GOTY 2018 - Nostalgia (oh and Bloody Tears)

I didn't even realize it until I started putting this list together, but 2018 was the year of "returning." We went back. I specifically went back enough that I did not play 10 games that came out in 2018. *GASP* I know, right!? As the world has continued to be on fire, games jumped right back to what we are familiar with, chasing after everything in a hazy memory. This resulted in some great games that pulled on every fiber of my memory strings. In a year defined by change (for me personally and the world at large) it was nice to "go home."

You can see the list of everything I played here.

I decided to list the following:

• Not video games I guess
• Top 5 Games of 2018 ranked
• Top 5 games released outside of 2018 ranked
• and most Best "Bloody Tears" ranked

Physical Games?

Pinball - Joust is something I never thought I would see in person. Two player pinball is just so freakin' weird that I figured they would all be busted beyond repair. Happily, the Cleveland Pinball Convention had one and it actually worked! After the novelty wears off, I'm sure it would be considered "fine" but I had a blast as the weird competitive and co-op nature of the arcade game comes out in pinball form.

RPG - Dungeon World was a fun throwback to how you thought D&D was supposed to be played before you learned about a 5 foot step. I was able to run the game for a couple months and it brought me to a great streamer for general Role Play advice (Adam Koebel). The game also has enough real structure behind GM'ing that I feel like I can take it and apply it to other role playing games.

Boardgame - The best boardgame I played this year (and every year) has been Skull. Skull is without a doubt, one of the best games to use for introducing people to the hobby. It brings in the luck and skill of poker in a fraction of the time. It helps that every time I played this game, it was usually to introduce old friends to a new hobby.

Top 5 2018

5) Pocket City

I lost an entire weekend with my phone plugged in to the charger, listening to podcasts, and playing Pocket City. I forgot how good SimCity is and Pocket City adds enough of a change here and there to make the game really shine on mobile. You are able to build a utopia with ample housing, fresh produce, humanely cared for livestock, fair taxes, public transportation, and burn all of the banks down when they outlive their purpose. This is the future millennials want. I played the "paid" version on android and found the pacing excellent. It would be nice for some more "end game" style content which is a good sign that I just want to play more of the game.

4) Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

I cannot believe Richter, Alucard (as an assist), Solid Snake, Cloud, Sonic, and Mario are in the same game. The Persona 5 announcement was nuts. I screamed out loud when I saw it. This game hands me my childhood all wrapped up with the mechanics of a Nintendo 64 game, covered in Pokemon and Fire Emblem? How did so much Fire Emblem get in here, geez. Get a hose and wash some of this off. I am not a Smash Brothers fanatic but it was excellent to see Nintendo get this right.

3) God of War

I missed my large Kratos man, and seeing him in a world he did not understand, clinging to a past he would rather forget, solving his problems the way he used to, was an excellent return. He cannot change who he is but, he can try and leave something better behind. Except, he can change. He can become more of the person his son wishes him to be. When nostalgia and keeping things the same reigns supreme, Kratos bashed an axe right through the mold and showed that things can change, and for the better.

2) Monster Hunter: World

Nothing is more simple than big, challenging monsters that need to be dead so I can make my gun sword cooler. If you can work around questionable colonialism messaging, Monster Hunter is the tried and true "grind and make the numbers go up," gameplay that I loved from Diablo. This was my first Monster Hunter and, I am actually incredibly happy about that. All of the mechanical changes paired excellent with a combat system that 2018 was primed for. I loved playing online with randoms, which was a relative first, as everyone was the nicest person in the world. Here is to hoping there is more of that in 2019.

1) Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age

Throw out all of the additional JRPG mechanics from yester-decade and nail it with a great cast and story. Wow. Wow wow wow wow wow. It seems that as I have grown older, I generally play one or two 100 hour RPGs a year and DQXI was the best I have played in years. Some of the most relatable, honest, and earnest characters of the last decade, sacrificing everything, in an attempt to save the world from a big bad that already won (METAPHOR). This was my first Dragon Quest game but, I have made room in the backlog and recognize I need to play some others.

Top 5 outside 2018

The pull backwards in time was so strong, I jumped in hard to some other games not out this year. Here they are, ranked in how I enjoyed them in 2018.

5) Dragon Warrior

Part of going back to experience the rest of the series, I actually played this on my phone before starting XI. The android version was actually good and mobile seems a nice place to play more of the series on. That's great as they clean up some of the grinding and the controls actually, for real, work. I am as surprised as you are, honestly. I had played the NES version in the past, too late, and too young to figure out any of the puzzles. What I did eventually play a lot of was Dragon Warrior Monsters so, seeing some of my favorite monsters and where they came from, before starting and seeing them fully rendered in XI was a real treat.

4) Mega Man X

Spark Mandril please and thank you. I love this freakin' game and the Mega Man X collection did "fine" at presenting it. Mega Man X is not the best in the series or even the best soundtrack, but it works for me. I played through both the X collection and the PSP Mega Man Maverick Hunter X version this year to get the location remixes. That's what I wanted from the X collection, more options like Maverick Hunter to make the game feel new again. I will take what I can get, which is still good Mega Man.

3) Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Alucard is Dracula spelled backwards

The triumphant return of Alucard. This game, even when it was released, was a fragment of your memory, warped and distilled to something even greater. That the US never had Rondo didn't really change all of the memorable monster and boss encounters throughout the game. I still get chills every single time that second castle comes from the sky. I actually really enjoyed the Dracula X version of this game for the updated voice acting. Also, Richter mode still rules.

2) Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles

I am not sure if I think this is an actually better game than Symphony of the Night but, I greatly enjoyed my time with it more this year than I had when I played it on PSP a decade ago (oh god, time). This version deserved to be played on a TV as the art held up surprisingly well for a polygonal game. Richter Belmont is the best dressed Belmont and the improved voice acting in this game does wonders to make him a character a US audience can care about. He is one of the few Belmont's to debate philosophy with Dracula! Now, with that out of the way, play the game as Maria, don't be crazy.

1) Divinity: Original Sin II

It seems crazy to me that we need other companies to step in a make good Bioware games but D:OS2 follows in the wake of other companies stepping up and knocking this style out of the park. Great characters, good story, important choices, more choices, good tactical combat (that felt more like XCOM than Baldur's Gate), and SO MUCH STUFF. I loved being able to reroll characters on a whim, completely changing my play style whenever I wanted. Where before in old RPGs I might have been locked in to a specific play style, D:OS2 let me change my mind and continue on my way. Excellent changes and updates to a style of game that continues to pull itself through time.

Top 5 Bloody Tears

This very good song received a lot of play from me this year. Here are 5 versions, ranked. Honorable mention goes to Netflix Season 2.

5) Castlevania Chronicles

4) Castlevania Judgment

3) Castlevania: Rondo of Blood

2) Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

1) Castlevania II: Simon's Quest