Jordan Hass' Top 10 Games of 2018 List

Jordan Hass is a comedy writer, sometimes actor and host, and can be found most likely at your local 7-eleven enjoying a big gulp and big bite hot dog. He's @ jordha on twitter, and can also be found mostly online at JordanHass.com

Wow, I can't believe it, we did it everybody, we survived another year, unless of course you are (NAME TWO DEAD CELEBRITIES FROM THIS YEAR - Editor). Anyway, like every year, we have had some ups and downs. Some good and bad, really rough things like hurricanes and wildfires, and somehow survived enough to say "well, i might as well write about video games to a few people"

I should preface this by saying, I didn't really play much this year. I think this year, I really had to take a step back, if you were logging my hours on PS4, you would see I played "Netflix" more than any of these titles.

Does that make me a bad person? Well sorry, you haven't seen Ultimate Beastmaster.

Some games, like Red Dead Redemption 2, I didn't really enjoy that much, even though I understand it's audience who would enjoy it. I also didn't feel like picking God of War or Monster Hunter, because I didn't play them, and don't want to lie to the public.

10. Fortnite for Switch

Fortnite Battle Royale has become a culturally significant game in popular culture, from it's ability to make people floss in real life, to it's simple way of making battle royale games fun. The game barely came out last year, but the Switch version did come out this year, as a free-to-play. And I think I spent so many hours on that version than any other version. I really love the idea of taking fortnite with me to a starbucks and getting victory royales while sipping on frappes. (EDITOR'S NOTE: He has yet to get a victory royale)

9. Burnout Paradise Remastered

Hey! Hey! You! You! Burnout Paradise is still good. Yes, it is considered "Game of the Generation" by many, but to me, a rerelease of a game typically ends up being bad, but I still have so much fun smunching my cars into walls that it's just a sign i am a bad driver, and also the graphics of this beautiful game hold up. Gone are the ads for Burger King, but if you love to donut and drift, I think no other racing game can beat Burnout Paradise. Now can someone tell me how to disable the playstation camera so nobody online can see me nude when they deliver a takedown?

8. Detective Pikachu

Don't watch the anime until you've read the Manga.

Detective Pikachu is coming soon in theaters, looking like a modern day Howard the Duck, but yet, amazing. And Detective Pikachu for Nintendo 3DS was a great mystery game. I will be honest, I remember playing this game, but I forgot most of the plot points other than the pikachu talked and that was really cool.

The mini games to gather clues was a great touch, and I hope we see more from this spin-off of the Pokemon Franchise. This is the better Pokemon game this year, sorry to my let's go eevee/pikachu fam.

7. Kirby Star Allies

Koybee! He is shaped like a friend and is a socialist icon. In Kirby Star Allies you can play with friends though fun kirby levels, or by yourself if you are lonely and sad like me. Kirby Star Allies reminds me so much of the great SNES Kirby games of before, but with a modern Nintendo Switch twist in it's ability to be portable. All aboard the Friend Train as you run over bad guys, or send them hearts and be your friend.

Which is a nice way of saying, we are all deserving of love, let's show that love!

6. Warioware Gold

Wario Ware has always been near and dear to my heart. It was the game I played when graduating middle school and feeling very lost. Wario Ware was a game that taught me it was okay to be weird. Gold gives me the best of the touch, twisted and original wario ware, and repackages the game that's nostalgia for long-time fans of the franchise, but a fantastic introduction for those wanting to get into the franchise as well.

From picking noses to drawing circles, it's a ridiculous game, but a real fun time.

5. Tetris Effect

This game might be what an acid trip feels like. I have never been on acid, but I have played this game. It's tetris, you've played tetris, but it also provides this sensory environment that, as strange as it is to say, you 'feel' the game. Yes you are dropping L shapes and I shapes to make lines, but the rhythm and the soundtrack makes the experience more like Rez than it does your fond memories of Tetris. It really is the best Tetris game, and it is something worth experiencing.

4 Super Mario Party

Mario Party is a great franchise and I will beat anybody at Mario Party, you give me a time and a place, and pay for travel expenses!

Super Mario Party is a near perfect Mario Party, while I did not care much for each character having different dice (because that means eventually some mathmatics expert can tell you who the best character to play on per map is)

The shining star on this edition is the Mini-Game collection, to me, the map and the star grabbing is bullshit. That's RNG, the real fun comes from the mini-games, and the fact you can do online games with friends with just the mini-games is refreshing.

Yes, i understand the need for board. But it's a great first start.

I just like the motion controls, sizzling a cube steak, shaking candy from a jar, fun times.

3. Jackbox Party Pack 5

Every year I put Jackbox Party Pack on. While last year, I disliked the party pack for being a little TOO much addicted to twitch streamers and conventions, Jackbox Party Pack 5 did dial it back a bit, and met somewhere in the middle to make possibly one of the best packs out there.

Here is the ranking from best-to-worst in jackbox party pack 5

3a: You Don't Know Jack: Full Stream

As a long time fan of You Don't Know Jack from it's days of Nate Shapiro and Guy Towers as hosts, to "The Netshow" to it's reboot. Jack has always had the spot close to my heart. In this version, it's back to basics, as Cookie is the host, and the storyline is about Binjpipe taking control of the show (and you) as you play the game show where high culture and pop culture collide! The best part is Gibberish Question returning, and a nice subtle remark about the dangers of omnious tech corporations!

3b: Mad Verse City

If you have the right people, this is the best improv game in the pack, because all you have to do is rhyme, but if you can do a diss track, it's also great. From the soundtrack, to the way they sync to the rap, it's a very interesting game. The worst is if you can't rhyme, because you picked "Anvil" as your word, and have to say "Advil" as your rhyme, because you had 43 seconds left to think of a rhyme.

3c: Patently Stupid

This is the game to show your friends in improv class. Get your friends to come up with problems (suggestions from crowd) then draw your idea, title and slogan and present it. It's a great warm-up for improv if you are going into it with characters in mind, but also, just a fun game altogether incorporating drawing with talking your way into winning.

3d: Split The Room

Some people will say THIS is the game that is the best of the pack, however, if the name of the game is "Split the Room", you'll either need to make sure you have enough people to fill all 8 slots AND the audience, or have a nice odd amount (5/7) to incorporate "The Super Split" which is what the game should be about (The cat also munches the room, and that's very cute!)

3e: Zeeple Dome

As always, one game must be the "experimental" game of the pack, and that was ZeepleDome, a game that has no trivia, no drawing, no comedy, it's part angry birds and part color coordination. Get your ball to hit an enemy of the same color and blow up and win money. That's it. I find it good to play while waiting for friends to stop by at a party.

2. Marvel's Spider-Man

This is my favorite Spider-man game. This might be my favorite SUPERHERO game. This is a game with a living, breathing new york, with so many side-missions, and a story involving Mary Jane, Aunt May, and later on Miles Morales. I haven't had this much fun in a video game in quite a long time. Unlocking costumes is a neat touch as each suit also has a power, and the quips, while eventually repeats, doesn't take away from the fight system.

The best part about this game is the JJJ radio show, as it is no different than modern day pundit radio. And the only frustrating thing is completing all the Taskmaster Missions in Gold (that's the only thing left I need to get platinum!)

1. Hitman 2

Hitman 2 is more of the stuff you liked in Hitman. The locations are different, the targets are different, but the core gameplay remains the same, the ability to throw bootleg doctor pepper cans at randos is still important, distracting people with coins is still around, and it's just a magnificent game. To me, it's a great game if you ever need to waste maybe an hour playing something. That's enough for one mission, and then you're off having a good time. The elusive targets are back, and the DLC pack featuring maps from Hitman 1 make this a great extended edition to a great game.

I'll see you in 2019, the last of this bad decade, as I try and become a brand ambassador or social media influencer or some other hokey garbage name that just translates to "corporate sell-out"

UPDATE: 12/23/2018:

SUPER SMASH BROTHERS SHOULD BE ON THIS LIST, BUT I LOCKED IN MY LIST EARLY

I am not good at fighting games, I am pretty bad actually, but I decided to buy it, and I completed the adventure mode and really love the spirits and their win conditions, adding to a challenge. My favorite character is kirby, I also like jigglypuff, jigglypuff is cute. However, I can't really put this on the list, as I have foolishly locked-it-in before the game came out. I don't know what game would replace it, as Fortnite is still a ton of fun, Maybe Detective Pikachu? Maybe Burnout Remastered? I do not know.

But I should probably buy the DLC,

I should also probably buy the DLC for Pinball FX 3

I should also probably buy the DLC for Planet Coaster (Chief Beef FTW)

I should also probably buy the Spider-Man DLC.

In fact, I am missing on so much DLC.

Also, I should probably buy that Star Wars Episode 1 Podracer game now that it's on Steam.

I am missing on a bunch of things, but I just blew through a few hundred dollars in presents, and just got a gaming PC in advance!