GOTY 2018
A great year for video games! I played more video games outside my favorite genre than I did before. I enjoyed this year's array of games more than I did before. So here are my awards for 2018!
List items
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Game of the Year: This is an interactive masterpiece. When the combat clicks and you figured out what playstyle to spec towards, it gets really fun to smash things as Kratos. The sound design complements the weighty attacks when Kratos winds up his axe in anger with the sickening noise when he hacks away at his enemies. The relics of the old civilizations littering an almost lifeless environment fully immerses players during the consequences of the Norse Gods’ brutality. While all the story beats don’t hit 100% of the time, the character interactions, level exploration, and diversity in combat makes up a rewarding experience that’s worthy of the title of Game of the Year.
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Most Fun Game: Whether you are following the story missions markers or discovering your own ways to tackle an assassination, Hitman 2 will grant players a fun experience. I usually tackle assassination missions multiple times exploring what the developers wrote and to see how I can stumble upon the most looney tunes way I can to assassin a target. Hitman 2 has way better levels than the first one. The game should be a season 2 rather than a sequel. It doesn’t add too much to the game outside of much needed quality of life and minor attentions to details. You got crowds to and vegetation to blend into. The worlds feel more lived in than before. I think the best thing about it is how Agent 47 needs to blend in with the citizens of the world. He seems to put in a lot more effort to portray whatever outfit he finds. It makes him feel more fleshed out and extremely endearing. And their bickering between NPCs is some of the best humor written into a video game. They also know how make these targets so despicable that it makes it extremely pleasurable to murder them.
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Best "One More Run" Game: I cannot put the game down. It feels amazing to play. I find myself using all sorts of weapons and they all sound really good to use. Dodging and attacking is extremely smooth and I always feel a sense of adrenaline after every encounter. My heart rate always pumps at the later levels. I need to play more of this game. I really want to play more and get better. Man this game is so good. I can’t wait to see what the developers plan to do with the game.
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Most Immersive: Not a big fan of jumping platformers, but for some reason Celeste really grabbed me. I don’t know what got me to try this game, but it granted me that challenging itch that wasn’t too hard but was rewarding enough to attempt. Every level and every mechanic made the game fun enough to try again and again. Madeline’s struggles of accepting her flaws urged me to finish the game to see her accept herself as a whole. It was extremely heartwarming to see her character growth and while the world constantly provided her and the player more challenges to overcome, it felt satisfying beating those levels. The side characters also add to the overarching theme of how cultural expectation really can add to our personal suffering. The music enhanced the immersion when going through abandoned buildings, haunted hotels, and the mystical wildlife. Lena Raine’s music added to the atmosphere of wandering through a hazardous wonderland of challenges and made you feel the character’s inner conflict.
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Shafted Game of the Year: I really enjoyed my time with Monster Hunter World when playing solo and with my friends. Every time I got knocked down and carted back to my camp, I felt so enamored with trying again to hunt down this monster. Even though I loathe damage sponges, I just loved wailing away at certain weak points on the monster. The fact that some just book it after getting wrecked by my special attacks makes for a fun chase. I wish there was some way to learn the enemies weak points while first hunting the monsters instead of having to kill them over and over again, but it was still a fun time. After a certain point in the story, I just stopped. I wish I tried the game on the PC with the lack of loading times, but at the point I had my fill of the game. It’s the most accessible Monster Hunter game and my first, and it was a hell of a time.
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Best Expansion: I have a love hate relationship with Destiny 2. If you read my 2000+ word essay on why Destiny 2 was a stepback for the series, you will understand why I find this game insufferable. Bungie managed to turn the game around again, with changing the loot economy, reslotting the weapon types, enhancing the quality of life, reintroducing random perks, and telling a well told revenge story. With the debut of the Gambit game type, the game finally feels like the sequel we’ve all been waiting for. But the cracks of the foundations still shows where the changes in the crucible from 4v4 to 6v6 makes the maps feel extremely small and makes for certain playstyle to wreck others. But, it goes to show that Bungie loves to perform when their back is against the wall. I never got to raiding, which is a shame, but I really enjoyed my time with the game. I hope that Bungie continues to listen to their hardcore fans and continue to build on the goodwill they re-earned.
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Most Charming Game: The writing in Donut County is hilarious. It’s genuine and its like how I talk to my friends. The conversations between all the citizens of Donut County excels at being really charming. The quips and counters to a character’s weird situation makes for the best dry humor I’ve read in a videogame in awhile. The actual idea of playing as a raccoon controlling an app on his tablet to control a hole in the ground is hilarious. There are later stages in the game has some level mechanics that is really clever. I wish it did more with it, but the entire package is extremely charming.
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Best Game You Didn't Play: This game is currently in Early Access on steam and gog. The game plays on a hexagonal grid where players have to roll a dice to see how far they can journey. There are plenty of things to explore from monsters, plagues, shrines, and cities, to say a few. The more you explore the more chances you’ll find gear to strengthen your character. The polygonal style needs a bit more charm but they put a lot of effort in to the game visually. Once you understand the game mechanics more, the world will open up with side quests to do and monsters to fight. Skills are inherent to the weapons you find out in the wild. The combat is turn based style, but there are so many skills and stats to spec towards that it every attack and hit makes playing the game worthwhile. When you miss, you truly miss. Those miss hit hard when you are clinging to life.It’s a well made game and I would love to see what the developers do to the game.
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Most Surprising Game: The only demo to make it on the top ten list. I really really wanted to dislike Captain Spirit, but I was blown away by how much the developers of Dontnod made me feel. I thought to myself, “this game isn’t for me. I can’t handle all this cringe.” but they really nailed how a child under his circumstances would behave through escapism. Yes the themes of child abuse and family issues are overdone and can be cliche, but I think the developers managed to encapsulate trauma very well in this game. The game tells its story through reading actual letters and rummaging through hidden boxes of your parent’s old achievements. It does a great job of tugging at the heart strings when you realize that this is a story about a family coping with loss.
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Most Disappointing Game: A lot of people will disagree with me, but Octopath Traveler is my most disappointing game of the year. While it achieves what it was supposed to do with being a callback for the traditional RPGs of the past, it just fails to tell me a riveting tale to engage me enough to grit through the slow paced turn based combat. There were a few characters worth playing through to learn more about them, but most of them are full of generic character tropes from anime and other JRPGs. The combat is slow even when turning up the battle speed and when figuring out the weaknesses and strengths of your enemies. I wish they took cues from the Persona series which made fighting enemies more fast paced and rewards you significantly once you figure out the enemies’ weakness. I tried to find a silver lining to play this game in the Giant Bomb forums and realized that traditional turn based JRPGs just aren’t my thing anymore. Which is a shame because a few of my favorite games of all time are turn based. I’ll give them credit though, they nailed the pop up theater style and its extremely gorgeous when going through the world.
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