This year I was focused on other things besides gaming so I didn’t actually play that many new games. I thought this game year wouldn’t have that many amazing games I would enjoy but I was pleasantly surprised.
God of War
This was the biggest surprise for me this year since I could never imagine a God of War game being this amazing. I only played the first God of War game on the PS2 many years ago and while I thought it had a polished combat system, I had no desire to play any more games in the franchise. You bet I will be playing any future installments of this game now though.
God of War is a game that knows exactly what it wants to be and has everything from the story, side quests, and combat fit perfectly together to create a masterpiece of art. I honestly can’t think of much that I didn’t like about this game which says something since even my favorite games I can say has many flaws that I can remember.
My favorite part of God of War is how they built the relationship between Atreus and Kratos using storytelling and gameplay. I love exploring the world of God of War just to hear the interactions between Artreus and Kratos. There would be so many times I would just stop my journey just so I could hear Kratos finish telling a story to his son.
Monster Hunter World
I will be frank the only reason Monster Hunter World made it into my personal top 5 is that I got to play this game with my closest friends. My friends have always loved this series and after playing Monster Hunter I could see why my friends are so addicted to this game. Working together with my friends to take down large monsters was very fun. It just isn’t a game I will find myself jumping back into any time soon.
This is not a bad game but a lot of the game I felt was unnecessarily complex. Which is saying a lot about the franchise since all my friends say that this is the most accessible Monster Hunter game out there. What can I say, so many times I felt frustrated. I am glad they did make this game much more approachable to newcomers like me though so I could play this game with my friends.
The memories I created with my friends who love this game was one of my best online experiences I ever had which is saying a lot. I played many online games but I rarely have as many online sessions with my friends as much as I did with Monster Hunter. When the next major Monster Hunter game comes out I can see myself getting it just to play with my friends for a while.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
I did not expect Super Smash Bros. Ultimate to come out this year or that every single character would return. If you would have told me before it was officially announced that even Snake would return I would have said that you were wrong. Yet it did happen and the results are the most content filled Super Smash Bros. game ever released.
Smash is the same fun party and competitive game it has always been. Playing with my friends who are levels ahead of me is still fun even though they beat me constantly. I love the variety of characters I can play like Luigi who I have been playing since the very first Smash game and ones I haven’t played in forever like Snake.
I honestly thought nothing could top the surprise I had for this game when I found out all the characters would be returning. That was until the Video Game Awards this year and Joker made the biggest surprise ever. I bought the Fighters Pass that very night because I love Persona 5 that much. Now I will much more likely believe rumors of any character joining the Smash roster.
Moss
My favorite virtual reality game so far is Moss even though I haven’t played that many. So far virtual reality has really impressed me with all the amazing games that have been released despite the hardships facing the market. I have hopes with patients that this market will only see improvements.
What I love about Moss is that it is still a fun game. Many virtual reality experiences just try to explore what is possible with the technology. In Moss, I wanted to experience as much as this world had to offer because I wanted to see what would happen to the adorable Quill. Even though I was the one guiding Quill I was so immersed that I truly felt like we were a team.
I will be breaking out my PSVR for more virtual reality games in the future just so I can experience them first hand. While it is quite bothersome to set up a great virtual reality game is worth the effort.
Spider-Man
I felt like a crime-fighting superhero in Spider-Man. This game fulfills the fantasy of playing as Spider-Man so well that I never wanted to fast travel but instead, just web swing my way across New York City because it just felt like the cartoons and movies I watched growing up.
What Spider-Man gets so right is how much fun it is to play as Spider-Man. Fighting criminals just feels so right and rewarding. Connecting different types of attacks into long combos just makes me feel like such a badass. I love switching between shooting my webs and punching the bad guys.
Since I have been so busy I actually haven’t even beaten Spider-Man yet. I am taking my time to play this game since I enjoy it so much. Even though I haven’t beaten it I know this is one of my favorite games of 2018.
Other Notable Mentions
Celeste
Celeste is a special game that emotionally hit me. I am not the biggest fan of platformers and the difficulty of this game didn’t help change my mind but it didn’t matter since everything else about this game was just so special. This game should be played by every gamer even if they aren’t into platformers.
PC Building Simulator
The only reason this game is getting an honorable mention by me even though it is just in early access is that I actually built PC’s this year for my job. Knowing everything I know about building PC’s now made me smile about how much they did get right about this simulation.
Pokemon: Let’s Go, Eevee!
This game would have been one of my favorites this year if it wasn’t for the motion controls. I absolutely loved everything else about this game but the core concept on how to catch Pokemon. It is unfortunate since everything else felt like my childhood memories of playing Pokemon. Also, Eevee was just so darn cute.
Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight
The music in Persona 5 was one of the favorite things and the remixes in this game did not disappoint. I am not a music rhythm game kind of person but it didn’t matter since I just put it on easy and enjoyed my favorite characters dancing and talking with each other again while listening to awesome music.
Octopath Traveler
I loved JRPG’s growing up and when I saw the trailer for this game I knew I had to try it out. The music, art, combat, and story of this game are so on point it is a little unfortunate that the game has so much grind that ruined the pacing of the game for me. Still, Octopath Traveler got so much of what I loved about JRPG’s right.