PixlBit

So we're entering another year, with another round of games, another BaD, and another round of GOTY blogs.

2018 was a good year in gaming for me. Though it didn't have anything that quite compared with Breath of the Wild (but there isn't much that does compare to that masterpiece, except maybe other Zelda games) in my book, I still had a good time. I spent most of my time on Switch this year. A lot of my favorite game series got sequels this year.

So, here are my favorite games of 2018.

Celeste (Switch)

A charming puzzle platformer of the Super Meat Boy type, Celeste tells a story about a down on her luck young woman named Madeline, who is climbing one of Canada's most brutal peaks to conquer her physical and emotional fears. In addition to the platforming, the music is pretty catchy,

Dragon Quest XI (PS4)

After the magnificence that was Dragon Quest VIII, the DS-only Monster Hunter-styled DQIX and online- and Japan-only DQX were disappointments. So here comes DQXI, which is everything I wanted in a console DQ and more.

Ni no Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom (PS4)

Though the original PS3 game is better, Ni no Kuni 2 still did good at bringing that Studio Ghibli magic to PS4 with an epic RPG tale.

Shining Resonance Refrain (Switch)

A Tales-esque, music-themed RPG romp with some good anime graphics. Not exactly a Final Fantasy-level masterpiece but still pretty good. I wanted this one back when it was on PS3, but it was Sega, and Sega is kind of hit or miss with its localizations.

Arcade Archives: Donkey Kong and AA: Donkey Kong Junior (Switch)

Even in the pre-NES days I was a Nintendo fan, and Nintendo's arcade games were far and away my favorite arcade games. Unfortunately, due to legal reasons we never got ports of the arcade games even once consoles became capable of running arcade ports. That appears to have changed now, since most of Nintendo's arcade catalog is out on the Switch through the Arcade Archives series.. These games had some of the best graphics and sound of the time, and they're still fun to play (along with Mario Bros). And it appears even Nintendo itself is embracing its arcade legacy a lttle more, as its Donkey Kong cameos in Smash Ultimate are taking more cues from the arcade versions of DK and DK Junior than the NES versions.

Octopath Traveler (Switch)

A charming, old-school styled RPG from Square Enix that reminds me rather strongly of one of my PS1 favorites, SaGa Frontier, with eight different stories to play from. Square Enix has been on a roll lately.

Civilization VI (Switch)

I can never get enough of turn-based strategy for home or on the go. This is a surprisingly good port of the PC game for the Switch.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Switch)

For some reason, even though I enjoy Smash, i seem to skip every other generation of it. I didn't play much of Melee or Smash 4, so the last Smash game I bought was Brawl on Wii, ten years ago. This game takes everything that made Smash fun and puts it on steroids. It's like a Who Framed Roger Rabbit/Wreck-It Ralph for the Japanese game industry, with cameos from Square Enix, Capcom, Konami, Namco. Even Rayman and Shantae make cameos in this game, and the Persona series is going to make its debut in Smash with Joker from P5 (which is hopefully a precursor to a Switch release of Persona 5 R).

Game of the Year 2018: Valkyria Chronicles 4 (Switch)

The original Valkyria Chronicles was my favorite 7th generation game. This game may possibly be even better than the original. After having the series stuck on PSP in Japan, it was a pleasant surprise to get a western console release.  Everything that made the original great is here, with a lot of new weapons, battle strategies, and terrain types to fight in. Hopefully there's more to come from Sega  on the SRPG front with Sakura Wars and a Valkyria 5. Valkyria Chronicles 4 met, and exceeded, my high expectations.

Games I'm looking forward to in 2019 (if they come out):

Metroid Prime 4 (Switch)

I am ready for more console Metroid games.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses (Switch)

I'm also excited to see Fire Emblem returning to a home console after years of being a handheld series during the 7th gen.

Shin Megami Tensei V (Switch)

Even if the Switch doesn't get P5, it will still get this all new SMT entry, which looks great.

Bayonetta 3 (Switch)

Hopefully news about Bayo 3 is coming soon....

Mortal Kombat 11 (Switch)

This game already looks great, and hopefully it will top MK9 and MKX.

Pokemon (Switch)

The Let's Go! series gave us a taste of Pokemon on a console as a sort of reimagining of the first generation of Pokemon, but I want to see what they can do with a full console game.

Tales of Vesperia Definitive Edition (Switch)

My probable first purchase of the year is a remaster of one of my favorite 7th gen games and one of the best Tales games, one I haven't played in years because of not having access to an Xbox 360.