My 2017 Post
My 2018 Post - Part 1 (#01 - #35)
My 2018 Post - Part 2 (#36 - #57)
Completed in 2018:
1. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
Platform: PC (Steam) | Time played: 20 hours | Beaten in January
I was really impressed with the story, character development and the overall direction of the game. The New Colossus felt like a major improvement in a lot of ways. Sadly it also made a few steps back in regards to The New Order, which in my opinion felt a little bit more cohesive and stronger.
2. Doki Doki Literature Club
Platform: PC (Steam) | Time played: 5 hours | Beaten in January
This is one of the weirdest and most disturbing games I've played in years. But in the good way. It really does a good job with presenting a game as something completely different at first sight and then throw all of it to do a massive shift in an unexpected direction. It was so clever, unique and creepy at a same time.
3. Finding Paradise
Platform: PC (Steam) | Time played: 6 hours | Beaten in January
I've played through all prievious entries in 2017 (To The Moon, Sigmund Corporation Minisodes and A Bird Story). Really enjoyed this world, the stories told in each of installments and obviously, the characters. Finding Paradise is a very fun and memorable experience in it's own unique way. The story of a new patient was equally interesting and touching.
4. Call of Duty: World at War
Platform: PC (Steam) | Time played: 5 hours | Beaten in January
With the recent return of CoD to World War II, I thought it would be a good opportunity to see how it holds up after 10 years of its launch. Treyarch really tried to follow Modern Warfare formula and translate it into the WWII setting. The final effect is, no pun intended, hit and miss - WaW feels very uneven. Sometimes it has moments of sheer brilliance, but it also has moments that feels dull and uninspiring. US campaign had a lot of cool ideas (unconventional enemies, flamethrower as a weapon, mission on a plane) but it is suprisingly mediocre. Soviet campaign on the other hand was something else entirely. The scope, atmosphere, that amazing final mission in Reichstag and a fantastic performance of Gary Oldman as Reznov. Shame that the US campaign is not even half that good.
5. flOw
Platform: PS4 | Time played: 1,5 hours | Beaten in January
There is not too much to say. flOw is very short (I finished it twice in a row in about a hour and a half). It's basically a reinvented version of Snake - simple, stylish and very relaxing at the same time.
6. Life is Strange: Before the Storm
Platform: PC (Steam) | Time played: 12 hours | 3 episodes | Beaten in January
I originally thought that this prequel was completely unnecessary. New developers, new voice-actress for Chloe, same setting - everything just screamed that it may be a cash grab. I'm glad to say that I was wrong. Deck Nine did an outstanding job with Before the Storm. They clearly wanted to create something special and they delivered. I really enjoyed how they fleshed out Chloe as a character, made her more relatable and the way they showed her relationship with Rachel. It is truely memorable game that lives up to original Life is Strange in every way.
7. Mortal Kombat XL
Platform: PS4 | Time played: 12 hours | Beaten in January
It was okay, I guess. There is a lot of improvement over MK9, but NetherRealm also went a few steps back at a same time. While I liked most of new gameplay additions (like different fighting styles, interactive environments, variety of Towers, new Krypt etc), but I was never a fan of games using "a next generation of heroes" trope. But to be honest, most of new characters were actually cool addition to the roster. Story mode was dissapointing, though. It felt much more weaker than campaign from MK9. What looked like a good effort, ultimately ended up as a dissapointment. Campaign is also very short, finished it in about 4-5 hours.
8. Corpo Tale
Platform: PC (Steam) | Time played: 4 hours | Beaten in January
I wouldn't be suprised if you never heard about this game before. There is a good reason, it's only available in my native language (Polish). Corpo Tale looks like just another jRPG created in RPGMaker. But it's not. The game is set in modern times... within a Polish company. The story is about an regular QA guy and his not so regular Monday. Really enjoyed this specific type of dark humor that you'll only understand if you worked in corporation, especially in Poland. It wasn't a long experience, but as a fellow "corpo-guy", I had a blast with this wacky tale.
9. Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor
Platform: PS4 | Time played: 20 hours | Beaten in January | Platinum Trophy
When Shadow of War was announced last year, I was so hyped that I bought Shadow of Mordor GOTY to be up to date with the story. Then the lootbox controversy happened and any hype I had was completely gone. Never bought Shadow of War. Ended up with a copy of a first game, so I decided to give it a try. Shadow of Mordor feels just like another modern collectathon open world game, but it is an enjoyable experience. Monolith avoided usual trope with content that never felt too bloated. The main star of this game is the Nemesis System. It's unique and interesting, weirdly enough never really explored beyond Middle-Earth series. I liked the gameplay, variety of side-activities and taking the odds against more powerful captains or warchiefs to the point I even unlocked the Platinum trophy. Everything gets too easy in the second half. Story was dissapointing, a final mission was so weak and uninspired. It's sad to say that "weak" and "uninspired" is also a common trope for both of the DLCs.
10. Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor - Lord of the Hunt (DLC)
Platform: PS4 | Time played: 3 hours | Beaten in January
There is one word that can describe this - dissapointment. It was supposed to continue Tallion's story, but DLC is basically rehash of the main game with some minor improvements. Lord of the Hunt doesn't include any major story missions with cutscenes, everything is purely gameplay related. There are two types of missions - first are with Torvin where he introduce player to new features and the second type is usual killing warchiefs. I liked the whole concept of replacing Warchiefs for Beastmasters, where every leader has some backstory tied to the local beasts in Mordor. That said, Lord of the Hunt had much more potential that was wasted by the developers.
11. Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor - The Bright Lord (DLC)
Platform: PS4 | Time played: 3 hours | Beaten in January
Oh man... Talk about wasted opportunity. When I saw that a second DLC is about Celebrimbor, I thought it will be used as a way to expand his story that was briefly shown in flashbacks. This is NOT a case. The Bright Lord is.... well, exactly the same as Lord of the Hunt. But with spiked difficulty, less responsive character movement and slightly reskinned Udun. There are only two cutscenes. Both were taken directly from the base game. The rest is usual hunt for Warchiefs. Final fight is a little improvement over Shadow of Mordor, but still...
12. Secret Files: Sam Peters
Platform: PC (Steam) | Time played: 1,5 hours | Beaten in February
I don't know why this was released as a standalone game. Looks like the developers had an idea for a spin-off about a character from Secret Files 2, but were completely clueless about a direction they wanted to take. Sam Peters doesn't really feel like a proper Secret Files game, more like a missing levels that stayed on the cutting room floor during development of Puritas Cordis. Puzzles were quite cool (there is something nostalgic about abstract puzzles that requires taking a ladder to your backpack), but production values were clearly at lowest point. It didn't helped that a titular protagonist is not even half as likeable as Nina from a main series.
13. Secret Files 3
Platform: PC (Steam) | Time played: 5 hours | Beaten in February
This game was sitting in my backlog for years, so I decided that maybe it's a good time to finally finish Nina Kalenkov's story. Secret Files: Tunguska is one of my favourite games in the genre, beside classics like Monkey Island, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Runaway: A Road Adventure or The Longest Journey. Puritas Cordis wasn't that good, but as a sequel it was a quite enjoyable experience. Secret Files 3 is... Well, just ok. I liked the mystery, but a lot of twists felt very rushed and unnecessary. Loved the outtakes in after credits scene. Sadly, the game is not a worthy conclusion to the trilogy. What is worth, it's not as bad as Sam Peters spin-off.
14. Battlefield Hardline
Platform: PS4 | Time played: 8 hours | Beaten in February
I've heard a lot of bad stuff about this, but it actually has a very solid campaign. Visceral had a lot of cool ideas for Hardline. Loved the episodic structure, bigger focus on stealth, gameplay and level variety and the whole premise. Hardline really feels like a proper singleplayer campaign, not a stealth tutorial for multiplayer like Motive's Battlefront II. Unfortunately, I had some issues. They actually came not from the gameplay or the story, but from unmemorable characters and awful dialogues. Liked the second half of the campaign, though. Overall, Hardline seems like a genuinely good effort. It's a shame that EA decided to sent the studio on the chopping block.
15. Pokémon Platinum
Platform: 3DS | Time played: 43 hours | Beaten in February
Platinum is the third, so called "definitive" version of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. I was very impressed with 4th generation, liked it more than Ruby/Sapphire. What is really interesting that 4th gen introduced a lot of gameplay mechanics that stayed in this series up to the most recent games. Enjoyed the journey, gym leaders, encounters and exploring Sinnoh itself. Story was okay, but nothing special. Platinum is not my favourite Pokémon game (that would be X&Y), but as a whole it was very fun entry in the series.
16. Grim Fandango Remastered
Platform: PS4 | Time played: 10 hours | Beaten in February
I've always been a big fan of LucasArts classic adventure games, but weirdly enough never got opportunity to play Grim Fandango. I've finally corrected that, heh, deadly mistake. Grim Fandango is quite unique with it's one of a kind setting and amazing style that combines Mexican folklore, Art Deco and Aztecs beliefs of the underworld. LucasArts created a brilliant game with well-rounded, memorable characters and a really good story with writing that is simply fantastic. The unique artstyle still holds up to this date. What is suprising, the gameplay feels very different from prievious LucasArts games. It's not hard to get used to, though. Needless to say, beside a few really annoying puzzles I had a blast with Manny's four-year journey in the Eighth Underworld.
17. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
Platform: PS4 | Time played: 8 hours | Beaten in February
Well, that was suprising. I've heard some positive things about Infinite Warfare, but never expected to play the best Call of Duty campaign up to date. Infinite Warfare really shines with it's worldbuilding, missions and characters. There's even a few cool side-missions that feels very substantial to the main plot and quite a lot variety in gameplay. I really recommend trying this. Infinite Warfare may have the most generic title even for Call of Duty standards, but the campaign is really good.
18. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered
Platform: PS4 | Time played: 7 hours | Beaten in February
Considering how much I liked Infinite Warfare, I decided to play the other critically acclaimed Call of Duty campaign. That game happened to be part of the same package. What really pissed me off just at the start was a prompt that required inserting Infinite Warfare disc. I don't know who at Activision decided about limiting MWR to IW copies, but this requirement is one of the dumbest things I've seen in a while. Let's talk about the game itself. Modern Warfare Remastered is closer to current day standards than ever. Campaign looks prettier, sharper and still retains the same feeling of importance on the shape of the FPS genre. Raven Software done a fine job with remastering the cult classic and stayed faithful to the source material. It's a solid game that had interesting story, characters and highly memorable missions. It was a nice feeling to revisit this after a decade.
19. Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires' Conspiracy
Platform: 3DS | Time played: 21 hours | Beaten in February
Layton's Mystery Journey is a soft reboot of Professor Layton series with a new protagonist, a little bit different structure, but with a familiar gameplay. I only played Professor Layton prequel trilogy so far, but I enjoyed visiting places like Misthallery, Monte Dor or a trip around the world in Azran Legacy. This time the story is set almost entirely in London. I really appreciate Level-5 efforts to reduce backtracking, which was one of the biggest issues I had with prievious entries. Not everything is fine and dandy, though. It's obvious that LMJ was designed for younger audience in mind. Puzzles are very easy. I must admit that some of the cases were really creative, like the one with missing pet. Katrielle is an interesting character, but she lacks her father's charisma and presensce. She's not stealing the show like the Professor tend to do in his games. That said, I really liked new trio of characters and their dynamic, especially constant squabbles between Kat and Sherl.
20. Life is Strange: Before the Storm - Farewell (DLC)
Platform: PC (Steam) | Time played: 1 hour | Beaten in March
Life is Strange: Before the Storm was a delightful surprise, Deck Nine crafted an amazing game that is worthy additon to Life is Strange franchise. Farewell is a fourth, bonus episode that provides a nice closure for Max and Chloe. It's a goodbye that wasn't present in the original Life is Strange finale. If you think about it, it's quite fitting. Doing a proper send-off to this characters in a form of a story that essentially was a beginning of Chloe's downfall. Entire game was quite a ride.
21. Golf Story
Platform: Switch | Time played: 20 hours | Beaten in March
It's such a brilliant game. Golf Story is something I never expected could actually work, but here we are. Sidebar Games created a very compelling RPG that has it's own distinctive style. Story picked my interest from the beginning, I genuinely wanted to experience this journey of a Rookie to a Pro. I loved the cast of characters. Devs done a good job with showing growing bond of friendship and rivalry that progressed during the main story. Gameplay is just amazing. There is a quite variety of side-quests to do, some of them are very creative. I've played some golf games in the past, but I never had so much fun like with this game. If you own Switch, Golf Story is a must have.
22. Shadow of the Colossus
Platform: PS4 | Time played: 6 hours | Beaten in March
I remember playing this on PlayStation 2, but I didn't got to the end. Can't remember why. Probably stomped on one of the Colossi, got bored and found something else to play. I wouldn't be suprised if that was the case, because I was terrible at finishing games. Recent remake is a good opportunity to finally correct that mistake. What I loved about Shadow of the Colossus is it's minimalism. There is no bloated dungeons, fights with mobs, busywork related to complete activities in order to progress. Everything is self-explained. Wander has a set of tools and skills that you can use, there is 16 Colossi that you need to defeat. That's really all and it's just perfect this way. Bluepoint done an outstanding job with restoring this game. They've done it in a way that it looks more modern, but is still very faithful and respectful to the original.
23. Assassin's Creed
Platform: PC (Steam) | Time played: 17 hours | Beaten in March
I wanted to revisit few games in Assassin's Creed series before I'll finally dive into Origins. What game is the best if not the one that started it all? It's good, old Assassin's Creed with all of it's pros, cons and some extra issues I didn't expected. AC1 has a native support for X360 controller, but it didn't show prompts related to a controller, which is confusing and really annoying. Buttons didn't matched the original layout, so I was forced to spent some time on fixing an issue that shouldn't be present in a first place... Anyway, Director's Cut added new mission types that were supposed to add more variety on gathering intel about a target. It didn't made a significant difference, this is still very boring and repetitive process that dragged the pace. Sequences with assassinations were a highlight and that still haven't changed. AC1 is a good game, but has a lot of issues. Luckily, the next games improved upon these flaws.
24. Call of Duty: Ghosts
Platform: PC (Steam) | Time played: 5 hours | Beaten in March
I've played a few Call of Duty's this year and out of these games, Ghosts has the weakest campaign. The only thing I liked was level design. Ghosts has a lot of cool set pieces like post-apocalyptic LA, skyscrapers in Caracas, underwater and space levels, etc. It didn't saved the game, though. Campaign itself is really boring. Characters are uninteresting and unmemorable, even a dog could be more developed. Riley appeared only during a few missions. Main villain was dissapointing, just like titular elite group of Ghosts. Story had a lot of stupid twists, final cliffhanger was just ridiculous. Ghosts had a lot of potential, but it is a wasted opportunity.
25. Batman: The Enemy Within
Platform: PC (Steam) | Time played: 9 hours | 5 episodes | Beaten in March | 100% Completion
When I've played a first season of Batman: The Telltale Series, I was very dissapointed with most of "Telltale-ified" incarnations of Batman characters (beside Bruce, Catwoman and Joker). This time they've done much better job with a cast of characters and villains. It's one of the most compelling stories about Batman and Joker we had in years. Entire arc of John Doe and his relationship with both Batman and Bruce Wayne was fantastic. Telltale's Joker has this weirdness and menacing that perfectly encapsulates The Clown Prince of Crime. What I can say without a doubt, The Enemy Within is among the best seasons Telltale Games ever produced. I hope they will continue this series in the future.
26. Emily is Away
Platform: PC (Steam) | Time played: 30 minutes | Beaten in April
It's a really short game. But surprisingly deep, with a very unique way of storytelling. Emily is Away is based around idea of chatting with titular Emily, your friend from high school on instant message communicator we all used in early 2000s. I have so many fond memories of chatting with friends on a similar communicator, in my country it was knowned as Gadu-Gadu. I made choices that ended up in a surprisingly similar experience I got in real life. Seriously... That said, it's one of the best free games on Steam. If you got an hour, just try it. You won't be dissapointed.
27. Emily is Away Too
Platform: PC (Steam) | Time played: 4 hours | Beaten in April
When I finished playing Emily is Away, I immediately bought the sequel. Emily is Away Too is a new story, this time with two different characters. They really done a good job with capturing both Emily and Evelyn personalities, talks with them felt very real. This time I got a good ending. I really liked a lot of new additions to gameplay like visiting fake Facebook profiles, downloading attachments sent by Milly or Evelyn, listening to YouTube clips, etc. It is a really good spiritual successor with a lot of branching in a narrative. I finished it two times on both paths.
28. Assassin's Creed II | The Ezio Collection
Platform: PS4 | Time played: 27 hours | Beaten in April | Platinum Trophy
Assassin's Creed II is one of the best entries in this franchise. The journey of Ezio from a cocky teenager to a seasoned assassin was one of my favorite Assassin's Creed stories, well beside the story of Edward Kenway in AC IV: Black Flag. AC II improved almost every flaw of the original Assassin's Creed and went in a much better, more focused direction. It was a massive leap from the first game. I've played the game with both DLCs. They're nothing special, but I liked how well they were integrated into a base game. I also unlocked a Platinum trophy. Damn you, renaissance feathers...
29. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood | The Ezio Collection
Platform: PS4 | Time played: 21 hours | Beaten in April
Brotherhood is a nice extension of Assassin's Creed II. Sadly, story isn't that impactful as a previous game. I liked the direction they took in a present storyline. I also loved how Ezio's story picks up literally minutes after the events of AC2. There is a lot of improvement in the formula, but it's not a same leap as we had from AC1 to AC2. Rome is a fantastic place for a setting, though. A one that I wouldn't mind to explore again, but in more earlier times - during rise of Julius Caesar empire.
Copernicus Conspiracy (DLC)
That was dissapointing. Nicolaus Copernicus (or Mikołaj Kopernik) is one of the most famous Poles, so I was intrigued to play missions that were related to his character. Sadly, Copernicus Conspiracy missions are limited and boring. It's basically series of fetch quests where you need to deliver some letters or assassinate targets. That's really all.
The Da Vinci Disappearance (DLC)
It's much better than Copernicus Conspiracy. Heck, it's even better than both AC2 DLCs. The Da Vinci Disappearance had more production values and it's clearly visible. This is an additional adventure that has a lot of fun scenarios, lot of interaction with favorite characters and really good set pieces. Especially loved mission set in Lucretia's mansion and inside the final tomb.
30. Assassin's Creed: Revelations | The Ezio Collection
Platform: PS4 | Time played: 14 hours | Beaten in June
It's funny. When I've played Revelations all those years ago, I thought it was weaker than Brotherhood. Well, after replaying entire Ezio trilogy back to back I actually may reconsider what I said in the past. Revelations definitely has some weaker parts (especially Desmond's Journey and annyoing tower defence segments), but it also had more interesting story, characters and more memorable missions. What also suprised me, Revelations seems to be more tighter and focused experience. I really liked assassins missions and new tomb missions, especially how well they were integrated into a main storyline. It's a shame that Revelations is much shorter than Brotherhood. Ending was amazing, though.
31. God of War III Remastered
Platform: PS4 | Time played: 8 hours | Beaten in June
I can't fathom why Sony decided to remaster only this one on PS4. God of War III is sadly the weakest game in the entire trilogy. Santa Monica Studio got the scope right, but the game itself feels very lacking, especially in terms of story. They clearly wasted the opportunity that was presented after that cliffhanger at the end of God of War II. It could be done much better than it was. Nevertheless, replaying this game was a good way to remind how angry and full of rage Kratos was in his prime days. I really liked the stuff that was unlocked after beating the campaign, especially the lengthy documentary about God of War III development from it's early beginnings to a game launch. So... I'm finally ready to play the next one. Hopefully I will be dazed and amazed like most of the folks here on Era.
32. Pokémon Go
Platform: Mobile (Android) | Time played: Ongoing
I completely missed the hype when Pokémon Go was originally released. Catched up thanks to my friends who were constantly bugging me to play it. Recently I've went through some major life changes and started being more active, walking included, so I've decided to take a look at this game during my daily walks. It was a good decision, I really liked it. It's a unique experience based on a fantastic idea.
33. The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit
Platform: PC (Steam) | Time played: 2 hours | Beaten in June
I've said multiple times that I really liked Life is Strange series. Before the Storm was an amazing extension of the first game. Captain Spirit is a smaller adventure in a similar tone to a Farewell DLC. It's basicaly a short story about a young, lonely kid that also touched some very deep and emotional topics that are not that common in video games. Overall, Captain Spirit is a good game. Can't wait for Life is Strange 2.
34. Layers of Fear
Platform: PC (Steam) | Time played: 3 hours | Beaten in June
If I could be honest, I expected something better. It wasn't that bad, though. Layers of Fear is a walking sim that also happens to be a psychological horror. I've had a few jump scares here and there. Devs had a lot of cool ideas for this game. I liked how environments were constantly changing and how trippy the game got in a later chapters. There were few puzzles that really got me, especially the one with a code based on an animal. Solution to this puzzle was very creative.
35. God of War
Platform: PS4 | Time played: 30 hours | Beaten in July
Damn... I've heard so many praises about God of War, but I didn't belived that it's that good. Crazy thing is, it's true. God of War is really that good. Santa Monica Studio reinvigorated the franchise in a new direction without sacrificing it's familiarity. There were so many things that impressed me - interesting story, relationship between Kratos and Atreus, oustanding design, combat, a lot of optional content to do beside a main story, etc. Kratos and Atreus journey was an amazing experience that kept me interested to it's very end. God of War is not only a very strong contender for Game of the Year title, but one of the best exclusives on PS4.
