by themathlete
2017 was a fantastic year for video games. Probably one of the best years for me personally, in terms of gaming.
2018 is not 2017. I didn't play nearly as many great games this year as I did last year; but there were some great experiences to be had. I didn't get around to playing a lot of games that would probably have made this list if I had played them this year, but I guess that means I'll just have to play them next year.
So here's to my favorite games that I did play this year and to the games that I'll play next year (no matter when they did or will come out).
Showing 1-10 of 10 items
Monster Hunter World is fantastic. It's easily the best Monster Hunter game that I have ever played, and that's not hyperbole. I'm a big fan of the 3DS games (although I never got into Generations), but this game brings Monster Hunter's gameplay and design to the current standards of today and beyond. The Monster Hunter gameplay is refined to near perfection. The music is fantastic and gets me even more invested in each battle. The monsters are gigantic and pretty scary at times - I loved fighting each and every one. Multiplayer (when I could get it to work) makes battles even more thrilling and fun. I could go on and on. There are very few things that I can gripe about with this game. This game easily makes it to the top of my list for 2018.
Dragon Quest XI is the best JRPG that I played this year and may be one of the best that I have played in the last few years. I really really liked Dragon Quest XI. The gameplay is really interesting and a lot of fun; it looks beautiful and the monster designs are fantastic. I really liked the story and the characters, as well. Sylvando is probably my favorite character of the year. DQ XI was almost my #1 game but it kind of dragged in the middle. Other than that this was a great experience - one that I could easily recommend to anyone.
Pokemon Yellow is one of my favorite games of all time. Let's Go is that game brought to the current generation with modern gameplay and graphics. I still love collecting Pokemon. I still love battling Pokemon. I think I still love Pokemon (even if the last Pokemon game I really liked was X). I really liked Let's Go and thanks to it, I'm really looking forward to next year's game.
Night in the Woods came to Switch this year and I loved it. The story and characters were really well realized and compelling. I loved the dialogue between the characters and every character had a lot of... character. Mae, Gregg and Bea are all well realized, authentic characters - and I loved each and every one of them. I also loved walking around town and talking with everyone I see. I didn't really like the way it ended, but that's a minor nitpick on this fantastic game. I really really liked Night in the Woods.
They took out the trophies. Trophies were my favorite thing about Smash Bros. 4/10. While that's only partially a joke, I still really like playing Smash Bros. Adventure mode and classic mode are both quite a bit of fun, but it's the couch multiplayer that I really come to this game for. Hanging out with a few friends playing some Smash is probably my best experience of the year, and Ultimate brings that to the Switch. What more could I ask for.
I had a pretty good time with Octopath Traveler. I really like the look of the game. The 16 bit sprites really pop over top of the 3D backgrounds and lighting effects. It's a really good look. I also liked the gameplay quite a bit. Attacking opponents weaknesses as well as storing moves using the Boost system to do the most amount of damage was really satisfying. The story itself was pretty interesting character to character, even if they didn't connect together. The voice acting is really good too. I put quite a few hours into this game and even though I still have yet to finish it, I really enjoyed my time with it. I highly recommend playing this game.
Dragon Quest Builders came to the Switch this year and I had quite a bit of fun with it. The Minecraft-style building is really satisfying and probably one of the best implementation of that gameplay since Minecraft itself. The game looks great as well. I had a lot of fun with this game.
I haven't played too many Kirby games in my life. Kirby Super Star and Epic Yarn are the only ones I have put much time into. By default this is probably one of my favorite Kirby games. I had quite a bit of fun with this game. The Kirby gameplay is simple but satisfying; the game looks great and has a nice art style; and I really liked the buddy system. Kirby: Star Allies is a great game that I had a great time with in 2018.
Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido was a real surprise for me this year. It's a game I didn't plan on getting this year, but with a deal at my local game store I decided to give this game a chance. I'm glad that I did. I had a great time with Sushi Striker. The gameplay is super cool and satisfying; I really like the style of the game (as well as the funny anime cutscenes); and I think the game looks pretty cool. Sushi Striker reminded me of 3rd party DS/3DS games that I would see on those systems like Professor Layton or Ace Attorney. That's definitely not a bad thing, and I hope to see more games like this one on the Switch.
Valkyria Chronicles 4 is a late entry on this list that I haven't put a whole lot of time into yet (about 10 hours so far) but I wanted to give it some props here. I really like the gameplay of this game. The strategy elements of coordinating your units and navigating them through the battlefield effectively is really satisfying (if a little cumbersome sometimes). I really like the painterly anime style of this game, as well. I think this game looks great on the Switch. I'm having a good time with this game and will continue to into 2019.