PS2 Backlog Committee's Top 10 Games of 2018

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Phaseknox
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PS2 Backlog Committee's Top 10 Games of 2018

Post by Phaseknox »

The following are my top 10 games of 2018 based on what I played throughout the year:

10. inFAMOUS: First Light
This is a standalone expansion to inFAMOUS: Second Son with a different story and main character, and I liked it more than what I played of Second Son. The story is really good, and the main character (Fetch) is badass. She's a street punk girl with attitude, a likable/realistic personality, moves fast and has awesome powers. The game is fast paced and action packed, but it's way too short even for an expansion. It would have been higher on my list if it was a longer experience, but unfortunately it was over way too quickly.

9. Mirror's Edge: Catalyst
The original Mirror's Edge is one of my favorite games, but this reimagining isn't as good. It actually looks worse than the original despite it being current gen, and the combat isn't as good. But the core game is the visceral free running and platforming, and that's where it shines. The levels are really well designed, and it offers some of the best platforming that I've experienced in a game. It's a shame that it doesn't look very good and that the combat is basic, but the story and characters are decent and I did enjoy my time with the game for the most part.

8. Everybody's Golf
This is basically the current gen version of Hot Shots Golf, and it's really good in a lot of ways. It's a deeper experience than the previous games with a lot of customization options, and light RPG elements. It addicted me for quite a while, and I dumped a lot of hours into it. However, it lacks a lot of different courses so the same ones are repeated over and over again and it gets ridiculously difficult at the end. It wasn't quite the current gen Hot Shots Golf game that I wanted, but it came close.

7. Nier: Automata
This is a semi-open world mission driven action game with slick gameplay that combines hack-and-slash swordplay with shooting. It has a cool sci-fi premise with an entertaining story, and interesting characters. I really had fun playing it, but it's on the short side. Even with doing a lot of the side stuff I finished it in 15 hours. That might be a good length for a linear directed experience, but not so much for a more open mission driven one. It's meant to be played through a couple more times with different characters from their perspective, but the first time with the original character was enough for me.

6. Life is Strange: Before the Storm
This is the prequel to Life is Strange and I liked it a little more in some ways such as playing as Chloe and it being more grounded in reality, but it was less of a game and more of an interactive story. It offered some of the best storytelling and characters that I've experienced in a game, and I found it to be an emotional experience throughout.

5. Life is Strange
This is basically a modern take on the point-and-click adventure genre similar to the Telltale games where it's more of a choice driven interactive story than a gameplay driven one, but it still offers enough gameplay elements to satisfy me. It's the story, characters and choices that you make that really make it stand out, and it was a gripping experience until the end. The endings were disappointing, and it's a shame that this is the only game that we get with these characters together because I really liked them and I was hoping to experience more adventures with them.

4. Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
This began as an Uncharted 4 expansion, but soon turned into its own standalone Uncharted game. It's definitely a standalone game, there's nothing about it that feels like an expansion. It has a new story, new characters and new locations, there's nothing recycled from Uncharted 4. It's a lower budget game and is shorter, but my time with it was a total blast. It's a really well paced action adventure platformer with an entertaining story, exciting action, heart pounding platforming and a sense of adventure.

3. Red Dead Redemption II
This is a prequel to Red Dead Redemption, and feels like a different game in a lot of ways. It has a great story and cast of characters, the graphics are the best that I've seen in a game so far and the world is big and packed with content. As an overall gaming experience it's one of the best that I had this year, but the core game itself is unfortunately lacking a little. It's slow paced throughout, it plays somewhat clunky/heavy and the main missions lack variety consisting mostly of shootouts. Also, fast travel is limited so you do a lot of horseback riding around the big world. Thankfully the world is gorgeous looking. As a complete package the game is masterfully crafted, but the majority of my time was spent horseback riding and shooting which left me wanting a little more from a gameplay perspective.

2. God of War
This is the latest game in the God of War series given a modern action adventure design. The story and characters are great, the combat is deep and visceral, and the game world is one of the best that I've seen in a game. You go on an epic journey experiencing fantastical things every step of the way while engaging in exciting melee combat. There's never a dull moment to be had, it keeps you wanting to see what you're going to experience next. I didn't really care for a lot of the optional side content that felt shoehorned into the experience and made things feel less organic, but since it was optional I was able to ignore it and focus on the main goal at hand.

1. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
This is the Uncharted game that I wanted from the start, the focus being on adventure, platforming and puzzle solving and less on cover shooting. It's rare for me to play a game that I don't have any complaints with, but this is one. I can't really think of anything that I dislike about it, it's pretty much everything that I want from the action adventure genre. Great story and characters, a sense of adventure, varied well designed levels, solid melee and shooting combat, exciting platforming and logical puzzles. It's also a long adventure that never feels rushed, but at the same time is never boring. And the ending is extremely satisfying. It's not only my GOTY, but also my current GOTG.
Last edited by Phaseknox on Tue Jan 01, 2019 10:00 pm, edited 8 times in total.
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isthatallyougot
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Re: Phaseknox's Top 10 Games of 2018

Post by isthatallyougot »

Thanks for making your list phase. I'm not sure if I have the energy to do mine this year or not. We'll see.

From your list, I loved Uncharted 4. I didn't like Life is Strange (the original).

I need to play The Lost Legacy though.
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canedaddy
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Re: Phaseknox's Top 10 Games of 2018

Post by canedaddy »

That's a nice list, albeit premature (you have a whole month of gaming dude :p ).

1-3 are all outstanding... can't argue with those at all. Haven't played most of the others.
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Phaseknox
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Re: Phaseknox's Top 10 Games of 2018

Post by Phaseknox »

canedaddy wrote: Tue Dec 04, 2018 9:18 pmThat's a nice list, albeit premature (you have a whole month of gaming dude :p ).
Thanks, but I don't consider it premature since I'm currently playing Red Dead Redemption II which I might not even finish before the end of the year. If I do, then of course I'll add it to my list.
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Re: Phaseknox's Top 10 Games of 2018

Post by Phaseknox »

I finished Red Dead Redemption II, and added it to my list.
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Re: Phaseknox's Top 10 Games of 2018

Post by argyle »

Nice list Phase. I'm still working on wrapping up a couple, plus I need to go back & see what exactly I played this year (I usually keep track but didn't this year).
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Phaseknox
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Re: Phaseknox's Top 10 Games of 2018

Post by Phaseknox »

I'm really looking forward to your top 10 as always. It's the top 10 that I look forward to the most each year because we're often on the same page when it comes to games, and you usually play most of what comes out each year.
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Phaseknox
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Re: Phaseknox's Top 10 Games of 2018

Post by Phaseknox »

I finished inFAMOUS: First Light, and added it to my list.
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Re: Phaseknox's Top 10 Games of 2018

Post by jfissel »

I beat 15 games this year, so 5 won't make it. Here are my top 10 of 2018:

10. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
An older entry on the list that I just now got around to, this is a very cool puzzle adventure game where you control 2 brothers simultaneously (one with each of the thumbsticks). Had a blast playing through this game with a very touching story.

9. RiME
Same sort of vibe as Ico and Journey - mysterious place/world where you have to figure out secrets, solve puzzles, and make your way to the end. Recommended if you liked Ico and Journey.

8. Virtue's Last Reward
The second game of the Nonary trilogy, I'm a little late to the party. And I still have the last one to play! Great plot twists and turns again just like the first one - it's always crazy trying to figure out what the hell is going on!

7. What Remains of Edith Finch
I kept seeing this on other peoples' lists of best PSN games for the last year and a half, so I thought I'd check it out. Really had no idea what it was about, but definitely had an interesting time with this strange and charming first-person adventure.

6. Inside
Fantastic little gem of a game with tons of tense moments as you make your way through. I haven't played Limbo, but maybe now I should since I liked Inside so much.

5. Yakuza 6: The Song of Life
Being number 5 on this list isn't bad because the games ahead of Yakuza 6 are all amazing. It's been a great couple of years for this franchise since we've been given 4 games since early 2017 (0, Kiwami, 6, Kiwami 2). I'm glad that more people in the US have discovered Yakuza and seem to like the series. Anyway, this game is the end of Kazuma Kiryu's story, and what a ride it has been.

4. Shadow of the Colossus
I own 3 versions of this game and it's one of my favorite games of all-time. This remake is absolutely gorgeous and I really enjoyed playing through it again.

3. Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age
Well, hello old friend. After waiting 8 years for a new main DQ game, I was eager to buy it day one and jump right in. And I spent about 100 hours in Erdrea doing most everything on my way to the platinum trophy. Hopefully, this game sold well here and the next entry doesn't take so long to come to the US.

2. God of War
The MVP for the first half of the year, loved everything about it. I felt like they went in the right direction with gameplay, story, and setting to create a fresh take on the series. Can't wait for more games if they want to do sequel(s).

1. Red Dead Redemption II
Spots 1 and 2 are so very close together, and maybe since I just finished it RDR II takes the slight advantage, I don't know. Even though I didn't get to play as much of the game as I wanted in the first month following it's release and I felt like there were initially a lot of controls to remember, I spent a lot of December enjoying both the lengthy and well-written story as well as the fantastic map and scenery. I'm still finding new areas, details, easter eggs, and hilarious strangers throughout the world. It's no secret that I love many of Rockstar's games and, in my mind, this one delivered.

Woulda/Coulda/Shoulda list: Games that came out in late 2017 or 2018 that I decided not to play right away due to time, money, etc. These could have possibly ended up on this list, but you'll have to wait until at least a year to find out.
- Assassin's Creed: Odyssey
- Detroit: Become Human
- Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom
- Shadow of the Tomb Raider
- South Park: The Fractured but Whole
- Spider-man
- Yakuza Kiwami 2
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Phaseknox
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Re: PS2 Backlog Committee's Top 10 Games of 2018

Post by Phaseknox »

Nice list, j. Based on the games that you listed that you plan on playing this year, I think that you and I both are going to play some bigger titles this year. I've been putting off playing some of the games that I've been more interested in this gen because a lot of them are open world games and RPGs packed with content that I was waiting to play after I played through some shorter games that I could finish more quickly, but I decided that I don't want to that anymore so I plan on focusing on the stuff that I really want to play this year. I'm starting with Mass Effect: Andromeda, and it was a good choice because I'm having a great time with it. Mass Effect is one of my favorite game series, and Andromeda offers everything that I love about the series and more.

P.S. Since you included your top 10 games of 2018 here, I decided to go ahead and make this the official PS2 Backlog Committee top 10 games of 2018 thread.
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