As soon as I opened the "2018 in Video Gaming" Wikipedia Page I was immediately struck with the feeling of "fuck, that was 2018?" for 3 seperate titles, before I even got past February. Granted it's in part down to a particularly nasty bout of depression a few months back, stretching out time and making life before existential dread ruled my thaughts feel like a forgotten era. But it's also indicative of the sort of games that got me this year. Games that embedded themselves so firmly into my mind that they feel like they've always been there. And also because a lot are rereleases that I've been hearing about for years beforehand, which tends to screw with your memory.
Dragon Quest Builders
So speaking of rereleases, Builders came out in 2016, but only found it's way to Switch this year, so naturally I had no interest in playing it until it did. It's an incredibly smart game, clearly built by people who played Minecraft, saw EXACTLY what they weren't getting from it, then just made that game. It's such a simple addition to the formula, NPCs with wants and needs. And it changes EVERYTHING. This sense of direction, of responsibility, drove me to build in ways I'd never have done otherwise. The restrictions it places all exist to guide your creativity, giving you a small area to work with(in the main campaign at least) and making you place buildings to exact specifications, working around the people in your village, because they're just as important as you.
Dark Souls Remastered
Oddly enough for a game I'm putting down as a favourite, my big takeaway from playing Dark Souls about 6 times this year is that it's probably my least favourite of the Souls games. It's a genuine classic, it's world, themes, characters and art design are all utterly incredible to this day. That's something I've only become more sure of in my time spent with Remastered. But also, outside of the spectacular Castlevania-inspired level design that only Bloodborne really carried on since, I think I love 2 and 3 more. And I love this game a lot, so that's not something to be sneezed at.
Hollow Knight
Hollow Knight is a masterpeice, plain and simple. There's nothing about this game that isn't utterly incredible, and I mean that genuinely and sincerely, there's no caveat coming later about something I didn't like. For lots of people the map and pin systems were that caveat, but I loved them. Hollow Knight is the gold standard by which all Metroidvania games are now to be judged, as well as anything that dares be adjacent to it's majesty.
Torna: The Golden Country
Xenoblade 2 is an absolute all-timer for me. Alongside Bloodborne, Xenoblade X and now Hollow Knight, it's one of my favourite games I've ever played. I also can't recommend it without pages worth of caveats. It's got a degree of anime perviness. It obfuscates a lot that it doesn't need to. It's got a whole gatcha thing that's left me 200 hours in and still without all the blades. I could go on! But I don't have to anymore, because Torna doesn't have any of that. It really does feel like Monolithsoft took a good, hard look at Xenoblade 2, and went through with a fine-tooth comb, touching everything up and fixing what needed fixing, like it was getting ready for a date. It's Xenoblade 2 at it's best, and at a comfy 20 hours or so it's also an RPG that doesn't utterly absorb your life like so many demand to do these days. A rare breed, and one that many will appreciate. I love Xenoblade 2, flaws and all, and seeing how well it cleans up has given me a whole new side of it to adore.
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
I finally got to play this classic this year thanks to the rerelease, and I'm honestly astounded by how well it holds up. I'd already been set off on a Castlevania kick via the incredible Netflix show, but Symphony kicked that into overdrive.
World of Final Fantasy: Maxima
I've already done a big writeup on Maxima, so I'd reccomend you go and have a read of that when you get a chance. In short though: I wasn't expecting to fall in love with this one like I did. It was both a joyous comfort at a time when I needed one, and also a launchpad for my interest in Final Fantasy as a whole. I hope to god it gets the sequel it's devs clearly want to make.
Ashen
Despite what is SUPPOSED to happen around this time of year, SOMEONE decided to release an utterly incredible game in DECEMBER, of all times. Writing this list made me realise that Ashen pairs very well with Dragon Quest Builders, oddly enough. The two have bookended the year with genuine beleif in the strength of community, infrastructure and collective responsibility. Ashen may look morose, and it's approach in converying the message is certainly less upbeat and cheerful than Builders, but the two ultimately have the same enthusiasm for their message, and it's a message I'm excited to carry into 2019.
I've still a little of 2018 left with me in this new year, in the form of Tales of Berseria and Smash Bros, both of which I'm determined to finish at some point. And Smash is a long-term thing anyway, so who knows when I'll have my thaughts together on it. I will say, I love both of them, even if in Berseria's case it's the characters doing a vast proportion of the legwork.
All in all this has been a great year for games, except for the big AAA releases which ended up being a collection of 5-7 out of 10s often produced under hellish working conditions. Next year promises some big-budget releases that are least up my street, so maybe it'll be better than this year in that regard, but we'll have to wait and see.
So that's my quick and dirty 2018 faves. I only recently started writing again and dedicated most of my time to that World of Final Fantasy peice(which, again, you should read), so I've not put together anything huge here. I'm looking forward to doing more writing this year, so lets see if I hold myself to that.
Dragon Quest Builders
So speaking of rereleases, Builders came out in 2016, but only found it's way to Switch this year, so naturally I had no interest in playing it until it did. It's an incredibly smart game, clearly built by people who played Minecraft, saw EXACTLY what they weren't getting from it, then just made that game. It's such a simple addition to the formula, NPCs with wants and needs. And it changes EVERYTHING. This sense of direction, of responsibility, drove me to build in ways I'd never have done otherwise. The restrictions it places all exist to guide your creativity, giving you a small area to work with(in the main campaign at least) and making you place buildings to exact specifications, working around the people in your village, because they're just as important as you.
Dark Souls Remastered
Oddly enough for a game I'm putting down as a favourite, my big takeaway from playing Dark Souls about 6 times this year is that it's probably my least favourite of the Souls games. It's a genuine classic, it's world, themes, characters and art design are all utterly incredible to this day. That's something I've only become more sure of in my time spent with Remastered. But also, outside of the spectacular Castlevania-inspired level design that only Bloodborne really carried on since, I think I love 2 and 3 more. And I love this game a lot, so that's not something to be sneezed at.
Hollow Knight
Hollow Knight is a masterpeice, plain and simple. There's nothing about this game that isn't utterly incredible, and I mean that genuinely and sincerely, there's no caveat coming later about something I didn't like. For lots of people the map and pin systems were that caveat, but I loved them. Hollow Knight is the gold standard by which all Metroidvania games are now to be judged, as well as anything that dares be adjacent to it's majesty.
Torna: The Golden Country
Xenoblade 2 is an absolute all-timer for me. Alongside Bloodborne, Xenoblade X and now Hollow Knight, it's one of my favourite games I've ever played. I also can't recommend it without pages worth of caveats. It's got a degree of anime perviness. It obfuscates a lot that it doesn't need to. It's got a whole gatcha thing that's left me 200 hours in and still without all the blades. I could go on! But I don't have to anymore, because Torna doesn't have any of that. It really does feel like Monolithsoft took a good, hard look at Xenoblade 2, and went through with a fine-tooth comb, touching everything up and fixing what needed fixing, like it was getting ready for a date. It's Xenoblade 2 at it's best, and at a comfy 20 hours or so it's also an RPG that doesn't utterly absorb your life like so many demand to do these days. A rare breed, and one that many will appreciate. I love Xenoblade 2, flaws and all, and seeing how well it cleans up has given me a whole new side of it to adore.
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
I finally got to play this classic this year thanks to the rerelease, and I'm honestly astounded by how well it holds up. I'd already been set off on a Castlevania kick via the incredible Netflix show, but Symphony kicked that into overdrive.
World of Final Fantasy: Maxima
I've already done a big writeup on Maxima, so I'd reccomend you go and have a read of that when you get a chance. In short though: I wasn't expecting to fall in love with this one like I did. It was both a joyous comfort at a time when I needed one, and also a launchpad for my interest in Final Fantasy as a whole. I hope to god it gets the sequel it's devs clearly want to make.
Ashen
Despite what is SUPPOSED to happen around this time of year, SOMEONE decided to release an utterly incredible game in DECEMBER, of all times. Writing this list made me realise that Ashen pairs very well with Dragon Quest Builders, oddly enough. The two have bookended the year with genuine beleif in the strength of community, infrastructure and collective responsibility. Ashen may look morose, and it's approach in converying the message is certainly less upbeat and cheerful than Builders, but the two ultimately have the same enthusiasm for their message, and it's a message I'm excited to carry into 2019.
I've still a little of 2018 left with me in this new year, in the form of Tales of Berseria and Smash Bros, both of which I'm determined to finish at some point. And Smash is a long-term thing anyway, so who knows when I'll have my thaughts together on it. I will say, I love both of them, even if in Berseria's case it's the characters doing a vast proportion of the legwork.
All in all this has been a great year for games, except for the big AAA releases which ended up being a collection of 5-7 out of 10s often produced under hellish working conditions. Next year promises some big-budget releases that are least up my street, so maybe it'll be better than this year in that regard, but we'll have to wait and see.
So that's my quick and dirty 2018 faves. I only recently started writing again and dedicated most of my time to that World of Final Fantasy peice(which, again, you should read), so I've not put together anything huge here. I'm looking forward to doing more writing this year, so lets see if I hold myself to that.
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