by aleen634
While the world had its share of difficulties in 2018, the video game releases this year on the other hand were mostly excellent. The first part of the year started slowly enough with only a few titles taking the spotlight but the 2nd half of the year was absolutely packed with great releases. Several series finally got proper sequels including Red Dead, Hitman, Valkyria Chronicles and Super Smash Brothers. Games like Monster Hunter World finally allowed a series to show its true potential to the general audience. Overall, this was a banner year for game releases with lots of hit series returning with (mostly) good sequels.
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In terms of scope and scale, nothing beats Red Dead Redemption 2 this year. The story of a cowboy at the end of the era of outlaws, Red Dead does its best to simulate the highlights of living the country life in the frontier. Mixed with a colorful cast of fellow bandits and outlaws, the game deftly deals with telling its own story while also setting up elements referenced in the first game. Highlights include a showdown at a southern plantation, while the game stumbles in a few places such as an overly long epilogue sequence. However, when the game fires on all cylinders, none of the other games this year top those moments.
Hitman 2 continues the murder sandbox that I loved so much in the first game. Small improvements to the game help make the world feel more alive from blending into crowds to more interactions with npcs. Highlights include more intricate story interactions and a briefcase that finally allows easier transport of restricted items. As a bonus, stages from the first game can be imported (with the new game's features added) and played in one long campaign.
Time and time again, there's a part of me that wants to go back and play an old style jrpg like the old 16-bit era Super Nintendo games of my youth. Square Enix (after trying Bravely Default on the 3DS) finally returns with a console-ish game and boy does it delivery. Octopath Traveler feels and plays almost exactly like a game from that era. From old school turn based combat to environments and sprites that look straight out of a Super Nintendo. Add on top a soundtrack that matches the quality of early Final Fantasy games and this game is a must play for any old school jrpg fan. If the game stumbles in one area, its that the characters don't crossover as much as I'd like and not every story grabs my attention equally. Yet, Octopath Traveler is still something that fills the void for an era that modern jrpgs have long left behind.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate declares: Everybody is here! In terms of scope, Smash Bros. certainly holds my attention more than the WiiU iteration. With a focus on the more classic modes, a new adventure mode and of course, every previous Smash Bros. character included (and most of the previous stages as well), Smash Ultimate really does fell like the most well rounded package the series has seen in a long time. Combined with the largest soundtrack spanning multiple series and remixes, Smash has lots of reasons to keep playing whether to unlock characters, progress the adventure mode or enjoy tributes to multiple game franchises.
God of War does something that I didn't think was possible for the series: it recasts Kratos and makes him a more interesting character. Set in a Norse legends inspired world, Kratos being out of place helps the story and contributes to one of my top moments of the year when his past in the past games is briefly revisited. My only major problem with the game is most of the combat is handled with only a few enemy types (with varying elements applied to them) and only a few distinct bosses for such a globe trotting adventure.
Assassin's Creed heads to Ancient Greece. Improving on the formula of last year's Assassin's Creed Origins, the game actually adds a lot of light rpg systems that make it feel more like the early Mass Effect games. Some choices matter and in some cases have huge repercussions late in the story. Coupled with 3 interesting main plots including cults, family and mythical beasts, only Assassin's Creed Odyssey manages to weave them all together in way that makes sense (for Assassin's Creed). If I have one gripe with the game, is it suffers from too much bloat with icons still thrown all over the map to show how much content there is to do and complete.
Detroit: Become Human is a flawed game but one that I couldn't stop playing when I started it. While not every theme and plotline works, there was just enough that kept me hooked and wanting to know the next story beat. The police story is the one that kept me the most interested with the oddly mismatched pair of Connor the android and his gruff partner Hank Anderson. Their interactions and investigations presented in a police procedural kept me hooked and looking forward to the next sequence featuring them.
Monster Hunter World finally allowed me to understand the core loop that is a Monster Hunter game. Capcom really stepped up to help new players understand the core Monster Hunter gameplay loop. On top of that, the world feels alive with a monster hierarchy system for the different areas and the majority of the large monsters feeling unique.
Since the release of the first Valkyria Chronicles back on the PlayStation 3, I have been hoping for a proper console sequel for years. 10 years later Valkyria Chronicles 4 tells the story from the frontline of the main front of the war. The core gameplay of mixed infantry/tank tactics remains intact and the soundtrack is still good.
An old school Castlevania style adventure for fans of the series. Taking a lot of cues from Castlevania 3, Bloodstained Curse of the Moon is a nice throwback game.