Game of the year 2018

1 year later... Well almost, straight from my game of the year of 2017 to that if 2018 and hey... the end of the even year curse. So, there's no hints at what's to come so it's an exciting mystery for you and me as I still haven't made my mind up while typing this. This year I've jumped to PS4 being the console I prefer to play my games on, a hard jump with the 120,000 Xbox achievement points I have but it's time to focus on trophies, for me a better system anyway. Also, got a PlayStation pro and a 4K TV, but no Xbox one X (way too expensive).

Okay shout outs. Red Dead Redemption 2. I just wanted to mention it as I enjoyed it (great story, game play not so much), just not as much as these following games, I'm not, not including it to be 'cool'. I want a mention of Shadow of the Tomb raider and Forza Horizon 4. Both of the two previous entries in these series have made my game of the year lists (without ever winning mind you) and although these games are both very good, they seem like they never really improved on the previous games and, like Red Dead they re not as good as the games on this list (same goes for Far cry 5 apart from the previous nominations bit).  Another shout out goes to State of Decay 2, a survival game set in a zombie Apocalypse, though hardly a giant step forward from the original, but hey an Xbox exclusive. Also Orush, an interesting driving game that wasn't about racing but more spins on what are traditionally first person shooter game modes. Yoku's Island express is another, a fun mix of 2D platformer and pinball only just topped by Sonic Spinball in that genre... (Joke, that game sucks whether it includes Sonic the Hedgehog or not), that reminds me of Sonic Mania plus, DLC for Sonic mania that added a fun new mode and a couple of new characters to the base game  One thing that it wont be is Just Cause 4 as I haven't got to playing it yet, so, sorry (probably unlikely to win anyway). And so, the nominees are...

Spiderman

  Does whatever a spider can. If a spider can make the best superhero videogame since 2011. They've certainly borrowed a lot from that other game as well, with the fighting borrowed/ lifted from the Arkham games, though to be fair it's hardly the first game to do so (cough, shadow of Mordor, cough). Add on to that the fun traversal that open world spiderman games have had since the PS2 (though without balloons now), a fun story that knows when to be serious and when to be lighthearted and a great set up to a sequel. Plus a bunch of fun extras to find and do.


Guacamelee! 2

   Let's face it, there was always going to be at least one 2D platformer on this list. Half man, half chicken and half luchador, Juan is a character of many skills. This is a classic metroidvania set in the 'mexiverse', a land of mexican stereotypes, but better than it sounds. The platforming here is great at times, some great brawling and a fun story. There are bosses as well, and although I'm not keen on them there is just enough to give the game things to aim towards and a different type of challenge.


Minit

   This looks like a game straight from the 80's, a very simple top down game with a gimmick, you only have one minute to live, then you die and go back to your last save point. In this minute you have to explore, push on with the story, find secrets and rush to new save points. Practise makes perfect. The game reminds me much of the game I gushed over a couple of years ago 'Westerado' with a similar style of game, but with the added timed gimmick that really makes this game special. I can't think of a better implemented gimmick in a game ever (though there's probably tonnes).


God of War

   I had never played a God of War before, they always seemed like they weren't really my cup of tea, but there was something different about this one (or so I heard, hard to tell with the not playing them before). Kratos' gloomy demeanour makes for a great protagonist, up there with Arthur Morgan for the best of the year. Add to this the slow, deliberate story, the atmosphere and the beautiful scenery and this makes the journey between action scenes a joy, but then you get to the action... I can't remember a game that makes fighting seem to real (ignoring the fact that I don't have Godly might), you can almost feel every axe hit you dish out. And the fighting is so varied, even with only 2 weapons in the whole game (fists are not weapons). In fact, when you're using the different weapons it almost feels like 2 different games. I can't think of better melee combat in any third person action game ever.

Celeste

   And the other 2D platformer is here, and what a beauty. a 16 bit throwback with beautiful graphics (if you like 16 bits (I do)) and the music to match. This is a really tough game but with quick enough respwans and frequent enough checkpoints to not be a frustration. There is plenty to see and do on the mountain (you're climbing a mountain you see), with extra challenges to find, and tapes to find that let you play the game through a whole new way. On top of this there is a game within a game that allows you to play an 8 bit take on the game. The story is there and kind of sweet based around overcoming mental illness, albeit a bit preachy at times. It's the game play and style here that makes it shine. I guess you could say this is the hardest mountain since Gregor Clegane


   I like retro games can you tell? And yet the winner has to be God of war. The story, the setting, the visuals and of course most importantly the gameplay, it has it all. Fantastic.

In case you're even slightly interested that means...

2013: The last of us
2014: South Park the stick of truth
2015: Rocket League.
2016: Doom
2017: A hat in Time
2018: God of War.

   What an eclectic mix.

Game of the year 2017

2017 was a fantastic year in gaming. Up there with some of my favourites like 2015, 2013 and 2007. Now, I've been a gamer since the master system and although I can't be 100% accurate with this guess, I'm going to go with 1991. Many people of a similar age to me look back with rose tinted spectacles at games when they were children, but I'll happily admit more recent times have had better games, even if I have become more cynical and even though I know games in general are getting better over time my nature makes me more down beaten than ever with life in general and even though gaming is my favourite hobby, I enjoy a good box set and a Villa - Bristol city more than I do a good game in general these days, but games are ingrained in me. However, there are still some games that I still can't put down, and here they come.
   So, what can join my previous winners, The last of Us, South Park the stick of Truth, Rocket League and Doom? I still stand by all of these choices even though it misses out some of my favourite games of all time like GTA V, the Tomb Raider reboots and particularly the Witcher 3. Despite that after re-playing the last of us Recently I'm not convinced now that it is as great as I thought it was in 2013, then again, see above for cynical. The odd years of late have been particularly kind. I'll save what I'm looking forward to this year for a future post, but it seems to me like we could get an even year that I truly enjoy for the first time since I began blogging. Now here's a related picture to break up the monotony of all this text.

   Now, I'm going to list 4 games here as that's been the way it's been for 3 of the 4 years so far, but I would like to give some shout outs to games I have truly enjoyed this year although they don't quite make the list. (if you want to know more in general scroll back a few posts as they're largely talked about). Resident Evil 7 is my favourite survival horror of all time (although it's not really my favourite genre), South park the fractured but whole is my traditional RPG of the year, even though it didn't live up to the stick of truth it was still very good. Mario + Rabbids was my switch game of the year and the best strategy game since 2012's Xcom reboot IMO (that's right,  Mario Odyssey and Zelda breath of the wild are two of the most over-hyped games of all time (although i did enjoy the latter (seriously, why do people think any game made by Nintendo deserves an extra boost in their view of it, which makes me think less of them as a result (might actually trade in my Switch already))). Life is strange before the storm delivered way beyond expectations and lives up to the main game, though I didn't believe for a second that would happen with the change of developer, voice cast and the lack of the main character and abilities of said character. Of course Crash Bandicoot N'sane trilogy was a great nostalgia trip and I have to give a massive shout out to 'there's no time to explain' which I played for the first time this hear even though it originally came out in 2011, but if you're a big 2D platformer fan I have to recommend this game, it's a great example of the genre though there's a better one about to be listed properly, and if you've read my blog before, you should know what it is...

Sonic Mania

   You're damn right this game is in here, in my opinion the best Sonic the hedgehog game ever made (maybe, might change my mind on that over time), even with my nostalgia for the Mega drive games. This is a love letter to Sonic fans, made by Sonic fans, the best 2D platformer series ever made in my eyes (that's right, fuck Mario). It had absolutely everything a Sonic mega fan such as myself could ever want, great references to classic games (good god the end of chemical plant zone in this game was incredible) and the classic gameplay that I love with the best parts of all the classic games rolled in to one fantastic package. It's not perfect though with a poor choice of special stages and an over the top difficult unlockable system which would lead to a lot of time put in (all I want is to unlock bean mode). That being said I can't imagine a single sequel i could want to exist more in the world, please make it happen Sega. But will it be enough? PS, this has my favourite soundtrack of any game ever.

A Hat in Time

   Oh yeah, that's right, the subject of my last post. certainly my favourite 3D platformer since 2007's Mario galaxy, and maybe of all time (it's a head scratcher) despite what I just said about Mario. It's a great homage to Mario 64 which takes its ideas and modernises it which leads to a more up to date, and indeed better game (yeah, I said it). The worlds and fantastically varied as are the missions/ quests and brings a really interesting game with perfect gameplay (for a 3D platformer) with a wide variety of ideas to implement this. However, I've always preferred 2D platformers and the graphics are very substandard which although not overly important I would expect much better in 2017. Negatives aside, this is an ingenious game that breaks down walls in 3D platforming,

Pyre

   A truly ingenious mix of RPG and sports game that I didn't even know could exist, or indeed that I wanted, but it turns out I did very much. The story of redemption, though taking a while to get going, is truly gripping and the attachment I felt to certain members of the squad based on a mix of character and on field importance is something I've never felt as you choose who to 'rescue' to the real world, but lose from your teams roster forever, there was some truly tough decisions to be made. (I love you Jodoriel) The sport itself was fantastic with some practice put in to picking your best team as more members of the party/ squad are added frequently, and then taken away at your own hand. Negatives again though, even though the story is great there could have been a quarter of the dialogue removed (probably more) as it was just filler and frankly the ending, itself only taking place in text was not the epic that the rest of the story made you hope it would be. However, for a third time after Bastion and Transistor, Super Giant (the developers of this game) go on to prove they are one of the best developers in the industry that only release great, great games and long may it continue, always innovating, always class.

Horizon Zero Dawn

   The only 'triple A' game to make this list (although as already mentioned before not the only good one of the year)' and thoroughly deserved. Before I go on, even though it looked great going in I had to worry based on the developer (Guerrilla) who were known for making the 'big' playstation exclusive FPS series Killzone, which was good, don't get me wrong, but will never be held in the pantheon on great FPS' along with the likes of Half life, Halo and indeed (sigh) Call of duty. But, going from a developer of solid if unspectacular games in that genre (to be fair Killzone Shadow fall, the ps4 launch game was very good) they took a massive right turn to create a huge open world action RPG that not only had potentially the best graphics in any console only game ever made but a fantastic story and fun yet challenging gameplay. Where this came from, from this studio I have no idea but they knocked the new challenge out of the park like a step up from a developer I've never seen.
   It must be mentioned though, great story, gameplay, graphics and all their is a massive amount of borrowing from other games in this genre. No game in particular but it is visibly obvious that they have made this jump by hand picking some of the best ideas from games in this genre and putting them together in to one glorious whole (Dave Lister: you already are one glorious hole). Fanatic as this game is I have to believe its inevitable sequel could build on this first entry and make one of the greatest games of all time, and I can't wait, though not as much as I can't wait for Sonic Mania 2.

   I'm writing this right now and I still don't know what my winner is but like in Highlander there can  be only one due to the rules imposed on myself, by myself.
   Okay, I made a tea and had a think, and I choose A HAT IN TIME. The gorram best 3D platformer ever made, fuck Mario Galaxy and what I said about 2D vs 3D platformers (I never said Sonic Mania  was the best 2D platformer of all time), I can't remember the last game I 100% completed before this. Will I regret this choice in time like I do The Last of us? maybe, but right now it's what I've picked, a great year and a great game.

A hat in time is better than Mario Odyssey

   Let me prefix this by saying that I did enjoy Mario Odyssey, but the hype train pulled up to the station and I bought a ticket, I guess that's what you get for believing other peoples opinions (even though that's what this is).

   So, I've said several (million) times that I'm was/ am a Sega kid so I have a negative bias against Mario, Probably unjustly, but that's what got beaten in to my brain as a kid (unaided by the fact that all games media has a massive bias towards Nintendo for reasons I don't understand). There was a while though, during the DS/ Wii era where I thought I might change my mind, and that's where I'll begin. New super Marios bros. DS was was the first Mario game I played to the entirety and it was fantastic, and even though that is a 2d platformer whereas 'A hat in time' is 3d, there is a reason for bringing this up, the reason being New super Mario Bros led me to playing the DS port of Mario 64 (that and the general good word). Now, even though this was several years old when I got to it, I have to admit it is a fantastic game, and clearly a game that 'a hat in time' takes a great deal of inspiration from. That game pushed me on to buying Mario Galaxy and that is a true all time great, a much more linear game than mario 64 but the game play was totally spot on and a real fresh take on 3D platforming. I missed its Super Mario galaxy bro (number 2) as I had traded in my Wii by its time of release, what with all the shovel wear released on Wii and the end of my university 'adventure' (y'know, constant drinking) meant that the group playing of Wii sports/ play dropped off and it became fairly pointless (also I was skint re. the whole university thing). Skipping past the underrated New super Mario bros Wii U (which was a small improvement on the DS game several years late) I picked up the once again underrated Mario 3D world (for some unbelievable reason people said the Wii U was crap, but there was that plastic tablet...), which was a very good 3d platformer, but more traditional than galaxy, and as thus somewhat of a let down for me personally, after Galaxy was so damn good. Ironically I then finally picked up Mario galaxy 2 with the Wii U's backwards compatibility (looking at you playstation and your lack of it (how am I finally supposed to play 'a crack in time' now I know how good ratchet and clank is you jerks? (I could dust off the ps3, but that seems like a very small amount of effort that I can't be bothered to put in, it's already in a box!) you jerks)). So, Mario galaxy 2, again I was let down, it had been many years since I had played Galaxy 1, and at the time it really resonated with me, but having played 3D world. the gameplay and graphics in galaxy 2 seemed a little out of date, and the game felt exactly the same as the first. And then there was Mario odyssey...

   I was waiting with baited breath for this game, as I was a hat in time since I heard of it, but which would be better I asked myself. Having read the title you know my opinion already. Odyssey is an interesting game, several small worlds each filled with tiny little bits of gameplay to get moons to move on to the next stage. now these little chunks are largely very good, but this isn't really what I'm looking for, I like larger travelling levels with more of a challenge whereas just to play through the main game of Mario Odyssey was way too easy, granted there is a supposed fantastic post game, in which i dabbled, but after the mushroom kingdom flashback to 64 I found largely unrewarding and just more of the same over again. I have likely mentioned before at my general dislike of playing games over again or to death unless I find them truly special (see Sonic mania, Horizon and indeed, a hat in time). Again, I'm being negative, but I am generally a negative outlook kind of person, I did like Mario Odyssey, but it didn't live up to the hype for me, at all. were it not a Mario game and instead some new IP and less hype, I might have enjoyed it more, but high expectations are a dangerous thing. This segways in to a hat in time nicely.

   A hat in time had me interested, it looked good, and I heard good things as it was released on PC a month or so before consoles, and word of mouth was good, but after Zelda and Mario I began to learn my lesson (kinda, but it was largely due to a new IP with a relatively inexperienced studio (I think, my 2 minute investigation was inconclusive) that this could be different).
   This game is a spiritual successor to Mario 64, a hand full of worlds with a handful of quests in each, but unlike Odyssey these are real challenges. Large platforming sections are abound, there are interesting puzzles and a large variation on the missions that are part of the game. From straight up platforming to stealth, to murder mystery investigation to races and large scale puzzles and long boss battles, there is something for everyone, and mostly all in depth. Best of all are the secret colourless areas you can find which are the ultimate challenge of your skill.
   To appear unbiased I will give some negative elements. Mostly it's the graphics, this game looks like it would be more at home on a 360/ PS3 than modern day consoles which is a shame. Secondly I was somewhat worried about the hat changing concept of the game, thinking there would be millions of pauses to change hat, and even though this doesn't happen as much as I worriedly expected it can still get annoying at times.
    Those minor gripes aside this is quite probably my favourite 3D platformer of all time, better than Mario 64 as it has clearly taken inspiration from it and modernised it, better that Mario Odyssey, netter than this years nostalgia fest that was the Crash N'Sane trilogy and yes, even better than the 3D sections in Sonic Generations. (BTW, I'm not counting Ratchet and Clank as a 3D platformer, my blog, my rules). Play this game.

   Clearly no need for a 'you may also like' part as I just listed them all in that last paragraph. Game of the year up nest and spoilers, A Hat in time is nominated.