PS2 Backlog Committee's Top 10 Games of 2018

[isthatallyougot]

#11 SSX (PS3)



The SSX franchise appeared on the scene in a big way (no pun intended) in the early days of the PS2. It felt fresh, was super fun and had loads of personality. I only played the original and SSX3 - never Tricky, On Tour, or Blur (Wii) - and they're both great, but SSX3 is my favorite. At some point EA decided to reboot this series on the PS3 with the simple title of the original SSX. And there are definitely some things that carry over nicely from the previous generation of titles. The sense of speed is great. It's always fun to find that line and get into that "flow". Hitting jumps just right to launch yourself into the sky for some insane tricks is generally consistently thrilling. The various mountains look pleasing and the controls are responsive and pretty smooth. In many ways this reboot feels very much like the older entries in the series.

However, there are unfortunately some problems that prevent it from reaching that rarefied air the PS2 titles enjoyed. The most obvious issue is the lack of charm. The previous entries were full of color and life and a sense of fun. In this reboot, everything just feels soulless and drab. Gone is the character and identity that helped to makes the originals so unique. It feels like this was made as a job, granted a job done by talented people, but a job nonetheless. In addition to the feel of things, I don't know who decided it would be fun to have the player regularly have to deal with falling in crevasses, avoiding freezing by staying in the sun, or outrunning avalanches as you make your run towards the screen (a la some levels in Crash Bandicoot). None of these elements are fun, and in fact quite the opposite is true. They are tedious, break up the flow of the game and just make things unnecessarily cumbersome, taking away that lovely feeling of joy and freedom you get from descending a peak.

I don't want to be overly harsh. There is plenty to enjoy in this reboot, but it doesn't capture the essence of its glory days. When you'd rather play older entries in a franchise than spend time with the latest and "greatest", it's not a good sign. Certainly not a bad game, but I can't strongly recommend it unless you are just super curious. It's a 3/5 for me.

#10 RIME (PS4)



The world of "artsy" games has grown over the years, almost into its own distinct genre. Games like ICO, Shadow of the Colossus, Journey, Abzu, Flower and many others find their niche in beautiful visuals, affecting music, and often moving, if sometimes sparse and ambiguous, narratives. Rime was a game that seemed to find itself in this space when the first screenshots were released, and ultimately it does find itself in this group of art-house gaming experiences.

Right off, we are greeted with some stunning imagery. Initially on an island setting, everything is wonderfully colorful and the night skies are peppered with innumerable stars and a big bright moon. The architecture evokes an otherworldly and alien feel. The water is a mixture of blue-green hues and the lighting coinciding with the day/night cycles is particularly impressive. At first inspection things appear to be no more than a simple puzzle game, be it in an attractive setting, and that's what it is mechanically. But as things progress we encounter a wider variety of environments and learn that maybe things aren't so straightforward as a boy solving a sequence of minor mental challenges. For a while, everything felt like a series of connected rooms, lacking a cohesive totality, but it doesn't feel out of place given what is occurring narratively, even if things aren't entirely evident from the beginning. Speaking of the narrative, and I can't say much without spoiling things, but I will say that I did, by the end, find it a touching and poignant experience, and it was worth seeing things through to the finish, even if you aren't totally enamored with the nuts and bolts of the ride.

I can't say I loved every facet of Rime. I felt like things were too drawn out for what it offered mechanically. It felt longer than it needed to be, despite its relatively modest length. The puzzles were also pretty easy, although there were a couple of brief moments where I was not entirely sure what to do. The platforming, while mostly responsive, sometimes aggravated as the boy didn't seem to know when I was urging him to jump to a ledge opposite his position. And through much of the game, I felt like the music was always trying to establish a sense of climax which seemed out of place. Although I will say that an argument could be made in retrospect, it nevertheless could have been handled better, knowing that the player is in the dark about the full content of the experience for a while. Having a constant crescendo does little to establish any sense of meaning for the player, and it felt like it strained unnecessarily for the suggestion of sentimentality.

On the whole, I did enjoy Rime. I won't call it a must-play, but if you enjoy things that are striving for an emotional element or things that are artistic leaning in terms of their sensibilities, then I would say it's worth playing. I enjoyed my time with it enough that I didn't feel disappointed, but it didn't reach the heights of category icons such as ICO and Shadow of the Colossus. For me, it's a solid 3/5 that most certainly reaches its zenith if seen through to the conclusion.

[Phaseknox]

Rime bored me to tears. It had nice visuals, but sleep-inducing gameplay.

[isthatallyougot]

#9 Breath of Fire Dragon Quarter (PS2)



Some games just make it so difficult for you to love them, I think. Take Breath of Fire : Dragon Quarter for instance. Firstly, I want to say that I really enjoy unique games, and often find myself championing certain titles that aren't necessarily in the mainstream of gaming culture. I had known for a long time that BOF:DQ was polarizing because of challenge and its deviation from prior series installments - something that many longtime franchise fans apparently didn't appreciate. (Personally, I've never played an entry.) On the other hand, there always seemed to be a vocal contingent praising the title for its differences, differences from the earlier franchise as well as differences from many rpgs in general. That "unique factor" always triggers my radar, because I know that if it clicks for me, I'll probably love it passionately. It has long been in my backlog, and I have long imagined the day I would play it. Well, that day came in 2018, and I have to say that I'm pretty ambivalent.

First off, the battles can be quite slow and drawn out, but there is definitely a certain enjoyable tactical element to most of the confrontations, so I put up with the snail-like pace. The beginning was dragging for me because of the pace and the fact that the art style isn't really my cup of tea. The doe-eyed anime characters are not inherently off-putting, but they aren't a style that pulls me in, all things being equal. And I didn't find the characters, visuals aside, very deep or compelling early on. And the enemies did nothing for me in terms of design either. I almost put it down after a couple of hours, but I like to stick to things, especially in the case of an rpg since it can't really show you what it is in a brief examination. So, I stuck with it, and I started enjoying it. I was particularly fond of the premise of subterranean humanity searching to get back to the surface after living so long underground by necessity. And I was even more drawn in by a narrative element - that I won't spoil - giving impetus for trying to see the mythical sky once again. Also, as things developed and I acquired a couple of party members with some unique skills, it opened up confrontations in enjoyable, albeit still plodding, ways. But, I was sinking my teeth into things and really hungry to reach the surface. I was also enjoying the tension created by knowing that you couldn't let your ever increasing dragon-form meter (your super power ability that rapidly increases percentage on use and slowly ticks up 1/100th of a percent at a time as you explore) reach 100% or it was curtains for your game. It created a nice sense of risk-reward, and not knowing how long it would take to make it to the end, I was forced to use it extremely judiciously, else it was lights-out for the protagonist and his group's quest.

However, and this is the biggest problem for me, the game's structure ultimately undid things. It's kind of rogue-like in terms of composition. If you die, or if you reach the max on your super meter, you are going to have to start over, or lose experience and revert back to your last hard save - something that is very limited due to it being item-based like the ink ribbons in Resident Evil. But these save tokens are even more sparse and the save terminals are less common than the typewriters in the aforementioned series. So, it should be obvious that it is quite easy to lose a significant portion of your progress. Now, in many rogue-likes this isn't a problem because the game is propped up on such concepts with the understanding that you're never really losing progress in any significant way. In Dragon Quarter, however, I reached a point around 7 hours into the experience where a boss I was fighting simply exploded after sitting on 0 health for a few turns, without any clear indication that this was about to happen, or if there was, it missed me completely. When this boss popped, it killed me and all my party in an instant. (Edit: In fairness, after replaying this section, the boss does give an indication that it will explode.) I didn't want to lose a bunch of progression, but I chose to restart, which is one of two options you're given upon death. You can "Restore" to your last hard save, or "Restart" presumably with all your experience, I thought, but I was back at the beginning as a level 1 character again. Ugh. I had my learned skills and gear, but the thought of trudging through all of that ponderous combat again just to get back to where I was, uncertain if I would have the same thing happen again, was just too much. I felt like the game was daring me to continue playing, and I didn't want to accept the challenge. It's really a shame because I was just starting to really get into the whole experience, and as mentioned, I truly wanted to see the surface, imagining that to be quite the cathartic moment both for the characters and myself, as the player. But, I'm only willing to do so much in order to see things through in a game, especially in a game that already had some hurdles preventing a smooth experience. I just couldn't do it. It's not a bad game, and if it was structured with a little more forgiveness, I would have happily pressed on. But the idea of slowly retreading my steps through the already-monotonous underground environments and the molasses encounters was sadly a deal breaker. It's just unnecessarily punitive design. I'm even more disappointed because I was really anticipating to fall in love with this one, having built it up in my mind over the years. But if you want me to replay big sections of your game, you had better be extraordinary, and I can't say that here. It teased me and finally turned me on and I found myself wanting to fully love it, but it won't let me. Dragon Quarter gets a blue-balls 3/5 from me.

...and after I wrote all of that, I went back to it because it did so much that I enjoyed. So, I played on another dozen + hours and fought the first Regent (a member of the upper class of this netherworld, I suppose), Deamoned. You have to do so much damage to him because of his defenses that many attacks will ultimately not meet the threshold to cause any damage AT ALL. I finally managed to build up enough AP (ability points which governs how much you can do on any given turn) by waiting while getting attacked and sometimes killed to unleash some attacks that could slowly whittle away his health. It was a long, long war of attrition through which I wore down his health little by little until victory, but it wasn't a pleasant experience. And then shortly after, I met another Regent which seemed to offer the same level of resistance, and I realized that completing things was going to ultimately give a sense of relief more than any sense of satisfaction or pleasure, and that's not why I play games. Hey, as stated, this is NOT a bad game. In fact, it does many things so very well, but it just wants to bludgeon you along the way, almost challenging you to extract the fun. As I said, I really wanted to love this because it has a lot of good to offer, and I gave it a second and third chance and ultimately played close to 30 hours, but I just wasn't able to squeeze enough pleasure out. It felt more like work than recreation in the end, and it didn't offer enough in return for my time to warrant the punishing grind. I'm sure there are those who would be spellbound by this title and would have no problems doing what was required, but it was too much for me. I stand by the conclusion of the previous paragraph and previously concluded review - picking it back up again got me closer to the surface, but didn't change my opinion. It's a 3/5 that could have been so much more with just a little fine-tuning and user-friendliness. I'd rather youtube the ending than undergo any further self-flagellation. I appreciate much of what Dragon Quarter has to offer, but things are ultimately more frustrating than fun, it's just too much.

#8 Injustice : Gods Among Us (PS4)



I'm not the biggest fighting game aficionado in the world, but I do count a number of them as all-time favorites. I'm also about as fatigued as can be with the common and over-used staple of super heroes. There are just so many movies, shows, and games, and many of them are just eye candy without any real depth or substance in my view. However I still found myself picking up and playing Injustice : Gods Among Us on the PS4, largely due to all the praise that had trickled into my awareness over the years. To be clear, I don't necessarily hate - or even dislike - many of the characters in these universes, it's just that they've reached a point of oversaturation for me, and the quality is more budget-related than real craft and heart for my money.

But I thought I'd give this highly acclaimed fighter a chance and, to the point, I'm glad I did. There is a great deal of polish and spectacle on display here. There's a nice weighty sense of power and heavy impact - befitting characters of this ilk. It does a good job of making you feel like a genuine super hero in action. The controls were fluid and responsive, and it was nice that there was a fairly lengthy story mode that forced you to play as a variety of characters from the roster. I also thought the interactive and multi-level stages were a nice touch along with the unique - and definitely cool - super powers on display.

It wasn't all power of the Earth's yellow sun however. There was a sprinkling of kryptonite. The character graphics could have been more refined for one. They moved well and didn't necessarily look bad, but they are lacking detail and just feel a bit generic. Also, while there are a good number of unique moves to learn for the various characters, they largely feel the same as each other in terms of mechanics. (In terms of fighters,I think I'm forever spoiled by the grace and elegance of Virtua Fighter.) And the multi-dimensional story perhaps served its purpose, driving the action, but was ultimately uninspired as far as I'm concerned. Finally, I really missed Mark Hamill as the Joker. The actor chosen just didn't deliver what I've come to enjoy and expect from the character.

But the good outweighs the bad overall, and I did have fun with this game. It's not one of my all-time favorites or even an all-time favorite within the genre, but there was some good fun to be had. 4/5.

[argyle]

Injustice 2 is a massive step forward (for the series and fighting games in general, IMO). At least in terms of single player, which is all I really care about with fighters. The added RPG mechanics and infinitely replayable Multiverse mode had me hooked on that game for a good chunk of last year. It's the reason I'm really excited for the new MK, because it sounds like they're bringing those things forward into it.

And Phase, I am still going to post a "most wanted" list but things have just been really hectic on my end the past week or so. Hopefully it will happen this weekend.

[isthatallyougot]

Good to hear that #2 is such an improvement argyle. I enjoyed the first one enough that I'm sure Injustice 2 will really be great.

#7 The Order : 1886




Going into The Order 1886, I had less than great expectations. I had absorbed an impression over the intervening years between release and my time with the game that it was ultimately a disappointment, albeit a gorgeous one. I usually try not to allow the background noise that infiltrates my system an opportunity to dissuade me from giving any game a chance or allow the crowd-voice to inform my own personal opinion prior to personal experience. However, I will admit that here I didn't expect much due to the aforementioned chorus of the crowd. So I picked up the controller with a bit of a slant eye, unfairly judging something completely foreign to me. As I played, however, the opinion I had adopted from others gradually shifted until, by the end, I found myself quite impressed with this work from Ready At Dawn.

Right off the bat, even the most cynical and jaded of graphics-first gamers would have a difficult time finding themselves anything but wowed by the visual mastery. I knew it had a reputation for looking good, but quite honestly, this may be the most stunning visual experience I've ever had with controller in-hand. Surely technically, and arguably artistically, The Order dazzles at every opportunity. The alternate historical timeline of late 1800's England is brought to life with an incredible attention to detail that effortlessly transports you into the world and its fictional history. Both characters and locales are modeled believably and with the highest quality I think I've ever seen. This is most certainly one of those titles you may be inclined to show off to your non-gamer friends and family, knowing full-well that all eyes will come away impressed. In many ways, Ready At Dawn have outdone Naughty Dog, the enduring coding masters of visual splendor. It's not a one to one comparison, with The Order showcasing smaller more intimate locales than Uncharted 4, nevertheless what you see on screen is easily on par with the masters behind Nate Drake's adventures.

Looking great is a feather in the cap, but I like to enjoy my mechanical interaction as well, and here, the third-person shooting is handled competently enough with a wide variety of fictional weapons, some invented by a creative permutation on the great inventor Tesla, who I loved seeing in the game - even referencing his (so-called) competition with Edison. The shooting mechanics are responsive and enjoyable enough, and certainly did not detract from the game. I wouldn't call the mechanics the main reason to play The Order, but they are serviceable enough to not impede your enjoyment. Aside from the gun-play, I thought the voice-work was some of the best I've ever heard, and blended well into a narrative that was both mature and found excellent use of creative license to tell the tale of some classic baddies from popular fiction. I don't want to spoil anything, but some classic characters make unique appearances that really bring the tale to life, giving it a distinct creative flavor.

I won't say that I loved everything about 1886, despite my enjoyment. Sometimes, as with other similar genre works, things could be overly cinematic - eager to wretch control from your hands in favor of showing you another cut scene that, however cool, always pulls me out of the game when appearing overly frequent. I'm usually torn by these types of games because despite what they do well, they want to entertain me in a non-interactive way as much or more than allowing me to engage with things directly. This genre is ultimately like the cotton candy of gaming for me. It's often sweet and enjoyable in the moment, but it can't really compete with more substantial gaming staples. It's just too light and devoid of real gamer nutrition.

That said, what it does, it does so well. It's easy to compare to the Uncharted franchise, as I think they follow more or less the same blueprint in many ways. I can't say that I enjoyed it as much as Uncharted, but there is certainly a great deal of potential in this well-realized world Ready At Dawn have created, and I would love to see a return to this fictional world in an offering that offered a bit more substance along with all the visual bells and whistles that they have most certainly nailed down. As this entry stands, however, it's already a very enjoyable experience, and I can comfortably recommend it to anyone who enjoys the cinematic shooter. For me, it's a 4/5, and a hope for a sequel that builds on the strengths and addresses the weaknesses from this entry.

#6 Until Dawn (PS4)




The interactive drama genre seems to be gaining prominence in the gaming landscape, and I think it's easy to see why. People love movies and people love games, and with this genre there is a sort of marriage of the two formats of expression. Personally, I've never been greatly impressed by one, but that has as at least a little to do with my personal preferences within gaming. I do, however, see potential within the concept, and I continue to allow the category an opportunity to show me what it can do.

With that in mind, I gave the PS4 exclusive, Until Dawn, an opportunity to show me its stuff. I was immediately drawn to a couple of elements. The graphics are absolutely amazing - a few uncanny valley facial movements aside - and the characters are very nicely voice acted, given the premise. The remote winter mountain setting is a wonderful location for stressing these lab-rats for our viewing amusement as they navigate the brutal and wintry exterior conditions along with a variety of sometimes spooky indoor locales, including a decaying sanatorium. At its core, Until Dawn is a teen slasher movie adapted to video game form, and it comes with a lot of the tropes you'd expect to find. You've got the teenage politics and the stereotypical character profiles - the jock, the nerd, the bitch, and so on. In terms of character interaction, the dynamics between them all were nicely crafted and coupled with the great voice work, I found myself accepting these people as real, well, as real as they would be in any similar horror film anyway. Along the way there are some twists and turns and it was quite engaging, honestly. I found myself more invested in the story than I would have in a movie of the same ilk due to the potential impact of my choices - choices that oftentimes must be made with little time to consider. In addition to some weighty decisions, you'll be faced with chase sequences that play out in quick time fashion, but the window of opportunity is generous, and I don't think too many players would be negatively impacted by not having enough time to react. Of special note in regards to interaction was the implementation of needing to be absolutely still (with your controller) in some cases of great stress. I thought that was a novel way to handle things, and I enjoyed that bit of creative execution. Without spoiling anything, I'll just say that there are some really intense and brutal scenes that you'll encounter, and knowing that there's a possibility for a devastating outcome really heightened my focus and increased my investment.

It's not all praise from me, however. There were some awkward and fixed camera angles at times. Sometimes you'd encounter situations where you weren't sure if you could progress in a particular direction, and a few instances where you would be controlling a character that had moved so far away from the camera that you could hardly tell if you were moving forward. I know that fixed angles allow for more control of user experience, but they usually make me feel less a part of my environment. Of lesser offense is the sometimes cheesy narrative, but Until Dawn knows what it is and ultimately revels in that identity to positive effect. There are also plenty of cheap jump scares, but they honestly don't feel out of place for the genre, or its film counterparts. Finally, this brand of gaming is always going to be more "watch" than "do", and that is at odds with what I love about the medium in the first place, so it's quite a hurdle to overcome, but UD strikes the best balance I've found.

All in all, though, I found this to be the new ceiling for the "you-are-playing-a-movie" genre. I went in telling myself that I'd only do a single play-through, hoping that it would magnify the excitement levels, and coupled with the timed decision making, it certainly did so. I ended with four survivors (Sam, Emily, Chris and Jessica), and despite making a couple of mistakes that I immediately knew I shouldn't have, it drove home the feeling of being in such a stressful situation nicely. I have to say that, in the end, I enjoyed it more than I was expecting. I knew that it was highly praised going in, but I tempered that with knowledge of my own lukewarm feelings about the genre. But thankfully I was pleased, and would definitely look forward to playing another Supermassive entry in this niche. A 4/5.

[isthatallyougot]

#5 Sly Cooper : Thieves in Time (PS3)



The platformer genre is something of a gaming comfort food for me. Even when they're not the absolute best, you can usually count on a pretty enjoyable time. They're usually colorful and low-stress. They can be funny with interesting characters and stories, and they hearken back to the early days of gaming, which is always good for nostalgic warmth.

Having only played the first entry in the Sly Cooper series, I decided to skip ahead to the only entry not developed by Sucker Punch, Thieves in Time. After only a brief exposure to this fourth entry in the series, it became apparent that this Sanzaru developed entry was worthy of the Sly name, and was not just a hand-off, cash grab. Everything was very reminiscent of the first entry for me, both in terms of mechanics and presentation. This absolutely felt like the Sly I remembered from my only exposure long ago. The team of Sly, Bentley, and (the) Murray were forced to go back in time to meet Sly's ancestors in this episode to deal with the stinky (he's a skunk) Le Paradox, who was out to eradicate the Cooper clan. As with any time travel themed game, we get to experience a variety of periods, which is always nice for variety's sake. In each period there are several varying missions resulting in an eventual boss encounter. I have to say that the villains presented in Thieves were entertaining in their execution. They were all funny in their own unique and twisted ways, and were voiced quite well, really adding to the enjoyment. Mechanically, everything felt familiar with the jump, double jump, and perch buttons making their return. I also enjoyed getting new costumes and abilities for the various characters, opening different areas/secrets and allowing for different ways of problem solving. Having not played parts 2 and 3, I'm not sure if these are returning elements, but it's a nice addition to the franchise, if not.

Not everything is great with the Sly family, however. The game is pretty full of various mini-games for the different characters. Bentley has 3 types of hacking mini games, none of which were very enjoyable. They weren't necessarily horrible, but they were mediocre at best. One of them used the now-antiquated tilt (motion control) mechanic, and it was not fun. Murray had one mini game in the Old West setting which was particularly poor. It was a boxing match where you pretty much had to circle strafe around your opponent for an unnecessarily long time, diving in for a hit every now and then. It was really pretty dreadful. There were also some DDR style rhythm-matching musical games which were also very vanilla and didn't add anything worthwhile to the experience. All of the mini-games felt like padding and really added nothing to the experience other than breaking up the pace a bit. Of lesser offense is the large amounts of collectibles. I enjoy this type of thing much more in theory than I do in practice. Wandering all over the map looking for that last hint bottle to unlock the safe might sound fun, but when you scour the map multiple times and still don't find it, things become tedious. If I was gaga over the game or didn't have tons of other stuff to play, I might be interested. I really think collectathon developers should always have a streamlined solution to finding all the doodads for those who don't want to waste tons of time. Make it optional, but offer a bit of a shortcut for those who want to see everything, but aren't invested enough in the game to find everything via endless searching. Maybe they could offer a radar of sorts that can be purchased if you acquire enough coins, a radar that doesn't give you the exact location, but points you in the general direction of whatever it is you're looking for. Anyway, it's not that big of a deal. I just view it as bonus gameplay for those who want it. I was interested, but not enough to jump through the hoops to get all the goodies here.

In total, however, I had a really good time with Thieves. The light-stealth gameplay, while not difficult, is consistently enjoyable nonetheless. And the excellent presentation wraps everything up in an overall package that is easy to recommend to any fan of the mascot/collectathon platformer. It's not an all-time great or even an all-time platformer great for me, but it was certainly good fun and well worth playing. A comfortable 4/5.

#4 Yakuza 0 (PS4)



I'm a relative noob when it comes to the Yakuza series. Having only played the first one long ago, I had started to feel overwhelmed by all the releases, and it felt like too big a task to catch up - despite really loving the first in the series. They can be (judging by my only experience) really long games, and with so many out there that I hadn't played, it became a daunting proposition. However, in steps Sega to soothe my anxiety and overcome my hesitance by releasing a prequel to the series in the form of Yakuza 0. It felt like a lovely point to re-enter the world of Japanese organized crime, and so I drank some Oolong tea and began my journey.

I was immediately reminded of playing the first game in the series since the same location is used, and although more refined than the original, it is still very recognizable in its layout. I was a little surprised at how familiar the setting was since I hadn't played the original in so long, so I'm sure that it's quite similar. As nice as it was to revisit the location of Kamurocho - a locale apparently modeled quite authentically to the real Kabukicho area of Tokyo - I was happy that there was another area (Sotenbori) included in 0 to add some variety to the virtual tourism. And it was fun to follow the stories of Kazuma Kiryu and Goro Majima in their respective locations, with both having their own lives, ambitions and activities to pursue.

The tale of this prequel was full of drama, energy, humor and a cast of characters that were nicely developed with their own motivations providing the grist for the movement of the engaging and twisting narrative. I truly enjoyed the original Japanese voice work, and some of the characters were really stand-outs. I thought Awano was really brought to life with a voice of a cold, cynical and worn gangster. There were also numerous others that really brought some electricity to this story through their performances. There were some wonderful moments throughout the development of the plot and side stories, and I won't spoil them, but I will say that there were emotional scenes across the spectrum of human feeling, and as a result, everything was kept fresh and lively from beginning to end.

Of course with Yakuza, most all narrative beats result in the need to crack some skulls, and the familiar combat returns. There were a plethora of abilities and upgrades, both to styles and equipment that could be obtained through various means, and the combat was fun albeit repetitive and lacking the sheen of other more focused brawlers and action titles. It would have been nice to see some greater finesse in the combat since it's so prominent throughout, but given the fact that the game is packed with other activities and reasons to lose yourself in this 80's era Tokyo, I can't penalize it too much. And while the combat is no God Hand or Bayonetta, it still remains fun, if simple in execution.

Speaking of side activities, I really got lost in the batting cages - as I remember doing in the first. I eventually got perfect scores in all the cages, the last of which was pretty tough. Having a special place in my heart for baseball, like the Japanese, this fun distraction was really compelling and well-done in my view. I also enjoyed the pocket circuit racing. It was pretty exciting trying to build your perfect racer. And the hostess club was really enjoyable. I never knew how much fun it was to play dress-up and manage a stable of ladies. Being a digital pimp of sorts was more fun than I expected. As fun as some of the games were, there were however problems with some clumsiness and simplicity in many of them. Fishing was boring, for example, and the cat-fights were tedious. Often things devolved into button mashing or really simplistic interactions, and while having so many things to do is nice, I would have preferred some real craft put into all the distractions that pulled you off the main quest line.

As for other issues I had with the game, I can't say that I'm a hug fan of invisible walls, and there were many to annoy here. I also thought that the game would sometimes interrupt your flow or direction by forcing an interaction or side-quest on you simply by passing by someone. I didn't always care for that, but it wasn't constant or a huge problem. I also thought the transformation of Majima felt forced and inauthentic. I enjoyed his character, but at a certain stage late game, I felt like they handled who he would eventually become without much real thought or execution. It just came off poorly for me. Also the narrative as a whole sometimes felt bloated and overweight despite some excellent moments and an engaging central plot. The narrative could have been more impactful with the application of a little restraint in my view.

Despite my issues with some things, I thoroughly enjoyed this trip back into the world of the Yakuza. I really got into the flow of things and felt like living a virtual life in 80's Japan. I spent over 100 hours with the game before completing the main story line, and I still went back for more after things were done. I think that gives some insight into how I felt about Yakuza 0. It's truly a great game, and a 5/5 for me.

[jfissel]

Yakuza 0 at #4! Great write-ups for everything, but especially the last 2 games.

[Phaseknox]

Yakuza 0 at #4!

Yeah, I was expecting it to be at #1 based on how much that he gushed about it. Now I can't wait to see what his next three games are.

Great write-ups for everything

I agree, he should be working as a writer somewhere because his writing is excellent.

[isthatallyougot]

Yakuza 0 at #4! Great write-ups for everything, but especially the last 2 games.

Yakuza 0 at #4!

Yeah, I was expecting it to be at #1 based on how much that he gushed about it. Now I can't wait to see what his next three games are.

Great write-ups for everything

I agree, he should be working as a writer somewhere because his writing is excellent.

Thanks for the kind words guys. It's my only significant contribution to our long-standing board for the entire year and my effort to keep our pulse going, however faint. And if I didn't share my reviews, I'd just write them and forget about them for the most part.

#3 Uncharted 4 (PS4)



I think of the Uncharted formula/series as the "summer blockbuster" of video games. It's full of spectacle and light on any real substance, either mechanically or thematically - for the most part, but it tickles that spot in most all of us that just wants to be entertained by a rip-roaring yarn, full of action and romance. What could be more romantic than a treasure hunter in search of the lost riches of history, and Uncharted has always satisfied wonderfully in what it sets out to do.

Naughty Dog are real technical masters, and their work always shows a skilled set of hands and minds behind the visuals on display. In this entry on PS4, the visuals are utterly sublime, with so much detail and quality that it's incredibly easy to lose yourself in the various locales. I'm not a graphics-first type of gamer, but some games just set the bar so high that it's hard not to be wowed by what's happening on-screen, and Uncharted 4 certainly impresses throughout the journey. I found myself moving slowly through the various environments and really appreciating the artistry, both technically and creatively.

Aside from the next-level eye-candy, things were mostly status-quo for the series. In search of treasure - in this case the lost booty of Henry Avery - we bounce from clue to clue, as we are led from one gorgeous environment to the next, all the while battling opposing forces in search of the same valuable loot, lost to the passage of time. The gun-play was a little more sparse here than in entries-past, but it's good simple fun in this installment, much like the original trilogy on PS3. There's a bit of room for creativity with the enemy "rooms", and I really enjoyed being stealthy while trying to thin out my foes without being spotted. Also, new to the series is a grappling hook, which in addition to standard navigation, allows for some greater fluidity of movement in combat and some exotic launching takedowns. I really enjoyed this addition to the franchise, both in and out of battles. There were also quite a few semi-open spaces to explore, both via vehicle and on-foot, and I thought that really facilitated the sense of adventure you want to experience in this series, helping to mitigate the series' familiar sensation of being funneled from one grandiose set-piece to the next.

In terms of narrative, I thought that they handled the conclusion of the Nate Drake story line very well. The subtitle - and box art - were suitably ambiguous, leaving the conclusion open to doubt and interpretation, which kept things suspenseful for anyone who might be engaged with the story from the beginning. But I think that most who have followed the series since its origins will be pleased with the outcome. I was quite fond of the epilogue in particular which, without spoiling things, really put a nice bow on the entire package and left me fulfilled and ready to let the story line go. The voice acting was, as always, top shelf. I was particularly fond of the voice performance turned in by the primary antagonist, Rafe Adler - voiced by Warren Kole. He, along with the script, did an excellent job capturing the psychotic greed and ruthless, narcissistic ambition of such a villain. Kudos to his performance along with all the returning cast who continued to demonstrate a skillful command of their characters. In terms of Rafe, though, I thought this was the best final boss of the four main installments. It was a bit clunky and unintuitive, like the rest, but was handled better than any of the final showdowns from the first three.

All things are not perfect with UC4 or the franchise at large. Everything has always been more than a little unbelievable with Drake and friends being easily the greatest free-climbers the world could ever know. Also, the chaos and danger they encounter over and over would be enough to send anyone running for permanent safety after a single occurrence, but they are always back and eager for more. The ridiculous nature of things wouldn't be so startling were it not for the realism of the visuals and the well-acted characters, but things tends to sit at odds with each other, thereby given an incongruent feeling oftentimes. It's not a big problem, easily enough passed off as just a pulp video game, but the sensation did stick with me over the course of the series. Also, the bullet sponge enemies return, and some of the foes take far too much damage to be believable. It's not a major issue, given the overall tone of other elements, but it can be frustrating at times. Another thing I always found funny in this series is when characters might be having an in-game conversation that was not in tone with the action you were performing on-screen. It makes for some hilarious moments, though. Finally, to be sure, the series is more than a little formulaic at this point, which can impart a sense of diminishing returns from your adventures with Nathan and company.

However, the reason anything has an opportunity to become formulaic in the first place is because the formula is so good to begin with. And here, I'm thoroughly pleased with this final adventure of our wise-cracking hero. It's been thrilling circumnavigating the globe in search or romance and riches with this, now-familiar, crew. Uncharted 4, and the series overall, may not be the deepest, but it knows what it wants to be and fully embraces its identity to wonderful effect. I'll give this final adventure a 5/5.

#2 Ratchet & Clank (2016) (PS4)



Since the initial entry on the PS2, I've always been very fond of the Ratchet and Clank Series. They've always been such an intoxicating mix of wonderful humor, quirky characters, excellent visuals, and just-deep-enough gameplay to really be the whole package. And the fictional space setting always scratches the right itch for me as well. The series is really about as "for everyone" as a game series could be in my view. But it's been a while since I last took an adventure with the Lombax and his mechanical companion, and I figured it was about time to set things right.

The first thing that hit me with this reimagining of the initial PS2 installment on the PS4 was how stunning everything looked. Insomniac are really technical wizards. Everything is so clean, sharp, and vibrantly alive with color. And stylistically, the characters and environments tempt with a playful and incredibly inviting vibe. I find myself just wanting to spend time in this universe that Insomniac has created. Having played Uncharted 4 also this year, I was reminded of the friendly rivalry and collaborative relationship between Ted Price's studio and Naughty Dog over the years. Both studios are excellent at their craft and what they do, and Sony is so fortunate to have had a close relationship with both over the years - of course a bit closer with the Sony-owned Naughty Dog.

As for this entry in the Ratchet franchise, everything is just incredibly fun, like always. Getting new weapons and upgrading them for maximum mayhem is addictive as always. I enjoyed the two new items added to your arsenal in this installment - the Pixelizer - a shotgun that morphs enemies into 2D pixellated images that eventually break apart into little pixelized bits, and the Proton Drum which is an area of effect weapon that eventually shoots out electrical arcs stunning and killing enemies over a large space. I also love the little rewards that come from finding collectibles. I had a great time changing the appearance of the bolts to colorful balls of light (among other things) that, when coupled with a fully upgraded RYNO, left the screen in a glorious state of psychedelic chaos as bullets, "bolts" and enemies blurred into an overwhelming and indistinguishable visual feast. Playing with the various outfits, heads and screen filters also gave things a different flavor and feel.

Another plus for this entry was that I was enjoying myself so much, I found myself wanting to pursue the platinum trophy just to extend my time with the game. Usually I don't care about trophies, but when I'm having such a wonderful time, I sometimes find myself engaged in pursuing them. I played through the game five times in a row - more than needed for the Platinum, and that is something that I just don't do. I remember playing Resident Evil 4 back to back, long ago, and I'll occasionally do that if I'm really into a game, but I never play anything so many times in a row. Granted, after the first run and a half, it probably only took a little over an hour or so to complete with a maxed-out RYNO, so it does sound a bit more shocking than what it probably was - in terms of time commitment. But the point remains that I didn't want to put it down.

There are some minor points to make against the experience here. I thought the voice actor for Nefarious seemed to struggle to capture the character as well as he did in Up Your Arsenal (and other entries). I don't know if he was mailing it in or maybe the strain of doing that voice was just too much as he's gotten older, but I definitely noticed a downgrade in comparison to Up Your Arsenal. I was also pleased to find out that he was "Stan the Caddy" on Seinfeld when looking up information about the voice work - something I certainly didn't know. Also, although I love the character of Clank, I've never enjoyed his sections as much as the rest of the game, but they do provide a bit of space for the action to breath, so they do serve their purpose. On the whole though, I thoroughly loved this entry in the series, and it is an easy 5/5 for me.

#1 Out of the Park Baseball 18 (PC)




There isn't really much to say here. (and i've reviewed it before here as well) It's baseball. It's sports management. It's endless statistics and strategy. It's polished. It's utterly brilliant. I could play this for close to forever. I got this particular installment of this beloved franchise for a single dollar in a humble bundle a while back, and I've played 550+ hours this year alone (the pic was taken on January 2nd, 2019, and all hours were accumulated in 2018) - roughly .0018 cents per hour of entertainment at this point. I'd call that about as good of value for your entertainment dollar as you can find - without the slightest hyperbole. Of course, it's not for everyone. If you don't loves sports - baseball in particular - or numbers and statistics, it's wasted for such a person. But for someone like me, it's gaming nirvana. 5/5 and my personal game of the year. Normally I don't permit replays (granted this is a new installment to me, but things are largely the same year to year) to be included in my final year-end rankings, and I've spent a great deal of time in '16 and '17, but given the amount of time I've dedicated to this game, this year alone, I had to honor it as it so thoroughly deserved.

See you next year guys.

[Phaseknox]

I played through the game five times in a row - more than needed for the Platinum, and that is something that I just don't do. Granted, after the first run and a half, it probably only took a little over an hour or so to complete with a maxed-out RYNO, so it does sound a bit more shocking than what it probably was - in terms of time commitment.

How long did it take you to finish it the first time? I'm surprised that it can be finished in just a little over an hour even speed-running through it. It can't offer much in terms of content if that's the case.

I've played 550+ hours