What are YOUR games of the year?

As we’re wrapping up 2018 in a few days, I thought it would be nice if we share our personal favorite games of the year. No rules here, any game you enjoyed in 2018 applies, not just games that came out this year!

My gaming time in 2018 was all about replaying some of my favorites of all time, in one form or another. Here are my favorite games played this year, in no particular order! :smiley:

  1. Dragon Force - Saturn

dragon_Force_Coverart

As per the intro, I got on a kick of replaying some of my favorites games from the past, and this was the first one I replayed. Dragon Force is one of the games I could play forever as I love Strategy RPGs, so I was glad to play it again after not touching it for about 10 years.

  1. Wild Arms - PlayStation

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This is a game that I owned back when the PlayStation was new. I played it several times about half-way through, then would get inevitably distracted by one of the new amazing games that kept coming out on the system (seriously, PlayStation had such a great library!). This changed this year, as I finally played it all the way through and it’s really deserving of being played, such a whimsical game. Love it!

  1. Yakuza Kiwami - PS4

A fantastic remake of the original PS2 game, which I finished back when it was released. Playing this one made me want to replay the whole series, which is made easy with all the remakes/re-releases/new chapters released on PS4.

  1. Battle Garegga Rev. 2016 - PS4

I own the Saturn version and still regularly played it when this came out, so I imported the Korean physical version with the intent to spend lots of time with it on PS4 (which I did!). Shooters are one of my favorite genres, so revisiting this port by M2 was a highlight of 2018.

  1. Final Fantasy II - SNES

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This is one of the games that made me love RPGs, having picked it up at a pawn shop as a teen while on summer vacation with my family. I replayed it this year on the SNES Classic and enjoyed reliving those memories. Still one of my favorite SNES soundtracks!

  1. Shining Force - Genesis

I mentioned shooters being one of my favorite game genres above, with Strategy/Tactical RPGs being my other favorite games. I finally finished Shining Force this year, replaying it off the Sega Genesis Classics collection. Can’t wait to play Shining Force 2, and replay Shining Force 3 in 2019! :slight_smile:

  1. Shenmue - Dreamcast

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This one needs no introduction. I replayed it off the PS4 HD remake, then played it again on the Dreamcast (yup, double dipping some Shenmue in 2018! hahahahah :smiley:).

  1. Advance Wars - GBA

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Advance Wars filled the time on many of my work commutes in 2018, which was a great way to start/wrap up my days. The charm in this one is off the charts, and this is still my favorite one in the series. I hope Nintendo will surprise us with a new entry on Switch in 2019!

  1. Ni No Kuni 2 - PS4

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Seems like overall opinion on this game isn’t great, but I really enjoyed it. I agree that it’s not as engaging and charming as the first one, but it still holds its own as a simple, heartwarming adventure.

  1. Final Fantasy 9 - PlayStation

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Last but not least, replaying this PS classic really brought me back to my early 20s. This was just before I moved to Japan for a few years, and that period of absolute freedom and lack of responsibility was just the best. The story in this game is so charming, and the ending is still one of my favorites of all time. So happy I got an opportunity to replay it this year.

Over to you guys, looking forward to hearing about your 2018 favorites!

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This was the year I’ve beaten two Zelda games I’ve been trying to complete for over a decade now:

image https://i.ebayimg.com/05/!!e!U4VQ!WM~$(KGrHqUOKicE0)j3V4iVBNP30RJmzw~~_35.JPG?set_id=89040003C1

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Each was really great, far better than their (sometimes painfully slow) intros suggested they’d be. Majora’s Mask was especially shocking and memorable.

Now that those are completed, I only have Zelda II and Spirit Tracks remaining of the single player Zelda games (and I guess that Tingle DS game if it counts). And it still amazes me how consistently great the series despite the variety between its various entries. Each of the two I completed this year were GOTY type experiences (again, giving the edge to MM).

I’d also have to give this game a huge nod as a GOTY nominee:

https://pm1.narvii.com/6859/25cdf71a79d99a0439c515424b883d3a6b81fe8av2_hq.jpg

The game just feels so masterfully executed in the way each character controls. I haven’t enjoyed a Smash game this much since Melee.

And last, but not least, I’ve been in a LTTP playthrough of this very bizarre game:

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I’m still getting through it. But I’m further along than ever before. And it’s really showing me how Square was at the forefront of video game design on PS1 hardware. I can’t wait to see how the mystery of these parallel worlds continues to unfold and learn how exactly the game connects to Chrono Trigger (which I also replayed and enjoyed this year). Every time I play it, I’m amazed at how well they nailed the battle system and how unique it feels. And the soundtrack is amazing.

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Alphabetical order:

  • Downhill Domination (PS2)
    Excite Truck on mountain bikes with split screen multi-player
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  • Gomola Speed (PCE)
    Snake meets Quantum and sort of Qix
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  • Kero Kero King (PS1)
    Frog golf
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  • MiniCopter Adventure Flight (Wii)
    Budget helicopter game with brilliant combo of physical and motion controls
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  • Nintendo Touch Golf (DS/DSi)
    Excellent golf with stylus control
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  • Panekit (PS1)
    Open world construction driving and exploration
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  • Smashing Drive (GC)
    Bonkers arcade action driving
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  • Stunt Flyer (Wii)
    A wolf in kids clothing
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Hangers on from last year:

  • T&E SOFT golf games (various)
  • Winter Gold (SNES)

Edit: added box art

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this is a good thread, and I’m gonna post more later but while red dead 2 and spider-man were a blast, shining force IIII scenario 3 and a night in the woods were some of my favorite gaming experiences this year

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Since this year I never played anything Retro that I hadn’t played before, I’m going to pick modern games. For me it has to be Red Dead Redempion 2. It was a little slow at first but once it got going the game became a true living world where anything was possible. Playing on the Xbox One X in 4K is especially awesome. Such a beautiful and enjoyable experience.

Diablo III

This game would make my list every year. I’ve been playing it since a little after release, first on PC, then on Xbox One with the EXCELLENT console port, and most recently on the Switch. In fact this year alone I put many many hours into each one of those versions. It’s a game that I ALWAYS come back to eventually.

 

Spider-Man

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I had a PS4, I sold my PS4, I bought a PS4. This game is a big reason why I jumped back in and I was not disappointed. Just a great game all around. Simply swinging around and traversing the city as Spiderman was a real treat.

 

Kid Dracula

I decided to do a play through of this game for YouTube, having never played it before, and I was super impressed by it. It’s an extremely charming game with solid platforming, mechanic, music, stages, etc. Just a really fun and impressive title for the Game Boy. You can watch the playthrough here if you’d like.

This really makes me think I need to keep better track of what I played. I can’t remember half the games I beat but I guess the ones that I do are the ones that really stood out anyway.

Dead Cells:

What a fantastic game. It checked all the boxes for me and I enjoyed every minute of the 40+ hours it took me to beat it. Theres a new update coming out that’s going to radically change the game and I look forward to jumping back in.

Hollow Knight:

This was a game that stood up to the hype. A fantastic, and very long, “MetroidVania” that stays fresh and sucked me in for the entire 40+ hours I put into it. The art, music and level design are fantastic and at a budget price it may be the best bang for the buck in the genre.

CastleVania Bloodlines:

While I played the first 5 CV games this year (I think, lol) Bloodlines is the one that stands out the most to me. This game embodies everything that the Genesis was and within the first minute you realise " this ain’t no Nintendo game" Blood and guts everywhere backed by some of the best music in the series and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Resident Evil 2:

I played the first RE a few years back but I still remember it well enough to know that RE2 is a HUGE step up. RE1 may be the better “survival horror” game but RE2 does everything else way better. I really love the characters in the game and Irons stood out as my favorite of the bunch.

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I think my favorite thing I played in 2018 was actually a new retro-styled game, Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon. It’s not too difficult and yet it’s just hard enough to make you work for completion. It looks like it’s 8-bit but it does things you probably could not have done on NES hardware. It’s really just a perfect encapsulation of that era with a new setting that’s nicely derivative of something familiar.

It’s so good I started to play through the second time, and then it definitely gets harder!

Definitely Rocket League… I continually have fun with that game, and play with friends a few times a week. 1400+ hours and counting. I watch the eSports scene for it as well, and I love it.

For games that I played through for the first time, it’s gotta be Grim Dawn on the PC. It’s a fantastic ARPG in the Diablo-esque style, and I had a blast with it.

For retro games, definitely Castle Of Illusion on SMS. It really surprised me how good this game is, and I could easily play through it several more times and have a blast. While I think Land Of Illusion is technically the better game, the first one was an eye opener for me into the platforming games on the system that I didn’t get exposure to as a child.

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Never heard of this one. Is it first party?

Developed by golf game experts T&E SOFT and published by Nintendo as:

  • Nintendo Touch Golf: Birdie Challenge (PAL)
  • True Swing Golf (NTSC-U)
  • DS Golf for Adults (NTSC-J)

Plus there was a DSi version with substantial changes and improvements in PAL and NTSC-U regions. I actually prefer this version, as it’s more focussed and comes with a great Challenge mode.