Good year, good games, good times. Here's a list of my favorite games of 2018.
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Octopath Traveller
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Octopath Traveller
A JRPG that returns to it's 16-bit roots, Octopath Traveller is a wonderful adventure that hearkens back to a SNES era of sprite based graphics and turn based combat mechanics. There are many components about this game that just breathes nostalgia and improves upon them.
Its cast of eight playable characters offer unique talents to build team compositions with and it becomes important to build thoughtful compositions as the difficulty ramps up. And boy does it ramp up. Bosses are fierce and unforgiving that punishes the player for making the slightest mistake. The turn base combats are fun, complex, and rewarding. Mashing the "A" button won't take you very far, that's for sure.
The story was good and I enjoyed all the individual character arcs, but it's lack of significance in the overall scheme and an absence of meaningful interaction between the characters was a let down.
The orchestrated songs are some of the best video game music I've heard. I found myself listening to its soundtrack in my car for days. Not even Ariana Grande could release the hold it had on me. It's fantastico!
Overall, this game is on my list simply because I love playing RPGs of the 90s. The graphics remind me of playing a SNES and PSone RPG. The gameplay feels familiar and the music reminds me of classic Squaresoft games. It was a fun ride down memory lane and I would gladly buy another ticket.
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Monster Hunter World
01/16/2019
My history with Monster Hunter is a rather short one, despite it's long RPG history on multiple consoles. I've dabbled in some of the games, most notably the 3DS ones, but could never get a hang of it's complex progression mechanics. It was a very daunting game to learn without resorting to online tutorial videos. The learning curve was so intimidating with its many menus and options, every time I tried to get into the series, I would give up once things got too convoluted. It seemed like my efforts were futile and I genuinely felt that maybe this series were not meant for me.
Interest sparked again with the release of Monster Hunter Stories for the 3DS. Granted, it was a JRPG set in the Monster Hunter universe, it was because of that fact I convinced myself, "Finally, a Monster Hunter game that I can play and enjoy!". And boy did I ever. Playing this game got me interested in the lore and monsters due to its easy to learn mechanics, anime visuals, and enjoyable content. Not sure if I would have given Monster Hunter World a chance if not for Stories, but I'm sure glad I did.
Enter Monster Hunter World. This game is brilliant in how it brings in new players to its already established series. If anything, World is the perfect place to start for newbies because of all its improvements to its interface and gameplay. I'm not going to go in too much depth here, there's a lot of reviews and videos out there that explain the many improvements Capcom made to World that is useful for those new to the series.
For me, MHW got me into the main series and its addictive gameplay loop. I've spent many fun hours with this game and it continues on with Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate for the Switch. Monster hunting on the go never felt so good.
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Detroit: Become Human
01/19/2019
From the developer, Quantic Dreams, the studio behind Heavy Rain and Beyond Two Souls, comes another interactive story telling game which is set in a futuristic timeline where androids live among humans. These androids are part of everyday life and perform functions for the humans that purchase them, from common household chores to prostitution. During this time, androids are becoming more self aware and developing human emotions, which ignites a series of events that lead to an android revolution.
Detroit separates its 3 different playstyles with 3 different main characters. Each character has their own branching storylines and all the characters converge their paths towards the end that creates a rather rewarding experience. Like other adventure games of this style, many of the story paths are dictated by the player by making meaningful choices throughout the adventure. These branching paths greatly increase replay value.
The graphics are just amazing. The detailed character models and facial impressions especially. The story and voice acting are top notch and kept me engaged throughout my whole play through. I genuinely felt attached to these characters and I decided to play the game without restarting, so I made sure I picked choices that would keep them safe, but I also realistically picked decisions that I felt was morally right and lined up with my values.
Quantic Dreams latest outing was a fun experience and felt like a big improvement from their previous adventure games. With Telltale studios closing their doors, there is not much polished adventure games of this style that I can think of. Detroit further cements the fact that video games are a form of entertainment that rivals movies with its intricate story telling, realistic art style, and simplistic gameplay that anyone can enjoy. Here's hoping Quantic Dreams can again create another engaging world with unforgettable characters on the next generation of consoles.
----
Next up...
Valkyria Chronicles 4
Coming soon to an internet near you...
Its cast of eight playable characters offer unique talents to build team compositions with and it becomes important to build thoughtful compositions as the difficulty ramps up. And boy does it ramp up. Bosses are fierce and unforgiving that punishes the player for making the slightest mistake. The turn base combats are fun, complex, and rewarding. Mashing the "A" button won't take you very far, that's for sure.
The story was good and I enjoyed all the individual character arcs, but it's lack of significance in the overall scheme and an absence of meaningful interaction between the characters was a let down.
The orchestrated songs are some of the best video game music I've heard. I found myself listening to its soundtrack in my car for days. Not even Ariana Grande could release the hold it had on me. It's fantastico!
Overall, this game is on my list simply because I love playing RPGs of the 90s. The graphics remind me of playing a SNES and PSone RPG. The gameplay feels familiar and the music reminds me of classic Squaresoft games. It was a fun ride down memory lane and I would gladly buy another ticket.
----
Monster Hunter World
01/16/2019
My history with Monster Hunter is a rather short one, despite it's long RPG history on multiple consoles. I've dabbled in some of the games, most notably the 3DS ones, but could never get a hang of it's complex progression mechanics. It was a very daunting game to learn without resorting to online tutorial videos. The learning curve was so intimidating with its many menus and options, every time I tried to get into the series, I would give up once things got too convoluted. It seemed like my efforts were futile and I genuinely felt that maybe this series were not meant for me.
Interest sparked again with the release of Monster Hunter Stories for the 3DS. Granted, it was a JRPG set in the Monster Hunter universe, it was because of that fact I convinced myself, "Finally, a Monster Hunter game that I can play and enjoy!". And boy did I ever. Playing this game got me interested in the lore and monsters due to its easy to learn mechanics, anime visuals, and enjoyable content. Not sure if I would have given Monster Hunter World a chance if not for Stories, but I'm sure glad I did.
Enter Monster Hunter World. This game is brilliant in how it brings in new players to its already established series. If anything, World is the perfect place to start for newbies because of all its improvements to its interface and gameplay. I'm not going to go in too much depth here, there's a lot of reviews and videos out there that explain the many improvements Capcom made to World that is useful for those new to the series.
For me, MHW got me into the main series and its addictive gameplay loop. I've spent many fun hours with this game and it continues on with Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate for the Switch. Monster hunting on the go never felt so good.
----
Detroit: Become Human
01/19/2019
From the developer, Quantic Dreams, the studio behind Heavy Rain and Beyond Two Souls, comes another interactive story telling game which is set in a futuristic timeline where androids live among humans. These androids are part of everyday life and perform functions for the humans that purchase them, from common household chores to prostitution. During this time, androids are becoming more self aware and developing human emotions, which ignites a series of events that lead to an android revolution.
Detroit separates its 3 different playstyles with 3 different main characters. Each character has their own branching storylines and all the characters converge their paths towards the end that creates a rather rewarding experience. Like other adventure games of this style, many of the story paths are dictated by the player by making meaningful choices throughout the adventure. These branching paths greatly increase replay value.
The graphics are just amazing. The detailed character models and facial impressions especially. The story and voice acting are top notch and kept me engaged throughout my whole play through. I genuinely felt attached to these characters and I decided to play the game without restarting, so I made sure I picked choices that would keep them safe, but I also realistically picked decisions that I felt was morally right and lined up with my values.
Quantic Dreams latest outing was a fun experience and felt like a big improvement from their previous adventure games. With Telltale studios closing their doors, there is not much polished adventure games of this style that I can think of. Detroit further cements the fact that video games are a form of entertainment that rivals movies with its intricate story telling, realistic art style, and simplistic gameplay that anyone can enjoy. Here's hoping Quantic Dreams can again create another engaging world with unforgettable characters on the next generation of consoles.
----
Next up...
Valkyria Chronicles 4
Coming soon to an internet near you...
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