Best Strategy/Simulation Game of 2019 - Article
by Paul Broussard , posted on 31 December 2019 / 3,765 Views
This year's shortlist for Best Strategy/Simulation Game features a small but superb list of titles. Fire Emblem: Three Houses marked the series' return to home consoles after a 12 year hiatus, combining Fire Emblem's staple turn-based gameplay with teaching and army customization elements. Planet Zoo, a spiritual successor to Zoo Tycoon, took the former's design of constructing and managing habitats for wildlife and expanded it substantially. Total War: Three Kingdoms provided users with the ability to choose from a myriad of warlords and form alliances strategically while attempting to conquer China. Last, but certainly not least, Untitled Goose Game took the gaming world by storm as both a puzzle solver and an outlet for causing trouble.
The Shortlist:
Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Planet Zoo
Total War: Three Kingdoms
Untitled Goose Game
The Winner:
Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Many of the early reactions to Three Houses were mixed and fraught with worry about the final product's quality. Intelligent Systems ultimately quieted those concerns with one of the finest strategy games in years; a title that provides compelling map design, a wide variety of customization options that open up a significant amount of replay value, a solid story and cast of characters, and numerous paths to incentivize replays even more. Regardless of which house was picked - Golden Deer, Blue Lions, or Black Eagles - chances are nearly everyone who played the game could agree it was a fine effort by both Intelligent Systems and Nintendo.
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Great article, Paul!
I need to share some love for Wargroove, which didn’t make the cut. For me it was a brilliant turn-based tactics game and probably my favorite game of the year.
Wargroove was very unlucky to miss out on a nomination.
I voted for Goose Game, because that was the only one I've played. However, I just started playing Wargroove and I'm really enjoying the hell out of it. Wargroove gets my new vote, but I'd still have to try Fire Emblem.
