1.God of War (2018)
It was the best game of the year, in a year that looked pretty quiet since I didn't catch many of the best indies and haven't had time to play RDR2. Loved the look and the Nordic setting sits very well with a Finn who loves hiking and spending time outdoors. Liked the gameplay and I got positively surprised by the characters of Atreus and Kratos. Having very little woman representation was a shame and the world felt like a collection of hallways which I didn't always like. But still, Sony nailed it with another spring time exclusive in the vein of Horizon.
2. Yakuza 6: The Song of Life
Part of my freelancing work is reviewing games, and this was the best game I was assigned to review. Loved the very Yakuza story and all the content. The very small problems that I have with this game are the focus only on Kiriyu and the fighting system that lacked any depth. But other than those points, it was really good and more Yakuza in all the good ways.
3. Hitman 2
Just got this for Christmas and only had time to play about the half of it. Hitman in 2016 was my GOTY and this is a very very good sequel. I'm having fun and will love to talk with my friend about all the elusive targets and other ongoing parts this game will have.
4. Assassin's Creed Odyssey
Got this with my Xbox One X upgrade and I've gotten about half way through. It looks really good at 4K and the HDR colors are the best I've seen after God of War. Love the setting since I've seen some of the places myself and I skipped a few entries in this series after Black Flag, so I'm not bored with the gameplay. The story seems kind of interesting, and it'll be fun to see how much I can actually influence the outcome. BTW Kassandra is a really good character.
5. F1 2018
At least 70 hours on PS4 and 30 on PC. Got the review code for PS4 but had to buy it on PC just to get the better visuals. It has made F1 really enjoyable. The simulation is finally simulation enough and the career mode is really solid. I will continue to loose literal days to this game hoping to make it to an actual racing league. And it made me follow actual F1 again, so mission accomplished FIA and Codemasters.
6. Forza Horizon 4
The other really good I was assigned to review. And man I loved it. The PC port is awesome and it looks really good on Xbox One X. The cars selection is good and the game world feels authentic in just the right way. Sucks that I haven't had time to play more of it, but I will return to Horizon Festival at some point, that is a promise.
7. Battlefield V
It came bundled with my Xbox One X and it's totally serviceable as a "I'll just play this for an hour before going to bed or something" -game. I haven't gotten into a Battlefield game after BF4, and this feels just fine. The visuals and sound alone make it a fun thing to play with the Xbox One X and a good TV. But can't give a more hardcore analysis on this, since I try to just turn my brain off while I enjoy the game.
8. Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia
This was also something I reviewed. I love strategy games and this got me thinking about seriously getting into Total War games. Haven't gotten around to that yet, but maybe. The game is a really good smaller scale Total War, that would serve as a great entry point into the series if it had better tutorials.
9. Onrush
Number two on the biggest surprises list just after God of War. It's good for shorter sessions and was very simple fun to play. Unfortunately a lack of content prevented it succeeding better. Catch it from the PS+ games while you still can!
10. State of Decay 2
A okay sequel to a game that is very good mindless (hehe) fun. Just turn a podcast or video on to the other screen and it's zombie killing time. Totally fine and improved the first game in a few good ways. Maybe I'll start another colony when I need a game to kill time with while watching videos or listening to podcasts.
Games from earlier years that were important to me in 2018:
- A Hat in Time (playing it right now on PC and loving it)
- Wolfenstein: The Old Blood (It was a fun little prequel, PC port was bad though)
- Overwatch (Only got into it this year and it's really fun to play with friends)
- Rocket League (Own it on two platforms [PC and Switch] and will most likely keep playing it all through 2019 to add to over 200 hours in total)
- Project Cars 1 & 2 (Thank you friends for making these fun, these happen to be the simulation car game for me and I'll be losing a lot more hours to these in the coming year)
- Nier: Automata (No need to praise the story any more than has all ready been done. The gameplay was just OK but the philosophical themes kept me going. Truly felt the impact of the story when I finally got through)
- Golf Story (Kept me entertained and was a really funny little indie game. Get it on Switch if you need more stuff to play.)
- Xenoblae Chronicles 2 (Haven't yet completed this, but I just love this monster sized JRPG with dumb voiceover.)
- What Remains of Edith Finch (I enjoy the occasional "walking simulator" and this was a really good one of those. All the best sequences that have been discussed are truly worth it to see through.)
- Night in the Woods (Spent the 2018 half of my winter break a year ago playing this and really loved it. The dialogue is just as good as everyone has praised it to be.)
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