Playlist (2018 Game of the Year Edition) (Patreon)

Hello everybody!

As always, my final playlist video for the year is a rundown of my 10 favourite games of the last 12 months. Some will be obvious, some might be surprising, some obvious games won’t show up at all!

Without further ado, let’s jump right into the games! In no particular order…

Florence

Florence is an interactive comic book for mobile, which tells the story of Florence’s first relationship. Every meaningful, and not-so meaningful moment, from the awkward first date to brushing your teeth at night, is represented as an ultra cute touchscreen mini-game. You’ll be shaking polaroids, dragging items onto shelves, and tapping away at pizza to eat it.

The game is at its best when it’s using these mechanics to represent the feeling of the events on screen, rather than trying to be a literal interpretation. So, for example, conversations with her boyfriend Krish are turned into speech bubbles that look like jigsaw puzzles. And the puzzles change depending on the tone of the conversation.

Awkward first words are difficult puzzles - because the words are hard to find. But when the two are more comfortable, the puzzles are easier because words come more naturally. And when they argue, the bubbles change again. I wouldn’t call it subtle, but it’s still effective.

Beyond the clever mechanics, Florence is also a lovely story with gorgeous art and an elegant piano soundtrack. It’s just a really charming piece of work that you’ll hopefully enjoy experiencing - and maybe find ways to relate to the events on screen.

Hitman 2

So Hitman 2 is a lot like Hitman 1. Each level is a carefully choreographed universe of clockwork people - and you’re the spanner in the works. By following opportunities, wearing disguises, and toying with guard AI, you can exploit holes in the system to move your target into a useful place - and then drown them in a toilet, or whatever.

Your first few goes will be messy and ineffective. But as you learn the level, master your toolset, and make smarter plans, you can go for the tricky challenges like silent assassin - i.e. never get spotted. Suit only - i.e. don’t wear any disguises. And sniper assassin - i.e. kill all the targets with a sniper rifle. There’s a really nice progression, there.

I’ve only played two levels, but each stage is so jam packed with ideas, secret routes, disguises, and opportunities that you can - like me - really savour each stage and make them last. Before calling that level mastered and moving on. 

Overall, Hitman 2 is slick, it absolutely nails the fantasy of being a silent assassin, and is also - surprisingly - very funny. I’m looking forward to playing the rest of the levels in the new year.

Celeste

Celeste is a rock hard platformer, from the school of Mario and Meat Boy. And it has some of the most precise movement and crunchy controls in this sort of game. Hero Madeline moves effortlessly and elegantly as she jumps and dashes about - but then snaps back to the ground. She’s not a floaty character, that’s for sure.

This simple moveset will see you through a handful of well executed stages, where simple ideas are introduced, explored, twisted around, and turned inside out. But each level also has narrative significance, turning the whole thing into a treatise on metal health, and facing your inner demons.

Do all that and you can then face even harder levels, and secret stages that reveal unknown intricacies of Madeline’s moves. Or, if you can’t get to that point, turn on the assist mode and slow things down to the point where you can play. Celeste appeals to every sort of player, without confusing anyone about the way it’s supposed to be played.

Astro Bot Rescue Mission

When Sony unleashed the PlayStation VR, it made a terrific demo for a VR platformer starring a tiny robot boy. Unsurprisingly, the clever bods at Sony have turned it into a fully fledged game: a charismatic, surprising platformer that meets up with Mario - not in terms of gameplay, but in terms of sheer joy.

Every level hides surprises. Little moments of interactivity, or clever platformer set-ups, or unforseen changes to the gameplay that means you’ll spend most of this game with your mouth agape, or in a wide smile. It really is a pleasure to slip into any one of this game’s worlds.

And then I just love the way it gets the player involved in the game. Enemies shoot goop and kick footballs directly at your face. You can smash the scenery by headbutting it. And your PS4 controller - which wobbles about in real time - can turn into a water pistol, a grapple hook, a slingshot, and more. 

God of War

I was never a big God of War fan, so the changes to tone, combat, and camera in this new one don’t mean much to me. For me, this was simply an exciting adventure about the rocky relationship between father and son - mixed in with some titantic boss fights, some tricky combat challenges, and lots of fascinating lands to explore.

The thing I loved the most was that this wasn’t scared to still be a video game. Sure, it’s a narrative experience with a heartfelt, emotional tale about family. But it’s not a po-faced movie wannabe like some games we’ve seen recently. Kratos still solves contrived puzzles, still has mad unlockable moves, still finds secret boss fights.

You can pretty much ignore all the story stuff, if you so please, and just get a fun combat romp with one of the most interesting weapons we’ve seen in a while: that fun, satisfying, versatile Leviathan Axe. I still hear that recall sound when I’m trying to fall asleep…

Into the Breach

Into the Breach is my sort of strategy game. I like strategy games, but I find a lot of it quite overwhelming. So I generally prefer the smaller, more intimate tactics games like Fire Emblem and XCOM. And that’s why Into the Breach works for me: every level is a tiny weeny grid, with only a few units, and a handful of turns.

And it also turns strategy game design on its head. Instead of concealing information behind fog of war, or unpredictable enemy AI - this game tells you everything. It will show you exactly what’s about to happen next turn and leave you to figure out the best way to deal with that.

That might involve exploiting the enemy’s plans to make them attack each other. Or scarifying one of your units to protect an important resource. Or using a special attack to really change things up. Every level is an enticing little puzzle - even if there’s no good answer to your predicament. 

Overcooked 2

Like Hitman 2, Overcooked 2 isn’t a massively unique game. It’s everything you remembered from the first game: a creative co-op game about working in a kitchen. One to four friends cooperate to cook meals, deliver them, and then wash up the plates - while the kitchen around you explodes, or spins around, or is covered by lava.

This sequel really ramps up the silliness. There are levels on hot air balloons, in a Hogwarts style castle with magically moving ovens, and in sushi restaurants that really over-do it with the conveyer belts. And a new throwing mechanic adds to the mayhem as food can be flung across gaps and from across the kitchen and into a blender.

Not much more to say about this one - only I had a blast with it and would be remiss not to include it on this list!

Spider-Man

So, I know I ragged on Spider-Man a bit in a video this year. And I stand by that - Spider-Man’s greatest feature is his web-swinging and I’d have loved to have seen a game that focused more attention on making that mechanic more complex, more expressive, and more intricate. Or at least bump up the skill ceiling by a few more floors.

But that being said, this is still an enjoyable super hero game, with fun combat, a good storyline that doesn’t retread a lot of old ground, and a very satisfying way to get around the world. It looks sharp, too, and has the sort of admiration for the character that you’d expect from a headline game like this.

There’s still lots I don’t like - the crappy puzzles, the horrible stealth sections, and so on. But I still very much enjoyed my time with this one and would happily see a sequel. 

Beat Saber

Beat Saber is a VR game that would have been all the rage during the Guitar Hero hey-day. It’s basically a drumming game, as you use VR controllers to smash away at coloured targets like massive great taiko drums. You just stand still as the targets fly towards you.

This creates one of the most intense and physically involving VR games around - you could use this as an actual workout regime. Especially when combined with the ultra high tempo music and higher difficulty levels. This isn’t a game I’ve put tonnes of hours into or anything, but I’ve really enjoyed what I have played.

Return of the Obra Dinn

And finally, Return of the Obra Dinn. This game comes from Lucas Pope - creator of Papers, Please. And it is, quite clearly to me, the best detective game ever made.

So, you’re on a ship where all 60 crew members have disappeared. And you have a magic pocket watch that can take you back to the moment of that person’s death. You then need to write down how that person died - which is usually quite easy - and who they are - which is often a lot harder.

To figure that out you’ll need to look for clues and hints all through the game, especially in the other death vignettes. The things people say and do just as their pals are dying give away the identity of different crew mates - but in ways that require you to think critically, and make logical deductions.

So you’ll play the whole game with a pad of paper by your side, making notes about accents, locations, relationships and scraps of dialogue that could prove useful. And when you figure something out - boy, the rush is sensational. Definitely my favourite experience of the year.