ResetEra Games of the Year 2018 - Voting Thread (READ THE OP) [Ends Jan 20th 8:59am EST]

[Greysif]

1. Red Dead Redemption 2 - While it took a while to get going I can safely say this has become my number one open world game to mess around with. With so many side activities and events it feels like every time I play theres something new that I hadn't seen yet.
2. Monster Hunter World - What a comeback from Capcom. After many years trying to get into MH this game finally made me a convert. Great gameplay plus some free content drops make coming back to this game a joy.
3. Dragon Quest XI - Probably my favorite JRPG this gen. Never played a DQ game before to completion but the lovable characters made it easy in this one.
4. Dead Cells - Can't get enough of this game. Played for hours with the "just one more run" mentality.
5. Astro Bot: Rescue Mission - This game made me believe again in VR. After having my PSVR set gathering dust for almost a year this alone made the purchase worth it.
6. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - Not into fighting games, but the character selection plus a packed single player "campaign" and almost infinite events battles with the spirit mode makes this one of the best game I played on the switch.
7. Marvel's Spiderman - Although a bit generic at times, the great story, characters and gameplay made this the best super hero game I have ever played.

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[Deadly Cyclone]

1. God of War - My personal game of the year for a few reasons. I loved the series in the past, but moving it to a more streamlined and narrative-based game was a great decision. The world, lore, characters, visuals, combat, and acting were all fantastic and I loved the Norse mythology. Boy!
2. Marvel's Spider-Man - Easily the best Spider-Man game ever made, and up there with the Batman: Arkham series as the best superhero games ever made. Everything was fun in this game, all the way down to just swinging around New York City. Borrowing the Batman-style combat lent itself well to Spider-Man, and most of the side events were fun to hunt down and complete as well. Not to mention some great DLC.
3. Fortnite: Battle Royale - This is by far the game I played the most of this year. People always ask why I prefer it over PUBG and it's hard to describe because they are inherently different overall, but the biggest thing I like about Fortnite is how Epic constantly evolves the game by changing the map terrain, adding and removing weapons, changing game modes, adding vehicles and adding events and limited time opportunities. The Battle Pass system is perfect in that you can complete it in the 3 months and earn enough to get the next one free as well. It's an enjoyable gameplay loop within each match and keeps you wanting to play and play.
4. Monster Hunter World - This was a surprise for me. I've never played a Monster Hunter game before and was talked into buying this one by a few friends. I'm 100% glad I did. The game, while tricky alone at times, shines in co-op. Being able to see who online is wanting to fight which monster and instantly joining their team was the perfect way to get new people into the series and pair them up with veterans who could assist in running them through fights. Earning new gear and fighting bigger and bigger monsters keeps you wanting to play for hours and hours.
5. Red Dead Redemption 2 - RDR2 was a hard one. I love this game, but it has faults. On the good side, the story, voice acting, and world are easily top one or two for the year, maybe even the generation. On the bad side, the gameplay Rockstar continues to push is heavy, out of date, and not good. The player movement and gunplay makes you have to rely on dead eye for shooting, and that's not great game design. I love the game, though, because Arthur was incredible as a character, and the narrative was the best of the year.
6. Forza Horizon 4 - Horizon 4 is just a stellar package through and through. Everything in the game is polished to perfection and it brings fun, arcade-style racing to a beautiful open world and has a TON of content. Can't go wrong here if you love racing games.
7. Hitman 2 - I haven't played as much as this yet as I want to, but it's Hitman at its best. The levels are massive, the opportunities and side missions are varied and it gives you so many reasons to replay each mission dozens of times.
8. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - It's the best Smash game ever made, with the most characters ever. It's also portable. What more do you need?
9. Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden - Not sure if this qualifies for this year and it was totally out of the blue for me, but this game, albeit flawed, is so much fun if you enjoy XCOM style strategy games. It's pretty basic from a level and hub perspective, but you get to wander the world like a Diablo-style game and find loot, and then launch into strategy-style combat like XCOM. Overall it's a fun game and it deserves some recognition.

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[TheRulingRing]

1. Fortnite: Battle Royale - What's there to say? By far the biggest game this generation, and for good reason. Ignoring the already innate advantages of the battle royale game mode, Fortnite adds to that with its thrilling building capabilities, creating 1 on 1 battles of unmatched tension. It's somehow achieved this universal popularity despite being very unforgiving for newcomers, something many other devs would die for, and it also has perhaps the highest skill ceiling of any of the major games on console. I'm still borderline addicted over a year after launch, and whichever game I eventually move on to will have an impossible task living up to Epic's responsiveness to the community and perfection of "games as a service".
2. God of War - I'd never been interested in God of War games past, and if they'd stuck to their formula I wouldn't have been interested in this one. Instead they managed to not only shift genres completely, but also to hit it out of the park in their first attempt. The gameplay itself is really enjoyable and gives you great variety in combat. The story was pretty good in the end but I don't think it came close to living up to, say, TLOU. It really took too long to get to the point but didn't end up having the same payoff as TLOU to entirely make up for that. I also wasn't as attached to the characters, but the art direction in the world was cooler.

To be honest I didn't really play that many games released this year (maybe 10 or so), focusing rather on games released in the past. Of those that I did I don't think the rest of them should be in the running for GOTY. Spiderman for example utterly failed when it came to side missions and content. I'm sure Red Dead 2 would have got on this list if I'd played it this year, perhaps even ahead of God of War due to its (probably) better story.


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[Tryptobphan]

1. God of War - It's my personal Game of the Generation so far. This game surprised me. Gameplay videos don't do justice to the fighting mechanics. The exploration, fighting, and story loop is just well done and kept me gripped like no other game has in the last 8 years. For example, Last of Us had a great story, but I didn't enjoy playing the game the way it was meant to be played (stealthily) all the time. But God of War's fighting mechanics actually had me looking for fights. The game isn't perfect, but the design of fighting, exploration for loot, and story kept me engrossed.
2. Astro Bot: Rescue Mission - VR's most creative platformer. This was worth getting a PSVR for.
3. Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age - While I don't think it's as good as Dragon Quest 8 or some other DQ titles, I think it's a solid game. Good story, good characters, refined JRPG gameplay. The music is terrible though. Like, seriously terrible. It's not just because it's midi-styled music, but the composition of original tracks are lackluster compared to almost any other DQ game in the series, which is extremely disappointing. But it's an easy game that is great to spend time with after a long day of work.
4. Marvel's Spider-Man - Amazingly fun game. Insomniac nearly hit this one out of the ballpark for me. I did feel the game was overall a bit disappointing, but only because I hold Insomniac to the highest standards. I really didn't enjoy playing as Mary Jane or other characters since I hate stealth gameplay in games not focused on stealth like Metal Gear or Splinter Cell. But the webswinging and story were great to experience.
5. Detroit: Become Human - It's just another fantastic title that was gripping and choices mattered. This was fun to play with people, too. My girlfriend doesn't game at all, but she was able to enjoy this game with me.
6. Yakuza 6: The Song of Life - A great end to a great series with a great protagonist. I really enjoyed my time with this game. It's certainly the easiest Yakuza game ever, but I don't mind it since I enjoyed playing through it for the story.
7. Yakuza Kiwami 2 - This would probably be at the top of my list under God of War if this wasn't a remake. But as it stands, I think everyone knows how amazing Yakuza 2 is. I'm only ranking it this low on the list because I think the other games deserve a chance to shine since the rest on this list are all original and new games.

I played some other games, which I felt were disappointing and did not enjoy enough to rank as Game of the Year titles such as Monster Hunter World. On the other hand, there were several games I wish I had more time with such as Celeste or 428: Shibuya Scramble. There were systems I have not connected to play this year such as Xbox One for Forza Horizon 4, which looks amazing.

With that said, 2018 was an amazing year for games. God of War utterly surprised me. I resonated with me like no other game since 2010's Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Mass Effect 2. There were some great games since then like Tomb Raider 2013, Last of Us, and many others, but something about God of War's gameplay loop just gripped me. The rest of the year also had games which were amazing to play, too. I bought the PSVR this year just for Astro Bot and that did not disappoint. Hopefully everyone enjoyed their gaming time this year. Here's hoping 2019 can be great, too.


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[Deleted member 10612]

1. God of War - Best game in the franchise, loved the move to the new camera position, the Axe was freaking awesome, helped that I'm a father of a little boy myself. Just want more of the same.
2. Marvel's Spiderman - Always love Batman AA like games, this one is super to control, story was good and there was no mandatory sidequest bullshit to do - Love that.

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[electricblue]

1. Celeste - I kinda knew this game was going to be great from watching the trailer and knowing it was made by Matt Thorson, but even with my expectations set high, Celeste managed to surpass them. Celeste is the platforming epitome of easy to learn, crushingly difficult to master. The difficulty felt like a mountain, the city area is a nice simple on-boarding to the mechanics, the hotel gets a bit challenging near the end but not too bad, and the difficulty curve just gets steeper and steeper from there until the ending where the inertia of wanting to finish slams right into the brick wall of some incredibly inventive level design. The soundtrack is perfect. The plot and how it ties into the gameplay is great and it kept me engaged. I just love everything about this game and I want everyone to play it.
2. RimWorld - This one is weird because I've been playing RimWorld for years but this is the year it hit 1.0 so I think here's where it should get its due. RimWorld is Prison Architect with a more fun premise, but it's also so, so much more than that. The game's designer Tynan Sylvester calls it a Story Generator, that gets closer to the truth but still doesn't quite encapsulate it. You manage a survivors colony on a remote planet and you get to know your colonists almost as if they are real people, with real thoughts and desires and goals and dreams...to the point that I can't play this game without Ironman mode anymore because when one of them dies its too hard for me to not reload and bring them back. With the exemplary mod scene this game enjoys the amount of novel, unique gameplay here is truly endless and I've poured hundreds of hours into this game over the years. If that sounds like something you want, I'm sure your time will be well spent.
3. God of War - I just finished this game a couple nights ago so its still fresh in my mind. I really liked the story and how they didn't try to over explain everything about the plot (like how did Kratos get here? Who was this woman he had this kid with? etc) but still filled the game with interesting lore. I enjoyed the souls-lite combat and how visceral the ax felt when you throw it or slam it into some unfortunate dude's neck, even by the end I still wanted more of the combat which is a great feeling. I didn't care for the gear system, it was needless and uninteresting and the crap I gathered didn't seem to have any actual relationship to the gear that was crafted (a fact the dwarves hand wave away during a side mission cutscene) and the stats gained never seemed to make much difference either way. The pixel hunt rune puzzles were likewise boring and mostly unrewarding. The characters were mostly good. Atreus feels like an authentic 11 year old, a pre-adolescent with some notion of the world and how he wants to interact with it but still unsure of who he is and how to act in some situations. Kratos was interesting, he is older now maybe a bit wiser about his past but still a deadpan laconic Spartan warrior and his interactions with Atreus also were funny and genuine. Mimir was great. The other gods were exceedingly dull or only talked about, never shown, which was strange. From the Lore you'd think Odin would be interested in the events of this story but I guess he was too busy to notice? Overall I liked this game a whole lot and I'm looking forward to the next one.
4. Red Dead Redemption 2 - Playing Red Dead 2 early on, man, I really wanted this game to be #1. Red Dead Redemption 2 is the best hunting simulation I have ever played. It captures the feeling of being outdoors in nature better than any piece of media I have ever seen. Wandering around this world is simply amazing and always rewarding. I loved Arthur Morgan and John Marston and their faux-sibling rivalry. I loved the gang's camp and doing little favors for people and the little missions that would pop up. I loved all of the side quests, they were far more interesting than the main story which consists of nothing but Dutch & Micah fucking up a lot and Arthur being mad about it for hours and hours of pointless repetition. The problem with the main story is Dutch has no character arc. He's the same dude throughout the game and Dutch's relationship with Arthur is never developed to the point that I wondered why Arthur, obviously by far the most competent member of the gang (and the gang knows it), ever followed this low rent con man to begin with. Sadie Adler, Charles Smith, John Marston, hell even baby Jack had more character development than Dutch. Anyway this open world is mindbogglingly good and I wish so much that the main story was written better so I could make it my GOTY.
5. Dead Cells - a great roguelike, I'm a fan of the genre and this is one of the best of em. You can tell they worked really hard on this combat system, it feels so right to pull off a long string of kills and I hope other platformers end up copying what it does. I'm not crazy about the lack of a coherent story and how the protagonist is often shrugging or flippant whenever dialogue does occur. I never got to the end of this one, I got close to beating the King's man a few times but gave it up for other games when my progress slowed to a halt. Worth playing for sure.
6. Spider-Man - Cool swinging mechanics but a real iffy, exploitable combat system that wasn't much fun against difficult enemies. The motion capture and facial emotions are a real stand out here. The story didn't grab me much. I wish this game was more like Arkham Asylum with the ridiculous amount of lore, where each enemy first appeared etc that would've been cool to dig into, but unfortunately beyond a few easter eggs and side stuff there isn't much here.
7. Hitman 2 - IO delivered the more Hitman that everyone wanted and some of the new tweaks are nice (like picture in picture) but I wasn't impressed with the visuals this time. Hitman 1 managed to do some amazing things with a limited amount of graphics power and you can still see that going back to the Paris mission or Sapienza, but there's nothing like that in Hitman 2. The environments are mostly drab and uninteresting. The cutscenes are no longer CG. The way some characters look while talking is sometimes straight up bad. I'm going on a bit too negative here, it's still Hitman and it seems like there's even more funny ways to murder rich people in this one and its good for that.
8. Into the Breach - I was really hyped for this one since the developer Subset Games made FTL, one of my favorite games of all time. This is not much like FTL, yes you're still going on runs but this is more of a board game and even though I think its really well made and I liked it enough to have beat it a few times and unlock some other squads I never felt the pull to immediately start another run like I did with FTL. I would like to give it another shot but overall I'm a bit disappointed.
9. Donut County - This was a fun little mobile game. I liked the music. I liked the raccoon. I liked the iOS stickers and I still use them. Not much to the game itself but it's worth playing.
10. Super Mega Baseball 2 - Another game I was really looking forward to, I loved Super Mega Baseball, it was a nice surprise a couple years ago. SMB2 doesn't really do much for me though. It might actually look worse? The pitching and batting is still great but the season mode where you could manage your team and give certain players bonuses is definitely worse than SMB1. In it's place they have expanded on the system where players who are doing well are "on-fire" and ones that aren't are cold. This just makes the game more steamroll-y though, where if the ball is rolling in your direction it gets easier and easier or harder and harder if its not. I guess the main pull of SMB2 is you can play multiplayer tournaments but I have absolutely no interest in that. Super Mega Baseball 2 still delivers a fun arcadey baseball game but I think I might recommend 1 over 2.

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[CloseTalker]

Here is my vote:

1. God of War: This one stunned me. At the beginning of the year, all I cared about was Spider-Man. There were other games I was looking forward to, but everything was basically just a hurdle to get to Spider-Man. God of War came out and absolutely blew me away, to the point where I'd consider it not just my game of the year, but right up there with BotW as my game of the generation. The combat is deeper than it's ever been, the visuals are a high-water mark for the PS4 (and consoles in general), and the story is so engaging it got me to actually do some light reading about Norse Mythology. Not only that, but I found it to be paced incredibly well. This ranks up there with Arkham Asylum, Uncharted 2, and RE4 as one of the perfectly paced games imo. I was never bored, and felt like I always had the option of taking on some side quests at my leisure, or knowing exactly where I was to go to keep the story moving. From a direction standpoint, this game is a master class. The single shot presentation is a bit needless in that I don't think anyone would really miss it if it was gone, but it's so well implemented that it never comes close to veering towards full gimmick. God of War has never been a franchise I've cared too much about, I played through all of the previous games basically on autopilot just to get to the next cool set piece. But this reboot changes all that. I'm now fully invested in these characters and this world, and can't wait to see where they go next. (Also, major credit for telling a complete, satisfying story, while also teasing a sequel. That's hard to do!)
2. Marvel's Spider Man: As mentioned, my whole year was leading up to this game. It had complete power to break my heart if it disappointed. Luckily, the opposite was true. Insomniac absolutely nailed this game for me. I completed the story in the first weekend, which is a rare feat for me, someone who tends to tire of games long before the end credits roll. But the story here was just so fucking good. The script, the characters, the relationships, it was all pitch-perfect. The minute the credits rolled, I instantly said that this was the best Spider-Man story we've seen in motion (that is, not in a comic) via games, TV, or film. That opinion might have changed in the past couple weeks since a certain film released, but instead of deciding which is better, I'd rather celebrate how awesome it is that this year has been so incredible for Spidey fans. None of this is to mention just how fun it is to swing around this city at full speed. The visuals and music are sublime, and serve to make you feel like Spider-Man in a way you never have before.
3. Monster Hunter World: Man, this came out of nowhere to take over my life over the first few months of the year. I'm one of those people who have tried Monster Hunter a few times in the past, but just couldn't get into it. The controls annoyed me, the obtuse mechanics annoyed me, and the fact that it was largely restricted to ugly handheld visuals annoyed me. I loved the idea of Monster Hunter, but couldn't make the leap to enjoying the game. That all changed with this. Controls were smoother, mechanics were more accessible (without sacrificing the depth that the series is known for), and the visuals are still some of the best of the year. This game is just so incredibly fun to play. The aesthetic of this world feels like it was scientifically engineered to be something that I'd fall in love with. It's so colorful, and a place you'd want to visit if it weren't for all the deadly monsters. I've fallen off this game a bit as other titles have released, but I think about it more than any other game I've played this year. I should really get back into it.
4. Dead Cells: This game just feels phenomenal to play. The way a game "feels" is such a tough thing to describe, but if anyone wanted an example of what it means, I'd make them play this for a half hour, and then almost any other 2D action game, so they can see how much perfectly executed controls and mechanics can matter. I still haven't beat this game, I go through spurts of being super into it, then just getting frustrated. I'm really not incredible at it at the end of the day, but the loop is fun enough, and just inviting enough, that I never feel too pissed off when I fail. Incredible game design here.
5. Celeste: It's January 1, 2019, and I need to do a late game edit to throw put this game on my list. I purchased Celeste right around launch, but put it down rather quickly after being put off by the difficulty. I picked it up again in December after seeing it pop up on every second GOTY list, and figuring I need to give it at least one more good, solid try. Man, am I glad I did, because I ended up beating one of my favorite games of 2018 on December 31. There's not much I can add to the discussion about Celeste that hasn't been recounted here many times, but I'll echo every one of those statements. I play a LOT of video games, but I honestly don't consider myself very good at them. I play so many, that I rarely end up getting great at any single one. With Celeste though, that knowledge, coupled with the story and themes on display, was a large part in what kept me going. I felt like completing it was something I just had to do. Parts of it were immensely frustrating, some sections more than others, but each try I could feel myself getting better, which lead to each completed chapter making me feel better about myself than most other games can make me feel. I'm not a very patient person, so I'd be lying if I said this game was 100% unadulterated joy to play, but the bouts of stress, frustration, and pushing past wanting to quit were all worth it with a game that rewards you with a story that touches on themes few do (and fewer do well). My only gripe is that the game tells you collecting strawberries doesn't really matter. They do matter, a tiny little bit haha.
6. Spyro Reignited Trilogy: What a treat! I had definitely played these games on PSX, but not much, and certainly never beat any of them. Replaying them now has been such an absolute joy, this comfort blanket of a game where you don't need to worry about any plot, progression, RPG mechanics, morality, etc. It's just a pure, joyous, beautiful platformer with incredible visuals, delightful music, and well-designed levels. I play this for the same reason I watch Gilmore Girls on repeat: because it takes away all stress in my life and lets me pretend that there is nothing too complicated happening, and just puts me in this idyllic place that I never want to leave.
7. Assassin's Creed Odyssey: I love these games. They're pure escapism for me. The worlds are these beautifully crafted virtual tourism spots that transport you to a place you've only heard about. The mechanics of these games allow me to zone out and kind of just always be doing something. No matter what you're doing in this game, you're accomplishing something. You can see that as either a big waste of time, or that you're never wasting your time. I love the combat scenarios here, each enemy fort is this puzzle where I love to try to figure out how to take out enemies as quietly as possible. This one even introduces one of the best characters of the year, and takes you on a story that I'm still finding very engaging (I haven't beaten the game yet). These games aren't perfect, and there are valid criticisms that can be said about them, but none of it really bothers me. I play video games to have fun and escape, and in that regard this franchise just keeps getting better.
8. Astro Bot: Rescue Mission: The hype is justified with this one. It's a testament to this game's quality that I put up with PSVR, a technology I hate, just because it was so much fun. I don't want to get into bizarre SM64 comparisons, it accomplishes nothing and just sets wild expectations for the game. But as a platformer, this is top-notch, and up there with the best that Nintendo has released. It's incredibly well designed, with colorful levels that you love to explore. I still hate everything about putting on that fucking PSVR headset, but the joy this game provided made it more than worthwhile.
9. Forza Horizon 4: I'm a casual racing game fan. I want my racing games silly, arcadey, and escapist. This game was tailor made for me. It's not that competitive, not that stressful, and just gives me endless things to do in a world that's a joy to explore. The visuals are gorgeous, the soundtrack…can be replaced with my Spotify, and the racing is fun as hell. As someone who neither knows nor cares about the ins and outs of car tuning, this game gets me straight to the good stuff. And every time I get the pop up that says "You've been winning the past few races, would you like to raise the difficulty?", I happily say "no", and continue on my merry way as a carefree racing god.
10. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: It's a pleasant surprise to me that this one made my list. I usually fall off this series after about 45 minutes of fucking around with a few characters, but something about this one actually made me stick with it. Part of that was actually the character unlock mechanic, that gave me a steady drip feed of content in a way that made it super addictive. The other part is World of Light, which is an absolute joy. Seeing how they incorporate all the Sprit battles is pure Nintendo creativity. I'm still not especially good at the game, I tend to stick with a few characters and a few strategies, but I'm having genuine fun in the series for the first time in a long time.

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[Qronicle]

1. Kingdom Two Crowns - Just started playing this last week, but I'm having more fun with this than anything else I've played this year. I was just gonna test it out on a Sunday evening, and really had to force myself to stop playing and get some sleep. I love that you need to figure everything out yourself, and that it all makes sense. The art style and music are top notch as well.
2. Marvel's Spider-Man - One of the few open world games that had my attention all the way through. Traversal is fun, fighting feels natural, just the right amount of sidequests.
3. Shadow of the Colossus - One of my favourite PS2 games remastered, and boy does it still hold up with that new layer of amazing graphics.
4. Astro Bot: Rescue Mission - Charming, fun, inventive. Beats Resident Evil as best PSVR experience.
5. Detroit: Become Human - The best Quantic Dream game yet. Even went back and replayed to see the different outcomes.
6. Pokemon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! - Catching can get frustrating with the motion controls, but liked it nonetheless.
7. Forza Horizon 4 - Kinda maybe bought a One X for this (and the 4K blu-ray player) after years of hearing praise for this series. I gave up on Forza after the third Motorsport title, and was always more of a Gran Turismo kinda guy (didn't really like the feel of Forza). This title still feels very Forza to me, but it definitely works better outside of the closed track environment.
8. Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age - My first DragonQuest. Didn't finish this one yet (and will probably never do unless I find a lot of spare time), but I liked the atmosphere and dat oldskool RPG feel. Music wasn't too great though.
9. Wreckfest - Didn't know this game came out this year until I checked the list. Had a lot of fun with the pre-release versions though, so it deserves a place on this list.
10. Wipeout Omega Collection VR - It's Wipeout. In VR.

Didn't like:

• Monster Hunter World - I knew this wouldn't be my game, but I like monsters, and never played a Monster Hunter game before. Gave it a fair shot, but the gameplay doesn't speak to me.
• Onrush - I liked every game from Evolution Studios (Codemasters*) starting with WRC on PS2, Motorstorm and then DriveClub. But this one didn't hit the mark. Driving in this game just isn't fun.
• Red Dead Redemption 2 - I can't deny the audiovisual supremacy of this game, but I didn't care about it at all. Navigating small spaces felt wonky, exploring options in missions is discouraged, everything is simply too elaborate.

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[Parthenios]

I only played 13 games on the "released this year" list, and cutting out re-releases leaves me with only three that I would award points in a GotY process (EDIT: I got a bunch of games for Christmas so now I've played more):

1. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - This game has so much content that it suffers from a sort of uncanny valley, where we begin to only notice the things that aren't included instead of the mountain of stuff that is. With that in mind, it's very hard to find anything to fault this game for without nitpicking and it's certainly going to go down as my most played game this generation.
2. Octopath Traveler - A charming little throwback RPG that wasn't perfect but hopefully showed that there's still a market for mid-tier games in older genres.
3. Starlink: Battle for Atlus - The more I play the less I think the underlying game loop is that great (needs more space combat), but nothing tops the moment when my son and I realized that we could put wings on wings and that would reflect in the game, or the realization 30 minutes later that we could put wings on wings on wings. This is a great first effort and Nintendo should just have them make a full Star Fox open world sequel.
4. Crypt of the Necrodancer - I haven't beaten level 2 yet but that hasn't stopped me from trying. Has the right mix of clever idea, proper execution, content, and groovy music.

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[Disclaimer]

1. Octopath Traveler - My most anticipated game of the year, and did I ever enjoy it. Its chosen structure of eight short stories is vanishingly rare in gaming — no small part of why it was so divisive, with people puzzling over where the "main story" story was — but refreshing and welcome. Its stories were simple, but engaging and heartfelt, and its graphical style, gameplay, OST, and localization were nothing short of magnificent.
2. Valkyria Chronicles 4 - A sorely underrated and underplayed game. While it received blowback for a thoughtless and ill-conceived scene in the demo, that belied its other more progressive measures, such as the quiet inclusion of a trans woman. Its gameplay and level design were exceptional and improved over VC1, continuing to be unique in its genre, and its squad stories added so much content and characterization.
3. Hollow Knight - An experience. Probably the first metroidvania game I've played much of — what a one to start with! — and I seriously considered it as my GOTY.
4. World of Final Fantasy Maxima - Another game I feel is underrated, again done a disservice by its demo, with nascent impressions crushed under the weight of too much early exposition. Getting past that, it's an utterly charming celebration of the Final Fantasy series that builds on the series' cast in interesting ways by allowing interactions between the varies entries' characters. Its gameplay conceit is a deeper and more refined single-player Pokemon experience, utilizing the series' vast array of enemies.
5. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Torna The Golden Country - Combining an outstanding OST with a major improvement on the base game's combat by allowing Blades to be controllable, Torna was great fun, but marred by pacing issue and a plot that came off as truncated.
6. Forgotton Anne - A Miyazaki film come to life, with meaningful choices that arise organically and aren't made apparent until after you've made them. It's more focused on telling its story than offering deep or punitive gameplay, but that was the right choice.
7. Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom - Haven't finished yet, but it's a beautiful and fun game — well, fun once you get past the pig section.
8. Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology - Radiant Historia has always been a top tier JRPG, and this remastering improved its localization and added good voice-acting. It isn't higher because Atlas felt the need to kneecap the game's EXP/currency economies in order to sell DLC, and the additional content was... unimpressive.
9. Cosmic Star Heroine - Great indie in the vein of classic turn-based JRPGs. Particularly tight combat design.
10. The Banner Saga - Haven't finished yet, but Banner Saga has been quite nice. Strong art, old-school decision-making, strategic armor/health conceit, but held back by too many simplistic and recycled maps.

Wish I could have made it to DQXI this year, but I'm waiting on the Switch version for such a long RPG.


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[ArchAngel]

1. Astro Bot: Rescue Mission - A game that makes me smile after so many years is a good game. It's especially staggering to me that Sony can produce a lovely character. PSVR has drifting problems, but this game is worth it to me.
2. God of War - I was one of the few that were excited for the game since Cory Barlog announced his return. He knows what a game makes great and he and his team showed this. Amazing game and a great journey with many emotions as a player.
3. Earth Defense Force 5 - Damn this was a surprise release to me. I love the series and this "reboot" fixes some things like useless weapon drops. Sadly digital only, but what a fun game. EDF! EDF! EDF! :D
4. Monster Hunter World - The series always was just ok to me since the PS2 times, but MHW felt fresh and modern without losing the identity of the series. Like it's made from young, fresh developers. Loved every minute of it and even played it online (I'm not much of an online gamer).
5. The Room: Old Sins - Simply the best games for mobile. I will buy them forever, no matter the costs. Worth every cent!
6. Shadow of the Colossus - A masterpiece got his modern look. The art style is not as great as the original, but the game is still ace. The only game where a dead overworld creates so many emotions while traversing through them.
7. Warframe - Every couple of years I return to this game and still can't decide which platform to use (PS4 or PC). So I play both! XD Best free to play game in my opinion, just followed by ...
8. Path of Exile: Betrayal - Man, I just love the game and the community. I even just bought things because it felt like pirating to just play this game for free. And it get's better and better with each quarter. Play it!
9. Sunset Overdrive - Except for the TD missions, this is still a great game. It's a shame that there is no X update, but the PC version is great and I hope more people get to play this fun open world game :)
10. No Man's Sky - This game is like an SciFi Minecraft for me. I loved the game at launch and it's so big now that it's almost too complicated to load an old savegame. It's better to start anew. Love Hello Games for their longtime commitment and that they didn't drop this!

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[Crankafoo]

1. God of War - A brilliant resurgence of a series that some people thought simply didn't have a place anymore. The music, the scale, the gorgeous visuals, the visceral combat, and most importantly, characters you can actually care about in a God of War game. The voice cast and (mostly) realistic dialogue between all of them really sold these characters to the me. I was invested in Kratos' new journey from beginning to end, feeling like I constantly being engaged with either compelling storytelling or the thoughtfully brutal combat with 2018's best new weapon, Leviathan. It has stuck with me since April at the forefront of my mind (in terms of games), and I imagine it will be there for a while longer. What a game.
2. Shadow of the Colossus - One of my favourite games of all time, reborn. Simply a masterpiece, and only lower than God of War on this list because it's an older game that had it's spotlight. But couldn't resist giving it my second slot. Bluepoint did an excellent and thoughtful job remaking this game, it feels like they actually cared about it's legacy. The beautiful and chilling music is redone, but ever so slightly; feels like they simply added a few touch ups in this regard, but it comes through as excellent as ever. The drab and vast world given a complete makeover, while still vast and filled with nothing but the towering giants in specific parts, this world has never looked better. I could go on and on, but the original Shadow of the Colossus is a game for the ages, and this just brings it back to the world 13 years later with a fresh coat of paint.
3. Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age - I have played several incredible JRPGs over the last few years, so I was iffy going into DQXI. I have dabbled with the series before, but never finished any of them. The game(s) looked too rigid in terms of modern RPG design for what I thought was my taste. But forget that, this IS a quest. I couldn't believe how much I ended up loving DQXI. Bought it day 1, jumped in, was hooked within the first few hours. The combat may seem simple from the outside; it is anything but simple. The game gives you so many different options for dealing with your foes it's staggering. Which is important, as you'll spend most of your time fighting. I also found myself extremely surprised with the story and how much I enjoyed it all the way through. The game is absolutely gorgeous too, a treat to explore. With people having different dialect depending on where you go, one example being an area where all the villagers only speak in hiaku. In my opinion, no other game that came out this year had as much charm as DQXI. With a great cast of characters to join your party, twists and turns, extremely solid combat, and a story I had about seeing through to the end, Dragon Quest XI impressed me so much, that I'm now going through all the olders games I can get my hands on. Can't wait to play through the entire thing again on the Switch. Worst music of 2018 though.
4. Monster Hunter World - Monster Hunter was always intimidating to me, I couldn't work up the courage to give it my time. I tried a demo for MH3 on 3DS and it scared me off the franchise. Enter Monster Hunter World, immediately sold by the first trailer. The hype was real and it definitely delivered. Wild and giant monsters, crazy weapons with all their own bells and whistles that you can change out for anytime, and armour customisation galore (my favourite). The story isn't anything to write home about at all, but it didn't really matter. You get to slay giant monsters in co-op (that mostly works). I'm hooked on Monster Hunter now, so great work Capcom.
5. Spider-Man - Being a fan of the webhead in all forms, and of pretty much any Insomniac game (sorry Fuse), this is THE Spider-Man game for me. They absolutely killed it too. This is for Spider-Man what the Arkham games are for Batman, a defining superhero adventure in videogame form. The controls are buttery smooth, making web-slinging around Marvel's New York™ feel better than I could've imagined. While most of the boss fights could use some improvements, there are some really good ones. And the story that unfolds is an emotional one, leaving me feeling the impact even three months later. I honestly can't wait to see where Insomniac take Spidey next, as there's not a lot of negatives to say here at all for what is an amazing pairing with an incredible amount of potential in the future.
6. Yakuza 6: The Song of Life - When I heard the title for Yakuza 6, I had to shout THE SONG OF LIFE from the rooftops. I couldn't believe Kazuma Kiryu's story was coming to a close, and what a closing act it was. The story was an emotional rollercoaster that had me on the edge of my seat the entire time, and crying by the end. But it wasn't as all-inclusive to those who had an impact in Kiryu's life as I had hoped, and the combat felt a little flat with SEGA trying out a new system. That being said, I love these games and just being able to explore anything new is just a treat. With the ability to just walk into these restraunts and stores without a single loading screen felt like a technical marvel coming off the older games in the series. The new minigames are great. Onomichi is great. The story ends in an extremely satisfying way, in my opinion. And I can't stop playing these games. Ono Michio!
7. Yakuza Kiwami 2 - Pretty much all of the positives about Yakuza 6, with almost none of the negatives. Combat still feels a bit weird, but they have improved it. That's pretty much it for negatives. The rivalry between the Dragon of Kansai and the Dragon of Dojima is reborn in an all-new package. I never played the original game, but I played and loved the heck out of this version. Kamurocho looks incredible from top to bottom in the Dragon Engine, being able to explore more of it over Y6 helps a bunch too. Same goes for Sotenbori, going back in the new engine, it has never looked better. It's honestly crazy how consistantly good these games are to me. The stories, the characters, the combat, the insane amount of quality minigames (that are sometimes FULL GAMES), crazy cool music, and endlessly fun to explore world, these games have it all. KIWAMI means EXTREME!
8. The Messenger - Bought this on a whim after having a bunch of extra My Nintendo Gold Coins and seeing it on the eShop, and I was pleasantly surprised! Give this game a shot! Extremely fun to play, great music, and a pretty good sense of humour too. It's a perfect game for the Switch, loved it.
9. Red Dead Redemption II - I thought this game would be in my top 3 of 2018, yet now it sits near the bottom of my top 10. The only reason it's not straight to the bottom is because I love westerns, and the story is great. The dialogue is all top notch and this cowboy adventure was definitely my 2nd favourite story of the year (in games). I just can't get over how poorly this game controls, 60+ hours in and it just annoyed me every time I booted the game up. I want to explore this massive and complex world that Rockstar has created and enjoy being a cowpoke, but I just can't. Arthur controls like a loosely tied bag of meat on legs. It's something I can't get passed, and actively made me want to stop playing the game. Because this is an interactive medium, and this game made my interactions feel like they were dipped in sludge, I can't place it any higher. WAKE 'EM UP A LITTLE
10. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - Haven't played a ton of Smash Ultimate yet, but what I have played was pretty cool. World of Light is what I've dumped most of my playtime into and while it seems a bit bare-bones in terms of "story" for a fighting game, the actually fights are neat. The infused body of a certain fighter with a unique spirit to make them act a certain way during the fight works out pretty well and makes for some extremely challenging and rewarding fights. Easily my favourite Smash game since Melee. It would probably be higher if I enjoyed fighting games more.

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[Burt]

1. Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire - The culmination of the CRPG revival. The original release was strong but flawed -- however, fantastic post-release growth between patching, excellent DLC, and community modding has really pushed it up a notch.
2. Monster Hunter World - Incredible and incredibly addictive. A great touch up on the classic MH formula for the big screen experience. I will never forget the heinous, aggressively, offensively garbage single-player story.
3. Warhammer: Vermintide 2 - Left 4 Who? Left 4 What? This is everything a co-op horde shooter should be. Also, Warhammer is just the best.
4. Into the Breach - An SRPG so tightly designed it turns into a puzzle game. It's fantastic, innovative, distinct, and super duper tough.
5. PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds - I'm putting this here for PC. 1.0 came out December 21st, 2017, a scant 3 days within the year of 2018 GOTY voting eligibility. In that time, we've gotten 3 whole maps, a ton of modes, huge performance improvements, and a plethora of weapons, vehicles, and smaller additions. It's been broken, it's been fixed, it's been broken again, it's been fixed again, and it's been janky the whole way through, but if it's your type of Battle Royale it has always been and still is the best available. Deserves a vote as an official release.

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[naroom]

1. La Mulana 2 - A puzzle platformer that's made for adults. It's the best game I've ever played.
2. Celeste - Excellent level design, music, and theming that melds into the gameplay.
3. Kingdom: Two Crowns - Gorgeous minimalist strategy game for the Switch, made even better with couch co-op. It came out in Dec 2018, but it's missing from the spreadsheet.

I really can't emphasize enough how good La Mulana 2 is. It redefines the whole metroidvania genre. I don't think there are any games quite like it, except maybe the original.

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[blinky]

1. Red Dead Redemption 2 - The best full-on open-world game I have ever played. I cannot get over how great this game looks given its size and scope. The controls could definitely use some tweaking, but it is stellar otherwise. Easily my GOTY and just behind Bloodborne for GOTG.
2. Dark Souls Remastered - Arguably the best game of last gen and one of the better releases this year. I plowed straight through to the platinum and then re-rolled another character and beat the game twice more. Any remaster than can get me to sink that much time into several years after playing it the first time deserves some recognition.
3. Marvel's Spiderman - A Spiderman simulator that doesn't overstay its welcome. Tightly paced and a joy to play. This feels like what inFamous should have been.
4. Monster Hunter World - My first experience with this franchise was a positive one. Unfortunately I got burned out before I reached end-game which makes me feel like I missed out on a big part of the experience. Will certainly take a hard look at the next installment.

In fairness, I have not played God of War yet, so I still have that to look forward to (it's in my backlog). I'm also greatly looking forward to Hitman 2.


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[Deleted member 47843]

1. God of War- probably my game of the generation so far and one of my all time favorites. A masterful blend of fun combat, amazing graphics, a great story and excellent acting. It also does a great job of having a big world without all the bloat and emptiness of it's open world counterparts.
2. Red Dead Redemption 2- The first Rockstar games I've really loved--got me to take a change on GTAV with the current "free" deal on Amazon. Gameplay was hit or miss, but the story, characters and acting were top notch and the world very well realized (though a little large and empty at times).
3. Marvel's Spiderman- One of the best superhero games of all time. Really nailed the traversal and feeling of being Spider-man, looked great and was well written and acted.
4. Monster Hunter World- finally hooked me after 4G and Generations didn't. I didn't get super addicted like many, but still put in over 150 hours before walking away and had a blast with it. One of the few games that's fun to play online with randoms.
5. Astro Bot: Rescue Mission- best VR game I've played so far and a great 3D platformer in general.
6. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate- fun as always and probably the best in the series to me. Great amount of single player content between World of Light (some uber frustrating battles aside), the spirit board and classic mode.
7. Soul Calibur VI- Another fighting game with a nice amount of single player content. I loved the story mode and the RPG-ish mode. Create a character is nice too (trolls online aside) as you can easily play as characters whose movesets you enjoy but you don't like their design.
8. Dead Cells- probably my all time favorite roguelike. Controls great, challenging but fair, and I prefer games like this where you earn some permanent unlocks/upgrades to make future runs more manageable.
9. Gris- Beautiful art, great music, some clever puzzles in a minimally role story of coping with grief.
10. Beat Saber- great pick up and play VR game. Fun, challenging, some good music and a. It if a work out.

I have some other stuff to get to that would probably knock a couple of those off, but no way I'll buy and play them for the deadline with my focus on Smash, SC6 and the backlog right now.


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[Euler007]

1. God of War - Possibly the best game I've played in 34 years of gaming. A beautiful world, tight unforgivable gameplay, great boss fights, great characters. A combat system so deep that by the time got my platinum I was just starting to master parts of it.
2. Marvel's Spiderman - The most fun gameplay of any open world game, ever. The gameplay is natural, and rewards you for playing well and punishes you for mistakes or sloppy play. A must play for anyone that likes video games.
3. Monster Hunter World - Most addictive game of the year, by far the most coop fun I've had all year. Weapon diversity, deliberate gameplay that punishes mashing, great monsters to fight.
4. Detroit : Become Human - Went into it blind not expecting to be impressed and was blown away. Great structure and writing. Your decisions feel like they have meaningful impact, a rare thing nowadays. "I'll be back" is my trophy of the year if there was such a category.

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[Deleted member 2785]

1. Astro Bot Rescue Mission - First time since I was a kid I felt a sense of pure joy, and once again saw the potential and promise of the medium. A pure delight, and one of my favorite games of all time.
2. Marvel's Spider-Man - Open world superhero game, perfected. Compelling story combined with a true sense of scale and speed.
3. Out of the Park Baseball 19 - The baseball simulation I've always wanted, now with a new Perfect Team collection mode.
4. Assassin's Creed Odyssey - Loved Kassandra, and was overwhelmed by the scale of the world.
5. FAR: Lone Sails - Criminally underplayed. Had it released at another time on more platforms it would be held in the same esteem as Limbo and Journey.
6. God of War - An evolution of an old school video game. Beautifully crafted.
7. MLB The Show 18 - Played it more than anything else this year. So, it has that going for it.
8. West of Loathing - Switch version in particular, as PC released last year. Clever, humorous story and world.
9. Sid Meier's Civilization VI - Again, Switch version. Plays almost like a different game than the PC version. Hours gone.
10. Tetris Effect - For the music alone it's worth the ride.

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[jacks81x]

1. God of War - Immaculate from start to finish. Santa Monica Studio managed to reinvent and elevate franchise to heights most wouldn't thought was possible.
2. Super Smash Bros Ultimate - It's more Smash Bros with a gigantic roster. It's the ultimate party game.
3. Red Dead Redemption 2 - Stunningly beautiful. A technical marvel. Sets a new bar for all future open-world games.
4. Marvel's Spider-Man - A total blast to play. Insomniac proved to be the perfect studio to bring Spidey into the AAA space.
5. Dragon Quest XI - DQXI embraces all the elements that define what a DQ is. It is classic turn-based JRPG goodness.
6. Detroit: Become Human - Emotionally resonating. Characters that you care about. Your choices DO matter.
7. Shadow of the Colossus - To this day there still hasn't been a game quite like SotC. The world is lonely, serene, and breathtakingly beautiful.
8. Yakuza 6 - The fitting conclusion to Kiryu's journey.
9. Tetris Effect - There are very few games that are worth purchasing a VR headset for. This is one of them.
10. Assassin's Creed Odyssey - The franchise had a resurgence with Origins. Odysseys builds on that and more.

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[Chixdiggit]

1. Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War - I feel this game was specifically made for me. I love the 4X genre but often feel games are polluted with too many systems. This is simply all about war tactics and building your army. No Politics, No religion, No diplomacy. Love it and will be putting in many more hours into it. Definitely flew under everyone's radar.
2. Forza Horizon 4 - Incredible how this franchise continues to improve. The game just has so much polish and is fun if you play it for 5 minutes or 5 hours.
3. Sairento VR - This game does so much right for VR. It somehow has you wall running, sliding, Quadruple jumping, teleporting, and dashing in first person with out a hint of motion sickness. If you like Robo Recall this is definitely one to try.
4. Far Cry 5 - Really surprised at how much fun I had with this one. I enjoyed the story and the map was great to explore.
5. God of War - Love the whole series. Great violent fun. As with all the GOW games this one had some frustrating parts that had me raging.
6. Marvel's Spider-Man - Really good. I love to collect things in games and while this one has plenty of that I felt it could have done a better job. Just an overall fun game.
7. Deep Rock Galactic - A great co-op game that they are still developing on the PC. Must have if you can get a friend to play with.
8. Fortnite: Battle Royale - I admit I had some good fun in this game. I prefer the co-op over the BR though. I like the building mechanics in the game but not having to do it at a rapid rate to survive.
9. Beat Saber - I typically do not get into rhythm games but this is pretty awesome. Custom songs is where it's at.
10. Racket: Nx - It's paddle ball mixed with breakout in VR

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[nib95]

1. Astro Bot Rescue Mission - First time since I was a kid I felt a sense of pure joy, and once again saw the potential and promise of the medium. A pure delight, and one of my favorite games of all time.
2. Marvel's Spider-Man - Open world superhero game, perfected. Compelling story combined with a true sense of scale and speed.
3. Out of the Park Baseball 19 - The baseball simulation I've always wanted, now with a new Perfect Team collection mode.
4. Assassin's Creed Odyssey - Loved Kassandra, and was overwhelmed by the scale of the world.
5. FAR: Lone Sails - Criminally underplayed. Had it released at another time on more platforms it would be held in the same esteem as Limbo and Journey.
6. God of War - An evolution of an old school video game. Beautifully crafted.
7. MLB The Show 18 - Played it more than anything else this year. So, it has that going for it.
8. West of Loathing - Switch version in particular, as PC released last year. Clever, humorous story and world.
9. Sid Meier's Civilization VI - Again, Switch version. Plays almost like a different game than the PC version. Hours gone.
10. Tetris Effect - For the music alone it's worth the ride.

Click to shrink...

Nice Astrobot excerpt. I really need to play it.

 

[Bunkles]

1. Red Dead Redemption 2 - Game of the generation.
2. God of War - Polished to perfection. Boy!
3. Marvel's Spider-Man - Pure joy to play. Had a smile on my face the entire time.
4. Hitman 2 - Best stealth series keeps getting better.
5. Monster Hunter World - My first MH game, really enjoyed it.

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[MrS]

1. Hollow Knight - i'd waited so long to play this game and it absolutely lived up to my expectations. The art style is really unique and beautiful. The world feels lived-in in the same way a Souls game does. The combat is exceptional and I enjoyed pretty much all the boss fights, though beating The Radiance will live long in the memory. The metroidvania aspects and jumping puzzles (which reminded me of the great N++ at times) were really spectacular and added so much to the diversity of the game: Hollow Knight certainly keeps you on your toes at all times. I loved finding powerups and grubs too, and the Colosseum of Fools was a great little challenge. The game gives so much and it does so much right that it deserves my #1 spot.
2. Dark Souls Remastered - The best game of all time got even better with a PS4 release. Reliving the wonders of Lordran and getting the platinum was amazing. What a special game. Wondrous. It's only at #2 because of how fresh an experience Hollow Knight was, whereas this was a replay.
3. God of War - Storytelling done right. God-tier gameplay and combat. The most impressive looking game I've seen on a console. Incredible voice acting. This game delivered a 10/10 experience and rightly takes its place as one of the best games of all time and a genuine GOTG contender. It was only beaten out this year by my favourite game of all time.
4. Tetris Effect - Gorgeous to look at with music that has now become iconic, I haven't had this much fun with a puzzle game since the sublime N++.
5. Red Dead Redemption 2 - I could talk for days about how much I hate the linearity of the missions, the poorly balanced money system, the ease of levelling Dead Eye thus making the game a cake walk, the waste of time New Austin is. I can't deny that Arthur's story, and VA, is up there with the best we've ever seen and heard in a game. While chapter 5 is unquestionably dog shit, chapter 6 is the medium's new ceiling. It's that good. A sublime game let down by poor choices that let us stray too far from what makes it so good: Arthur's tale.
6. OnRush - Putting out a game like this in 2018 was risky, and I salute the devs for delivering a really fun racing game. The gameplay loop is never boring and the challenges kept me coming back. I platinum'd it in around 20 hours and it was worth the price of admission. Definitely check it out on PS+ while you can.

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[Iryx]

1. Monster Hunter World - A large step forward for the franchise, Monster Hunter World improves on many of the series old flaws while still keeping the world-class Hunter vs Monster combat that made the series what it is.
2. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - Smash is a series that I love. It is THE series that more than any for me embodies the idea of playing video games with friends. And Ultimate with its massive character roster and varied stage selection is a game that will be played for years to come.
3. Octopath Traveler - Eight different stories following eight different characters, some great, some not that good. But the presentation, music and battle system all easily carry the game trough it rougher parts.
4. Celeste - An great platformer with a beautiful story. Amazing from start to end.
5. Return of the Obra Dinn - A detective mystery where you investigate a ship whose whole crew has died or disappeared. Using a magic compass that can show you the final moments of someone, you have to figure out the identities of the victim and how they died. This game came out of nowhere for me, and I loved it.
6. Deltarune Chapter 1 - It might only be a few hours long, but every moment of it is a blast. Looking forward to if/when the full version comes out.
7. Into the Breach - A rougelike StrategyRPG. You take control over a a mech squad to attempt to save earth. The games combat is very focused on mozing enemies and allies around, making it very much like a puzzle game at times.
8. Hollow Knight - Never got around to playing this last year. Very glad I didn't miss out on it this year.
9. The World Ends with You: Final Remix - A re-release of my all-time favorite JRPGs. The new content is fairly minimal and mostly sequel-bait, but the original game still holds up well. I was a bit hesistant about playing it with motion controls, but they ended up working great. Especially the solo-Coop where you control one character with your left hand and one with your right. It took several hours for it to feel right, but once it clicked it was amazing.
10. Mario Tennis Aces - This game sold me on its demo. Unfortunately it didn't have much staying power, with a mediocre single-player mode, but the first few hours of play were great.

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[AppleBlade]

1. Detroit: Become Human - I connected with the characters on a level I rarely do in games. The world was beautiful. The ethical questions were interesting. I love exploring near future dilemmas. I loved the story. Quantic Dreams always delivers for me.
2. Red Dead Redemption 2 - I had to edit my original ranking because this game keeps steadily climbing up. At first I hated the linear restrictive nature of the mission design but the world and characters are really starting to immerse me in the world. This is definitely a game that you need to play slow to appreciate.
3. Marvel's Spider-Man - Fun. Fun. Fun. If gaming is about having fun this truly captured it. Great graphics, combat was a joy, story was good.
4. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - This is the first Smash Bros. game I have ever gotten into. I'm not sure what it is about this incarnation that has captured my imagination but it is (despite owning and barely playing the last two incarnations). My kids are having a blast with it as well.
5. God of War - My favorite god of war but I'm not a huge fan of God of War in general. I liked the father-son relationship but I hated the segmented nature of the open world and the kill room type encounters.
6. Night in the Woods - It was a game that has stuck with me. I still think about the world and the characters. In my opinion, it has the best writing of any game I have ever played. The ending and the controls stopped it from truly being an all-time great for me.
7. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze - Nintendo knows how to make a game difficult but addictive. I hate hard games but this game kept me coming back for more until I finished it.
8. Florence - Such a short sweet game. The gameplay contained things I have never seen before.
9. Super Mario Party - A polished fun party game. I made many memories with the family playing this game at Thanksgiving.
10. Hollow Knight - I love the atmosphere. I love the controls and combat. However, I hate mechanics designed to waste my time as a penalty. As someone who lists Castlevania: Symphony of the Night as their favorite game of all time I thought this would be right up my alley but I just hated how far the save points were from each other and the whole recovering your souls mechanic thing.
11. Shadowgun Legends - It's a generic iOS shooter but it's free and was a visually impressive so it was nice to show off my new iPhone. I also loved the short levels making a perfect time waster.

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**VoteBot: Thanks for participating in ResetEra GOTY 2018! You vote receipt is available here.**

 

[Saint-14]

So my vote receipt has the bold coding with my votes, is that fine?

 

[GustyGardner]

1. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - Content rich and will be a game I go back to for at least another year while all the DLC rolls out. Fantastic selection of remixes, as always and a special thanks for convincing me to finally try the Castlevania series. I really like Castlevania now.
2. Spyro Reignited Trilogy - I'm often hesitant to place remakes on games of the year lists but I have to make a special exception for the Spyro trilogy. These games were a fixture of my childhood and I have rarely been as excited for a new release as I was in the build up to this game. Toys For Bob did a fantastic job in breathing new life into these games and I hope to see Spyro continue to flourish in the future.
3. Delta Rune Chapter 1 - I loved Undertale and was very excited to see what Toby Fox would do next. A direct sequel (or whatever Delta Rune is supposed to be) seems obvious in hindsight but when I learned of its existence following its shadow drop earlier this year, I was genuinely shocked. The first chapter is short and I beat it in a single sitting but once again, the characters, music and intriguing narrative are on point. I'm very excited to see where this goes next!
4. Yoku's Island Express - This game really came out of nowhere but its unique fusion of Metroidvania with pinball like movement made exploring this game's island extremely fresh. I'll definitely be looking out for whatever Villa Gorilla are working on next.
5. Guacamelee 2 - The original Guacamelee was a fun part-Metroidvania, part-brawler that really stood out due to its superb use of the day of the dead / Mexican wrestler theming. Guacamelee 2 is pretty much more of the same with one exception - the jokes are actually funny most of time and the terrible memes of the first game are nowhere to be found.
6. Celeste - Despite being hard as nails, I found Celeste extremely addicting. I'm not amazing at platforming but I pressed through with Celeste and I'm glad I did - some of the later areas were excellently crafted. The small bits of story scattered throughout were genuinely touching, an amazing feat considering the average quality of storytelling in your average plaformer. I look forward to replaying this one soon. Perhaps I will even manage to clear some of the B Sides this time...
7. Kirby Star Allies - It is incredible how much better this game is now than it was 9 months ago at launch. At the time, this was possibly the weakest mainline game in the series with nothing interesting to help it stand apart. Despite this, the slow roll out of free DLC has helped this game develop a niche which makes it unlike any other game in the series - the introduction of playable characters from throughout the series who cannot be played as anywhere else has elevated this game from a "never replay" to a game I will reguarly return to just to have another whirl at the numerous creative movesets given to all these fun characters. Still, the main game is quite weak and there's only so much playable Magolor can do to help patch that up.
8. God of War - Having never played a God of War before this for any substantial amount of time, I was surprised to find myself enjoying this as much as I did. I honestly thought I was completely done with AAA open world games at this point but God of War managed to provide an enthralling experience with memorable characters and set pieces.
9. Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna ~ the Golden Country - I dislike having DLC on GOTY lists but I sadly didn't play enough games this year to fill out a top ten... Torna was an enjoyable ride heavily marred by terrible pacing. The new music was nice to hear and visiting the Kingdom of Torna before it fell was bittersweet.
10. Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion - I only played enough of this to escape the subways and defeat the final boss but it was nice to revisit Splatoon 2 having dropped it late last year. The text logs between Pearl, Marina and Cuttlefish were very entertaining.

Special mentions to the following - I couldn't justify putting any of these on there but had a lot of fun with all of them.

- Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition
- Sonic Mania Plus
- Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
- Castlevania Requiem
- Shadow of the Colossus

Similarly, Hollow Knight would have made the list but technically first releasing in 2017 means I couldn't justify it either.


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[Mr. Fantastic]

Mornin'

I know VoteBot has been wonky, I'll look into it.

Click to shrink...

I quoted someones list and VoteBot interpreted as my own vote, I've edited my post since but just an FYI.

 

[Aeriscloud]

1. Dragalia Lost - I wasn't so sure about playing a gacha game at first and wasn't even that thrilled by the direct featuring the game, but after starting and playing in mid November I am in love with the world and the characters.
2. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - The absolute best in the series without question. More fighters, more Stages, MORE MORE.
   
   
   
   

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[Evon]

1. Into The Breach - This game is simply amazing. The gameplay is just about perfect. Probably the best turn-based strategy game I have ever played.
2. Monster Hunter World - Pretty much everything I had hoped for in a modernized MH game, except the limited number of monsters. Still, I had a great time playing solo and with friends.
3. Sid Meier's Civilization VI: Rise and Fall - I didn't play the game before this addon released, but I really enjoyed the time I spent with Civ 6. Looking forward to the upcoming addon.
4. Hitman 2 - More Hitman with really good level design.
5. Octopath Traveler - A good throwback JRPG. It has an engaging combat system, excellent music, and an incredibly beautiful visual style. Some of the stories are interesting, although the general design of the game is a bit repretitive.
6. Pokemon: Let's Go, Pikachu! - Nostalgia trip. I don't like random battles in RPGs so the visible Pokemon are a great change in my opinion. Catching minigame could be more interesting though.

It seems like I didn't play many games that released in 2018. There are just too many good games in my back log still to justify buying more new releases.


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[Version 3.0]

1. God of War - An amazing experience, start to finish. Kratos, Atreus, and I all grew together. In the beginning, I had Kratos' view of Atreus (a weak boy, not ready for the wider world) and Atreus' view of Kratos (a distant man unfit to be a father). But by the end, I realized both were wrong. But more importantly, I learned to use them as a team, and grow better at the game each time a new ability was unlocked. I've seen many claim the game peaks early, with the Stranger boss fight. I couldn't disagree more. The final fight was a showcase of my progress in the game's godly combat system. And the optional Valkyrie fights, even more so; I've perhaps never felt more accomplished than after beating the final one. This game managed to be the best "cinematic" (sometimes a uncomplimentary word, for me) game I've ever played without sacrificing the deep, challenging gameplay that I prize. What an accomplishment.
2. Marvel's Spider-Man - This game delivered on my singular ask from any new Spider-Man game: give me a web-swinging system as good as Spider-Man 2 had. Or it almost did. I'd rank it a bit shy. But its combat more than makes up the difference. It's satisfying, flow very well, and most importantly, makes you feel like Spider-Man (if you're doing well). The game is far from perfect. It has too many sections where your'e not Spidey, and they can drag. And its side content is repetitive. But overall, it easily takes the crown of best Spidey game.
3. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - I've only just scratched the surface of content in SSBU. But it didn't take long to realize, the joy is back! As a big Melee fan (though not a fighting game purist), I found Brawl abysmal, and SSB4 only servicable. But Ultimate grabbed me immediately, and will probably keep me hooked for a long time. This game is just so fun!
4. Hollow Knight - As a latecomer to this game (on Switch), I had heard in advance that it's a contender for best Metroidvania ever. In my first hours of slow progress, I didn't see it. I moved on. But continued internet hype led me to return to the game. And I'm so glad I did. The hype was right. This is a top-tier game in its genre. Once I started to make progress, I became obsessed. Every locked area stuck in my mind. Every defeat hardened my resolve. And the bug theme didn't hurt, either; that's totally my thing. Great game. Thank you Era.
5. Dark Souls Remastered - This is truly the best game on the list, but I considered excluding it. It's a remake, I've played it multiple times, and not so long ago. But I did complete it again this year, and it did draw me in just as well as any new game did this year. So in the end, I'm including this masterpiece again. It's a real contender for best game of all time.
6. Darksiders III - I enjoyed this game, just as much as I did Darksiders 1 and 2. It has a few issues, but none severe enough to keep me from playing it to completion in short order. I love how it ties to the other games (loosely by story, but very strongly on theme and visual design). It's classicly designed with an ability-based progression through its world, but trades in 1's Zelda influence and 2's action RPG influence for a very Souls-like layout and currency/level-up system. Very satisfactory, and I hope it does well for its creators.
7. Ghost 1.0 - I don't remember how I came across this little game, but I had a great time with it. It's a charming little Metroidvania, with a fun cast of characters and an interesting premise.
8. Marble It Up! - There are not enough rolling games these days. This is basically a sequel to the Xbox Live Arcade Marble Blast Ultra. It's fun and challenging, with an extreme challenge level hidden behind.
9. Far Cry 5 - More Far Cry. Still fun, not much different.
10. Guacamelee! 2 - More Guacamelee. Still fun, not much different (so far, I'm in the middle of this one).
11. Shadow of the Colossus - A great remake of a great game. It doesn't have the same impact after the first time, but worth a mention.
12. Lode Runner Legacy - I love Lode Runner. I could hardly believe it when I saw a new one on the E-Shop.
13. Tempest 4000 - My avatar demands I mention it.

Note: I don't see Ghost 1.0 on the list, but it is new on Switch this year (released previously on Steam). Also, the list has Spider-Man misspelled, but I'd rather have my vote not count than leave out the dash in Spidey's name. It's not, like, Phil Spiderman.


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[Darkwing-Buck]

1. Red Dead Redemption 2 - a tour de force in triple A mainstream video game storytelling. I love westerns, this was always gonna be the one.

2. Spider-Man - best marvel game ever.

3. Dusk - Better level design and better movement than Doom 2016 which is saying something.

4. Battlefield V - Not the perfect BF game but oh man is it fun. Best gunplay in the series by far.

5. Black Ops 4 - A pleasant COD experience. Instead of rushing a sp campaign, Treyarch went straight to the basics and gave us a good return to form for Call Of Duty vets. Fun but doesn't revolutionize the already bloated genre.

 

[IMACOMPUTA]

1. Red Dead Redemption 2 - This game is a colossal achievement. It's not the perfect game by any stretch of the imagination, but Rockstar have built such a fantastic world at a quality unmatched by any other game before it.

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[inner-G]

1. Forza Horizon 4 - glorious landscapes and cars, and the ability to run them at 4K or 100+ FPS is amazing.
   
   
2. Far Cry 5 - who don't like blowing up cults and having your pet cougar eat people's faces?
   
   
3. Dragon Quest XI - Love getting a big budget turn based JRPG, love that it was on PC, like the OST.
   
   
4. Yakuza 0 (PC) - the presentation on this series is always great and being able to turn up all the bells and whistles with an unlocked frame rate is just gravy.
   
   
5. Black Ops 4 - Deathmatch and Battle Royale in the same CoD? Pretty fun to pop into.
   
   
6. Red Dead Redemption II - Was so hyped, wish it played smoother and it would have been higher up on my list.

Bold your games and use the ordered list feature or the parser won't read your votes!

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Thanks!


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[AztecComplex]

1. Unavowed - both a modern reinvention of the traditional point-and-click adventure and simultaneously one of its best-ever entries
2. Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age - a superb, polished and overgenerous JRPG with a great cast of characters
3. Iconoclasts - an imaginative, endlessly varied platformer with setpieces that recall Treasure at their best
4. Heaven Will be Mine - an overlooked visual novel with some of the straight-up best writing ever seen in a video game
5. Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire - a sprawling, detailed and captivating pirate RPG with a refreshing world and great tactical gameplay
6. The Missing: JJ Macfield and the Island of Memories - a well-executed, heartfelt narrative of the kind gaming rarely covers
7. Deltarune Chapter 1 - only a part of what seems set to be a much more impressive game, but what a part nonetheless
8. Subnautica - an underwater world both dazzling and terrifying, tugging you endlessly deeper
9. Celeste - traditional platforming perfected, with a surprisingly powerful story behind it
10. Cardinal Cross - a proper sci-fi VN with an innovative choice system and an intriguing setting

Click to shrink...

You didn't list them with the proper "ordered list" feature (see OP as to how). Your votes won't be counted unless you change that.

 

[AztecComplex]

1. Forza Horizon 4 - glorious landscapes and cars, and the ability to run them at 4K or 100+ FPS is amazing.

2. Far Cry 5 - who don't like blowing up cults and having your pet cougar eat people's faces?.

3. Dragon Quest XI - Love getting a big budget turn based JRPG, love that it was on PC, like the OST.

4. Yakuza 0 (PC) - the presentation on this series is always great and being able to turn up all the bells and whistles with an unlocked frame rate is just gravy.

5. Black Ops 4 - Deathmatch and Battle Royale in the same CoD? Pretty fun to pop into.

6. Red Dead Redemption 2 - Was so hyped, wish it played smoother and it would have been higher up on my list.

Click to shrink...

Bold your games and use the ordered list feature or the parser won't read your votes!

 

[ClintStevens]

1. Read Dead Redemption 2- Not much to say about this game that hasn't already been said. Only thing I'll add is that it has the absolute best pacing of any game I've ever played, a considerable achievement considering how long it is, and for this reason I gave it my GOTY over God of War and Detroit. Literally the only bad thing I have to say about this game is the horse controls are absolutely awful. The amount of times I ran my horse into a tree or rock by accident and it died were to high to count. The combat is also way to easy if you have any skill at fps games at all, but the game is more of a playable movie then an esport so that's fine.
2. God of War- I was extremely hyped for this game thanks to era and it managed to meet my expectations and then some. Absolutely everything about this game is good. Amazing combat, fantastic story, soundtrack gave me chills, incredible level design, etc...
3. Detroit: Become Human- Biggest surprise of the year by far, this game absolutely blew me away. To be fair going into this game I had extremely low expectations. I only bought it because I love story based Telltale style games. It's the first Telltale style game where it feels like your choices actually matter. Even though Quantic Dream games are known for being super corny the story is actually really good and touches on some super dark themes without being corny or offensive. It also has the best graphics I've ever seen on a console game by far. Soundtrack is surprisingly good too.
4. Marvel's Spiderman - Even though this game is just an Arkham City clone with Spiderman instead of Batman its still really fun. It's also way too short but it's still worth renting if you're a Spiderman fan. Just be warned there are some awful mandatory stealth sections. Peter, Doc Oc, and Aunt May all give some really stand out performances too but the story overall really isn't anything special.
5. Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Even though the soundtrack is horrible and the game doesn't get good til about 30 hours in, there's such an absurd amount of content here it doesn't matter. This game is so long it makes Persona 5 look short. Amazing level design, battle system, level up system, and art style. Story is just ok. Voice acting is surprisingly good though.
6. A Way Out - Playing this with my best friend was one of the best video game experiences I've ever had. It also has the single best trophy list I've ever seen. I hate trophy hunting but had a blast unlocking the plat. If the game wasn't so short and didn't require co-op I would rank it higher.
7. Super Smash Bros Ultimate - Not only is every single character in the history of smash bros represented, but its also the first game in the series since Melee that actually has some value as a competitive esport. Brawl and 4 were terrible competitive games, but the future of ultimate looks really bright. It also helps that you can enjoy this game at literally every skill level. Online kinda sucks but the game is meant to be played locally anyway and the single player is great so its not a big deal.
8. Octopath Traveler - Second best JRPG of the year. If you like JRPGS even a little bit just buy it and go in blind.
9. The World Ends With You: Final Remix - The World Ends With You is one of my favorite games of all time. Even though this game got pretty mediocre reviews just being able to play it on my switch makes it worthy of a spot on my end of the year list.
10. Warhammer: Vermintide 2 - Left For Dead 2 is one of my favorite games of all time, I still have it installed on my PC and play it occasionally even almost a decade later. Vermintide 2 shakes up the LFD formula without straying too far from what makes LFD2 great. Its not amazing but if you like Left for Dead definitely play this.

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[Moriko]

1. God of War - This is the only game after Bloodborne this generation that as soon as I beat the game I immediately started 2nd play through and played it from start to finish again and loved every second of it.
2. Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age - One of the best JRPGS I ever played, I was so happy that I could explore and avoid every single encounter and play the game how I wanted and never feel a need to grind in order to beat a boss or an enemy.
3. Assassin's Creed Odyssey - For as much the world felt bloated with markers, boring bounty's and side quests and story was nowhere near good as RDR2 which I just beat before playing Odyssey I really couldn't put this game down, ancient Greece was amazing and combat was refreshing and fun.
4. Red Dead Redemption 2 - I loved the story, characters and world so much that this could easily been my GOTG along with Bloodborne if only they invested as much effort in controls, mission design and combat.
5. Ni no Kuni II - Pure joy to play I just wish combat had more depth.

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[AztecComplex]

1. God of War - It's my personal Game of the Generation so far. This game surprised me. Gameplay videos don't do justice to the fighting mechanics. The exploration, fighting, and story loop is just well done and kept me gripped like no other game has in the last 8 years. For example, Last of Us had a great story, but I didn't enjoy playing the game the way it was meant to be played (stealthily) all the time. But God of War's fighting mechanics actually had me looking for fights. The game isn't perfect, but the design of fighting, exploration for loot, and story kept me engrossed.
2. Astro Bot: Rescue Mission - VR's most creative platformer. This was worth getting a PSVR for.
3. Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age - While I don't think it's as good as Dragon Quest 8 or some other DQ titles, I think it's a solid game. Good story, good characters, refined JRPG gameplay. The music is terrible though. Like, seriously terrible. It's not just because it's midi-styled music, but the composition of original tracks are lackluster compared to almost any other DQ game in the series, which is extremely disappointing. But it's an easy game that is great to spend time with after a long day of work.
4. Marvel's Spider-Man - Amazingly fun game. Insomniac nearly hit this one out of the ballpark for me. I did feel the game was overall a bit disappointing, but only because I hold Insomniac to the highest standards. I really didn't enjoy playing as Mary Jane or other characters since I hate stealth gameplay in games not focused on stealth like Metal Gear or Splinter Cell. But the webswinging and story were great to experience.
5. Detroit: Become Human - It's just another fantastic title that was gripping and choices mattered. This was fun to play with people, too. My girlfriend doesn't game at all, but she was able to enjoy this game with me.
6. Yakuza 6: The Song of Life - A great end to a great series with a great protagonist. I really enjoyed my time with this game. It's certainly the easiest Yakuza game ever, but I don't mind it since I enjoyed playing through it for the story.
7. Yakuza Kiwami 2 - This would probably be at the top of my list under God of War if this wasn't a remake. But as it stands, I think everyone knows how amazing Yakuza 2 is. I'm only ranking it this low on the list because I think the other games deserve a chance to shine since the rest on this list are all original and new games.

I played some other games, which I felt were disappointing and did not enjoy enough to rank as Game of the Year titles such as Monster Hunter World. On the other hand, there were several games I wish I had more time with such as Celeste or 428: Shibuya Scramble. There were systems I have not connected to play this year such as Xbox One for Forza Horizon 4, which looks amazing.

With that said, 2018 was an amazing year for games. God of War utterly surprised me. I resonated with me like no other game since 2010's Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Mass Effect 2. There were some great games since then like Tomb Raider 2013, Last of Us, and many others, but something about God of War's gameplay loop just gripped me. The rest of the year also had games which were amazing to play, too. I bought the PSVR this year just for Astro Bot and that did not disappoint. Hopefully everyone enjoyed their gaming time this year. Here's hoping 2019 can be great, too.


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Bold your games!

 

[ElectricBlanketFire]

1. Celeste - While the mountain metaphor is a bit on the nose, it is a gorgeous, thoughtful adventure with a beautiful soundtrack that perfectly compliments the tough, but fair gameplay. Even after dying hundreds of times (and you will die hundreds of times), there is never a sense of frustration as the point is not to conquer the mountain, but to keep moving forward. The creator of Celeste said it best at The Game Awards: "If Celeste has helped you come to terms with mental illness, you deserve credit for that. That change came from inside of you, and you're capable of a lot more."

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[HyGogg]

1. God of War - Brilliant storytelling and direction, and a complete reinvention of a franchise I never cared much about before.
2. Tetris Effect - The ultimate realization of Mizuguchi's vision of synesthesia and the best solo Tetris ever.
3. Marvel's Spider-Man - Nothing short of my favorite superhero game, and one of the best from Insomniac.
4. Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom - It was enough that we even got a new Wonder Boy, but this game far exceeded my hopes and expectations.
5. Detroit: Become Human - The first game of its kind where choices felt real and meaningful even on subsequent plays.
6. Valkyria Chronicles 4 - Finally the worthy sequel we've always wanted. I liked it even more than the first.
7. Overload - A pitch-perfect recreation of a classic series, very much the true successor Descent Underground wasn't.
8. Celeste - A beautiful excercise in game design with a simple and touching story.
9. Dragon Ball FighterZ - For a casual fighting fan like me, this is about as much fun as I've had with a fighter in years.
10. A Way Out - Playing this with my girlfriend was some of the most fun we've ever had playing games together.

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[AztecComplex]

1. God of War - Immaculate from start to finish. Santa Monica Studio managed to reinvent and elevate franchise to heights most wouldn't thought was possible.
2. Super Smash Bros Ultimate - It's more Smash Bros with a gigantic roster. It's the ultimate party game.
3. Red Dead Redemption 2 - Stunningly beautiful. A technical marvel. Sets a new bar for all future open-world games.
4. Marvel's Spider-Man - A total blast to play. Insomniac proved to be the perfect studio to bring Spidey into the AAA space.
5. Dragon Quest XI - DQXI embraces all the elements that define what a DQ is. It is classic turn-based JRPG goodness.
6. Detroit: Become Human - Emotionally resonating. Characters that you care about. Your choices DO matter.
7. Shadow of the Colossus - To this day there still hasn't been a game quite like SotC. The world is lonely, serene, and breathtakingly beautiful.
8. Yakuza 6 - The fitting conclusion to Kiryu's journey.
9. Tetris Effect - There are very few games that are worth purchasing a VR headset for. This is one of them.
10. Assassin's Creed Odyssey - The franchise had a resurgence with Origins. Odysseys builds on that and more.

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[noomi]

1. God of War - As a long time fan of the series, I was worried about the changes to the game... but my my they really hit the nail on the head. Story, game-play, the world, and the graphics were top notch.
2. Red Dead Redemption 2 - The game I've waited nearly a decade for, almost stole my GOTY, but fell slightly short due to the controls and overall weighty feel of the game.
3. Far Cry 5 - Never thought this would be on my GOTY list, but here we are.... loved the atmosphere and the game-play.
4. Celeste - Again.... never thought an indie game would make my list... but I really truly enjoyed this experience.
5. Forza Horizon 4 - The best racer I've ever laid hands on... period.
6. Spider-Man - I wish this was a bit higher on my list, but the side content really hindered my experience with the game.

Well.... that's my list.


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[Phabh]

1. Celeste - One of the best 2D platformers of all time alongside Super Mario Bros 3. Incredible controls, innovative platforming, great level design and one of the best OST of the year - 10/10.
2. Into The Breach - One of the best turn-based games of all time alongside Advance Wars. Innovative mechanics for the genre. "It's like Chess but fun" - 10/10.
3. Yoku's Island Express - Pinball X Metroidvania. One seamless island/pinball to explore. Oozes charm, cute graphics and a lovely soundtrack - 8/10.
4. Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion - Lots of creativity in each mission and a nice challenge - 8/10
5. Hollow Knight - Brilliant setting, atmosphere and visuals but overly long, grindy and lacks cool power-ups and rewards - 7/10
6. God Of War - A good ride but lost in AAA tropes and repetitive enemy encounters - 7/10
7. Overcooked! 2 - More of the same but that's OK for a multiplayer game - 7/10
8. Just Shapes & Beats - Very cool little music game with some great EDM tracks - 7/10
9. Guacamelee 2 - A well-done sequel lacking in new ideas and overly linear - 7/10
10. Semblance - Brilliant idea but not explored enough and a weak setting. The potential is there for a classic - 5/10

Played but not ranked for various reasons:

Read Dead Redemption II
Iconoclasts
Towerfall
Katamari Damacy Reroll
Lumines Remastered
Bomb Chicken
The Gardens Between
Shadow Of The Colossus
Inside
Hyper Light Drifter: Special Edition
Mark Of The Ninja Remastered


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[k4mon]

1. God of War - Glued to my screen for the entire duration. Amazing story and the production value is top tier.
2. Celeste - Amazing and moving experience but most importantly a fantastic platformer.
3. Dead Cells - Just the best roguelike ever
4. Into The Breach - I love how simple but at the same time how complex this game is.
5. Red Dead Redemption 2 - An amazing game but with a large amount of archaic design choices and decisions. Still I would recommend to everyone at least trying it out.
6. Marvel's Spider-Man - They really nailed being Spider-Man. And the story is better than all the movies.

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[gargles]

1. Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Illusive Age - My game of the year. Even with its subpar OST, Dragon Quest XI fires all cylinders to make a run as one of this generation's best JRPGs and as one of its best games. Two phenomenal arcs, a loveable cast of characters and a beautiful world are some of the reasons DQ is as good as it is. The return it deserved. The homage the series deserved.
2. God of War - Arguably the richest game of this generation. It delivers on (almost) every single aspect. A marvel to look at, a delight to play. And if that was not enough, this game finally gives a reason to truly care for Kratos. While still being a awful human being, Kratos became a character in this game. That might be the highest praise I can give for this game. One for the ages. One of Sony's all-time greats.
3. Celeste - Being a great platformer was not enough for Celeste. Oh hell no. It had to go even further with its motif and one of 2018's best OSTs. Not just a great indie, not just a great platformer. Simply a memorable experience.
4. Red Dead Redemption 2 - What could have been a landmark of this industry... just couldn't reach that status. While the gameplay didn't ruin it, it wasn't as good as what it was supposed to be. Amazing story, excellent cast, impressive world... but that gameplay. Still a great game.
5. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate -
6. Marvel's Spider-Man -
7. Monster Hunter World -
8. Pokémon Let's Go - Surprisingly good. While it may lack FireRed and LeafGreen's extra content and even more than 151 + 2 Pokémons, limiting the most important trainers' rosters; the base content unexpectedly improves the original's with new moments and cameos. The presence of Pokémons in the overworld and the elimination of random battles also make up for this game's shortcomings. And it is also very charming. A nice detour before embarking to a new region in 2019.
9. Octopath Traveler - I feel bad about this one. I'm giving it my #9 just because I didn't finish it. Or because I couldn't finish it. Not that it was bad but... I've just put it aside and never touched it again after 20 hours. Will return to it someday because my God, isn't this game beautiful. And that soundtrack! And Primrose! Someday, Octopath. Someday I'll give you the opportunity you deserve.
10. Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom - Yeah, not feeling this one. Only played 10 2018 games and this was definitely the worst of the bunch. It looks amazing and Roland is an interesting character. Won't attack it because this should be a list of the best games of 2018. This one didn't deliver. Glad we had Dragon Quest to make up for it.

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[Mezoly]

The amount of votes for Dragon Quest XI makes me want next week come sooner so I could finally dive into it.

 

[Kuldar]

1. God of War - I didn't think I would enjoy that much playing this game. I was sceptical about the formula change, and I have to say that I wasn't confident that they would be able to properly treat a father-son relationship considering how childish some aspect of God of War serie was. But oh boy, I was wrong. I think it's an author video-game. Sure a lot of people worked on it, but Cory Barlog put life in it and made it a piece of art. Yes there are some pacing issue and a lack of boss diversity, but it's made with an intent, with a passion that make it more that the sum opf it's component. It's not just how fun it is to swing the axe, how beautiful the game is and how the kinship is treated, all of this merge in a coherent cultural object.
2. Marvel's Spider-Man - It was fun, fun, fun and fun. The traversal is fantastic and the best I had in an open-world. Fighting as Spider-Man feels just great and as you learn how to use each gadget you become Spider-Man: jumping, webing, punshing and throwing snarky remarks. The story was great and I really want to play the next game to see where they want to go. If there wasn't some old open-world game desing choices like how repetitive some side content is, this game would have been my first peak, but second place is good too.
3. Frostpunk - That feeling when you finish a party without any death and without becoming a mosnter. The music is superb and play a big part in puting you in the right mood to play this survival city builder.
4. Assassin's Creed Odyssey - Kassandra is love, Kassandra is life. I really like what they did with this game. I thought it would be an AC:Origins 1.5, but it's impressive how changing how equipment works changed the game. I had issue playing during first levels because I was playing like in AC:Origins. But once I understood how important equipments bonus were, it was a blast. Some side content was really good and close to The Witcher 3. Spliting the mains tory in three stories was an interesting choice but I thing it didn't work that well since we got three small ending and not a big conclusion to Kassandra Odyssey. This plus other issues like a lot repetitiveness in side content make that it's not in the top 3.
5. Detroit: Become Human - I really liked stories told in this game. I was glued to it because I wanted to know more and trying to get everyone survive. I really was surprise to care that much about all playable characters and for a game basicly based on it's story that's a great achievment.
6. Into The Breach - I'm not that good in this genre, but fuck if I didn't enjoy it. I lost a lot of sleep because I wanted to try another run and see how far I could get, very adictive.
7. Red Dead Redemption 2 - It's a technical marvel, there are crazy amount of details, but contrary to all previously mentionned games I didn't feel the urge to play it to completion. Maybe the story didn't click on me, or maybe I wasn't that enthousiast to play some not that interesting missions, I just wasn't as excited to play it than I thought I would. It's a good game, but clearly not the best game I played this year.

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[squidyj]

1. God of War - Why can't we be friends? why can't we be friends?
2. Dead Cells - Sometimes being a disgusting mass of dead cells attached to a decapitated corpse can feel REALLY good.
3. Tetris Effect - Cleverly made sure to release after implementation of bill C-45 in Canada. Good job guys.
4. Red Dead Redemption 2 - It's pretty
5. Monster Hunter World - I killed a b52 bomber!
6. Marvel's Spider-Man - With great IP comes great expectations. Expectations exceeded.

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[king_bombo2215]

1. God of War - It's the one game this year that got everything right - narrative, gameplay, pacing and tone.
2. Hollow Knight - I stopped working for a week while I made my way through this game - a 2D Dark Souls that is so much more than the sum of those parts.
3. Marvel's Spiderman - A game that eschewed the idea of massive scope in an open world to really translate the feeling of being a super hero while telling a killer story backed by amazing music.
4. Red Dead Redemption 2 - If there was an award for "most" this would be number 1 - however the gameplay just is not there and one cannot help but wonder about the time spent on all the little details of animation that slow a great video game down to a frustrating crawl.
5. Monster Hunter World - Playing this game made me finally understand the appeal of this series and I cannot wait for more from this team.
6. Dead Cells - Dropping turrets into a room and waiting while they do their work should be the least satisfying gameplay loop of the year and yet I still find myself going back and doing another run with the same turret build.
7. Valkyria Chronicles 4 - How could someone say no to all that anime.

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