- Tetris Effect - I love Tetris and I love Mizuguchi's games so this was a match made in heaven for me. I can already tell that I'm going to be playing this game for years to come. Chipping away at it until I SS everything and beyond that because it is now my go to version of Tetris. Each stage has incredible music and visuals that work so god damn well together with only a couple I personally wasn't too into but most of them got me into that zone which is this game's crowning achievement. And I haven't even played it in VR yet.
- Red Dead Redemption 2 - Red Dead Redemption was my favourite Rockstar game but I think this my have beat it out. As much as I like the cities of GTA for how detailed they are, there's something about how Rockstar do their country side open worlds that I like so much more, especially in RDR2 by how obsessed it is with immersion. On top of that, this is also by far Rockstar's best written game with characters that aren't just big jokes but feel like real people and no shitty tongue in cheek commentary. It has its issues but I was more than willing to look past them because I could tell they were there for a reason.
- Hollow Knight - This may be the best metriodvania I've ever played. The world is incredibly enjoyable to explore for so many reasons such was seeing how well connected it is, how beautiful it is to look at and how interesting it all is in context of the lore. I would have loved for this to be my GOTY since it was also made in my city which is a first but unfortunately the game kind of lost my interest after I had fully explored the world and only had bosses left to do. Not saying the bosses aren't good because a lot of them are great (<3 Hornet) but they are no where near as enjoyable as I thought the exploration was.
- The Missing: JJ Macfield and the Island of Memories - Since Deadly Premonition is one of my favourite games ever, I am down for anything Swery. I expected something funny and weird as usual from the Missing but what I got was something surprisingly more heartfelt than anything. It handles a very serious subject matter shockingly well considering how darkly comedic the gameplay is and it still has that sense of humour and weirdness of a Swery game. Gameplay could have been better with puzzles that don't make much sense (one is pure utter nonsense you have to brute force) and animations so long it gives RDR2 a run for its money but it still conveyed meaning very well. It's a shame that Arc System Works fucked up the release of a game that was already set to be the most underrated game of the year.
- Yakuza Kiwami 2 - This game is up there as the best in the series alongside 4 and 0. The main issues I had with Yakuza 6 due to the new engine are pretty much gone in this with better IQ and much better combat. This was my last mainline entry I had left to play so going back in time to this story I knew nothing about was so much fun and it may just be peak Yakuza stupidity. It also has by far the funniest scene in a game ever because it nearly killed me from laughing too hard.
- Deltarune Chapter 1 - What a crazy surprise this was. I wasn't too thrilled by the idea of a follow up to Undertale but I am fascinated by where Toby Fox is going with this and knowing he has planned this since the beginning makes me so happy. All the charm and creativity of Undertale is still there with new exciting gameplay mechanics that allow you to have a party which by itself opens up a ton of interesting ideas. The only negative is that this is still chapter 1 of a game we basically know nothing about so my feelings are still up in the air but I have faith the full version of Deltarune is going to be a masterpiece just like Undertale was.
- Marvel's Spiderman - This game is just pure fun. After I 100%'d it I still wanted more because it was so fun. Web swinging is the best it has ever been with how you learn to use it to get faster and the animations add a lot of personality and flow nicely. I only wish they add the physics details of Spider Man 2 for the sequel such as being able to hold onto a web and having the webs wrap around and stick to the environment. The story is also surprisingly decent for a comic book story and Yuri Lowenthal kills it as Peter Parker.
- Hitman 2 - Hitman is such a unique series (ignoring Absolution) that you can get a new game with only a few minor improvements and that's perfectly fine. Overall, I think the level design is better than Hitman 2016 with the exception of Hawke's Bay which baffles me because it acts as a tutorial even though there's already a proper tutorial in the game. The other five levels are amazing with Isle of Sgail being my favourite and Mumbai proving how much IO continues to improve and show off how special Hitman is.
- God of War - God of War 4 seems like it does everything right. It looks amazing both graphically and artistically, the combat is immensely satisfying with a good amount of challenge, the story is incredibly well written and deserves a lot of respect for turning everybody around on what they think of Kratos, the level design is a perfect blend of linear and open world, and so much more. Although I didn't really care that much for it at the end and I think that's because it didn't really do anything new. The only two things I can think of is how the axe is thrown and how hit stop works but those are relatively minor things. It felt like it took no risks by doing everything that is known to work and doing those things incredibly well but at the expense of identity.
- Yakuza 6: The Song of Life - Carrying on with what I said on Kiwami 2, the problems with working with a new engine really negatively effected my opinion on this game. Ignoring that, this may be the strongest story in the series just by nature of being the last chapter of Kiryu's story. It is far more personal and because of that I was hooked into the story from the very beginning unlike the others that require meeting new characters and learning about the situation which takes a while to get invested. It may have been predictable but that didn't stop me from clutching my fists and cheering Kiryu on during his final battle.
- Shadow of the Colossus - Only an honourable mention because honestly, this game is better than all the ones listed above. But being a beat-by-beat remake with no remarkable changes other than improved visuals, it's unfair to the other games to compare a game that already means so much to me on there even when it's eligible. Bluepoint doing god's work.
**VoteBot: Thanks for participating in ResetEra GOTY 2018! You vote receipt is available here.**
Last edited by a moderator: