I liked these games in < 2018 >
Games I enjoyed playing in 2018 - not all the games I played but the ones I liked the most.
List items
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Released: April 20
A reimagined God of War is a heck of a thing. This father-son story was a real interesting romp through norse mythology with a greek god at the helm. It got me to buy a book on popular norse myths and read up a bit on the culture, and any game that propagates any sort of education is a good thing. It didn't hurt that God of War was also a really fun game to play.
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Released: a while back
Not a 2018 release but I finally got around to this one. Lost upwards of 100 hours of my life to exploits of the Phantom Thieves. I was worried that after years away from JRPG's maybe I just didn't have it in me anymore, but Persona 5 is so streamlined and just so goddamn stylish that in no time at all I was back in the groove and having a blast. Wonderful presentation, great gameplay with many added tweaks, and an amazing jazz infused soundtrack all help make Persona 5 a joy to play.
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Released: ages ago
Another game I only now got around to, and boy where have I been. In a sea of procedurally generated, pixel, rogue lites, Ori is such a breath of fresh air and exactly what I love - bespoke levels, unique artstyle, great platforming that quickly ramps up the challenge and a metroidvania progression system. The music is incredible and the story is actually quite touching at times, promoting love over violence.
Now I can't wait for the sequel.
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Released: October 2018
When I logged into the Rockstar Social Club there was a little list of games there and it said RDR2 played yesterday, RDR1 played 9 years ago. That was an eye opener.. Anyway thats neither here nor there - RDR2 was a really great cinematic experience. The controls are what they are but I didn't find myself struggling like some but maybe thats because I love Metal Gear and Kojima always comes up with some insane control scheme that in all fairness usually works out for the type of games he makes. Similarly Rockstar has a signature style that I got used to from the days of Max Payne 3 and I dunno, after a day or so I just got used to it, never punched a horse, never accidentally punched an NPC. Great story, great characters, a beautiful homage to the spaghetti wild west. While the epilogue decidedly dragged down the experience for me I had a great time throughout.
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Released: XB1 launch.. I think? [Played in November]
This finally came out for PC so I had a chance to play it and boy what a fun game. After Red Dead Redemption 2 this was the absolute perfect ying to Rockstars yang. Fast, colorful, completely player friendly - change weapons on the fly, fast travel anywhere and the movement, oh boy the movement is just such a joy. I bought the original XBOX just to play Jet Set Radio Future and this is like that but with guns and energy drink zombies. I had a great time with this game and it was also incredibly cheap - quite literally the highlight of 2018 for me and it's from at least 5 years ago.
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Released: September 2018
This is a really delightful small puzzle game that revolves around a singular mechanic of reversing and forwarding time while also interacting with the environment. Each puzzle is a beautifully crafted little island full of giant sized items pertaining to the current vignette from our protagonists lives. It is simple but challenging in a fun way and some of the stages are simply beautiful in the way they've been designed. The ending is really touching as well. Had a great time with this small game.
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Released: December 2018
I think I hate Below, but when I checked I've put into over 15 hours into the game. In development for 5 years Capy(bara) Games have crafted something entirely unique. A game that combines survival mechanics, exploration and run based roguelike DNA into a product that fascinates me in equal measure as it infuriates. Every element of Below seems to be at odds with what it is. You want to explore, but you're on a constant timer because of the survival mechanics. You want to progress the story but death carries with it serious penalties forcing you to farm items and currency before you can seriously attempt another "run" at a dungeon. Completing the game requires you to scour every single level of the game with your magical torch which is fueled by white light bits, which incidentally become incredibly scarce past the first few levels forcing you to return to the beginning of the game and farming those as well because without the lantern you will not collect the lantern parts, and the lantern parts are invisible unless you have the lantern on. Nothing is explained but the one thing that is clear is that everything in the world of Below is out to get you, and will kill you quickly, but getting back up to speed and attempting another run takes quite a bit of time. Insta-kill traps, enemies that deal massive damage, environmental conditions, hunger, thirst, bleeding. To add to all of this each time you die the magic lantern which is a central item to the story and which is used to actually progress to other dungeons will drop when you die and have to be recovered - this means if you venture 4 levels deep into a dungeon the lantern will be waiting there for you, except now you have no lantern, now you will have to craft torches to see in the dark and holding a torch means you can't use your shield, and torches are finite so if you don't craft enough you will be left in the pitch dark.
I think I hate playing Below, but I love everything about the aesthetics. I'm now a single dungeon away from finishing the game, and a bug has made the shortcut I unlocked to said dungeon simply disappear. Below hates me but I will beat it. I will wait for the patch because I'm just not going to bother with those tentacles anymore. I think I hate Below.
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