Realized my last list was not in-line with the forum’s rules on horny posting, so I’ll go with something more PG. Here are the best things my wife has said whilst playing Pokémon Let’s Go Eevee:
“I beat your stupid Rattata, kid, now hand over the Poke balls!”
After I explain the concept of grinding “That’s not as fun as what you do at the club. They should call this ‘boring time’ or something.”
“I’m rubbing my little Pancake!” Pancake is the name of her Eevee
“hurr hurr” Every time her rival, who is named ‘butt’, shows up on screen
Lists are fun! They’re extremely arbitrary and I love to do arbitrary things.
Top 3 Point ‘n’ Click Games I Played This Year That Had Disappointing Sequels (That I Also Played This Year)
Before this year, I thought that I hated point and click adventure games but I finally forced myself to play through a handful of them and hey it turns out some of them are actually pretty good! Yay! And some of them have pretty disappointing sequels! Oh no!
Still Life & Still Life 2 - The first game ended on a pretty big cliffhanger then they start off the sequel by saying "oh yeah, we solved that and everyone knows what happened, we’re just not going to tell you until you finish this game, despite it being totally unrelated to that plot. Still Life 2 also had a lot of technical problems and I eventually gave up on the game after having to go through an extremely tedious crime scene investigation sequence for a third time. This isn’t really related to my disappointment but I just want to give a shoutout to Still Life’s soundtrack because it has some legitimately good/creepy/eerie music in it.
Syberia & Syberia 2 - Hey, there’s some real actual disappointment here. The first Syberia was pretty good all around. Solid puzzles, an interesting story, fun areas to explore, a relatively modernized take on point ‘n’ click games, it had the works. But then in Syberia 2 they suddenly went back on a lot of that. The story went some really weird places and was just occasionally a big bummer. Perhaps worst of all, though, was that the puzzle design took a nosedive. In Syberia 1 you could pretty much get through everything with solid logic and paying attention to clues, but in Syberia 2 they just threw all that away. I had to brute force several solutions and relied pretty heavily on a walkthrough because most of it just didn’t make any sense (feed the bear the red fish and not the green fish so it will leave you alone).
The Longest Journey & Dreamfall: The Longest Journey - Okay this one is a little unfair because I only played about an hour of Dreamfall: The Longest Journey but I felt weird having a list with only two things on it. I was pretty immediately disappointed that I wasn’t playing as April Ryan and it seemed like they were going somewhere else with the plot. Then when I was looking some stuff up about the third game and the franchise as a whole, it turns out that the main person behind the series (Ragnar Tørnquist) has said that while he wants to make another game in the series it probably isn’t going to happen, so that’s a pretty big bummer too. I should really play Dreamfall and Dreamfall: Chapters, though.
Top 4 Pieces of Media That Aren’t Video Games or Anime That I Consumed This Year
I’ve realized that I don’t really watch/listen/read/etc much stuff outside of video games or anime so I wanted to put a small list of the things I really loved.
Bloody Rose - I, sadly, haven’t been reading a lot of books lately but when a close friend gave an extremely strong recommendation for this I checked it out. I read it over the course of a few days while travelling for Thanksgiving and when I finished it I wanted to start over and immediately re-read it. It’s a wonderful fantasy adventure with some amazing action and an incredibly lovable (and queer) cast of characters.
Mandy - After hearing about it on Waypoints (and also Alex Navarro’s twitter) I checked this out on streaming and absolutely loved it. I’m not really into anything horror or scary stuff in general but this is such a different thing that I was super in to it. The arthouse thriller… thing. I’m not even sure what to call it. I preordered the BluRay and watched that on a nice big 4k TV once I got it (which is absolutely worth doing, if you haven’t seen it yet I recommend watching it on the biggest nicest screen you can).
Revue Starlight OST - This is the soundtrack to an anime but it’s technically not an anime so I’m putting it on this list. I’ve been listening to it a ton lately, especially while doing some writing, and it’s just so extremely good. I’ll point out my two favorite tracks: halation and 再生産 (reproduction).
Land of the Lustrous Manga - OK this does have an anime adaptation (that is fantastic and people should probably check it out) but the manga is extremely good as well and people should probably check it out as well. I love the art style of it, the character’s faces can be rather simple but extremely expressive.
Top Five Times I Wondered Just How Fucking Long Red Dead Redemption 2 Is
After the bank robbery in Saint Denis
(“Man, this game is long. I’m not really opposed to it, but cripes”)
After Guarma
(“Did they make a whole separate ecosystem for 2 hours of gameplay? WHAT?!”)
After Chapter 6 and Arthur’s death
(through tears “Wow, that was beautiful, and time consuming. Surely, now it’s over.”)
When “Epilogue: Part 1” appears on screen
(“Uh… okay. You know, I have a life and a full time job R*, I kinda need to go. I love your game, but can I go please?”)
When “Epilogue: Part 2” appears on screen
(“JESUS CHRIST. SET ME FREE.”)
Top 5 Games That Rehabilitated My Love for Games after God of War Almost Killed It Forever
Thief Gold & Thief 2: The Metal Age - After about 3 happy, game-free months, I decided to go back to a couple of my favorite games of all time. They reminded me what it’s like to play a game that has mechanics that are engaging from start to finish, even when those mechanics are relatively simple.
Dark Souls: Remastered - By the time I finished the Thief games I was ready to move on to something a little more action focused. Dark Souls reminded me that combat in games could feel deliberate and powerful without being a total cake walk or ridiculously punishing depending on the difficulty setting.
Metal Gear Solid 1-3 - Conquering Lordran once again had me finally ready to play something I hadn’t played before. The Metal Gear Solid series reminded me that games could have the thematic depth and breadth to keep me thinking about them months after I played them.
Forza Horizon 4 - When I had finished plumbing Hideo Kojima’s mind for answers, I was finally able to muster the enthusiasm to buy a new game. Forza reminded me that it’s okay to have fun while you’re playing games, and that it’s okay to put them down the second you stop having fun.
Return of the Obra Dinn - After a few months of dabbling in other games, Obra Dinn really got it’s hooks in me. It reminded me that games could challenge me in more cerebral ways, and make me feel like a genius.
My short breakup with games has made my relationship to the medium much healthier. I read more books now, and I watch more movies. I get my fill of narrative from mediums that are much better at it, which allows me to enjoy games for what actually makes them special.
3 Good Games That I Obtained In 2018 That I Probably Won’t Finish Until Late 2019 Or Later Not Because I Don’t Like Playing Them Or Anything My Focus Is Just That Bad
XCOM 2 - i really love customizing my soldiers and creating shitty posters, and the strategy is pretty fun, but it is long and overwhelming and i have ADHD
No Man’s Sky - i’m really glad i picked this game up because the planets all look incredible, i love taking photos of all the interesting animals i find, and the storyline is very intriguing, but it is long and overwhelming and i have ADHD
Subnautica - i’m a HUGE fan of marine biology and weird aliens so this game ticks all my boxes, i have so much fun exploring this world and it hasn’t been too much of a horror game for me so far, but it is long and overwhelming and i have ADHD
Favorite short, single-sitting games (that ironically took me two sittings to play through):
Gorogoa - Really clever puzzle game that does very interesting things with framing and perspective.
Donut County - A “hole-gobbler” (as Rob calls it) with lots of charm and personality.
Floor Kids - Uhhhh a score-attack/rhythm game centered on breakdancing??? Neat!
Questionable, potentially controversial, potentially trash content that I found myself actually kinda enjoying:
Strangers: Prey at Night - I really enjoyed the original Strangers film and absolutely did not want a sequel, and yet, here we are…Hey, but there is a scene (CW: Violence, blood) with Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” playing in the background, so that has to count for something right??
Devolver Digital’s Big Fancy Press Conference 2018 - A weird semi-parody semi actual press conference put on by Devolver Digital during E3. Check a look!
Eminem’s Kamikaze album - As icky as his subject matter can sometimes be, I can’t deny the dude’s a super talented wordsmith. Coupled with that is the fact that this album is essentially a rant in response to his previous album not selling that well, so I knew I’d be in for a ride.
The Best Not-Quite-Metroidvanias (Despipte Being Declared Metroidvanias) of 2018:
The Messenger - This game is a Metroidvania … eventually. The Waypoint team generally had good things to say, though Patrick panned the length of the initial bit of the game, which is much more linear than the latter parts. Personally, I really enjoyed it despite it not opening up yet. It gave a lot of good runway to get to know the abilities you pick up, and had a difficulty curve that was shallow enough to keep progress nice and snappy as you traverse the world. Once the “now this is a fully explorable world with portals between past and present” bit happened, I felt that the buildup was well justified! It really made the entire world (most of which I’d seen in one timeline or another) feel like it was full of new secrets.
Also, the humor was a bit over-the-top but had an endearing genuineness to it, especially since I played it on the heels of the infinitely-more-try-hard Guacamelee! 2.
Dead Cells - It’s definitely not a Metroidvania . But it borrows the element of permanent traversal ability upgrades and uses it to unlock access to new stages, including new intermediate stages. What’s so cool about that is that you can get 3 or 4 stages in, get a new ability, and then on your next run have a new branch to take at stage 1 or 2. That structure keeps new runs really fresh because they branch so early and often, and it’s one of the ways that Dead Cells succeeds at reducing tedium.
Death’s Gambit - This game tends to have an identity crisis from time to time, and though it was marketed and discussed as a Metroidvania , I would argue that it is not one because none of its areas are gated by abilities or gear, and you don’t gain new traversal abilities during the game. However, it was a really interesting 2D soulslike. While messy and inconsistent, it was also full of interesting boss fights, dramatic music tracks, and surprisingly effective narrative flourishes. There are plenty of rocky elements, and the variety and balance of the combat is out of whack, but the team seems committed to addressing feedback and continuing to improve and expand the game. It has a ton of potential to be something special once it’s more refined.
Note about terminology: I don’t mean to be an ass about how to use Metroidvania as a classification, but for the sake of the above list the required elements are:
A persistent open world to explore, or at least branching paths
Abilities or gear that, once acquired, allow access to new areas in the world
All of these games were declared Metroidvanias by reviewers or tags on steam, hence this pedantic list. Also! If anyone’s interested, I wrote more about all these games on my hobby review blog: https://pauldoyle.space/blog/
Top 8 Zones in 2018
Fortuna, Warframe
Lathyrus Palace, Ashen
The Library, Octavi Navarro’s The Librarian
The Inn, The Hex
Ossuary, Dead Cells
The Bridge, All Walls Must Fall
Miami, Hitman 2
(This space reserved for when I play more CrossCode)
The Bridge in All Walls Must Fall is a sneaky good pick. The feel and the theme music for it is such a good contrast to rest of the game, and yet it fits so well.
Another two great Zones for the full top ten, that couldn’t be more opposite, the airport in this game, which reframes the airport as a space for surreal horror. It’s doing things I think are really smart that I’m legitimately stumped to try and explain why. I played this two nights ago, it takes about 10-15 minutes (unless im missing something big, and gosh is it affecting.
I am now very excited for this
The other game that I want to shout out for having a great zone is Touch Melbourne, which is an impressionistic tour of Melbourne, Australia. It also takes about ten minutes to play and is very good.
oh yeah i did get that! it looks fun i just haven’t gotten around to playing it yet (well, i tried, but then i realized that it had been months since i had played xcom and had forgotten how to do absolutely anything in it lol)
I’ve spent too many hours on this game. It’s the closest I’ve gotten to feeling addicted to a video game in a long time. I don’t mean thinking about it when I’m not playing it, I mean nearly unable to pull myself away from. It’s such the perfect Timeout game, and I really didn’t start with it until the later part of the year. The combination of slay the spire like progression and solitaire has me at it’s mercy. It’s so good.
2. Beeswing
Really adored this game. The music fits the art so well. Was a delight to explore.
3. Divinity: Original Sin 2
Played this with three friends and it was fantastic. Each of us took a story character and took turns picking out quests to do together. Sometimes one player would wander into a situation where they had to fight and the rest of us would rush to the rescue. The battle system is immaculate. One of the best turn-based rpg combat systems hands down. The enemies and encounters were really varied and a blast to figure out.
4. System Crash
I don’t even remember where I heard about this, but it scratches a very specific itch of a cyberpunk single-player CCG. It’s really a game I was taken completely by surprise and glad I tried.
