froghawk on 17/12/2018 at 13:43

---

What does this guy have against 'canadiens' and why does he spell it that way?

Thirith on 17/12/2018 at 14:33

---

I'm half-suspecting that he's a self-hating francocanadien.

Renault on 17/12/2018 at 15:44

---

Btw, I love these threads, you guys give me a blueprint of what to play over the next 2 years.

The only 2018 games I've played are:

Below - It's only been out a couple of days, but I'm hooked/addicted already. We'll call it my de facto GOTY until proven otherwise.
Don't Starve: Hamlet - This is DLC, a pretty good twist on base game's mechanics.
Dark Souls Remastered - Does this count? My first time through this classic, which was of course awesome. Originally played on PS4, replaying it now on the Switch.
Far Cry 5 - I had some fun with it, got about a third of the way through and then suddenly lost interest. I'm sure I'll get back to it at some point.
Subnautica - Got frustrated with the early game and shelved it.
Platago! - Really fun platform game maker, ala Super Mario Maker (but just a bit more generic). Not bad for 5 bucks.

I also picked up Dead Cells, Celeste, and Amid Evil, but I haven't had a chance to really dive in to those yet.

My $ spent total on Steam this year was my lowest (by far) since 2012, which is probably because I was playing a decent amount of PS4 games, but also just because of such a huge backlog. I tend to think this is not what Steam had in mind when they run all those crazy sales.

Pyrian on 17/12/2018 at 16:35

---

Well, now I feel less bad about how sparse my playlist has been.

I really liked Into the Breach.

I enjoyed Prey and Dishonored 2, but both end up feeling like chores after a bit.

Subsurface Circular wasn't great, IMO. It had a few good story bits, but the basic gameplay was stale and derivative, most of the story was dull, and the opening conceit of allowing you to not take the mission but then just sit there was outright bad. Like, seriously what's the point of distilling gameplay down to a single core mechanic and then flubbing it with boring derivative crap?

I played Pan-Pan this year, it's cute, my daughter loves it.

Played the heck out of Headliner, that was good.

Malf on 17/12/2018 at 21:07

---

Erg, trying to think...

I've played a LOT of Destiny 2 this year, and loved every minute of it... until I quit cold turkey. Whatever, simply as a shooter, it's excellent. I just have to stay away from it. It's that digital crack people keep going on about. Damn MMOs >:E

One that I keep meaning to go back to, but I don't because starting a new game can feel a little repetitive is Cultist Simulator. Still deserves a place on my list though, because it is so damned good at what it does. The gradual rise to power and inevitable fall from grace is effortlessly portrayed in a gaming medium I didn't think was capable of such nuance.

Dead Cells? Definitely, although it took me getting it on Switch and playing it during my daily commute to really get my teeth in to it. Still not "completed" it yet; need to remedy that.

Forza Horizon 4 has gradually become my favourite way to play when I want something fun and brainless this year. The open world driving is really fun, and I love the way it gradually challenges you to try higher difficulties as you get better. And the live events are fantastic fun, hooning around the countryside with a bunch of other maniacs.

I dearly love the silliness and bombast of Monster Hunter World. I had been looking forward to it all year, and it didn't disappoint when it finally arrived. Really looking forward to the Geralt crossover! Especially because (whisper it), the actual act of hunting mosters is actually a lot more fun in MHW than it is in Witcher 3. Plus, Palicos.

Spider-Man on the PS4 nails the Spidey feel, and I can quite happily just swing through the city. It's mostly complete joy, which unfortunately is tied to an overall game design that feels like its finally on its way out: the open-world iconathon. Could do with some more iconic bad guys too. But the swinging, fighting and music are all spectacular.


But now we get on to the big 3.

We start with a late-comer to my list in Kenshi. When RPS compared it favourably to Dwarf Fortress, I had to give it a look. And while I've only been playing it this weekend, I can already tell I'm going to be putting a LOT of hours in to it. It's harsh, it's very, VERY brown, and it has a nasty-ass UI as well as some interesting physics. But man, is it deep. It's like the mutant offspring of an unholy union between at least 3 parents; Fallout, an RTS and a survival game. Very cool.

I am still plugging away at The Cowboy Game.
I suspect I shall be plugging away at it for some time (partly because I suspect it might be killing my PS4; I've had two unexpected shutdowns whilst playing).
While the missions may be linear, the world is the best, most convincing open world I've yet to experience in games, and simply existing in it is enough. That it is also populated by probably the best performances I've seen in gaming is the icing on the cake, and the story shows remarkable maturity when you consider it's from the same pen that brought us GTA V.

And top dog?
Hitman 2.
I've said this to Sulphur, but as long as they stick to this formula and keep the quality as high, any year this series gets a release it'll be my favourite game of that year.
I've not completed it yet (one more level to go!), but everything that kept me coming back to 2016's Hitman is in here (literally!) and more. The levels are so crammed full of things to do and clever ways to take out your targets. The unlock system gives you a reason to go back and play in a different way, exploring as many avenues as possible. And even after you've exhausted all of the scoring achievements, you can still come up with reason to revisit levels and try something different!
Then there's the extra modes like Contracts, Escalations and the divisive yet brilliant Elusive Targets, all of which are delicious icing topping off a scrumptious murdercake.
I think my favourite level so far has been Mumbai. But they all are brilliant in their own way.

Also-rans:
I'm sure if I had more time to play it amongst all these other games, Battletech would be riding high in my estimations too. I can't quite say it's a favourite, as I haven't given it enough time to confidently say that, but I suspect it will be. Same goes for Tower of Time.
Two Point Hospital has taken a back-seat while, like a magpie, I've been distracted by shinier things. But it does exactly what they intended for it to do. It's a true sequel to Theme Hospital.
Tempest 4000 has settled down after a rough start. But something still doesn't feel right when compared to its superior Vita sibling TxK.
Chuchel is delightful, but again has fallen victim to there being other, shinier things around.
Star Trader: Frontiers has also catured my attention briefly this year, and I shall be returning to it.
Subnautica deserves more of my time too, and indeed almost scraped in to the list above, but it's just a little too survival-ish for my tastes.

Oops, forgot Dad of Boy. Excellent stuff. utterly gorgeous, but maybe let down by none of the fights feeling as big as in previous games in the series. Enemy variety is lacking too, and at least one of the levels feels like filler content. Absolutely fantastic feel to the combat though, especially with the way Kratos' boomerang-axe thunks nicely back on return with a reciprocal judder of the pad.

It's been a grand year for games, that much is certain :)