PS2 Backlog Committee's Top 10 Games of 2018
Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2018 5:28 pm
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.
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.