By: Tyler Miller

Welcome back everyone! Yesterday I talked about 12 of the games that I played throughout the course of the year, and I had a lot to say about them. Today we’re going to continue this look back on what I played this year with the final 12 games that I played. Just like yesterday there’s a lot to talk about with these games, so get comfortable because this is going to be a bit of a long post.

Brawlhalla

This summer I had this burning desire to play some Super Smash Bros. My brother has Smash 4, but I didn’t want to be bound to his room in order to play, and I definitely didn’t want to dig out my Gamecube or Wii to play Melee or Brawl. Then one night I remembered that there was a game called Brawlhalla that looked like a Smash Bros. type of game. So I went on the Playstation Store, downloaded it, and got to playing. The thing about Brawlhalla though is that it’s not Smash, so it doesn’t fill that void in the same way that Smash does.

To me, Brawlhalla is like the online Flash game Smash imitators that you can play on the computer. It has some cool looking characters and a unique approach to combat. Each fighter has two weapons that they can use to fight with different moves for each weapon, and you switch between the two of them by grabbing item pick-ups from the environment. What brought the game down so much for me though is the fact that combat didn’t have any real weight to it. All the characters moved at the same speed, attacks had no real tangible impact, so I couldn’t really feel the hits. On top of all that is the fact that the arenas are as boring as can be. There’s no music that plays during fights, and the arenas themselves have no type of personality to them. They’re just lifeless places for you to throw hands with other players. I mildly enjoyed my time with the game, but it’s not one that I’ll be going back to again.

The Walking Dead: The Final Season

I’ve greatly enjoyed each season of Telltale’s The Walking Dead, as I felt like each one improved on the previous ones. The Walking Dead: The Final Season is yet another improvement on what’s already been done by Telltale with their flagship series. When I reviewed Episode One and Episode Two, I felt like the characters were being developed in very intriguing and exciting ways, most especially AJ and Clementine. The new characters that we were introduced to were also welcome additions to the series and had a lot of potential for interesting growth as well. Add onto that a new perspective when it came to the gameplay, and some choices that felt like that were going to matter a bit more than in the past, and we had a great season so far. I’m real happy that the season is going to be finished with some former Telltale employees that are working in conjunction with Skybound Games, because it would’ve been a shame for the final season to not be seen to completion. We just have to wait a tad bit longer to get the conclusion that we’re dying for.

Marvel’s Spider-Man

After many years of pretty bad Spider-Man games, the web slinger finally got to step back into the spotlight with the great Marvel’s Spider-Man. Insomniac Games stepped up to the plate and gave us the best Spider-Man game to date, surpassing the highly regarded Spider-Man 2 for the PS2, and my personal favorite, Ultimate Spider-Man. As I noted in my review of the game, it did a fantastic job of putting you in Spidey’s shoes and making you feel like you were the iconic superhero. The combat was fun and tight, the swinging itself was perfect, and the story was amazing for a Spider-Man game. Insomniac took the world of Spider-Man and made it their own, and the game is all the better for it.

The DLC for the game has come to an end, and told a pretty good story as well over the course of its three different episodes. It introduced some new characters, and gave some extra depth to ones that were already present in the main game. The final episode plants the seeds for some exciting story developments in the inevitable sequel, so I’m hyped for that to eventually come out. Overall though, Marvel’s Spider-Man was a great time and I just may go back for a New Game+ play through once my backlog dies down some.

Destiny 2: Forsaken

Destiny 2 is a game that I liked when it came out and played hardcore for a couple months, but then fell off of once I had to start grinding in order to be strong enough to do the raid. As Forsaken was coming out though, I jumped back into the game and went through the DLC’s that had released in order to get myself ready to jump into the newest expansion for the space shooter. With Forsaken, I fell in love with the game all over again. The story was a good one that unfortunately saw the death of the iconic Cayde-6. The journey of revenge that we went on though was well told and filled with some memorable fights.

Bungie updated the weapon system for the game and it took a bit of time to get used to. Overall though, I ended up being a fan of the way that I could have multiples of the same weapon type equipped at once. My favorite addition to the game though was the compound bow. Whenever there’s a bow and arrow in a game, I gravitate towards it. The precision that’s required of a bow and arrow is appealing to me, and the satisfaction of getting kills with them is something that getting kills with a gun just can’t match. So when you combine that with Bungie’s expertise at making weapons feel so damn good to use, you get the best bow and arrow ever in a game.

I also ended up being a big fan of the new Gambit mode. It’s mixture of PvE with PvP is simply brilliant! I found myself ignoring the Crucible and Strikes in favor of Gambit for hours on end because it was just so much fun. Charging over to the opponents’ side and killing them as they try to deposit their motes or take out their Primeval is a thrill that never loses its excitement, especially when it comes down to the wire and a successful invasion can mean the difference between winning or losing the match.

With all the games that came out after Forsaken though, I haven’t gone back to the game. I’ve yet to truly explore the Dreaming City, do the raid, or any of the most recent content that Bungie’s added to the game. I’m hearing great things about the game now, so I want to try and get back in there soon.

Heavy Rain (PS4)

When Heavy Rain launched on the PS3, I never got around to playing it, but I heard good things about it. I did play a demo and thought it was okay, but at the time my taste in games wasn’t as broad as it is today, so I didn’t want to get the full game. Fast forward to this year and my tastes in games has expanded greatly, so I downloaded it off PS+ and gave it a spin. The game was pretty good, with a great story. Although I knew how the game could end, and knew about what the many trials were that protagonist Ethan had to go through in order to find his son, they still left a great impact on me as I played through the game. Especially the lizard trial. Every time I watch it online I wince in pain and find it hard to watch, so actually playing that part ending up being a trial for myself.

Although I liked the story a lot, there were other key areas that I felt the game was sorely lacking in. The voice acting was absolutely awful, save for a few characters. It felt like the voice actors were just reading their lines off the script without putting any effort or real emotion into them half the time. When you’re playing, you’re able to listen to the thoughts of the person you’re playing as at any given time. So it’s hard to believe that in a high stakes situation, a person would be voicing their thoughts in the most calm manner possible. Where’s the emotion? Where’s the fear or distress that you’re going to lose your son?

Yes that last question was a dig at Ethan because his voice acting was by far the worst of the main cast of characters. He sounded like a robot damn near the whole game (honestly many of the characters did, but he was the worst), it was honestly laughable. And don’t get me started on the mall scene where he loses his son. I’ll let this video do all the talking for me.

The controls were also kind of obtuse and difficult to control, specifically when it came to moving around the environment. I was able to adjust to playing Twister with my controller in order to do certain things while playing the game and had no real issue with that, although I’m sure that many do have an issue with it. But moving around was annoying and I wish it was much simpler than it was in the game. And although it was a PS4 remaster of the game, it still didn’t look that good. Sure it’s an updated version of a 2010 game, but it just looked rough in many spots. I had a good time with this game, but it definitely hasn’t aged all that well.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

Black Ops 4 is the righting of the ship for the Call of Duty franchise, and I love it. It’s been in an odd position for a couple of years, with fans not happy with the direction the series was going in, only to be excited and promptly disappointed by last year’s WWII. Although it may not have been the return to modern times that fans may have wanted, Black Ops 4 shows that the series still has legs to stand on. I’ve fallen in love with this game in a way that I haven’t with any game in the series since Black Ops III in 2015.

I’ve spent a lot of time with the game’s standard multiplayer mode and am already sixth prestige, with diamond camos for three of the weapon classes. I haven’t spent too much time with the awesome battle royale mode, Blackout since launch, but I do plan to jump back into it some more now that some fresh players are getting online. Black Ops 4 is the first game I think of playing when I come home at the end of the day, and if it wasn’t for the many other games that I have to go through, I would probably end up playing this game every single night.

Assassin’s Creed: Origins

So I’m real late to the party on Assassin’s Creed: Origins. I got the game as a Christmas gift last year and didn’t get around to playing it until September of this year because there were other things I wanted to play. I even had the game installed on my system, but never touched it once, despite all the great things I heard about it. Better late than never though, right? With all that being said, I liked Origins a fair amount. It’s a drastic departure from all the previous games in the series, moving more towards being an action-RPG as opposed to an action/stealth game, but I liked what Ubisoft did with the game.

Egypt was a cool setting to be in, and it was something very different too from what we’ve had in the past. For some time now in the franchise we’ve had sprawling cities with tall buildings to climb up, but Origins tosses all that out the window, opting for more flat terrain and low level buildings. It’s amazing then that Egypt never once got boring to look at or traverse. It was consistently engaging and always had my interest. The map is huge though, far bigger than past games in the series. Hell, I imagine that two or three regions in this game would comprise the entire map in past entries. I didn’t even touch some of the regions in the game because there was just so much to explore and not enough time for me to see it all.

As has been stated many times since this game’s release, the combat is the biggest departure from tradition. Instead of being all about parrying into one-hit kills against all your opponents, you’re encouraged here to be more methodical in your approach to combat. Dodging enemies attacks and attacking when they’re open to do some damage to them, as opposed to blindly rushing in and attacking without a second thought is key to winning fights, and doing otherwise will get you killed very quickly. The weapons and armor you have equipped also matter big time here, as some weapons offer more range than others, while some may have special perks that give you an added bonus in battle. It’s all fun stuff to keep track of, although once you find equipment that you like, there isn’t too much of a reason to swap it out for other stuff since you can level any item up to your current level.

Bayek’s story in the game was one that I actually enjoyed going through and found myself invested in. Traveling with him on his quest for revenge against the people who killed his son was engaging the whole way through, and it was made more engaging because of his relationship with his wife Aya. Their love was a consistent high point for me throughout the game, and I wish we had gotten more scenes of them together. It’s a shame though that the modern day stuff has basically been all but eliminated from the game. You’re forced into the modern day a few times during the course of the story, but it’s only ever for five minutes or less, and it never really pushes the modern day stuff forward too much. It feels like it’s in there to break up the Animus stuff for a bit with a short little detour, and to appease the people that like the modern day story. I liked the modern day story in the past, but it’s gotten so aimless in the past couple games that I don’t have to much reason to care about it now. If they revamp it all though and give it a driving purpose like it had when Desmond was alive, then I’ll have interest in it again.

Origins has me real excited to play Odyssey, especially with the high praise that game has been getting since its release. I got that for Christmas this year and I promise that I’ll end up playing it before September next year. I can’t promise that it’ll get played before March though. A little game known as Kingdom Hearts III comes out at the end of January and nothing is getting played for a while after that comes out.

Red Dead Redemption 2

Boy was Read Dead Redemption 2 a damn good game. In fact, it’s the only other game aside from God of War that has the potential to be my Game of the Year for 2018. I’m not going to go too in depth here because I’m going to write an article about those two for Game of the Year, but I will say that I really really REALLY liked RDR 2. I didn’t play the first Red Dead Redemption, so I had some trepidation about whether or not I should play this game, but I felt that I wouldn’t be doing myself a disservice since RDR 2 is a prequel. I’m very happy that I chose to play it because the game is one of the best ones of the generation. The story is really well told and emotional, characters are filled with depth and come across as real people, and the world is so huge to be daunting at first glance, but when inspected with a closer eye, you can see how detailed it is with every little thing being meticulously crafted. The game is also really freaking long as well, coming in at around 60 hours long, something that I was not expecting at all.

I haven’t touched the online mode for the game yet, but I’m going to when I get the chance (hopefully sooner rather than later). I’m not sure how deep into it I’ll get because I didn’t get too deep into the online mode for GTA V, but I’ll give it a chance to see how it is. Online aside though, Red Dead Redemption 2 is a game that stands heads and shoulders above just about every other game this year and is on equal footing with the juggernaut that is God of War. Who will be my Game of the Year for 2018 though? Check back with me later this week to find out.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

I wanted a Switch ever since it was announced, but didn’t have too much of a reason to get one last year. But with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate coming out this year, I knew the time had come. So I got my Switch during Black Friday and it came with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. I’ve always been a fan of the Mario Kart series, although I’ve only really played two games in the series: Double Dash and Mario Kart DS. I dabbled in Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 8 on Wii U, but never played them enough to form an opinion on them. Jumping into Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, you would think that I hadn’t missed out on ten years of karting. I was immediately having a blast and drifting around courses just like I was a decade ago.

I love just about all of the courses. Mario Kart has always had great courses, so I was happy to see that continue here. From the music to the visuals, all the courses are bursting with personality and charm. My personal favorite is the Electrodrome course. Racing through what is basically a disco club with the music pumping in the background is a fun thrill that I never get tired of. Cloudtop Cruise is another favorite of mine solely because of the Super Mario Galaxy music that plays in the background. That’s a track that’ll never get old. I also liked the addition of courses that are just one straight sprint from start to finish. Going from the top of Mount Wario all the way to the bottom is a load of fun and offers something different from any past game in the series where you end up going around on the same course three times in a row. The crossover courses are cool too, although I think that the F-Zero ones are the best of the bunch.

Of course it wouldn’t be a Mario Kart game without the series’ signature bullshit happening to you at the last minute of a race when you’re in first place. It’s still incredibly annoying to be winning a race on the final lap, only to be hit by a red shell, then a blue shell, then a lightning bolt, causing you to be dropped to third place mere feet away from the finish line. I hate it every single time it happens, but it’s all part of the Mario Kart experience.

Online isn’t something I’ve tried yet, but that’s because I haven’t purchased the online service for the system. I haven’t had much reason to yet, but with Smash in my hands, that’s definitely going to change in the very near future.

Celeste

The platforming genre is one that people generally associate with an easy difficulty, or at the very least, a fair amount of challenge that isn’t too punishing, but not so easy that you can breeze through it blindfolded. Platformers also generally don’t have stories that are thought provoking or emotional. Celeste is the exact opposite of all of that, and I loved every second that I spent with the game. Celeste is difficult in the same way that Super Meat Boy is. It requires you to pay attention to your environment and be precise with your movements, as even the slightest error will mean death. What makes this level of challenge so fun is the fact that no death is ever cheap, nor is any challenge unbeatable.

If you die, it’s because you did something wrong. You may have dashed in the wrong direction or just a moment too soon, causing you to miss your target by just a pixel. After each death, you’re immediately brought back to the start of whatever screen you were on within two seconds, so you don’t have to wait forever to try again, nor do you have to repeat too much to get back to where you died. This was something that I greatly enjoyed, and had me saying “Just one more try” over and over again on different sections because I knew that I could complete it if I just focused a bit more and corrected what I was doing.

The story of Celeste was also something that I really liked. Your character Madeline is trying to climb the titular mountain as she battles with a darker part of herself that she wants to get rid of. The commentary that the game makes on the topics of depression and anxiety is powerful and some of it was stuff that I could relate to. Everything came together at the end of the game once I reached the summit, and it made the entire journey worth all the hard work and effort I put in. It’s a journey that I’ll never forget, and it’s definitely one of the best games that I played this year.

Overwatch

Overwatch set the world on fire years ago, and while I always thought it was a cool game, I didn’t ever have much of a desire to play the game. That all changed though when a good friend of mine convinced me to get the game so I could play with her. So when it was $20 during Black Friday, I figured there was no better time to pick it up. While I haven’t played it a whole lot since I got it, I can say that I am real happy that she convinced me to take the plunge because on top of giving us something to play together, the game is a lot of fun.

I haven’t gotten to get a feel for too many of the characters in the game, but I love to play as either Lucio or D.Va. It’s fun to skate around as Lucio as I heal and speed up allies. It’s also pretty easy to wrap my head around how to play best as him. D.Va’s another one who’s easy for me to get how to play, and it’s just really cool to fly around and blast people with my mech. The game is also real addictive too. Matches fly by quickly, causing me to play for hours upon hours. It’s fun when games come down to the wire, with both teams giving their all to control the point or push the payload in order to win the match. This is a game that I’m definitely going to be playing a lot next year as I try to learn how to play as other character.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

The final game of the year that I’ve played is Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and it’s the perfect one to end the year on. I’ve loved every game in the series, with Brawl being my absolute favorite in the series up until now (that’s a hill I’m willing to die on). Ultimate takes is truly the ultimate version of Smash. It makes my purchase of a Switch in order to play this game one that I should have no shame in. We have every character ever in the series here, meaning I get to play as my boy Roy from my Melee glory days or speed through the competition as my main until the day I die, Sonic the Hedgehog. A host of classic stages from franchise history return as well! It’s been so cool playing on Fourside from Melee after all these years, especially with all the characters that have been added to the series since that game’s release.

The new adventure mode in the game, World of Light, is a fun mode that I’ve sunk about seven hours into so far. I realize that I’m nowhere near finishing the game yet, but I’ve been taking my time with it so far. I feel like the mode is best played in chunks as opposed to super long sessions because of how repetitive it can get going through spirit fights once you have a couple of powerful spirits to use in each fight. Playing it in short bursts allows it to consistently be fun every time I play it, instead of it becoming this boring slog to go through.

That being said though, the implementation of Spirits is something that’s actually pretty cool. It’s a bit overwhelming at first, but after a couple matches, I had a good handle on the system and how it worked. I like that I can keep it as surface level as I would like and just use the Spirits that I acquire through fights and stores, or I can get deeper with the system and sacrifice my Spirits to create new ones. I haven’t felt the need to do that yet and I don’t think I ever will because it’s a layer to the system that I just have no interest in engaging in. The game also isn’t forcing me to do it or making me feel like I’m missing out on something important by not doing it, so I’ll just stay in the shallow end of the pool.

The fighting though is great and feels better than in past games. Like I said when I previewed the game back in June, it’s faster than Smash 4, but not as fast as Melee. I feel like the speed the game is at is just perfect, keeping fights from becoming too chaotic to keep up with. There are also a number of other little refinements that I like, such as being able to make your own rule sets for the game. It’s an addition that I never knew I needed, but now that it’s here I can’t believe I played without it for so long. Gone are the days of having to go into a menu and spending a few minutes putting in my preferred settings every time I start up the game or want to just change things up when I’m playing with friends that want to do something different. It’s little things like this that help the game go a long way towards being the best Smash ever, and I just know that I’m going to be sinking many more hours into this game as I try to learn new characters and get better with others that I already know.

And with that, we come to the conclusion of this look back at the year! This was a great year for me with me gaming. I got to play a lot of games, some of which left a big mark on me, and others that were just fun experiences to go through. I also finally got a Switch, which I’m still very excited about! My brother has Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey, so I’ll play his copies of those games. As for 2019, I’m really looking forward to all the games that are coming out next year. It’s certainly shaping up to be another great year for games. All that said, I hope you all enjoyed reading my thoughts on all the games I played this year. It was fun for me to write about them all and get my thoughts out on each of them. Leave your thoughts in the comments below and tell me what you thought about each of the games here on this list.

Also, check back next week for my Game of the Year discussion! It’s between Red Dead Redemption 2 and God of War. Who will win? Not even I know yet. But come back in a few days to find out and tell me whether or not you agree with my decision.