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Robert Jiang’s Top 10 Games of 2018

（To the 2 decade I spent learning English as my second language, the one I spent learning Japanese as my third and the more to come.）

2018, my year of S words: Switch, Steam, Sequels, Side Scrollers, sadness, Swery and so on. Unfortunately, not as much “strategy” as I expected. So sorry about that, Valkyria Chronicles 4, BattleTech and Banner Saga 3.

Though many see this year as Switch’s sophomore slumber, I did find more games with manageable length on Nintendo’s hybrid gaming system. Since my current life is incompatible with gaming on console, so no “instant classics” like God of War(2018) and Red Dead Redemption 2 here. Due to my “Once a PC gamer, always a PC gamer.” mentality, the rest of items can be found on Steam (And fuck the the so-called “master race”. For both the shit it provokes and the baseless elitist bullshit it really is.). The first one here is something I "accidentally" pulled most time into...

Notes: 1. The list was originally put up on Nov, 8th, 2018. Heavily edited twice afterwards. First time on Nov, 17th, second on Dec, 1st.

2.Ranked by the amount of S words I can pin to those games, and some adjustment according personal taste.

List items

  • 7 S words: Stealth. Steam. Sequel (to Ginabomb’s Game of Year 2016. Also a game I didn’t play until this year.). Sha Shou (杀手, the most commonly used Chinese translation for “Hitman”, by which I mean the video game series, the dangerous, not to mention illegal occupation and people who live on such trade.) Silent (as in "Silent Assassin"). Satire.

    Ever since I read everything Ian Fleming wrote about the British Secret Service agent he had created, I had wanted a James Bond game that is not COD style first person shooter with some stealth portion. No offense to Actvision and their developers’ effort for the last decade, an immersive sim without RPG element would be nice. I had wanted a Metal Gear Solid game with more NPC that are not just enemy combatants in it too. And not making shooting everyone a viable option would be preferable. (Professional spies, assassins and soldiers should not be portrayed as perpetrators of massive shootings all after. ). IO Interactive’s reboot of their bread-and-butter assassination game delivered on both fronts. Besides, when AAA 3rd action adventure games(Or “video game ass video games”) are concerned, it had been a long time since I felt the excitement like when listening to Hitman 2’s “the story so far” at the very beginning. The Mission Stories allowed to kill all targets without firing one bullet. That alone made playing through both campaigns of 2016 reboot and this game the best gaming experience I had in the year of 2018. Later, in pursuit of Silent Assassin on all maps and clearing challenges, I pulled almost 50 hours into this game according to the Steam clock. Most time spent plus the enjoyment it brought me make it my Game of the Year 2018. (Played on Windows PC through Steam)

  • 5 S words: Side Scroller. Switch. Sadness. Swery

    Beloved by Giantbomb’s Alex Navarro, Waypoint’s Patrick Klepek, gaming Australians both inside and outside IGN’s Sydney office plus many more, Swery is a quite a creator. How am I glad to finally played one of his creation in this year. Missing is certainly less ambitious compared to the likes of Deadly Promotion or D4, but it’s all the better for it. This cinematic puzzle platformer is a wonderful emotion roller coaster with some jinks that prevent it from taking the top spot on this list(Well, not as “gamey” is another factor). I personally found the ending quite satisfying. So if you can stomach the contents the game warns you about, you should play it. (Played on Nintendo Switch, in Japanese)

  • 4 S words: Side Scroller. Switch. Sadness

    Came out around a pretty low point of my life, this hard platformer is the therapy I needed to cope with my frustration. Along with the Switch port of Night in the Woods, my itch for video game was scratched while I tried to get over some real shit in life. (Played on Nintendo Switch.)

  • 4 S words: Side Scroller (sort of). Switch. Sadness (sort of)

    Video games have a long history in depicting friendship, but the Gardens Between is the first one that reminds me of friendship I lost and miss. While the puzzles are not as well-designed as last year’s Gorogoa, that reminder alone makes this game stick with me. (Played on Nintendo Switch)

  • 4 S words: Side Scroller. Steam. Sequel

    Back in 2013, I bought a Xbox 360 controller to play Guacamelee! Gold Edition on PC. Now, Guacamelee! 2 came out a week after I “upgraded” to an Xbox One controller. Funny how things work...Al’right jokes aside, this is a game that would offer a surprise just when I thought I was feed up with it. Ah, the chickens in this game, those decedents from dinosaurs can really fuck someone up rather than being preyed on here. They also offer players opportunities to release their rage after some infuriating gantlets of platforming challenges. (Played on Windows PC through Steam.)

  • 3 S words: Switch. Short. Sweet

    I like top down action games. I like gimmicks when they work for me. I just love it when a game does not overstate its welcome. This top down action game’s 1-minute time limit gimmick certainly works for me and it did not take up much of my time. Plus how the playable character just lie on their bed after defeating the final boss is serious contender for Best Moment Award. I mean video games usually do not acknowledge the fact that the whole thing is fatiguing. At least not as often as they should. This year, the developers of both Minit and Icnoclasts paid attention to that aspect. (Played on Nintendo Switch.)

  • 3 S words: Side Scroller. Steam

    With arguably better level design than last year’s Metroid Samus Returns, this game opened strong for its Metrovania peers this year. Plus, I love how the playable character just jumped onto her bed after defeating the final boss. (Played on Windows PC through Steam. Double dipped on Switch)

  • 3 S words: Steam. Short. Sweet

    Who would imagine “the hole game” could be one of the best written comedy around. Annapurna Interactive’s third “feature presentation” (As in no more than 4 hours long one sitting games) on PC has hearts, wits and all. (Played on Windows PC through Steam.)

  • 2 S words: Strategy. Steam.

    Lots of games are fun, some of them sticks with those who played them and even fewer of those invade a player’s dream or thoughts. The turn based Mechs vs. Monsters battles of Into the Breach managed all 3 above, at least for me. Even as a noob who played it on the lowest difficulty, I could see the grids even if I closed my eyes during the early March days when I was playing it.(Played on Windows PC through Steam. Double dipped on Switch)

    P.S. Shout out to editor in chief of Waypoint, Dr. Austin Walker here, thanks for the recommendation, sir.

  • 2 S words: Switch. Sequel.

    While never reach the heights of the first installment of the Fall trilogy, it is nice to see some loose ends wrapped up and a finale teased by the end of this science fiction adventure game. Besides, there are worse ways to pass time than figuring out some puzzles, on China’s slowest day in office that happen to be within 24 hours before Lunar New Year vacation . (Played on Nintendo Switch.)
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