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rpgchoices · 1 year

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Sometimes I really want to read a short summary of what to expect from a game… and thankfully people can also submit their summaries of games they played and help me (and others) find games that cater to their interests!

submitted by @lairofsentinel

(click here for other videogames)

what to expect from Return of the Obra Dinn

Game from the same creator of “Papers, Please”. This alone speaks a lot in my opinion: we are expecting an unconventional and interesting game despite their visual.

This is an adventure, puzzle game which doesn’t have puzzles in the sense of contraptions or codes or following patterns. The “puzzle” is to reconstruct the story of what happened in the ship by using logic and deductions.

Despite looking like a difficult game, its core is basic deduction that we use every day, making assumptions, testing them, and remaking new ones if they were incorrect. For this I highly recommend it even for those who always are afraid of puzzle/detective games.

The story starts with an empty ship that drifts into the port of Falmouth with damaged sails and no visible crew.

You play as an insurance investigator who has been dispatched immediately to Falmouth, and has to make an assessment of the damages it suffered, this implies to understand what events happened on the ship, how many people were there, how they died, and their names.

The only tools you have is a book with some drawings of the crew, a list of the crew, a map of the ship, and a magical pocket-watch that allows you to see the last minutes of a corpse. This will provide us images, dialogues, and situations that will give us small bits of information to determine who is who and how they died.

I highly recommend this game even for those who are not much into mystery games, because the skills used in this game are not the typical intricate and sometimes artificial tricks you need to “see” to solve puzzles. Most of the clues are given by noticing accents, listening dialogues, making assumptions that come from these bits, and observations of situations frozen in time.

The story of the travel of this ship since it sailed until the last crew member was alive starts simple but unfolds beautifully, trapping you in the mystery that is slowly built up with dialogues and the progression of death scenes.

The journal that the game gives you is beautifully organised and really useful for your deductions. The game truly provides all what you need to work on this at your own pace.

The mechanics are simple, the story is epic and surprising [you are not going to get bored trying to figure it out what happened] and the mystery keeps building up all along the game until the last moment, where the last pages of the journal are available, and you can discover a last, final secret.

Wonderful music, excellent voice acting, and unique visual style that work all together, providing a pleasing environment to play and keep engaged.

The only two small cons that sometimes I found out is that because the lack of detail in the images due to its style, sometimes it’s a bit complicated to understand the cause of death of a character. But the game is quite forgiving on that matter [for example, you may assume different ways to describe a death that are similar and all of them are correct for the game]. The other con is that you lose some clues if you are not too good to spot accents in the dialogues. However, it’s not impossible since I’m completely unable to determine English accents and I didn’t feel it was a terrible barrier to play this game.

As a warning, it’s a game about deaths, so it’s a bit morbid, violent, and graphical at times, but I would not qualify it as “gore”. I suppose this is the reason why the game has picked this art style: it helps a lot to reduce the roughness of the death situations you will see. Even though it’s explicit, it’s not detailed.

——- Plot? ——-

In 1802, the merchant ship Obra Dinn set out from London for the Orient with over 200 tons of trade goods. Six months later it hadn't met its rendezvous point at the Cape of Good Hope and was declared lost at sea. In 1807, the Obra Dinn returns, drifting to the port Falmouth with damaged sails and no visible crew. As an insurance investigator, you need to board the abandoned ship and determine what happened with its crew.

——- Gameplay? ——-

You walks around the ship, exploring, seeking corpses/skeleonts over which you activate the pocket-watch, and see the memory of the last minutes of that person. Sometimes, inside these memories, you can find new corpses that the pocket-watch will allow you to explore. These second corpses will appear like holograms in the real ship later. This allows an easy access to revisit some deaths.

——- Characters? ——-

60 crew members that you need to name and discover.

——- LGBT? ——-

None.

——- Sadness level? ——-

There is some sadness since this is a story about deaths, but the mystery overrides any sentiment. You just want to know what happened.

——- Happy ending? Deaths? ——-

The game ends when you discover all what can be discovered, and a new secret is available. It’s not happy nor sad, since as I said before, it’s a story about death and how rough life can be on a ship. Some deaths are tragic events, others are product of human greed, but the game hooks you so much with the mystery, that there is no much space for sadness even though it’s truly a tragic story. The ending is satisfying because everything ends up fitting adequately.

#what to expect #Return of the Obra Dinn #lairofsentinel

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videogametim · 5 years

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My Top 10 Games of 2018

2018 was a solid year for video games. There were a lot of games that I ended up liking a lot more than I thought I would, and a couple of indie surprises as well. I think 2017 was a very hard act to follow and as such I’ve had a tough time deciding the order this time around, but in the end I still feel very good about the 10 games on this list.

10. Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope)

What a surprise this turned out to be. I bought Obra Dinn based solely on the fact that it was Lucas Pope’s next game and much like Papers, Please, it’s a very unique type of game. In Obra Dinn you are charged with investigating the mysterious return of a ship thought to be lost at sea, whose crew had all mysteriously perished or disappeared. You walk around looking for dead bodies of the crew, and using your magic compass you are able to view a tableau pinpointing the moment of their death. Using this information it’s your job to fill in the journal and figure out how each and every member of the 60-person crew died and who or what killed them. There’s a lot of guesswork involved since you aren’t given a lot of detailed information, but thanks to the fantastic audio cues it was one of the most satisfying and rewarding games I played all year.

9. Tetris Effect (Monstars Inc./Resonair)

Tetris Effect is easily the coolest edition of Tetris made to date. In addition to being a wonderful VR experience on the same level of Rez Infinite or Thumper, Tetris Effect features almost everything a good Tetris game ought to have. Plenty of different game modes are included such as classics like Marathon or Sprint to the weirder ones like new Purify or Mystery modes. But the standout is definitely Journey mode. Functioning as a campaign, this mode takes you across almost 30 unique stages each featuring its own incredible dynamic music that progresses as you clear lines, and beautiful visuals that are greatly enhanced in VR. I expect this will be the game I keep coming back to from this year to play every now and again, and will definitely be my go-to Tetris game.

8. HITMAN 2 (IO Interactive)

A follow-up to 2016′s HITMAN (and my personal #2 game of that year), HITMAN 2 expands upon it in almost every way. The briefcase is back. Blending mechanics have been added for big crowds and bushes. The levels are orders of magnitude larger and while there’s only 5 of them, they’re all of the quality of 2016′s Sapienza level. There are also a couple of new modes too. One of which is a Sniper Assassin level where you are perched in a sniper’s nest overlooking a wedding and given many targets to take out, and the other is a multiplayer versus mode where you race against another player to take out a target faster.

But perhaps the most pleasantly surprising improvement has been in the quality of writing, specifically for 47′s character. You can tell they spent a lot more time ensuring he has lines for some of the more whacky scenarios he can end up in, especially when he gets the chance to talk directly to his targets. HITMAN 2 is ultimately more of the same, but it’s a lot more and definitely the game worth picking up if you’re a fan of the series or stealth games in general.

7. Yakuza 6 & Yakuza KIWAMI 2 (SEGA)

Unlike last year with 0 and KIWAMI, I feel very similarly about the two Yakuza games that came out this year so I thought they should occupy the same spot. The main thing that sets these new releases apart from previous entries is the new Dragon Engine. It’s a pretty big departure in feeling from the previous combat engine, but it allows for a lot more freedom since street battles are no longer constrained to an arena. You can run as far as you like, you can drag enemies into nearby shops and restaurants, and the new ragdoll physics are utterly hilarious. Both games also feature a new side activity (a tower defense style game in Kiwami 2 and a reverse tower defense style game in 6) that ties in with well known members of NJPW.

As far as story goes, I think both of them are pretty good. Having never played 2 back in the day, it definitely holds up to and even surpasses some of the later games’ stories with one of the best antagonists of the series in Ryuji and an even better partner character in Kaoru. KIWAMI 2 also incorporates the cabaret club minigame from Yakuza 0 with a whole new storyline, and some great new substories. Yakuza 6 on the other hand is a pretty decent finale for Kiryu’s story. It makes some callbacks to previous games (especially 0 and 2) and some fun new characters along with the vibrant new location of Onomichi. It’s sad that Kiryu’s story is over now, but I still have a strong hope for the future of the series.

6. Deltarune (Toby Fox)

Certainly the biggest surprise of the year was Deltarune. A new project from Undertale’s Toby Fox, Deltarune most notably features a new party system for battles and more detailed graphics. It’s got all the writing and music I’ve come to expect and love from Toby, a new cast of characters, and a promising story. Deltarune isn’t finished yet and it will be a long time before we see its conclusion, but Chapter 1 is an incredible start.

5. God of War (Santa Monica Studio)

I didn’t expect to like the new God of War as much as I did. I grew up with the series and I wasn’t sure how to feel about this completely new over-the-shoulder direction. My worries were quickly put at ease however, with how much fun Kratos’ new axe was to use and all of the abilities you could unlock throughout the game. Perhaps my favourite part is the map itself; while it is an open-world game, it is the exact right size. It respects your time and you never take long to get somewhere interesting, and your exploration is rewarded adequetly. This design philosophy seems to be lost on a lot of modern open-world developers and its refreshing to see it done right in God of War. As for the story, it goes in a very interesting direction and the dynamic between Kratos and his son Atreus unfolds in some satisfying ways, managing to give Kratos some real character development beyond angry bald man. They are definitely using this one to setup more God of War games, and they have revitalized my excitement for the future of this series for the first time in a decade.

4. Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna - The Golden Country (Monolith Soft)

The Golden Country takes place 500 years before XC2 and outlines the events leading up to it. There are many familiar faces, and the story expands upon many events Rex and his party learn about in the base game. Much of the game takes place on Torna and its a varied location with lots of different environments and enemy types. The biggest improvement from XC2 is the battle system. It’s a lot more straightforward this time around because there’s no more core crystal system where you have to do gacha pulls to get new random blades. There’s just the 3 party members and their two main character blades which makes for guaranteed combo and chain attack potential throughout the game, whereas before you would have to get lucky and try to optimize for it. Clocking in at about 30 hours, I think one could definitely make the case for playing this expansion either before XC2 to see the story setup, or playing it after for appreciating the character development. You can tell a tremendous amount of love and care went into making this expansion, and being included in the XC2 season pass makes it a tremendous value.

3. Monster Hunter World (Capcom)

It’s been awhile since I got so obsessed with a specific game that I wanted to do nothing else but play it when I wasn’t at work or asleep but Capcom did it. Having only played 4U previously on the 3DS for about 60 hours, it cannot be overstated how much work they put into making this series more palatable. Whether it’s through streamlining weapon upgrades by showing us the weapon paths, or getting rid of consumable whetstones, or just showing us the direction the monster is in after collecting a couple of tracks, or finally upgrading from god damn PS2 models, or just putting it on a proper console again so I don’t have to get carpal tunnel from the 3DS. The list goes on and on about all the things that made this Monster Hunter the one that got me hooked. They’ve supported the game with a ton of free post-launch content too including new monsters and fun crossover skins. If there is any game to point to and say Capcom has cleaned up their act these last couple of years, this is it.

2. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Sora Ltd./Bandai Namco)

There are a lot of things I could say about Ultimate, but I think the most important thing to remember is that it is an incredible collection of fighting game content. There are a ton of characters, stages (with 3 variants of each!), and almost a thousand songs. Sakurai has gone to even greater lengths to ensure that this game can be enjoyed by players of any inclination. Whether you like to play with stocks or stamina, or if you wanna use all items/no items/whichever items you like, there’s probably a rule setting for you. This is finally the Smash game that has gotten me interested in the competitive side, fighting one on one without items and as such I have an appreciation for it now. New characters like Incineroar, Simon/Richter, and K. Rool are a blast to play, and characters I missed in Smash 4 like Corrin, Ryu, Cloud, and Duck Hunt have been a blast too. The game has really rekindled my enjoyment of the series and I’m trying all sorts of characters I never would’ve before. I would be totally okay if this was the last Super Smash Bros. game, and I look forward to seeing what the future DLC characters end up being.

1. Valkyria Chronicles 4 (SEGA)

VC4 is assuredly my favourite game of 2018. I’m a big fan of the fantasy alternate-universe WWII setting established in the first Valkyria Chronicles, and VC4 takes place around the same time. It follows the tale of the Federation Army’s Squad E led by commander Claude Wallace. Nearly every character is likeable in some way and all of them get some meaningful character development; the main characters through the story and the side characters through their own events where they interact with other members of the squad. The english voice actors really do a tremendous job selling these characters and their weird quirks. The gameplay is very similar to the first game with some new features like the Grenadier unit class or the halftrack APC you could use to quickly move multiple troops around the battlefield. If you are a fan of turn-based strategy, alternate history, or just straight up great characters I cannot recommend this game enough.

That’s all for my 2018 list. There are a few more games that I’d like to acknowledge from the year that didn’t quite make the top 10, but I’ll do that in a seperate post next week. If you’ve read this far, thank you so much for doing so. I’m very excited about the upcoming year in games!

#return of the obra dinn #tetris effect #hitman 2 #yakuza #deltarune #god of war #torna the golden country #monster hunter world #super smash bros #valkyria chronicles 4 #GOTY 2018

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stalwartignoramus · 4 years

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Return of the Obra Dinn (Review)

Gameplay (8/10) Memento Mortem

(+2) Unique gameplay mechanic. The process of invading the dying memories of a corpse to investigate the circumstances surrounding their demise was a very innovative and clever way to explore the Obra Dinn.

(+1) Great pacing. The game progresses in two ways; either you discover new corpses to investigate or you correctly guess the fates of 3 crewmembers. Investigating new corpses gives you more evidence to pinpoint the identity of each crewmember, and correctly guessing their identity and fate narrows down the selection, making it easier to deduce the remaining crewmembers’ identities.

(+1) Intricate character detail. The crew and their relationship with each other really shines through the gameplay since you’ll be using any sort of clue in their interactions to correctly determine their fate and identity.

(=) Trial and Error works wonders. There are certain points in the game where you can make educated guesses based on the information you currently have. For example, if you narrowed down the identity of a crewmember to 2 possibilities, you can force the game to progress by guessing between the 2 possibilities and pairing it with 2 fates that you’re absolutely sure of. It surely isn’t the intended way to play the game, but it works if you don’t quite have the patience (like me) to look for the more subtle clues hidden in the game.

(-1) Traversal and exploration in the midgame can get tedious. In the middle of the game when you already have all the pieces but don’t know where they fit yet, you’re gonna do a lot of walking around, flipping through pages, and jumping from one corpse to another. The game’s lack of a sprint mechanic, or an easier way to navigate the pages of the book, or a way to go back and forth between corpses in a certain chapter really drags out the game and makes it extremely tedious.

Story (6/10) Standard Lovecraftian horror

(+1) Tried and tested narrative. While it doesn’t tell anything new (classic ancient relic stumbles upon a ship, misfortune descends upon the crew, sea monsters emerge to take back said relics, everyone dies), it fits the mold really well because of the gameplay mechanic. The story is the gameplay. The gameplay is the story. You can build up the narrative by discovering the subtle details in each memory and witness the downfall, the daily life, and the different activities that take place in the Obra Dinn through the player’s eyes.

(+1) The non-chronological structure of the game keeps the player guessing about what really happened aboard the Obra Dinn until the very last minutes. It also helps you in deducing the identities of the crew by observing their behavior before, during, and after a certain crewmember’s demise.

(-1) Anti-climactic final chapter. The Bargain chapter was completely set up to be a major plot twist, and the first part it shows (Part 5) certainly supports this when the game makes us think a certain character did something mischievous behind the scenes. Instead, it fell flat on its face and ended in a very predictable manner which most players probably already knew.

Visuals (10/10) Less is more

(+2) Masterful use of illustration, shading, and negative space. The entirety of the game looks like an illustration from an old book come to life, which is what the game is. A Blues Clues-esque adventure that allows you to jump into a “picture” of the surroundings of a dying person. Every detail, carefully illustrated. The shading, well contrasted to give life to the environment. Negative space in places where the game doesn’t want you to focus on to give more emphasis to the relevant details. It all comes together to create a simple yet intricate portrayal of the Obra Dinn and its members.

(+2) Intricate character design. Every crewmember has a defining characteristic that separates them from their fellow crewmember and it is usually reflected in their character design. One crewmember has tattoos all over his body, some crewmembers share a similar hairstyle that stems from their cultural background, while the officers wearing hats are obvious tells to give the players a headstart in determining their identities. The illustration makes sure that there will always be something that separates one crewmember from another so that each one is a unique individual that can be discerned even from a seemingly similar crewmember.

(+1) Well-orchestrated death scenes that create a dramatic spectacle of the crewmember’s moment of death. Aside from being pleasing to the eye, it also offers the players all the information they need; victim, suspect, method of death, murder weapon, motive, etc. From a Kraken wrapping around the entirety of the ship, to an accidental death by cannon fire, to a cabin scuffle, the game never runs out of spectacles that are worthy of being portrayed in a masterpiece renaissance painting.

Audio (8/10) The terrifying and magnificent sounds of life on the sea

(+1) Ambient noise to Seafarer’s tunes. The background sounds switch depending on where you currently are. If the player is in the present time, they’ll hear nothing but the waves, the rain pelting the deck of the ship, their own footsteps, and the creaking of the doors as they get opened. If the players are inside a memory, a track plays depending on the overall mood of the memory. It varies from solemn to intense. It’s a wonderful juxtaposition of the present time and the past to remind the player that life was once bustling on the Obra Dinn but it is now lifeless and silent.

(+1) Voice acting plays a vital role. In all honesty I’m not at liberty to say that the voice acting was great since I’m not a native speaker of any of the languages spoken in the game, but they were distinct and detailed enough that I can tell roughly from which area their language/accent hails from.

(+1) SFX also plays a vital role. If the frozen scenario doesn’t give enough information regarding the circumstances of a crewmember’s death, the sound effects that play at the moment of their death might be a better tell. Gunshots indicates being shot by someone, blunt sounds indicated clubbing, gruesome squelching and tearing sounds accompanied by screaming means someone is most likely being torn apart. The plethora of sound effects littered throughout the game are just as helpful as the visuals when it comes to determining the fate and identities of the crewmembers.

Final Score (8) Excellent A game that defines the decade in gaming

This decade has seen the rise of indie gaming. More and more indie developers are coming up with excellent and fresh titles that can stand against the AAA games. They make up for the lack of sheer size, scale, and detail that a AAA provides by utilizing simplistic visuals and innovative gameplay mechanics. Return of the Obra Dinn will be remembered this decade alongside indie gems like Celeste, Shovel Knight, and Super Meat Boy as the games that defined indie gaming’s march to greatness. Simple yet intricate, short but sweet, hard and rewarding. Return of the Obra Dinn, a cult classic in the making.

(1-2) Terrible (3-4) Bad (5) Average (6-7) Good (8-9) Excellent (10) Masterpiece

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recentanimenews · 5 years

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Crunchyroll Favorites 2018 Part Two: VIDEO GAMES!

Welcome back for Part Two of Crunchyroll Favorites 2018! Yesterday, we shared our favorite anime and manga of the past year, but this time, it's all about our favorite VIDEO GAMES!

I always like to start these end-of-year lists by saying something like "2018 was no 1998 (or 2005, or 2017)," but y'know what? 2018 was a very good year for video games, and I don't feel right saying otherwise. Games about dads, games about the dead, people still playing Overwatch and Breath of the Wild with plenty of gas left in the tank, we got a new Call of Duty and a new Assassin's Creed as expected, and I told an ungodly amount of people to buy Stardew Valley for their Switches.

The rules were simple: only games that were released (or received a re-release) in 2018, or had a major update or expansion. Now, let's get started!

Nate Ming

Dragon Ball FighterZ- What a world we live in where the purest, meanest fighting game to come out in 2018 is also its most beautiful. FighterZ is exacting and ruthless when it comes to advanced play, but is still accessible enough to let new players have a total blast. And for once, it's a Dragon Ball game that not only plays excellently, but is filled to the brim with callbacks to the manga, TV anime, and movies--what absolute perfection.

Yakuza 6: The Song of Life- The end of Kazuma Kiryu's long, violent road took us from the sleepy streets of a Hiroshima neighborhood back to the bustling Kamurocho. The Yakuza games are so perfect, and full of so much to do: recruiting for a gang, managing a baseball team, adopting kittens, lifting weights, babysitting, beating the crap out of people--this was the best way to say goodbye to the Dragon of Dojima, and a surprisingly thoughtful and emotionally smart look at masculinity, fatherhood, and legacy.

God of War- The other Dad Game this year was also a great ride, this time dealing with a regretful father who wants to make sure his child never ends up like him. This game really felt like a long holiday weekend with my own old man, making it equal parts endearing and infuriating.

Return of the Obra Dinn- A rich, multilayered mystery from the creator of the equally-slick Papers Please, there were no games in 2018 that took over my life like The Return of the Obra Dinn. I was taking notes, studying the ship's layout and crew's roles, and basically becoming the investigator character as I worked to find out what killed everyone aboard the H.M.S. Obra Dinn. What a ride.

Into the Breach- I'm kind of a perfectionist, which makes a game like Into the Breach so much more difficult for me to play. This is a game about either making hard turn-based giant mech-vs-kaiju choices and living with them, or constantly resetting the timeline to try and get things perfectly right this time around. Spoiler alert: you very rarely will.

Honorable Mentions: GRIS, Yakuza Kiwami 2, Mega Man 11

Cayla Coats

Hollow Knight (NS)- I’m a big fan of so-called “Metroidvania” action/adventure/platformer games, and Hollow Knight is the best I’ve played in a long time. The game feels wonderful to control, the player character and attacks both having a real sense of weight to them. Wrap it all up in some beautiful 2D sprite and background artwork as well as an ethereal and haunting soundtrack and you’ve got one great game and one happy Cayla.

Soulcalibur VI- I honestly haven’t played a Soul game since Soulcalibur II, and just happened to play this entry after my roommate bought it. And I love it. Every character is a joy to use, and offers the seemingly impossible mixture of accessibility and complexity. Also Voldo is still… Voldo, and that’s worth something, right?

Night in the Woods (NS)- I missed out on this indie gem when it first launched in 2017, but thanks to the surprising indie game oasis that is the Switch, I got to enjoy it early this year! Equal parts Animal Crossing, Gone Home, and Twin Peaks, this cute-but-creepy coming-of-age tale makes the best of its midwestern setting.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate- I mean… it’s Smash. It still rules. There are approximately 3 billion really fun modes to try out and 9 billion characters to unlock. It’s just good. Go play it.

Nicole Mejias

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate- The amount of hype this game generated was one of an undying level. Was that hype warranted? Oh, hell YES! Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is an insanely fun game with unending hours of mayhem for you and your buddies! And most importantly, EVERYONE is there!

Yakuza Kiwami 2- I’ve been playing through every single Yakuza game available, and it’s been one gaming journey that I’m glad I took! The series really has it all: hot-blooded action, romance, heart-wrenching drama, and even comedy, which wasn’t something I was expecting at all. Some of the fights in this game had me on the edge of my seat and made me fall completely in love with the series. If you haven’t checked out the series yet, now’s the perfect time!

Battle Chef Brigade (NS)- Ever since I heard about this game, I’ve been itching to play it. A challenging puzzle game with some beat ‘em up elements? I’m ALL IN! Battle Chef Brigade did not disappoint; it’s such a charming game with a lively cast of characters and intriguing Iron Chef-like story! My only complaint is that it was over way too soon and it left me hungry for more.

Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee- Pokémon is pretty important to me; playing Pokémon Red as a kid helped me grasp the English language when I was still living in Puerto Rico. Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee is a passionate love letter to Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow, and experiencing all the battles and events from those past games in this brand-new one was a delight! A must for Pokémon fans for sure!

Deltarune- Deltarune is probably one of the biggest surprises in 2018, with Toby Fox giving us the most delightful of treats on Halloween! It didn’t take long for me to be smitten with this new world with some familiar faces we all know and love. This time around, your choices don’t matter, but what will that mean for the next chapter? We’ll just have to wait and see.

Daniel Dockery

Dragon Ball FighterZ- Finally, Dragon Ball gets a fighting game that lives up to the franchise’s immense legacy. Not only is it fun, but it’s a huge “LOOK AT HOW AWESOME THIS IS!” love letter to the series as a whole.

Monster Hunter World- I’ve been playing Monster Hunter since 3, and I must say that while I deeply enjoy the 3DS entries, it was nice to really feel the scale of these gargantuan beasties that I’m tracking down. Switch Axe 4 Lyfe.

Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee- Didn’t expect to like this game. Ended up loving this game. Tattoo Pikachu on my eyeballs, for I need to see nothing else.

That One Mission From Red Dead Redemption 2 You Know The One I’m Talking About- Walking up to a mansion with your crew to rescue a boy, fighting your way through it, and then burning the whole thing to the ground is a high moment in a game that could go from satisfying to “JUST EQUIP THE RIGHT GUN, ARTHUR, COME ON” in a heartbeat.

Luigi’s Mansion 3DS- My favorite Mario-related game that isn’t Kart or Smash Bros. came out on the 3DS. Clear the mansion of its ghosts for the sixth time in my life? Gladly, Professor E. Gadd.

Peter Fobian

God of War- An awesome reimagining of an old franchise, and one of my greatest hopes for ambitious narrative single player titles in the AAA industry. It absolutely deserved every award it got in the Game Awards. The story, characters, and world were all top-notch. The cinematics were fantastic and brutal. I can’t wait for the sequel.

Monster Hunter World- My first dip into the Monster Hunter franchise, this game probably had the biggest skill curve I’ve ever seen in cooperative gameplay, with mechanics stacked on mechanics that seemed to have no bottom. I got a lot of frustrating and satisfying hours out of this game, and I’m still not sure if I’ve discovered even half the things you can do in it.

Hitman 2- There were a lot of questions about the future of Hitman that were riding on this release, and I’m very happy to report that the newest title in the franchise is extremely good. This one got particularly creative, with some of the mission set-ups and conditions and each new map was excellent, even making American suburbia into an interesting mission area.

GRIS- I’m glad I was able to find time to play this final addition before years end because it definitely deserves a spot. Although I can’t really say GRIS is unique in being a atmospheric platformer focusing on depression/loss, it might be the best. The visuals and soundtrack were amazing, especially together. The environments and use of camera were also excellent. Also go play The Missing.

Dead Cells- I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of indie roguelike platformers and Dead Cells, as above with GRIS, may be one of the best of its genre. It’s got a cool aesthetic, some wicked gallows humor, and an unlocking system of items and powers that can result in the player having to formulate some absolutely ridiculous strategies from life to life.

Joseph Luster

Celeste- Playing Celeste reminded me of all the fun I had when Super Meat Boy first came out, but this time I actually cared about the characters and the journey. The narrative is woven into the action, as it should be in a video game, and it actually has something interesting to say. The way Celeste treats difficulty and accessibility will no doubt prove influential, as well. At its core, though, it’s simply an unbelievably tight platformer that provides ample challenges for players of all skill levels.

Ni no Kuni II- The sequel to Ni no Kuni isn’t actually all that much like Ni no Kuni. The battle system is completely different, the Pokémon-esque monster collecting is gone, and the story has been boiled down to the bare essence of Japanese RPG motivation. It’s almost embarrassingly earnest, but it’s also gorgeous, and combat is a joy for the full 30-hour run. There’s plenty to play around with after the credits roll, too, but I was mostly just proud of myself for actually having fun with and completing an RPG in 2018.

Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon- The award for “Game I Actually Bothered to Beat Multiple Times in 2018” definitely goes to this unassuming bite-sized prequel to Koji Igarashi’s upcoming Bloodstained. It’s so much more than just a downloadable “extra,” and in many ways it out-Castlevania IIIs the original Castlevania III. Play this game immediately if you haven’t, and take the time to get every ending for maximum satisfaction.

Dragon Ball FighterZ- I don’t really play fighting games anymore. I haven’t in years, despite trying to pick them back up seriously when Street Fighter V first came out. Not living with roommates anymore has a lot to do with it, but that enthusiasm roared back to life when Dragon Ball FighterZ arrived in jaw-dropping style. This is the essential anime fighter, and nothing made me and my friends cheer and shout at the screen more in 2018.

Iconoclasts- Like Dragon Ball FighterZ, Iconoclasts came early in the year and started 2018 out on a really strong note. This is probably the “smallest” a list has ever been for me in terms of the sheer scale of the games themselves, but titles like Iconoclasts just fired up my imagination more than the big AAA beasts. From the lush sprite-based visuals to the soundtrack and the excellent pacing, this one is going to stick in my mind for years to come.

Nick Creamer

Hollow Knight/Dead Cells- Though both of these were technically 2017 releases, their continuing developer support and my own delayed play schedule means I’m celebrating them now anyway. And they’re great! If you enjoy games like Metroid or Castlevania, you absolutely must pick up the richly atmospheric and remarkably vast Hollow Knight. If you want an experience like that in a more arcadey, roguelike package, Dead Cells cannot be missed. It’s nice to live in a golden age of challenging indie action games!

Celeste- Speaking of great indie titles, this year’s Celeste likely needs no introduction. Though it theoretically falls in the same punishing platformer space as something like Super Meat Boy, Celeste’s charming storytelling, neatly partitioned challenges, and robust assist features mean it’s a platforming experience that basically anyone could enjoy. Thoughtfully written and brilliantly designed, Celeste shouldn’t be missed by any platforming enthusiasts.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate- I am perfectly comfortable admitting I’m one of those Smash fans who up until now, basically just stuck to Melee. The combat in Brawl and Smash 4 always just felt far too floaty for me, with both my character jumps and the impact of my hits making me feel like I was constantly wearing a big balloon suit. Ultimate counters that complaint with crisp, speedy combat harkening back to Melee’s rapid-fire exchanges, along with the most luxurious suite of characters and secondary modes Smash has ever seen. This truly feels like the definitive Smash experience.

Monster Hunter World- MHW was my first experience with the Monster Hunter franchise, and it was glorious. Well, it was eventually glorious--the first fifteen or so hours were an interminable learning process, while I figured out the game’s inscrutable controls and systems, ponderous movement, and extremely vague directions. But after that, hoo boy! Monster Hunter is essentially “Boss Rush: The Videogame,” complete with dozens of intimidating creatures who all demand their own hunting strategy. As an insatiable gobbler of challenging RPG-adjacent action games, I had great times hunting deadly beasts all through last winter.

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And that's a wrap for Part Two! Be sure to join us at the same time tomorrow for our third and final installment, focusing on the EVERYTHING ELSE of 2018--movies, TV, books, comics, food, life experiences, and more! If you're in the mood for more CR Favorites, here are the links to past years' features:

Crunchyroll Favorites 2017 Part One | Part Two | Part Three

Crunchyroll Favorites 2016 Part One | Part Two | Part Three

Crunchyroll Favorites 2015 Part One | Part Two | Part Three

Crunchyroll Favorites 2014 Part One | Part Two | Part Three

Crunchyroll Favorites 2013 Part One | Part Two | Part Three

Crunchyroll Favorites 2012 Part One | Part Two | Part Three

Crunchyroll News' Best of 2011 Part One | Part Two

What were your favorite video games of 2018? Remember, this is a FAVORITES list, not a BEST-OF list, so there are no wrong answers--sound off in the comments and share your favorites!

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Nate Ming is the Features Editor for Crunchyroll News and creator of the long-running Fanart Friday column. You can follow him on Twitter at @NateMing. His comic, Shaw City Strikers, launches January 15, 2019.

By: [email protected]

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