Welcome to my favorites list! I am excited to share with you my most notable gaming experiences for the year. I hope you find a game you’d like to try or simply enjoy my point of view on titles you already know. Let’s get started!
1) Octopath Traveler:
This is my top favorite addition to the ole’ Switch library. I plugged in around 150 hours into this game. It consumed my life, much to the dismay of my boyfriend wanting to use the TV. This game was the fantasy-narrative that I had been yearning for. Octopath Traveler will grab you by the nostalgia and never let go. The graphics have the aesthetics of a pop-up picture book, that will resuscitate your inner-childhood imagination and sense of wonder, as if you hadn’t aged at all. The land of Osterra is brimming with culture and stories to either interact with, subtly guide forward, or merely observe. The combat system was the first of a classic, RPG-style to not bore me. I was on the edge of my seat, implementing varying strategies, fighters, and items in battle to propel me to victory. The reward of combat was that there was no correct way to defeat an enemy, you just had to win by whatever means you can conjure. The sweet, maraschino cherry-topping for any RPG are the little details that have no impact on the game itself but fill the player with warmth in their belly when stumbled upon. In Octopath Traveler, those moments are found in the taverns, where your group of adventurers will socialize, gossip, drink, and play around like real people would when traveling together. These moments brought my favorite characters to a more intimate level of connection with me. In those moments, they felt alive and I never wanted to let them go.
2) Nintendo Labo:
I highly commend media that is innovative, and Nintendo Labo is just that. This game had me re-think what video games are and what they’re made to do. Games are how we entertain and have fun but what is fun? That depends on the person, which is why there is such a variety of categories for games. Being a creator is what drew me to Nintendo Labo. It provided me with blueprints and tools in the basics of gaming. The cardboard is the environment in which the game exists. This controls how the player will interact with the game. Each environment contains different possibilities to occur within it; this and presentation are important in curating a response from the player. The innards of this environment work by using motion controls, a gyroscope, vibrations, and an infrared camera. Nintendo Labo encourages the player to take those tools and experiment with them. What can these tools be used towards and under what conditions? How can a player use this in other games? I was consistently surprised by Nintendo Labo’s charm and ability to teach and entertain simultaneously. I felt bettered by it every time I played. I value the experience I had with it and am dedicated to playing each model they release. Innovation is a pleasant and cleansing experience.
3) Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
It’s the classic, battle-royale series that I cannot get enough of and this one is bigger than ever. This is the one edition of the series where I didn’t play as my main, because it was more fun not to. I loved being pushed towards different fighters and testing them out. This game provided me with a freeing environment to try new characters, while avoiding the burden of scrutiny. I had a light-hearted experience that felt pure and valiantly true to the notion of having fun. Competitive games can create bitter environments in a blink of an eye, but this edition disarms that possibility by bringing all players to a freeing mode of play. Having so many characters from different gaming series has made me nostalgic for prior games and has even brought me to games I wouldn’t have played otherwise. Playing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate with my family and friends felt like a celebration of the veteran games rather than a competition between them.
4) Super Mario Party
I was ecstatic when they announced this title. The Mario Party series has returned to its roots, brought me back to the age of the Gamecube, and now it’s portable! It’s a virtual board game that plays on-the-go, which is perfect for my college lifestyle. My brothers and I played this for hours, until we earned all the gems and extra content that can be found in the plaza. My favorite addition though was the character dice. They added so much personality to the Mario characters, and they provided moments of creativity when I would try to strategize my next moves. The Mario Party series has always been about taking chances and having the guts to do so, the dice was a thrilling extension of that idea. I love Super Mario Party because it caters to casual, multiplayer, fun.
Thank you for reading about my favorite games of 2018! I hope you enjoyed my selection. If you have any favorites, please let us know about them. We’re always looking for new games to play. Happy New Year!
