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Paste Magazine: The 30 Best Videogames of 2018 (pretty unusual picks)
- Thread starter benzopil
- Start date
Not unusual enough, since it's missing the undisputed game of the year, EXAPUNKS :p
It also doesn't have Pillars of Eternity 2, or Valkyria Chronicles 4.
The only game I might have in my own top 5 that's in this list is Battletech.
I guess that mostly just reinforces the point another poster made of how many great games were released in 2018.
It also doesn't have Pillars of Eternity 2, or Valkyria Chronicles 4.
The only game I might have in my own top 5 that's in this list is Battletech.
I guess that mostly just reinforces the point another poster made of how many great games were released in 2018.
Whatever lists, however much I may disagree with them, that feel more personal, less about hype and AAA size, I support. There's a too monolithic impression of taste in mainstream gaming.
You're solidifying the reaction to alternative opinions in games press as 'clickbait' or 'attention whoring' as a childish stereotype of a gamer. How is a small number of staff members voting for their personal favorites 'clickbait' just because you don't like all the choices?
You're solidifying the reaction to alternative opinions in games press as 'clickbait' or 'attention whoring' as a childish stereotype of a gamer. How is a small number of staff members voting for their personal favorites 'clickbait' just because you don't like all the choices?
Maybe, but then I'd have to question why it's titled as a game of the year list rather than a holiday shopping ideas list. And also if it's a holiday shopping list then having digital only indie games dominate the top spots is a little strange.
As someone who is dead set on buying Griss (have you SEEN that presentation?), I'd be ecstatic if it really turns out to be indie GotY material.
Only relatively good list I've seen so far. Makes me happy when writers don't just look around and see which games everyone's talking about most to curate a list
No, they can't, because one of the biggest sources of clicks and eyeballs for "best of the year" lists for videogames is people looking for a buyers' guide for Christmas shopping. That's why all this stuff happens earlier and earlier every year, because the window for the highest audience interest in the subject is in the early December window.
I may not like God of War but I can't deny how much it's resonated with people so it not being in the top ten, let alone the top half is pretty baffling.
I'm just happy to see Yakuza make it onto a year-end list, even if it isn't top ten. But man the salt that some people have over these kinds of lists...too funny haha.
Pretty great list actually, something nice to reference when I'm looking for my next indie game to play.
Amazing that something like Into the Breach can be ranked above God of War lol.
Amazing that something like Into the Breach can be ranked above God of War lol.
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My laptop is old garbage tier but I still could play it. 20ish fps but still.
This is actually a pretty good list. Though I heard some bad things about NNK2. Will give it a shot around Christmas if it gets a good sale.
Have a long trainride today so I decided to buy Florence thanks to this list.
Edit: I'm also happy to see "Where the water tastes like wine". That game went under the radar hard but I really enjoyed my time with it.
Have a long trainride today so I decided to buy Florence thanks to this list.
Edit: I'm also happy to see "Where the water tastes like wine". That game went under the radar hard but I really enjoyed my time with it.
Hmm. For the price it's not too big a risk, I suppose. Okay. My old i5 laptop with intel integrated graphics will just have to find a way. lol
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Missing PoE 2 for me,
Minit is way too high (I liked it enough, but it was definitely one of my biggest disappointments of this year.) I wouldn't put it in the top 30 at all, honestly.
Donut County is too high as well
Overall nice list, better than most we'll probably see this year.
Minit is way too high (I liked it enough, but it was definitely one of my biggest disappointments of this year.) I wouldn't put it in the top 30 at all, honestly.
Donut County is too high as well
Overall nice list, better than most we'll probably see this year.
Yeah still need to get on WTWTLW. Obra Dinn so far isn't clicking with me sadly, singleplayer Clue is too much work and too little play.
Interesting list, nice to see Into the Breach ranking high, it's probably my pick for this year. That being said, I don't get the love for Florence – it's interesting but a bit shallow for my taste, and the "hate" for Red Dead Redemption (especially given the relationships theme of the list).
What I like about Florence is that it's pretty much the game equivalent of a gentle romantic comedy rather than an overly-long action film that requires a big boss fight at the end and plenty of violence along the way. Nice to see something commenting on everyday stuff rather than treating relationships as a five minute sidequest in yet another fifty hour campaign that leaves hundreds dead. Maybe one day we'll get to the point where major publishers feel like they can also put money behind something that isn't fantasy combat and levelling up through getting better at it.
Luckily the list reflects the author's own thoughts on a game rather than the critical consensus, so the fact that it resonated with a lot of other people is completely irrelevant.
Hey I like lists like this. Far more interesting than the usual obvious AAAs occupying the top 10, and gives me a few new games to check out.
Nice to see Return Of The Obra Dinn, Minit, Donut County, Celeste, wandersong, and Florence getting recognition on GOTY lists. The New Yorker and Paste, nice work.
People getting offended by RDR 2 snubs is quite funny, how much more recognition does a critically acclaimed and million selling game need? People who shout "clickbait" don't even know what they're talking about.
People getting offended by RDR 2 snubs is quite funny, how much more recognition does a critically acclaimed and million selling game need? People who shout "clickbait" don't even know what they're talking about.
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This is a really great post.
I still play my fair share of shooters and violent games because I like the Gameplay and some of the stories they tell. But tbh I'm getting sick of all the killing and the focus on killing as the main aspect of most games. Maybe it's because I'm getting older but I would really like to see more developers focusing on different tasks.
Take Red Dead 2 as an example, the O'Driscolls alone had to be a gang thousands strong. It got pretty boring shooting hundreds of dudes. The best parts of red dead were the interactions with the world, soaking in the atmosphere of this vibrant and beautiful world. Why not focus on fewer but better shootouts with a clever AI?
Oh absolutely. I love strategy games and a huge chunk of them are about efficiency in eliminating the opposition writ large rather than one-by-one, I also love RPGs and enjoy the atmosphere and scenic views of Skyrim as much as I do chastising restless dead lizards, but variety in game design is always refreshing, and I'd rather have had half a dozen truly different and terrifying dragon battles than 50+ that all used the same limited tactics as the first. By a third of the way through the game they are like flying vermin to you, a distraction from what you are otherwise trying to do, rather than the legendary threat matching the hushed tones as npcs discuss them. A smaller amount of combat requiring more thought, given gravity and treated as high points of emotion and threat, would also mean seeing each major victory as an accomplishment rather than the same as your fiftieth trip to the shops.
Seeing adventure games called 'barely games' because they aren't accompanied by the rattle of gunfire or the clash of swords, and tend to have progression gated by puzzles or simple reading or moving through the world or story just seems like gatekeeping to me. Like a game can only be a game if it stays firmly in the comfort zone of fantasy, violent conflict with skill-at-arms the idealised currency of progress. We don't call romantic comedies 'barely films' because they don't require anyone to punch someone through a building or shrug off multiple gunshot and melee injuries that have conveniently missed all internal organs. If anything, such films used to get snubbed by critics in favour of character pieces, which makes me wonder whether both players and the large publishers that target them like to 'circle the wagons' around the geek playgrounds of gunfights and superheroes and fantasy combat as the defining source material of games, still sore about it being badged as pulp entertainment when we were kids but now resistant to it diversifying beyond that as it's grown into the biggest media industry on the planet.
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The moment I saw that God of War and Monster Hunter World are outside top 20, I knew this is going to be a good list.
Not throwing shade on both games. both are good, and among the best of this year.
My thoughts exactly. Throwing hundreds of same enemies at you felt like an archaic design choice in a game like RDR2.
Not throwing shade on both games. both are good, and among the best of this year.
My thoughts exactly. Throwing hundreds of same enemies at you felt like an archaic design choice in a game like RDR2.
Lol @ Minit.
It's cool with outliers, but sometimes it feels like people are forcefully trying to come across different or original. Whatever, it's just an opinion and I'm not in the head of those who made the list; they may well have enjoyed Florence the most out of all of these.
It's cool with outliers, but sometimes it feels like people are forcefully trying to come across different or original. Whatever, it's just an opinion and I'm not in the head of those who made the list; they may well have enjoyed Florence the most out of all of these.
I live for offbeat indie lists like these at the end of the year.
Not gonna challenge their inclusions, seeing as I played very few games from this year. But I did play Graveyard Keeper and while I enjoyed it mostly, I have to say uh putting it that high? Nyeh, this must have been a poor year for games.
Not gonna challenge their inclusions, seeing as I played very few games from this year. But I did play Graveyard Keeper and while I enjoyed it mostly, I have to say uh putting it that high? Nyeh, this must have been a poor year for games.
I love to see lists like this. There's some games I've never heard of on here (Donut Shop, Just Shapes, Water Tastes Like Wine, Gris, Graveyard Keeper) that I'll now check out and some games that I adore that need to get some love (Obra Dinn!!).
That's ultimately the value I see in these lists. People complain about a lack of curation on these storefronts or a lack of discoverability. That's what these GOTY lists are for me.
The rankings themselves don't matter IMO.
That's ultimately the value I see in these lists. People complain about a lack of curation on these storefronts or a lack of discoverability. That's what these GOTY lists are for me.
The rankings themselves don't matter IMO.
Hadn't heard of Florence before, but I'm not surprised given it being a mobile game. I'd like to give it a shot.
Great, fresh list. Literally downloaded Florence to my phone last night. And to everyone missing their favorite run-of-the-mill AAA game, don't worry, all other lists will be full of them. Just let this one slide.
Huh? In this sense every GOTY list is clickbait then.
RDR2'S snub is deliberate.
Even still, an interesting list. A little contrarian, but intresting.
Even still, an interesting list. A little contrarian, but intresting.