by winsol
I'm only doing a top 8 this year since i only played 11 new games this year. I spend a lot of time playing stuff that came out last year Like Yakuza 0, Planescape: Torment and Nier, and trust me, I'd have had those high on the list if not for that fact. Here's the other stuff i played this year that didn't make the list.
Iconoclasts: it's fine, cool looking but didn't grab me.
Battle for Azeroth: Easily the worst expansion yet, with the exception of Warlords of Dreanor, and might still prove to be worse than it. The story is awful, truly terrible. Characters do stupid things to make the plot work at all. They make out of character decisions to make it work. Characters are under powered in order to make the story work. People go along with nonsense thinking in order to make the story work, and once again, you need to read out of game story's to make any sense of characters motivations. All this JUST to make the Horde the villains once again. The gameplay is not much better. The game feels slower with the the GCD changes. The dungeons are for the most part boring, with more trash being added in order to make them longer and not have a repeat of the Maw of Souls incident. As such they feel really 'grindy' and most key stones make you roll your eyes. Azerite armour is a massive bust, the traits you pick aren't fun and don't really add to gameplay most of the time. farming AP isn't fun as you aren't slowly gaining power as you did with Artifacts. The only good thing about the expansion is the raid, it's really well thought out and all the boss's are fun to do. The new raid looks really sick as well, but i'm not sticking around to log on just for the raids like I've been doing this expansion.
Monster Hunter World: This was a lot of fun to play, only got it just before Spider-man so never got a chance to play it much more beyond the first few fights, but i enjoyed my time with it, would pick it up and play more of it if i can get it for a good price.
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Boy, this was a ride. Having not really enjoyed the series before (and i still think Kratos doesn't deserve redemption, and i'm glad the game doesn't seem to be trying to give it to him) It shocked me just how much I not only enjoyed the change in combat of this game, but how much I liked the story. It was so well written in how it weaved mythology into it's own story. The game had some issues with female representation (or the lack there of) but overall it was a surprisingly touching story about trying to be better even when you aren't worthy of it. Not to mention that the scene where you return to your home for the first time was one of my favourite scenes from anything all year. Add to that the challenging Valkyrie fights and the enjoyable stories shared by (spoiler) and this game really was something to behold, and my own personal Game of the Year.
I love card games. I've been playing Magic for the last 3 years now and it's really been fun to brew and play decks. During that time I've been looking for a good single player game that i can play and Slay the Spire not only gave me that, but exceeded my expectations wildly. The whole package is so smartly put together, offering different play-styles through the three characters, but keeping them interesting through out. The first time i beat the game i legitimately let out a roar of joy. It's been amazing to see how much better i am at the game now just from playing it. At the start i would struggle to reach even the second boss, now i'm pretty much getting to it every time.
One of my favourite games on the original Playstation was Spider-man. It was goofy and silly and insanely hard at times but I still loved it. This game reminds me of playing that game but updated for 2018. The story is solid and surprisingly relatable for a superhero story. The action is not quite as solid as the combat in the Arkham games but it's still very enjoyable. The main thing about this game is the web swinging and just how tactile it feels. You get a sense of movement and control that few games have replicated. Like any good superhero game, this makes you actually feel like titular hero. I even joyed a few of the Mary Jane stealth sections (not many, they were the worst part on the whole).
It's been over 8 years since the fantastic first game and this helped actually make the first one better in retrospect. Arthur Morgan's story is a heartbreaking tale that left a lasting impression on me. The music is stunning and evocative in it's own right. The game is only really held back by some odd decisions with the gameplay that are clumsy and make playing a chore at times. Overall though it is a solid game with a well crafted story that has both joyous highs and painful lows. The Epilogue is shite though.
Into the Breach is pretty much a chess game with the end of the world being the plot. It's possible to spend 20 minutes looking at the board, trying to work out the solution to the puzzle of surviving one more turn. It's very smartly put together and a fitting successor to the Excellent FTL. It's a stressful exercise in playing the game, but it's worth it in the end.
An incredible engaging and solid tactics game. The Battletech universe is a really open setting that has elements of betrayal and great heroes built into it. This game helped capture that and wrapped it up in an incredibly solid game that you could spent hours in just playing the mercenary side missions.
A solid rogue like/metroidvania game. I sort of hit a block with the game and stopped progressing like i should have, but a very enjoyable experience that i'd like to really get sucked into at one point.
What a delightful little game this is. It's not long and as such the price might put people off, but I very much enjoyed it from start to finish. so much so i got all the achievements for it as i wanted to play more of it. BK is such a good character in the ways he tries to get out of his responsibility in the towns destruction. Good stuff that everyone can enjoy.