It’s time for the 2018 Quarterlies! Vote for Quarter to Three’s Best Game of 2018

Games
205
  1. Slay the Spire
  2. Infinite Adventures - very good dungeon crawler
  3. Soul Calibur 6 - strong fighting game despite its lack of budget/warts
  4. Grapple Force Rena - surprisingly charming platform game
  5. Fire Pro Wrestling World - Think Soul Calibur in terms of customization, multiply it by 10, and make it pro wrestling. NJPW license adds to the fun. Only downside is netcode not approved by the Holy Emperor.
206

This is the only Unlimited Adventures I’m able to pull up…

207

Oops, got the game name wrong, fixed it.

208
  1. Insurgency: Sandstorm - I’m tired of mp shooters where you have to grind endlessly and where death is meaningless, and this is the complete opposite of all AAA shooters out there: everything is unlocked and it’s incredible deadly and intense.
  2. Forza Horizon 4 - The best racing game series got even better.
  3. Into the Breach - Terrific puzzle-y tactics game that would’ve been even better on my iPad.
  4. Red Dead Redemption 2 - Great game with not-so-great controls.
  5. Artifact - Too bad this launched half-baked, because its basic gameplay is awesome.
209
  1. Kenshi
    I wish it had more explicit goals for high level characters. Also, with only 30 squad members max it’s hard to pursue crafting professions and still have enough party members left over to go around conquering stuff. But it’s still a great game.

Of the games I didn’t play, Battletech, KCD and RDR2 seem to have the most potential.

210

Right, haven’t actually played that many 2018 games, so the best of list equals my played list.

  1. Red Dead Redemption 2
  2. Spider-Man
  3. Far Cry 5
  4. Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden
  5. Northgard

There’s still Two Point Hospital and Pillars of Eternity 2 that I’ve only played a bit of - not enough to actually include either on a best-of list.

211

I was just looking at this! What elevates it to “very good”?

Thanks!

212

I considered giving this a shout out as well, but didn’t get quite enough time with it. Very nice deeper cut to pull out!

@iguanaDitty - I would describe it as a lower-budget, bigger screen (PC/console) Etrian Odyssey. Rough around the edges for sure, but it also has an indie sensibility to it that’s kind of charming. There’s a pretty in-depth class and skill system for characters, six to a party turn-based combat in the very classic dungeon crawler sense, and a home base improvement overlay. Fights take a little too long and menuing isn’t as smooth as you’d expect from a modern game, but there’s also a lot of flexibility (e.g. you can turn the encounter rate up to grind some exp/money, or down to make retracing your steps less tedious).

If that itch is already scratched by something like EO, I’m not sure anyone needs to run towards Infinite Adventures, but there haven’t been a ton of PC-available games that have fit into this particular niche over the last few years.

213

I’m curious to where this ends up. My favorite Subnautica has lots of first choices, maybe even the most, but very few second choice or lower. This might mean that many here haven’t played it.

If you haven’t, please get it, without looking at a trailer as a spoiler-free experience is great.

214

Off topic

I just want to state for the record I dislike this trend of recommending games sight unseen. They’re more expensive and time consuming than a movie where this policy might work.

I know you guys mean well but this is triggering my video game time consumption anxiety.

215

Since most of us got it for free from the Epic store a couple of weeks ago, I see no problem with most people being able to comply with this request.

True, but in this case, the game was given away for free recently.

216

I personally won’t be playing it until I get a VR headset. So it will be a new experience regardless!

I’ve only seen a couple VR game recommendations in here. Maybe there should be a separate thread for that.

217

It also may mean some of us bounced off.
Maybe the gathering and crafting genre isn’t very popular around here, even if the game is story-driven. The main thing for me: the game was a survival horror one in disguise, and as an acknowledged wuss (even Everblue 2 terrified me!), I have extremely low tolerance for that. The extent of what I may be able to cope with regarding diving is probably reading Tom write about how awesome it feels.

218

I am also worried about Subnautica for the same reason. That plus the alleged performance issues on PS4 is keeping me away for now.

Thanks! Yeah I have many EOs to get through so I will pass, but as always I am happy to see more people creating in this niche.

219

Yeah I got from Epic Games. Onto the backlog it went!

220
  1. Slay the Spire
  2. Northgard
  3. Into the Breach
  4. One Deck Dungeon
  5. Artifact
221

I suppose these are my biggest picks for games that came out this year:

  1. Helium Rain
  2. ADIOS Amigos: A Space Physics Odyssey
  3. Overload
  4. Star Traders: Frontiers
  5. Scavenger SV-4
222

If I look at the games I played the most this year, then rank them in the order in which I enjoyed them, here we go:

  1. Divinity Original Sin 2: Definitive Edition
  2. Super Smash Bros Ultimate
  3. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
  4. State of Decay 2
  5. Battlefield V

My actual most played game this year was Hearthstone, but this was a shitty year for expansions so I’m not ranking it. We’re basically playing with last year’s cards still, all the cards from this year are irrelevant except for 2 (Baku and Genn)

223

Helium Rain almost made my top 10. I’m glad someone chose it as #1 because it’s a great game.

224

What the heck is Helium Rain?