demagogue on 23/12/2018 at 20:54
Quote Posted by qolelis
It
is kind of amazing -- quite intimidating too.
I got this just on the discussion going on here. I have to say for the first probably 20 minutes I thought it was just a not-very-responsive procedural blob sim, and at the start not even particularly good looking blobs at that. And under normal circumstances (if I had stumbled into some flash game like this) I would have ended it right there. But because I figured there had to be more or why was it even being talked about, I persisted and slowly, but happily, figured out
I was actually in 3D space, and then with other entities, and when I figured out the sounds were leading me places, suddenly I'm making "progress" to different aesthetic worlds. Definitely makes the imagination wander and was more than I was expecting. I like that you have to take it at its own slow pace. You have to be in the mood for it, but when you are it's quite the antidote from the everyday.
Aja on 23/12/2018 at 21:41
I think the only new game from 2018 that I played was Smash Bros on Switch, and despite never having liked the series in the past, I'm loving it now. Otherwise I've mainly just been slowly working through my backlog from two Christmas sales ago.
twisty on 24/12/2018 at 09:52
I think that I will probably revisit this thread at a later stage once I've finished off a few more games released in 2019. That said, while I have played less games this year than I have in many years the ones that I have spent the most time with are from the past 1-2 years such as Doom, Darkest Dungeon, the Echo and Outlast 2.
Technically speaking the only games released in 2018 that I have completed are The Long Dark and Subnautica as they came out of early access this year. Both games would easily make it to the top of my list. I already put Subnautica there last year based on early access; the final version wasn't different enough to make me want to play through it again. The story mode of The Long Dark turned out to be excellent although it took me some time before I spent any time with it; am keen to try the redux version at some stage.
As for the rest, I haven't completed them yet so won't claim these as being part of the best of 2018 so here's my current impressions based on my current playtime:
* Destiny 2 - 3-4 hours - Seems fun so far and the combat has improved a lot from the first one which I never finished. I'm currently at the 5th or 6th world but am not sure if I'll spend too much more time with this.
* Guacamelee 2 - 30 mins - More of the same but with updated graphics and some new gameplay challenges.
* Immortal Darkness: Curse of The Pale King - 1 hour - Unlikely to make it to my best of 2018 list but still a very fun Indie game that harkens back to another era and would sit quite comfortably on a Sega Megadrive.
* Far Cry 5 - 8 hours - I'm finding it much better than FC4, which I found slightly disappointing after FC3. Loving everything about it so far however I wish they kept the crafting in.
* Hitman 2 - 0 hours - I've only played the H1 missions so far so can't comment on the new content.
* Underworld Ascendant - 1.5 hours - I'm treating this as an early release. If they somehow manage to fix it through the various planned updates I will hopefully be adding this to a best of 2019 list.
PigLick on 24/12/2018 at 10:49
I would say Yakuza 0 on pc for me. Never having played a yakuza game before, it took me by suprise how much I enjoyed it.
and for gaming highlights of 2018, I would say finally finishing Ultima Underworld1 and System Shock1 for the first time. I gotta say, the finale for UU1 was of ball-trippin levels.
henke on 24/12/2018 at 10:54
Actually I think (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long_Dark) TLD came out of EA in 2017. I'd been hoping Ep. 3 would show up in time for Christmas as I'd love to play some more of it this time of year, but it seems it's coming out first next year, tho new and improved version of Ep1 and 2 are apprently out.
btw I liked Polygon's picks:
[video=youtube;80ZIs_WQucM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80ZIs_WQucM[/video]
mainly for how much nerdrage was stoked by putting Florence over RDR2. :cheeky:
tho they dropped the ball on the VR front. No Beat Saber but they DID include that generic tripe Moss? :tsktsk:
Sulphur on 24/12/2018 at 11:04
I liked their picks (forget the numbering), and the one-line descriptions in that video are hilariously on point. I gotta say, if any part of Prey: Mooncrash is like Tremors on the moon, I shoulda gotten it already.
Also, Florence wasn't life-changing or anything, but if anything had heart this year, it'd be this game, and Wandersong.
Al_B on 24/12/2018 at 12:31
As usual I don't think I've played many games that were actually released this year - every time I am tempted to pick something up I look at my backlog and realise how many good games from previous years I have already still to play.
However, I did ma an exception for Return of the Obra Dinn and very glad I did. It was perfect in length, atmosphere and struck a good balance between challenge and progression.
The other 2018 game that springs to mind is 7 Billion Humans by Tomorrow Corporation who made Human Resource Machine and Little Inferno. I haven't seen much discussion of it here (the only other member on my Steam list that has played it is Neb - but he stalks me on all these games :)) but it's essentially a parallel processing version of HRM. The appeal of this type of game for me is trying to optimise your solution to get the most efficient set of instructions that meets the criteria and the quirky sense of humour that their games has also adds to the fun.
Shadowcat on 25/12/2018 at 04:17
Quote Posted by Al_B
The other 2018 game that springs to mind is
7 Billion Humans by Tomorrow Corporation who made Human Resource Machine and Little Inferno. I haven't seen much discussion of it here
I bought it together with HRM, and I happily OCD'd my way through the earlier game as far as the final set of puzzles, at which point something made me set it aside and I've yet to get back to it. A lovely puzzle game*, so I imagine 7BH is more of the same goodness.
(*) Although some of the OCD challenges would be a
nightmare without being able to copy/paste back and forth from a real editor, as the mobile-focused UI is very restrictive; but the essential puzzles are good, and the presentation is delightful (as one has come to expect from this developer).
Sulphur on 25/12/2018 at 13:13
2018 was a shite year for me to play games made in 2018. There were
so many games released in 2018, and despite snarfing up an entire gobful of them, I haven't completed a one. So I don't have a top ten or five, but there's been notables to note: there have been some that I feel were drowned out despite the sheer talent they possessed in an avenue or two. So here's a few of those that are also competent in the general gamey bits at a minimum.
Graphical Gumption:
Planet Alpha: probably would have been the best-looking 2D platformer this year if it weren't for another game. Created by artists with apparently little programming experience, it turned out fairly all right as a game - inspired by Another World, with much less abstruse design, and a low-poly aesthetic with top shelf art design.
Inline Image:
https://media.giphy.com/media/jlrWrDmtC3TInZT1hp/giphy.gif Inline Image:
https://media.giphy.com/media/9rg9WfeEzwbQEQQAfW/giphy.gifGris: is that other game. Its stark ligne claire and watercolours work is beautiful in still pictures, but the animation gives it a tactility that elevates it to an even further level in motion. This standard of art design isn't something I've seen very often in a game.
Inline Image:
https://media.giphy.com/media/8mnbSmxViE9qB6kQQN/giphy.gif Inline Image:
https://media.giphy.com/media/1zRdbyRKIUw3K54FOl/giphy.gifAural Awesomeness:
Below: I already mentioned it had a fantastic soundtrack in the game tracks thread, but it deserves to be reposted here.
[video=youtube;ZFii6VkBiDc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFii6VkBiDc[/video]
Wandersong: Below's polar opposite, and the game feels, at the outset, a bit too Night in the Woods but lesser, less Paper Mario and more Cardboard Luigi with too much magenta - ah, but then the music hits, cementing the game's relentless optimism, and the warmth floods in. The moment it clicked was when I made my silly bard hold a note on his pitchwheel, and the entire level and its backgrounds started to bump in time to the music. RPS already said this, but it really does feel like a game where the developers are giving you a hug.
Bonus: this game made me fall in love with the accordion as a lead instrument. By no means is the audio the only accomplishment of the game, but listen to this and tell me it doesn't make you feel happy.
[video=youtube;dXZrnhYxE4I]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXZrnhYxE4I[/video]
The Friends of Ringo Ishikawa: these are licensed/royalty free tracks soundtracking a very interesting 2D Yakuza-ish beat 'em up featuring cigarettes and truancy, but that isn't to say the track selection isn't brilliant. Crisp and chill and slightly melancholy. Perfect for winter.
[video=youtube;1vFET3WlmF8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vFET3WlmF8[/video]
If I'd completed some of these games, they'd probably have earned a spot:
Hitman 2 - as Malf mentioned, it's pretty bloody great. Like Hitman 2016, they've taken Blood Money and made it bigger, better, and smarter. It's a joy to just discover the insanely varied options at your disposal in any given level.
Monster Hunter: World - Lost Planet 2's co-op's spiritual successor, with lots of interesting mechanics and gorgeous environment designs and beautifully (I mean
beautifully) animated monsters that just. won't. fuckin. die. already. I batted myself around in the air with a stick that fires bugs at monsters that can either harass them or help build up my attack meter by strategically targeting separate parts of each gigantonormous dinodragon we went around angering. There's a piggie in a cardigan, sidekick cats in pontoons, and a stupidly buff cat that cooks important stat-boosting meals for you. It's ridiculous and entertaining and weird, and I couldn't stay hooked because I'm a wee bit broken when it comes to appreciating mechanics that aren't instantaneously grok-able; on a purely mechanical level, MH:W lacks the razor-sharp clarity of, say, Nioh, but discovering how stuff works is actually part of the game - it just feels a little like work. Given the right mood, it's well good for all of the above reasons, though!
Having said all of that, my game of this year is... a game from last year:
DetentionIt was a short 4.5 hours, and not a minute of it was filler. I've said it before, but the audio design is the closest I've heard anything approach Silent Hill's moodiness (aside from Lost in Vivo, which I have yet to try), and settles in with the visuals in a way that just
belongs. The art style could have gone wrong, but the handcrafted nature of its collaged 2D elements with a studied attention to background detail makes it all settle together with the sort of dark, disturbing malaise that suffuses the entire time period it's evoking.
It's also not just an exercise in style, because the story surprised me in terms of how it chooses to not explain everything and trusts you to figure out the deeper subtext of what's happening. It's a deeply human story that surprised me with the sensitivity with which it approached its central theme of regret.
In many regards, despite the obvious differences in style and aesthetic, Silent Hill 2 is the closest touchstone to it. I'm always going to find it interesting that it's usually horror games that manage some of the more thoughtful explorations of the human condition. Fancy that.
Anyway, that's 2018 for me. I'm no doubt going to spend a fair bit of 2019 wrapping up the stuff I got started this year. Also I should probably get to Obra Dinn and FAR: Lone Sails, huh?
Oh, and
BONUS PC SURPRISE OF 2018: NA NA NA NA NA NA
[video=youtube;7dX1ZW4XNxE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dX1ZW4XNxE[/video]
