I love making my own GOTY lists! I'll add some images to make it a little more official.
GOTY: Tetris Effect
Two games made me emotional in 2018, and one of them was Tetris. Wait! Back up and re-read that!
Tetris made me emotional. Admittedly, Tetris Effect already had a leg up on being my GOTY just by virtue of being a new version of my favorite game of all time. However, even though I kind of expected to enjoy this version, I didn't expect to find the game genuinely moving. The visuals, the
music and the message that both convey around the Tetris are just beautiful, There have been so many variants, from Grand Master to Puyo Puyo Tetris, that it's hard to imagine that there's still a way to make Tetris feel fresh 32 years later, but Mizuguchi found a way.
Best Game for Weebs: 428: Shibuya Scramble
Calling this the "best" game for weebs is probably a lot of projection on my part. But I am
suuuuuuuper sick of the common cliches you find in VNs, and the anime tropes you see repeated throughout Japanese games. I don't mind having
some of the tropes, but it feels like Japan is so nostalgia-focused that they feel the need to repackage the same tropes in nearly
every game, spit back out at the player in the
same way over and over. Shibuya Scramble felt refreshing (although I admittedly didn't finish it!) because it was unapologetically weird, so staunchly Japanese, and actually felt novel in the way it uses tropes and storytelling. I'm also a sucker for FMV games, and a VN that uses real-life still photos is just up my alley. If you're sick of the same things I am, this is a good game to get your weeb needs sated in a refreshing way.
Best Adaptation: Spider-Man
I said two games made me emotional in 2018, and this is the other one. I don't think I could ever in good conscience call this a great game, especially not compared to the quality of open world games we're getting in 2018. In fact, the open world design and missions feel like they're almost ripped right out of 2012. It's not
horrible, it's just severely lacking compared to the competition. Where it does excel is in giving a good Spidey story, and I firmly believe it's the best adaptation in the last two decades across all the movies, TV shows and games that have come out (granted I haven't seen Into the Spider-Verse). The way the game trusts the viewer to be familiar with some basics of the lore, the fact that we get to start with a fairly established Spidey, and the heart it shows in its writing of characters (both villains and heroes) is really remarkable for a superhero game.
Game I Played the Most: League of Legends
I hate League. I want to stop playing, BUT I'M FREAKING ADDICTED. If you haven't started, please don't play this game, or you'll end up like me and find yourself spending a couple hundred hours playing the game and a considerable chunk of cash unlocking stupid cosmetics.
Best Game Critics Ignored: Rimworld
Last time I checked, Rimworld had less than 5 reviews on the aggregators. I understand the Dwarf Fortress-esque gameplay isn't for everyone. I understand there was that minor brouhaha with questions about how Tynan had coded sexuality. I understand the game has been in Early Access for like five years, and many might have even missed the 1.0 release this year. I understand that the game isn't exactly hurting for attention as most enthusiast PC players probably know it exists.
Blah blah blah,
whatever. The game still deserves more attention, even in the mainstream press, and the fact that it has so little written about it feels to me like an indictment on the state of journalistic coverage of PC gaming.
Best Dumb Game: Detroit
Detroit is a pretty stupid game, especially in regards to one of the three POVs you play (Markus). But dammit if I didn't enjoy playing through a fairly sprawling sci-fi story. The story isn't going to blow anyone's mind away with innovation (there are a few twists that'll probably make you roll your eyes actually), but the pulp-ish story is generally enjoyable, especially when you're in the detective POV. I doubt anyone has the budget to make it work, but I hope someone can take this
amazingly intricate branching framework and marry a really good story to it.
Best (semi) Historical Game: AC Odyssey
I don't want to rant about cultural portrayals in video games
too much, but AC Odyssey seems like a mildly appropriate place to do it. As someone with Greek heritage, it's pretty frustrating to have almost every portrayal of Greek culture be through the lens of mythology. It's also fairly frustrating having the default white or "European/American" story basically be a Western European one. I'd love to get games set in Greece, Romania, Turkey, Ukraine, etc in the modern era (or say post-Byzantine era), but I'd even settle for getting some games simply set in AD rather than BC.
That said, I still really appreciate that Odyssey actually attempts to do Ancient Greece justice beyond mythology. For someone living in the Greek diaspora, it's much appreciated, and the visual care that Ubisoft puts into their open worlds is pretty laudable. The fact that they went to the trouble of even actually hiring some Greek voice actors (in fact the cast is heavily of Greek descent) is also pretty commendable in my opinion, and it's nice to see a specific European culture not be treated as just something interchangeable where you can throw any nominally white/European actor into and still do it cultural justice.
Rant over.
Best Game I don't have patience for: Monster Hunter World
In another life where I had the time and patience to learn these controls, I'd do it. As it stands, I don't have either, and although I bought the game, I'd rather just admire it from afar. Maybe someday they'll put in a ridiculous amount of accessibility options and I'll be able to play, but for now I'll just settle for saying it's a cool game that people should give a try. Maybe you'll have the patience I didn't.
Best Mobile Game: Dragalia Lost
2018 was the year that FEH lost the plot. Not literally, in fact the plot actually probably improved a
bit, but with all the power creep, alternates of units that already have alts, and all the annoyances that came with the IV systems...bleugh. It was time for a new mobile game to waste some time and money on. Dragalia does a lot of things right, mostly because Cygames brought their experience with GBF over and used their background to make something that feels and looks good.
Best Sequel: Hitman 2
This is a sequel in the most direct way you could mean it. There are some added QoL changes, nice visual improvements, some storytelling improvements, but for the most part this is just more Hitman 2016. And that's a great thing, because Hitman 2016 was my GOTY that year. If I was making an ordered list instead of goofy categories, this game would easily be Top 3. Miami is also easily my favorite level I've played in a video game this year, and I really hope that somehow IO Interactive finds a way to continue making these games because levels this rich in detail are pretty rare.