Weasel's Games of the Year 2018

Shockingly enough, this list still doesn't consist of ten games, even this year.

2018 was a roller coaster of a year for me in a lot of ways and when I took the time to look back at the video game releases this year, I realized that similar to last year, I didn't seem to pick up a lot of current games to play. Or at the very least, I didn't PLAY them too terribly much. When I pick up a game that I really like, I tend to put a LOT of hours into it, not thinking about other games. This is obviously what developers want, so it works out for them, but it keeps the variety a bit low. Even with that said, I am pretty happy with the games that I did play this year, and at least one of these games is a mobile game!

Similarly to last year, this list will only contain games that came out in the year of 2018. Other games that were played may be relegated to a separate list, so make sure to check that out. In the meantime, here is my Top 7 games of this year!

List items

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  1. Dragalia Lost

  I'm shocked that I'm saying this, but I have to put Nintendo and CyGames' Dragalia Lost as my favorite game of 2018. By far, it is the game that I've put the most time (and money) into since it came out in the latter half of this year. I used to check the Google Play store every week for new games, hoping one would hook me and be the game that I could play when I had free time and only had my phone on me, but I didn't expect it to actually make me want to play it instead of games that I could have been playing on my PC or PS4. Between the character designs, the fact that they made an engaging story, and the music which I have even listened to outside of the game, this game spoke to me. It definitely is not a money grabbing mobile game, but certainly has those elements for someone who can become obsessed with it. The gameplay is simple but keeps you on your toes and isn't a game to be idle with. If you decide to pick this game up, let me know and I'll give you my friend code to help you out!

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  2. Hitman 2

  I never played the original new Hitman when it came out, not that I didn't want to. I watched every video that I could and it got me super excited to play it, but I just never got around to doing it. So when Hitman 2 came out, I knew that I finally had to actually play the game. And I must say, this game is quite good. One of the things that I love most about it is that I had the opportunity to play all of the original Hitman game that I hadn't played through in Hitman 2, with the few new mechanics that they had added, and it all felt great. I haven't even touched much of the Hitman 2 levels, which many people are saying are even better than the first games' levels, but I've enjoyed most of my time with it. I've definitely gotten frustrated with some of the escalation missions, but those are supposed to be hard, so I can't expect them to come easily. I've even played some of the multiplayer and I can't wait for that to come out of "beta" to see what more they add to an already fun mode. With new elusive targets to come, I can't wait to keep playing Hitman 2 in 2019!

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  3. Tetris Effect

  Playing games on my PlayStation 4 is a rarity these days, and sometimes I feel bad about that as there are a lot of good games that come out for it, but I did pick up one game this year that I am glad that I didn't snooze on. I don't have a virtual reality headset, but in my opinion, you don't need one to enjoy Tetris Effect. I am not a good Tetris player by any means, but the way that this game presents itself made it fun for me to play it anyway. The game starts out at an easy difficulty for those that haven't played much Tetris, but ramp up so that you get better, or have more challenging modes for those that just want it to be difficult from the very beginning. The music and colors all add to make it an immersive experience that I enjoyed a lot, and for those that have a hard time with too much stuff on the screen, all of that flair is optional and can be turned off. I feel that Tetris Effect is a great game to play for an hour on a daily basis if you need some time to relax!

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  4. BattleTech

  There were times that I almost forgot that this game came out within this year, and that's a shame because BattleTech is a great video game for those that enjoy mechs and challenging gameplay. As an anime and Gundam fan, I love the idea of being able to create all of the most badass mechs that I could ever want and have them shoot, stomp, and punch my enemies into the ground. This game isn't for the faint of heart, however, as you'll be going up against the constraints of time and money a lot in order to keep your mechs operational while at the same time being able to continue living in your pretty rundown space ship. The latest expansion that they added makes that difficulty a little more real and unforgiving, but I find that to be a part of the charm of this game. When you go out on a mission, you have to make sure that you not only finish the objective but that you do so in a way that doesn't break your mechs, because the time and money involved in fixing them could affect your next mission in a big way. Overall, I enjoyed this game quite a bit and hope to go back to it for some ironman mode in the future!

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  5. Into the Breach

  If you enjoy turn-based strategy games with simple mechanics and where you know the outcome of your actions without having percentages and guessing then Into the Breach is for you. As a fan of Faster than Light, made by the same developers, I knew going in that I was going to enjoy this. In the end, I feel like I didn't put as much time into it as I may have, as this is a run-based game, but the time I did put in to it was quite enjoyable. I am a big fan of the graphics and soundtrack and I added the latter to my out-of-game ambient listening collection. Sadly, there isn't much more to say than that, but this was one of my favorite games that came out this year that I played.

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  6. Monster Hunter: World

  Monster Hunter: World holds an odd place in my heart. With this game coming out on both the PlayStation 4 and PC in the same year, I realize that I played this game twice, repeating content because of it, but getting further on my second time around on the PC. I never got in to Monster Hunter before World, mainly because of the systems that it came out on, and while I feel that I enjoyed what I HAD played of it, it just didn't stick with me like some of the other games on this list did. Because of the amount of hours that I played of it, I felt like it deserved to be put as one of my games of the year, but looking back, I wonder how much I actually enjoyed of it. I even played it multiplayer with some friends, but every time that I realized that I had to grind to get parts, something of which I am no stranger to, I kind of became indifferent to the game. Don't get me wrong, this game is good, but just not good enough to be further up on my list.

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  7. Wreckfest

  "Next Car Game" Wreckfest came out this year. This game was in early access for over four years. Honestly, there is only one reason that this game is on my list: figure-eight demolition derby race. I was able to get people together to do it a couple of times this year and each time, that was the thing that was most enjoyable. If it wasn't for that, and the lack of other games that I played this year, I'm not sure if this would make a game of the year list, but here we are.