My Personal Top 10 Games of 2018
I originally didn’t think too much of this year in games. Last year when going to write my list, I felt like I had a good majority of my list already thought out. This year on the other hand, I wasn’t too sure, things moved around, things got added, things got removed etc. After writing my list though I changed my mind, this year consistently had good games coming out, very few were groundbreaking, games like God of War and Red Dead Redemption 2 brought a lot of discussion but also felt very divisive. Overall I was happy with 2018 in gaming and am looking forward to 2019.
10. Radiant Historia Perfect Chronology
As a remake/port of a Nintendo DS game I know that people really enjoyed this game, but I didn’t really know why. Before I got it, I started the demo, which is just the first couple hours of the game, and kind of understood why people enjoyed it. The game features a flowchart-like timeline, and instantly i was turned off, I assumed this was going to be a multiple endings, multiple playthroughs kind of game, and was actually relieved when I found out it wasn’t, instead It was actually a really cool turn based RPG where there are 2 timelines you are jumping between in order to solve problems and gain intel for the other. The idea of jumping between certain points in time in order to learn about different events or to gain items to use to get past an obstacle in the other timeline is great, and can make for a fun puzzle aspect to an RPG.
On top of the story and narrative mechanics, the game features a really cool and unique battle system in which the enemies are on a 3×3 grid and various skills from party members can push enemies around the grid and can potentially attack multiple enemies at once. Overall this was a really nice and fun RPG, and personally a nice compliment to the Persona 3 Portable I had just finished before playing this game.
09. Octopath Traveler
This is the weirdest game of the year in my head, similarly to my feelings on Zelda Breath of The Wild, a game that I had fundamental problems with but upon coming up with this list felt that I needed to have this game on it. The game does some things very well but also falls hard on others.
I was never the person to be upset by the lack of intertwining stories between the characters, this is because the character interaction is actually quite good, the small talk between characters commenting on plot points and observations allows for the game to show a lot of the character personalities outside their main story, showing the differences in age, and upbringing means characters questioning other characters decisions and dialogue. The game also features a big and beautiful world, but mainly asks you to follow a linear path, one screen away from the start of the quest, rarely if ever did you have to leave the area to complete the quest. The game itself is beautiful featuring a great art style that showcases multiple different aesthetics from white and blue snow covered villages, greens and browns of forests and yellow and oranges of desserts.
The game also features a real cool but also problematic battle system in which a you use weaknesses to destroy armour and then attack all out when they are broken. The result of this system is battles taking longer than they should, and even basic enemies feeling like substantial fights. Overall the more I think about this game the more disappointed I am, because this game was great in so many ways from graphics to music to the battle system, and everytime I think about it I get excited for the future and for the next game in this “franchise”.
08. Bloodstained Curse of The Moon
Expectations for the main line Bloodstained game are mixed, some people are excited and others are saying its doomed. I think that either way, Inti Creates knows what it’s doing when it comes to 2d action platformers, and of course Curse of the Moon delivers on their track record of great games. An homage to the NES Castlevania games, Curse of The Moon delivers on a real colorful, deliberate action platformer in which the learning of enemy patterns and slower pace is more important than trying to race through the game as fast as possible.
This game felt great and was a real enjoyable surprise that felt good to look at, listen to and most importantly play.
07. Tetris Effect
There isn’t really much to say about Tetris Effect. This is a real good and fun Tetris game, with a ton of great modes. The catch for this game is the weird original music, and visual effects, combined with your controller vibrating in time to the music, this game is just a fantastic combination of a really good game and a really weird audio-visual experience that make me feel good at the end of it. Plus as a bonus, this game in VR is an absolute treat, the game feels so different, allowing for a more immersive experience that focuses more on the audio visual experience rather than the straight game play that the 2d gives.
This is definitely a game I am going to keep on my PlayStation 4 forever and play it for 10-20 minutes at a time for as long as my PS4 stays plugged in.
06. Florence
Florence was a really cool little mobile game. This is a weird one for me, because it’s not fantastical. The game is a narrative story about a simple relationship. The greatest aspect of this game is that it is 100 percent relatable, there is no wild story beats, Girl meets guy, they start dating and all is good, then they drift apart, break up and at the end of the day, she moves on being a better person. The art and music is also really cool.
This game was short, being about 45 minutes long, and yet this game has hit me so hard, work had been weird for me and so have my personal life and at the end of my time with this game, I felt better, and I felt different, I felt like this game has attached itself to me and I won’t ever let it go.
05. Pokemon Let's Go Eevee (and Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu)
I think most people were against this game when it was announced, myself included. The game seemed to be a weird middle ground where it didn’t appeal to “hardcore Pokemon fans” as it seemed too dumbed down and easy, and it also didn’t seem to be an appeal to the casual Pokemon Go players as it required a $300 device. I wasn’t really excited for it pre release, but I think like most people I came around after release and while i still have some problems i really enjoyed my time with this game.
The time I spent with this game was really enjoyable, I tend to ignore Generation 1, when replaying games or talking about my favourite Pokemon, it’s usually from later games, and going back was a fresh experience that I really enjoyed. I found myself enjoying the 3d recreations of various locations from around the Kanto regions. The removal of battling wild pokemon didn’t bother me nearly as much as I thought it would although I do have some issues with the catching mechanics that are a result of not being able to battle.
While this game is a spin off and not really a main line Pokemon, it’s interesting to see the progress from the 3ds Pokemon games and I am really excited to see what is going to happen with Pokemon 2019.
04. Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of An Elusive Age
A story of growing up to save the world from the ultimate evil. As my first Dragon Quest game I had trouble telling what was original for this game versus what is a standard feature. The game had a super good, simple battle system that doesn’t over complicate the system. All the characters felt great, had enjoyable and engaging back stories and all felt like they came together in order to solve a common goal of saving the world. Mixed with some other great enemy designs, beautiful towns and locations. The only real problem I had with the game was the subpar music, the games soundtrack is smaller than a game of this size traditionally would, as well as being a poorly programmed MIDI version. Also just as a passing thought, the japanese only 3ds version has this game completely playable in 2d pixel art which I think would be cool. Overall this game has made me a fan of the series, and I look forward to both the previous games I will play, as well as the future of the series.
03. BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle
An anime fighting game, mixed with some great characters and real low but still challenging skill floor. I have been a fan of the Blazblue since the last game, and a fan of Under Night In Birth since around the same time, so when I heard that there was a crossover game, I was ecstatic, plus throw Persona 3 and 4 characters, as well as the awesome characters from RWBY and this game’s roster is incredible.
This game really felt good and looked just as good. The game featured a simpler fighting system and generous auto combo, all these things allowed for a more enjoyable fighting game that I will continuing to play for a long time.
02. Celeste
Celeste gets a lot of credit for its fantastic story, and not that the gameplay gets ignored, but it is usually mentioned briefly, and I fully understand why. A hard platformer, or just a platformer in general isn’t anything new, but Celeste takes the hard pixel platformer and adds a story of finding oneself, dealing with mental health and overcoming adversity. At a grand scale, it seems rather cliche, a metaphor of climbing a mountain compared to dealing with mental health, but when it’s all said and done, the game is sincere and heartfelt.
The game itself is super tight, challenging in a way that doesn’t get frustrating and overall really fun. The varying different mechanics from section to section, all while being precise. Also as an accessibility option there are varying assist options that make the game easier with no punishments. Overall I recommend this game to anyone who even remotely enjoys platformers.
01. Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana
This game technically breaks my rules I set for myself last year, that all the games on my list originally released in this year. However I am breaking my own rules for this game. Ys 8 Lacrimosa of Dana released on PS4 and Vita in 2017, but was announced in early 2018 to be releasing on the Switch, I had been interested in the Ys series and owned a few at that point.
Ys 8 Lacrimosa of Dana is a fantastic game, that has a really cool story. Your main character is shipwrecked on an island, you are then tasked with helping create a camp for the stranded people and over time you start to find weird things about the island, and the story of a unknown girl who was found in a tree. The game does a great job of unraveling its story and the relationship between characters.
Overall the game is super fun, running around an island chopping down enemies, although where the game excels is the boss fights, each boss is unique, has a grand scale of little guy fighting a giant monster, and some of my favorite boss fights in the series. Overall this game is fantastic and despite not being the first game in the series I’ve played, it is the one that solidified my fandom for both the Ys series and Falcom as a whole.
