Wilsown's Top 10 (And 1) Games of 2018

After I started pretty slow on playing games released this year, this list is now coming in hot with a heap of really solid games and some unexpected VR. A few notes: The “And 1” spot is for a game that either might not have otherwise made the list due to a technicality (an expansion, remaster, early access etc.) or just something I think is flawed or rough but wanted to write about anyway. However, since I just copied and pasted that sentence from 2017's list, I should mention that this 2018's "And 1" has a different reason than those mentioned, which you can read (or not, more likely) to find out about. I also included novelty awards at the beginning for all the other games I played this year but didn’t rank in case you were thinking “did you play ________?”. And of course, these lists are fun, dumb, and arbitrary so I’m sure mine will change over time as I check out the games I missed and re-evaluate things [Yep past me, you're right; even if it didn't change drastically]. Can’t wait to again have too many good games to play in 2019 [Right again, past me].

[Edited 6/15/19 adding nine novelty awards (from Mutant Year Zero down) and slotting in Return of the Obra Dinn at the "And 1" spot, replacing Vampyr. Also wrote in some more pithy quips denoted by brackets and slightly changed the order of the list swapping #9 with #8 and #7 with #6.]

Novelty Awards

2018’s Old Games of the Year: Tacoma, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, Yakuza 0, Gravity Rush 2, Subsurface Circular, Dishonored: Death of the Outsider, Doki Doki Literature Club!, Hollow Knight, Yakuza Kiwami (lotta 2017 in here, huh?), Zombi, Trials Fusion, Valkyria Chronicles Remastered, Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin, DMC: Devil May Cry, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate, Persona 3 Portable, and a replay of Mass Effect 3 with the Leviathan and Citadel DLCs

Best Austin laugh: A Way Out

Most upsetting horse injury: Shadow of the Colossus (2018)

The annual (since now) Best Late Title Card Award™: Yoku’s Island Express

Best (only?) PS+ game: Onrush

The “They better finish this season in 2019 because if not then how am I supposed to rank it??”... award: Life is Strange Season 2, Episode 1 [As of 6/15/19 it's planned to be finished by December 2019]

Best game I should have played more of: Into the Breach

Best use of a toilet flush: Minit

Best racing through Edinburgh since PGR2: Forza Horizon 4

Most incredulous Quick Look: Deltarune??

Best high-five: Moss

The “Hey, do you like Life is Strange puzzles?” award: The Gardens Between

Most enjoyable time spent save-scumming: Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden

The “First phone game I ever bought” award: Florence

Best Game of the Year list recommendation: Cytus II

Most spirited single-player offering: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Best phone emotes (yes, better than Donut County): The Missing: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories

Most album cover-looking art style: Gris

Nerdiest rap battle: Quarantine Circular

Most clumsy bartending job: Me playing The Red Strings Club with Switch controls (imagine Surgeon Simulator, but pouring drinks)

Best Dr. Acula simulator: Vampyr

And 1. Return of the Obra Dinn

I put off playing this game for a long time, I guess wanting to be in just the right mindset to work through what I figured would be a difficult mystery. I generally have no patience for puzzle games, and I was for sure afraid that I would get stuck early and end up frustrated with both the game and myself. Initially though, I weaved a very enjoyable path through all of the memories, solving what fates that I could as I go. Then, like a club to the head, I ran out of scenes to see, had about 15 fates solved, and had no idea what to do next. Well s**t.

And herein lies why I’m placing this game here. I cheated, I really did. I loved the style and the freshness to this experience, but after I got through what I could I used varying levels of help from slight hints to outright solutions. After the initial guilt passed though, I was totally fine with it. Return of the Obra Dinn made me want to see the rest of the events, qualifications aside, and I was glad to have gotten over myself in order to try something new and interesting. If this sounds in any way familiar to you and you are hesitant to play it, don’t be. It’s well worth it.

Single biggest hint for me: Always check to see how far away from the scene you can walk on the ship, you often find other important events way off in the distance

10. Donut County

Not since the fishy game on browsers has consuming smaller things to grow larger been this enjoyable. This game’s just a delight. A really good example of a super-focused scope that is sanded down and refined into a tight experience. That soundtrack is so excellent, and getting to hear that end of level music became a reward in itself. There’s a lot of fun writing too, especially in the trashpedia, but also in BK’s continual denial in trying to justify his antics. Even for how short it is I thought it got a little repetitive, but I was quickly won back over with some aspect or another of the game’s great presentation.

Favorite donut (not anything in the game, I’m just thinking about donuts now): Boston kreme

9. Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom

In probably one of my most unanticipated picks, a sequel to a game I never played measures up pretty nicely. For what it’s worth, this year I also got into Studio Ghibli for the first time so that might’ve had something to do with it. That art style does well for itself here between the character and monster designs and in how fluidly it animates during combat.

More than style though, what I think is most compelling about this game is its interesting mix of systems that somehow feel pretty compatible. You’ve got one part action-RPG, one part city-builder with idle game principles, and even a RTS mini-game that's unexpectedly good. The mobile/idle game elements in building out your kingdom worked for me because it didn’t significantly hamper your progress outside of a few story quests. On the flip side, the benefits you could get were really nice to have and between that and the satisfying act of recruiting citizens I enjoyed developing Evermore the most out of the game’s many hats.

The main plot to me didn’t even need to have the typical world-ending conflict that it eventually developed into, but it did at least lead to some big final battles. What generally appealed to me more in the story was a less lofty (heh) goal of trying to build a society from scratch, establishing an identity and a mission, and dealing politically with the other existing kingdoms. The game didn’t always hit on these aspects as much as I would’ve wanted, but given that it came all the way from completely off my radar to here I’d say it was a considerable success.

Actual best videogame proposal (Suck it, Marston): Evan’s fake proposal

8. Valkyria Chronicles 4

I only just played the original Valkyria Chronicles this year and loved it. And yet, I was ready to dive back into its brand of strategy and… anime. First off, the strategy is still fantastic. I was a little worried that it might feel too similar after playing the demo, but as I played more of the full game I appreciated the small, but effective changes that were made (at least, compared to the first one). Being able to more easily move multiple units via leader units or the APC ended up being huge, and the Grenadier class is engaging both to use and to fight against. Also helping a ton was the mission design. I can hardly overstate how much it helped having a lot of memorable battles that allowed me to develop my own little storylines throughout them.

The other biggest improvement (again, compared to only playing the original) were the Squad Stories. Instead of mostly having to infer a lot about the secondary squadmates, the squad stories provided a lot more to work with to appreciate these characters. They may not all be the deepest bunch, but they’re paired really well in each of the stories in ways that, honestly, worked more often than the main story did. I like a lot of the main cast too, but a certain cool-scarf-wearing dope was sometimes bad enough to drag everyone else down with him. The storybook style was and still is kind of cool, but ultimately, I spent a lot of time waiting on the main campaign to pick up and I’m mostly just left with the age-old “it has its moments”.

Still though, this is a really nice follow-up to one of my favorite old games I played this year and I didn’t even have to wait ten years in between. There’s still a great deal of enjoyable strategy [especially once I checked out the post-game content] and having it on Switch made it the game I've played the most on the console this year.

Most unexpected Commando reference: Squadmate Jean Matrix, who quotes the lines and everything

7. Astro Bot Rescue Mission

No amount of hyperbolic praise distracted me from having a great time with this. Being new to VR, I was glad to get that feeling that I’ve heard about so much where I could just try some motion and have it work in the game. Like when the soccer ball-kicking enemy floats one your way, and I recall my mediocre skills from high school and head the ball back at him, only for the game to recognize this and knock him out.

Details like that and all of the fun controller gadgets made this one of the most refreshing spins on a known genre. On that note, the only acceptable way of throwing the shuriken is making a motion like you are making it rain and I will not hear otherwise. This game leads to a lot of silly fun in that way, particularly in the awesome last world. And so in a way, the hype wasn’t all that exaggerated. Astro Bot does actually feel like I am playing an old classic platformer in terms of wondering what more could be possible with this potential.

Worst (in other words, best) punnily-named level: Under Tales (best theme music too)

6. Tetris Effect

Whether it’s through story, mechanics, presentation, etc., at a basic level I want to feel things when I’m playing games. So imagine my shock when the experience that had some of the most intense feelings was **checks notes** Tetris? From an excellent E3 trailer to it’s release, this game was actually the tipping point for me to finally get into VR. The promise of its eponymous effect delivered, because when I haven’t been playing it I’ve been thinking about wanting to play more of it a lot.

It’s tetris, so there’s not anything I can really say about how it plays except the new zone mode is neat in a way that I can only describe as a “galaxy brain effect” once you start getting past eight or so lines. Still, there are some other things that were new to me like insanely fast tetris or that upside-down tetris in the random effect mode that were equally mind-boggling. Besides just a fun way to procrastinate when writing this list, there’s also something to be said for having a cool version of tetris and a great showcase for both VR and a good A/V setup.

Most “This Is the Run” moment: Finally beating the last level (only on normal!) after about two hours of attempts. [I've since beaten it on hard, I'll have you know **wags finger**.]

5. Red Dead Redemption II

When it came down to it, I felt the best way to describe how I feel about Red Dead this year was through the framing of its Western inspiration. But instead of using something like, say, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly that’d be super lame to rip-off of, let’s call this The Beautiful, the Bad, and the Good of Red Dead Redemption II (it’s completely different!).

The Beautiful

• Do I even have to say it? The world is gorgeous and varied, and for at least the beginning few dozen hours I would take joy in roaming around on my horse discovering new sections of the map. This was one of the few games where I could occasionally be comfortable riding around without any particular destination, maybe taking a stop to hunt or set up camp or check in on the home base.
• The soundtrack, especially when enhancing the big moments like “May I?” and the house building montage.

The Bad

• While you could put together a really nice highlight reel of moments from this game, that’d leave you with how many hours of merely good enough stuff? This game is long to a fault, and while there aren’t many true stinkers along the way there also are a lot of beats where I questioned if it was entirely necessary that this be included. This is capped off by an excessive epilogue that, honestly, has some good stuff but generally put me off by not having enough to really add to what was already a compelling ending (it may be a small detail, but I think the credits should have rolled after Chapter 6).
• Mission design. You’re probably already aware of the formula of horseback conversations followed by shootouts already so I’ll just say that I wish you could have turned down more missions. Especially where it felt like Arthur was already conflicted about doing them in the first place, I thought it was a nice choice to be able to have for the character. Without any context, it sounds ridiculous that I would want to say no to playing the damn game, but even with a game that I liked that’s where I sometimes found myself.
• The controls. Let’s just leave it at that.

The Good

• Arthur. In fact, he’s so good that it really hurts to have to go back to John in the epilogue. Moseying around just saying “Hey there, mister!” to many a passerby just wasn't the same.
• Most of the story’s tone as it gets later in the game but before the epilogue. This part overcomes the prequel problem somewhat by having a narrative that still made me feel dread at an increasingly hopeless situation even when I was generally expecting it.
• Camp. Having a consistent place to return to and refresh between missions á la The Normandy is a rare comfort when done right, but once again I think the game does suffer by mostly losing this in exchange for the farm in the epilogue.

Anyway, that was a lot. But Red Dead Redemption II is, if nothing else, a lot so what perhaps will make this game so fascinating is the range in which people can land in their opinions of it, depending on how they experience all that it can offer.

Favorite facial hair style: The Spartan, speaking of which….

4. God of War (2018)

I swear I didn’t order them this way just for that. This game’s super good, even if I haven’t played a God of War game before. The game certainly seems like its own thing anyway and I at least knew enough about the series to realize that digging up the blades of chaos was significant. They were a nice touch, but I was surprised to discover that I was good with using the axe almost all of the time anyway. There was such a well-balanced variety of attacks to cycle through without being overwhelming that getting into a real flow with the axe was widely entertaining.

The world in God of War is also a real looker and I know it can feel a little gimmicky but I enjoyed the single-shot camera direction. Though certainly not without huge, huge moments, I liked that it would do a lot of its work on a small scale between Kratos and Atreus. And the addition of Mimir ends up being the one of best excuses for a plot exposition device, as he regales you with his mythological tales and immortal gossip. Like fellow Sony-exclusive Horizon Zero Dawn, I’m also glad that even though this is likely the start of a new set of games they tell a complete story without leaving too much hanging. Even though I didn’t dig into much post-game content, I would definitely want to see another narrative adventure with this framework.

Brok or Sindri?: Brok lobster all day

3. Dead Cells

At its best, Dead Cells is the smoothest damn game out there. Getting on a roll with the right control scheme (I switched roll and action) and a good weapon loadout could make you feel like a rolling ball of butcher knives. I haven’t gotten into a rougelike this much since Rogue Legacy, and Dead Cells I would say controls at least ten times better. The spacing in between levels also made it the perfect short-time game to knock out a level here and there, especially because (take a drink!) it’s on Switch. Thankfully, I haven’t run into any of the technical issues mentioned about the Switch version either.

I’ve only even reached the final boss once and got worked, but this is definitely a game where this is little and less of a concern. The fun has been in trying out new combos and builds on the way to what’s been inevitable defeat. But maybe one day, it won't be so inevitable. We’ll see [Edit 7/29/19: Loaded my last save from ages ago and beat it!].

Favorite combo: Infantry bow and LITERALLY ANYTHING ELSE

2. Marvel’s Spider-Man

Turns out we did get that sequel to Sunset Overdrive from Insomniac but now with a familiar license and some superb web-swinging. And I looooove Sunset Overdrive people, so a lot of the same reasoning can apply here. Like free-skating my way through Sunset City (because that game to me is the modern-day Tony Hawk sequel), I often had no problem taking the time to swing across Spider-Man’s New York to get to each mission and likely get distracted along the way. I had also gotten pretty skilled at moving, shooting, and keeping the weapons varied in Sunset and so that became the same urge in Spider-Man to web swing, gadget, and combo my way through enemy encounters, to madcap delight.

It also turns out that you can definitely improve on the story of Sunset Overdrive by making things a little more honest to go with the heavy dose of snark. I largely agree and will echo from Waypoint’s [hah, I guess I should say Vice Games now] review that the Peter Parker of this game works as someone who wants to do well but faces a lot of difficulties along the way and has a bit of self-doubt. Meanwhile, the game repeatedly shows that those around him like Aunt May, Mary Jane, and Miles, can do their own brand of good for others with their own set of skills. Overall, I really appreciated the story as its own kind of power fantasy not just in the traditional sense but as a vision of people trying their darndest (and often struggling!) to do what they think is right.

Anway, instead of comparing it to Sunset Overdrive again, I’ll just say that those (myself included) hoping that this game would make them feel the same way they did playing the Spider-Man 2 game in 2004 should have their expectations knocked out of the park, almost like they were kicked into…. um, what’s the word? Overstrike, that’s it (remember Overstrike?).

Number of times Sunset Overdrive is mentioned in this entry: Too many

1. Celeste

Who would’ve thought the first 2018 game I played this year would stand the test of all of these others? It turns out terrific movement has been a common feature of my top games this year, and Celeste stands at the forefront of them all. Not in anything else on this list has there been such a gratifying feeling of progressing through an environment, complete with an at times calming and others rousing soundtrack essentially cheering you on.

This game is also one of the best examples of levels introducing and then continually riffing on a new mechanic that adds another dimension to the flow. And the chase sequences are such a nice way of having boss battles in a platformer that feels natural. It also includes just one of my favorite videogame tropes where the late game adds a near game-breaking ability with the double dash that opens up the movement to whole new heights (heh).

Finally, there’s not much for me to add about the story except that I’m glad it’s in there. For a genre where the reasoning behind the climbing and advancing is often an afterthought, it’s nice to see it here directly tied to a character’s own internal conflicts in a way that’s sincere and empathetic. For real though, the feather sequence is great and that it's represented mechanically in the game is even more so. In writing this, I just replayed both that sequence and the summit, as if there was some doubt that maybe they weren’t how I remembered them (nope sorry, still great). Instead, Celeste shows me now as it did in January that there is something powerful in working through that doubt, and that we are all better for trying, failing, and trying again.

Number of strawberries: Enough for this game to be super sweet

Thanks for reading.