Winner: Code Name: S.T.E.A.M.
There is one game I played that earned a special place in my heart that didn’t make it onto the award lists here: Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. on Nintendo 3DS. Created by Nintendo second-party developer Intelligent Systems—the creators of Fire Emblem—and framed as a comic book, Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. (Strike Team Eliminating the Alien Menace) is a task force created by Abraham Lincoln—whose death, as Mark Twain once reported of himself, has been greatly exaggerated—and is comprised of 19th-century fictional heroes who save the Victorian world from a Lovecraftian menace from outer space, with Steampunk derring-do.
As it is an SRPG, both your move and attack abilities are determined by how much steam you have in your “boiler” backpack, and enemies can attack during the movement period, similar to Valkyria Chronicles. It’s a really fun, lighthearted, challenging title and has amiibo support for Fire Emblem figures, who can join your combat squad.
