Good list. Seeing Yoku's Island Express getting some love is nice and seeing Obra Dinn and Celeste in the top 10 of any lists is awesome!
Why? They explain why it is resonated with themNice to see Obra Dinn and Subnautica ranked so highly, but Spider-Man's placement is... puzzling.
This was the year Insomniac Games taught us the crucial difference between inhabiting a superhero and actually being one. Heroes rarely get to relate to the people they save on a personal level. In gaming, it's even rarer to see a hero who saves a specific person's day for no reward, and in ways that don't involve breaking bones. Video games excel at letting players wield great power, while ignoring the great responsibility that comes with that. Marvel's Spider-Man, miraculously, excels at both. As breathtaking and awesomely kinetic as it feels for Spider-Man to swing through Manhattan before taking out bad guys in a wild death-defying mid-air dance, the game's most daring feat is when the acrobatics take a sidestep to poignancy and humanity. The inherent coolness of being Spider-Man never overwhelms the portrayal of every character as human beings trying desperately to accept or transcend their problems, their sworn duty, even their mortality, and Peter Parker showing nearly infinite empathy in coping with his and their mistakes. Spider-Man, the webslinger, is cool. Spider-Man, friend of an entire city, is phenomenal
RDR deserved better, even solely based on the great story it told, great list otherwise tho.
Finally, a list that realizes that Monster Hunter World was awful.
True. Shame this will never happen again cause Sony is over. E3 cancelled. Nothing at the Game Show Awards. They lost the plot. Arrogance back. Shame
The developer of this game (Lucas Pope) is literally just one dude that made the entire thing. I doubt he'd be able to port to console anytime soon if ever. The game can run on most toasters, so don't let that stop you. Game's the best detective game I've ever played and a hell of a puzzle game at that.Doesn anyone know if there are planes for console release for Obra Dinn?
Celeste seems strangely low, curious as to the reasoning for some of the games above it.
Why is it hard to reconcile? All you need to do is understand that those feelings only apply to you, you alone, and no one else. And that lists having games in X spot aren't saying you're wrong or that X is worse than Y, but that Y appealed to and resonated with them more.To each their own, but its hard to reconcile in my mind how anyone could have RDR2 15 places below GoW. I'm playing through it now and trying to decide if GoW or RDR2 is going to be my GOTY. I also thoroughly enjoyed Spider-man, but don't feel like it is at the level of those two, and its inclusion so high, with a far less compelling open-world is also a head scratcher. It controls better than RDR2, but it is far more repetitive and there is less to discover. I recognize that the shooting gallery mechanics of RDR2 are also repetitive, but when I play RDR2 every session feels like a different experience with a range of unique and different encounters.
But I do like that their list isn't cookie cutter and that they are giving some love to some overlooked games.
That's all well and good, I just personally disagree with their premise that Spider-Man nails both gameplay and narrative. From a game design standpoint it was probably the weakest first party Sony game released this year, with its insta-fail stealth sections, lackluster open world activities, half-baked progression, and combat that often gets pushed past its breaking point (see the DLC). And on a narrative level, the game is bookended by its best moments but really sags in the middle.
Anytime I feel that game is getting unfairly slammed I just visit Metaritic and bask in that 97. :)
Seriously though, I love RDR2 - I think it's one of the greatest triumphs of this medium. But it's also a game that pushes simulation components onto an industry heavily predicated on twitchy gameplay and snappy mechanics. There's a weight to this game - both literally and figuratively - that clearly compels some and repels others and while I personally love the languid pace of this experience, I can understand on some level why some people don't.
RDR2 isn't GTA with Horses - it's a simulation of a bygone era replete with the limitations therein.
Not once you know these were the first to not give a glowing RDR2 review (7/10 I think).
Hitman 2's story was exactly what it needed to be, i.e. 5 minutes of cutscenes you watch once and then skip the next 50 times you replay each level. If they wasted more of the extremely limited budget on making prettier cutscenes instead of generating those incredible levels, that would have been a huge waste.Spider-Man #2? Despite the generic open world and lame stealth missions? Nah fam.
And Hitman 2 was a rushjob with awful cinematics and no story. I enjoyed the core gameplay but #9?
The developer of this game (Lucas Pope) is literally just one dude that made the entire thing. I doubt he'd be able to port to console anytime soon if ever. The game can run on most toasters, so don't let that stop you. Game's the best detective game I've ever played and a hell of a puzzle game at that.
Yeah, the person who wrote the blurb for the list enjoyed for the same reasons as youAnytime I feel that game is getting unfairly slammed I just visit Metaritic and bask in that 97. :)
Seriously though, I love RDR2 - I think it's one of the greatest triumphs of this medium. But it's also a game that pushes simulation components onto an industry heavily predicated on twitchy gameplay and snappy mechanics. There's a weight to this game - both literally and figuratively - that clearly compels some and repels others and while I personally love the languid pace of this experience, I can understand on some level why some people don't.
RDR2 isn't GTA with Horses - it's a simulation of a bygone era replete with the limitations therein.
Told from the perspective of a cowboy wrestling with a cultural shift in society, Red Dead Redemption 2 is a philosophical take on the American frontier. Arthur Morgan is a lawless man wanting to be lawful, but he's too mixed up in gang affiliations to believe his life can ever truly be redeemed. Especially in its profoundly heartbreaking depiction of the demise of the Van der Linde gang, Red Dead Redemption 2's theme of loyalty in the face of hopelessness rises to the forefront of the gameplay experience. Just as impressive as that feeling of heft to the kick of revolvers is the level of detail that went into rendering all the towns you come across, each and every part of these locales informed by its socioeconomics. But what makes the game something truly special is how it examines its main character's moral dilemma. Red Dead Redemption 2 tells us that sticking to our guns may leave us deader than a deer on a riverbank, and assimilation doesn't always mean defeat.
I don't buy Hitman for its story, I come for great level design and lots of ways of taking out your target, and Hitman 2 absolutely delivered on that front. Definitely one of the 10 best games this year.Spider-Man #2? Despite the generic open world and lame stealth missions? Nah fam.
And Hitman 2 was a rushjob with awful cinematics and no story. I enjoyed the core gameplay but #9?
Anytime I feel that game is getting unfairly slammed I just visit Metaritic and bask in that 97. :)
Seriously though, I love RDR2 - I think it's one of the greatest triumphs of this medium. But it's also a game that pushes simulation components onto an industry heavily predicated on twitchy gameplay and snappy mechanics. There's a weight to this game - both literally and figuratively - that clearly compels some and repels others and while I personally love the languid pace of this experience, I can understand on some level why some people don't.
RDR2 isn't GTA with Horses - it's a simulation of a bygone era replete with the limitations therein.
You must be confused. This is a list of games they liked. Not "slammed".
Spider-Man #2? Despite the generic open world and lame stealth missions? Nah fam.
And Hitman 2 was a rushjob with awful cinematics and no story. I enjoyed the core gameplay but #9?
Why is it hard to reconcile? All you need to do is understand that those feelings only apply to you, you alone, and no one else. And that lists having games in X spot aren't saying you're wrong or that X is worse than Y, but that Y appealed to and resonated with them more.
? It got ported to ios and vita. The game's only 2-3 sittings so you don't have to deal with your laptop for long. But I get it.Sure, I have a decent laptop that could run it but I hate playing games on it. I understand what you say about Lucas but Papers Please came out practically on everything so, maybe there was some long term plan to release Obra Dinn on consoles (I'm convinced there is one but not announced and probably won't be for a considerable amount of time tho).
I think Spider-Man's combat elevates it to one of the top spots for 2018.
I think the combat is so good it makes up for some of the weaker portions, specifically the lackluster stealth sections.
True. Spider-Man should be number 1 and RDR2 should not be on the list at all.Good list. Terrible placement
Spider-Man at number 2 is no bueno
RDR2 at 16 is a sin
ider-Man's combat elevates it to one of the top spots for 2018.
I think the combat is so good it makes up for some of the wea
How do summations of ranks work for games like Smash Ultimate where I've seen it being included in publications for this year and then held off until next year. Where does it go? December releases are weird.
Good list. Terrible placement
Spider-Man at number 2 is no bueno
RDR2 at 16 is a sin
I will never understand the love Spider Man is getting, with it's empty, dated, cookie cutter openworld.
Personally I found the combat incredibly repetitive and the story kind of dull. And it never felt like there was much to do in the world but swing around.It's super fun to play? It controls great, the story is good and fun and the minute to minute action is the most fun I've had playing a game this year.
Really hope more lists put RDR2 further back like this. Could've also wished for critics to fairly judge the actual gameplay, but it's too late for that.
Anything to prevent Rockstar from releasing another game with absolutely shit controls.
Yes I too wish more games controlled like ass. It makes it more immersive because life controls like ass too.It's odd that you think everyone else shares your opinion of how that game plays.
I have ZERO issues with the controls in the game - I actually wish more games played like RDR2.