Anything goes, if it may lure lurkers into posting!
So, is a three-legged cat still a cat? How about one that doesn’t meow?
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Hitman 2
I tried out the demo and the free-for-the-holidays Paris level and it hooked me. Bought it, and basically spent the last 2 weeks peeling the eleven onion-like levels in Hitman 2 and the Legacy pack. What a game. Offers enough hand-holding to stop me from being overwhelmed, and enough freedom to let me decide between killing my target in a fiery explosion, drowning him in a toilet, or dropping a stuffed moose on his head.
In my mind, this game is only a small re-skin away from being a worthy Alpha Protocol prequel (where you play as Steven Heck in his CIA days, creating hot and loud diversions wherever you go while your handler urges you to minimize the number of casualties), or from being a pretty decent No One Lives Forever 3 (with Cate Archer awakening from cryostasis to unmask the driving force behind everything that happens in Hitman 1 + 2). -
Yakuza 0 (PC)
I bought the PC version on release, tried it for a bit, got bitten by its release-day instabilities (or maybe I need a new PSU), and then played through the entire thing on my PS4 again because the game is fantastic, and the pinnacle of the series (with Ishin a close second). -
Yakuza 6
Such a beautiful rendition of a small town (Onomichi), and a fitting end to Kiryu’s saga. It doesn’t reach the stratospheric heights of Y0, but offers enough personality to be a great game in its own right. -
Yakuza Kiwami 2
Most of this game’s material comes from Yakuza 2, which still intended to tell a straight crime story and went only slightly bonkers. It feels very dry compared to the two Yakuza games I listed above.
Those were my best-of-2018-worthy game experiences. I’m not listing the X1 port of Nier: Automata because I don’t even have an X1, and because, while it was a gripping, memorable and unique experience when I finally took the time to play it a month ago, its story was too much of a downer for me.
Also not listing WipeOut VR (PS4), because I think that that’s only a small (yet essential) update to a game I first played thanks to the old “sorry we shut down PS network for a month after being hacked” giveaway.
The rest of my year was basically filled with playing Yakuza games which did not get a 2018 (re-)release.
For those still working on this that haven’t voted and looking for a good list, this one from ResetEra’s voting thread is really good.
I saw that others add it and decided that it deserves to be in top games of 2018, not just 2019.
Thanks for sharing, it is a good list, but they are making a weird, in my opinion, decision to omit early access titles, but include ports? So I can vote on PUBG, but only the PS4 XBO version? Weird.
It’s not that weird. We had the same rules here.
I think Early Access should always be omitted. Life’s too short for unfinished games when there are a bazillion more actually being labeled v1.0. Ports should be included because not everyone owns all the machines even though it probably seems that way. Even at Qt3 or ResetEra there are many people who still only have one console and don’t have a viable PC.
Life’s too short for Nintendo games, but somehow we allow people to vote for them too.
That’s just dumb.
Yes, that’s kind of the point. It’s exactly as dumb as your argument about shutting out EA games. How dare other people make their own choices about what to play and what to like?
And that was weird too.
I definitely have changed my tune with Early Access inclusion. There are too many complete games in Early Access not to include them in my GOTY thoughts. Like PUBG (though that went 1.0 in 2017 barely) and Slay the Spire this year (basically 100% feature complete) along with lots of other games, I think omitting early access titles is arbitrary, because if you can pay for them, and you can play them, and they are in your top 10 favorite games you played that year, why not include them? When you might not play them next year? (after 1.0)
This is what happened with Rimworld for me. I played it mostly last year, and loved it, but didn’t vote because it wasn’t “finished” even though you could put 100’s of hours into the game and have your best gaming experiences of 2017 there. It wasn’t allowed so I didn’t vote for it. It went 1.0 this year, but I didn’t play it as much, so it feels weird to have it high on my list, since I didn’t play it this year, but I have to give it props somehow?
Also, if you play a game in Early Access in 2018, and it comes out in 2018 as 1.0, do you have to discount any of the gameplay you had prior to 1.0? Since that wasn’t the “finished game”
I like the way we do things here, as it is up to people to decide (people voted for Rimworld last year too) what they want to vote for, and if it is worth voting for.
The inclusion of ports like Bayonetta 1 as viable is just odd. Can I vote Skyrim in every year, as it gets ported to new systems every year? It seems odd to not include EA but include ports, because it is being arbitrary about what release date is the most important. Should Fallout 76 be allowed? It was “released” in 2018, but it was buggier and more broken than a lot of early access games. (Not that I didn’t like it, it is probably in my top 10) I guess I have to vote for Chrono Trigger because it was ported to steam, and it is the best game ever, so it has to be in my top 10?
And while Slay the Spire techincally released in 2017, I bought it with my money in 2018, and it was in my top 5 favorite games of the year this year? Why not include it? I might not play it much this year (not likely, I have already played it in 2019)
What I am saying is that we should allow people to vote on everything, and the wisdom of the crowd will determine what is important enough to get votes If the game was good enough to be on your top 5 this year, regardless of release status, why not include it? It is not like we will have a bunch of trolls logging in to sway the vote for their favorite game.
This is a long winded way of saying, Play Slay the Spire, and @tylertoo Add it to your 2018 GOTY, it is eligible! Let’s get those votes in.
The two things are entirely different. Early Access implies an unfinished game. It has not yet been officially released. Nintendo games are officially released the moment they go on sale. They are not unfinished works.
I’m not telling you to make any choice about what to play or like. I’m talking about criteria for a year end voting for best games in a year, and I think (as do many) that unfinished games should not be included. That’s how you get people voting for something for Game of the Year for like three years in a row, which is silly. It’s a marketing exercise.
You could argue the same is true for ports, and I might even agree.
- This doesn’t happen (send an example of someone doing this)
- Nobody here is working in marketing for any games they are voting on (be honest you guys)
- People with honor (me) did not vote for Rimworld in 2017, because they were told they couldn’t and begrudingly add it to my 2018 list, because it is amazing, even though I didn’t play it in 2018. And I won’t vote for Slay the Spire in 2019, becuase I voted for it this year.
- How is 1.0 the stopping point for inclusion? It is completely arbitrary. If you can pay for a game, and buy it, and play it, and it is in the top 10 games of the year for you, why not include it?
If other people didn’t have the same experience with an early access game, it won’t win, the voting will weed it out, with you as an outlier who has thrown their vote at something niche. no harm no foul.
What I am saying this year, is that Early Access is free to vote for, so don’t stop yourself! Also, @DaveLong when Slay the Spire is on switch, you need to play it.
https://thumbs.gfycat.com/CalmPessimisticImperatorangel-size_restricted.gif
Although I have to object to Kiwami 2 only being slightly bonkers: Osaka Castle splits in half to reveal another castle! You punch a tiger in the face! You can beat the shit out of adult babies! That’s way more ridiculous than anything that happens in 0.
My problem with Kiwami 2 compared to the others is that the stakes aren’t that personal, so Kiryu doesn’t suffer enough. You only get the the range of goofy shit - crime stuff, instead the full circle of goofy shit - crime stuff - intense melodrama that can tip over into either.
- Subnautica
- Assasin’s Creed Odyssey
- Red Dead Redemption 2
- Battletech
- Monster Hunter World
Since I’m late to the party there’s no real need to state reasons. They’ve all been stated =)
I was being facetous, but I would have probably put it at number 2 or 3 last year if I wasn’t a lame rules-follower. Not an awesome rebel like @arrendek
(Unless you were voting for Slay the Spire. Those reasons haven’t been stated yet, for some reason. But that’s not on your list, so you’re excused. :))
Edit: Oh nice, @Left_Empty went back to his post and explained his love for Slay the Spire. Thanks Left_Empty.
Yes! I am avoiding conflict =) (really I didn’t get into that one enough to have an opinion =) )