It
is weird writing these every year as I am always a year behind
everybody since I usually by games when their price goes down. This
year is not any different. It is always difficult trying to remember
which games I have played within the first months but luckily Steam
to save the date with recently played list of games. This is my
personal top ten for pc in 2018:
UPDATE: Added SOTC and moved We happy few in the honourable mentions.
1. Life is Strange
series
When
I have played LIS season 1 the first time, I gave up after first
episode in 2017. It felt it a bit sluggish and while the time rewind
mechanic was cool, this whole teenage drama did not interest me much.
However, I gave the game a second chance and replayed it again almost
a year after my first try. This time, something felt different. I
have finished the game within 5 days (too bad I did not end up on
Friday) but basically could not stop. I devoured 1 episode per day
and finally understood what the whole deal is with this series.
Although it starts rather slow, everything changes at the end of
episode 2 and onwards. I love games about time travel and LIS gave me
exactly what I wanted – likeable characters, realistic
relationships and engaging story. Getting to know Chloe and Max felt
well done just right and many people shed a few tears when they
reached the end.
Later,
I have also played Before the Storm, which I was avoiding until then.
Again, the game proved me I was wrong. While some things got
retconned and did not make sense (not sure if by accident or by
intention), overall, it was still great finally to be able to meet
Rachel and see what all the fuss was about. The bonus episode,
Farewell, gives us also the final, teary look at Chloe and Max,
before Max leaves for Seattle. Then we got free episode of Captain
Spirit and first episode of Life is Strange 2. If you love LOK series
and story driven games, give this series a try. LIS series blows
Telltale games out of the water and shows them how it is done. This
is probably the best investment Square Enix got right in the last
years.
2. Assassin´s
Creed: Origins
After
a not so great Syndicate (I was a lot more entertained by Unity),
here comes the grand game by Ubisoft. I am just about to finish it
but still have almost a third of the map undiscovered – the scope
of this game is so vast. I found myself doing most of the side
quests, not because I was forced to due to level restrictions, but
because I wanted. Bayek and Aya work great together (much better than
Jacob and Evie ever did) and following their story of neverending
vengeance is quite a spectacle. Not to mention the superb exotic and
detailed Egyptian environments – this game has more tombs and does
them better than any of the latest TR games! I thoroughly enjoyed
playing this and the movement, characters and gameplay just feel so
right. I am looking forward to playing Odyssey and Witcher 3 after
this. Highly recommended.
3. Shadow of the Colossus (PS4)
How could I have forgotten to add this gem? I have spent countless hours on the original ps2 game and to finally being able to see this in proper framerate and upgraded graphics is breathtaking. The developers used the original engine but swapped out all the graphical assets out (except the beautifl haunting music, luckily) and the game feels and plays great. Only complaint is that the preset control scheme has only been improved slightly (jump is finally X not triangle), however, it is still uncomfortable to control Argo (which is solved by remapping the buttons in PS4 menu). Overall, it is an excellent masterpiece where the lonely and abandoned land is the only obstacle between you and giant colossi. Definitely a must play and one of my top games ever, now in modern graphics.
4. Dark Souls III
After
getting myself sucked into the depths of first Dark Souls game, I
have skipped 2 and dove straight into 3. From Software improved
gameplay (8-way rolling, yey), graphics and netcode, everything just
feels great in this game. Boss battles are epic and this is a true
sequel to DS1. Too bad the two DLCs/Season's pass are still quite
expensive but are still worth it. The Ringed City serves as a proper
ending, although not possibly what everybody expected, it is a must
to play. This game is amazing and discovering more about its lore was
so rewarding I got a few books right after finishing it. Later in the
year I have also tried DS2 but was apalled by the terrible controls
which are refined and tight in DS1/3 but in 2, the rotation of the
character around its axis is sluggish and feels like gliding, not
even mods fixed it for me. DS1 and DS3 are well worth the sweat and
tears.
5. The Evil Within
This
is one of the gems, which I have shamefully omitted since its initial
release in 2014. I have fell in love with this and the mechanics as
soon as I have started playing it. If you play on survival
difficulty, it is quite a test in the first few chapters but well
rewarding. The dark atmosphere and gameplay is reminiscent of
Resident Evil 4 and the horror elements are like from Silent hill –
a perfect match. The enemies do not die permanently unless you get
rid of their heads or burn them with matches, but main character
Sebastian has only a limited supply, so it is always nerve wracking
if the zombie will get up or not. While the ending leaves usually
everybody completely baffled, this is remedied somewhat by the DLC
where you play as Kidman and the game shows you her side of the
story. It is done brilliantly because Kidman does not have weapons,
just a torch, so you need to sneak around strategically and the
addition of a stalking monster just contributes to the tension. I
have found the second game to be not as good as the first one,
unfortunately, though.
6. Crash Bandicoot
N. Sane Trilogy
Vicarious
Visions remade our beloved furry bandicoot and finally made him
available at all platforms after a year of timed PS4 exclusivity.
While the versions for PS4 and Xbox1 are both capped at 30fps, pc
offers a smooth 60fps with several graphical options, so this is best
version to play. I almost gave upon the game on PS4 when it released
due to the alterations of jumping collision/distance as the devs had
to build this game from scratch, but luckily the controls have been
improved since. The music was remade as well and while I think it did
it justice, I wish they would have remastered the original soundtrack
too and included it as an option. Overall, great remake and looking
forward to playing Crash Team Racing!
7. DMC HD collection
Everybody
remembers the amazing but super slow (especially PAL version) first
DMC on PS2. Then the horrible DMC2 came out (which I have not played
still) and then the same studio redeemed itself with one of the best
action games ever with DMC3. DMC and DMC2 were never ported to pc
before, so this is their debut and DMC3 finally got the port it
deserves (no more problems with swapped out joy sticks!). As a DMC
fan, I can fully recommend this collection and while things could
have been improved further (menus are still only 4:3 and cutscenes
could be higher resolution), it is a must own for any action fan.
8. Silent Hill 3
SH3
is my favourite SH game and I have found a widescreen mod to replay
it again. This game barely aged! It certainly profits from all
in-game cutscenes as you can put the resolution right up and it looks
great, even after all these years. The character models are highly
detailed and mo-cap is convincing too. Heather is not your typical
hero, but a normal girl, at least at first glance. She shows all
sorts of emotions throughout the journey and it was great to watch
her grow. This is the true sequel to SH1 and it is a damn good one
according to others as well!
9. Silent Hill 2
Enhanced edition
Now
this playthrough was completely unplanned but I somehow found myself
being called back to the silent town just a few weeks ago, right
after finishing SH3. I have stumbled upon an even greater mod
selection called the
Enhanced
edition – a selection of best mods available out there all in
one page and you can actually select which mods you want to include
in your game folder. It enhances the game greatly, something which
the atrocious original port failed so miserably when it was released
on pc. If you are ever considering to play SH2 again, definitely
upgrade your version to include these mods for the ultimate horror
experience.
10. F.E.A.R.+ DLC
First
Fear game and its dlc have a special place in my library – I have
already played them over about 3 to 4 times and I might give it a go
again at some point. The A.I. in this game is brilliant and I have
yet to find a game in which the enemies behave so tactically. The
horror atmosphere is also great and this game belongs to my top fps
games of all time. While I have played the official sequels, they
have lost the appeal of what made the original game so good, which is
a shame.
Special mention - Disappointment of the year:
It
pains me to be writing this but I have just not enjoyed the newest
instance of Tomb Raider. Eidos Montreal tried to make things a bit
different but in the end, their efforts fell flat and while the other
games in the series usually lost their pace about halfway through,
Shadow just gives up after a couple of hours. The bland gameplay and
corridor like levels just were not fun to play through for me even
when stealth kills and mud camo was a welcomed addition. Character
development is lacking and I found myself just not caring about
anybody in this game. The game introduced hub levels as well, where
you can
't draw your guns or in one instance, change outfits
(which is annoying as you spend a lot of time there) and they just
slowed down the pace a bit too much to my taste. I have enjoyed both
2013 and Rise but I simply can
't
recommend Shadow of TR unless on a big sale. I hope the next
game will be by Crystal and the deleted ending suggest we might be
going back to the roots of the series.
Honourable mention:
Wolf
Among Us is one of those games I had in my library for a while and I
could not be bothered to play. I am super glad I did, as this is the
best Telltale has produced to this date. The game is based on Fables comic book
series and portrays what has happened in the various
fairy tales after their stories have ended. They have been
forced to live in our real life world and watching them struggle with
every day problems is strange at first and we get to see them from a very different point of view
Together with Tales of Borderlands, this is the best that Telltale
have produced before its fall and it hurts that we will never see the
continuation of this game in the future.
This
one is a weird one as I got this for a review and got myself quite
sucked in! It did take me a while to get into Arthur's shoes but I
got there in the end. The story is quite intriguing and to watch the
downfall of once prosperous country is quite a chilling tale. WHF
takes place on an alternate timeline, in which the Germans have won
in the second world war. Shortly after, they began deporting children
from UK until there were none left. I still have not finished the
game (only the first section for Arthur) and I am keen to get to the
bottom of this mystery. This game is plagued by the early access
syndrome, however, and it is certainly not worth the high price tag
it got when it released. Tread carefully with this one and maybe get
it on a sale.
Well,
that was it. I am really wondering what awaits us in 2019 game wise. In
the meantime, have a look at Bazielim´s top 10 as well at his Cult of Hash'ak'gik blog.
