What an incredible year for video games 2018 was! There are at least eight games on this list that could've easily hit the #1 spot in any other year. 2018 is also the year that I finally jumped onto the VR train with PSVR, giving me more games than usual fighting for my top spot.
Right to the point: Red Dead Redemption II isn't just one of the best games of the year. It isn't just one of the best games of the generation. It's one of the best games I've ever played, period.
The sheer level of detail and care Rockstar has put into the world and story is mind-blowing. I never wanted to use fast travel because I knew riding to my destination and going off the beaten path would almost always lead me to new discoveries. I frequently got lost in the most wonderful ways. I'm not sure I've experienced a game with this level of rewarding world exploration since Skyrim. And the story... my god the story. This is the kind of game you wish you could Eternal Sunshine out of your brain so you could experience it for the first time all over again.
Admittedly, Rockstar absolutely needs to tweak their mission structure and approach to control schemes, both of which are starting to feel their age. But for me, it was easy to look past these things and just live in that world. Rockstar's knack for cinematic storytelling - both during gameplay and in-between - is second to none.
(P.S. - The cores system is dumb, Rockstar. Ditch it forever, please.)
In any other year, this game would've been my #1 with a bullet. In fact, I've probably played it more than Red Dead Redemption II based solely on the fact that chased trophies and played all the DLC, and even as I type this I'm wondering if I should put it at number one. Maybe I'll just call this spot #1b.
At it's core, Marvel's Spider-Man is typical open-world superhero fare. But it's also the *best one* of those. It nails the swinging in a way no one has since Activision's Spider-Man 2 move tie-in game. The combat borrows heavily from Rocksteady's Batman games, but builds on it with a larger variety of gadgets and web abilities.
Marvel's Spider-Man also boasts an amazing (HA!) story - arguably the best non-comics Spider-Man story ever - and my personal favorite interpretation of Mary Jane Watson, now a journalist striving to do more than fluff pieces and who split from Peter, not because of amnesia or a deal with the devil, but simply because spending the past eight years being exposed to all the worst New York has to offer has caused Peter to become unbearably overprotective.
You don't have to like Spider-Man to enjoy this game, but it helps.
Dead Cells is really the first time a roguelike/roguelite clicked with me. I've played a bunch of them, and usually bounce off fairly quickly. But the tightness of the controls, the weapon variety, and the Castlevania-esque nature of the exploration caused me to fall down the rabbit hole of this game, continually bashing my head against it and loving every second.
AKA Cool Tetris. This game is zen as fuck and an absolute site to behold in VR. And hell, it's the reason I bought a PSVR in 2018.
Tetris Effect is the best Tetris game, don't @ me.
Hitman 2 is my favorite game in one of my favorite franchises. So why is it 5th on this list, when it's predecessor was 3rd on my list in 2016? Because ultimately, despite being (subjectively) a better game, it's still just more Hitman. IO Interactive made some really cool additions and smart changes, and even retrofit maps from 2016's Hitman with some of that new stuff.
It's a really great package with a ton of content and a ton of replay value.
I've already mentioned just how amazing 2018 was for video games, and this game's place on my list is proof. God of War is beautiful and brutal, heartbreaking and heartwarming, and it should probably be much higher on this list save for one problem: I don't know if I gave God of War enough of my time. I got so invested in the story, I frequently ignored a lot of the side content, to my own detriment. Thankfully, the game has a New Game+ mode that I fully intend on jumping into sooner rather than later.
Still, this change in direction for the franchise is a welcome one and I can't wait to see where the story and gameplay goes next.
I never quite got into Subset Games' first project, FTL. It was fun but punishing, and I was always pretty bad at it. Into the Breach is a lot more accessible, has a lot more depth, and I actively feel like I'm getting better at it with each additional run. The blend of tactical strategy and roguelike run-based gameplay works so well, and just like Dead Cells I find myself eager to throw myself at it over and over again.
As mentioned above, I finally jumped on the VR train with PSVR this year, and no game sucked up more of my time than Beat Saber. Which shouldn't surprise anyone that knows me. It's a rhythm game where you break shit with lightsabers. Of course it's totally my jam.
It's just too bad the PSVR version doesn't allow for custom tracks. There's only so many times you can smash blocks to the same few EDM songs.
What if Super Meatboy had heart? That's one-sentence summary of Celeste. On the surface, it's just a super difficult platformer, but Celeste is so much more. The gameplay and story is a pretty overt metaphor for a person's battle with anxiety and depression, but the writing and characters is so earnest and endearing that you'll almost forget that you're JUST TRYING TO GET THAT LAST FUCKING STRAWBERRY GOD DAMMIT WHAT THE FUCK.
Black Ops 4, for me, is all about the Blackout mode. I don't really care for the standard multiplayer, and I've never really liked zombies, but Call of Duty's answer for Battle Royale is nothing short of phenomenal. It's nearly the perfect middle point between the speed and arcade feel of Fortnite, and the pacing and realism of PUBG. Plus they've already demonstrated a commitment to updating the map frequently and making balance changes to annoying and overpowered weapons and items.
**HONORABLE MENTION**
2018 was chock-full of amazing games, and yet the game I played the most was 2016's Overwatch.
Look, this surprises no one. Overwatch wasn't just my game of the year in 2016, it's one of my favorite games of all time. It's gonna be #11 on this list every year until I'm dead.
**HONORABLE MENTION**
Lucas Pope's last game Papers Please is one of my favorite games of the last decade, so I had high hopes of Return of the Obra Dinn. Much like Papers Please, it's super stylish and has a soundtrack that's somehow simultaneously jaunty and haunting (jaunting? haunty?).
I really enjoyed my time with Return of the Obra Dinn, oftentimes finding myself taking pen and paper notes to keep track of everything. It's the kind of game that'll make you feel both stupid and brilliant within a few short minutes.
**HONORABLE MENTION**
Much like Overwatch, PUBG was in heavy rotation throughout 2018. With a new map on the horizon, 2019 is shaping up to feature a lot of late nights chasing chicken dinners with my friends.
**HONORABLE MENTION**
Astrobot somehow went from being a throwaway mascot for PSVR to being the star of the platform's best exclusive game (I'm not counting Tetris because it has a non-VR mode).
It's a wonderful use of VR, probably the best in any VR platformer to date, and it gave me serious Super Mario 64 vibes.
**HONORABLE MENTION**
While not technically a 2018 release, Dream Daddy finally came to PS4 this year, and as such I finally decided to see what all the fuss was about. The game is just so damn pleasant, well-written, and genuinely funny.
If only the real 2018 we're quite so idyllic.
