By: Tyler Miller

Whenever the end of the year comes, it’s typically easy for me to decide what my game of the year was. This year though, it’s a tough one. God of War and Red Dead Redemption 2 came out this year and left their mark on me in ways that I didn’t expect. So today, I’ll lay out my thoughts for each one. These will consist of my what I liked about each game and the experience I had with them. All of these things are being taken into consideration for me as I choose who the winner will be. Let’s begin!

God of War

God of War was a complete and utter surprise upon its release. I simply never expected that game to be as fantastic as it was. The story was more personal and intimate, as opposed to the epic and grandiose adventures that we went on with Kratos in past games. Kratos was always a character that I liked, but the new game gave him more depth and emotion than before, therefore giving me far more reason to care about him. In the past I liked him because he was just really cool and badass with the way that he killed his enemies. With this new game though, I loved the way that he was a calmer person that was doing his best to try and be a good father to his son.

At the start of the game, Kratos has a distant relationship with his son Atreus. They acknowledge one another as father and son, but the two might as well be strangers. Even with there being so much space between them though, Kratos continuously tries to be a real father to Atreus. There’s a moment at the start of the game after Atreus kills his first animal during a hunting session where  we see Kratos attempt this, but fail to do so. Atreus is visibly sad with the death of the deer and Kratos reaches his arm out to comfort him, but hesitates before ultimately pulling back and taking the killing blade out of the deer. It’s a moment where a lot is said through such a small action and it does a lot towards making us understand and care about the relationship between the two characters. Their relationship changes so much throughout the course of the game in very realistic ways, leading to some truly emotional moments that linger long after they’re over. The fantastic voice acting from Christopher Judge and Sunny Suljic also went a long way towards making me care about the main duo.

What also helps the characters and story be so damn good is the revolutionary use of a one-shot camera. From the moment the game starts, the game never cuts once. It’s something that I didn’t think would be that big of a deal before I played the game, but once I started the game I could see just how impactful it was. It kept me connected to Kratos through every situation that he found himself in, making me be more in touch with him. This certainly wouldn’t have been the case if the game took a more standard approach to cutscenes.

The story and characters weren’t the only things I loved about this game though. The gameplay is amazing as well. Combat is intense and much smaller scale than previous God of War games, something that’s perfect for what this game is going for. Kratos’ new weapon, the Leviathan Axe, is one of the best video game weapons to ever be made. Everything about it just feels right. From the way you can throw it and recall it whenever you want to the feel of it cutting into enemies, I just couldn’t get enough of this weapon and wanted to get into fights just so I could keep using it. When you combine the axe with Kratos’ bare handed fighting abilities, there are many ways to approach fights. Things are expanded even more with the ability to direct Atreus to attack enemies with his magic arrows. It all comes together to create a satisfying combat loop that never gets tiring or annoying.

No matter how strong you are, fights are never too easy. There’s always a nice amount of challenge as you proceed throughout the game, with even some of the simplest fights posing a good amount of difficulty. The Valkyrie fights are definitely the highlights when it comes to the combat since they require you to take your time to learn their moves, and then use every ability at your disposal to take them out. The first time I came across one was a complete accident, but I tried it even though I was sorely underpowered for the fight. With enough practice though and perseverance, I was able to come out as the victor and I felt so accomplished as a result.

Graphically, the game is like no other. Each of the different realms that you explore are beautifully unique and truly feel like a completely different world. Going from Midgard to Alfheim for the first time was jaw dropping not only because of how stunning Alfheim was, but also because of how different they looked. Every area of the game that I traveled to had me pausing for a moment to just stare in awe at the views that were in front of me. It’s a shame that photo mode wasn’t available at launch because I would’ve been using it all the time during my playthrough of the game.

Ever since I finished the story and went back to finish off some of the side quests, God of War has continued stay on my mind, begging me to go back and replay it. It’s story was so memorable and enjoyable to go through, and the gameplay was an absolute joy. I never got tired of playing this game and never wanted it to end.

Red Dead Redemption 2

I find it to be kind of funny that one of my candidates for Game of the Year is a sequel to a game that I never played, but that didn’t keep me from having the time of my life with Red Dead Redemption 2. That certainly wasn’t what I thought would be the case when I first started the game. Much has been made of the fact that Red Dead Redemption 2 is a slow game, even though it’s by design. Going into the game I knew this, but the game didn’t truly grab me until the end of Chapter 3. I had been having a good time being in the world and experiencing the story of Arthur Morgan and the Van der Linde gang, but its slow pace just wasn’t connecting with me for some reason that I still can’t definitively put my finger on to this day.

I’m sure that I can attribute part of that to the fact that I would typically play the game after a long day of work, a time where I’m exhausted and only have about three hours to play anything. Red Dead Redemption 2 is a game that’s not designed to be played in short sessions though. It takes time to do a lot of things in this game, all because of Rockstar’s dedication to realism, so my three hour sessions weren’t enough for me to really indulge in what the game was trying to present to me. Things turned around once I reached the conclusion of Chapter 3. This was the point where the game really kicked things into gear for me and I became far more invested in the story.

That isn’t to say that I thought the game was bad before all that though. I liked the characters and the relationships that they shared with one another. Being able to walk around my camp site and chat with the other gang members or play a match of dominoes with someone while also getting some insight into their personality was amazing. It’s not something that I see too often in open world games, especially not as naturally as it was done in Red Dead, so I was a major fan of that. The same goes for the rest of the world of the game.

I loved that I could be riding my horse throughout the country side and come across someone that I could choose to help, and then see them again in a town hours later and have them scratch my back because of my kind heart from long before. Being able to interact with every person in the game that I come across and have a conversation with them (no matter how short) was really cool as well. Getting ambushed randomly while traveling from one place to another was something else that I was a fan of because it made the world feel like it was actually lived in and not just a playground. I remember one instant near the start of the game in Chapter 2 vividly.

It was night time and I was traveling back to the gang’s camp site after doing some side stuff. I was pretty close to camp when I saw two people on horses with torches at the top of a hill. Curiosity got me and I slowly started to approach them. As I got close, the two men shouted out at me and rode down the hill towards me. I turned around real quick and tried to ride off, but then more people came after me from all sides. With no other option, I killed them all and went back to camp. It was this instant for me that truly made the world feel alive and made me think that anything could happen at any time in the game.

All of these little things about the game in addition to a desire to see how the story ended were my initial drives to continue playing through the game at first. Once I finished Chapter 3, everything came together for me and I finally had my eyes opened to just how great the game was. Real big things were starting to happen in the story and I was getting more attached to the other gang members. I enjoyed their company and the banter that Arthur would have with each of them. This was when the gang truly seemed like a family and I was happy to be a part of it. As the story went on and the gang fell apart, I was sad and hurt to see some people go and to see other friendships fall apart. The main story culminated in the most perfect way possible, tugging at my emotions and making me long for the good ol’ days that I had once been a part of.

Along my journey to the end of the main story, I continued to explore the world and engage in the great side content. What really surprised me was how some of the side content integrated itself in the main story. I never would’ve expected that a nun I met in a side task would end up being the person that I would share an emotional moment with in the main story. The fact that I did though is something that made the moment resonate with me even more than it would’ve had I had the interaction with someone else.

On a technical level, Red Dead is a marvel. The attention to detail is astounding, from the way that dirt and mud stays on Arthur after he rolls around in it, to the finely crafted store catalogues, to the horse balls that shrink based on the weather. Detail in the animations is incredible too, although this strong attention to that detail is something that not everyone is a fan of because of how slow it causes everything to be. I just so happen to not mind it at all and think that it only helps to immerse you into the world.

Graphically the game is beautiful and looks damn near photorealistic at times. If the game had a proper photo mode I would be all over it. There’s also the voice acting too which is stellar, as is to be expected from a Rockstar game. Roger Clark does a fantastic job voicing Arthur. He made me end up liking Arthur far more than I thought I would, something that I was very surprised by. Benjamin Byron Davis also deserves praise for his role as Dutch, the gang’s leader. Even as he started to take a darker turn as the story progressed, I still found myself entranced by Dutch whenever he started talking and could see why so many people would follow him.

The Verdict

Now that I’ve laid out my thoughts for both of these games, it’s time to come to a final decision. This is honestly really hard to do because both of these games are amazing games. They both do brand new things for their respective series’ and genres, and they both left such a strong impact on me. God of War and Red Dead Redemption 2 are both revolutionary games and are going to be remembered as defining games of this generation, but only one of them is my Game of the Year for 2018. And that game is…

 

God of War – Game of the Year 2018

It was a real tough decision for me to make because I liked both of these games so much! They both offered different experiences and I had such a great time with each game, but at the end of the day I just had to go with what my heart was telling me. God of War is without a doubt my Game of the Year for 2018. This was a game that I could not stop thinking about every single day. While I was at work, all I could think about was what I had done the previous night in the game and what new things I would come across that night once I got back home. Whenever I played, I would take my time to explore every nook and cranny of the world that was available to me before continuing the main story because I wanted to absorb as much of the game as I could before it came to an end. It sucked me in so much that I would sit in the boat whenever I arrived at my destination and listen to the stories that Mimir would tell because they were filled so much rich information about the world and I didn’t want them to be put on pause.

God of War was my obsession for a long time after it came out, and to this day it’s still on my mind. I frequently find myself thinking about how satisfying and fun the combat in the game is, or some of my favorite moments in the game. It is honestly game of the generation material. Many games stick with me for a bit after I beat them, but no game this year has stuck with me in the same way that God of War did. And for that reason, it is my Game of the Year for 2018.

What’s your Game of the Year? Do you agree with my decision? Let me know in the comments down below!