It’s Been A Year. What Was the Best Game of 2018?
It’s the curtain call for 2018, which means the COGconnected crew had to decide what the best game of 2018 was. That’s no easy task – 2018 was a monster. Monster Hunter World, God of War, Spider-Man, Dead Cells, Forza Horizon 4, the list could go on, and on, and on.
What we really wanted to do was put about 20 games into our top ten. Turns out that’s not possible until our flux capacitor arrives, so here are our consensus top ten best games of 2018.
The Bubble:
Before we hit number 10, let’s talk about what didn’t quite make the cut. Forza Horizon 4 missed for being more of the same (although absolutely excellent – we had to be cutthroat!). Monster Hunter World dropped off because of accessibility issues. The Messenger was sliced for twisting towards the wrong mechanics, and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey has no place on this list because of icon soup.
With that unpleasant business out of the way, here’s the tenth best game of 2018.
10. Tetris Effect
Tetris is probably the best puzzle game ever made, or at very least the most popular. Tetris Effect takes that already addictive gameplay loop, and mashes it up with Lumines to create a stunning visual and auditory sensation. Every piece that impacts the stack interacts with the setting, which makes Tetris Effect an utterly enthralling experience moment to moment.
You can play this thing in VR as well which is rather overwhelming, but being in a world of light and sounds for even a few minutes is breathtaking. It sneaks onto the list as the tenth best game of 2018.
9. Octopath Traveler
Octopath Traveler may lack the connecting pieces and overarching story many people expected it to have, but make no mistake: this is one of the best RPGs Square Enix has ever made. The battle system begs for experimentation. As one James Paley put it: “If I wasn’t reviewing games for COGconnected at a breakneck pace, I’d literally still be playing it right now.”
That’s some mighty high praise, but combined with the gorgeous aesthetic Octopath Traveler absolutely had to have a place in our top ten.
8. Dead Cells
Taking that punishing, run based gameplay that’s been done to death, Dead Cells was able to bake in a really rewarding breadcrumb trail of unlocks and upgrades that made it resonate with a huge group of people. It looks fantastic, and has a quirky sense of humor that just oozes charm. Also, the game is really, really, fun to play. Super responsive and mechanically driven, it has a way of making you think… “just one more run” at 3AM. Some thought this title should reach higher, but it’s the 8th best game of 2018.
Head to PAGE 2 for more games on our list…