Fifteen Games I’d Like to Beat Before 2019 is Over

I recently wrote about how I don’t want to overburden myself with too many goals when it comes to gaming, as it’s supposed to be a relaxing hobby.  That said, sometimes I find myself simply unable to come up with anything to play and that’s actually a pretty stressful experience in itself.  Therefore, I thought I would make a list of fifteen games I’d like to beat before 2019 is over.  While I doubt I will actually get to all of these selections, as most of them are lengthy titles that may take me a few weeks to beat, this gives me a list to turn to whenever I’m feeling stuck regarding what I would like to play next.

1.  Final Fantasy XII

My brother and I have a goal that we both want to beat every main, non-MMO Final Fantasy title in our lifetimes.  Since I have only beaten X and XV so far, I have a ways to go.  I would be happy if I play any entries in the series before the year is out, but if I have to pick one to represent the franchise, I would go with Final Fantasy XII, mostly because I find it incredibly intimidating.  The world of Ivalice is massive, and the battle system is complex, allowing for the programming of companion A.I. through the gambit system.  If I manage to finish this veritable behemoth of a game, it will be smooth sailing for me throughout the remainder of the titles.

2.  Kingdom Hearts:  Birth By Sleep

Just like Final Fantasy, my brother and I would also like to play through every game in the Kingdom Hearts franchise.  I’m actually doing a little better on this front, as I’ve finished the original game, Re:Chain of Memories, II, and 358/2 Days so far.  I probably should play Re:Coded eventually, but before I head in that direction, I would like to finish off my 2.5 HD collection by picking up Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep.  This game has been a bit of a struggle for me over the years, as I want to play it and learn more about the backstory to the series, but I also don’t have much interest in essentially playing through the game three times, revisiting the same worlds as three different characters.  Regardless, I have to get through it eventually, so it may be time to just rip the band-aid off and push through it.

3.  Ni No Kuni II:  Revenant Kingdom

I have been dying to play Ni No Kuni II:  Revenant Kingdom since it came out, primarily because I absolutely adore the art style.  Now that I finally have a copy of it, I need to make sure that it doesn’t get lost in my never-ending backlog.  If I’m being honest, I don’t know a ton about this game apart from the fact that it has a small city-management minigame within it, which was more than enough to sell me on it.

4.  My Time at Portia

I love farming games.  A good portion of my childhood was spent playing Harvest Moon, and as an adult, I have put many hours into Slime Rancher and Stardew Valley.  One farming title that I have not played nearly as much as I would like, however, is My Time at Portia.  It’s more of a mining and crafting simulation title, which sounds like a breath of fresh air after years of meticulously planning my crop production.

5.  Disgaea 5

I have played the first three Disgaea games previously, so I was really excited when I got the latest entry during a sale.  Unfortunately, once I picked it up, I wasn’t really in the mood to play a tactical JRPG, so it has just been sitting in my Steam library for months.  Before the end of the year, I’m really hoping that I have the opportunity to finish off the main story so I can start the post-game grindfest to level 9999!

6.  Titan Quest

Now that I have officially played Diablo III, I can honestly say that isometric Action-RPGs may actually be tied with JRPGs for my favorite genre.  Obviously, that now means that I have to play every ARPG that I own and haven’t touched yet.  My next goal is to beat Titan Quest, mostly because it has a lot of similarities to Grim Dawn, which I played and enjoyed last year.  The mythology-based setting is intriguing and the class system gives me a lot of options to pick from for character creation, so I think I’m going to have a lot of fun with this one.

7.  The Legend of Heroes:  Trails of the Sky

Ever since the Persona series made me realize how much I love JRPGs, I have been trying to figure out which franchises I need to try.  The Legend of Heroes is one that I’m curious about, as I’ve heard that it’s very character-focused, which tends to be a standout trait of most of my favorite titles.  I have decided that I want to try Trails of the Sky first, as I own a copy of it on Steam, but I may move on from it if I decide it feels a little dated.

8.  Tales of Symphonia

Speaking of franchises that I want to give more time to, I have yet to actually complete a Tales game.  I own several, but I definitely believe in starting with the oldest one I own first and working my way forward, so I want to get through Tales of Symphonia.  The plotline reminds me a lot of Final Fantasy X, but I have been told that it expands quite a bit partway through, so I’m curious to see where the story takes me.

9.  The Legend of Zelda:  Breath of the Wild

It would be impossible for me to discuss video games that I hope to pick up in the near future without mentioning The Legend of Zelda:  Breath of the Wild.  This is an incredibly hyped game, but my first impressions were less than thrilling.  I have started a new file and given it another shot, and so far, I’m enjoying my second attempt more than my first.  Will it be my new favorite game?  Probably not, but I hope I’ll find it to be a fun experience.

10.  Xenoblade Chronicles II

In general, I would like to give my Nintendo Switch library a little more love, as I own quite a few games for it that I haven’t played much.  Even though I bought Xenoblade Chronicles II on launch day, I haven’t even attempted to start it for some reason.  I’ve heard such great things about both the game and the franchise, so I need to give this one a try!

11.  I Am Setsuna

I Am Setsuna is a tricky one.  I fell in love with it, got about halfway through, and then stopped playing.  Now, in order to finish, I would need to figure out what I was actually supposed to do next.  This game is going on the list primarily because if I let any more time go by before I pick it up again, I’m going to need to start over, which means I likely won’t come back.  That would be a shame, as it’s truly a beautiful game.

12.  Detroit:  Become Human

I’m putting Detroit:  Become Human on here because I suspect this would be a really great game to play with my husband, swapping the controller between us as we go.  We played Life is Strange that way and had a blast, so it would be a lot of fun to do that again.  Both of us like games involving overarching themes of artificial intelligence and what percentage of organic tissue makes a person human versus a robot, so I suspect this would be a winner for us.

13.  Path of Exile

Path of Exile is another ARPG that I would like to get to at some point.  In this case, I’ve had my eye on this game for a long time, but I’ve heard it’s more difficult than a lot of its peers, so I wanted to wait until I had a few other titles under my belt before attempting it.  Now that I’ve played Diablo III, Torchlight I and II, as well as Grim Dawn, I think I’m ready to give it a try.

14.  The Banner Saga

I’m purposefully not putting many indie titles on this list.  Generally speaking, because indies are often on the shorter side, I don’t have to push myself to play them quite as much as their AAA counterparts.  In the case of The Banner Saga, however, I get a little intimidated by the learning curve necessary to learn a new tactical RPG.  I’m so used to playing Disgaea that I’m not sure how it will feel to play another game in the genre.  Still, I’d like to give it a shot, as I suspect I would adore this game’s plot and art style.

15.  Assassin’s Creed:  Brotherhood

Finally, I have Assassin’s Creed:  Brotherhood rounding out this list.  It took me five years to finish Assassin’s Creed II.  I’m not very good at stealth games, so as soon as I would get stuck on a mission, I would get frustrated and ragequit for three months.  Even with as long as it took me to beat it, however, its one of my favorite games.  I don’t want to take another ten years to finish out Ezio’s story with Brotherhood and Revelations, so I need to pick up the pace from here.

There are fifteen games that I hope to put some playtime into before the end of the year.  Since the combined playtime of all of these games is fairly sizeable, and I also have several new releases coming out that I’m excited about and will discuss in a separate post, I don’t expect to play all of these.  What I would like to do is put enough playtime in all of them to decide if they’re worth exploring further, and finish the ones I love most.  I will post an update early in 2020 with my ultimate results.

Which of these games should I start with?  What titles do you want to play before 2020?  Let me know in the comments below!

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