all of which is interspersed with the wacky stylings of another the Yakuza series.
Although it’s a brand new IP, Judgment takes place in Kamurocho, the same entertainment district that’s the main setting of the Yakuza series. You play as Takayuki Yagami, a disgraced lawyer-turned-detective, who becomes embroiled in the investigation of serial murder in Kamurocho.
Judgment has fantastic characters and storytelling, with a narrative that keeps the mystery going. This is juxtaposed against a wide array of gameplay options.
The game has a similar combat system to Yakuza, although Yagami is a much faster combatant. The story also loops in some unique “investigation” mechanics where you’ll need to tail suspects, search for clues, lockpick, and more.
Perhaps the best feature of Judgment, however, are the side stories and characters that inhabit the city. Even more than Yakuza, Judgment does a fantastic job of fleshing out Kamurocho.
You can make friends throughout the city, who will then aid you in battle, give you items, or just a friendly wave when they pass you on the street.
Judgment is filled with quality content, from the gripping main story to countless minigames like drone racing. It’s one of the very best Yakuza-like experiences out there, and undoubtedly one PlayStation exclusive you need to play.
Best Console Exclusives of 2019
First Runner-Up: Pokemon Sword and Shield
Editor-In-Chief Ed McGlone: Few series move hardware better than Pokemon and Sword & Shield is no different.
When Pokemon first started with Red and Blue it was a creative, upstart franchise that had such a unique and charming formula that it ensnared the hearts of, well, pretty much anyone that played it. It has since become McDonalds at this point: you know exactly what you’re getting, but it hasn’t become any less popular or fun, that’s for sure.
Sword and Shield, like past gens, adds its own unique flavor into the established formula. This time around its Dynamaxing Pokemon and the exploration of the Wild Area, a big open field away from the rest of the routes that is teeming with powerful wild Pokemon everywhere.
Pokemon really hit the nail on the head with its first entry, and it has been a challenge for Game Freak to find ways to freshen up the experience without messing with the core formula that everyone really likes. Mostly they have been successful in doing that even if at times it feels while playing Sword and Shield that certain aspects are getting stale.
The way I interpret this award of “Best” console exclusive though, being the must play game on a specific piece of hardware though, it’s clear that Sword and Shield is definitely a must play for many, many gamers out there this year.
Best Console Exclusives of 2019
Winner: Death Stranding
Guides Editor Chris Jecks: Hideo Kojima is a bit of an icon in the video games industry. Rising to fame via his work on the Metal Gear Solid series, in 2015 Kojima parted ways with Konami and opened Kojima Productions. Soon after, Death Stranding would be revealed.
Without a shadow of a doubt, Death Stranding is one of the most divisive games this year. Players assume control of Sam Porter Bridges as he travels across the entirety of – what was – the United States of America, delivering packages, linking these outposts of human civilization together so that they can rebuild the country once and for all.
But what completely obliterated most of the continent? A supernatural phenomenon called Voidouts, caused by the BTs (weird shadowy creatures). As such, you’ll need to do your best to avoid the BTs (or kill them) with your baby in a jar. It adds another level of complexity to the main gameplay loop of grabbing packages, balancing the load of everything you’re carrying on your back, head to point B and delivering the package before doing it all over again.
Death Stranding isn’t just a very very pretty postman simulator, though. Kojima’s latest title oozes with hidden meanings in every single one of its 14 chapters. Every ladder you leave for another player, or every climbing rope and anchor you use left by another is a part of this message.
In an age where the world looks set to rebuild borders and divide, Death Stranding reminds us that humanity is at its strongest when we all come and work together.
While more of a Marmite game than the Metal Gear Solid series before it, Death Stranding still stands out as the finest console exclusive to release in 2019. If you’ve got a PS4, you owe it to yourself to give it a try.
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