Well here we are again. This blog has had it's fits and starts and really only ever comes alive when I have strong feelings about Star Wars or something. I have a couple of articles that have been in draft for months, some that got deleted (the internet is better off for not knowing my thoughts on Crimes of Grindelwald, spoilers: it was horrendous), and others that never escaped my headspace. However, end of year articles seem to be my forte and a trademark at this point. Most people seem to like my opinions on video games so here we are. I make an effort every year to play a decent amount of games because well, I enjoy them and doing things that you enjoy should be a frequent occurance in your life.
However, I didn't exactly get to playing as many games this year as I did in the last but that's a bit misleading. I didn't play as many games that I truly enjoyed. In light of writing reviews of each game, I'd rather just write short little snippets about each one...for all of the two people and me mum that actually read this dead blog. So here's what we'll do. I'll be nice to the games I enjoyed, mean to the one's I didn't like, and then probably even meaner to the games that I played and then just didn't care. Because to be honest, if I spend a bunch of hours playing a game and feel really no strong feelings towards it...that's actually worse than a game I didn't like. I'm also aware of how many of these games came out in the last quarter of the year...which is probably more indicative of how this year in gaming was as a whole. Also...spoilers...there's no God of War on this list. I didn't play it, wasn't that interested, but I'll get around to it...eventually. Anyways, let's get to it:
The 5 Games I Actually Liked this Year:
5.) Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep
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I must be getting softer in my older age because normally the sound of Kingdom Hearts is something that makes me, as the kids say, cringe. I've mostly stood by a stance that the only reason most people play these games is nostalgia blindness but having played through most of the series now...I can see the appeal. The story is bad and needlessly complex but they're a good time for the most part. However; game design wise I found KH1 and KH2 to be frustrating games for many reasons. In playing the series though, I mostly did so for the opportunity to play through Birth by Sleep. I was not disappointed when finally I booted the game up and found...it's actually really good. BBS fixes most of the series most glaring problems: it does away with it's annoying protagonist and his friends (I never cared for Sora, Donald, & Goofy...sorry fanboys) and replaces them with more compelling characters. The story is still bogged down with some of the typical Kingdom Hearts belief that complexity means sophistication or quality but it's actually pretty straightforward. Having three different playstyles and three different lenses to play the story through makes an all around great experience. The Command Deck system is a much better way to do magic and where it felt like an afterthought in the other games, it feels essential and satisfying here. Birth by Sleep is the best one in the series and may even convince me to play through Kingdom Hearts 3 after the new year.
4.) Pokemon: Let's Go, Eeevee!
Nintendo are really great at making you buy games that you've already played. Hell, the Switch library is largely made up of ports. Even so, the reason Nintendo gets away with it is because they are so damn good at it. The Let's Go! games are just Pokemon Yellow with a massive graphics upgrade and no wild Pokemon battles but weirdly enough, I didn't seem to mind. The game is nostalgia baiting done correctly and is a beta test to see how well a fully realized 3D Pokemon game will do. It's easy to sink lots of time into the game but it's the right amount of time. The PokeDex is small enough that it's obtainable, the battling is just as simple but satisfying as you remember, and the Pokemon catching is actually pretty fun. Revisiting a fully realized 3D Kanto is a treat, with fully animated cutscenes that are gorgeous, a beautiful graphical style makes the work truly feel alive, this is one of the best Pokemon experiences you can have. Where the newer Pokemon games have made things more complicated, it is nice to see the series return to it's roots. And no, I didn't miss wild Pokemon encounters.
3.) Marvel's Spider-Man
I'm a little bit biased here because, let's be honest, I love Spider-Man and currently it's an amazing time to be a Spidey fan. His role in the MCU, the new Spider-Verse movie, and this game have finally erased those awful Andrew Garfield memories away. This game is great! There's not a lot more to say about it but Spider-Man gave me so much joy this year that I can't help but put it firmly in this spot. It's a game made by people who love the character, who make a story that's a love letter to the character, that make a game that makes it fun to be the character. It's a lesson about how characters like this should be treated and that any executive should observe before they stick their noses where they shouldn't (looking at you WB). Anyways, Spider-Man is fun and tells a great story. It's also a refreshing game because even though it follows the same played out formula as maligned games series like Assassin's Creed or any other Ubisoft title, it does so in a way that's not overwhelming or obnoxious. It also helps that the objectives give you more excuse to use the game's excellent web swinging mechanic or the intutive and fun as hell combat. Turns out when the side activities involve the most fun mechanics of the game...they're actually more enjoyable. Now, it's not without it's flaws, some of the activities are especially pedantic and there's a noticeable lack of post game content (I know there's DLC but I don't count things you have to pay for). Even so, it's a great game and if you care even a bit for Spider-Man...you should play it.
2.) Super Smash Bros: Ultimate
Indulge me for a bit as I take you back to when I was a younger, less cynical person. Everything amongst my middle school friends and I was settled in Smash Bros. Melee was the ultimate game, it was the game that inspired my love of games, it's a fantastically made game. You play Melee today and it still handles as smooth as butter. It's a simple enough game that anyone can pick it up and have fun. It was a staple at sleepovers and playdates. However, I hadn't played much of Smash Bros after that. I never owned a Wii or Wii U so Brawl and Smash 4 passed me by. However, Ultimate has made me a believer again because the game is at it's core...pure fun. You experience with the game, is completely up to you. You can do nothing but play the single player modes and have a good time. You can go online and challenge yourself, you can lab the game for hours, you can be competitive or casual. No matter what approach you take towards the game, it's fun. It's also packed with so much content, there's over 70 fighters, so many stages, so much music, so many spirits. This game is a celebration of everything Nintendo and is 100% worth owning a Switch for.
1.) Hitman 2
Last year, I applauded how good Hitman (2016) when the game was played in full with all content available. Like I mentioned with Birth by Sleep earlier, it's amazing what happens when a developer makes a sequel that actually improves on the first one in almost every way. Hitman 2 makes everything availible right from the start, all levels are right there for you and each one is an immersive world of it's own. I had more fun exploring these contained but incredibly detailed levels than I did the vast open world of Red Dead Redemption 2 (more on that later). There's nothing like playing a Hitman level for the first time, the feeling of trepidation as you explore each level, figuring out little exploits and tricks to help you get silent assassin. Even when you succeed, you feel a need to go back in again because you noticed a new trick you want to try. The game offers so much freedom but it doesn't give so much that it feels intimidating, there are boundaries to focus you and rules to manipulate. There's also such a focus on enjoying the game you want to, the game will steer you down a more silent path but doesn't reprimand you for going loud if you want. That the game is so much fun to screw up in is what makes it a great experience, every death and every success makes you want to try again...something I can't say of all games. It took me about two weeks to play through all the new levels and hit 20 mastery on all of them...but if you think I'm done with the game just because of that...well you're mistaken...because this game has more than enough to keep me coming back
The 3 Games That Make Me Question The Why
3.) Kirby Star Allies
By question the why...I often mean like the...why did I bother to buy this? I played through pretty much all of Kirby Star Allies and I barely remember a thing about it. It was really pretty looking and cute, as most Kirby games are. The gamplay wasn't really all that fun though and the whole allies feature didn't seem to have much impact on what was going on. I guess that's a whole, "play your way" kind of thing. I'm not sure, this game didn't resonate with me and my lack of things to say about it kind of sums up my feelings.
2.) Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age
Between this and my disdain for Xenoblade Chronicles 2 last year, I think I need to just not play traditional JRPGs. DQXI is very straightforward, no frills, is a by the books RPG. That's the appeal, is it's simplicity. There's not a lot to it, it's easy enough to enjoy but also pretty easy to put down. The battling system, is pretty boring and encounters become a chore after awhile. You have to make these things engaging if your game is going to require a decent amount of grinding. So maybe I'll like playing it for the plot! Well the plot is pretty standard "chosen one, evil dark lord of darkness and evil, and there's wacky sidekicks" kind of plot, it's not interesting in the slightest. The protagonist doesn't talk and that's different than a Persona game or something where even though the protagonist doesn't talk he does have lots of personality that the player can inflect upon him. The protagonist here is basically a wooden piece of cardboard who just does what the game asks of him...very much in the "would you kindly" mold. The characters, aren't interesting, the gameplay is simplistic to the point of being boring, and I found very little incentive to keep going. I mean, people tell me it gets better...but if I have to slog throughout 30-40 hours to get to where the game gets "good", that's not exactly worth it to me. The game is quite pretty as well and has an expansive open world...however it's pretty much devoid of any personality and empty. This game is just aggressively average.
1.) Rise of the Tomb Raider
I am aware that this game originally came out in 2016 for the Xbox One. I am aware that a new Tomb Raider game came out this year as well. However, I played this one in 2018 and given the fact that all these Tomb Raider games are the same, I think playing Rise gives me some insight into what Shadow was probably like. I spoke earlier about how Spider-Man is guilty of most of the same issues that AAA games have which are "too many pointless side quests and map clutter". However, Spider-Man has core gameplay that made even the frustrating side quests still kinda fun. Everything in the Tomb Raider games feels like a chore. The puzzles aren't fun, the combat is derivative, everything is just so devoid of any innovation that I finished the game more out of obligation rather than because it was something I wanted to do. It doesn't help that Lara Croft is also an asshole in these games which is supposed to be part of her character arc or something but it doesn't exactly make me like playing as her. Once again you have beautifully rendered environments that are just there to service the player...they're empty outside of surface level. This game is completely forgettable.
The 2 Games I Am Totally Indifferent To
3.) Octopath Traveler
So this one is a bit misleading...because my Switch tells me that I logged over 35 hours with this game so it really could not have been that bad. However, I have yet to "finish" this game and I have to come back and think of my reasons why. Everything you could say about Dragon Quest is pretty much true about this game...however...Octopath Traveler comes at you with a unique concept. Eight travelers, eight different stories...but the developers never actually thought about how to implement that concept in a proper way. The characters never interact...outside of some weird optional cutscenes...which makes the game devoid of any real personality. It has a cool graphical style which evokes a feeling of Final Fantasy games of old and the battle system is engaging and immensely satisfying when you pull it off. That is...until you realize that most enemies can just stuff your hardest hitting attacks, random encounters become multiple minute long chores, and the whole thing feels lonely because all your unique characters don't seem to have any mutual reason for traveling together. I guess a game doesn't need all that much set up for you to just have a fun traditional RPG time...but this concept just feels wasted on a game that is great at wasting your time. Grinding is slow and unrewarding, at a certain point I just couldn't really care anymore. I'm not saying that games should just hand you things on a silver platter but there needs to be something more engaging what is offered. Octopath Traveler is a fine game and I'm sure there are might fine people who play it. For me however, it was an underwhelming waste of a good concept.
1.) Red Dead Redemption 2
Eh, sue me, I couldn't really care. Let's get one thing straight, Red Dead Redemption 2 is a fine game. It's detailed, it's clear that Rockstar worked really hard on it and that's great. Doesn't mean it's the greatest game ever though. The original Red Dead Redemption was also a fine game but I think one that people look at with rose colored glasses. It comes back to the idea of the open world. It's great to design something that's big but you have to put stuff in it. Red Dead 2 is a pretty game, it's an expansive game, it's not shy about bragging out it's detail and how big the world is. It never explains the "why" of it's world though. Not to mention that Rockstar still can't get their protagonists to control in a way that isn't lumbering. Once again, everything takes too long. Some call this immersion but there's a frustration and lack of immersion with how long everything takes to do. As an adult, it's much harder to spend substantial amounts of time in a game. You can't pop in to Red Dead for an hour and get something done. You're more likely to accidentally bump into someone, have your horse gunned down by lawmen, and be stranded in the middle of nowhere in that time. The plot of the game isn't some elaborate Western narrative either. Most missions start with "well let's try to not get in a gunfight" and ending with well...a gun fight. The shooting is also somehow worse than it was in GTA V which is just baffling...especially for a game where shooting is the centerpiece. I digress because this game is fine, it has a lot of fun moments, and it's beautiful. However, it doesn't feel like that 10/10 game for me.
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