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RookTakesPawn

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Best Games of 1998

One of the best games ever in video game history, full of innovation as well as several franchises performing at their peak. The beleaguered N64 finally had another game worth playing after Super Mario 64, PlayStation had two great blockbusters in Metal Gear Solid and Resident Evil 2, arcade games were cool again with Dance Dance Revolution changing what to expect in a video game, and the PC was bursting with variety.

As an aside, I know many people claim Panzer Dragoon Saga to be one of the best JRPG's ever. I have to disagree. Riding a dragon was cool, the use of voice acting was excellent, and some of the plot twists were surprising - but the game was too easy and fighting in wide open spaces or tight, featureless corridors was very boring. Time also did no favor for the game's graphics.

A better JRPG in my mind was Suikoden II, which should be recognized for its story and good use of 2D graphics. However, I was disappointed with how many characters I had to recruit, which made most have shallow character development. Also, the tactical part of the game paled in comparison to Tactics Ogre and Final Fantasy Tactics.

List items

  • This game showed what you could do in the corridors to make a game interesting to explore. The use of puzzles in this shooter made for a more engaging experience, as was the use of story occurring while still in a gameplay setting rather than making you sit on the sidelines for an FMV or CGI cutscene.

  • This game showed Hideo Kojima's love of the movies and was truly the first cinematic game. I remember recording the cutscenes on a VHS tape as a kid and then watching the "movie" afterwards, something you see on Youtube with games a lot these days. I apparently was doing the same thing, just 20 years earlier.

  • Warcraft II had great art design but too few voice samples and some uninteresting missions. Command and Conquer had the silly FMV videos (especially Red Alert) that made the game play feel like more of an obstacle. StarCraft, including Brood War, mastered the gameplay. Also, SC included three interesting and unique playable factions that were way more than a palette swap. This was the most polished game of its genre to date and oozed cool with its futuristic setting and space war conflict.

  • The sense of exploration is what made this game memorable. The movement and combat showed how much Nintendo had nailed what the N64 could accomplish. The game deserves all the praise it can get and changed what we thought of doing with open space in a 3D environment.

  • As a sequel, RE2 felt like it mirrored Aliens to Alien with its more bombastic events. While the controls were still bad, the game still had a good mix of fear and fun.

  • The "other" Final Fantasy VII showed us what could have been instead of Cloud and company. PE also deviated from being a Resident Evil clone by focusing on the quiet suspense and buildup to the boss battles rather than the survival horror of it all. A demerit should be given because this game was obsessed with the idea of mitochondria (weirdly, episode 1 of Star Wars had a similar fascination at the same time). Still, kudos to PE for deviating from expectations by having a woman protagonist focused on just doing her job. No booty shorts and a tanktop here - this is a woman who is treated by her co-workers professionally and wasn't frequently catcalled or suffered from anime-girl syndrome (cutesy ignorance of peevy dudes).

    This game was mature in every sense of the word - it treated players like adults, and was refreshing for doing so. PE was also unique in that it didn't go for the fantasy setting but rather took place in modern-day America. Such a realistic setting made the impact and consequences of events hit closer to home and made us think about what if something supernatural happened to our world just down the street.

  • Another game with tank controls, but what an incredible setting, story, and characters. This is a true classic in video games and rather than say any more, just please play it.

  • The dialogue in this game was much better than the original but everything else seemed like more of the same. Which is not bad - it's actually a very good thing! But in a year of innovation, doing the same thing slightly better as before makes this great game nearly outside the top 10.

  • The sheer breadth of the world is what makes this game standout. I have some issues with the characters and the story, but this game is about creating a sense of place and transporting you to a fantasy world full of corruption and intrigue. To that, I say Baldur's Gate is a game well deserving of the praise it has received.

  • This game changed my life. It got me interesting in dance, taught me to think outside the box when it comes to what we call a video game, and showed that sometimes games are truly all about just having fun. It wouldn't be until Rock Band that the performative nature of video games would become so clearly remarkable and intoxicating.

  • 8-way movement was such a revelation that it is actually absurd that this game is so low on this list. One reason, though, may be because I just wasn't as in to the sword game play as I was with hand-to-hand combat. Also, the game was kinda simplistic?

  • A lot of people say this is the best Street Fighter game. For me, this is around the time that Street Fighter was adding too much bloat to the pure combat. Still, it was fun and exciting to see the unique special moves.
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