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oneddashone · 6 years ago

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Games of the Year 2018

2018 was, for me, when I finally escaped the zeitgeist of well-reviewed, non-Nintendo, big-budget AAA games. Red Dead 2, Spider-Man, God of War—in previous years, the collective siren song of each of these games' Recommended or Essential tags on Eurogamer would have been too much for me to resist, but not this year—the Nintendo Switch almost completely cannibalized my game time in 2018.

It's an object that brings me joy in a way the PS4 and Xbox could never hope to achieve. Sure, part of it is just a victory lap for a Nintendo fanboy that rarely gets them anymore, and part of it is certainly the added flexibility of the handheld/console duality at the heart of its design. But it's also something more than that. Something I've struggled to define.

Nintendo's release calendar in 2018 was, in my eyes at least, as near-perfect as you can get when dealing with something as volatile as game development. Every month there was a new and interesting big box release, a few interesting digital-only games, and probably a patch to one of your favorite games from 2017 that made it a blast to play all over again. I know that it's been criticized, and that Nintendo's stock was even down at one point because of a perceived negative reaction to the games they put out this year, but I just can't comprehend that—to me it felt perfect.

Anyways, on to the list.

(Side bar: some have already scoffed at some of the inclusions here due to strict Gregorian merit. I quite like how Polygon worded their policy on their list:

You may notice the inclusion of games that were either fully released or made available in Early Access prior to 2018. Because many games change from update to update, let alone year to year, we will include previously available games that receive a significant update within the year or become available on a platform that substantially impacts how that game is experienced.

End side bar)

RECOMMENDED

Night in the Woods

Danmaku Unlimited 3

Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon

Yoku’s Island Express

Mario Tennis Aces

Octopath Traveler

The Messenger

Valkyria Chronicles 4

Dragon Ball FighterZ

Mega Man 11

Forza Horizon 4

Dark Souls Remastered

Diablo III: Eternal Collection

Civilization VI

Tetris Effect

Gris

I'm really happy with the diversity of games in this part of the list. From Dark Souls to Gris, there was truly something for almost any type of video game fan this year. I still think about the music from Night in the Woods, the characters from Valkyria Chronicles, and the stages from Mega Man 11. Octopath Traveler perfectly scratched the JRPG itch (even if I still have over half the game to go), and Mario Tennis Aces was the most competitive I've been in an online game since probably Arms. Danmaku Unlimited 3 is wholly underrated as a modern shmup, and regardless of how you feel about racing games, you owe it to yourself to experience the fields of rural England flying by in Forza Horizon 4—one of only two games in this list that I didn't play on Switch, actually.

ESSENTIAL

Celeste

Hollow Knight

Dead Cells

Into the Breach

Pokemon: Let's Go Eeevee

Super Smash Bros Ultimate

This part of the list is just bonkers. I feel like there have been past years where literally all of these could have finished #1.

Celeste touched me with its story—not something I've said about many games, especially those that are most well-known for their precision and difficulty. Hollow Knight was a complete joy when it landed on Switch this Spring. I immediately put dozens of hours into it and played it exclusively for weeks, and I still have more to find. Dead Cells quickly replaced all the other roguelikes I was regularly dipping into, and still hasn't given up its roost there. Into the Breach was the exact strategy game I needed to get back into that genre, at a time when I desperately wanted to get back into that genre. Pokemon Let's Go Eevee was *the* father/daughter game this year—we've played it together, sure, but we've also bonded in discussions about elemental strengths and weaknesses, correct support character strategy, the merits of grinding, etc etc etc (I’ve also started my own save file—it’s that good). And SSB Ultimate came on late but hit hard—I played it with friends every night for weeks after release. This one is gonna last well into next year and beyond.

Hollow Knight, Dead Cells, and Into the Breach were also all games that my PC friends were playing and that I knew I'd probably be into, but doubted I'd ever get the chance to experience myself. That they all made their console debut on the Switch in the same calendar year speaks to how strong that calendar was for Nintendo, I'd say.

GOTY

Monster Hunter World (and Generations Ultimate)

For all the Nintendo love on this list—and yes I realize I'm cheating by also sneaking Gen Ultimate on here—it's one of the only games I played on PS4 that takes the top spot.

2018 was the year of Monster Hunter for me. I had played multiple games in the series up to this point, but the two that came out this year completely nailed what makes these games great—and they're two totally, completely different (but equally wonderful) games.

Generations Ultimate technically came out later in the West, but it's also clearly the older game. The 'ultimate' in the title isn't marketing happenstance—this is a huge, over-stuffed collection of the 'best of' MonHun's first four mainline and spin-off games. Everything good about MonHun before 2018 is in this game, and it's as bloated as you'd expect. I played with a multitude of weapons, styles, and arts, and still didn't come close to scratching the surface of the vast amount of stuff in this game. I'm still playing it and plan to continue for some time.

Monster Hunter World, on the other hand, came out all the way back in January but is almost a completely new game. A lot of the dumb cruft from 10+ years of game history has been whittled down into one of the most intensely satisfying experiences I had this year. I played around 90 hours—some alone, some with my trusted hunting buddy Tommy, and some with a full group of hunters from Detroit Arcade Club—and I never felt like I wasted a minute. I love that they've added some light MMO elements (in the form of daily and weekly bonuses, mostly). I love that the maps are one coherent place now, and that monsters attack each other in unscripted encounters. I love that whetstones are infinite and you don't stop and cycle through an animation every time you pick a flower. There was just so much to love in this game, and it sets the table beautifully for the next ten years of Monster Hunter.

It was a good year in games. Maybe not as stuffed as last year, and certainly not quite hitting its extreme highs (I couldn't even write about Breath of the Wild last year, it was too good), but on the whole it was steady in quality and refreshingly varied in its executions. Here's to another year in games like this one.

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