Five Games that Blew Me Away in 2018
This year was a little all over the place for me. The latter half gave me a lot of time to focus on gaming, but, with the start of college getting in the way, the second half left me too busy to play much of anything. I imagine I’ll be stuck trying to catch up on my backlog for quite some time in the coming years.
Even though I couldn’t play everything, there were still a bunch of stand-out titles that are very much worth highlighting.
Here, in no particular order (except for one), are my five favorite games of 2018:
Marvel’s Spider-Man
I hate that it took this long to get back to this type of Spider-Man game. Webs actually attaching to buildings? Hell yes.
While I wasn’t too hot on the sections of the game where you were forced to walk around as Mary Jane and Miles Morales, the web-slinging and the combat were enough of a saving grace to make this one of my favorite games this year.
God of War
The reboot of God of War wasn’t something that initially piqued my interest. The franchise never interested me in the past, and I wasn’t too keen on getting into it. But after seeing the insanely positive reviews, I was sold.
Sure, the ax throwing is one of the most fun combat mechanics I’ve tried in years, but it’s really the emotional tale the game tells that gripped me the most. Kratos’ development as a father for his son, Atreus, was a serious accomplishment in good directing and writing. God of War is a turning point in video game storytelling.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
I’m a simple man who grew up playing a lot of Super Smash Bros. with my friends. It was and still is the go-to game to play when we all get together. Nothing fills me with more joy than playing Smash for hours on end with a group of buddies.
But the series isn’t just important to me: Super Smash Bros. is one of the biggest franchises in all of gaming. Nothing brings people together more than seeing their favorite characters being added to the games’ humongous roster of fighters.
This entry in the series is the biggest and best yet. The combat is faster and more refined than Smash 4, and the inclusion of literally every single Smash fighter to date was a brilliant decision. No cuts—everyone is here.
The story mode is exciting and fresh, but the real fun comes from sitting on the couch with your friends for hours on end, beating the ever-living crap out of each other. It’s the same good fun as always; it’s just better.
Let’s hope they fix the online, though.
Donut County
Donut County is one of the funniest games I’ve played in a while. Its humor is random and chaotic. The characters consist of wacky animals that deliver their lines frantically. A lot of the laughs come from just how ridiculous each character is written—especially BK, the mischievous raccoon that drives the game’s plot.
I was drawn in by just how satisfying the game is to play. It’s very reminiscent of a Katamari game: You control a hole that grows as it sucks things up. The goal is to swallow every object in a stage, solving puzzles as you go.
The only downfall is the short length and the lack of bonus/challenge stages. It’s a shame because the time I spent with it was a blast; I just would have loved to have had more to do.
My Game of the Year: Celeste
Celeste is an emotional roller coaster and a side-scrolling masterpiece. It takes the wall-jumping mechanics that made Super Meat Boy so much fun and pairs them with a deeply relatable story about a girl struggling with her own mental health issues. I love Celeste.
This is my game of the year for a multitude of reasons. Its story is effectively told, its characters are lovable, the soundtrack is gorgeous, but, most importantly, it’s just so damn fun.
