Ranking the 2018 Nintendo Switch Games I Played this Year
That's Nintendo Switch games released in the year of our Lord, 2018, not the 2,018 games I played this year. That would have been over 5.5 games a day, and that's insane. Nope. I actually played through seven Nintendo Switch games that were released this year. There were a lot of other ones I wanted to play that I didn't get to. Maybe in 2019. But I did play through some great ones (and some great ones that were released in 2017 that I won't list here). So again, I am only ranking the games I've played. That's why Hollow Knight and The Messenger aren't down here...I haven't gotten to play those yet. I've linked to my reviews for the games in their titles.
7.Yooka-Laylee
If someone told me after I kickstarted the Rare-revival 3-D platformer Yooka-Laylee in 2015, that upon its release, it would be my least favorite of the games I've played this year, I would be disappointed. Thankfully, I haven't played any bad games this year, but I still fill a twinge of disappointment when I think of this game. It's got some of the old Nintendo 64 charm, with a great graphical update, but something about the game doesn't quite feel right, from the slightly floaty controls, to the huge, yet empty-feeling environments. Yooka-Laylee does have its moments, particularly within the fifth and final world, which is full of the weird, goofy characters Rare's Nintendo 64 games are known for.
6. Hyper-Light Drifter: Special Edition
Again, one of the games I most anticipated was one of the bigger disappointments for me. Maybe that's because its promotion also hinged upon nostalgia. For Hyper-Light Drifter, it's Super Nintendo top-down view action RPG's like The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, as opposed to Nintendo 64 platformers. Again, Hyper-Light Drifter isn't bad, it just feels empty, and a little off. The game is unnecessarily vague in...everything: its controls, what the player is supposed to be doing, in its story. Subtlety and obfuscation are two completely different things, and developers should aim for the former!
5. Darkest Dungeon
For some reason, after reading the back of the box at a game store, I couldn't stop thinking about Darkest Dungeon. It seemed to feature a really interesting take on RPG-gameplay, factoring in party members' mental health, just as much as that of their physical. My first hours with the game, outside of some difficulty in understanding the needlessly complicated menu systems, were enjoying, and just what I wanted them to be: perfectly-realized Gothic horror setting, fine-tuned gameplay. Then, one of my best party members randomly died. Suddenly, more negative things outside of my control happened. I don't like when video games punish me when I am playing by the rules they've already established. At that point, I moved on to another game. Darkest Dungeon is the only game on my list I didn't complete. Pretty safe to say, I never will. Still...that setting...that narrator...the gameplay when your party members aren't having random heart-attacks...awesome!
4. Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon
Sometimes trading on nostalgia isn't the worst thing, especially in Inti Creates' Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon, which is essentially a modern re-interpretation of the NES classic, Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse. This means there are characters based upon that classic game's character's move sets. There's also a shared general vibe, including a soundtrack inspired by it, though, thankfully, Curse of the Moon contains modern conveniences like saving, and the ability to turn off that dreadful "get-hit and automatically jump backward" thing the early Castlevania games had going against them. The result is magical, and while it may not take more than a day or two to finish, the game is still a bargain for the $10 price.
3. Octopath Traveller
Let's get the bad out of the way...yes, Octopath Traveller is a bit of a grind-fest. Like three of the four games in the list above, it's a throwback, in this case an ode to 16-bit RPG's. It's also the best of the throwbacks I've played this year, with incredible, pop-up book style graphics, the best, most beautiful musical score of the year, finely-tuned battle mechanics, and a fun cast of eight playable characters.
2. Dead Cells
This game feels like a kindred spirit. Wake up, don't understand anything that's going on around you, fight a bunch of freaky monsters who want to kill you, die, start over in the same spot you began, but now, everything is different. Dead Cells takes common elements from randomly-generated level rogue-games, but adds in a truckload of improvements the player can carry over, though nothing is more important than the increasing level of comfort and skill the player gains with each second of envelopment in Dead Cells' combat system. The excellent pixel-art and rousing score are icing on the cake.
1. Celeste
Celeste is not just my favorite game this year, it's one of my favorite games ever. The pixel-perfect, tough as nails platforming is just as rewarding as it is difficult, coupled with one of the most nuanced and compassionate explorations of mental illness on any artistic platform. Oh, yeah, the game is also aesthetically beautiful, and the synth-based score by Lena Raine is incredible. Celeste is a game for the ages.
7.Yooka-Laylee
If someone told me after I kickstarted the Rare-revival 3-D platformer Yooka-Laylee in 2015, that upon its release, it would be my least favorite of the games I've played this year, I would be disappointed. Thankfully, I haven't played any bad games this year, but I still fill a twinge of disappointment when I think of this game. It's got some of the old Nintendo 64 charm, with a great graphical update, but something about the game doesn't quite feel right, from the slightly floaty controls, to the huge, yet empty-feeling environments. Yooka-Laylee does have its moments, particularly within the fifth and final world, which is full of the weird, goofy characters Rare's Nintendo 64 games are known for.
6. Hyper-Light Drifter: Special Edition
Again, one of the games I most anticipated was one of the bigger disappointments for me. Maybe that's because its promotion also hinged upon nostalgia. For Hyper-Light Drifter, it's Super Nintendo top-down view action RPG's like The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, as opposed to Nintendo 64 platformers. Again, Hyper-Light Drifter isn't bad, it just feels empty, and a little off. The game is unnecessarily vague in...everything: its controls, what the player is supposed to be doing, in its story. Subtlety and obfuscation are two completely different things, and developers should aim for the former!
5. Darkest Dungeon
For some reason, after reading the back of the box at a game store, I couldn't stop thinking about Darkest Dungeon. It seemed to feature a really interesting take on RPG-gameplay, factoring in party members' mental health, just as much as that of their physical. My first hours with the game, outside of some difficulty in understanding the needlessly complicated menu systems, were enjoying, and just what I wanted them to be: perfectly-realized Gothic horror setting, fine-tuned gameplay. Then, one of my best party members randomly died. Suddenly, more negative things outside of my control happened. I don't like when video games punish me when I am playing by the rules they've already established. At that point, I moved on to another game. Darkest Dungeon is the only game on my list I didn't complete. Pretty safe to say, I never will. Still...that setting...that narrator...the gameplay when your party members aren't having random heart-attacks...awesome!
4. Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon
Sometimes trading on nostalgia isn't the worst thing, especially in Inti Creates' Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon, which is essentially a modern re-interpretation of the NES classic, Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse. This means there are characters based upon that classic game's character's move sets. There's also a shared general vibe, including a soundtrack inspired by it, though, thankfully, Curse of the Moon contains modern conveniences like saving, and the ability to turn off that dreadful "get-hit and automatically jump backward" thing the early Castlevania games had going against them. The result is magical, and while it may not take more than a day or two to finish, the game is still a bargain for the $10 price.
3. Octopath Traveller
Let's get the bad out of the way...yes, Octopath Traveller is a bit of a grind-fest. Like three of the four games in the list above, it's a throwback, in this case an ode to 16-bit RPG's. It's also the best of the throwbacks I've played this year, with incredible, pop-up book style graphics, the best, most beautiful musical score of the year, finely-tuned battle mechanics, and a fun cast of eight playable characters.
2. Dead Cells
This game feels like a kindred spirit. Wake up, don't understand anything that's going on around you, fight a bunch of freaky monsters who want to kill you, die, start over in the same spot you began, but now, everything is different. Dead Cells takes common elements from randomly-generated level rogue-games, but adds in a truckload of improvements the player can carry over, though nothing is more important than the increasing level of comfort and skill the player gains with each second of envelopment in Dead Cells' combat system. The excellent pixel-art and rousing score are icing on the cake.
1. Celeste
Celeste is not just my favorite game this year, it's one of my favorite games ever. The pixel-perfect, tough as nails platforming is just as rewarding as it is difficult, coupled with one of the most nuanced and compassionate explorations of mental illness on any artistic platform. Oh, yeah, the game is also aesthetically beautiful, and the synth-based score by Lena Raine is incredible. Celeste is a game for the ages.
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