2018: Games I've Played

Looking back at my previous lists, 2018 has definitely been a bit of a change. I can't remember a time when, even at the August, I hadn't already played (or most likely, finished) five or more games. I've been at home with my daughter, which has been an amazing experience. With that said, it doesn't leave time in the day to play games, and often at night I'm pooched. I don't feel like watching movies or tv, let alone playing games.

I won't be ranking games this year... at the time of writing, I've only finished a few games (God of War, Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu, and Donut County), and only a couple of those were a "new" experience.

I've purposely only added games that I feel that I've played enough of to have a decent opinion of. For example, I didn't include games like Spider-man and Red Dead Redemption 2 because I've only played a couple of hours of both. Playing an open world game right now is extremely daunting. Hopefully I can get a chance to return to them in the new year.

With that said, here's to 2018. 2019 is shaping up to be another big change, but hopefully it leaves some more time for games.

Here's my ranking (still in draft, I'll get to it I swear):

1. God of War
2. Forza Horizon 4
3. Donut County
4. Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu!

List items

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  1. Tom Clancy's The Division

  [Not complete, played single player] I played this a bit between my little one's naps. Really enjoyed it, meant to come back to it, but then things got crazy. Glad I wrote it down as I almost forgot about it, hopefully I'll get a chance to revisit it.

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  2. Splatoon 2

  [Played lots of multiplayer, 3/4 or so of single player] I played this for quite a bit when I got a chance. What's rare for me is that I _really_ liked this as a multiplayer title as it is so easy to jump in/out of. The single player mode is just so-so; if I go back to it it's just to refresh myself to jump back into multiplayer.

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  3. No Man's Sky

  [Not complete] So, I fired this up and instantly started a new game. It is INSANE that this is a fundamentally different game than when I played through it the first time. Played about 15 hours... hopefully I can get back to it again.

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  4. God of War

  [Done!] Loved it to the point where I _made_ time to finish it. I was a bit scared because I had heard that this was an open-world game. I guess that is technically true -- you could technically return from the points that you came from -- but the main story itself is super polished and tight. Easily the best game I've played this year.

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  5. Forza Horizon 4

  [Done? It's hard to tell with racing games!] Wow wow wow, this is a modern Burnout Paradise. I've played alot of this, finishing the main story mode, but with quite a bit still to unlock. Has to be my number 2 game, loved it.

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  6. Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu!/Eevee!

  [Done!] I generally really liked returning to the Pokemon Yellow universe, which was my first Pokemon game.

  My opinion is probably much different than others as I don't care about all the finer nuances, but coming from a relatively newer title (Sun), it is hard going back to...

  - A relatively small selection of Pokemon. I used to love just going out and hunting for them, almost being guaranteed of something new along the way.

  - An increased focus on battle. There are huge portions where it's just trainer duel to trainer duel to trainer duel to trainer duel. It's exhausting, and takes away from the catching aspect.

  - A lack of a story. Pokemon Sun may not be the best story in the world, but there is this larger narrative guiding you through.

  Even with those complaints, it's been great to see a modern foundation for future titles. Showing Pokemon on the overworld is AMAZING, and it looks great on Switch.

  With that said, I crushed it because it's so addicting. Gotta catch 'em all!

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  7. Donut County

  [Done!] A better Katamari Damacy than Katamari Damacy. It might only be two hours, but it's super polished. I almost wish they would have had a mission where you suck up not only Donut County, but the world/galaxy/universe in a giant black hole. Still thinking about this game weeks after playing it.