The Top 10 Games of 2018
So here we are. The end of godforsaken 2018, a year which felt way too short yet way too long, depending on which people you asked, with some really lame dips along the path of it, like the world's worst roller-coaster.
But you know what aren't roller coasters? Video games! There were a lot of good ones this year. Unfortunately, that means we have to shorten them down to only 10, as everyone seems to be doing. With the only prerequisite for a game to make the cut is reaching the end, join me on my quest to find the best of the best, the cream of the crop, the extra nugget in the fast food order!
Before I do, I should shortlist some of the ones that couldn't quite make it to the almighty 10.
Honorable Mentions:
One of my favorite games ever in a fresh coat of paint. While the world may have looked a little too saturated for my liking, it was still nice to revisit a title I think back to every now and then. I had an itch to replay it for the longest while now, but my PS2 is stuck somewhere I can't remember and who really has time to scrounge the internet for a new one?
All that said, it's unreal to me that the world can now run Colossus at anything other than a slideshow. The story remains one of the most bittersweet tones ever put on screens, which everything released afterward still haven't surpassed. Maybe one day when they re-release this game on the holodeck, we can feel happily-sad all over again.
Jeez, it took them 14 years to make the swinging feel good again? It only took the movies nine years to cycle through three different Peter Parkers, so what kept the video games side so hung up?
All joking aside, New York has never been a better playground for our spider friend. Some of the side-activities may have became a little repetitive, and those on-foot sections slowed the pace to a halt like nobody's business, but none of that seemed to matter as I could break the one-man, airspeed record once the game opened up again and chase down those last few pigeons.
This might have made it into my top ten, but there were too few puddles for my liking.
None of these new games made it to Tee K.O.-quality, but then again, nothing can.
Still, this is probably the strongest pack yet. Split the Room's silly hypotheticals, Patently Stupid's almost-genius inventions, and Mad Verse City's seasoned savagery with rhyming all held a special place in my heart, all while cramming in the newest You Don't Know Jack. Even outside the games, I kept running over strategies in my head for the next time I play with a group of folks, not limited to improving my flow and rhymes. There has never been a better time to unlock your relative's phones over the holidays.
Though I have to ask: what was up with that Zeeple Dome?
Undertale was my favorite game of 2015. Despite Bloodborne holding a strong lead for months straight, a simple, little role-playing game with a soul that asked you to be nice to others won out after simply half an hour.
And now we have Toby Fox's follow-up, which still asks its players the same thing. While improving a lot of the combat and being a bit breezy to finish, I'm hesitant to put it on my final list because we still haven't seen the full game yet. Maybe it will shape up into something better than its predecessor after that cliffhanger, maybe it won't.
But for what I got, “Undertale, but more of it” and all of its optimism is more than welcome in this cursed timeline.
Best ???: Red Dead Redemption 2
Look, I tried. I really, really tried. I wanted more than anything for this to make it into the Holy 10.
But try as I might, I just couldn't bring myself to finish it with the time I set aside. Whenever I felt like the game was heading in a direction to make me somewhat enjoy it, my enthusiasm would crash like Arthur Morgan's horse colliding with a rock, tree, or another horse.
There's a ton to appreciate about the newest Red Dead: the relationships and intricacies of Dutch's gang were fleshed-out and homely, the sheer amount of side-content to delve into, and the painstaking attention-to-detail every minute object, from the visuals to the small interactions, are strikingly well-realized.
But I would have traded all of that in if any of it were actually enjoyable to get through.
Rockstar, stubborn as they are, keep employing the same design doc across all their sandbox games, but it felt more apparent here than anywhere else. Their tutorializing for the first chapter felt slower and more excruciating than anything that came before. Arthur felt clunkier and harder to get ahold of than the spry John Marston that came before (or ahead? this is a prequel after all).
In asking players to explore their world, it exposed the game's biggest detriment. When you strip out how nice everything looks, making any sort of progress feels like a slog. I'm a patient person. I like taking my time with the games set in front of me. I'm the kind of person who likes sightseeing in Shadow of the Colossus of all things, but the difference is that I willingly choose to put aside time from the main quest while the newest Rockstar outing wants to rub my face in it. Simply traversing doesn't have nearly enough benefits as what came before, even with numerous unique events that pop out.
With how much like work this newest iteration felt, it had me worried that I may not have actually liked my time with the first Redemption game as I believed I did, until I dusted off an old PS3 copy, played about half an hour of it, and reminded myself that no, it wasn't nearly the chore the first time. Thanks a bunch for putting that moment of dread in me, game!
The story's pace also stops dead in its tracks far too often than I was willing to forgive. I had enough when I reached the fifth occasion where I felt like the plot was winding down into its final stretch, and then I checked the progress screen where I sat at a nice, solid and full... 55%. I haven't checked back into the game since.
If there was anything I could sum up my experience with Red Dead Redemption 2, for everything I put into it, I never got an equal or better satisfaction out of. It's a game that asks the player to respect its time and devotion, while at the same time disrespecting the player's time and devotion. Maybe one day I can get back into it with a fresh set of eyes and continue, but at the moment, it sits somewhere between “yeah, a lot of this is pretty neat” to “I really don't have the time for any of this” in my head.
But hey, at least I can still skip those skinning animations like I did in the first game.
The List:
10. God of War
I made it about halfway through the original God of War. Between the nonstop violence, the repetitive amount of fights, and the completely irredeemable main protagonist, I couldn't bring myself to see the back half of the game. In the new God of War, the violence is toned down, the fights feel fresh, and Kratos is now in the ballpark of redeemable. Funny how that works out.
While there were specific character motivations along the journey that felt like they flipped like a light switch, and a lot of the loot and equipment felt negligible in the mid-game, I looked back on this soft reboot pretty fondly because of how brave Santa Monica was in reevaluating the history not just of the titular character, but the franchise itself.
Kratos having a child to watch after sets a new focal point going forward, even if it leads to being yet another example of the dadification of games. Atreus, son of the mighty Spartan, was surprisingly well-spoken and mature for a kid, and although later parts felt rather shaky for him, I reached the end really endeared by him. Come to think of it, a lot of the new characters were largely positive folks with some fun banter, now that this series has a new direction.
When the next God of War rolls around, because of course there's going to be another after that ending, I can't wait to dive back in and check to see how Brok, Sindri, Mimir and everyone else are doing with their well-delivered exchanges. If I could point to one thing, it's how well-realized and well-acted these side characters are.
Oh, and the World Serpent? If there were ever an Olympic Event for “Somebody You Just Want to Kick Back and Chill With”, he would take the gold and then some.
9. Minit
Minit? More like... Mini(t)mal! Okay, I don't know where I was going with that, but I do know where I need to go in the next 60 seconds to maximize my remaining life.
Just when I thought I couldn't be anymore surprised about how a game could squeeze out as many little tricks as it could to get me to fast track my way to an objective, another thing came along for me to figure out the solution to. Part action, part adventure, and part puzzle game, Minit puts everything on the table for you to find and asks you to solve it all in the most time-crucial way you can. Stretching desert? Find some quick shoes to cross it faster! Long waiting queue? Take the back door to skip it! Find a character who has slow dialogue? Get some... erm... well, you can't actually do anything but hear him out the whole minute. Still, the humor was pretty on-point.
While there isn't much in its favor to replay it once you've reached the ending, there's no denying that each and every one-sixtieth of an hour you spend with it is worth its price of admission.
8. Yoku's Island Express
I'll just say this upfront. This game is just cute all around.
Taking over as the island's new postmaster, you play as a dung-beetle who gets around the only way he knows how: in a mashup between Metroidvania and pinball! You have a duty to uphold and that mail ain't gonna get around itself.
That all takes a background with how much personality this game drips, as you traverse the many different regions and the residents who occupy those spaces. From the outset, this could have been a simple pathfinding game and it would have held up well-enough. But the way it presents a new kind of challenge to visiting different locales and unearthing their secrets is enough to propel its way onto my list.
Sure, some of the eldritch-like like creature designs felt a little bit jarring next to the upbeat and colorful bugs, and a couple puzzles require a bit of moon logic to get past (seriously, why was that the solution to the queen bee delivery?), but they never stuck in my mind as much as the friendly package Yoku's Island Express came in.
7. WarioWare Gold
Okay, I'll admit it: this one is on here just for me. I love this series and just about everything that small, weird division of over at Nintendo throws out in the stilted world that is the gaming industry.
A celebration of everything that came before, WarioWare Gold feels like the complete package for any WarioWare fan and any onlookers crazy enough to not want to dip their toes into this madhouse of comedic timing. It plays like any other in the franchise, swapping between new control styles and blink-and-you-miss-them moments that feel just as good as they have before.
They may have that same level of trial-and-error as you enter a new stage and don't quite know what to expect, but it doesn't matter with how quick they are. Without the extra content that would make this a tried and true WarioWare game, there's enough of a replay factor to keep going back to previous areas to knock out those little challenges. I just had to clear them all. I just had to, guys.
Heck, I even love the story they stapled on and how much Wario tries to cynically monetize his games for broad appeal, it makes me perplexed why they didn't take this genius angle way earlier. Bless this series, even if this is the last.
6. Donut County
If you're starting to notice this list is majorly composed of short-time games and experiences, it's not because it's a petty protest against more long-winded games that came out this year (okay, it's probably a little bit of that), but it's that a lot of the titles that made me giddy with excitement were ones that were able to squeeze as much as they could out of such a simple concept.
Donut County is the game that squoze(?) the hardest.
Dropping things in an ever-expanding hole never felt so good and I was along for the ride as much as BK the raccoon was in it for getting his dumb, talking drone. A challenge only in figuring out what the next largest-object to get was, the entire game is therapeutic for wreaking havoc on a town that just, with all that is said and done, wanted a donut that our raccoon protagonist was more than happy to deliver.
Add to the destructive gameplay with some really sick music beats and some insanely clever writing along the sides (seriously, those item descriptions were the funniest things all year) acting as the mortar to the main brick of the game, and you have one of the most memorable experiences you could ask for.
Yeah, it was a bit on the short side, clocking in at around two hours. But when people wish they could have more, it's doing something right.
5. Astro Bot: Rescue Mission OR Tetris Effect
I just couldn't muster anything in me to bump either game off my list. In writing my list up, I noticed there was one thing absent from it, so I'm just calling the #5 spot “virtual reality”.
In doing so, I decided to pair the two, most alike games ever.
Astro Bot is basically a late Playstation VR killer app that has no right being as good as it is, based on the free demo that launched with the system. Not once in my entire playthrough did I feel a single bit of frustration because everything about it just worked. From the way it renders the controller for you and the titular bot to interact with, to the smooth feeling of forward motion without inducing nausea, and to the way that it depicts you, as the player, into a role in the story made every element click into space.
And speaking of clicking into place, that there Tetris Effect was certainly a thing. While Astro Bot felt transcendent for the platform it's on, the newest twist on Tetris felt like I had actually transcended. I'm dead and at peace now and it's all thanks to the Lumines and Rez-inspired take on the classic that was Soviet block-stacking. Every individual input and action felt like an orchestration to one of the raddest gaming music experiences that only an interactive medium like games could provide. Oh, and it happens to have a really good handful of score attack modes too. Inside and outside VR, it's basically my new “forever game” as I'll find myself revisiting it on so many occasions for a shot of positivity.
And it will always be there for me. Waiting. Connecting.
4. Dead Cells
Run-based, procedurally-generated games usually just aren't of my ilk unless they have a really good hook to keep me invested and an incentive to either take my time or dash forward with reckless abandon. Dead Cells, thankfully, offers everything and more in spades.
Probably my favorite thing about this game, and one other you'll see a bit later, was that I actually felt empowered to experiment with weapons and strategies that I, more often than not, tend to gravitate away from. Having trouble with this sword? Maybe you're being too up close and personal, so here's a bow. Long-range not putting out the DPS you like? Well, here. Go crazy with this ax. Still not doing it for ya'? Fine, mix and match status effects and maybe these crazy enemies will fall before they even see you. That or you can just Spartan kick them into a bloody mess on the wall.
I'll also not understate that all of the movement, whether it's the running, jumping, combat, and agile parkour rushes, just feel right. To any viewer, the chaos of the battle encounters look like an incomprehensible mishmash of blood and blades, but to you it's a power trip that you actually feel like you're getting better at as the game moves along and you enter your umpteenth run.
But, seriously... why is my head a flame?!
3. Return of the Obra Dinn
There was a moment, very early on, in Return of the Obra Dinn that made my jaw drop as I tried to comprehend what I was looking at on my screen. What I was expecting to be a generally grounded ol'-timey ship exploring game, albeit with a magical compass that makes you investigate the last ten seconds of a dead person's life, turned into a different...thing that no other game outside of a Playdead title would have prompted a reaction from me.
“Uhh...” I must have said, out loud, to no one in particular, because I was alone at the time. “I wasn't expecting this to happen early on.” And then it gets crazier from there!
One-part deduction and mystery, other part paper organization game, Obra Dinn taps into an aesthetic that only the creator of the brilliant Papers, Please could deliver on. Most of the time with it makes you feel like the dumbest person on Earth, missing key details on solving the gruesome ends of lives aboard the ship of death. The next, you feel like the smartest person alive for putting it all into place.
Visceral and bloody are two things I would describe Obra Dinn as, but I'm hard pressed to say that it ever goes for shock value, because of how earnestly it asked me to assemble every minute detail about the ship and the crew's lives. The game taught me a ton of things that I never knew about in early-19th century cultures and ship management. If anything, the fact that it puts all the pieces on the board and asked me, the player, to make sense of it all, is one of the best selling points I've experienced all year.
It's also one of those few games I wish I could wipe from my memory, just so that I can do it all over again.
2. Into the Breach
What else can I say but: “the creators of FTL made a strategy game but with mechs”
I don't know how many lives I've doomed in all my tries and retries of Into the Breach. Somewhere in the hundreds of millions. I think. The other game with a run-based hook, this game edges above Dead Cells for me with how many times it had me thinking hard, but not too hard, about all those timelines with all those poor people that I had abandoned.
Many equate this to Pacific Rim vs. The Bugs, but it felt more along the lines of All You Need is Kill (also known as Edge of Tomorrow for all us American-folk) with how much re-rolling I did to maximize my chances. While I may have reset more often than I liked, the game was always far, far from unfair.
Into the Breach emphasizes that there is always a solution to the problem in front of you, but you just need to put in the time, with some single-move stretches taking as long as ten minutes, to figure it out. It illustrates that all the enemies follow the exact same rules you do, and are prone to falling in the same pit traps that you may have anguished in before.
I have never relished quite as much in the destruction of large, terrible beasts. At least, not until...
1. Monster Hunter: World
This shouldn't be here.
I could not, for the life of me, get into the previous Monster Hunter games because of the giant and daunting barrier it always flaunted. The fact that the slow windup and animations were almost impenetrable for new players. The fact that the series kicks story to the curb in favor of mindlessly slaughtering countless large animals just for the benefit of decorating myself and my weapons with their skinned remains. The fact that a single hunt could take upwards of 40 minutes without feeling a tinge of progress until the very end. The fact that the menus, UI navigation, and specialization trees are sprawling and make no sense in the grand scheme of just being something that remotely resembles usability. The fact that almost every single one of these elements were screaming at me and detracting from the whole experience. Not one single part of this is something that I would enjoy.
And yet...
Monster Hunter: World is the game I sunk the most amount of hours into than anything else this year. I don't know when, why, or even how it happened, but something about the game just suddenly clicked for me, and it got me way more invested that I thought I would. Maybe it was the pace of the hunt, where I would steadily prepare in the main hub area, getting the right weapons and equipment and eating a meal before venturing off to track down the main target in a spectacle of mayhem, that often came down to the wire, before delivering that final, satisfying blow.
Even if one of the main story missions didn't go my way, World dangled another tantalizing side investigation in front of me, assuring that everything I do will help me get better in some way, shape or form. Online sessions with friends could've been way better, but when the core game is strong enough to make me feel unity with albeit fictional hunters, it feels like the tiniest afterthought when all is said and done.
Oh, and all those hours I've spent? I only used one weapon type: the insect glaive. One weapon out of so many that changes the whole dynamic of the game. It's just frightening to think that Monster Hunter could have been a completely different thing if I had picked another means of destruction from the outset.
Take that, you dumb monsters! You deserve to be hunted. And take that 2018! That was best game you produced. Here's hoping 2019 brings forth a worthy challenger.
