2018! Wow! Another incredible year of video games. So many great titles and so little time to play them. This year I didn’t even finish 10 games. Some big life changes happened to me. I moved back to the San Francisco Bay Area without a TV! I still played a lot of games, but mostly old games and I ended up canceling my GameFly subscription. The Switch, Vita, 3DS, iPad mini and Wii U all kept me playing though and helped me survive gaming withdrawals. Besides gaming at home, I also found time to play at E3 and GDC.

So for this year’s list, I’ll be compiling my honorable mentions with my game list into one blog post. Read on for my favorites games from 2018.

 HONORABLE MENTIONS

Detective Pikachu

My last GameFly game before I canceled my membership. While I didn’t finish it, I found it enjoyable. I got a kick out of hearing Pikachu talk and seeing his love for coffee. He knows hows to wear a Sherlock Holmes cap well. I like a good detective game too. While the story isn’t as gripping as L.A. Noire, a Phoenix Wright game or Hotel Dusk I’m excited to play more.

Devil May Cry V Demo

I’m a huge Devil May Cry fan and the original ranks as one of my favorite action games ever. So, I eagerly anticipated the demo on Xbox One released after the 2018 Game Awards. The full game releases in March and from what I played it looks promising. The new gimmick this time involves Nero’s missing arm. It’s very cool to see him switch weapons on the fly and it reminds me of Mega Man.

Pros- The combat felt smooth after I got comfortable with the controls. The Goliath boss felt challenging and very spectacle. The graphics look great and the new character Nika who gives Nero new skills, weapons and items seems interesting.

Cons- Enemies sit around and do nothing and the tutorial doesn’t teach you the combat well. I had to look upon my own and from past experience to get the hang of fighting again.

Gripes aside Devil May Cry 5’s off to an explosive start. I’m confident Capcom delivers an action game that rivals the original Devil May Cry.

GAMES I FINISHED

Kirby Star Alles

For the most part, Kirby consistently delivers new and unique fun gameplay experience. While Kirby Star Allies lacks depth compared to Kirby: Planet Robobot. Or Kirby: Triple Deluxe. I still enjoyed this one.

The gameplay hook this time revolves around Kirby’s enemies. Who in this game join you as allies. This gives Kirby Star Allies a New Super Mario Bros like feel. With some occasionally unique puzzles added to the formula. Everything looks lovely in HD too and the final boss impressed me. It’s definitely one of Kirby’s most epic boss fights in the whole series.

However, it’s too simple for me and way too easy. Also, unlike most Kirby games I didn’t feel the need to replay the story mode. The optional side stuff lacks excitement. Fortunately, Nintendo significantly patched the games since it’s the initial release. So I may end up replaying this again once the price drops.

Spider-Man

What an incredible Spider-Man game! Insomniac nailed the web-slinging. I never got tired of the wall running on buildings and free-falling from the sky. The story feels fresh and exciting. Thankfully it isn’t origin story about Green Goblin again. All the actors do a great job and the story keeps you motivated to see it through the end. Almost, the perfect Spider-Man game. My only nitpicks involve the side quests. A lot of the open-world missions feel underwhelming. Like the stealth missions for Miles Morales and Mary Jane which feel kind of boring. Love those pigeon chases and the creative Osborn challenges though! I imagine Spider-Man 2 will surpasses this one and remedies its flaws with ease once it hits PS5 in 2021.

Thanks for reading!

In 2019 I’m excited for Kingdom Hearts 3, playing more Devil May Cry 5, Death Stranding and more. Check back in 2020 for my top games of 2019.