So I talked about my favorites of the year, but I played a lot more than those games and I wanted to play more than that. Since I had already written about these said games, I figure a follow-up post was in order.

I JUST NEEDED MORE TIME!

Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of the Guy Who Did the Shit...I don't know.

Vibe I'm getting: Pretty confident this game would crack my Top 10. Nothing about it seems bad at all. JRPGs are just a “time and place” sort of thing of thing for me. I got this pretty much certain I wouldn't really get around to it until next year.

Witch Hunt:

Vibe I'm getting: Weird and rough. Almost certainly not a Top 10 contender, but a creepy, janky, and funny thing I'm glad I've played around with. Not enough to cement an opinion, though.

Forgotton Anne:

Vibe I'm getting: Hard to tell with this type of game and zero time put into it, but I love the look and am excited to actually put some time into it.

Hitman 2:

Vibe I'm getting: I've played some, but not nearly enough. I can tell it's good, though. Good game. That last one was too.

Guacamelee 2:

Vibe I'm getting: Really liked the first game, and heard this one was solid too. Wouldn't surprise me to see it be a Top 10 game in my book if the year wasn't so hectic.

Into the Breach:

Vibe I'm getting: It looks like something that would either hook me to the point of obsession, or the stress would push me so hard off it I'll never touch it after one sitting. I bought it after hearing so much praise, though, so we'll see.

Return of the Obra Dinn:

Vibe I'm getting: This game made me feel sick. Everything else I like about it.

Subnautica:

Vibe I'm getting: I like some good video game water. On the other hand, I haven't been feeling inventory and survival management as much this year. I'm pretty sure there will be a point where this comes off the bench and hooks me, though.

Bloodstained: Curse of the Boop Bop Biggity Boop.

Vibe I'm getting: I suck shit at classic Castlevania. But I like it, and I heard this game does that kind of thing pretty well.

YOU WEREN'T GOOD ENOUGH! DAMN IT!

Fighting Ex Layer:

The business model for this game is weird, and I'm not entirely sold on the whole Gougi mechanic to begin with. But I like the roster, and there's a looseness to this game that other 2D fighters don't really have. There's just not a lot of depth to the game, and it came out at a time when there were so many other fighters offering either more polish or more content that it got lost in the shuffle a bit.

But it's something fun and a little different in that genre. I do recommend it.

God of War:

I think what this game tries to do with Kratos as far as using fatherhood to develop him beyond the “ARGH! I HATE ZEUS!” psycho he has been is very ambitious, and I think the game mostly succeeds. I really like Kratos in this game, and that's saying something because I always thought he was lame as fuck as a character. As for the rest of the cast and their personal stories? I'm a little iffy on them.

Atreus' personality kind of bounces around, and most of the time he's a very generic kid. Which might work in some games, but I have a hard time believing this kid grew up with Kratos as a dad and didn't end up a little more complex and flawed beyond just his childish immaturity. If this a start of a new chapter of God of War games, I want more out of Atreus than what this first part gave us (for what it's worth, I do think the writers are setting more up with him for future games).

And where the game leaves Faye off at? It's really dumb. Again her personality just swerves, and Kratos-who goes into brutal “no-bullshit” mode-to nip the Baldur thing in the bud suddenly swings back into “bullshit for everybody” mode for her. They make her dumb. They make him dumb. It's dumb.

The rest of the ending was real nice, though.

Meanwhile, the new combat is much more engaging to me than the previous take the franchise had on its action, but I still didn't really like it. Once enemies got better at getting behind you, or the game just decides to spawn them there, I found it all pretty damn tedious and couldn't wait for it to be over.

I think this is a good starting point for something new here with this series. I like the structure, I like the tone, and I think there's room to develop the action further. Great moments, but the overall package just didn't land with me like it did for other people.

Pops Pops 4:

This is a strong Call of Duty multiplayer experience, and their take on battle royales is very well done. I think what keeps this off my Top 10 is just the burnout I feel from battle royale stuff in general. Last year was all about PUBG for me and my friends, and I have not had a real urge to get into a new one.

But Cops Swaps 4 is a damn fine game if you just want some team deathmatch or something.

The Messenger:

Hey, if you're gonna turn your game into a Metroidvania halfway through, don't make getting around such a pain in the ass!

The visual work and overall feel is great. But the levels are designed for a pace that does not fit what The Messenger turns itself into.

Dead Cells:

I might have played too much of this during Early Access. Loved it, and when it finally got “released”, I tried to hop back in again with mixed results. The game feels and looks great, but I feel like the grind was more apparent in a way that new weapons wouldn't really help me with.

I think I just need more time off from it to come back fresh. Still, I do think the progression is a little more grueling than it needs to be. While it might appeal to some people, Dead Cells is not the type of game I need to last forever and its structure adds a lot of god damn padding to a playthrough.

Celeste:

Damn, do I wish I liked Celeste more. A relatable story of having to co-exist with your issues rather than “defeat” them, fantastic music, all contained in some challenging but satisfying platforming.

I know it's good. But it also taps into that part of my brain that NEEDS every fucking berry in every chapter, and repeating challenges when I can't find that stuff is exhausting. So I fell off. I'm not proud of it, and I hope I'll get the urge to go back to it soon.

Monster Hunter Jurassic World:

I was pretty sure I wouldn't like this game from everything I saw and heard, but damn if I wasn't gonna try.

I don't completely hate it, and I actually kind of enjoy watching people who understand MH and its systems take on some of the tougher hunts. The game is just not for me, really. And I'm almost afraid to suggest any changes for fear that the series would lose something vital to what makes it work for so many others.

Alright, now that I got all that 2018 out of my system. Let's move on.