My Favorite Game Animation of 2019

This was supposed to come
out in December! Oops.

Well, whatever.
Let’s do it anyway.

Hi! These are some of my favorite
bits of game animation I saw in 2019!

Let’s begin with one of last year’s
early animation highlights...

ANTHEM

I think it’s fair to say that this is some of the
best-looking animation in a BioWare game yet.

Characters are generally the highlight
of any great BioWare experience,

and I don’t think I was prepared for how much
performance capture was going to add to that.

Like, Owen as he’s voiced by T.J.
Ramini is already really charming.

But Owen voiced AND physically performed
by Ramini brings a new level of charisma

to that character that I don’t think
would have come across otherwise.

Owen: " Hey, considering that
the Monitor is both lancer and cypher,

we could probably use a VERY fabulous
cypher/javelin pilot combo of our own."

Player Character: "Owen, be patient."

Of course, most of your NPC interactions use
this game’s conversation animation system,

and there are some
gains on that front too,

but seeing characters like these brought to
life with more natural performance detail

in cinematics really makes me
excited for future BioWare projects.

Also: running, jumping and especially flying
around in a javelin just feels cool as heck,

in large part because the animation
sells their power so well.

I will never get tired of sprinting toward a
ledge and launching into the air in this game.

It just feels so cool.

Next I want to
talk about Sekiro!

The animation in FromSoft games has rarely been
the most polished-looking in the AAA space,

but it almost always succeeds where
it matters: functional clarity.

And that clarity is crucial
in a game like Sekiro,

where players are expected to watch enemies
carefully and react to their attacks

with so much more speed
and precision than before.

The devs have talked in interviews
about how they spent a lot of time

tuning each enemy’s attack animations
frame by frame, and it shows.

Because, this game’s combat would not work
without those quickly-recognizable tells.

And for their cinematics,
I love that From has maintained

their trademark slooooow
timing and scene pacing.

That willingness to let
characters move unnaturally slowly

is a big reason why FromSoft
cutscenes feel so distinct,

and it allows the sudden sharp movements
to feel even more surprising by contrast.

From’s soft animation team really
is just getting better and better.

Elden Ring cannot
come soon enough.

Next up:
Luigi’s Mansion 3

Next Level Games has one of my favorite
animation teams in this industry.

This is the same studio behind the
previous Luigi’s Mansion game for the 3DS

AND - one of my favorite game
animation showcases of all time -

the absolutely stellar
Punch-Out for the Wii.

I already made an entire video singing
the praises of that game’s animation

because this team is so good at delivering both
function and appeal simultaneously at 100%.

And by gosh they are
good at animating Luigi.

Next Level consistently brings
the best out of this character,

from the moments when
he’s feeling scared,

to the moments when he starts to feel
some of his confidence coming back

to the moment that NOPE
NEVER-MIND, HE’S TERRIFIED AGAIN.

Whatever Next Level is working on
now, I cannot wait to see it.

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

We’ve seen a lot of Star Wars games
with lightsaber combat at this point,

and a lot of different
approaches to animating it.

Some of them have aimed to
replicate the fighting styles

of existing characters as
we’ve seen them in the movies,

and others try to create an
entirely new style all their own.

And one thing that I really
enjoy in Fallen Order

is the way Cal’s fighting animation feels like
it stylistically succeeds on both fronts.

The way he handles a
lightsaber feels distinctly him

and a little different from the stances or movements
that I’m used to seeing in Star Wars games,

and yet I could totally see some Jedi moving
like this in a proper Star Wars movie

which is something I’m not sure I
could say about the Force Unleashed.

Combine that aesthetic balance with
some sharp controls and some stylish

finishing animations and no wonder
the combat in this game feels so cool.

Also, this? One of my
favorite Star Wars droids now.

Look at ‘em. What a good little buddy.

But next.
Pokemon Sword & Shield

I’ve said before in a previous video
that the animation in the Pokemon series

is a triumph of scope management rather than
visual flair, and that’s still true here.

But in addition to the fact that they keep
managing to maintain a consistent level

of charming animation quality across
these 400 creatures and human characters

(which is still a feat
in its own right),

I’m really digging the additional focus they’re
starting to put on animated personality.

Like, the way the game instantly familiarizes you
with the personalities of all three starters

just by showing you how they interact with
each other in one tiny cinematic is SO GOOD.

And I think this cutscene
highlights a shift in focus that,

really, has been happening
over the last few generations:

Game Freak appears to be focusing
more and more of their resources

on presenting Pokemon outside of
battle, which I think is a great call.

Because one of the core elements of
the Pokemon fantasy is just living

and traveling with
your team of creatures.

And the earliest Pokemon games
just couldn’t provide that,

so I really love the idea of the franchise
making that a higher priority now,

because that’s where your Pokemon’s ability
to express themselves really shines.

I think it’s telling that almost every time
I’ve seen people showing off their team online,

or sharing clips
from their own game.

Those clips tends to be video of their
Pokemon being goofballs in the Camp.

So yeah! Real excited to see where
Game Freak takes things from here.

Now high-quality traditional hand-drawn animation
is something of a rare treat in games,

so I’m always grateful to see
the Banner Sagas and the Cupheads

and the Hollow Knights out
there keeping that torch lit.

And this year’s hand-drawn
champion was Indivisible.

It is real fun seeing the
Skullgirls crew try on a new genre!

I love these characters,
I love their designs,

and their combat animations are just
loaded with tons of great little details…

the team even brought in Studio
Trigger to animate the game’s opening!

If you are enjoying the look of this
right now, I recommend picking it up,

because not only is this
game loaded with charm,

but you just don’t see games that
look like this coming out every day,

and frankly I want to see studios like
Lab Zero, MDHR, Stoic and Team Cherry

able to keep doing
what they’re doing.

But, moving on.

There were a LOT of extremely
AAA games raising the bar on

photo-realistic human game
character animation this year.

Devil May Cry 5, Modern Warfare,
Resident Evil 2, Death Stranding…

lots of extremely
impressive work.

I can’t imagine the hundreds of hours it
took hundreds of people to make all this.

But the one team I’d like
to call out in particular is

Remedy Entertainment for
their work on Control.

I am legit impressed by
the degree of subtlety

in character face performances
during some of these story scenes.

Granted, certain moments and scenes can
dip into the uncanny from time to time,

but this game’s setting already
exist so deep in the uncanny that,

somehow, those moments kinda
just help contribute to the vibe.

But the thing that push
this over the edge for me,

and I’m sure that this effect is impart due
to the fact that your player character's

based on real
actor Courtney Hope

and they occasionally use some live
footage of her in specific scenes,

but I've got to confess: once or twice
while watching these story scene,

there would be just a moment
that had me questioning:

“...wait, is this the real
actor or the digital character?”

And I can't remember a time where a game
succeed in making me unsure of that before.

So kudos, Remedy!
And good job making a darned cool game.

But, leaving the realm of
the photo-real for a bit,

let us all give thanks
to the indie scene

for blessing us with so much
incredible pixel animation this year.

Wargroove, Blasphemous, Cadence of Hyrule...
Katana Zero, for heck sake.

Y’all spoil us.

I do want to give special mention
to one in particular, though,

and that is River City Girls.

The Kunio-kun franchise has NEVER
had animation this gorgeous.

Every character’s moveset is
just so fun to frame through.

I highly recommend doing
so yourself sometime.

Misako’s rage-y headbutt.
Kyoko’s selfie parry. The bookbag swing.

The spinning power dab. How can you not
love a brawler with movesets like this.

I’m so happy that games
with pixel animation

are not only surviving in the year
2019, but THRIVING.

And now for a couple
of honorable mentions!

The first goes to Kingdom Hearts III, which
would almost definitely be on this list,

except for the fact that I
intentionally have not played it yet.

I’ve really been wanting to do
an unspoiled playthrough of it

over on PlayFrame once
the ReMind DLC drops.

But I’m just going to
take a shot in the dark

and guess that the
animation was pretty darned good?

Because it’s Kingdom Hearts

and the animation in Kingdom Hearts
games tends to be pretty stellar,

combat especially.

And what I’ve seen of the Disney and Pixar
characters in trailers looks pretty incredible,

so I am really excited to finally see
all this for myself pretty soon.

And the other honorable mention goes
to Monster Hunter World: Iceborne,

which I would talk
about at length here,

but I already said all the exact same nice
things about Monster Hunter World last year.

So just take everything
I said back in the 2018

Favorites videos and
add some snow I guess,

because the animation in this
expansion is every bit as fantastic.

And finally, before we wrap up,
let’s talk about Untitled Goose Game.

Because having incredible game animation
isn’t always about realistic fidelity,

or massive scope or
flashy movesets.

Sometimes it’s about getting
one crucial thing exactly right.

And for this game,
that thing is the goose.

The perfection of that waddle
completes the comedy of this game.

It’s amazing; it puts you in the right frame of mind
to be a dorky little nuisance almost instantly.

And so many of your available moves
double as a tool for player expression!

Like, I’m sure this wing-extension
move does something practical,

but most of the time I’m just
using it to go MYEHHHHHHHH.

Seriously, though,
if this waddle didn’t feel just right,

I’ll bet this entire game would
feel noticeably less entertaining.

And that makes this one
incredible piece of animation.

But I think that should do it!
Did I miss anything?

I mean, I will admit I
haven’t quite finished

playing every single game
that came out in 2019,

so… yes,
probably I did miss something.

But, if you happen to know of
any games with stellar animation

that I didn’t mention,

please do call them
out in the comments,

because I’m always eager
to see something cool!

And here’s to all the great
game animation coming in 2020!

I’ve got a lot planned for
New Frame Plus this year,

so be sure to subscribe so
you don’t want to miss out.

And consider supporting the show
like all these wonderful people.

Thanks for watching,
and I will see you next time!

[music]