Now a few things to clarify before we start. First off, there will be 11 entries, and it's not really a top ten list, since a game I may consider my favorite today may not be next week. I'm just talking about what games came out this year that I'm grateful for
Second, I don't need to have actually played the game for it to be on this list. Thing is I'm poor, so I don't have as many opportunities to play new games as others. But just cause I didn't play a game, doesn't mean I can't be grateful that it exists. I'll put an (hp) next to the titles of the ones I haven't played so we're all clear.
And finally, the 4 games in the banner are my honorable mentions. I'm mostly glad they came out for other people, as opposed to myself. So, with that out of the way, let's talk about the games I'm most grateful for that came out in 2018, in no particular order. Let's start off with...
God of War (hp)
But I don't get that feeling from this one. Many people have praised this game for its narrative of all things, not only the relationship between Kratos and the boy, but also other characters in the game. Such as a pair of blacksmith brothers who don't talk to eachother anymore and you can help them resolve their pain with each other.
And it's little story bits like that which gives me hope that it'll be good. I've also heard there are some cool mechanics around the axe, so that's nice
Omensight
Omensight was a great hidden gem I found this year and I thoroughly enjoyed most of it. It's set in a fantasy world were human-animals are waging war against each other, and someone killed the goddless priests, who was the one person who could stop the apocalypse. Oops You play as the Harbinger, who has one day to figure out who killed her, but in a groundhog day loop.
For the most part, this game is excellent. You play as a cool, blue ghost-warrior lady, combat is excellent, and you spend each day with one of four companions, a bear berserker, a cat general, a rogue/bard mouse or the bird emperor to who each have a piece of the puzzle for the way to stop the apocalypse from happening.
Honestly, the only things I didn't like about this game were that falling in a hole kills you (I'm too used to Zelda and Warframe where you only take a bit of damage and pop back out) and the ending is... Complicated, we'll say. Though I shouldn't be surprised, since people who worked on this also worked on Planescape: Torrment. So I guess it's kind of expected. Still, the game is mostly excellent, and I do recommend it
Honestly, the only things I didn't like about this game were that falling in a hole kills you (I'm too used to Zelda and Warframe where you only take a bit of damage and pop back out) and the ending is... Complicated, we'll say. Though I shouldn't be surprised, since people who worked on this also worked on Planescape: Torrment. So I guess it's kind of expected. Still, the game is mostly excellent, and I do recommend it
Soul Cailbur 6(hp)
I don't like fighting games, like at all. But there are 2 exceptions to that rule; and the first is Soul Calibur 2. I loved that game so, so much I bought the other games. But GEEEEEEZ, was that a mistake!
Soul Calibur 3 had this unique conquest mode, but the combat was busted, it was too easy to get ringed out, and all the voice actors sound like complete amateurs, despite being the same voice cast from the last game and they were superb there! And 4, 5 and Broken Destiny on the PSP (yes, I bought that) were better(?) but not by much
Honestly, I have no idea if this one will be good either, but a lot of people thought it was good. I saw so many people showing off their cool characters, and how creative they could get was inspiring. Plus there are 2 single player modes, apparently, so I guess I can be foolish of more time and hope for something good from this game.
Soul Calibur 3 had this unique conquest mode, but the combat was busted, it was too easy to get ringed out, and all the voice actors sound like complete amateurs, despite being the same voice cast from the last game and they were superb there! And 4, 5 and Broken Destiny on the PSP (yes, I bought that) were better(?) but not by much
Honestly, I have no idea if this one will be good either, but a lot of people thought it was good. I saw so many people showing off their cool characters, and how creative they could get was inspiring. Plus there are 2 single player modes, apparently, so I guess I can be foolish of more time and hope for something good from this game.
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon
Now this is how you make a spiritual successor! While we wait for Ritual of the Night, we got this 8-bit styled game similar to the Castlevania games on the NES. The main difference being I could play this one!
This game takes the best elements from the old Castlevania games and improve them to make a truly great experience. Aside from the particularly obvious multiple characters and paths, this game has unique lanterns for the subweapons, so you won't accidentally screw yourself out of an item you need unless you aren't paying attention
Level design is incredibly good here, too. I never felt like I was unable to beat the game because I lost a character that I needed to progress. While secret paths need certain characters, the main path's obstacles can be overcome by any character. That does make it easier than the other games, but it also makes it better, in my opinion, since the difficulty is more customizable
And honestly, if you want to play those tough 8-bit games but are too afraid they'll kick your butt, this is a great game to get your feet wet in
The Messenger (hp)
Like Curse of the Moon is a spiritual succesor to the old Castlevania games, so is this to the Ninja Gaiden games for the NES. Which is cool, because I love Ninja Gaiden! Couldn't get half pasted any Castlevania, but made it to the final boss of Ninja Gaiden multiple times. Go figure
But this game is on this list less for the game itself and more so the developers, who kind of impressed me.
Here's the thing, the early copies of this game had a "did you assume my gender joke" which at best is tacky and at worst is genuinely anti-trans, which isn't cool at all. However, when someone pointed out the offensiveness of the joke, the dev team removed it. And that just seems crazy to me. You'd expect them to die on that hill and say "why can't you take a joke?" But instead they apologized and removed the offensive content. Good on them!
Now, I've heard there's still a Jordan Peterson reference in there somewhere, which is still cringe, but honestly I wanna give credit where credit is due. So good on you, Sabotage Studio, for not being Self-Sabotage Studio. I'm still a little wary, but I commend you for doing the right thing.
Here's the thing, the early copies of this game had a "did you assume my gender joke" which at best is tacky and at worst is genuinely anti-trans, which isn't cool at all. However, when someone pointed out the offensiveness of the joke, the dev team removed it. And that just seems crazy to me. You'd expect them to die on that hill and say "why can't you take a joke?" But instead they apologized and removed the offensive content. Good on them!
Now, I've heard there's still a Jordan Peterson reference in there somewhere, which is still cringe, but honestly I wanna give credit where credit is due. So good on you, Sabotage Studio, for not being Self-Sabotage Studio. I'm still a little wary, but I commend you for doing the right thing.
Blazblue: Cross Tag Battle (hp)
So remember when I said I've only ever really loved 2 fighting games (aside Smash cause it IS a fighting game)? Well, the other one is BlazBlue, and it came out with a really solid game this year. True, I've only played the demo, but it was a ton of fun from what I did play!
What really strikes me about this game is that it was made so that people new to fighting games could pick it up and play, so there are really only 2 main attack buttons, with the other two face buttons being partner buttons. And honestly, I think they nailed it. As someone who isn't good at fighters, it was so super easy to understand and play as the new characters.
I'm super excited to play the full game for this one. Plus, BlazBlue has a better track record for me than Soul Calibur, so I have good odds here.
Sonic Mania Plus
On the one hand, I'm not sure if I should include DLC in a "best games" roundup, but on the other hand, it turned Sonic Mania from one of my least favorite Sonic games into one that was actually fun... Well, sometimes.
The Encore mode was a great addition, giving you plenty of options to get through certain challenges that some characters were better at then others, while also not having full access to every character. It was kind of like a more restrictive Bloodstained party, and it was a ton of fun.
And turns out after years of hearing the Sonic community wanting Mighty back and me not getting why, turns out he's my favorite character! Yeah, he's a ton of fun! Plus I had a few world records with him back when it first came out. They're likely swept away by now, but it's nice that I had them, you know?
The Encore mode was a great addition, giving you plenty of options to get through certain challenges that some characters were better at then others, while also not having full access to every character. It was kind of like a more restrictive Bloodstained party, and it was a ton of fun.
And turns out after years of hearing the Sonic community wanting Mighty back and me not getting why, turns out he's my favorite character! Yeah, he's a ton of fun! Plus I had a few world records with him back when it first came out. They're likely swept away by now, but it's nice that I had them, you know?
Honestly, all this game needs is a playable girl character and the pre-order trailer music to be found somewhere in the game, and it'll be... Much better. Ok, I still can't get over some of the bad design in the game, but it's still better than before, so props on that!
Octopath Traveler (hp)
It's strange that Square can't understand how badly so many people just want straightforward, turn-based RPG combat. Action RPG stuff is great too, but more of this would be so very welcomed. The main sticking point I hear is the stories aren't that original, but I'm okay with that. The world is beautiful enough and indeed, so is combat! Especially the break system
My OCD brain that loves elements and loves to recognize patterns is so very, very thrilled with the break system; six weapons (sword, dagger, bow, axe, spear, and staff) and six magical elements (fire, ice, lightning, air, dark, light) each enemy is weak to something; keep pelting them with their weakness until they become super vulnerable. It's so great.
My OCD brain that loves elements and loves to recognize patterns is so very, very thrilled with the break system; six weapons (sword, dagger, bow, axe, spear, and staff) and six magical elements (fire, ice, lightning, air, dark, light) each enemy is weak to something; keep pelting them with their weakness until they become super vulnerable. It's so great.
AND. THE. MUSIC. MMMMMMM! I want a switch so bad, and this is gonna be one of the first games I get for it
... Right after Snipperclips. Priorities.
... Right after Snipperclips. Priorities.
The Missing: J.J. MacField
and the Island of Memories (hp)
and the Island of Memories (hp)
Last game I haven't played! Woot! So this little gem is about a girl looking for her friend on the island of memories, and the only way for her to find her is to be torn apart, quite literally. You tear yourself apart and use your body parts to solve puzzles, and even go down to just a head to fit into narrow corridors.
At first I was going to chalk this up as one of those games I'd find cool but wouldn't recommend to anyone after I played it, but then I learned it has a lot of positive LGBT+ themes in it, and I went to check what LGBT+ folx think of it (one group in particular, while trying not to spoil) and most of them found it rather positive!
So, yeah, positive queer characters in video games and metaphors as mechanics? Sounds right up my ally, and I am very grateful this game came out.
Deltarune
Dang it, Toby! What were you thinking, making this game free?! I had planned to spend Halloween night, my favorite night of the year, alone in my room crying, but instead you gave me this magical adventure that moved me to tears, but of the happy variety! How could you do this to me!
But in all seriousness, Deltarune is fantastic. What I thought was going to be an hour long demo turned into a few hours of a whimsical adventure that felt just like my first time through Undertale. While I don't think it's combat is as puzzle oriented as Undertale's, but otherwise it's a worthy follow up.
The story of Kris, Susie and Ralsei is full of laughter, danger, heart warming fun, twists, turns, tragedy and a promise for more of the Undertale world in the future. If you ask me, this was a K.rounding success
CrossCode
And at last, my last favorite game of the year, CrossCode. It's a game that fills me happiness each time I play it. From the wonderful controls, to the platforming, to the characters to the music, to the world design, I truly love everything I've see so far about this game
I haven't beaten it yet, unfortunately, and that's the main reason I'm not doing a top 10 list, since I wouldn't feel right about putting a game I haven't finished at the top of the list. But still, it's a great game, and one I throughly enjoy and am grateful to have.
And that's it! Thanks for spending this time with me. If you have any games you were grateful for this year, feel free to share them with me. I'd love to know! Thank you so much for reading, and until next time, take care 💜
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