Review #614: Xenoblade Chronicles 2

 Feels like it's been ages... but it's Rex time now!

 Xenoblade Chronicles was one of the Wii's swansongs in America, a belated game from Japan that we got thanks to the Rainfall operation, a movement I partook in myself. And it was worth it. It was so popular that it got an spiritual sequel in the form of Xenoblade Chronicles X for the Wii-U. And now, we've got Xenoblade Chronicles 2, a more direct sequel to the first game. MMORPG-styles combat mechanics, huge expanses of lands to traverse... it's all here, and in HD.

 The world of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is quite original: Huge beings, Titans, live over the Sea of Clouds, a quite literal sea of clouds, living in a symbiotic relationship with humans that live on top of them. Every Titan is a country of its own, although smaller Titans are employed as ships too. There's a third type of being, not counting monsters, Blades, beings, most of them human-like(and most of them waifu-like....) that come out of 'Core Crystals' and are bound to whichever human opened it. Yeah, Blades are anime as hell. In this world, Rex, the main character, is a Salvager, someone who dives into the Sea of Clouds for treasure and scavenge, just your every-day average joe, until he gets a job to aid a few nasty-looking people in finding some treasure. This treasure being the Aegis, a super-powerful Blade. Pyra, the Aegis, bonds with Rex and both set out to find Elysium and save humanity, along the way joining up with other colorful characters that want to help. The story is quite decent, albeit nothing to write home about since it uses too many anime tropes, but Monolith-soft have always been great at crafting beautiful fighting choreography for their cutscenes, and this game might have some of the best they've ever made. On the other hand, character designs are... a bit bleh. They went far too anime so a few characters, like Pyra, look completely stupid because their designs are all about fanservice. Rex looks stupid too. Among Blades, they had popular Japanese artists design one each, so expect to see some jarring artstyle clashes, heck, Tetsuya Nomura designed Jin, one of the villains, and he looks nothing like the generic anime designs the heroes have.

 One big issue with the presentation is the awful voice acting. It's really, really bad.... at least for the first 10 or so hours. Then I realized something: The Scottish accents all characters have is gorgeous, and the voice actors know how to emote, the problem being that they weren't given proper directions. Couple this with the fact that the audio isn't lip-synched, so it feels like the voices aren't coming from their mouths. On the other hand, the graphics are drop-dead gorgeous, this game is full of scenery porn waiting to be explored. And there's a lot of exploration, the game is MASSIVE, environments and towns are huge, it might take you over 10 hours to fully explore a single titan, if you are thorough. There are a lot of sidequests to go through too, so your work is cut-out for you. Beating the game took me nearly 100 hours, and I did as many sidequests as I could.

 Just like Xenoblade Chronicles before it, Xenoblade 2 is a JRPG that borrows a lot from MMORPGs. You can take up to three different characters with you, you'll directly control the party leader while the CPU controls the two other members. Going over every single mechanic in the game would be an endless endeavor, so I'll cover the basics. Combat takes place in real time, just like an MMORPG, and once you engage an enemy all three characters will auto-attack the targeted enemy. You can move your character around, to reposition him or her, or cast 'Driver Arts'. Each character can be equipped with up to three different Blades, which you can swap mid combat, and each Blade can have a different weapon, depending on the weapon and your player character will give you different Driver Arts. There are four driver arts for each weapon, but you can only equip three, so you'll want a good balance of damage and utility.

 There's no mana, only cooldowns: Auto attacks recharge the cooldown on your driver arts and driver arts charge up your super moves. Super Moves have different elements, depending on the equipped blade, and you can chain them together for even MORE damage. When a link is possible, you can press ZL or ZR to instruct your teammates to use their super moves, if its charged. Combat is fun, and it has a few neat nuances: You can cancel an auto-attack by using a Driver Art the moment it hits, for bonus damage, faster execution and an extra charge on your super move gauge, and you can cancel Driver Arts with Super moves. If you unlock the right mastery you can even cancel Driver Arts with other Driver arts. That said, it suffers from the SAME problem Xenoblade 1 had... battles take too long. Even an enemy 10 levels below you might take you over a minute to take down, and it's not even a hard battle, just that they soak up damage like there's no tomorrow. It might be an incentive as not to overlevel, but a few enemies can call upon other enemies making it a bit tough to avoid.

 Regardless, grinding is a bit important, as taking down an enemy a few levels above you might be nigh murder, particularly early on in the game before you had the time to upgrade your stats. It's funny since enemies with a higher level than you will target you as soon as you come in front of them. Just as with an MMORPG, there are high-level bastards roaming the lands, and if you come near them they will make a bee-line towards you and murder you in one or two hits, making exploration a hassle. Dying has no penalty, thankfully, you're simply sent back to the last checkpoint you hit. A patch released later allows you to turn down enemy aggressiveness, so you might look into that. I decided to go for the purer experience and dealt with it, sneaking when necessary. If you're anything like me, be ready to have higher-level enemies just join in on your fights, to help their buddies.

 There are no armors are weapons, but there is character customization. Firstly, you can buy or find Chips which you can spend on a Blade to upgrade their weapon. These chips may add passive abilities depending on the Blade, for instance, the Pentagon Chip makes Dromarch's Arts heal for more, but if equipped on another blade, like Pyra, it does nothing besides alter the attack power. Each Blade can equip a different number of accessories, for passive abilities, and each Driver can equip up to two accessories for boosts or buffs, such as recovering health every time you cancel an auto attack. Lastly, both Drivers and Blades have 'Affinity Charts' that work in different ways. For Blades you have to fulfill certain conditions in order to fill the Affinity Chart and earn its bonuses. For Drivers, well, defeating enemy grants you Experience Points, WP and SP. Experience points are self explanatory, WP are used to strengthen your Driver Arts and SP is used to unlock bonuses in their Affinity Charts. Bonuses can be anything from bonus HP to letting you cancel Driver Arts with other Driver Arts. Affinity Charts sound great on paper, but they are very small. Plus, earning WP and SP takes a long, LONG time, so be ready to grind a lot.

 Besides being your weapons, Blades have a secondary characteristic: Field abilities, abilities required to explore. Field abilities are the worst part about the game because they are mandatory to finish the game and complete a few quests. For instance, you might come across an updraft, but to use it you need 'Wind Mastery Lv 4" and "Leaping Lv3". This means that you need to get Wind Mastery Level 4 and Leaping level 3 with your equipped blades. Yes, even if you have the requirements they don't count unless the blades are equipped. This is particularly annoying because the game also wants you to send your Blade on 'Merc Missions', during which time they are unavailable for use. It's incredibly annoying to come across a literal road block because you don't have the necessary level or amount of blades to clear the threshold, or be forced to call back your blade from the Merc Mission, those ridding you of your XP rewards.

 I've talked about Blades a lot, but how do you get them? Lootboxes. Ingame lootboxes. They are an entire world of their own, so I'll probably forget a few things, but I'll do my best. As you play through the game you'll come across Common Crystal Cores, Rare Crystal Cores and Legendary Crystal Cores. Which blade you get is entirely random. While you get a ton of Rare Blades at first, eventually it'll come to a point where you'll be swimming in trash Blades. Rare Blades are the Blades designed by popular Japanese authors, and THESE are the ones you want: They have exclusive, necessary Field Skills, they have a larger Affinity Chart and thus are WAY stronger than the other Blades and, thirdly, you can only complete their Affinity Chart by fulfilling secret conditions. The last part is a bit of an annoyance, but you can go online and figure out the conditions. I recommend you do.

 Unlocking new Blades sounds kinda fun, but there are a few caveats, for instance, you need a Driver to open Crystal Cores, and then the Blade gets locked on them. It sucks, since you might get one of the epic Healer Blades, which work great with Nia, on your DPS character. You might get Agate, one of the best DPS Blades on your Tank. There are a few 'Overdrives' that let you swap Blades between drivers, but they are extremely rare. If you have the DLC you get a few freebies, which kinda sucks, but then again, I bought the physical release of Torna so I had said DLC. All in all, the Blade system is decent, but it could be better: Let players switch Blades freely between Drivers and don't have the dumb secret conditions for their Affinity Charts.

 Playing Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is a massive undertaking. The game's world is enormous, there are a ton of sidequests to complete, a ton of Blades to find and a ton of optional superbosses to find. Even if you decide to focus strictly on the main storyline it'll take you a while before you're done with it. The story is not as philosophical or as interesting as the one in the first Xenoblade game, but if you like anime and their recycled tropes you'll probably enjoy it more. I had fun all the way throughout, even if I grew a bit bored with the combat once I hit the 80 hour mark, it didn't stop me from finishing the game. That said, once you're done with Xenoblade 2 you'll probably want a palate cleanser or two.
 8.0 out of 10

Review #613: Tekken 7

 Neat game mate, now where's the rest of it?

 It's Tekken, yo! This latest installment of the long-running fighting game franchise is a bit of a gamechanger: Finally we've got new designs for returning characters, something that seemed stagnant since Tekken 3, finally we have a fresh cast of characters, some old, some new, as opposed to bringing everyone back and, finally, we've got a completely new spin on the same old gameplay. This Tekken feels a bit like 3 and 4 since it dares change the status quo, unlike 5 which went straight after Tekken 3's coattails and 6, which was content at simply expanding upon 5.

 First of all, the new story mode, and staple of Tekken. Tekken 3 had Tekken Force, which was alright, Tekken 4 also had Tekken Force, which was better, Tekken 5 had Jin's beat'em up mode, which was the right direction but not the best execution, and, lastly, Tekken 6's Story Mode which was a souped up version of 4's. Tekken 7 brings us 'Story of the Mishima's', which should've been renamed to 'Story of Heihachi', and I hope you like Heihachi, because he is the main character. By the by, I hate Heihachi, so by the end I grew tired of how hard Harada, the director, was shilling his pet. They tried to make him more 'sympathetic', but it doesn't work, he is evil and he sucks. There's a handful more characters involved in the Story Mode, a few which you get to play as including Street Fighter's Akuma, but for the most part, it's only about Heihachi VS Kazuya. The games' boss, Kazumi, plays only a very, VERY small part. As a matter of fact, this mode is rather short and feels like it's just the prologue for Tekken 8, once I got to the credits I exclaimed aloud 'That's it?'. It was. It's a bit of a Spoiler, but the fact that Jin Kazama spends the entire story mode asleep should tell you just how bland this mode is. The rest of the characters get a 'Chapter' which is made up of a text-prologue, a single fight and a lazy ending. Characters tend to be paired, like Steve VS Nina, so Steve's Chapter is you beating Nina and Nina's chapter is you beating Steve. What a letdown, and wasted potential too, since characters are sporting all these new duds and goals, yet we get pretty much nothing but window-dressing. The endings are particularly bland, Nina beats Steve and then enemies arrive and she escapes. That's it. Bryan wins the fight and then sees a helicopter, so he throws debris at it, destroying it, and then laughs. And that's it. These 'chapters' feel like an afterthought, they did the bare minimum and called it a day.

 As for the rest of the modes... it's a very barebones offering. You get Online VS and local VS Player, but there's no local VS CPU mode. Why they continue to omit that mode is beyond me. There's a practice mode, but there's no tutorial or anything, so newcomers are screwed, and veteran players are on their own as far as understanding the new mechanics go. There's Treasure battle too, an endless string of battles against CPU enemies, and each fight rewards you with at least one new customization item as well as Fight Money. This is the offline mode you'll play the most. Finally there's Arcade Mode, which is pretty much made unnecessary by Treasure Mode. There are no endings, no exclusive unlockables, nothing that would make you play Arcade Mode over Treasure Mode. Customization is back, and it feels much more limited than before, but at least you can dress up a few characters with some of their vintage costumes, including Tekken 2 and Tekken 4 King, heck, you can even have Kazuya in his badass Tekken 4 suit!

 The new characters are a mixed bag. Tekken has been slowly trying to get a piece out of Dead or Alive's pie, and it's never been more apparent than before. We have Lucky Chloe, a ridiculous idol character that panders to the Otaku fanbase, at least they tried to play with the trope a bit: She's a nasty person playing the part of a sweet, innocent girl. Katarina, is yet another seductress character archetype, because it seems Anna didn't have that part covered already. Josie Rizal is... is a mess. She's a big breasted crybaby that cries even when she wins a fight. She's supposed to be a tribute to a Filipino hero, but she makes a mockery out of him. Speaking of breasts, this is the bounciest the Tekken girls have ever been, and it looks a bit silly. Male characters aren't safe though, Gigas is one of the blandest and most uninspired designs the series has seen, bring back Marduk, dammit!(They actually did!... via DLC). Shaheen and Kazumi, however, are fantastic new additions and both Master Raven and Claudio are... they are alright. I enjoyed the new redesigns too, Feng, Asuka, Jin, Kazuya, Miguel... everyone looks great, and it's about time they got new clothes. I think the only redesign I disliked was Nina, the bride dress is dumb.

 Alright, aesthetics are but superficial, what matters is the game, and boy, oh boy, it's GOOD. The core gameplay remains the same: each of the four face buttons is tied to a different limb. Each character has widely different attack strings, so button mashing will get you nowhere, a combination that could be a three hit combo with one character will result in an easily punishable single blow with another. Bounds are a thing of the past, say hello to 'Screws', attacks that make an airborne opponent plummet spiraling down into the ground, head first. During this time, as they are 'screwing' on the air, you can follow up with a combo. Screws, just like Bounds, can only be done once in a combo. 

 With this game they've also put their focus on Super Armored moves, attacks that go off even as you're getting hit, you'll receive the damage, but your move will go off anyways. There are two new special moves that showcase this: Rage Arts and Rage Drives. As their name implies, these can only be done once you enter 'Rage', which is done by losing over 70% of your health bar, and is a state during which your attack power is increased. Rage Arts are pretty much Ultras, moves that can only be used once per match but deal a TON of damage, it's not even funny how many matches I undeservedly won thanks to these. These can be comboed into, and you should, they can be blocked and you really don't want to fumble them, because landing or fumbling a Rage Arts costs you your Rage bonus. Rage Drives, on the other hand, are much weaker, but much more useful than Rage Arts. These are powered-up moves that also have Super Armor, but instead of landing a super powerful move, can be used to extend your combos, plus, if they are blocked it won't leave you at a disadvantage. Just as with Rage Arts, these can only be done once, and either landing or fumbling them costs you the Rage buff. Veteran players will probably stick to Rage Drives, while newbies will stick to Rage Arts.

 There's an in-game gallery which people have called it 'great fanservice' since you can unlock every intro and ending from EVERY previous Tekken game. I call it fluff, do you know what was great fanservice? When Tekken 5 included the Arcade versions of Tekken 1, 2 and 3. THAT was great fanservice. Or when Tekken Tag Tournament 2 brought back Tekken Bowl, bigger and better than ever. Mind you, it's not like I hate the gallery, I just wish we had more playable fluff, y'know?  Maybe I'm being a bit tough with Tekken, but only because I love it so much. The graphics are a bit rougher than what I had expected, but it is the best looking Tekken game to date. The lightning and hit effects are extraordinary, and they added this satisfying, dramatic close-ups, where the music goes out, as two attacks are about to collide. It looks SO good and adds so much tension to the match!

 I like this bold new Tekken. The new character designs leave a lot to be desired, but returning characters look great and feel fresh, something desperately needed since Tekken was starting to hold on a little too tight to Tekken 3's legacy. The gameplay is as good, nay, better than ever, which is why the game is so enjoyable, but... I just can't pretend that the game is very lacking when it comes to content. Great gameplay, decent character roster, but where are the modes? Survival? Team Battle? A proper arcade mode with proper endings? A complete Story arc? It's a tasty cake, but where's the cherry on top?

 8.0 out of 10

Review #612: My Hero One's Justice

 PLUSSSSSS ULTRAAAAAAAAAA UNITED STATES OF SMASHHHHHHH!

 Bleach may have turned into garbage, Naruto may have left us and One Piece... well, it's still One Piece, but now it's time for a new generation of Shonen manga to take their place, enter My Hero Academia, which is basically Naruto but with Super Heroes(It's a gross oversimplification, but it works.). A delightful manga that loves to toy and play with tropes of the genre, only to twist them over its head! As is the destiny with any Shonen worth its salt, it needs its mandatory fighting game, and here we are!

 The game offers most of the modes you'd expect: Offline and Online versus, Training and, of course, a story mode. There's also a Map Mode, in which you tackle different maps(6 + Score Attack on the base game, more with DLC) by bringing along a team of 3 characters. Characters level up in this mode, and as you clear fights, each with different objectives("Defeat the enemy with a Super", "Defense decreased", etc) you'll unlock customization items as well as items to use in that map. Maps tend to have different routes that all take you to the same place. Clearing more fights means more unlockables and more points(For even more unlockables), but your health doesn't restore between fights unless you find restorative items, so it's a bit of Risk VS Reward. There's one more mode, Customize Character. You can actually take any of the 20 playable characters and tweak their looks a bit. It's nothing to write home about, but you can give them silly accessories, like masks from other characters in the series or even accessories. It's very limited, but it's a neat novelty. Each character also has access to a few color presets, albeit they are shared between characters: Everyone has a white color, a All Might color, a Villain Color and, a few, have a single distinctive color. Most of the students also get their uniforms as bonus costumes. Downloading one of the patches nets you an Arcade Mode, so there's that. Me, being a man of impeccable taste and a great disdain for anything digital-only, ignored it. But it's free!... not that it excuses it from not being on the disc from the get-go.

 Story mode is the game's biggest letdown, the game picks up after Todorki VS Midoriya, and covers everything up to the 'Rescue Bakugo' arc. The story is told via lame comic-book styled panels. What hurts the most is that the story mode has three proper cutscenes, and they are great, so it sucks that we're stuck with lazy anime stills. That said, each fight in the story mode hides up to three unlockable customization items(One for clearing the stage, one for getting an S rank and one for a 'hidden objective') which means you might want to replay these stages.... and you're never allowed to skip these cutscenes! Clearing the story mode lets you play the same story from the villains' points of view... and you're not allowed to skip the SAME three cutscenes either! Once you beat both story modes a few fights from the Festival Arc, recontextualized as Deku viewing footage from the event. Leaving the lazy presentation aside, the Story Mode fails at presenting the story to newcomers. The introduction chapter skims over a lot of important details, and the pre and post fight scenes fail at providing the necessary information. Proper enjoyment of this mode requires prior knowledge of the series.

 The game offers a rather small roster of 20 characters, something that would be alright in a normal fighting game, but this being an licensed-anime fighter makes you wish for a few more characters. DLC adds three more characters, Shoot-Style Deku(Free), Endeavor and Inasa. Considering that Shoot-Style Deku and Inasa have important roles in the upcoming story arc makes me guess that Namco is already thinking about expanding on the series.... which might not be a bad idea at all, because, despite how disappointing the story mode is, there are really strong foundations here.

 This is an arena-based fighting game, which means that you and your opponent are free to move around medium-sized arenas as you pummel each other. Square is your basic attack combo string, while triangle and circle perform special moves and the X button lets you jump. Square+tilting the analog stick in any direction produces a super-armored strong attack. Characters have about three specials each, one for each button and another one by tilting the analog stick as you press the buttons, or, sometimes, by holding down one of the special buttons. L2 and R2 can be used to summon 'sidekick' characters, that jump in for a single attack before leaving the screen, R1 can be used to block, or, when coupled with the Special move buttons, used for suppers. Lastly, L1 is used to dash around(Running animations are beautiful) or, if you are on the air, dash directly towards your enemy.

 Those are  the basics, but there are a few other advanced techniques, like Perfect Guarding, which is a parry and is done by pressing R1 before an incoming attack hits... which can also parry super moves. L1 can be used to cancel your attack string and thus perform longer combos, and there's a lot of nifty things you can do with this, like popping an enemy into the air and follow them for an aerial combo. Occasionally when you land a particularly strong move, you'll slam the enemy against a wall, which allows you to fight ON the wall. Fights can get incredibly dynamic as  both fighters dash around each other, over walls and on the air, leading to some incredibly exciting moments. What makes it better is that every stages is almost entirely destructible, so as both fighters dash and jump all over the place, everything comes falling down. It's amazing. And it runs at a mostly steady 60 fps on the PS4. When footage of the game came out I was worried because it looked very, VERY slow, but the game is anything but. Once you get the hang out of cancels and air dashing the game turns into one of the most arresting licensed fighters I've played. There are about three stages that feature ring-outs, and those are the worst, since you can't get the most out of the engine... even if one features a crumbling ground that breaks as you duke it out with your enemy.

 Every character but one comes unlocked from the start, which is a bit divisive between people that love unlockables and people that just want to take the game anywhere and not deal with the hassle of unlocking characters. Considering how many unlockable customization items there are I think the game struck a nice balance, most characters are there from the outset, but you have to work for their colors and the privilege of having Mineta hanging on to your leg as an accessory. On the other hand, as much as I liked the over-saturated colors, the characters look a bit bland and undetailed. The character models are very clean and simple, but I would've like more details or something that made these characters stand out. As it stands, you could pretty much take any character but All-Might(Since, just as it's in the manga, he's drawn in another style!) and paste them on a game like Naruto Ultimate Storm and you wouldn't be able to tell they came from another game.

 If you know what you're getting, namely a very basic anime licensed-game, you'll probably have fun with My Hero One's Justice. It's a very solid, but lackluster anime fighter that doesn't push the envelope but lays a strong foundation for future game in the franchise, which, judging from the DLC, we know is coming sooner than later.
 6.5 out of 10

Archile's End of the Year Awards 2018 Part II

 The fight is finished.... AGAIN!

Worst Game of 2018:

 Oh boy, oh boy! This is one of the most fun categories to write about because I get to talk about games that probably weren't featured in part I, so I don't have to come up with different stuff to say about the selected few!

5) Die Hard Trilogy

 I wanted to like it, I swear to god I did. I've always adored Arcadey games, games that are easy to pick-up-and-play, not a lengthy time investment to have fun. But not a single one of the sub-games featured in Die Hard Trilogy work well. All of them are clunky, ugly and boring. And it sucks, because I keep seeing these games getting praise to this day!
 To be fair, I will admit that at times I did have a teeny tiny bit of fun with the third-person shooter segment... before it started to recycle stages. And the first-person shooter segments weren't too bad either. There's no redeeming qualities on the driving parts, though.

4) Deadly Arts

 The Nintendo 64 often gets a bad rep when it comes to Fighting games, but as a kid that grew up with the system and numerous, numerous fighting games I'd say that said reputation is greatly exaggerated. Deadly Arts, however, is a game that does its best to prove me wrong.
 I think that good character design is an integral part of any fighting game. And if you looked at the cover you might think that the game had it covered, but the rest of the characters are very uninspired, and the in-game graphics makes everyone look soulless. The gameplay is as bland as the character designs, with stiff movement and controls and janky mechanics, like the camera shifts.
 This used to be number 3rd, although once I started writing about it.... I remembered just how awful the next game was.

3) Digimon World 4

 Remember when Shadow the Hedgehog held a gun for the first time and the collective consciousness of the entire gamingdom went boom? Well, Digimon did it first. Digimon World 4 is a Diablo-clone in which Digimon pick up arms, instead of their own claws, fangs and abilities to mow down dozens of other Digimon that didn't bother to pick up weapons. Mock the concept all you like, TMNT and LOTR went the Diablo approach and it worked for them.
 Where did it go wrong? Endless load times coupled with poor level design that could've easily alleviated most of them. Required grinding, a very unfair difficulty curve and an unnecessary time sink. Was it really necessary to make players NEED to return to town in order to change their equipment? Digimon World 2 was bad, but this? This is a disgrace. There are absolutely no redeeming qualities in here, there's not a single element that works, it doesn't even get a pretty cover like Deadly Arts.

Runner-up) Nicktoons Unite!(Gameboy Advance)

 There's one word that perfectly encapsulates everything this game is about: Boredom. The gameplay is slow and boring, the level design is uneventful and boring and the game looks cheap, as if their budget didn't reach 3 zeroes.
 Cartoons are supposed to be fun. While I was only there for Spongebob's first season, I remember it being fun(At least for kids), and Jimmy Neutron was pretty dope, so why the hell is this game so boring? Couldn't they find better, more interesting uses for these four characters? This game is worse than any Flash game you could've found in Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon's webpages in the early 2000s. Pathetic.

Loser) Marvel Nemesis- Rise of the Imperfects(Nintendo DS)

 You mean you can make a game with an even smaller budget than Nicktoons Unite!? Marvel Nemesis proves that you can take lazy and cheap to a whole new level!
 Where to start with? How about EA thinking they could come up with evil counterparts to Marvel's classics? Their original fighters look like rejected designs for generic enemy NPCs from other games. Don't you hate Pokemon's ungodly amount of green shinies? Well, most alternate costumes here are booger-green versions of the playable characters. Fun.
 But ugliness isn't skindeep, the game doesn't work. Collision detection sucks, controls work like hot garbage and the game is filled to the brim with glitches. It boggles the mind how this game managed to get produced... but then again, it's EA.

Best Playstation Game of 2018:

 Sony's little machine that could! While it always underperformed on a technical level when compared with the Nintendo 64, there's no denying that its games have aged much, much better. While I might be running short on classics, this year I played a few platforming legends that proved that the Playstation was no slouch when competing against Nintendo's strengths.

5) Medievil

 Years ago I played Medievil for the first time, and I thought it was dumb. For whatever reason I didn't let that dissuade me from giving it the old college try with an open mind, and I was rewarded with a brilliant little game.
 It's a slippery but fast paced action-adventure game that's constantly rewarding you with new weapons to aid Sir Dan Fortesque on his quest. While a bit dated, controlling Dan is something you can get used to fairly quickly, and once you get into the groove of things.... it's hard to stop!
 The story is one aspect the game has held up pretty well, featuring a very original, and funny, story about a zombie skeleton that has to earn the honors he undeservedly received upon his death. It was very amusing getting to follow Dan's journey as he earned the respect of the dead!

4) The King of Fighters '99

 I could feign surprise at having this old fighting game up here, but I won't. The King of Fighters '99 marked a new direction for the franchise, stylistically and storywise and proved that KoF could reinvent itself while increasing the overall quality of its design.
 K' was a fantastic new hero, one of my favorite fighting game character designs EVER, and this new direction reinvisioned some older characters, like Kyo, Ralph and Clark and made them cool again. The Striker system was a fun new addition that made fights more dynamic and would later be expanded upon to add a bit of fanservice into the mix.
 While it may not have '98s massive roster, '99 was a bold step forwards for the franchise.

3) Klonoa - Door to Phantomile

 The game's so good that it almost justifies the high price it demands nowadays. Almost. It's awe-inspiring just how much mileage they got out of just two mundane abilities: Jumping and grabbing. But the stages are tightly designed with well thought-out puzzles and obstacles.
 Couple the fantastic gameplay with the impossibly cute visuals and the contrasting dark storyline, something that gives the game a very surreal feeling, and you have a true classic in your hands.
 The game's a bit too expensive, but if you've got the money to spare... there are worse things you could spend your money on.

Runner-up) Spyro the Dragon

 I always thought Spyro was lame. While I've always adored Dragons, I never cared much about Spyro. By the time I got a PS2 I was already outgrowing mascot platformers, Crash being among my few last tangos with the genre.
 And I hate myself for not trying the games earlier, because Spyro is amazing and I know I would've loved it back in day, even more than I did this year. While Spyro is a slippery bugger, you could say that this is Sonic to Crash's Mario, the platforming challenges are here, but speed is a huge factor in how you play.
 There's something very pure about Spyro's formula, it doesn't pretend to be anything it's not and, for their first stab at the genre, they had a very clear focus, which makes for a very clean and polished platform game.

Winner) Spyro 2 - Ripto's Rage

 Spyro 2 is more of the same, but Insomniac managed to make it feel completely fresh. I played Ripto's Rage directly after finishing Spyro 1, and I didn't feel any fatigue, despite the fact that both games play pretty much exactly the same.
 But the sequel changed in a few, but noticeable ways. The core gameplay was already there, so they just expanded on all the bells and whistles. It was not just a collecthaton this time around, there was context and objectives to every stage, there were different goals besides just collecting stuff. They tightened up the package and polished it to a sheen.
 The first three Spyro games are classics through and through, able to stand against Nintendo's mightiest even to this day.

Best Playstation 2 Game of 2018:

 It's no surprise by now that no other console gets as much love from me as the PS2. Sadly, my silver slim PS2 bit the dust this year, and now I'm using a fat PS2. Which is kinda better, since the slim has a few compatibility issues, and the fat PS2 reminds me of my very first fat PS2, and this blog is all about nostalgia.

5) The King of Fighters 00/01

 Say what you will about KoF 2001, it doesn't really matter, because this game also includes KoF '00, arguably one of the best entries in the franchise and that's a hill I'm willing to die on. Seriously, I'll fight you on this.
 The King of Fighters has always had tight and precise controls, but also demanded pixel-perfect precision from its players, and KoF '00 is no exception. But it also features one of the coolest character rosters in the series, with brilliant new characters like Vanessa and the continuation of the NESTs Saga.
 This compilation is a neat little package that includes a few neat extras, like exclusive Strikers, Missions and unlockables. It's a pretty good deal, even if KoF '00's got to pick up '01' slack!

4) Ape Escape 2

 Ape Escape is one of the most endearing and original platform games ever made! Every stage is brimming with life and color, while the nasty evil monkeys are always doing something silly or ridiculous.
 The twin-stick control setup is more than just a gimmick, as it really adds to the game's charm. Buttons would work just as well, but it wouldn't be quirky and the game is all about quirky, dumb fun. And that's exactly why this game is so memorable.
 Every stage is a pleasure to explore and hunting for monkeys never grows old because the monkeys are constantly surprising you, so unless you've played the game before you won't know what's coming. And, even if you do, the game is still a treat. This was my second playthrough, even if my first one was over 10 years ago, and the game hasn't lost its touch!

3) Klonoa 2 - Lunatea's Veil

 Klonoa 2 is the perfect follow up for the original game, expanding on everything that first game did. It's surprising, really, the game's still a stickler for its basic concepts, but developers found new challenges and puzzles for Klonoa to solve making both games very, very different.
 But as different as they are, both games are brilliant for exactly the same reasons: Tight gameplay and brilliant level design. The puzzles are fun to crack, and moving Klonoa around feels great.
 Something that earns bonus points from me is the new art direction, feeling even more surreal than the first game thanks to its bizarre locales and characters. I wish I could've spent more time in Klonoa's world, but if the games teach you something is that nothing lasts for long.

Runner-up) Prince of Persia - The Sands of Time

 Try as they might, Ubisoft could never manage to replicate what they achieved with The Sands of Time. This was not the Prince's first jump into 3-D, but it was his best.
 The game takes after an Arabian Nights motif, the entire game being narrated by the Prince while the level design and the characters that inhabit its world feel straight out of a fantasy tale. As gruff as the Prince looks on the cover, this is a tale of magic and adventure, and it's all the better for it.
 Great story and concept aside, it's the gameplay that earned the Prince's mark in history. It's a brilliant mix of acrobatic parkour platforming and free-form combat that hadn't been pulled off these well before. Combat had an unusual amount of depth for a game like this, even if it was its weakest element, but as soon as the enemies had fallen you had to make your way through vertical and horizontal routes as you dodged deadly traps. While every move the Prince performs is under your control, it has an undeniable cinematic feel that makes it exciting to look at. And if you mess up you can use the innovative Sands of Time to rewind time and make it right.

Winner) God Hand

 While it's no Devil May Cry, God Hand is one of the most fun action games I've ever played. It's not just the tight gameplay, which featured a dynamic difficulty setting that got tougher, and more rewarding, the better you played but would ease up if you got whacked too hard, as well as the simple but effective way you could customize Gene's moveset, but also its brilliant art direction.
 I love Hokuto no Ken, and God Hand is a living, playable tribute to its ridiculous manliness. It features the same type of grander-than-life villains and heroes, and the same kind of ridiculousness that's both played straight and for laughs. It also adds a whole lot of humor to the entire thing, which keeps it from being a straight ripoff.

Best Playstation 3 Game of 2018:

 Four games. I only played four games on the PS3 this year. Whoops. Well, I've always said that gaming has gone downhill since the PS3/X360 generation, so can't blame me for sticking with the oldies!

4) Rise of the Argonauts

 On a technical level, Rise of the Argonauts left a bit to be desired, but the game succeeded in other ways. It was a decent RPG-lite through the world of Ancient Greece that lacked in original ideas, but sold you on its setting.
 But what really made the game stand out and earn its place here, besides me not playing many PS3 games, was its sense of Adventure. Exploring new locales was exciting, and earning new weapons and armor for Jason, as opposed to simply buying them, gave me a satisfying feeling of progression few other games managed to, games like Half-Life 2 and Dungeon Siege.
 Yeah, it's not perfect, but it's worth a try.

3) Spec Ops - The Line

 Spec Ops was exactly what I was expecting. The plot was well written and worth analyzing and talking about, with enough twists and memorable setpieces that do an effective job at leaving their mark on the player.
 The gameplay was a bit by-the-numbers, but it was probably a conscious decision to make it resonate with its message. Which also means that this is not a game you'll play to 'unwind and relax' or for the fun of it, but rather, to experience its great, if a bit pompous, plot.

Runner-up) Prince of Persia(2008)

 I can't fault Ubisoft for rebooting the Prince, as the Sands of Time Trilogy had their story told and there was no need to expand upon it. This reboot changed everything, the Prince, the Setting and the Gameplay, and everything was exceptional.
 The game gets a bad rep for doing away with death, but, honestly, it's just a faster way of respawning and takes nothing away from the game's challenge. But, y'know, if gamers are consistent in something it's on their hate for change. The platforming was as exquisite as always, but they made the game take place on an interconnected world, akin to a Metroidvania, on which you'd slowly earn the abilities required to fully explore. Bosses and goals could be finished in pretty much any order, which was an interesting twist. Combat was great on paper, since battles now turned into duels, which added a cinematic flair to battling, but wound up being a bit repetitive by the end, luckily there wasn't much fighting altogether.
  I really enjoyed this take on the Prince of Persia, it's a shame that Ubisoft, blinded by AC sales, decided this was a direction not worth pursuing and decided to end the game on three cliffhangers(The one from the game, the one from the DLC and the one from the DS game).

Winner) Prince of Persia - The Forgotten Sands

 Fine, we didn't really need yet ANOTHER game set in this continuity, as this Prince's story was already told, but I'd lie if I said it wasn't a welcome entry into the series.
 The story is of no consequence, as we already know how the Prince's tale ends and begins, but the new characters, the Prince's brother and the Djinn, weren't bad additions... even if how the story played out was predictable to a tee.
 The Prince has always struggled with combat, but the Forgotten Sands finally got it right. The new unlockable abilities added some needed flavor into the mix, and the platforming was as tight as it has always been, props to the developers for managing to keep it interesting after so many games! While The Sands of Time is the all-time best game in the franchise, I'd advise everyone to skip Warrior Within, and maybe Two Thrones, and go straight to The Forgotten Sands, the sequel we deserved.

Best Playstation 4 Game of 2018:

 The newest addition into the Playstation Family, the Playstation 4 is a slight step above the PS3 in terms of power, so many of the games didn't wow me, as I expected, but, hey, it's got Persona 5!

5) The Order 1886

 The Order 1886 gets a bad rep, and I totally get why, but I really, really liked my time with the game. The Victorian era-esque costumes are just delightful, and getting to see all these classy gentlemen and ladies interacting with each other in these world? Beautiful.
 The game had a few brilliant setpieces, like invading the zeppelin or the battles through the catacombs. And I'll admit that looking back... I grew fond of the cinematic knife battles against the werewolves. They weren't the best or most interactive, but they looked great, dammit!
 It's a shame we'll probably never get to see a sequel, as the developers would've had time to develop a proper-length game since the foundations had already been set.

4) Gundam Versus

 I hate the fact that this game made it here, but despite what a disappointing product it was... it's still Gundam Versus, and it plays really, really well.
 It's the same great gameplay as always, albeit with a poor roster selection and the knowledge that we deserved much, much better.

3) inFamous - Second Son

 While part of me wishes inFamous 3 was this massive, game-changing new experience, I'm OK with what we got: Exactly what you'd expect out of a next-gen entry of an existing game franchise, a game that plays it safe, puts a few new twists into the existing mechanics and looks better than ever. It worked for Devil May Cry 4 and it worked for Second Son.
 It's the same exact great gameplay from inFamous 2, but with an expanded gallery of powers. Traversing the city with your super powers feels as fantastic as it did, and it's still one of its major selling points, the game just feels great to play around with.
 I also enjoyed the story, while it lacked a few of the punches inFamous 2 delivered, that game had a prequel to set-up its world, hey, inFamous 1 wasn't all that good. But I digress, the characters in Second Son were enjoyable, and it was fun seeing it all play out, even if it was slightly predictable.

Runner-up) Dissidia Final Fantasy NT

 You know you've screwed up when Final Fantasy, a series that has taken misstep after misstep since Final Fantasy XII, does what you're doing but better, but that's exactly what Dissidia did to Gundam Versus: Outclassed it.
 So the character roster is pretty much main characters and villains, but... that's what makes sense, y'know? It's their first entry, it makes sense to represent each franchise with its main character. Characters fall under different archetypes and even then, each one has their own flair to how they fight, major props for that!
 The gameplay is fast and frantic, made up of battles between teams of 3. It's a much faster and chaotic take on Gundam Versus, which might make it a bit less strategic, but it makes it more arcadey and fun, which is a good thing in my book.

Winner) Uncharted 4 - A Thief's End

 As far as gameplay goes, Naughtydog played it safe for the last entry, only adding a grappling hook into Nate's moveset, but it considering they've been tuning their craft since Uncharted 1... It's alright, they took what worked and made it even prettier. It worked for inFamous Second Son, and it worked for Uncharted 4.
 The narrative is very tight, I loved how the characters we've grown to love grew up and how they faced the new trials before them. The story was so captivating that I found myself playing 'just one more chapter before hitting the sack' more times than I could count, as it's a very engrossing and exciting tale that you just have to follow all the way to the end.
 While NaughtyDog didn't outdid themselves with Nathan's final adventure, they gave the series a fitting end. Hopefully they won't milk the franchise further and bring Nate out of retirement, he's earned it.

Best Switch Game of 2018:

 I thought about buying a Switch last year with Zelda's release, but eventually thought against it since I had such a huge backlog to complete. My backlog has only increased since then, but Smash got announced and I caved in, and now, here we are.

5) Fire Emblem Warriors

 Fire Emblem Warriors is one of the best Warriors games I've played in a while. Ken's Rage 2 was a mess, Samurai Warriors 4-II was fun but the new waifus were annoying and Hyrule Warriors was everything a Warriors game shouldn't be, and, yet, Fire Emblem Warriors got everything right. It's not perfect, and Dynasty Warriors 8 is still the best, but Fire Emblem Warriors earns its place among Musou's best.
 Let me let you in on a little secret: I've never played a Fire Emblem game. I know, I know... but that couldn't stop me from loving this game. I had a bit of a hard time finding a character design I liked, but I settled for Male Corrin and Chrom and proceeded to mow down endless amounts of enemies. Over and over and over and over and over again. And it felt so good.
 Fire Emblem Warriors is so good because of its simplicity. It won't boggle you down with unnecessary side objectives or having to explore stages for garbage in order to upgrade your characters: It's just you, the A button and thousands of enemies. This is art.

4) Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

 While Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart DS were my favorite Mario Kart games, I was a bit worried since Mario Kart 7 was such a letdown. But Nintendo did their homework with 8. Bikes are back, the character roster is good again and they kept the best thing about 7, Kart customization.
 This game has the largest roster of characters, featuring guests like the Inklings and Link, as well as the largest roster of tracks, featuring tracks based on Zelda, F-Zero and Splatoon, in the Mario Kart series. And the best part about it? It's not a case of quantity over quality, as the game is a blast to play, controls are responsive, the tracks are fun and the blue shells aren't as bad as they used to be.
 It's true that the game becomes a bit unbalanced once one player gets ahead of the pack, as the players behind will be competing against each other since power ups that affect the player on the first position aren't as frequent, but I think it's not as big of a problem as people make it out to be, it is possible to climb your way to the top, it's just that the best player won't be penalized so hard for doing well.

3) The Legend of Zelda - Breath of the Wild

 While I grew up with a NES(Or rather, it's Chinese equivalent, the 'family game') I never got around playing Zelda. Mario, Megaman and Bomberman, those were my jam. Milk and Nuts too. But I digress, I never got to play Zelda, so by the time I discovered the franchise and gave Zelda 1 a try... it was too late. The game was awful, unhelpful and unenjoyable without a guide or nostalgia.
 But this game did it. This game translates the wonder and freedom people talk about in Zelda 1, but with a modern edge, adding a vertical dimension into the equation. I don't think I've ever played a game that offered me this much freedom before, and it felt great, if a bit overwhelming. Exploring the world of Breath of the Wild is just pure joy, and the sense of excitement and wonder never truly goes away. It's also a massive undertaking, good luck 100%ing the game.
 The durability system is almost as bad as I thought, but most enemies are carrying weapons anyways, so you can replace whatever you break. I made it my first order of business to get the Master Sword, so that meant creative thinking in order to get the most out of my initial stamina and explore everything I needed to unlock more health upgrades. And the best thing about it? That was fun for me, and worked for me, but everyone will play the game in any way and order they see fit. Pure genius.

Runner-up) Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

 The reason I bought a Switch, the game didn't disappoint one bit. What's more, I hate, despise digital-only content and season passes... yet I've already purchased the Fighter Pass. And I don't even feel guilty about it, it's Smash. And if you've got a problem with it... SETTLE IT IN SMASH.
 Just as with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, this could've been an issue of quantity over quality, but it isn't. Every single character is back, alongside a few newcomers, and everything has been polished and tightened to perfection. Controls are precise, movement is quick and matches are frantic fun.
 The worst part about this game is that the next Smash is going to have to be a reboot, since it'd be unrealistic and a bit lame to bring everyone back, and it's going to need its mechanics reworked if it means to stand a chance at outshining Ultimate. 'More of the same' just won't cut it anymore after Ultimate unless they miraculously manage to match it in  quality, without making any cuts and only having additions to the roster..

Winner) Super Mario Odyssey

 I remember how tough it was, for me, grading Zelda a 9.5, 0.5 points below Mario Odyssey. Guilty because I enjoy games with human protagonists, and human proportions, doing badass things, like swinging swords, over platform games with furry mascots and fat plumbers. But Mario Odyssey is just TOO good.
 I bought into Mario Galaxy 2 hype, and while I enjoyed it, I found it to be a farcry from the 'best game everrrr' everyone called it. So I came into Mario Odyssey expecting another good, but overrated, adventure. It wasn't. Everything about the game screams quality, and there's a huge abundance of things to do and find. You won't run out of moons to find anytime soon!
 And, as it's with a ton of Nintendo's Switch games, it's not a quantity over quality issue, because Nintendo made the sharpest, tightest Mario game yet. Controlling Mario is a breezy, the worlds you visit are a real delight, between their fantastic designs and clever(And some not so clever!) objectives. Possessing enemies was more fun than it had any right to be, and it opened up so many possibilities for hidden secrets! Nintendo also kept a fine balance between casual and hardcore gamers, offering enough easy and hard Moons to keep both content and allow everyone to reach the game's end.

Best Nintendo 64 Game of 2018:

 It's great to see you again, old friend. My childhood was defined by the NES/Family, but all throughout elementary school I had the Nintendo 64 by my side. These games defined me, and selling them was my biggest regret. But I'm fixing that mistake, and slowly but surely, building up my collection to where it used to be. Sadly, the Nintendo 64 hasn't aged well, at all, and it's a bit sad seeing how the Playstation 1 aged so much better.... but, regardless, the music and visuals from these games don't cease to reawaken all sort of fuzzy feelings inside my black ol' heart.

5) Buck Bumble

 Not a game I used to own, but one I wanted to own for the longest, longest time. Every time we'd visit a game store, with the intent of buying a game, I'd ask for Buck Bumble. And every single time I'd get a negative answer. And here it is now, on my shelf. It's gorgeous.
 It's also a pretty good game that has aged relatively well, especially if you consider how ambitious it was. Because you play as a tiny bee inside a big world, and you're allowed to fly around relatively big environments, all things considered. A lock-on mechanic and strafing would've gone a long way into making this game ageless, but, trust me, you can deal just fine with what you've got.
 It's not a classic, but it's a quirky game that wouldn't get made today, so it gets a nice recomendation from me.

4) Flying Dragon

 The other Nintendo 64 game that always eluded me, the main difference being that I managed to rent this one once, that one time we tried renting games in a different place. Flying Dragon was great, and I'm sure I would've LOVED this game back in the day.
 Not only does the game feature two modes, with a slightly different character roster, but the gameplay feels very smooth, considering when it was released. The character roster is fairly interesting, and you can customize a few mechanics in the game, such as cancels and 2-D/3-D mechanics. It's surprisingly deep!
 I think the game could've become a bit of a cult classic had it released on the PS1, a console that had an audience more receptive of fighting games. As a matter of fact, the 'Virtual' Mode had a sequel/prequel thing released on the PS1, exclusively on the PS1. A game I happen to own and will be getting a review sometime...

3) Fighters Destiny

 Laugh all you want at the cover, the game contained within is no joke. Trust me when I say that there's no other fighting game quite like it, besides its sequel, a destiny it shares with Bushido Blade 1 and 2. A unique set of fighting games that play unlike any other and never saw any other sequels... Although Bushido Blade did get the Kengo spiritual sequels.
 But I digress! What makes Fighters Destiny so unique is that matches play like real sparring/kumite matches, with different takedowns offering different points. Whether you knock your enemy out of the ring, land a grab or knocking him or her down with a super move, everything earns you a different amount of points(Which you can customize) and whoever wins a certain amount of points first wins the match.
 It's unique, it's fun and it's only available on the Nintendo 64.

Runner-up) Jet Force Gemini

 People say that Conker was Rare's first mature game, but have they seen Jet Force Gemini? Enemies explode into bloody, gooey pieces and beheadings are a normal occurrence, you can even decapitate the innocent, cute teddybear-like creatures you are supposed to protect!
 The controls are a bit clunky, yes, but the game is one of the most satisfying third person shooters I've played in a long, looooooooooooooooong while. If an aging Nintendo 64 game does something better than you, then you're doing something wrong. I'll even go the extra step and say that the shooting feels better than even games like Uncharted 4. It's just that Uncharted 4 is the entire package.
 Regardless, this is just one example of Rare's brilliant run on the Nintendo 64...

Winner) Banjo-Kazooie

 ....but Banjo-Kazooie it THE shining example of a timeless classic. The controls haven't aged one day, being as responsive and tight as they've always been, and not a single move lacks a purpose, if Banjo can do it, it's there for a reason.
 The levels are masterfully crafted in a way that's easy to figure out what you've got to do without having to read hints or boring tutorials, and collecting every single McGuffin never gets old. I can't stress enough just how well designed the levels in this game are, barring a few oldschool design choices(Like losing every Musical Note collected upon death), everything is suited to the theme of the level and you're always doing something different. While I can praise Mario Odyssey for its overabundance of things to find, I can also respect how Banjo keeps it neat, no collectible feels purposeless or like it's just being gifted to you for no good reason.
 I adore Banjo-Kazooie, and it's the go-to game for anyone who's wishing to explore the platform-adventure games from yesteryear.

Best Variety Console Game of 2018:

 I struggled naming this category. It wasn't best handheld Nintendo game, because it had Wii games and it could've had PSP games. But these games deserve to be mentioned, even if I didn't get to play many games on their home consoles.

5) Avatar the Last Airbender(Gameboy Advance)

 A great example of how to do a licensed game right. Gameplay is simple: you play as a team of three characters that get to flex their abilities as you clear devious puzzles in order to progress. While I'm not familiar with the show, I can attest that the characters' abilities are a good reflection of what they can do in the show.
 Avatar games don't have a good reputation, and even the sequel on GBA reinforces that, but The Last Airbender(GBA) is pretty darn good. Its simple mechanics are but a facade to lure you into some very nasty(in a good way!) puzzles that will have your brain on its edge. It's like A Link to the Past-lite, with much less exploration, but a lot of puzzles. A lot of puzzles.

4) The Simpsons - Road Rage(Gameboy Advance)

 Road Rage is not a good representation of the show, far, faaaaar from it, but it's a great game. Leaving aside the technical wonder behind its pseudo-3-D, it's a great Crazy Taxi on the go.
 The game is as fast paced as you'd expect Crazy Taxi to be, and the controls are good enough for the game. All the fancy techniques are missing here, but you don't need them: This is a handheld game, meant for playing on the go, and it excels at that.

3) Klonoa - Empire of Dreams

 Every single Klonoa game I played this year made it into these awards, and into the third spot of their respective lists. And I promise it wasn't on purpose, it just... happened. Regardless, the fact that Klonoa is stealing all these awards should tell you something: Klonoa is pretty darn good.
 And Klonoa's GBA adventure is no exception. It follows the exact same school of thought as the other two games: Jump and Grab. That's all you're given, and that's all you have to do to clear the game. Empire of Dreams is a bit more focused on the puzzle part of the game, probably because the GBA wasn't as powerful as the PS1 and PS2, but it keeps the same great level of quality as the previous games.

Runner-up) Prince of Persia - The Forgotten Sands(Wii)

 Most of the time Ubisoft makes different versions of the same game we get one good version and various amounts of garbage, just look at their take on TMNT, only the GBA version was worth playing. But The Forgotten Sands was an exception to that rule.The PSP version was relatively good, and both the Wii and PS3 versions managed to catch the magic that had eluded them since The Sands of Time.
 The Forgotten Sands on the Wii is a more whimsical adventure, the combat isn't as good as its HD sibling, and the experience points system was streamlined so that you'd earn abilities through a lineal progression... but the platforming? Man, did they have fun with that. The Prince gets all sorts of funky powers in this version, which allows for multiple takes on how to deal with the platforming sections!

Winner) Metroid - Samus Returns

 While I've kept myself busy playing some pretty good(and a few not so good) Metroidvanias, ever since Konami stopped producing their Castlevania series I haven't had one as great as any of those. This 'great' Metroidvania game I've been aching for had to come from one of the unlikeliest of places: Metroid. I've never been to fond of how Metroid does the whole Metroidvania thing, but Samus Returns turned me into a believer. Metroid Omoroid indeed.
 One of the best things the game did was do away with most of the story, we don't need that garbage on our Metroidvanias, this game is about exploration through-and-through, and no silly script is going to get in the way of that. The game is massive, some might say a bit too large, but I like it that way, there was no shortage of stuff to find and come back for once I new weapons and tools.
 The game is well designed and offers a healthy challenge to anyone brave enough to brave Samus' hunt for the last Metroids.



Best Game of 2018:
 Well, without further ado...

5) Metroid - Samus Returns

 I just talked about this game. Like, a few paragraphs above! Oh well, one has to deal with the hand he's dealt.

 I don't have much left to say about Metroid Samus Returns. It's the best AAA Metroidvania released in the last few years, a genre that seems like it's been appropriated by the indie scene, so it feels great to finally get a big-budget release in the genre. Not that there's a problem with indie releases, but sometimes... sometimes I want something that was made with a proper budget.

 The vastness of Samus Return's world and the lack of story reminded me a lot of a tiny indie Metroidvania called Knytt Stories, or something like that, a very minimalist game that kept me busy for hours as I got ready before leaving for highschool when I was younger.

4) God Hand

 I'm SO glad I decided to disregard all the whining and crying about the game's difficulty, because God Hand is brilliant, and very, very possible to beat.

 I don't usually tend to enjoy games with give you too much freedom with customization, for instance, I prefer having a more reliable moveset set in stone, but I would lie if I said I didn't have fun coming up with Gene's moveset. I mean, somehow I came up with a set up that followed me all the way to the end of the game, and even got to try a few seemingly useless moves, and clearing a stage while refusing to reload my save with said useless moves felt great. Heck, eventually dying doesn't become your biggest concern, but rather, you start getting annoyed with yourself because you couldn't keep up with the new difficulty setting and got whacked into an easier difficulty!

 It's very unlikely that we'll ever get a new God Hand, and that may be for the best, as that means that there will never be anything just quite like it, such a pure, unbridled passion project that appealed to a few... but if you count yourself among the few you know just what everyone else is missing.

3) Uncharted 4 - A Thief's End

 Just as with Breaking Bad before it, don't be sad that it ended... be happy that it didn't end like Dexter. Nathan was this close to ending up a Lumberjack. Shivers.

 Not the most exciting of the Uncharted games, but definitely the one that'll make you feel the most emotions. It's exciting, it's a bit depressing, it's funny, it's tragic and it's a fitting conclusion to the franchise that made epic, cinematic setpieces a thing. Whether you like this shift in gaming or not, Uncharted's one of the biggest culprits and thus, one of the games that influenced how games would become, for good or bad. It's a franchise that deserved an epic, introspective and definitely conclusive ending, and it's the one we got.

Runner-up) Banjo-Kazooie

 Super Mario 64 did it first, but Banjo Kazooie did it better. The ultimate Collectathon, Banjo-Kazooie has just the right amount of collectibles, before it got ridiculous with games like Donkey Kong 64, and very creative and original world and characters. Banjo and Kazooie, Bottles the Mole and even Gruntilda the Witch, all of them classic characters that left their small, but firm, footprints in gaming.
 The thing that surprised me the most about Banjo-Kazooie is just how little is has aged, even when I enjoyed replaying old Nintendo 64 games, and discovering a few that eluded me, I just couldn't ignore how poorly these games had aged. But not Banjo-Kazooie. It has a timeless design that makes it stand the test of times with nary a dent to show for it.

Winner) Super Mario Odyssey

 Brilliant. Fantastic. Phenomenal. Outstanding. Super Mario Odyssey did for the Switch what Super Mario 64 did for the Nintendo 64, although it didn't change the landscape of gaming this time around. But next time....!

 I didn't think I could fall this hard for a Super Mario game again, but here I am. I don't have a single complaint to mention because everything the game wanted to do, it did with flying colors. I saw some people calling it 'bloated', but is it really? There's no point of collecting every single Moon in the game besides bragging rights, so if you get bored... just turn the game off, nobody is forcing you to go for a 100%.

 Odyssey is such a beautiful, welcoming game with nearly an endless amount of stuff to do and see, and it proves that Mario isn't getting old... and we are never too old for good ol' Mario.

....now then, when are we getting the next Wario Land?